My heart hitched the moment I stepped inside. Under the sweeping beam of my flashlight, I saw the hall was filled with the most unexpected things. I wondered aloud: how could the front and back of this house be littered with so many "bizarrely shaped" stone lions? Suddenly, a long streak of lightning, like a dragon tearing across the sky, illuminated everything—inside and out—as brightly as snow. Through the windows and the back door, I could see the rear courtyard was also piled high with strange stone beasts.

Taking advantage of the thunder and lightning, we saw that the isolated building of the Feng residence was filled entirely with grotesquely shaped stone beasts, leaving us deeply perplexed. I stepped closer, shining the flashlight over them repeatedly. I saw that these stone beasts had fierce, savage faces and rounded bodies, bearing a slight resemblance to the stone lions guarding the entrance, yet lacking any sense of majesty. They inspired only a feeling of wickedness and disgust. I had never seen such stone lions before; why were they so ugly and menacing?

Shirley Yang remarked, "These stone beasts don't look like guardian lions meant to protect a residence; they look more like funerary sculptures from a mausoleum area."

Old Master Sun put on his reading glasses and peered for a long time. "They are definitely not stone lions. Their manes are like swords, their ears are disproportionately large, and their nostrils point to the sky. If you ask me... they are Wuyang. 'To visit the Earth Immortal, first find the Wuyang.' Wuyang and Wugui refer to pigs. I've never understood what connection the Earth Immortal's ancient tomb has with the Wuyang. I was planning to check with the Meat Processing Plant for information, but it turns out this kind of stone carving—a Wuyang—actually exists."

Yao Mei'er was a local, but she had never seen these things. I had no choice but to ask Old Master Sun, "Are the Wuyang stone beasts ancient totems or stone statues meant to guard a tomb?" Professor Sun replied, "It's hard to judge. The Wuyang forms have been demonized; the style is very eerie. I’ve never seen any mausoleum area use these things for guarding tombs. Nor do they look like path-of-the-spirit totems." Saying this, he pulled out his notebook and began sketching, meticulously detailing every feature of the stone beasts as crucial reference material for locating the "Earth Immortal's Ancient Tomb."

I couldn't fathom why these Wuyang stone beasts would be placed in the Feng residence. The affairs of "Qingxi Town" had undergone too many changes to allow for easy speculation. Since we had no leads, I decided not to waste my energy guessing wildly. To conserve battery power, I lit a few candles along with Fatty to illuminate the floor, intending to find a dry spot in the building to set up a small cooking area. We needed to boil some hot water so everyone could eat something and rest. Given the complex terrain of this ancient town, tomorrow promised to be busy.

I walked through the building again, top to bottom, examining every room. In one room on the second floor, I found a wooden table and chairs—simple, modern furniture. On the table and hanging on the wall were many blueprints. Upon closer inspection, the blueprints detailed the structures of tunnels and mine shafts, clearly marking engineering progress. Having served in the engineering corps, I knew how to read these plans, and suddenly it dawned on me: the Feng residence must have served as the construction command post when they were building the "Air Raid Shelters" in the Qingxi area. Later, as the international situation changed, the project was abandoned and rendered obsolete, and they didn't even take these blueprints when they evacuated.

The "Wuyang stone beasts," besides a layer of dust, also bore traces of underground soil, clearly indicating they had never been cleaned up. They must have been excavated by the construction crew from beneath the ground and left in the command post because the project was abruptly halted before they could be dealt with.

Perhaps the area where the "Wuyang stone beasts" were unearthed was not far from the "Earth Immortal Village Ancient Tomb." I quickly rolled up the blueprints and brought them downstairs, informing everyone of my discovery. Just then, Fatty had finished cooking the vacuum-sealed macaroni we brought, and everyone had been hungry for a long time. We ate while studying the air raid shelter maps.

Yao Mei'er asked Fatty what kind of food this was. It was soggy and frankly disgusting. Fatty replied, "This is American stuff, little sister. But this taste... it really is terrible. It's not because Fatty's cooking is bad; it’s just that American macaroni is like this. I heard that if an American man wants to commit slow suicide, he eats this every day."

I didn't care about the taste; as long as it filled my stomach was enough. I finished my portion in a few quick bites. Checking the time—only nine in the evening—I felt a bit weary but forced myself to stay alert, carefully poring over the maps. I separated a few maps that might be useful, deciding that tomorrow we would first venture into the underground air raid shelters to scout things out.

