There was no shortcut to get up; they still had to climb hard. Among the three of them, only Jiang Lian had some chance of success.

Although Jiang Lian’s shoulder wound had healed about seventy to eighty percent, to be cautious, he still asked Meng Qianzi for a potent injection. Meng Qianzi had three doses left; she selected one for him. After Jiang Lian injected himself, he also pocketed the other two.

Meng Qianzi urgently said: “Hey, at least leave one injection for me, I’m injured too.”

Jiang Lian scolded her: “With that leg of yours, you still want injections? Don’t you worry that eventually, that piece of flesh will completely die and never absorb medicine again?”

It seemed to make sense. Even insects develop resistance when too much pesticide is sprayed. If she took too many injections, it probably wouldn’t be good. Meng Qianzi mumbled: “But I need to climb up too.”

“Once I get up there, I’ll pull you both up.”

“I still need to walk when we leave the mountain intestines.”

Jiang Lian ignored her, focusing on untying and retying his ropes. Noticing that Shen Gun wasn’t paying attention, he suddenly moved closer to her and whispered: “I’ll carry you on my back.”

After saying this, he coughed lightly twice and instructed Shen Gun: “Pass me that rope end, it needs to be secured firmly.”

When he looked at Meng Qianzi again, she had raised her chin and lowered her eyes, appearing completely unconcerned.

First, climbing the rope bridge, then passing through the chain on the ice corpse—neither step was easy. Fortunately, Jiang Lian came prepared, with two safety ropes around his waist and shoulders, making it many times safer than when Meng Qianzi had hung by her bare hands earlier.

Meng Qianzi watched Jiang Lian’s progress without blinking. An expert recognizes expertise; as she watched, she became more confident: it was difficult, but only a matter of time.

She glanced toward the bottom of the cave and said quietly to Shen Gun: “I heard there’s fertile soil in the Drifting Cave. Do you think it will come out and attack people?”

Shen Gun patted the flamethrower at his waist: “That’s why each of us is equipped with one of these—lessons learned from the Water Ghosts at the cost of lives.”

Many people died at the hands of fertile soil when Water Ghosts entered the Drifting Cave. It was said that the fertile soil could grow endlessly and split into countless sharp-tipped, long cords, attacking like snakes, instantly piercing through human bodies.

Having a flamethrower did provide considerable reassurance. Meng Qianzi thought for a moment, her voice dropping even lower: “And what about the water essence?”

Shen Gun snorted: “If water essence doesn’t have someone to act as its puppet and run errands, it’s no different from waste. How powerful is the Cave Spirit? Isn’t Bai Shuixiao always running back and forth for it? Besides…”

He patted his backpack: “We came fully prepared. It’s just a pity we didn’t bring the phoenix feather. I thought since there was no dragon bone, bringing it would be useless and would only cover me in a seven-colored halo… who would have thought we’d find dragon bones here?”

Meng Qianzi looked up at Jiang Lian: he had already crossed the rope bridge and successfully transferred to and embraced the ice corpse.

It was truly ironic: if it had been an ordinary hanging corpse, it absolutely could not have withstood repeated pulling and climbing. Great-Grandmother Duan turning into an ice corpse made things easier for those who came after.

She didn’t want to be definitive, to avoid giving false hope: “It might not be dragon bones; it just looks like bones. I didn’t get a clear look before I slipped and fell.”

But Shen Gun was very confident: “An ice dragon with dragon bones frozen inside—with ice having the skeleton of a dragon, isn’t that precisely an ‘ice dragon’? Layer upon layer of frost and ice accumulated over thousands of years; the naked eye can’t see it at all. If you hadn’t happened to burn it with the flamethrower, who could have discovered it? It’s hidden so ingeniously and naturally. I’m eighty percent sure it’s right.”

Meng Qianzi frowned: “That’s not right. I remember in your dream, didn’t that person say they couldn’t find the dragon bones? They only found the phoenix feather and dragon bone ashes.”

Shen Gun was unconcerned: “Miss Meng, one must view issues with a developmental perspective. My dream was just a fragment, not the complete set. They might not have found it at that time, but perhaps they found it later, and then hid it here.”

