However shocking these revelations were, they had to focus on the immediate situation. The conspiracy might be far-reaching, but the danger around them was very real.
The two continued searching through the maze, marking each junction with small symbols, having no concept of where they were in the labyrinth, only knowing they hadn’t yet backtracked.
Meng Qianzi suddenly remembered the round platform submerged in water in the circular chamber. She gestured as she explained to Jiang Lian: “My Granny Duan said she took the Phoenix Plume and left—could that Phoenix Plume have been placed on that platform?”
It’s possible. Jiang Lian thought for a moment and added, “Granny Duan’s expedition was way too easy, wasn’t it?”
Indeed, it had been quite smooth—she went directly to the Phoenix Eye, dug through two coffins, carefully removed the cover from the third, and descended through the coffin bottom into the circular chamber. Throughout the process, she never disturbed the bronze cover, which meant she probably never encountered the earth dragon—not probably, but never encountered it. Otherwise, how would she have had the leisure to leave such an extensive message on the wall?
Meng Qianzi didn’t find this “ease” particularly surprising: “Granny Duan had the correct guidance and didn’t take any wrong turns—she went straight to the heart of it. Others who didn’t understand the situation might have entered through different maze entrances, making it extremely difficult, and most likely would have encountered the earth dragon with no chance of return.”
True enough. Jiang Lian said nothing more, but he still felt something… strange about this arrangement.
After winding through several junctions, he finally understood what was bothering him.
“Qianzi, what do you think the earth dragon is stationed here for?”
Meng Qianzi was bending down to carve another arrow when she heard this question. She mentally rolled her eyes: after spending these days together, she had become familiar with Jiang Lian’s tactics—he had clearly discovered something but was holding back, using her as a stepping stone to showcase his own insights.
She wanted to ignore him, yet was eager to hear what he would say next.
Since her mind didn’t work as quickly as his, she reluctantly played along: “To guard the Phoenix Plume, I suppose. They couldn’t let just any random intruder take it away.”
Right, Jiang Lian made an affirming sound: “The strange part is, don’t you think the earth dragon is too far from that circular chamber?”
He explained: “This earth dragon has lived underground for years. It must have its den where it eats, sleeps, and even mates and reproduces—after all, no one knows exactly how many earth dragons are down here.”
“But earlier, I observed that circular chamber. The passages are long with countless branches, and as far as I could see, none seemed suitable for the earth dragon to live in. This suggests its lair is even deeper.”
“That’s strange. Even a watchdog stays near the door. As a guardian of the Phoenix Plume, being so far from it doesn’t make sense. And it only responds when someone heavily stomps on the bronze cover, producing a sound, after which it comes rushing over to check. What if a thief moves lightly enough that the bronze cover doesn’t sound? The dragon wouldn’t come, and the Phoenix Plume would be… taken away?”
Meng Qianzi was stumped by his questions. After a long pause, she argued weakly: “Perhaps… the earth dragon assumes that people coming down through the coffin entrance are the right people who can take the Phoenix Plume; others entering from elsewhere are… enemies.”
Jiang Lian found this both amusing and absurd: “You also came through the coffin entrance, but the earth dragon didn’t seem to think you were the ‘right’ one. Besides, the Phoenix Plume has already been taken by Granny Duan, so the earth dragon has nothing left to guard. Why is it still so fierce, jumping up and down with such genuine intensity?”
Meng Qianzi’s heart began to race.
Indeed, what’s the point of a watchdog being so vigilant when there’s no home left to watch? It even actively attacked Shen Gun, who had merely wandered around the pit bottom without making any noise.
She bit her lip: “Are you suggesting that besides the Phoenix Plume, there’s something else down here, something even Yanluo and the Kuang family don’t know about—something the earth dragon is truly guarding?”
Jiang Lian said, “See, you think so too, which means I’m not overthinking this. As for what the truth is, we’ll have to take it one step at a time.”
At this point, he suddenly smiled: “I’m curious about Shen Gun now—what role does he play in this whole affair?”
Meng Qianzi said softly, “He must be of the ‘god’ race, or perhaps what he sees are the experiences of someone from the god race.”
Shen Gun had said himself that the people in his visions didn’t speak standard Chinese—their language was more obscure than the most difficult dialect, yet he understood it immediately. How could he be so familiar with such languages if he wasn’t from that same group or tribe?
She put away her dagger and stared absently into the deep, endless branching passages ahead.
Where could Shen Gun be?
She was ninety percent certain he was in the earth dragon’s stomach.
Because, given his… speechlessly inadequate skills and slow physical reactions, how could he possibly escape from the earth dragon’s jaws?
In a way, Meng Qianzi’s assessment of Shen Gun was fair.
Shen Gun certainly hadn’t written any heroic tales of battling the earth dragon: the earth dragon wasn’t like a gu worm, which could be killed by sitting on it with his buttocks. His buttocks weren’t even enough to fill the gap between the earth dragon’s teeth.
Throughout his life, compared to others, Shen Gun had always been quite lucky. He had survived numerous dangerous situations, always emerging unscathed. His good friend Brother Mao had even regarded him as a lucky charm, once printing more than ten copies of his photo to place at the inn’s back door, under the stove, at the base of the walls, and near the drains, calling it “home protection.”
But this time, Shen Gun’s luck was absent.
When he fell through the coffin opening and plunged into the water, he hit the submerged round platform. Although he didn’t hit it head-on, he still struck it, and between the fright, the fall, the impact, and the resulting momentum, he instantly lost consciousness.
However, he soon regained awareness—perhaps because his entire body was continuously, constantly swaying, preventing him from peacefully passing out like Meng Qianzi.
It might also have been due to the intense pain in his waist and hips.
At first, he thought it was from the impact, but that didn’t seem right. His body was swaying too strangely, the surrounding stench was too strong, and the excruciating pain in his waist and hips had a grinding, tearing quality.
He used all his strength to open his eyes.
His headlamp was still there, the strap still around his head, though the battery seemed to have issues: the light was very weak and flickered on and off.
By this unstable light, he finally saw his predicament, and his heart instantly sank to the depths.
No wonder he kept swaying.
He was caught in the mouth of a giant alligator—yes, a giant alligator. He hadn’t seen Duan Wenxi’s message and didn’t know this creature was also called an earth dragon. He was held in its jaws, the teeth clamped around his waist and hips, which explained the pulling, tearing pain there.
He couldn’t see his legs—perhaps they were dangling on the other side. Looking up, he saw a sinister, gleaming eye, trembling like a pool of water. Looking back, he could only see the constantly moving, incredibly tough scales…
There was a splash of water—they were crossing through water ahead.
Indeed, a cold sensation spread below him as most of his body was submerged. Fortunately, this stretch of water wasn’t deep. Though his head and face limply sank beneath the surface, occasionally, due to the swaying motion, he would bob above the water. The giant alligator’s two eyes, like two enormous bulbs, constantly floated on the water surface, not far from his face.
A thought crossed his mind:
—I’m going to die.
He had thought the journey to Kunlun would be the most thrilling final adventure. He never expected to fall at Phoenix Mountain before even taking a step toward that destination.