Shirley Yang asked me about my plan. I spread out the map, pointed to the icons, and explained my concept to her: "The Qingxi Air Raid Shelters are a historical product of the era when the directive was to dig deeper tunnels and stockpile more grain. I estimate that the large-scale shelter construction underground was related to the numerous existing mines and tunnels here; the blueprints confirm this. The construction team modified and connected semi-natural and semi-artificial caverns to create a sprawling network of combat readiness facilities. However, the map also shows several areas that have collapsed or flooded; the project did not go smoothly."

Using the process of elimination, I circled the areas where finding ancient relics was impossible. All the mountains around Qingxi had been hollowed out. The salt well tunnels and those converted into air raid shelters, including the area beneath this ancient town, were all empty—none could possibly contain the "Earth Immortal Village Ancient Tomb." We should focus our attention on the "vacuum areas."

Shirley Yang was perceptive and immediately grasped my meaning, saying, "Are the vacuum areas what you call the blind zones of the mineral veins? The final location where the Wuyang stone beasts were unearthed must be a region where the engineering tunnels did not overlap with the mining tunnels."

I confirmed, "Exactly. Before the combat readiness shelter construction began, the surrounding terrain and mountains were thoroughly surveyed, saving us a lot of trouble. Since we also have the important clue, 'To visit the Earth Immortal, first find the Wuyang,' the primary target should naturally be the location most likely to have yielded the 'Wuyang stone beasts.' All the mining tunnels were dug following the trajectory of the Wu Salt veins, so they are extremely irregular."

Analyzing the blueprints, I saw that only the westernmost section of the Qingxi readiness shelter was newly excavated according to necessity, without utilizing any original mine shafts. Furthermore, the standards on the map indicated that the tunnels on the western end were unfinished, suggesting that construction in this area continued until the very end. As for the actual situation and our next steps, we would need to see it on site to grasp things fully.

Shirley Yang gained some confidence. "It’s not scary to have tangled clues; it's scary to have no clues at all. Now that we have some leads, if we meticulously unravel them, we will eventually find the Earth Immortal Village Ancient Tomb."

Professor Sun, having listened intently, chimed in with approval. "Hu Bayi, that old soldier, really has experience. He focused on the main point as soon as we arrived in Qingxi. Commander Feng, whom I was imprisoned with at the labor camp, was also a man who had fought for many years. Perhaps because he was too good at fighting, the commanders in the army spoiled him; he simply wasn't the type to take orders. That man was arrogant and quite imposing. He used to say that when he was fighting in Korea, he drove captured American Jeeps every day and ate American canned food. Once, an American plane flew right through the roof to check his household, and a bomb landed right in front of him, yet not a single hair on him was harmed. How could such a person settle for eating steamed buns in a quarry? That’s why he was determined to escape back to his hometown. I always thought it impossible for him to have made it here alive, but now, thinking about it, you people who have truly been tested by war indeed possess extraordinary capabilities. I wonder if Commander Feng..." As he trailed off, he fell back into worried contemplation.

I urged Old Master Sun not to dwell on it. "Someone suspected you of murdering Commander Feng, who disappeared years ago after deserting. It's an issue where the dead cannot testify. In reality, only those who wish you harm would draw that conclusion. They don't consider that, given your abilities, Old Master Sun, even if you acted in secret, you might not have been able to defeat Commander Feng? That man was a Corps-level commander in the Chinese People's Volunteers who fought the Americans. That's why the organization didn't convict you—it makes sense. Anyone with a little sense can figure that out; it's just that they haven't formally cleared your name."

"I believe that if Commander Feng really managed to escape here back then, he most likely hid in the 'Earth Immortal Village Ancient Tomb.' Whether he is alive or dead now, we will find him, and this injustice against you will finally be resolved."

With a preliminary plan in place, we had no lingering concerns. The group assigned shifts for keeping watch and then drifted off to sleep, listening to the gentle patter of rain outside. Nothing happened overnight. The next morning, the rain was still drizzling, and Qingxi Town was covered in mud pits and ditches. Given that the mountain paths were impassable after the rain, we decided to descend through the rear courtyard floor to reach the western readiness air raid shelter.

This tunnel was rumored to have been a secret passage. Before Liberation, the Feng residence was primarily home to landlord mine owners. Due to unstable social conditions, with warlords and bandits running rampant, the owners of the Wu Salt mines were often immensely wealthy and had blood on their hands from exploiting mine slaves. To guard against unforeseen disasters, besides raising a contingent of "Death Warriors" as household guards, they had also prepared secret tunnels for swift escape in case of emergency.

