The appearance of anomalies within the Candlelight Night Travel Scroll filled everyone with surprise and suspicion. Professor Sun’s words were accurate, but upon deeper consideration, while the practice of avoiding fire in Coffin Mountain was known, in the late Ming Dynasty, lighting and torches were still the primary means of illumination in the darkness. Several scrolls personally painted by the Earth Immortal had always hung in the pitch-black underground chambers; outsiders, unaware of the context, would naturally use lamps to view them, suggesting they were deliberately left for those who might enter the mountain later driven by fate or opportunity.

Grave robbers throughout the dynasties rarely utilized mineral light sources. Although legends suggest that some ancient tomb raiders once used Luminous Pearls, these pearls were exceedingly precious and rare, seldom seen by ordinary people. Furthermore, they couldn't detect underground air quality or serve for defense, making them only exceptions among tomb raiders, never commonly circulating among official or lone plunderers. Excavating and exploring graves invariably required torches and candles.

The Earth Immortal Feng Shigu leaving behind the Guanshan Zhimi Fu (Guide to Mountain Observation and Unveiling Mysteries) for the Feng clan was an unusual move, even stipulating a secret passage that appeared only once every twelve years. This was likely because Feng Shigu knew full well that no tomb existed that would never be opened, and no secret in any world’s mausoleum could be kept forever secure. Even if it wasn't plundered by daodao (grave robbers), with the ceaseless transformation of mountains, rivers, and the world, it would inevitably face destruction sooner or later.

Feng Shigu’s arrangements revealed a depth of calculation that chilled the bone. The profound mystery of this Earth Immortal’s tomb was not about hiding, but about emerging. The moment outsiders entered Coffin Mountain was the moment the Earth Immortal would emerge. Not only the Feng descendants like Professor Sun, but even our own group of Mojin Xiaowei (Gold Raiders) were mere "pawns" manipulated by him. Entering the perilous ancient tomb was merely to fulfill the summons for the Earth Immortal Feng Shigu. Knowing that entering the nether hall within the corpse-vein’s belly was certain to lead to disaster, yet constrained by circumstances, we had no choice but to walk toward the abyss step by step, just like the human sacrifices before us. The only difference was that we clearly understood this was highly likely a road of no return.

Then, a sound resembling wood being gnawed away gradually approached from the distance down the tomb passage. Countless coffin worms, having entered the Earth Immortal Village, were burrowing everywhere, drawn by the putrid, yin energy. Ancient tombs often contained bronze or iron sarcophagi that were impenetrable, but some lacquered wooden coffins were inevitably gnawed through, consuming both the coffin and the corpse within.

Our group had absorbed a considerable amount of gloomy corpse miasma in the Underground Palace of the Wuyang King, and Old Master Sun’s condition was even more severe. To this day, I haven't figured out if he is dead or alive, and I even suspect he might "corpse-transform" at any moment. Consequently, we had all become moving targets attracting the nearby coffin worms.

In reality, although corpse worms and coffin worms were terrifying, they weren't necessarily impossible to resist. The most terrifying and vexing threat right now was the Nine-Deaths Startling Armor (Jiujiu Jingling Jia). Once it pierced the mountain wall of Coffin Mountain, it would undoubtedly shatter the Earth Immortal Village and the headless corpse-vein. With the nest overturned, how could any egg remain intact? At that time, whether the ancient corpses in the yin residence or the living people in the tomb, all would perish together.

I stared at the Guanshan Xiangzhai Tu (Chart of Mountain Observation and Residence Selection) for a while, turning several thoughts through my mind, none offering a viable path to escape. Now, I couldn't blame the complexity of class struggle; I could only blame my own dull thinking.

Shirley Yang reminded me, "Our torches are running out; we can't linger in this yin residence where there are gaps everywhere."

Old Master Sun seemed somewhat distracted. The Guanshan Zhimi Fu passed down by Feng Shigu felt like a soul-snatching incantation that had deluded Feng Shiqi and his descendants for centuries. He was only now vaguely sensing a conspiracy. He no longer advocated entering the Earth Immortal Tomb and regretted not having planned more thoroughly earlier—he should have blasted the mountain directly from the outside.

Fatty cursed, "Stop dreaming your fucking autumn reveries! To flatten so many high peaks in Coffin Gorge, how much military-grade high explosive would you need? Where would a stinking intellectual like you get it?" He immediately reached out and pulled Old Master Sun, who was squatting on the ground, up. While dragging him forward down the tomb passage, he said, "Strengthen your discipline; tomb raiding is always victorious. Understand? Old Ninth Sun, you better listen to Fatty and Old Hu’s highest directive—hurry up and move."

I waved my hand, calling Shirley Yang and Yaomei'er to follow. The group swayed their torches and proceeded straight ahead down the passage. Following the bearings on the map, after turning past a Northern Song tomb with suspended coffins hung by iron ropes, we reached the edge of the Earth Immortal Village’s yin residence. By then, we only had three unextinguished torches left.