It seemed somewhat reasonable, but Meng Qianzi still felt something was off.

Jiang Lian had begun climbing the chain. The chain kept swaying in mid-air, making a clanging sound, monotonous and dreary.

Meng Qianzi said, “You always say we should view things from a holistic perspective. Don’t you feel that, looking at the big picture, this whole matter is a bit strange?”

Shen Gun didn’t grasp her point: “More than strange, it’s extremely complicated. We still haven’t figured out the complete thread of events.”

Meng Qianzi shook her head: “No, the Kuang Ancestor storyline is too peculiar.”

Shen Gun’s heart stirred: “You also feel that Kuang Ancestor is not quite right? Little Lian-Lian mentioned it too. He said that for a traitor, Kuang Ancestor knew too much.”

Meng Qianzi carefully chose her words: “We previously speculated that after arranging everything, they scattered everyone. Water Ghosts got the water essence, Mountain Ghosts got the mountain gall, the Sheng family took the bells, seven malevolent spirits entered the world, and the Kuang family took away the box—the first few make sense, but ‘the Kuang family took away the box,’ I now feel, doesn’t seem like it was arranged by them.”

Shen Gun was taken aback, not minding being spoon-fed: “Why?”

Meng Qianzi said, “Put yourself in their shoes. If I were on the throne, also considered a leader, based on my experience, first, if I assign a task to several people, these people must be of comparable strength—yet Kuang Ancestor compared to the other families isn’t even in the same league, not to mention he was a traitor.”

“Second, a thousand-mile dyke can be destroyed by an ant hole. Have you noticed that the Kuang family is that ‘ant’s nest? This entire matter was done with extreme secrecy, with the only leak being the Kuang family. Without the Kuang family, nothing would have been revealed. After the Drifting Cave drifted back to the Kunlun Mountains, it should have been the most secure, impossible to find, but Kuang Ancestor left a route map. ‘The box as interlocked teeth’—without that box, who could enter the mountain intestines? Without Kuang Ancestor’s oral account of ‘sacrifice phoenix feather, burn dragon bone, see the heavenly ladder,’ could Yan Luo have found this fishing platform?”

She gestured toward the bottom: “You say the Drifting Cave is beneath the fishing platform—such a secretive location, revealed by Kuang Ancestor’s oral account. You tell me, does this Kuang family line seem like something ‘they’ arranged?”

Shen Gun listened, his head alternately hot and cold.

It didn’t seem so. This arrangement wasn’t just inappropriate; it was a complete misstep.

Kuang Ancestor’s oral account was like intelligence carried out, revealing eight or nine-tenths of Chi You’s arrangements…

He muttered: “So Kuang Ancestor was… a double agent? I’ve been wondering, all this time, we’ve only seen Chi You’s side busy with this and that, arranging Water Ghosts, arranging Cave Spirits—what was the Yellow Emperor’s side doing? They knew the box had been stolen; didn’t they take any measures? If Kuang Ancestor was arranged by them, that would make sense…”

Before he could finish, they heard the chain rattling. Looking up urgently, there was no one on the chain anymore. Then, Jiang Lian’s face appeared from the hole: “I found the winch, behind the ice dragon. This chain can be cranked up.”

With the winch operating, things became much easier. Jiang Lian, in two separate operations, pulled up Meng Qianzi and Shen Gun.

The snow pheasant, which had been pacing leisurely at the hole below, later saw that everyone had left and became anxious. Fluttering its wings, it managed to grab onto Meng Qianzi’s shoe and also made it up to the stone cover.

Duan Wenxi’s remains had already been placed by Jiang Lian in a corner, with a piece of clothing covering her head and face. Meng Qianzi’s eyes grew hot seeing this: after so many years, Great-Grandmother Duan could finally rest peacefully.

Shen Gun had wanted to go over and bow, but as soon as he looked up, his attention was completely drawn to the ice dragon.

Honestly, the dragon wasn’t sculpted with great detail, but it had the majestic spirit of ancient times—coiled with dancing claws, head held high with hanging whiskers. Shen Gun’s breathing slowed as he gazed at it, walking around the dragon in a daze.

