About thirty people filed into the narrow opening through the Golden Armored War God’s ear. The entrance proved challenging, as the passage was extremely tight. It felt as if the tunnel had been formed by several fissures that cracked through the War God’s body during an earthquake. People had to squeeze through sideways like flatbread pressed against an oven wall, carefully inching their way down the spiral passage. Even someone with Nie Jiuluo’s build found it cramped, let alone the others.
The passage carried the musty smell of years of accumulated dust. Along the way, voices occasionally called out “I’m stuck, give me a push!” or “Damn it, help pull me through!”
Anyone slightly overweight wouldn’t even make it through to Qingrang.
Though the atmosphere was tense and laughter seemed inappropriate, Nie Jiuluo couldn’t help finding it amusing. She tried hard to suppress her laughter while mischievously waiting to see if Yan Tuo would get stuck.
Yan Tuo did indeed get caught at one point, though not because of his size—his backpack strap had somehow snagged on something and took a while to free. Nie Jiuluo doubled over with laughter, to which Yan Tuo could only respond helplessly after removing his pack: “You’re treating this like a spring outing.”
“But it’s funny! Why can’t I laugh?” Nie Jiuluo retorted.
…
The descent through the Golden Armored War God took at least twenty minutes, though this was mainly due to the difficult passage.
Eventually, even the most challenging path comes to an end.
Various discussions broke out among the group.
“Are we at the heel now? Left foot or right foot?”
“Should be the left foot, since we entered through the left ear—it has to correspond.”
So this was the “Golden Man Gate”—an entrance requiring passage through the body, entering from the head and exiting through the feet. Nie Jiuluo found it fascinating. She had always assumed the Golden Man Gate was simply a sturdy gold-cast door with the outline of a golden figure carved on it.
The ancestors had more imagination than she’d given them credit for.
Xing Shen’s voice carried from the front: “Our team will go first. Sun Li will guard the gate. We’ll see you all inside.”
Though his voice wasn’t particularly loud, the tense atmosphere returned immediately. Everyone fell silent, listening to the departing footsteps and the eerie sounds that suddenly rushed in when the door opened and closed.
With half the group gone, the “human presence” diminished sharply. When those strange sounds arose, many people shuddered involuntarily.
Someone asked nervously, “Why is there sound? It’s like wind blowing—how can there be wind underground?”
Yu Rong replied, “Didn’t you study? The wind is just air movement caused by temperature differences. Since underground temperatures vary, of course, there’s wind.”
The person continued, “Will it rain too?”
This was beyond Yu Rong’s expertise. She responded irritably, “Yes! And there’ll be thunder too!”
Several people couldn’t help but laugh. Through the laughter, Sun Li asked, “Who from your team will stay to guard the gate?”
Each team had to leave one person to guard the gate. Comparatively, gate duty was the better assignment with the highest safety factor.
Yu Rong considered for a moment: “Que Cha can guard. Any objections?”
She knew Que Cha was skilled with a bow, but in Qingrang, dangers came from all directions. Que Cha’s overall abilities were still lacking, making her more suited to sniping from a fortified position.
No one objected—to compete with Que Cha for this duty would suggest they were inferior to her.
Que Cha looked somewhat disappointed: “I can’t go in?”
Yu Rong explained, “In close combat, arrows won’t be much use, and who could protect you then? You and Sun Li can guard the entrance—it’s no small responsibility. If we return and find the Golden Man Gate closed, we’ll be trapped inside forever.”
Yan Tuo started, moving closer to Nie Jiuluo: “The Golden Man Gate can’t be opened from Black and White Rapids?”
“Of course not,” Nie Jiuluo replied. “The Golden Man Gate was built to contain the Di Xiao. It can only be opened from the outside. If it could be opened from the inside, wouldn’t the Di Xiao have escaped long ago?”
After thinking for a moment, she added, “I suspect the passage through the body only exists when the Golden Man Gate is activated. Once it returns to its normal position, the passage disappears. So even if the Di Xiao found the stone door at the heel and broke through it, they’d just find solid stone inside.”
An hour passed quickly, and Yu Rong raised her hand: “Let’s go.”
She activated the mechanism to open the stone door and led the way out.
Presumably for concealment, the area beyond the stone door continued as a winding cave tunnel rather than opening immediately. Only after walking some distance did they emerge from the cave.
The view suddenly expanded before them—an enormous, downward-slanting crevasse, like an endless tongue split toward the earth’s depths. The surroundings weren’t pitch black; as far as the eye could see, patches of dimly glowing patterns were scattered about.
Nie Jiuluo went to examine the nearest patch. It was made of luminous stones.
Yan Tuo followed: “Anything special about them?”
