Jiang Lian thought that if it had been Kuang Meiying asking this question, he could have accepted it: Meiying had always been observant, and in these days, she hadn’t interacted with him much.
But Shen Gun…
Please, he and Meng Qianzi first met in Xiangxi, and Shen Gun was there in Xiangxi; they grew closer in Guangxi, and Shen Gun was there in Guangxi; they moved forward steadily in Qinghai, and Shen Gun was still there in Qinghai…
Three people traveling together, two becoming a pair, yet the third person was completely unaware—was his mind so spacious that he could play basketball in it?
Jiang Lian lowered his eyes to look at him, maintaining perfect composure: “That’s not the case. Qianzi and I are not close at all.”
Lying to a ghost, Shen Gun thought indignantly.
But looking at Meng Qianzi’s expression, Shen Gun felt that the ice corpse probably wasn’t Xian Qionghua; otherwise, with her Seventh Mother’s recent death, no matter how relieved she felt after escaping danger, she shouldn’t look so relaxed.
He directed his flashlight toward the ice corpse: “Miss Meng, who is… this?”
Those words brought Meng Qianzi back to reality. She fell silent for a moment, then said: “It should be my Great-Grandmother Duan.”
After a pause, she pointed upward: “There’s an ice-sculpted dragon up there. I don’t know if I saw wrong, but in that ice, there seem to be frozen bones.”
Now came the problem.
Jiang Lian had essentially tied himself “fixed” to the mountain wall. Originally, he should have untied the rope and taken Meng Qianzi down, but up there were Duan Wenxi’s remains, and what might be dragon bones…
If they ultimately had to go up anyway, wouldn’t untying and then retying be redundant? Besides, both of them were injured, not suitable for frequent climbing up and down.
But as for how to go up, he couldn’t think of any good ideas at the moment. For now, they were truly stuck on this mountain wall.
Meng Qianzi had finally found the person she was waiting for. With that breath of anxiety released, her whole body relaxed, her eyelids truly feeling like they weighed a thousand pounds. She said, “Let me sleep for a while, just five minutes, then wake me up.”
Before Jiang Lian could answer, she leaned against his neck, closed her eyelids, and instantly fell into sweet slumber.
She must have been extremely tired. Jiang Lian felt both sympathy and amusement. Fortunately, the stone wall beneath him was slightly inclined, and there were footholds below, so with her leaning against him like this, her sleep wasn’t too uncomfortable. Jiang Lian held her tight with one arm, freeing his other hand to gesture toward Shen Gun in the upward direction.
Shen Gun nodded, letting out a long sigh, sitting down at the edge of the hole, staring blankly at the person suspended in mid-air.
Actually, from this angle and height difference, not much could be seen. The ice corpse was nothing more than a rather comical human-shaped ice block from his viewpoint.
“I drink half a jug, leave you three sips, no chance to meet in person, but fated to share wine.”
He reached for his waist, only to find nothing there, remembering then that his wine gourd had been lost in the crocodile cave of Phoenix Eye.
Seeing his expression and then looking at the ice corpse, Jiang Lian also felt somewhat sad.
Looking up from below, they still couldn’t see clearly, and since they would have to go up anyway, Shen Gun waved to Jiang Lian, indicating that he too was preparing to climb.
Jiang Lian pulled out another rope, tied a loop around a protruding rock with one hand, wrapped it around his waist once, and then threw it to Shen Gun, serving as a simple safety rope.
The mountain wall was uneven, suitable for climbing. Even someone like Shen Gun could climb without much difficulty, though there weren’t as many footholds. He stopped half a body’s length diagonally below Jiang Lian, caught his breath first, then looked up at the sleeping Meng Qianzi: “You two… are for real?”
Jiang Lian smiled. The way Shen Gun asked was truly amusing—if not real, was it just for fun?
Shen Gun muttered: “Then you’re in for a hard time.”
Jiang Lian found it strange and lowered his voice to ask: “Why?”
Shen Gun said: “Someone of Miss Meng’s background, she naturally keeps people at a distance. Her family is large, with many opinions. Having to accommodate everyone will be exhausting, won’t it?”
