Sun Jiuye emphasized with grave seriousness, "Ever since I saw Feng Shigu’s Records of Observing Mountains and Digging for Burials in the Immortal Village Ossuary, I’ve worried that our grave-robbing venture was a trap set by this man. All our near-death efforts might just lead to the horrifying consequence of the Corpse Immortal emerging. It seems my fears are realized. Now, the only way to avert this impending disaster is for all of us to forfeit our lives."

Sun Jiuye's ancestor, Feng Shi Qi, had been mortal enemies with the Earth Immortal. For generations, his descendants had meticulously planned to find Coffin Mountain and destroy the Earth Immortal’s remains. This deep-seated feud had permeated Sun Jiuye’s very bones. His own father and brothers had met their end because of this quest, their bodies left to the wilderness for years. Learning now that Feng Shi Qi’s entire lineage were merely pawns in the Earth Immortal’s game made this humiliation and resentment unbearable.

Therefore, Sun Jiuye felt that even if everyone perished inside Coffin Mountain, not a single deceased soul from within could be allowed to leave, lest the corpse plague spread with unimaginable consequences.

Fatty and I couldn't stand listening after he got halfway through. No matter how desperate we were, we weren't about to commit suicide over this. Furthermore, the predictions derived by these shamans for Feng Shigu were incredibly obscure; how could we possibly trust them? We refused to believe in fate; nothing was predetermined.

Sun Jiuye asked me, "You understand some principles of Qimen Bagua. The ancients always said that arts and numbers are divine powers. Tell me, looking into your conscience, do you truly not believe in fate?"

I gave a cold laugh. "I've made a living relying on these things for years, so of course I believe in these ancient calculations. Looking into my conscience, I do believe in fate. Everything in the world is bound by yuan—connection—and yuan is destiny. Our meeting, and the fact that we boarded your pirate ship to seek out the Earth Immortal Village, might all be fate." I paused, then continued, "But the destiny I believe in has my own standards. That standard is determined by my own needs. What I can accept is the true destiny; anything I cannot accept is damned nonsense."

Sun Jiuye roared, "You are clearly twisting words! If you hadn't tried to be so clever, you wouldn't have forced me to bring you into Coffin Mountain. Since you've caused this disaster, you must dare to take responsibility. If we don't die, once the Earth Immortal Village begins its destruction, it will be the time for the Corpse Immortal to emerge and save the world. We still have a chance to change this now. I’m telling you this plainly because I don't want to resort to foul play behind your backs; otherwise, I could have dispatched you quietly. I know you are a reasonable man, think hard: right now, besides death, there is no other option." u-hand

I had no desire to continue conversing with this old madman; I needed to find a rope to bind him before he did anything to threaten everyone’s lives. Just then, I heard Shirley Yang say to Sun Jiuye, "Professor, you are flustered with worry. Think carefully: if something is truly fated to happen, and we are participants in that event, no matter what measures we take to avoid it, the predetermined reality will never change. Otherwise, it wouldn't be considered fated."

Sun Jiuye froze for a moment, then squatted down, holding his head, sinking into tormented thought. Indeed, what Shirley Yang said was true: nothing that has already happened in the world ever has a second possibility. If there is no chance, and everything is inevitable, then it certainly cannot be overturned by the mere strength of a few people.

In fact, I was also deeply worried about the results of the numerical calculations deduced by these prisoners. My experience and intuition told me that the emergence of the Corpse Immortal was almost certain. But under any circumstances, I would never be one to casually give up my life. I would never utter the word "sacrifice" until the critical moment.

Seeing Sun Jiuye momentarily silent, I signaled Fatty to watch the old man closely with Yaomei'er, while we continued searching the stone chamber for clues. If those revelations were true, as long as we didn't leave the secret chamber of the Immortal, we would be temporarily safe from danger. So, steeling my resolve, I stopped worrying about the myriad crises within Coffin Mountain.

The immediate priority was to find evidence as to whether the great catastrophe foretold in the revelations would truly occur. Unexpectedly, the more we searched the stone chamber filled with the skeletal remains of the prisoners, the more "truths" surfaced before our eyes one by one.