In my satchel, I still had a can of lamp oil fuel, enough to boost the flames and drive back the coffin worms swarming from all directions. However, I was doubtful whether the Return-to-the-Abyss Ancient Mirror (Guixu Gujing) could hold back the Earth Immortal Feng Shigu, so I held onto the oil as a final trump card and refused to use it lightly. I had no choice but to steel my resolve and force our way through.

So, I led the group, together pushing open the dilapidated stone door at the exit of the secret passage, using the torches to light the way, and we rushed out. Unexpectedly, the scene behind the village was quite surprising. The tens of thousands of coffin worms, agitated by the copper corrosion, had not crawled up to the belly of the Corpse-Shaped Mountain. This area still retained a strange atmosphere of netherworldly silence.

I composed myself and saw a massive stele on the slope outside the village, inscribed with the six characters "Earth Immortal Tomb, Lingxing Hall," along with exquisitely carved constellations. The stele was supported by carved spirit beasts. Wanting to see the situation ahead more clearly, I climbed onto the top of the stele and surveyed the surroundings from a height.

I saw several arc-shaped shallow trenches in the belly of the Corpse-Shaped Mountain. Every dozen paces or so stood a massive, imposing, one-legged bronze figure. The figures were nude, their appearance three parts ghost and seven parts human. Their faces were horrified and terrible, their eyes wide open, and from their mouths continuously poured out yangsui (a type of mineral substance), flowing into the stone troughs in the trenches like rivers of dark red blood, winding and circulating, blocking all the coffin worms crawling from around. Although the yangsui was a cold mineral without inherent heat, it was enough to deter the light-fearing coffin worms from crossing the line.

On the mountain body located within the several concentric rings of sui rivers, there was a deep gorge formed by a fissure in the mountain wall. A plank road was embedded into the cliff face, and several towering archways spanned the space between the sides. With their soaring eaves and projecting pillars, arranged at varying heights, they presented an imposing spectacle. The Earth Immortal depicted in the Candlelight Night Travel Scroll should be at the bottom of this deep gorge.

I returned to the base of the stele and motioned for the others to leap across the stone trough where the yangsui flowed. For the moment, the group was momentarily safe from the relentlessly pursuing coffin worms behind them, which brought some relief. However, as they approached the archways and looked into the deep gorge of the Pangu Corpse Vein, seeing only impenetrable blackness and uncanny silence, they all felt the ominous sense that they had just escaped the tiger’s den only to enter the wolf’s lair.

Although Yaomei’er was remarkably brave, the terrifying and shocking things she had witnessed over the past few days, all near-death experiences, inevitably left her unnerved. Furthermore, the legend of the Earth Immortal luring the living into the tomb as sacrifices had been passed down in Qingxi Town since ancient times. Looking at the stone plank road embedded in the wall, which resembled green pythons winding their way into the depths of the cavern, made her even more frightened.

I had no choice but to give her a reassuring word. I extinguished my torch, replaced the tactical spotlight with its last spare battery, and told her that the legend of the Earth Immortal Feng Shigu emerging to save people was highly unreliable. This man had been dead for many years; his body was either stiff or decomposed, at most a mummy—how could he become an immortal? In all my travels south and north, entering numerous ancient tombs, I had never seen a single mausoleum containing a corpse-immortal. Even if, taking the extreme, Feng Shigu, that old landlord boss, truly reanimated to harm people, he would never succeed. I believed that history and the people would certainly not allow such a thing to happen.

Yaomei’er nodded, indicating that despite being overly nervous, she could still follow the group. Fatty said, "You all can relax. I think if anyone is going to die, it will be Old Master Sun, the dutiful descendant of the Guanshan Feng family, first to return to the earth. When that happens, he’ll drag the whole crew of Guanshan Protectors in the tomb down with him—we won't be satisfied until we ruin their plan."

Old Master Sun shook his head helplessly, "Why are you still focused on sharp tongues when we are at this point?" He then said to me, "Don't you boast too much either. Are you still saving some lamp oil to burn the ancient corpses in the tomb? When the time comes, don't get sentimental over the fine objects in the rooms; you absolutely cannot hesitate or show mercy. If the corpse-immortal in the tomb truly escapes Coffin Mountain, we will be in big trouble."

Just as I was about to say, "There's no need to remind me; I naturally know the relative importance of priorities," I suddenly heard continuous sounds like ripping silk coming from the rock strata above our heads, sounds so intense they hurt our eardrums.

Everyone instinctively looked up, but first, it was pitch black underground, and second, the crimson mist permeated the air halfway up, making it impossible to see the situation in the rock layers. Yaomei’er exclaimed in surprise, "Is this mountain collapsing?" Shirley said, "No. Coffin Mountain is an open-air stone coffin; it seems the Nine-Deaths Startling Armor, buried in the mountain shell, is about to break free."