Nie Jiuluo pointed to the patterns on the ground: “These are cloud scroll patterns, a common bronze decoration. I studied ancient decorative patterns—this style first appeared during the Warring States period and became popular in the Qin Dynasty.”
Yu Rong knew nothing about this and couldn’t contribute, but someone else chimed in: “They say this was built during the Chan Tou Army’s peak in the Qin Dynasty. They spent several years working down here, and though they used fire for light, wood, and oil were too costly. So they brought in lots of luminous stones—paving paths, making signs, building markers—firstly for lighting, and secondly, because Di Xiao dislikes light, so it acts as a barrier too. But they’re all placed in the outer areas; there are fewer as you get closer to Black and White Rapids.”
Quite sophisticated, thought Nie Jiuluo as she examined several more stones nearby. Indeed, they featured common ancient patterns—besides cloud scrolls, there were zigzag patterns, cloud-and-vapor patterns, and others. Though not as bright as modern lighting, it was adequate to see by.
Yu Rong had no interest in such matters. She wouldn’t have cared if they’d carved Pikachu into the stones—as long as they provided light, that was enough.
She quickly organized the group: Gou family member Wu Qinghe and map reader Mao Liang took the lead, with Sun Zhou providing cover. The others were positioned either front or back, with six Di Xiao—hooded in black bags and bound together in a line—held in the middle. She didn’t try to control where Nie Jiuluo and Yan Tuo walked; they could choose their positions.
After arranging everyone, she noticed Que Cha—how polite, escorting them to the cave entrance.
Yu Rong thought for a moment and instructed her quietly: “If people return as a large group, that’s fine, but if they come back individually or in small numbers, be extra careful.”
Que Cha didn’t understand: “Careful of what?”
“Watch for signs of being grabbed or bitten.”
Que Cha nodded quickly, her heart pounding as she realized the importance of her responsibility.
As previously agreed, both front and rear teams would follow the same route. Every half hour, Xing Shen’s group would mark the ground with luminous powder to indicate they had safely passed through that section.
Half an hour into their journey, Yu Rong’s group discovered the first marker left by Xing Shen—α.
The path ahead seemed relatively smooth. Though they were underground and the surroundings were eerie, with occasional strange air currents passing by, the presence of the advance team and the protection of Gou family member Wu Qinghe and the eccentric Sun Zhou kept everyone’s spirits relatively high. Still, they tacitly avoided loud chatter to prevent unnecessary trouble.
…
As previously mentioned, the luminous stones were indeed only laid in the outer areas, becoming scarcer as they proceeded deeper.
By their calculations, they should soon find the second marker, β.
Everyone’s eyes habitually began scanning the ground when suddenly, Wu Qinghe stopped in his tracks. His nostrils flared rapidly several times.
Though subtle, this motion served as a silent warning, causing everyone to freeze in place.
Yu Rong licked her lips and lowered her voice: “What is it?”
Wu Qinghe waved his hand, continuing to flare his nostrils while sniffing the air and turning to the side.
Yu Rong glanced at Sun Zhou.
Sun Zhou showed no unusual reaction.
After a moment, Wu Qinghe swallowed and said with certainty: “Blood smell.”
Blood smell?
Nie Jiuluo’s heart tightened: Surely not—they’d barely entered, how could trouble arrive so quickly?
Yan Tuo unzipped his backpack. As a team member, he’d been issued guns—two of them since Nie Jiuluo wasn’t comfortable with firearms and had poor aim, so both were assigned to him.
Seeing him arm himself, others quickly followed suit.
The blood smell—could it be Xing Shen’s group? Yu Rong’s scalp tingled: “Is it Xing Shen’s team?”
Wu Qinghe looked troubled: “Well… I can only detect blood, not whose it is. The smell isn’t very strong, but it’s coming from this direction.”
He pointed the way to Yu Rong.
This direction deviated from their planned route.
Yu Rong began scratching her head; she wasn’t particularly skilled at making decisions as a team leader.
Nie Jiuluo couldn’t help asking: “If Xing Shen ran into trouble or changed direction, would he leave a marker?”
Yu Rong nodded vigorously: “Absolutely.”
Nie Jiuluo looked at Mao Liang: “Take two people and continue along the planned route. Run ahead quickly, there and back, see if you can find β or any other markers.”
If they found one, it would mean Xing Shen had continued forward. When he passed through, perhaps there hadn’t been any blood smell, so he hadn’t noticed.
Mao Liang understood immediately. He picked two people, turned on their flashlights, loaded their guns, and darted off like a gust of wind.
After about ten minutes, the three came sprinting back, panting as they reached the group: “Yes, yes, we saw β ahead.”