Jiang Lian smiled and said, “It’s not too bad.”
He had been accommodating everyone since childhood, carving a path for his life through narrow crevices, and was used to it. This kind of accommodation now, compared to before, was like a gentle breeze and light rain, nothing significant. Moreover, he didn’t feel it was a hardship—how could striving for someone you like be considered a hardship?
Shen Gun didn’t express further opinions, partly because in matters like this, only the drinker knows whether the water is hot or cold, and partly because his limited experience didn’t qualify him to be someone else’s emotional guide.
He looked toward the ice corpse: “Miss Duan lived such a free and unrestrained life, who would have thought she would die so…”
He couldn’t find the right word to describe it. Using “miserable” or “desolate” would seem disrespectful to Duan Wenxi: did she need his sympathy? Perhaps she didn’t care at all. Blooming splendidly in life, scattering like cool ashes in death—it was her choice after all.
Jiang Lian spoke softly: “A person’s life is truly like a book; until you turn to the last page, you don’t know how it will end. Ah, have you ever thought about how you will make your exit?”
Shen Gun said: “I have.”
In this vast, deep cave, silent and gloomy, with death suspended not far away, there seemed to be no taboo in discussing this topic.
Shen Gun’s voice floated in the darkness, then slowly sank deeper.
“I like liveliness. I hope that when I die, all my good friends will come to see me off. I should die first; I’m older.”
“At that time, I’ll distribute my accumulated assets, a bit to this person, a bit to that person, and give each person a word or two of advice—although someone like Little Feng-Feng might be impatient listening to me, but with respect for the dead, at that time, he would have to behave and show me proper respect.”
“After saying everything, I can kick the bucket. I want to kick forcefully, with no regrets.”
After speaking, he turned to look at Jiang Lian: “What about you?”
Jiang Lian said: “As for me…”
He smiled. He was still young, thinking more about how to live better, rarely touching on topics like death: “I hope that by then, Qianzi will be with me.”
That’s hard to say. Life’s journey is so long, like taking a long-distance bus with so many stops along the way, passengers getting on and off, coming and going—who knows who will be by your side at the end?
These words rolled in Shen Gun’s throat but were swallowed back. When someone needs blessings, don’t offer them cold and desolate life insights.
The two stopped talking. The swinging chain finally became still. Duan Wenxi’s corpse hung like a suspended pendulum. There wasn’t even a breeze around, only the snow pheasant pacing unhurriedly by the hole below.
After a while, Jiang Lian suddenly blurted out: “How strange.”
Shen Gun responded casually: “What’s strange?”
“Think about it. Yan Luo went to such great lengths to lure Great-Grandmother Duan here, using her abilities to navigate through the mountain intestines. After using her, why did he have to kill her? And even if he had to kill her, why use such a… cruel method?”
Neither reaching the sky above nor touching the ground below, hanging there for nearly half a century, truly not finding peace even in death.
Shen Gun didn’t speak, only looking at Duan Wenxi’s corpse and the hole from which the bronze chain hung. As he looked, a chill crept up his spine, and he blurted out: “Fishing platform!”
Jiang Lian was startled: “What fishing platform?”
Shen Gun gripped the mountain rock tightly with one hand, while the other trembled as he pointed upward: “Do you remember that paper talisman you pasted on the God’s Eye? As I looked at it, I continued the part you hadn’t finished writing: ‘Down nine steps, sacrifice phoenix feather, burn dragon bone, see the heavenly ladder, where the shadow of the heavenly ladder ends, there is the fishing platform…”
“Look, doesn’t that hole up there resemble the fishing hole cut in ice during winter fishing? Doesn’t that bronze chain look like the fishing line hanging from a fishing rod? And Miss Duan…”
A chill ran through Jiang Lian’s body, like a passing shadow of a cold wind: “Bait?”
Perhaps their voices were a bit too loud. Meng Qianzi stirred and woke up. In truth, if left to sleep on her own, she would probably need a full day and night of rest. But when in dangerous situations, no matter how tired, it’s hard to fall into deep sleep; one always maintains a state of alertness. Moreover, before closing her eyes, she had reminded herself to “only sleep for five minutes.”
