After leaving the manager, Peng Yi fell into deep anxiety.

No wonder he couldn’t find anyone to inquire about the Western Hunan project—those who weren’t qualified had already died, while those who were qualified had entered the water crystals and were probably now safely waiting in the Drifting Cave.

The Phoenix Eye project was likely the same. He had only lived this many more days because he was selected to continue participating in the Kunlun project.

It seemed that Chi You’s faction had nearly completed their deployment and was preparing to go into complete, quiet hibernation. Their sudden cessation of activities would eventually cause the Yellow Emperor’s faction to lose interest due to the lack of clues. After that, it would be a test of endurance.

They would hibernate within the water crystals, enduring until the Yellow Emperor’s faction had all transformed into ordinary humans, until the Qilin Crystal matured, until they saw daylight again, until their era returned with a vengeance.

Peng Yi was struck with terror, deeply feeling the weight of his responsibility. He had to deliver this information. If he could just get out, everything would be manageable: first find the mountain gallbladder, gather all the items, then enter the Nine Winding Intestines, destroy the water crystals, and burn the box.

But the key question was: how to get out?

More critically: how to get out silently, without anyone noticing? If his escape caused a commotion and the managers realized something was amiss, they might change their plans. In that case, all the intelligence he had painstakingly gathered would become worthless overnight.

Peng Yi developed his first plan.

He carefully examined the project blueprint. The mountain was divided into three sections: upper, middle, and lower.

The upper section was the Nine Winding Intestines, where nothing could be done. The lower section was the Drifting Cave, also without an exit. Only the middle section could be manipulated.

The middle section resembled a cylindrical ring. Apart from the stone platform, the inner pillar was hollow, while the outer ring pillar was covered with web-like Ice Blood Vessels.

By this time, the Ice Blood Vessels had been completed, effectively sealed, with the Mountain Intestines above and the abyss water below.

Peng Yi focused on one transverse Ice Blood Vessel. If he could create a secret passage from one side of the stone platform into the Ice Blood Vessel, use a section of it, and then create another secret passage at the end, he could reach the outside of the mountain.

This was the first step of the plan, but this task had to be done by a “dead man.”

Jiang Lian didn’t understand. “What do you mean ‘had to be done by a dead man’?”

Shen Gun was completely slumped in his seat now. The story was too complex, and he had been doing most of the talking, which was genuinely tiring. “Think about it. Their tools were certainly much more advanced than chisels and shovels, but two sections of secret passage couldn’t be created in a short time. With such strict supervision and surveillance back then, with frequent headcounts, wouldn’t it raise suspicion if you kept disappearing suddenly?”

Jiang Lian understood. “So if someone faked their death, it would be convenient—a dead person could secretly excavate a passage in the Ice Blood Vessel from morning to night. After all, the Ice Blood Vessels were already sealed at that time, so no one would go there.”

As he said this, he murmured, “Peng Yi couldn’t fake his death. Once he died, someone would come to handle his affairs… This is where Kuang Zu came in, right?”

Peng Yi summoned Kuang Zu and frankly told him that once the project was completed, it would be his death sentence.

Kuang Zu had left his homeland and betrayed his loyalties just to stay alive. Hearing this, he turned pale with fear and immediately became Peng Yi’s most devoted ally in the escape plan.

According to the plan, Peng Yi first staged Kuang Zu’s death. He reported to his superiors that after raising the stone locusts for several days, they weren’t ferocious or aggressive enough. He wanted to find a few people to feed.

After all, many people in the mountain interior were destined to die anyway. Whether they became fertilizer for the Taisui or food for the stone locusts made little difference.

This request was quickly approved.

To show he had nothing to hide, Peng Yi generously invited several leaders to watch, but he manipulated the timing: when the observers arrived, Kuang Zu had already become a meal in the stone locusts’ bellies. Only clothes and bloodstains remained on the ground, while the others were either just beginning or halfway through the process.

The scene was horrifying enough that the observers praised it admiringly. Thus, Kuang Zu “died” in a perfectly reasonable manner.

Next, Kuang Zu’s expertise was utilized once more. The secret passage could be viewed as an irregularly shaped box, and its entrance needed a lid with a mechanism to cover and open it—”To exit the intestine’s mouth, seek with your left hand at the door.” The escape route used by Shen Gun and his group was Kuang Zu’s handiwork.

