The rock walls were damp, with moss growing in the crevices. She thought that caves were actually unsuitable for storing books—the high humidity would cause pages to rot quickly.

The cave grew deeper and wider as they walked, and she even encountered an underground river. Around them was complete silence, broken only by the gentle flow of water. At this point, her heart began to race, suspecting that the Prince of Jin might have brought her here to kill her. This would indeed be an excellent place to murder someone and dispose of their body.

But she immediately mocked herself—what was so special about her that the Prince would go to such lengths to kill her?

Fortunately, Cao Dehuan in front of her finally stopped: “We’ve arrived.”

Arrived?

They had indeed reached a spacious cavern, with an area of roughly half a small football field, the ceiling at least four zhang (thirteen meters) high. But she saw no sign of any bookshelves. “So—” she asked uncertainly, “where are the books stored?”

“How could ancient manuscripts possibly be kept directly in such a damp underground environment?” After speaking, Cao Dehuan stepped forward, took up a wooden mallet, and gently struck a large brass bell beside him.

Only then did Feng Miaojun notice a red line carved into the ground in front of his toes, strikingly visible, seeming to convey a warning. And Cao Dehuan hadn’t stepped a single pace beyond it.

In this almost completely enclosed environment, the bell sound echoed again and again, making the ground beneath her feet tremble.

However, she quickly realized that the trembling wasn’t solely from the sound waves, because the ground directly in front of them suddenly began to “rise,” continuing to ascend until it stopped two zhang above their heads.

Then, it rapidly changed color.

The stones here, due to their isolation from the outside world, were as white as snow, and even sparkled with embedded quartz, mica, and other minerals. But the section of ground before Feng Miaojun’s eyes transformed to a deep green in the span of two blinks, its surface covered with irregular dark red markings.

She suddenly shuddered and stepped back.

This was no flat ground—it was a strangely-shaped monster!

When it lay flat on the ground, it could somehow compress itself as thin as a carpet, appearing to have no thickness, but with a single breath it could inflate its entire body, revealing its true form—she finally understood the true meaning of “self-expansion”!

What they had previously seen as the “ground” was the creature’s forehead. It was wide and flat, like a giant square shovel, and only when raised could one see the ten symmetrically arranged eyes below, five on the left and five on the right. Its limbs were long and slender, folded at its sides, while its belly was round and swollen.

The creature looked like a cross between a toad and a hammerhead shark. Feng Miaojun, who had never seen such a monster in either of her lives, couldn’t help but pale: “What kind of demon is this!” She immediately noticed that the monster’s four feet seemed to be “growing” from the ground, completely fused with the stone, preventing it from moving forward even the slightest bit.

Standing within the red line was completely safe.

Though the young girl hadn’t screamed, Cao Dehuan was already surprised at her composure: “This isn’t a demon, but a magical beast. Its name is ‘Expansion’—quite fitting, don’t you think?”

“Magical beast?” This was another new term for her. Cao Dehuan turned to address the creature loudly: “This young lady will be coming to read at the Smoke Sea Tower frequently. Remember her face, and don’t eat her on a whim.”

All the beast’s eyes turned to look at her at once. Feng Miaojun now noticed a deep, long scar on its left cheek, which had blinded one of its left eyes. She couldn’t help but ask curiously: “What happened to its eye?”

“It was attacked in its youth and was on the verge of death when Emperor Haoli found it, treated it, and saved its life.” Cao Dehuan removed the tightly secured cotton cloth covering his basket and took out a large piece of mutton, which he tossed over.

The mutton was about the size of her two palms, roasted to a golden-brown with slightly charred edges, emitting an unusual fragrance. As Feng Miaojun smelled it, she felt certain that some secret ingredients had been added.

The magical beast was excited, opening its mouth and swallowing the meat in one gulp. Surprisingly, its mouth was located on its forehead, normally shut so tightly that not even a crack was visible. She surmised that its usual hunting method was to lie hidden, wait for prey to walk onto its forehead, then open its mouth, causing the victim to fall into a maw filled with sharp teeth.

The little eunuch sighed as he continued feeding it, “This creature is extremely picky—it only eats six-month-old tender lambs. If they’re even a month older, it won’t eat them. It also refuses the head, legs, and tail. Heh, whatever it doesn’t eat, I get to take back for my drinking snacks.”

Feng Miaojun asked curiously: “How old is it?” A magical beast personally adopted by Emperor Haoli that had survived until now, that age must be…

“‘Expansion’ grows two new eyes for every two hundred years it lives.”

This creature had ten eyes, so that meant—”One thousand years!” she exclaimed. This beast was as long-lived as a divine turtle.

After feeding it twelve pieces, he clapped his hands at the magical beast: “Satisfied with your meal? Time to work.”

Feng Miaojun looked at his basket, wondering how it could contain so much meat.

Upon hearing this, “Expansion” exhaled loudly, as if squeezing all the air out of its body, its enormous form once again becoming a deflated carpet tightly pressed against the ground.

Finally, it opened its great mouth completely and became still.

Feng Miaojun didn’t understand and pointed to the cavern wall: “Am I supposed to walk around it?” Many legendary treasures were said to have guardian beasts, and this one probably served that purpose too, right?

“No, there’s nothing over there.” Cao Dehuan smiled mischievously—this was his favorite moment. “Welcome to the Smoke Sea Tower.”

“Wait, wait!” Feng Miaojun’s face turned pale as she shook her head repeatedly. “You’re not telling me that the Smoke Sea Tower is inside its mouth, are you?”

“No,” Feng Miaojun’s expression relaxed, but then Cao Dehuan continued, “it’s in its stomach.”

The little eunuch’s face grew solemn as he urged her: “From the moment ‘Expansion’ opens its mouth, the Smoke Sea Tower is accessible for at most five hours. Even if you don’t enter, the time is still counting down.”

“How will I get out later?”

“It will expel you when the time comes. ‘Expansion’ made a contract with the previous king—it cannot randomly devour anyone with permission to enter the Smoke Sea Tower.” Cao Dehuan’s patience had run out. “Are you going in or not?”

Placing oneself into a man-eating mouth required tremendous courage. Feng Miaojun repeated “no pain, no gain” countless times in her mind, took two deep breaths, and finally steeled herself to walk forward, closed her eyes, and jumped in.

The magical beast’s mouth snapped shut, and the area once again became an empty flat ground.

Cao Dehuan yawned and walked back, deciding to take another nap.

After a brief moment of darkness, the scene before her completely changed.

No longer in the beast’s fishy-smelling throat, she found herself in a marvelous place. She couldn’t tell how high the sky was, as the gray haze made distance impossible to gauge; nor could she tell how thick the ground was, as the grayish-white surface had not even a single crack, extending from beneath her feet to the horizon.