This vast, dim secret room was where the descendants of the evil shamans deduced their revelations. Behind the Silaomi chamber, there was a hidden passage, tightly sealed and impassable. We had to examine the revelations in the main chamber first. It was impossible now to guess how the Earth Immortal Feng Shigu determined the truthfulness of these revelations, but the Earth Immortal's foresight was beyond ordinary people. Since he was so utterly convinced, he must have had his grounds back then. However, discovering these secrets centuries later allowed us to judge events that had already transpired; the accuracy of the predictions calculated back then was beyond doubt.

Shirley Yang and I wiped the dust from the stone walls and found remnants of painted murals—symbols marking constellations and calculations, as well as figures of people and landscapes. It seemed they had used tortoise shells and bronze animal discs to deduce numerical patterns and then translated those patterns into images.

Shirley Yang commented that these symbols and patterns seemed to represent specific events, much like the prophecies of the Zagrama Mountain seer.

I told her they were vastly different. Though I didn't know how the Zagrama seer prophesied, my experience proved that it was truly divine calculation. If fate truly existed in the world, that prophet’s predictions were the proof; whether you looked forward or backward, everything destined to happen would occur exactly as the prophecy described. The act of the prophet painting might have been akin to spirit writing, an ancient, mysterious form of spiritual communication. u-hand.

However, what appeared in this prison cell was the most profound deductive art of Chinese metaphysics. Since ancient times, observing celestial signs and astrology was rooted in the principle of unity between heaven and man; different signs appearing in the sky and on the earth were considered omens for various phenomena in the human world.

Deductive methods involving celestial signs and phenomena belong to the ancient path of ghosts and gods within the Gua. The so-called "ghost" refers to the trajectories of things' movements, such as the shift of stars; while "god" refers to time, such as the twenty-four solar terms or the twelve shichen in a day.

To give a simpler example, people long ago knew that morning glows meant not to leave the house, while evening glows promised a long journey, and they had sayings like "Hooked clouds mean drizzling rain; tiled clouds mean good farming." This was the oldest form of weather prediction, judging clear or overcast skies by observing changes in clouds and haze. Today, we call it meteorology, but the ancients believed it was making simple, accurate predictions through different celestial signs. Modern meteorology delves into cloud layers, wind speed, air pressure, and other data, yet often proves less accurate than the ancients judging weather by watching the stars, moon, clouds, and haze. Therefore, while weather forecasts on radio and television appear professional, they are generally as unreliable as a child wetting himself.

Observing constellations and heavenly signs is far more mysteriously complex than predicting the weather. I only possess half of the Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Manual, and that half is merely fragments on Feng Shui. Despite years of comprehension and diligent study, I have only just begun to grasp the true arts of divination and star-gazing. I only know that this discipline has always operated on the principle of numbers generating images (shu sheng xiang). The executed prisoners in this stone jail must have used this ancient method of calculation. For example, if the celestial stars indicated "a thief star committing an offense" combined with calculations of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, they could deduce an omen that "in such and such a year, month, and time, grave robbers would definitely enter the Lingxing Hall of Coffin Mountain to disturb the Earth Immortal's sarcophagus." The calculation process is extremely complex and consumes a great deal of time. The emaciated skeletons of the hundreds of prisoners in this stone cell might be due to excessive mental and spiritual exhaustion, not necessarily starvation.

It is rumored that mastering this ancient art of divination, coupled with sufficient bronze artifacts, tortoise shells, and dragon bones, and applying it correctly in specific regions and times, allows one to receive revelations from celestial signs—predictions even more accurate than a prophet’s. Thus, sometimes, one cannot simply refuse to believe in fate; perhaps there is a hidden, pervasive grand controller orchestrating the rise and fall of all things in the world. u-hand.

The heavenly revelations recorded in the stone jail describe tribulations such as coffin breaking, fire cremation, and a flurry of blades. After surviving these tribulations, the Earth Immortal Feng Shigu underwent a transformation, his body reborn, turning him into a true Immortal. Setting aside whether gods and immortals truly exist, we ourselves witnessed every detail: prying open the sarcophagus, binding the corpse with the Immortal-Binding Rope, dousing it with flammable oil and burning it, until finally—Feng Shigu being pierced by countless blades from the Nine Deaths Shocking Tomb Armor.

