This was someone who really loved carving.

Jian Chou didn’t quite understand why Shangren Buyu would have such a hobby.

She suppressed the doubts in her heart and looked carefully at these carvings.

Around the pitch-black round opening, there were carvings winding around like intertwining branches.

The first carving was actually a palm-sized small jar with a tiny cricket crouching inside. One wing extended out but was somewhat damaged, as if it had been injured.

This type of jar was very familiar to Jian Chou.

She had stayed in the capital, where cockfighting, dog racing, bird keeping, and cricket raising were the four essential skills that all idle young men of Great Xia had to master.

Often when walking on the streets, reaching the more prosperous teahouse alleys, one could see these people carrying cricket jars wandering about.

Her heart stirred, and she continued looking.

The stone carving was quite subtle. The second image showed another cricket being placed into the jar to confront the one with the injured wing, and then they began fighting.

The injured cricket retreated step by step, being knocked over by that tall black general, lying face up to the sky, struggling to flip over but immediately being suppressed by that fierce opponent.

Fighting again and again, falling again and again…

The stone carving was still of the cricket jar, but in the later carving, the “black general” had disappeared, leaving only a lonely, defeated cricket.

It couldn’t retract its injured wing and could only huddle in the corner of the jar. A beam of light fell from above, landing right in front of it.

This was a very strange carving.

The carver had carefully used ink to clearly divide the light and shadow. The light fell down, landing in front of that little cricket, but never covering it.

Thus, the little cricket remained always in shadow.

At that moment, Jian Chou couldn’t help but feel an irrepressible sensation in her heart—

It was looking outside the jar!

At a world that originally belonged to it!

As if to confirm her guess, the final image finally appeared.

The injured wing trembled as it lifted up, and the little cricket swayed and wobbled, actually managing to fly up, flying toward the narrow opening of the jar, flying toward the patch of heavenly light streaming in from outside, flying toward the vast world that originally belonged to it…

Thump, thump, thump.

That was the sound of Jian Chou’s heartbeat.

The final carving was frozen in such a scene of spreading wings. Although the background was still just such a small jar, the artistic conception suddenly became expansive.

She didn’t know if the carver’s chisel possessed some kind of magic, but Jian Chou actually felt a surging emotion.

She couldn’t help but raise her hand, her fingertips stroking over the rough stone surface.

Fine stone fragments fell off, dropping down like dust, disturbing whatever was inside that round opening.

“Chirp chirp…”

Two soft calls.

For a moment, Jian Chou was reminded of summer evenings, the night moon, grass clusters, moist grass roots, and crickets hiding in the grass, lying on the ground chirping.

“Buzz.”

A point of dim blue light, like a drop of water falling on a lake surface, suddenly spread out blue ripples.

The pitch-black round opening before Jian Chou that had been impenetrable to sight suddenly became as bright as a mirror.

This was a shallow blue light screen, transparent like glazed glass.

The moment the blue light appeared, Jian Chou had already stepped back two paces, her entire body tense.

However, no strange phenomena occurred, nor did any attacks happen.

What appeared was only that suddenly clear round opening.

“A cricket?”

Through this transparent light screen, the instant she saw clearly what existed behind it, Jian Chou felt a sense of “as expected” in her heart.

It was a cricket crouching in the depths of the round opening, looking exactly the same as the cricket in the carvings.

But…

Jian Chou suddenly frowned. Even through this layer of light screen, she could sense that kind of weak, aged condition.

This was not a cricket that could still fight three hundred rounds with its kind, or even one that could spread its wings and fly again when injured.

It just lay there, no different from a stone growing on the high wall, no different from a handful of scattered yellow earth, no different from a lifeless corpse.

It was an old cricket, a weak old cricket.

“Chirp chirp…”

Even its voice was somewhat sluggish, aged, like a bellows.

“Who are you?”

The two antennae on its head moved, and it actually voiced an aged question.

Jian Chou was slightly surprised, guessing it was the same as the red butterfly she had seen in “Wandering in Hesitation” earlier, so she carried a bit of respect in her attitude: “I am…”

But she had only spoken two words and hadn’t had time to identify herself when the cricket tremblingly spoke up, as if it hadn’t heard her at all, interrupting her.

“Has master come to take us away?”

“…”

Master?