She heard Jiang Lian’s last words: “What bait?”
No one answered, but she caught some clues from their expressions and gazes. She also turned to look at the ice corpse. With the words “bait” already in mind, the scene looked increasingly similar, and the more she thought about it, the more terrifying it became.
Her throat went dry. Initially, she had only thought Yan Luo was using Duan Wenxi to clear the path, but now she realized it was far more than that. Duan Wenxi was like a golden bean in his hand, crushed for oil even after being ground.
“Did Yan Luo use my Great-Grandmother Duan as bait? To fish for what?”
An answer was gradually forming in her heart, but she didn’t dare say it. Jiang Lian said it for her: “Yan Luo was after the Qilin Crystal. This is a fishing platform. I think Yan Luo’s final step was to use bait at the fishing platform.”
Shen Gun also sighed: “Miss Meng, some things have happened in the past few days that you don’t know about from inside—let me tell you, and you’ll understand.”
He summarized the events that had occurred outside, especially what happened during Jiang Lian’s unconsciousness: “We suspect that the Drifting Cave has returned and is nearby. Looking at it now, it might be within these mountain intestines. Let me be even bolder and say, it might be…”
He gestured with his mouth toward the bottomless pit deep and dark below.
Meng Qianzi’s heart pounded heavily: The Drifting Cave had water essence, and water essence could be used to store human consciousness for a long time. Those grape-like clusters they had been suspecting were Qilin Crystals. According to what the Water Ghost had seen upon entering the Drifting Cave, water essence and Qilin Crystals were undergoing a bizarre fusion.
If those grape clusters were indeed Qilin Crystals, and Yan Luo was fishing with bait here, then the hiding place of the Drifting Cave might indeed be right beneath their feet.
She lowered her voice, as if afraid her words might be heard by countless ancient spirits deep underground: “Yan Luo was fishing for Qilin Crystals here?”
Shen Gun nodded: “Yan Luo knew nothing about any Drifting Cave. The guidance he received only told him that here, using this method, he could fish for Qilin Crystals, and whoever obtained the Qilin Crystal would gain immortality.”
Jiang Lian added: “He thought he was fishing up pure treasures, not knowing that those below were all copies, used as ‘seeds,’ carved from a dead Qilin’s body, imperfect remnants. Worse still, there was already someone ‘inside.'”
What an absurd situation. Yan Luo had gone to such lengths, killing and plundering, taking risks, joyfully fishing up Qilin Crystals, believing he would possess endless longevity, not knowing that inside that Qilin Crystal already resided a greedy demon coveting his body.
Evil people are ground down by other evil people. Walking the same path, they inevitably meet. Greedy people always encounter those who are greedier.
Meng Qianzi’s chest heaved violently; she couldn’t hold back: “But why did it have to be my Great-Grandmother Duan? I looked carefully; Great-Grandmother Duan was likely killed first, then hanged. If he needed a dead person, couldn’t he have… bought a corpse?”
Jiang Lian comforted her: “It happened over forty years ago. Great-Grandmother Duan is gone, and Yan Luo didn’t meet a good end either. It’s all in the past.”
Shen Gun thought for a moment, then shook his head: “Miss Meng, that’s not right. Any random dead person wouldn’t do. This might not be appropriate to say, but Miss Duan was the one with the highest value for money.”
“Qilin Crystals can only function for revival when combined with a human body, but that doesn’t mean they would actively approach humans. Even when fishing, you need bait, like worms or bloodworms that fish like to eat.”
“Do you remember that the Three Surname Water Ghosts built corpse nests in some of the golden soup tombs? But so far, have those corpses been activated? No. The founding master left word, leading the Water Ghosts to the Drifting Cave. They prioritized using Water Ghosts, meaning Qilin Crystals have an affinity for Water Ghosts.”
“Zong Hang was an exception, but thinking carefully, it wasn’t too exceptional: After he was killed, he was bound together with Yi Sa’s sister Yi Xiao and sunk into the lake. Yi Xiao was born a Water Ghost. It’s possible that the Qilin Crystals in the water were going after Yi Xiao and happened to benefit him as well.”