From then on, Kuang Zu lived like a rat in a hole, hiding behind that door, working day and night, gradually expanding according to the plan. For safety, to prevent Kuang Zu from carelessly opening the door and being seen, the door could only be opened from the stone platform side by Peng Yi. Since Peng Yi was responsible for the stone platform project, he had plenty of opportunities to inspect it, bring food and drink to Kuang Zu, or remove excess stone materials and arrange for the stone locusts to consume them.

The secret passage progressed smoothly, and Peng Yi began implementing the second step of his plan: turning an old wound into a new one.

Jiang Lian lost track of how many times he had been confused today. “What does ‘turning an old wound into a new one’ mean?”

Shen Gun gave him a sidelong glance. “Little Lian Lian, why are you getting increasingly stupid?”

As he spoke, he pointed at his stomach. “Isn’t my stomach a vivid example? If you hadn’t previously seen an ‘S’-shaped birthmark on my stomach, and now my stomach is rotting like this, would you know there was originally a birthmark when I lift my shirt?”

This explanation was a bit convoluted. Jiang Lian thought for quite a while before suddenly realizing, “You mean…”

“Ah, that’s right,” Shen Gun said proudly. “He slipped in front of everyone, falling from the mountain wall and having his abdomen torn open by sharp rocks. Then he lifted his clothes to show everyone the wound—everyone knew he had such a wound, and they all believed it was new.”

Jiang Lian misunderstood the direction. “So this way, he could get past the posthumous cleansing process?”

Shen Gun shook his head. “He could never get past it unless he burned himself to ashes. Don’t forget, Peng Yi still had self-reproduction ability, but that chess piece didn’t. The probability of Peng Yi being exposed after death was much greater than while alive. Doing this was just to let everyone know he had this very obvious scar on his body. When people couldn’t identify him by his face, they could identify him by this characteristic.”

Jiang Lian was startled, and a chill ran through his heart like a flash of lightning. “Was he doing this to kill Kuang Zu?”

Shen Gun made a sound of agreement. “It could be disguised as an accident. Dress Kuang Zu in his clothes, let him fall from a height, his face mangled, but leaving a scar on his abdomen that many had seen before. There were only so many people in the mountain interior; the count was fixed. The dead would be you, and no one would suspect otherwise.”

Jiang Lian digested this for a while before finally letting out a long sigh. “This Peng Yi used his wits to the fullest, exploiting Kuang Zu’s death to the extreme.”

A “dead” Kuang Zu helped him set up a secret door, dig a secret passage, and then helped him escape unnoticed. Peng Yi had squeezed everything out of him—his labor, skills, and even his corpse.

Suddenly, something occurred to Jiang Lian. “So Kuang Zu was the one who died? Does this mean Meiying’s ancestor was Peng Yi?”

Shen Gun shook his head and sighed. “No, this plan was abandoned at the final stage because Peng Yi discovered a loophole he hadn’t considered.”

“The secret passage work was too slow. At the current pace, it would take at least a month or two, but the Nine Winding Intestines would be completed in a few days at most. This meant that by the deadline, the secret passage still wouldn’t be finished. Do you remember our discussion about how consciousness doesn’t perish immediately after death, which is why there’s a seven-day mourning period?”

Peng Yi qualified for having his “soul enter the water crystals.” The Kunlun project site checks headcounts daily. Once a person died, their body would certainly be found quickly. At that point, if Kuang Zu was treated as Peng Yi and entered the water crystals, wouldn’t the deception be instantly exposed? Then everything would be revealed…

By then, Peng Yi, who had taken over Kuang Zu’s chisel and shovel to continue digging the secret passage, wouldn’t have excavated two meters before being caught.

Jiang Lian put himself in Peng Yi’s position and realized it truly was a dilemma: needing to escape without drawing attention or arousing suspicion was just too…

After a while, he shamelessly asked: “So what did he… end up doing?”

Shen Gun answered, “Peng Yi finally realized he couldn’t get out, but Kuang Zu had a much higher probability of escaping. Rather than wasting time figuring out his escape, he might as well focus on how to work through Kuang Zu.”

At this point, he suddenly changed the subject. “Little Lian Lian, have I ever told you about a method used by the Jiu Ling Sheng family called ‘Butterfly Transformation’?”

Jiang Lian nodded.

He remembered it was a kind of “blood fusion and replacement.” If a person, even if not from the Sheng family, had their blood replaced with that of a Sheng family member, they might give birth to Sheng family descendants with bell-control abilities.