Referring to Shangren Buyu?

Jian Chou couldn’t quite understand the meaning of these words for a moment. After hesitating briefly, she still replied: “Senior misunderstands. This junior comes from Yashan in the Central Domain, hoping to enter the Hidden Realm to obtain items related to the ‘Nine Curves River Map’…”

Shangren Buyu’s ascension had been a very long time ago, even nearly a thousand years ago.

The carvings around the round opening must have been left by Shangren Buyu before his ascension. This cricket looked unremarkable and carried an air of weakness, but was genuinely a “thousand-year-old monster.”

Therefore, Jian Chou addressing this cricket as “senior” and calling herself “junior” was reasonable.

“Chirp chirp…”

It made several more calls of unclear meaning.

After hearing Jian Chou’s words, the old cricket remained silent for quite a while, then actually turned its head and turned its back to her, shuffling toward the interior of the cave. It only said: “I don’t know about Hidden Realm matters. Go ask someone else.”

There was a long sigh in its voice.

Jian Chou was stunned.

Don’t know?

Ask someone else?

Which someone else?

She opened her mouth, wanting to ask this cricket senior for clarification. Even if it didn’t know about Hidden Realm matters, it should be able to point out the correct path in the maze, right?

Unexpectedly, after the cricket turned and walked inside for just a moment, before Jian Chou could make a sound, the light screen that had spread out like ripples earlier dimmed.

The entire opening immediately returned to its pitch-black state.

Jian Chou reached out to touch this darkness, but her hand met hard stone, as if the pitch-black opening inhabited by the cricket was just an illusion she had seen.

“Interesting…”

The Hidden Realm of a powerful cultivator was indeed marvelous.

This couldn’t be accomplished by mere illusion techniques.

Jian Chou pondered silently for a while, then looked back to see that the four high walls surrounding her actually had quite a few stone openings.

She immediately understood what the cricket meant.

The maze array also housed many “spirit beasts” like the cricket.

But she still didn’t understand what the cricket’s first question meant when it saw her.

Having just looked at the carvings and exchanged a few words with the cricket, some more time had passed.

Although Jian Chou was the first to enter the maze array and held a Dao Seal, she didn’t dare to dawdle. If something unexpected happened outside and those few from the Shanyin Sect entered together with Xie Buchen, she would be in trouble.

Therefore, the doubts in Jian Chou’s mind only flashed briefly, remaining in her heart but not taking time to ponder deeply for now.

She walked toward another opening without hesitation, simultaneously patting her spirit beast pouch and summoning Xiao Diao.

Seeing daylight again, Xiao Diao became excited: “Awoo!”

Master, you remembered this marten again, so happy!

Jian Chou smiled slightly. When she turned her head, she only saw a gray shadow flash by. Xiao Diao was slippery and quick as lightning, immediately jumping onto her shoulder while hugging the Dijiang bone jade that had somehow already opened its eyes.

When Jian Chou looked over, it also looked back.

Two ink-painted eyes, one large and one small, with a small pouting mouth, looking just awakened and lazy.

However, after seeing Jian Chou, those two eyes blinked and actually squinted, the little mouth grinning like a foolish child, showing Jian Chou what could be called an “honest” smile.

“…”

Could this child have been hugged silly by Xiao Diao?

Jian Chou lightly tapped her chin with her finger, her heart twitching for a long while.

Xiao Diao’s origins were unknown, and it had a whole set of bad habits, almost possessing a natural rogue temperament.

Although the bone jade had been spiritually awakened for a long time, it had previously been tormented by that wisp of Dijiang’s remnant soul. Only after following her had it been enlightened with the eye-dotting brush, making it like a blank sheet of paper. She would need to find time to educate it properly later, or what if Xiao Diao led it astray?

Moreover…

Being led astray wasn’t even the most troublesome thing.

What Jian Chou feared most was this child being made silly by Xiao Diao.

“Sigh…”

A long sigh.

Jian Chou reached out to pat the foolishly smiling bone jade, walking to the next opening with considerable worry.

But this time, the opening was completely unobstructed, and Jian Chou could see at a glance what was inside the not-very-spacious cave.

A set of pale white bones.

The delicate bones presented a grayish-white color, as if they could be knocked down with a light touch of a finger.