Jiang Lian helped Meng Qianzi sit to one side: “Alright, just sit and watch. Leave the work to us. Just give advice when necessary.”

As he was speaking, the snow pheasant also came over to sit down, squatting right next to Meng Qianzi—obedient, quiet, as if preparing to nest and lay eggs.

Jiang Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and felt somewhat emotional: humans seem omnipotent, yet at times, they’re so powerless they can’t even match a snow pheasant—just now, if it hadn’t flown over to set up the rope, he truly wouldn’t have known how to rescue Meng Qianzi.

He poked the snow pheasant’s head with his finger. The snow pheasant looked dazed, shrinking its head each time he poked it.

Jiang Lian asked Meng Qianzi: “Is this snow pheasant male or female?”

Meng Qianzi couldn’t tell clearly: “I don’t know. It’s a little girl, I suppose.”

Jiang Lian smiled and spoke to the snow pheasant: “Where do you live? Are you married? If you’re free of attachments, would you like to follow me and see the colorful world?”

Meng Qianzi chided him: “It’s a snow pheasant, used to living in high-altitude areas. Your colorful world isn’t suitable for it.”

Jiang Lian said, “I understand, it’s born and raised in the mountains; the Kunlun Mountains are its home. In this world, we meet so many likable people and things along the way. Having a connection is enough; remembering is good… Ah, let me give you a name.”

He thought for a moment: “Well, from now on you’ll share my surname, and be called…”

He leaned close to the snow pheasant’s little head and whispered a few words.

Then he straightened up, looking satisfied: “Alright, that’s your name from now on.”

Meng Qianzi was puzzled: “What name?”

Before Jiang Lian could answer, they heard Shen Gun excitedly shouting from not far away: “It’s dragon bones, it is dragon bones! These dragon bones were frozen by me!”

Holy shit, Jiang Lian turned to look at him, truly too stunned for words.

He couldn’t hold back: “Peng Zu is you, Kuang Ancestor is also you, the stone worms don’t touch you, you even suspect yourself of being a Mountain Ghost, and now the dragon bones were frozen by you? Are you electricity, are you light, are you the only myth?”

Meng Qianzi burst into laughter, laughing until her stomach hurt. Even the snow pheasant flapped its wings several times to join in the fun.

Shen Gun felt wronged: “This isn’t my fault. I suddenly… just had this feeling. Hey, Little Lian-Lian, do you have a knife? Lend me a knife.”

Jiang Lian drew his dagger, but Shen Gun looked at it, found it too small, shook his head, and took out a folding cavalry sword from his backpack.

It was requisitioned from Tao Tian before departure. It was puzzling why someone who couldn’t carry much would take so much complete equipment—was it because it was free, so he took as much as he could?

Shen Gun wielded the sword and scraped forcefully on the dragon’s body. After scraping one area, he moved to another. Ice shavings and frost particles fell continuously along the way. He had little strength and was soon gasping for breath: “Little Lian-Lian, don’t just stand there. Come help me.”

Jiang Lian responded, about to get up, when he suddenly remembered something. He brought over his backpack and unzipped it: “Want something to eat?”

Meng Qianzi gestured to her bag: “I have food. I don’t want to eat; I’m tired of it.”

Jiang Lian nodded, and zipped his bag back up: “Then don’t go through my bag, alright? In my bag, apart from energy bars, there’s absolutely nothing else.”

After saying this, he pushed his bag far away.

As he stood up, he emphasized once more: “Don’t look through it. There’s nothing in there.”

He gripped his dagger and helped Shen Gun with the scraping. His movements were much faster, cutting like slicing vegetables, all the while glancing at Meng Qianzi.

She had already grabbed his backpack and was rummaging through it.

Jiang Lian suppressed a smile, lowered his head, and continued scraping. After a while, he heard the sound of crunchy chewing.

Wasn’t this chewing a bit too provocative? Jiang Lian glanced over askance, and Meng Qianzi, who had been waiting for this moment, seeing him look over, unhurriedly picked up several pieces of crispy rice and stuffed them into her mouth all at once.

The crispy rice dropped crumbs, exciting the nearby snow pheasant, which darted back and forth, pecking vigorously on the ground.