The final revelation was hidden in the stone ceiling of the jail. Judging from the numerical patterns and murals, it depicted the Corpse Immortal sitting upon the Thief Star, soaring high into the clouds. Below him lay the sacrificial victims of the Immortal Village, their bones piled into mountains, countless dead escaping the corpse piles and scattering in all directions. Beneath the mountain of corpses was a sea of blood—a scene filled with horror and despair, like the end of the world.

Sun Jiuye stared at the mural above his head, his mouth agape, unable to close it for a long time. He kept muttering, "It’s over, it's really over. Feng Shigu learned the Way of Killing Life; the more the dead he saved, the greater his cultivation. If our group is the Thief Star mentioned in the celestial omen, the Corpse Immortal will certainly possess one or all of us and escape Coffin Mountain. Will this really happen? Is there truly no way to change what is destined to occur?"

My mind was in chaos, and I had no answer for Sun Jiuye. The situation was obvious. No matter what we did, the disaster in the revelation was certain to occur.

Shirley Yang sighed, "This analogy might be imperfect, but I feel this is the power of destiny. The terrible disaster fated to erupt from the Earth Immortal Village is like a novel already written. For us, as characters in this story, to try and alter the ending, already written by the author and destined to become the final truth, the possibility of success... is likely less than one in a billion."

When Yaomei’er heard even Shirley Yang say this, she thought she would surely die and never see her grand-uncle again. Her nose stung, and tears welled up, though she forced them back.

Seeing this, Shirley Yang comforted her, "Yaomei’er, don't be afraid. Whether in life or death, we will face it all together. Besides... besides, I always believe there is a God, and God won't let this happen."

Only Fatty hadn't fully grasped what was about to happen. He rummaged through the piles of prisoner skeletons but found no valuable artifacts. Seeing everyone’s grim faces, he spoke casually, "God is too busy. I heard he moved his headquarters to Beirut to watch the US military fight. He doesn't have time for us poor souls who are loved by no one. I say, we can't count on anyone else, but we must care for ourselves. If we get a chance to run, we run, and we absolutely shouldn't think about dying needlessly."

I suddenly thought of something and said to everyone, "There’s no need to be so pessimistic. Think about this Earth Immortal Village; it’s completely buried deep underground. The Nine Deaths Shocking Tomb Armor will eventually tear the mountain apart, burying everything. Based on this alone, the final scene in the revelation won't happen. These prisoners suffered terribly under Feng Shigu's torture; maybe they just made things up to fool people. If that’s the case, aren't we worrying for nothing?"

I said this mainly to give everyone some peace of mind. Although I couldn't figure out how the multitude of dead in the ancient tomb could escape Coffin Mountain, I knew the event was bound to happen sooner or later. In our current predicament, panicking was utterly pointless. Just as Fatty said, we can only rely on ourselves.

Although Sun Jiuye was cunning in luring us into the Tomb of King Wuyang, he had lived reclusively his whole life and lacked broad experience. His scheme was purely unexpected; even I hadn't guessed his background was so deep. But now, his mind was in turmoil, and he couldn't offer any plan, so he agreed to follow my lead.

My immediate thought was to first find a way to survive the catastrophe of Coffin Mountain’s destruction. It seemed escaping was impossible, so we could only hold fast, wait for changes, and then react based on how events unfolded. I immediately took out the Map of Observing Mountains and Choosing Sites and asked everyone where in Coffin Mountain was the most structurally sound, hoping to find a secure location—ideally one allowing both advance and retreat—to evade the Nine Deaths Shocking Tomb Armor coming from all directions.

Sun Jiuye said that if the revelation was true, wherever we fled would be safe. Before the Corpse Immortal emerged, we wouldn't die even if the earth collapsed and the heavens fell.

I argued that we couldn't look at it that way. Whether the final disaster in the revelation would occur, and what its nature would be, no one could know until that moment arrived. Moreover, there was only one Thief Star. Were all five of us associated with this star? Or would some die within Coffin Mountain while others escaped with the Corpse Immortal? There were too many variables. All we could do now was exert ourselves fully and leave the rest to fate. As the saying goes, "Destiny is heaven-ordained; action is human effort." Our principle as tomb raiders is to "walk ten steps further rather than one step more dangerously." We must exert every effort in what we can control ourselves.