Standing on two feet in the position closest to the cave entrance, neck raised, the small head seemingly looking outside the cave—it was a small bird.

Before it died, it seemed to have stood at this entrance, eagerly gazing outside, anticipating someone’s arrival.

A posture of waiting and watching.

Somehow, although this bird’s skeleton was small, it made Jian Chou’s heart tremble, generating an indescribable sense of desolation: What was it waiting for?

The question the cricket had asked earlier immediately flashed through her mind, along with the red butterfly’s glamorous yet lonely gaze…

She seemed to understand something.

A vague guess emerged.

Xiao Diao, crouching on Jian Chou’s shoulder, glanced at the bird’s skeleton and uneasily shook its fluffy head, gently sweeping Jian Chou’s neck with its tail, as if urging her to quickly go to the next cave.

Jian Chou seemed to sense its unease and reached out to stroke the top of its head before continuing onward.

The four high walls had many intricate passages leading to the entire vast maze.

Jian Chou didn’t choose any passage but frowned and walked to the next cave, then the next cave…

The third cave was empty.

The skeleton in the fourth cave had long since scattered, apparently having been there for a long time. Jian Chou could only vaguely identify it as a raccoon cat.

In the fifth cave was a dried frog, but it was still somewhat “fresh”…

Many, many caves, each seemingly housing a spirit beast.

However, except for the cricket in the first cave, most of the spirit beasts in the other caves had been dead for a long time.

Around each cave were carved images related to the spirit beasts living within.

Some were merely common birds and beasts from the mortal world, while others were fierce demons from dangerous places. Whether in form or origin, there was rarely any overlap.

Perhaps the only similarity was that feeling.

Just like the defeated cricket unwilling to wait in the cricket jar to be thrown away, fighting desperately to vibrate its injured wings and fly out of that narrow sky back to the vast world, all the other spirit beasts had similar experiences.

The raccoon cat, living with its pack, encountered a natural enemy and chose to protect its companions, sending itself into the tiger’s mouth.

The skylark was hatched by an old skylark on an old tree, always enjoying the tree’s shade in its youth, looking at sunlight through the gaps.

When it could fly and flew far away, it brought back fine grass and wildflowers, but the old tree had lost its life due to lack of water.

Folding its wings, the small skylark lowered its little head, placed the fine grass and wildflowers under the withered trunk, and stood quietly…

Each carving brought Jian Chou some strange feelings.

She guessed that Shangren Buyu’s reason for taking them as spirit beasts was probably because he had witnessed these real, touching events that had actually occurred.

The cultivator with the deepest killing intent at the junction of ancient and near-ancient times?

Jian Chou suddenly felt that might not necessarily be the case.

She walked from cave to cave, never seeing any living creatures.

Until the tenth cave.

The illusory, impenetrable darkness she had seen in the cricket’s cave appeared again.

“Who are you?!”

The moment Jian Chou’s footsteps approached within three feet of this cave, a childish voice shouted from inside!

This was truly unexpected.

Jian Chou was startled and quickly stopped, not recovering for quite a while.

“Rustle rustle…”

There seemed to be the sound of pages turning, carrying some urgency.

Then came more “rustling” sounds, as if something was crawling quickly.

A point of pink-white light actually appeared on that illusory dark surface, quickly dispelling the darkness and creating a pink-white light screen.

Then Jian Chou could see clearly.

This cave was quite large, with thick stacks of books piled on three sides.

In the center was also a book, but it was spread open. The ink-black printed characters were quite damaged, as if they had been gnawed by something, presenting a scene of chaos.

“This lord is asking you a question! Who exactly are you!”

The childish voice claiming to be “this lord” had an indescribable sense of comedy.

Jian Chou heard this voice but didn’t see any spirit beast.

“Chirp chirp chirp! Chirp chirp chirp chirp!”

Xiao Diao on her shoulder rolled its eyes, raised a paw to point at the crack of the open book, and nearly fell backward, letting out mocking laughter.

Following its indication, Jian Chou finally looked over.

No wonder she hadn’t seen anyone—this time’s resident was too small, just a grain-of-rice-sized black little beetle, quite adorable, but surrounded by a layer of tender pink-white light.

This was actually a bookworm!

Looking at the chaotic gnawing marks on the book, Jian Chou sighed in her heart: A book-eating worm!

“Speak!”