Although no tomb robber had encountered the Nine-Deaths Startling Armor in nearly a thousand years, they had heard rumors of its sharpness. This subterranean growth, a mixture of bronze and flesh, was certainly not something a few people could handle. The sound of the copper-corroded armor wriggling in the rock strata sounded like the roar of the death god in our ears. Every time a ripping sound echoed from above, it was like a basin of cold water being poured over us, causing our hearts to pound and the chill to intensify.

Fearing the Startling Armor would appear from the thick fog at any moment, we dared not linger on the surface of the Corpse-Shaped Mountain. We quickly wrapped Professor Sun and Yaomei’er in the middle and began descending the stone steps embedded in the wall.

Above the Lingxing Hall was a deep, narrow, and steep gorge between two opposing walls. The ancient walls on both sides were as smooth as if cut by knives and axes. Under the beam of the spotlight, one could clearly see the undulating rock veins in the strata, but looking closely, the soil also showed uneven protrusions. Many strangely shaped jade bi-discs were buried in those spots, their color ancient—some deep red, some lush green, none recent artifacts. Most were cracked and incomplete. According to the records in the Guanshan Juecang Zhuan (Chronicle of Excavating Treasures in Mountain Observation), these jade pieces were all sacrificial objects buried in Coffin Mountain during the era of shamanistic and evil culture.

I recalled the scene I saw in the scroll paintings: the human sacrifices entered the tomb via this very path. Within the walls where the jade pieces were buried, there were many ghostly shadows. Yet, standing here, we saw none of the scenes depicted in the Candlelight Night Travel Scroll. The others must have had the same thought; everyone felt a chill down their backs, as if evil spirits were quietly following them, constantly looking back. The further we walked into the depths, the stronger this sense of unease became.

Shirley Yang suddenly remembered something and said to me, "In that Candlelight Night Travel Scroll, everyone was holding lanterns and torches, and we only saw the hidden shadows in the painting after lighting our candles. Perhaps this is a hint—that in front of the Lingxing Hall, one must rely on firelight to see things normally invisible."

My intuition also told me that something was indeed buried in the rock and soil layers of the Pangu Vein, very likely those "ghosts" depicted in the scrolls. Since we didn't know its true nature, and couldn't judge good fortune from ill, continuing deeper might lead to instant disaster. Hearing Shirley Yang’s suggestion, I decided to light a candle to investigate thoroughly.

Lighting up was, after all, a common practice for Mojin Xiaowei. Since we were deep inside the mountain, we had nothing more to worry about. I immediately took out half a candle and lit it in my hand, cupping the flame, slowing my steps on the stone stairs as I continued downward, holding the candle close to illuminate the rock wall beside me.

The candlelight shone on the wall, making the fragmented jade pieces gleam with a moist color, appearing more magnificent and mysterious than under the harsh beam of the tactical spotlight. Fatty was captivated and instantly became greedy, unable to resist reaching out to touch them, intending to pry off a few pieces as souvenirs.

Old Master Sun worried that Fatty might cause trouble. Having advised him multiple times before, only to be met with Fatty’s specious arguments, he now changed tactics, extending his hand to stop him: "These jade pieces used as offerings are extremely sinister, Wang Fatty. Don't let greed move you to randomly touch these things. Combat selfishness and criticize revisionism! Combat selfishness and criticize revisionism!"

Fatty looked utterly innocent and said, "The world fears only being taken seriously, Old Master Sun. Fatty will chisel a few pieces down to study them carefully at home and see exactly how sinister these jades are. Surely this isn't considered selfishness?"

When Old Master Sun encountered someone like Fatty, whose flesh was rotten but whose mouth was not, he knew that even if he had a valid point, it would be impossible to make him understand. Seeing that Old Master Sun intended for me to step in and emphasize the important principle of "strengthening discipline," I turned away, pretending not to see, concentrating solely on observing the stone wall illuminated by candlelight. However, I found nothing unusual.

I walked down a few more steps, but then the ceaseless arguing between Fatty and Old Master Sun behind me suddenly ceased. Shirley Yang, Yaomei’er, and I, who were walking ahead, quickly stopped and turned back to look at the situation behind us. We saw Fatty and Old Master Sun frozen on the spot, staring fixedly at the rock layer.

I rushed back up the stone steps and glanced at where they were looking. It turned out that Fatty had struck a jade bi-disc embedded in the wall with his entrenching shovel. The impact dislodged soil and stone, exposing what was inside. The loose soil revealed complete ancient jade pieces, stacked and piled to form a wall. Within the jade wall, there seemed to be a vague, ghost-like outline. As I held the candle closer to look, that hazy ghost image suddenly became distinct. Even more astonishing was the fact that it seemed to possess form without substance, actually able to move within the wall. In the flickering confusion of candlelight and shadows, the dark figure suddenly raised a hand, moved a foot, and started to crawl forward, seemingly preparing to lunge out of the wall. I felt a gust of cold wind blow toward my face, and the flame of the candle in my hand flickered violently, swaying uncertainly, looking as if it were about to go out any second.