However, those who underwent “Butterfly Transformation” often didn’t live long and died painfully. Shi Jiaxin, Shen Gun’s roommate in the mansion at Wuwu Town, had a girlfriend named You Si who died young due to this transformation. Shi Jiaxin’s hair turned white overnight from the grief, and he eternally regretted it, continuing to live like a walking corpse.

Shen Gun said, “Peng Yi didn’t leave. What he had Kuang Zu take out was the cursed blood extracted from his scar and that box. After the Mountain Intestines were sealed, the stone locusts would be released. Peng Yi had raised the stone locusts, and his blood would help Kuang Zu avoid the threat of the stone locusts.”

“These two items were to be delivered to the Peng clan settlement. Although Kuang Zu had been a traitor and couldn’t be entrusted with major matters, Peng Yi believed that since he had saved his life, Kuang Zu could be relied on for this small favor.”

A thought struck Jiang Lian. “You just mentioned ‘Butterfly Transformation.’ When Peng Yi had Kuang Zu carry his blood out, was he also planning to have his family members help with blood fusion?”

Shen Gun didn’t answer directly. “Little Lian Lian, do you remember on our way to the Three Rivers Source, we were looking through a book about Peng Zu? You mentioned that Peng Zu had many sons, all biological, yet none inherited his abilities. You also said that the Peng Zu family, if it had continued to the present day, would be a massive clan, rivaling the Mountain Ghosts and Water Ghosts in scale.”

Did he say that? Jiang Lian had long forgotten.

Shen Gun spoke slowly, with a somewhat dazed look in his eyes. “The God Race at that time, in terms of branches, had at least several dozen, maybe over a hundred. Each family probably had some special abilities, but later, as they became ordinary humans, these abilities disappeared.”

“But why didn’t the abilities of the Mountain Ghosts, Water Ghosts, Jiu Ling Sheng family, and even the Kuang family disappear? Each generation always has a few. What do you think is their common point?”

Jiang Lian couldn’t say. He felt he was being a bit slow today. “The common point is… they all followed Chi You?”

Shen Gun sighed, not even bothering to show disdain anymore. “Don’t you think it’s because they all possess certain special artifacts? The mountain gallbladder doesn’t have much to do with the Mountain Ghosts; it’s just stored with them. That’s why when I earlier asked the Elder Auntie to let me handle the mountain gallbladder, she was very hesitant, and I didn’t press the issue. What the Mountain Ghosts have is the Gold Bell; the Sheng family has the Nine Bells; the Water Ghosts have the water crystals; and the Kuang family has the box. These families have propagated generation after generation alongside these artifacts. The existence of these artifacts stimulated their innate extraordinary abilities, and with these abilities, they could, in turn, use these artifacts.”

Put that way, it truly was a “common point.” Jiang Lian’s heart raced. “Then… would the destruction of these artifacts cause these abilities to disappear as well?”

Shen Gun neither confirmed nor denied this. “Now, back to me. In ancient times, people had many children. The Peng clan, if it had continued to the present day, would be a massive family, rivaling the Mountain Ghosts and Water Ghosts in scale—what if such a family exists?”

“The exact method of blood fusion in the Peng family wasn’t explained in the message I received, but fusion within the same clan and surname should be different from the Sheng family’s unnatural methods. The person who fused with Peng Yi’s blood gradually branched out, his descendants multiplied, and like the Mountain Ghosts, Water Ghosts, and Sheng family, in each of his generations, there might be one or several special individuals. These people were born with an obsession, a deep interest in strange and mysterious things, a relentless pursuit of certain items.”

Jiang Lian’s scalp tingled. “Are you talking about yourself?”

Shen Gun’s gaze was somewhat unfocused, looking far ahead through the car’s windshield. “Perhaps such people are born with peculiarities and are abandoned, or perhaps I was just abandoned in a particular era. The artifact they possess is the cursed blood in the ‘S’-shaped birthmark, so they are born with Peng Yi’s unfulfilled obsession. When the time is right, memories gradually activate. If this is true, Little Lian Lian, over the past thousands of years, each generation has had several Shen Guns continuously seeking and searching. Perhaps now, in this world, there isn’t just one Shen Gun.”

Each generation had its Shen Guns, and in this generation, there was more than one. They existed in different times and spaces but shared the same obsession, advancing toward the same goal, like climbing the same mountain. Due to different circumstances, some never found the entrance, some reached the foot of the mountain, and some climbed halfway up.