The little bookworm shouted at Jian Chou again.

Don’t say, such a tiny speck could actually shout with such vigor.

Jian Chou was amused, coughed once, and seriously replied: “Sorry, sorry, I’m a Central Domain cultivator, seeking the secrets of the ‘Nine Curves River Map,’ specially come to the Hidden Realm…”

“You’re not sent by master to take us to the upper realm?”

Still not letting Jian Chou finish, this little bookworm also interrupted her, asking disappointedly.

Upper realm?

The thought in her mind finally became completely real.

Various complex thoughts all tangled together, making Jian Chou look at the little bookworm but unable to speak for a long time.

When one attains enlightenment, even chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.

Cultivators ascending could originally bring their spirit beasts, but now there were so many spirit beasts remaining in this Hidden Realm, and every living spirit beast asked Jian Chou the same question, showing it wasn’t as simple as Shangren Buyu not taking them when he ascended.

Jian Chou frowned deeply, watching the little bookworm’s head droop and its pink-white light suddenly turn pink-gray, seemingly very dejected.

She ultimately told the truth: “No. But I was asked the same question by the cricket senior I met in another cave earlier…”

“Old cricket?”

The little bookworm seemed to recognize this name when it heard Jian Chou mention it.

It jumped out of the book crack, then slowly slid back into the crack along the open lines. Opening its mouth, it took a bite of a large character on the book, getting a mouthful of paper scraps, but the character only lost a small dot.

“Hmph, master doesn’t keep his word! He said he would take me to eat books in the upper realm, but now he went to the upper realm himself and forgot about us! He doesn’t even want the Hidden Realm anymore! Too bad! Doesn’t keep his word! Just leaving everyone here to suffer…”

Oh my, so angry!

The little bookworm took another “chomp” at the book and spat “ptoo ptoo” twice.

On its black body, that circle of pink-gray light dimmed further.

Jian Chou, Xiao Diao, and the bone jade all watched with six eyes, feeling it was quite marvelous.

This little bookworm was full of complaints but still had sufficient spirit, unlike that old cricket.

After complaining for a long time, the little bookworm turned its bottom and saw Jian Chou, asking irritably: “If you’re not here to take us away, why aren’t you leaving?”

“…”

I came to ask for directions!

Jian Chou suddenly got a headache and carefully said: “This place is a maze array with many paths. One could easily get lost if not careful, so…”

“Hmph, you want to ask for directions?”

The little bookworm lay on a large character “道” (dao), burped, and asked.

Jian Chou nodded.

She thought the spirit beasts in this Hidden Realm were quite unfriendly to outsiders, but unexpectedly, after seeing her nod, this little bookworm actually became overjoyed.

That dimmed pink-gray color actually brightened back to brilliant pink-white.

“Excellent! Finally someone came to consult me!”

The little bookworm waved all its legs together, actually quickly crawling from one end of the book to the other, muttering: “You vulgar mortal, wait, such a small matter is on this lord, this lord will flip through the books to help you look!”

“Rustle rustle…”

It raised one thin leg, and with just this motion, the book that had already been gnawed full of holes actually began turning automatically, finally stopping on a certain page.

The little bookworm excitedly shouted: “Found it!”

Jian Chou was somewhat unexpected.

This little bookworm spoke in a childish voice, its intelligence shouldn’t be very high, seemingly fitting the image of a “bookworm” that people spoke of, but it had an indescribable spiritual quality.

Seeing that it was actually willing to help and found the page so quickly, Jian Chou was also pleasantly surprised.

Could it be that the method to break through this maze, the path to the platform where the second Dao Seal was located, was actually on this page?

The little bookworm crawled onto that page and began reading with a bobbing head: “Kun position left sixteen, west thirty-six steps, circle around Dui position correct… correct… correct…”

Not even halfway through, the little bookworm suddenly got stuck, “correct-ing” for a long time without getting anything correct out.

Jian Chou asked: “Correct what?”

What was wrong?

The little bookworm seemed to freeze, its little black body surrounded by that circle of pink-white light also shrinking, its childish voice trembling.

“It’s, it’s gone…”

“Gone?!”

It only read to Dui position, definitely not finished!

Jian Chou was extremely puzzled.

The little bookworm weakly said: “The, the rest was eaten by me…”