Fine, the rations he had painstakingly saved were now shared with her and with the snow pheasant that had just taken his surname—Jiang Qiaoqiao. At least they hadn’t benefited strangers.

After sufficient scraping, the bone structure inside the ice dragon became visible.

There were nearly twenty pieces. The shape… was difficult to describe. After all, no one had ever truly seen dragon bones, but they were arranged very systematically, following the coiling direction of the dragon’s body, with a piece placed at regular intervals.

Shen Gun swallowed his saliva: “Take… take them out, Little Lian-Lian. Get them all out.”

Most of the dragon bones were still frozen deep in the solid ice. The most accessible was the area Meng Qianzi had burned with the flamethrower—the burning had been just right, removing most of the covering ice without burning the dragon bones.

After clearing the surrounding area, Shen Gun carefully reached out his hand. Jiang Lian stopped him: “You shouldn’t touch that thing carelessly, right? What if there are ancient viruses, parasites, or something on it…”

These words reminded Shen Gun, and he quickly withdrew his hand.

The two took rubber gloves from their backpacks and put them on. Still not feeling it was enough, they used the cavalry sword and its sheath as “tweezers.” Only then, holding their breath, did they extract the first piece of dragon bone.

Meng Qianzi was merely a spectator. The extracted dragon bone was entrusted to her care. She went over to examine it for quite a while, very much wanting to touch it, but restrained herself. After a pause, she asked the two who were busy extracting the second piece: “Can I keep one as a souvenir?”

Jiang Lian asked with surprise: “What do you want it for?”

Was it so hard to understand? Meng Qianzi was also puzzled: “As a souvenir. I don’t care about gold or mineral ore, but having a dragon bone displayed at home would be quite prestigious. There are more than twenty pieces here, and only one box to burn, so you definitely won’t use them all. What’s wrong with giving me one? And the phoenix feather, too, leave me one; I’ll take it back and enshrine it.”

As she spoke, the second dragon bone had also been extracted. Jiang Lian moved to the third spot, while Shen Gun continued using the cavalry sword and its sheath as tweezers, pinching the dragon bone as he walked over. Just as he approached, the snow pheasant got in the way, suddenly darting out to peck at something. Shen Gun’s vision blurred, thinking he was about to step on it, and he stumbled in panic. His hand shook, and the piece of dragon bone fell.

Meng Qianzi had just put a piece of crispy rice in her mouth when she suddenly saw something falling. Without thinking, she quickly caught it.

Only after catching it did she realize it was the dragon bone suspected of carrying ancient “viruses” and “parasites.”

The area around her suddenly went quiet. Shen Gun’s face turned pale: “Miss Meng, you, you… touched it?”

Jiang Lian was also alarmed, his hand supporting the broken dragon body, his palm ice-cold. Even the snow pheasant widened its eyes and raised its feathers.

Meng Qianzi felt mischievous and wanted to perform rapid breathing and rolling eyes to scare the two, but seeing they already looked as if the sky had fallen, she found it amusing.

She raised her hand: “It’s nothing. Nothing happened. What’s there to fear about bones, especially ones frozen in ice? Even Yan Luo touched dragon bone fragments, and he was just fine… Hmm…”

Jiang Lian found the first half of what she said reasonable and had just relaxed when her “hmm” startled him, making his scalp tingle: “What’s wrong?”

Meng Qianzi lowered her head, reached out, and slowly stroked the bone surface: “There seems to be writing on it… But it doesn’t look like writing. It’s so strange. It looks flat, but there’s a depression.”

Shen Gun’s heart began to race violently, his voice trembling as he spoke: “Wh-what writing? Miss Meng, can you… Can you write it down?”

Meng Qianzi rubbed it several times with her hand, then took out a photosensitive rock pen from her backpack and copied the exact pattern onto the stone surface beside her.

Shen Gun’s mind exploded with a boom.

No wonder she said it seemed like writing, but didn’t look like writing.

One short stroke and one long stroke, two intersecting but not overlapping strange lines—it was the oracle bone script character for “knife.”

Suddenly, Master Ba Mei’s words echoed in his ears again.

—The eyes may be deceived, but the hands will help you recognize them.