Jiang Lian got goosebumps. “These Shen Guns should… look different from each other, right?”

If they all looked the same, sharing the same face, the thought was truly eerie.

This question successfully interrupted Shen Gun’s historical contemplation. He responded irritably, “Of course they’re different. Don’t the daughters of the Mountain Ghosts, Water Ghosts, and the Sheng family all have their appearances? However, perhaps it was destined, but I look the most like Peng Yi, and among many, I’m the one closest to the truth.”

Looking back at everything now, it all seemed clear, suddenly imbued with a sense of fate. “Too much time has passed, and those memories have been buried deeper and deeper. Sometimes they never awaken in a lifetime, only activating at specific moments. Thinking about it now, Peng Yi’s greatest obsession was his inability to find the mountain gallbladder, which was, coincidentally, the most important item, a key word.”

Jiang Lian was startled, almost crying out. “At that time, you seemed to be in the service center… when you heard the words ‘mountain gallbladder,’ you immediately followed the Seventh Auntie, and then you dreamed about the box…”

Shen Gun reflected, “Yes, and that’s how we’ve come all this way. I’ve even been to places Peng Yi never went: Xuandan Cliff Forest in Western Hunan, the Phoenix Eye in Guangxi, and finally the Nine Winding Intestines in Kunlun.”

At this point, he lifted his clothes again, revealing his abdomen covered with bandages. “Those people not only failed to find the box but also opened it with blood. They can’t stop now. You asked what my motive was for burning the box was? Here it is, this is the curse he placed in the blood.”

Now Jiang Lian understood. It truly was a long story. Looking outside, the night seemed to be growing thinner.

Another vehicle passed by, a logistics truck. Its cargo compartment probably contained countless express deliveries. The driver, seeing this car parked by the roadside for so long, seemed curious and slowed down, lowering his window to call out, “Friend, have you broken down? Need any help?”

Jiang Lian also lowered his window, waving toward the truck. “Thanks, just chatting.”

As the logistics truck drove away, the night wind carried back the sound of laughter. “Chatting in a place like this in the middle of the night? Must be with a woman.”

Jiang Lian wanted to laugh, but perhaps the story was too heavy, and he couldn’t manage it.

After a pause, he asked Shen Gun, “Didn’t you say Kuang Zu was supposed to deliver both the box and the blood to the Peng clan settlement? Did Kuang Zu… keep the box for himself?”

Shen Gun sighed. “The human heart, hidden inside the belly. That message was left by Peng Yi in the mountain interior. He couldn’t possibly know what Kuang Zu did after leaving the mountain. I only know that Kuang Zu took an oath at that time, swearing he would deliver it, never keeping it for himself, or else his descendants would suffer torment, generation after generation, until the last person.”

The last person wasn’t Meiying, precisely the last person?

The wind was too strong, blowing back and forth inside the car, making the tissue paper on the armrest rustle loudly. Jiang Lian closed the window again. “If Peng Yi could place a curse on his descendants, I believe he must have also tampered with the box, just in case Kuang Zu went back on his word. The Kuang family’s strange illness must have originated from this—’ You wanted it? Then keep guarding it. Consider it safekeeping for me until I come to retrieve it. Don’t lose it; if you move too far away, you’ll all die horribly.”

Shen Gun shared this thought. “Kuang Zu probably had his eye on the Qilin Crystal. As a God Race member, he knew how precious it was. I previously thought the oral account was written by me, but now I know it was indeed him. He was working in the mountain interior, following Peng Yi, and heard a lot. At that time, news was spreading throughout the Nine Winding Intestines. He probably had these thoughts early on.”

The oral account was written by Kuang Zu, and the mountain terrain map should also have been drawn by him, including the reflection in the lake—as a craftsman, these would have been simple tasks for Kuang Zu.

Jiang Lian fell silent.

The message left by Peng Yi, to prevent accidents, probably couldn’t be read by just anyone who opened the box. If Kuang Zu had kept his promise and sent both the blood and the box back, then passed them to the Yellow Emperor, with the Yellow Emperor’s divine powers, arranging blood fusion, opening the box with blood, and obtaining the message shouldn’t have been difficult. It might even have freed the descendants from the blood curse.

