The Ba Shan ape-monkey, lurking deep within the tomb, seemed to have recognized Old Master Sun long ago. However, after nearly being struck by an arrow from Fatty in the air-raid shelter and having its eyes dazzled by my "Wolf Eye flashlight," it suffered quite a fright and dared not approach easily again. Seeing Old Master Sun beckon, it cautiously poked half its body out, then swiftly extended an ape arm and snatched the climbing helmet Old Master Sun wore on his head.

Perhaps because Old Master Sun, during his time in the labor camp, often had his hat or glasses snatched away, he was completely unfazed by this action. He retrieved the climbing helmet from the Ba Shan ape-monkey’s grasp, scrutinized the creature from head to toe as if meeting an old friend after many years, and kept mumbling to it, "Old fellow, you still remember me? We’ve both aged so much since we last met. How have you been? Have you eaten today? You look thinner than before…"

Seeing Old Master Sun chatting endlessly with the ape-monkey, I wondered if he possessed some kind of psychic ability or if he was simply not right in the head. Could that old ape-monkey understand human speech? This very creature nearly killed us just moments ago at the Soul-Scaring Platform. Do you have any idea what sinister plot it was hatching in its mind?

Fatty chimed in, "Exactly! Let an enemy go once, and you create endless trouble forever. We can't afford to be soft on enemies. No one stop me—I’ll show you how Fatty skins an ape!" With that, he rolled up his sleeves, drew his blade, and charged forward.

The Ba Shan ape-monkey bared its teeth and grimaced at Fatty, showing no weakness. Old Master Sun quickly intervened, "Wang Fatty, if you hadn't shot it with the ■ arrow without asking any questions, it wouldn't have pushed you off the cliff from behind. This ape-monkey understands everything; don't treat it like a mere beast. Back in the day at the Guoyuan Gully quarry, Colonel Feng and I were nearly reduced to drinking soup made from rotten vegetable roots. We survived thanks to this guy occasionally stealing canned food, cigarettes, and brown sugar from the county town and delivering them to us while dodging the guards. I say it’s better than many humans; so many people nowadays are ungrateful and burn bridges after crossing them. They are worse than animals."

It was only when Old Master Sun mentioned it that I recalled the Ba Shan ape-monkey had been tamed by Colonel Feng for many years. The nameless, fiery anger in my heart subsided by eight parts, and I persuaded Fatty to let the matter drop. What kind of magnanimity did we possess? We shouldn't stoop to the level of a mere ape-monkey.

Fatty grumbled resentfully, "If it weren't for the fact that its master was a soldier, I certainly wouldn't let this thing off easily. But I can't let it off scot-free either. We’ll feed it that American macaroni that tastes the absolute worst—let it commit slow suicide."

At this point, Shirley Yang and Yaomeier, seeing how intelligent the Ba Shan ape-monkey was, found it amusing and took out candy to feed it. After eating a few pieces, the ape-monkey probably sensed that Old Master Sun was an acquaintance and posed no danger, gradually calming down. It then began mimicking humans by asking for a cigarette.

I pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and handed one to it. Watching the bizarre sight of the ape-monkey puffing smoke, I said to the group, "Though this tricky monkey is intelligent, it hasn't picked up anything good. Besides stealing, it even smokes. Also, have any of you considered how it managed to appear in this fissure near the hanging coffin tomb? It couldn't have come down from the tunnel entrance across from Dragon Gate. Could there be a secret passage near the hanging coffins? If there are connected underground tunnels in the mountains, where did it learn about them?"

Shirley Yang shone her flashlight into the depth of the crevice. "There is indeed a passage inside, but I don’t know where it leads. Perhaps the ape-monkey’s master led it here. If the inscription on the tombstone, the Guanshan Zhimi Fu, is false, then only Colonel Feng would know the correct route to the ancient tomb entrance. After all these years, is he still alive?"

Hearing Shirley Yang, I thought that was highly likely. I waved my flashlight in front of the Ba Shan ape-monkey and said, "Your conscience is excellent, hurry up. Lead the way for your master..."

Old Master Sun saw this and said to me, "Don't speak foreign languages to it; it won't understand anything! Move aside, let me handle this." He then made a gesture above his head as if putting on a military cap, miming and speaking, asking the Ba Shan ape-monkey, "Where is Old Feng? Do you know where Colonel Feng is? Take us to him... We are trustworthy friends."

The Ba Shan ape-monkey scratched its head and face for a long time, seemingly making up its mind only after deep thought. It immediately turned and darted into the hidden passage. I was overjoyed and quickly urged everyone to follow closely. As long as we found Colonel Feng, the "Immortal Village Ancient Tomb" would be within reach. Otherwise, who knew how much longer we'd search fruitlessly.

I secretly hoped that Colonel Feng was still alive. After living for more than ten years isolated in the deep mountains and old forests, it was time for him to return. Although he was a descendant of the "Great Ming Mountain Observers," and the "Immortal Village Ancient Tomb" was essentially his ancestral burial ground, if I could communicate with him, I might be able to coax the elixir cauldron stored in the tomb out of him. After all, he was a veteran who had fought in the army; he wouldn't just watch us die. And since we were colleagues in a sense, perhaps he would even sell us some antique funerary objects wholesale.

My mind raced with these thoughts as we followed the Ba Shan ape-monkey deeper into the dark passage. I discovered that this "hidden passage" was actually a series of artificially connected fissures deep within the mountain. Someone unaware of the situation would never detect it at the hanging coffin location in the rock crevices. This side of the cliff face was the one with the tombstone tunnel. There must be a very concealed secret passage within the ancient tunnel connecting to the cliff face where the hanging coffins were situated.

Following the winding secret path embedded deep in the cliff face, guided by the Ba Shan ape-monkey, we passed several tomb chambers containing hanging coffins and arrived at a cave half-exposed on the sheer cliff face. This cave was as large as a small room. Beyond it was the same deep gorge. An ancient, withered pine-bark coffin lay overturned on the ground, and amidst the scattered loose soil, the outline of a massive stone outer coffin emerged. The lid of the sarcophagus appeared to be intricately carved with patterns of mountains and rivers, fastened tightly by nine bronze chi tigers. The Ba Shan ape-monkey leaped onto the stone sarcophagus, squatted down, and stared at us with bright, flashing eyes, refusing to move forward. It pointed its claws at a high mountain depicted on the sarcophagus lid, chattering strangely.

I shone my "Wolf Eye" on the relief carving of mountains, pines, and cypress trees on the stone sarcophagus. The scenery, shrouded in swirling mist, was majestic and grand, evoking a sense of lofty awe. It was covered with the sun, moon, stars, and the four divine beasts, rendered with a profoundly impressionistic style, yet it didn't look like a map of any specific location.

I looked up at the Ba Shan ape-monkey and asked inexplicably, "What is this? I asked you to lead us to a person. Where is Colonel Feng?"

The Ba Shan ape-monkey grimaced and squeaked at me incoherently. I truly couldn't decipher its meaning. Just then, footsteps sounded behind me, and Old Master Sun, Fatty, and the others emerged one by one from the dark passage.