Nie Jiuluo sighed in relief, but grew more puzzled: if Xing Shen’s team was fine, where was this blood smell coming from?
All anomalies deserved attention—they might be clues. Yu Rong swallowed: “Should we check it out?”
The group reached a consensus and briefly changed direction.
Wu Qinghe continued walking and sniffing. Earlier he’d said the blood smell wasn’t strong because they were far away, but as they got closer, the scent seemed increasingly complex.
Sun Zhou also became noticeably alert, probably due to his sensitivity to Di Xiao after being victimized by them. Yu Rong noticed him constantly baring his teeth, occasionally scratching the ground, and suddenly leaping onto raised terrain before darting back down.
The light grew dimmer. Some turned on flashlights, others donned night vision goggles. As they walked, someone with sharp eyes but little courage nearly collapsed, pointing ahead and screaming: “A person! A person!”
Damn it, you shouldn’t scream in a place like this. Yu Rong angrily shouted: “Shut up!”
Then she looked straight ahead.
There was indeed a person, sprawled on the ground, clearly no longer breathing.
How could there be someone here? Yu Rong pulled out and activated a light stick from her waist pack for a closer look.
It was a man in his thirties, pale-faced and gaunt. His death had been brutal—his throat was nearly split in half, his head resting completely in a pool of blood.
Yu Rong knelt and tested the blood’s viscosity with her finger. It had coagulated, and the edges had dried.
Who could have done this? It couldn’t be Xing Shen’s group…
As she pondered, Wu Qinghe suddenly cried out: “This is Old Guo! He’s one of ours!”
Yu Rong jumped at the sudden outburst, but couldn’t be angry now: “One of ours?”
Though she couldn’t name everyone in Xing Shen’s team, she recognized their faces, and there hadn’t been any Old Guo among them.
Wu Qinghe trembled so much he stammered: “He’s… he’s one of ours, Sister Yu, you haven’t met him because he was… kidnapped before you arrived, taken with Uncle Jiang and the others.”
Holy shit!
Yu Rong suddenly understood.
He was one of the hostages Lin Xirou wanted to exchange with them!
It wasn’t even time for the exchange yet—how did he end up dead here?
She jumped to her feet, lips dry: “Quick, look around! Are there any more of our people?”
Everyone had friends or relatives among the kidnapped, and panic set in as they scattered to search.
Nie Jiuluo grew tense as well. Had Lin Xirou snapped and killed all the hostages? What about Jiang Baichuan? Had something happened to him too?
Her scalp tingled as she circled. With people everywhere, she didn’t know which direction to search, when she heard Yan Tuo call: “A Luo.”
Yan Tuo?
Nie Jiuluo looked around and saw him crouched by a stone mound, flashlight in hand, completely still.
There wasn’t a corpse there—had he found some discarded item?
Nie Jiuluo hurried over in two quick strides and bent down to look, but saw no obvious objects.
Yan Tuo grabbed her arm: “Crouch down, here, look from this angle.”
Nie Jiuluo knelt, and after a moment, her heart began to race.
She knew what Yan Tuo wanted her to see.
This earthen mound had been bumped before, causing loose soil to fall. Someone had walked past, leaving footprints.
The footprint was barefoot.
And judging by its size, it appeared to be… a child’s footprint.
After Yu Rong’s group left, Que Cha felt somewhat bored.
Guard duty was tedious enough, and she wasn’t familiar with Sun Li. With a woman’s typical sensitivity, she felt uncomfortable being alone with a strange man. Though not all men would act like Da Tou and let desire cloud their judgment—but what if?
So she kept her distance from Sun Li, finding the cave air stagnant and too confined. She preferred watching from the entrance, where the view was expansive, albeit eerily fascinating.
The underground world, the Di Xiao.
Yu Rong hadn’t taken her through Qingrang because she thought Que Cha couldn’t protect herself in danger—that she’d be a burden, right? Que Cha wanted to prove herself. If only a Di Xiao would appear now, she could take it down with one arrow. Then Yu Rong would know that she, Que Cha, was quite capable.
She took down her crossbow, loaded an arrow, and tilted her head to look through the sight, scanning and pivoting toward the endless darkness. The lighting was still decent here. She’d heard Di Xiao were very large—if one came, she definitely wouldn’t miss it.
As she aimed, Que Cha suddenly furrowed her brow.
In the dim distance ahead, there seemed to be a shadow stumbling about.
Xing Shen and Yu Rong’s groups had just left—they couldn’t be returning “sporadically” so soon, could they?
Suspecting she’d imagined it, Que Cha rubbed her eyes hard and looked again.
No mistake—there was a human figure.