He suddenly felt a sense of dread. “Fortunately, this Kuang Zu wasn’t completely evil. If he had simply run off with the box and thrown away Peng Yi’s blood, then all of Peng Yi’s efforts would truly have been in vain… Seriously, though, is there a cure for Meiying’s illness? If she dies when the box is burned, and you die if it isn’t burned, this puts us in an impossible situation.”

Shen Gun answered, “There is. Don’t forget, the box returning to me means it’s back in the hands of Peng Yi’s descendant. Successfully burning the box fulfills Peng Yi’s wish—the Kuang family’s curse would end there.”

Jiang Lian stared at Shen Gun for a long time. “So you left with the box without saying a word because you thought you weren’t harming Meiying but doing her a favor, silently helping her?”

Shen Gun’s face genuinely showed the modesty of someone whose good deed done anonymously had been discovered.

Jiang Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “This isn’t a bad thing. Why did you have to be so secretive and not tell us?”

This question made Shen Gun dejected again. After a pause, he said, “Mountain Ghost has lost quite a few people. It wouldn’t be right to drag them into danger again for my half-dead, half-alive stomach. This is entirely my matter. And you, your wounds haven’t fully healed.”

“It’s quite simple, just destroying a water crystal and burning a box. I can handle it. Besides, didn’t Grand Master Ge mention me? Good fortune, long life—I’ll succeed, so don’t worry about it.”

Jiang Lian smiled. “First, if you can handle it all, it seems there’s no danger, so it’s fine if I come along. Second, perhaps it’s precisely because I go that you succeed, just that Grand Master Ge didn’t see it. Third, for something that will completely cure Meiying’s illness, I should at least be there to support… When we get there, do we just take out the mountain gallbladder, then light the Phoenix Plume to burn the Dragon Bone, placing the box on top? Have you gathered all the items for the box?”

Shen Gun pushed up his glasses. “According to the message I received, that’s how it works. The items are almost complete; the most critical ones are sufficient.”

Jiang Lian started the car again. “That seems easy enough. I kept feeling when we left last time that something was missing, that things weren’t finished. It turns out this feeling was right.”

He looked down at his phone. “When we have a signal, I’ll let Qianzi know so she doesn’t worry.”

Shen Gun said, “I suggest you don’t tell her. If you do, there’s an eight or nine out of ten chance she’ll follow us. Miss Meng should never go to that Nine Winding Intestines again in this lifetime.”

Jiang Lian was startled. “Why?”

Having promised Gao Jinghong not to spread certain information, Shen Gun couldn’t say much and had to be diplomatic. “Do you remember when we were at the Three Rivers Source, that mantis person cursed Miss Meng with writing?”

Jiang Lian responded quickly. “You mean that sentence, ‘You will die at the Celestial Ladder’?”

Shen Gun attributed everything to intuition. “Don’t ask me why, but I just feel that sentence wasn’t groundless. If Miss Meng wants to stay safe and sound, she’d better not go there again.”

Jiang Lian fell silent, slowly putting his phone away.

The car interior sank back into silence. The wind had diminished considerably. Occasionally, one could hear the swishing sound of the car body against the road surface. After what seemed like a long time, Jiang Lian suddenly said, “In what you just told me about Peng Yi, there’s one point I still don’t understand.”

Shen Gun made a sound of acknowledgment. “Go ahead.”

“What happened to Peng Yi? If he didn’t leave that place, then he died there. Didn’t you say the risk of exposure was even greater after his death?”

Shen Gun wasn’t certain; the message he received didn’t mention this part.

He thought for a moment. “Maybe he burned himself completely, until not a piece of skin or bone remained. Burned to ashes, a person probably couldn’t self-reproduce anymore.”

This seemed somewhat plausible. Jiang Lian remembered that when Shen Gun was knocked unconscious by Meng Qianzi and spoke in delirium, he had also mentioned things like “not a piece of skin left, burn it all.”

“What about the box? Kuang Zu took the box, and no one inside ever noticed?”

“After everyone inside was gone, Kuang Zu continued digging the secret passage for a month or two. Maybe he waited until everyone inside was dead before taking the box.”

This was a forced explanation. Jiang Lian refuted, “That door was one-way, only opening from the stone platform side. Once Peng Yi died, no one could open the door for Kuang Zu. How could he possibly wait until everyone inside died before coming out to take it?”

That was a valid point. Shen Gun frowned. “Then, perhaps he made a replica and switched it with the real one?”

Jiang Lian didn’t respond.

It still seemed far-fetched. The material of that box was so unique—where in the mountain interior could one find similar material to make a replica?