Everyone agreed this made sense and offered suggestions. Finally, referencing Yaomei’er's and Sun Jiuye's input, they unanimously agreed that the old Feng family residence in the Immortal Village was the most solid structure. Beneath the main hall of the Feng mansion, in addition to the burial chambers, there should be several cellars connecting to the old Feng residence in Qingxi Town—a strategic area for hiding gold and silver and sheltering from warfare. Its location was marked on the map, and it was absolutely sealed and strong; even the nearby Coffin Worms couldn't penetrate it.

Seeing that the stone jail contained lamps, candles, and lamp oil for astrological calculation, I realized this material would be very useful, though we still needed something else. I frowned, a plan forming in my mind. First, I bowed to the skeletal remains in the room: "Gentlemen, young and old, by rights, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Though we come from all corners, we share one common adversary. Therefore... if we run into trouble, you must support us. If we cause offense later, please bear with us. Too much salt makes things salty, too many words cause annoyance, so I won’t burden you comrades further. If this Hu survives to get out, I will certainly burn plenty of paper horses, incense, and money to guide you all out of the netherworld, ensuring you all become high-ranking officials in your next lives."

With that, I had everyone strip the prisoners of a few items of clothing and find some severed, armless, dried legs and feet. We soaked them in lamp oil, tied them into makeshift torches, preparing to use them to drive off the Coffin Worms when we returned to the Immortal Village. The next task was finding the exit back to the village. The back door of the stone jail was heavily locked, but Yaomei’er had the skill to pick locks using her fengxiabox opener; dealing with a few iron locks was no problem for her. u-hand.

Pushing open the stone jail's back door, we found another sloping stone staircase passage. Generally, the higher we went, the closer we got to the Immortal Village. The group had no desire to linger and filed into the dark passage, climbing upward. At the end was a locked cover. Prying the locking pin open again, a light suddenly met my eyes. I looked closely and realized we had circled around and returned to the deep chasm split in the Pangu vein’s belly. This spot wasn't far from the village entrance behind the Immortal Village. The stone troughs circulating the flowing yangsui were still running uninterrupted nearby.

The earthquakes and tremors within Coffin Mountain were constant, yet the houses in the Immortal Village remained largely intact without large-scale collapse. The Coffin Worms that had crawled into the mountain were still swarming around, deterred only by the yangsui and afraid to approach the jade cave leading to the Lingxing Hall.

I made a signal, calling everyone out of the dark passage. Just as we were about to light the torches and head to the Feng residence, an unexpected situation developed around us.

The Coffin Worms that had crawled down from the mountain walls and emerged onto the ground seemed to be driven away by something terrifying. They lunged at us like black tides. They appeared to have lost their sanity, completely ignoring the threat of the yangsui in the stone troughs. The worms that fell into the troughs died instantly, but the dead bodies immediately filled the channels, and the rest surged forward relentlessly.

I thought to myself that either the Coffin Worms had gone mad, or they sensed something even more terrifying about to emerge from the Immortal Village, causing them to desperately attempt to flee into the Pangu vein’s jade cave for shelter as a last resort. Under these circumstances, torches were useless; if the five of us didn't flee now, we would all be gnawed to pieces alive by the Coffin Worms.

My heart chilled. Just as I was about to tell everyone to quickly retreat back into the dark passage, Sun Jiuye had already re-latched the iron chains on the hidden door behind me and stuffed the keyhole full of dirt. There was no going back now. My mind buzzed, and I could no longer suppress the fury in my heart. I grabbed his collar and cursed, "Sun Jiuye, you—you’re truly insane! Believe it or not, I'll tear you into pieces!"

Sun Jiuye’s face was expressionless. He said coldly, "I just want to see if what is fated can truly be changed. If the final disaster in the revelation is destined to happen, no amount of Coffin Worms crawling over us will kill us; conversely, if we are all consumed by the worms, the dead in the Immortal Village will never see daylight again."