However, almost all the secret tunnels left behind were destroyed during the construction of the civil defense facilities. The hidden entrances were exposed, and the interiors became integrated into the large-scale air raid shelter system. The term "air raid shelter" didn't just mean a place for ordinary people to hide from aerial bombing; at a minimum, it served a "Three Defenses" purpose. At the time, imperialists were intent on destroying China and constantly threatened "cosmetic strategic bombings." To actively prepare for defense, the entire country underwent large-scale "digging deeper tunnels and stockpiling grain." A major function of these underground facilities was the covert storage of vast quantities of strategic supplies—from missiles and aircraft down to grain and uniforms—designed and built entirely to wartime specifications, and they were quite massive.

This area beneath the ancient town of Qingxi consisted of interconnected vaulted warehouses, all built within previous mine shafts. The light gray cement walls gave a very solemn and cold impression. Where the cement had peeled away, one could still see the original rock strata of the mine tunnels. Water seepage was severe in localized areas.

Although there was a lamp every dozen meters inside the air raid shelter, the wiring had succumbed to moisture, and the simple power generation equipment had long since failed and was unusable. We could only rely on our "wolf's eye flashlights" and the map and compass for guidance. This stretch of the underground passage wasn't difficult to navigate, and there were clear directional markers at the intersections.

We headed west through the underground channels. The damp, musty air inside the shelters grew heavier. Midway, we encountered a collapsed section of the cavern, preventing us from continuing on our planned route. I consulted the map; the only option was to detour through a side path. We retreated to a cross-junction. According to the map's markings, taking the left-hand tunnel would lead into an original mine shaft, outside the scope of the air raid shelter. There was a barrier at the entrance with a wooden sign hanging on it.

I raised my flashlight, and it seemed there were characters on the wooden sign, but they were obscured by mud. Fatty stepped forward and wiped away some grime, instantly revealing red lettering. Fatty read it out character by character: "CAUTION—COLLAPSE AHEAD—DANGER. Old Hu, looks like this path leads to the mine shafts. It might be dangerous due to collapse; we should probably take the right path around."

Shirley Yang illuminated the right-hand passage with her flashlight. "There’s a slogan on the right wall too... 'Dare to win'... What does that mean?"

I looked up at the slogan painted on the right cement wall; it was strikingly familiar. I laughed. "You definitely wouldn't understand this; it’s what we call a 'Highest Directive.' The map indicates the right path is a standby passage, narrower and simpler, but it’s completed. Comrades, I think we have no choice at this point; we have to go in through the side with the slogan."

Fatty declared, "Got it, following Commander Hu's Highest Directive is never wrong. Let's go..." Saying this, he swaggered forward. Worried that Fatty would move too quickly and get separated, I quickly urged the other three to follow him closely. The seepage in the western passage was even worse, possibly related to the heavy rain all night. Although there were drainage pipes on both sides, the accumulated water on the ground was ankle-deep, and green moss grew thickly at the base of the cement walls.

The base of the dark green walls was completely covered in a layer of snails, stark white and very conspicuous. Further inside, there were even more snails, both alive and the empty shells left behind after death. Every step I took produced a sickening crunch as the shells shattered.

Although Yao Mei'er was brave, stepping on the sludge of dead snails underfoot made her feel nauseous. "Where did so many snails come from? Where are they all appearing from?"

I turned to her and said, "This place leaks too much water; the thick moss attracts the snails. Just don't think about it, and you won't find it disgusting. Stay close to me; don't fall behind..." Before I could finish my warning, someone ahead let out a cry and tumbled to the ground. Old Master Sun had slipped and fallen flat on his back amidst the snails, puncturing both hands on the broken shells.

I quickly reached out and helped him up. Seeing that he hadn't broken any bones, I was slightly relieved. There was no place to rest in this narrow, damp passage, so I urged him to grit his teeth and keep going. Fortunately, Old Master Sun was a man who had endured great suffering, so he didn't mind the bruises he sustained from the fall; he managed to bite down and continue forward.

Seeing that the group included both young and old, a broken limb would be serious trouble. I had Yao Mei'er and Shirley Yang support the limping Professor Sun, while Fatty and I took the lead, using our "entrenching shovels" to clear large patches of snails from the path ahead for them.