Meng Qianzi could hardly contain herself: “But my Great-Grandmother Duan was a Mountain Ghost!”
Jiang Lian gently squeezed her waist, indicating she should listen to Shen Gun continue.
“We’ve discussed before that Water Ghosts have special bloodlines, making them the most suitable conversion carriers. In other words, Water Ghosts are first-class. But beyond Water Ghosts, does it jump directly to ordinary people? I don’t think so.”
“At least, up until now, we know that among those who followed Chi You back then, several major branches still exist. These people’s bloodlines are equally special. For instance, Mountain Ghosts can share the pulse and breath of mountains; the daughters of the Sheng family can understand bell language; and Miss Kuang, her blood is also different. These people are secondary to Water Ghosts but superior to ordinary people. When baiting, if you can’t get the best, you naturally settle for the next best.”
“Now let’s look at the actual situation at that time. Could Yan Luo find Water Ghosts? No, Water Ghosts were too secretive. Could he find the Sheng family? Also, no, the Sheng family was too closed off, always hiding. Could he find the Kuang family? Even less likely, as the Kuang family was nearly exterminated, with the only bloodline taken to Southeast Asia by Kuang Tongsheng.”
Meng Qianzi smiled bitterly: “So, only Mountain Ghosts were left? That’s not wrong. Great-Grandmother Duan was a Mountain Knot, able to provide him convenience, help him clear the path, and even help him fish for Qilin Crystals after death. She was indeed… the highest value for money.”
She looked toward Duan Wenxi’s corpse, her eyes suddenly burning: “At least we’ve found her. After we get out, Great-Grandmother Duan can gather the bones of her destined mountain and won’t have to… hang here anymore.”
Shen Gun pointed to the hole from which the bronze chain hung: “Yan Luo was probably up there the whole time. After obtaining the Qilin Crystal, he also managed to get out successfully. So I think we should still look upward for the exit from the mountain intestines…”
At this point, he suddenly remembered something: “Miss Meng, how did you get to the fishing platform? Shouldn’t you have gone down nine steps, then sacrificed the phoenix feather and burned the dragon bone?”
Meng Qianzi was completely confused. She summarized her experience: “I didn’t see any nine steps, but I fell nine times on the rope ladder. Perhaps that’s what ‘down nine steps’ means?”
Shen Gun half-opened his mouth, suddenly realizing: “Ah, I understand now…”
His heart raced as he pointed to the bronze hanging chain: “That fishing platform was probably a mechanism initially, hidden, requiring search. When Yan Luo came, he burned the dragon bone with the phoenix feather, revealing the heavenly ladder…”
Jiang Lian also realized: “Where the shadow of the heavenly ladder ends, there is the fishing platform. Yan Luo found the fishing platform according to the heavenly ladder’s projection, but Great-Grandmother Duan…”
Meng Qianzi was so nervous her palms sweated: “However, my Great-Grandmother Duan’s only concern was lighting the dragon bone to see the afterlife—after burning the dragon bone, seeing the heavenly ladder, could it be…”
She had always wondered: although Great-Grandmother Duan’s martial arts might not have reached perfection, they were top-tier among the top-tier. How could someone as mediocre as Yan Luo have killed Great-Grandmother Duan?
Thinking it through, it could only have been a sneak attack.
But what circumstances would cause someone as worldly as Duan Wenxi to let her guard down so much that she failed to detect a threat and lost her life?
Could it have been “seeing the heavenly ladder”?
She looked up. Above her head, apart from the hole where the bronze chain hung down, there was only a heavy stone cover. Standing on the stone cover, burning the dragon bone with the phoenix feather, would one see the heavenly ladder? The final use of the Beast-Subduing Golden Bell was “to open the heavenly ladder,” yet from childhood to adulthood, she had never heard how to open it.
Suddenly, Meng Qianzi’s mind flashed back to that deep night in the Three Rivers Source, in the quiet mountain cave, where the Mantis Person had written that sentence:
Heavenly ladder, you are there, be careful, you will die there.