"Oh? Truly that miraculous? I never realized that Yellow Turban rebel Zhang Jiao was such a simpleton. Didn't he know that Qin Shi Huang was obsessed with achieving immortality, yet he still died?"

Fan Debiao sighed, feigning profound knowledge, offering his assessment.

Young Master Liu didn't say much, merely gazing at Huang Shitou and asking, "Huang Shitou, do you have any other treasures on you, anything similar to that one the old Daoist gave you before?"

Huang Shitou thought hard for a moment, then finally shook his head, "No. Truly none left."

Young Master Liu nodded in response. He had momentarily entertained the thought of plundering something from this bumpkin, but now he felt a measure of disappointment.

"Oh yes, Fan Debiao, what exactly is the deal with that enormous stone you unearthed today?" Young Master Liu suddenly recalled the huge rock from earlier that day and asked out of curiosity.

"To be honest, I don't know why. Initially, it was only about the size of a cooking pot, and nobody paid it much mind. But the more we dug, the larger it grew, until it was the size of a small house! We truly have no idea what's going on."

Young Master Liu nodded. "Mmm, this matter is certainly peculiar. How could such a massive stone exist within a mountain? If I'm not mistaken, this stone likely contains elements of a gemstone."

"Huh? Gemstone elements?" Fan Debiao’s eyes, along with those of the men surrounding him, instantly bulged wider than a donkey's eyes. He looked at Young Master Liu with intense curiosity and asked, "What exactly is going on? Why do you say it has gemstone components? If it's a gemstone, we should start digging right now! Damn it all, I swear I'll take this thing apart!" Fan Debiao exclaimed, utterly agitated.

"Agitated over what, you idiot? I never said it definitely is a gemstone. Has any of you ever seen a gemstone this large? I mean, seeing such a massive stone reminded me of a legend," Young Master Liu explained.

"Oh? What legend is that? Master Liu, please tell us?" Fan Debiao inquired again, completely engrossed.

"Mmm, the legend says that back when the cosmos was still in its chaotic state, before this world even formed, that fellow Pangu burst out of an egg and created heaven and earth. It is said that existing concurrently with Pangu during that time was another egg. But what kind of egg it was, we don't know..."

Before he could finish speaking, Su Yougui interrupted Liu Dashao: "It wasn't a chicken egg, was it? Actually, fried eggs are the most nutritious..." Mentioning eggs instantly made Su Yougui, the cook, drool slightly.

"You bastard, shut up! Damn it, listen to what Master Liu has to say first." Fan Debiao cursed Su Yougui thoroughly, forcing Su Yougui to bite his tongue.

"It is said that egg should have shattered along with Pangu, becoming a part of this universe, but for some reason, it did not crack. Eventually, it was gradually buried by the mountains and rivers, and over the long passage of time, it turned into a massive gemstone... though whether this is true or false, I truly cannot say. Later, people gave this unseen stone the name Pangu Stone," Young Master Liu finished speaking.

The men were deeply stirred; the mention of the Pangu Stone had struck a chord. This...

They waited for Young Master Liu to continue, but he fell silent, refusing to speak further.

Looking at Young Master Liu, Su Yougui urged him on, "Go on! Is that Pangu Stone the one we encountered?"

"Damn it, if I knew, I would have gone to dig up that huge rock myself! It wouldn't be waiting for you guys! Let's talk about this stone tomorrow; the matter is quite complicated." Young Master Liu glanced at the large wall clock: "It's getting late, past ten o'clock. Hurry up and sleep."

Only then did Fan Debiao reluctantly leave the room.

The next day, Fan Debiao woke up early and went straight to Young Master Liu's room: "Young Master Liu, Young Master Liu! Today, we're reassigning the work. You go dig that big rock."

Young Master Liu opened his eyes, surveyed the still somewhat dark room, stretched languidly, and asked, "What? You want me to go dig that big rock?"

Fan Debiao smiled and replied, "Master Liu, we're counting on you! If you can uncover the secret of that huge stone, wouldn't that be making a contribution to our socialism? Heh heh, under the premise of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, a talent like you is naturally assigned to the front lines. I'll go to the front lines with you today."

Fan Debiao had indeed changed. Young Master Liu glanced at him; sure enough, he was wearing a simple, rustic outfit, but Liu Dashao recognized it as Su Yougui's. It was a pity for Su Yougui—that guy was probably still looking for his own clothes somewhere.

Young Master Liu immediately said, "Alright then, let's set off now. Time waits for no one." With that, Young Master Liu put on his clothes and led the group to the site.

When the group arrived, Su Yougui's cursing could be heard from a distance: "Damn their ancestors! That rotten bastard stole my clothes!" But after cursing for a long time, only his own echo answered him.

Young Master Liu looked at the house-sized stone and truly admired it. Although mountains often had large rocks, those were merely pressed onto the slopes; none were truly situated deep beneath the earth. Furthermore, even with so many peaks, the foundations weren't laid out this way.

Young Master Liu took a hammer from Hu Beikang beside him and struck the stone forcefully. A reverberating echo shot out, nearly deafening him. He was stunned, staring at this rock that could produce a metallic sound.

"But this stone didn't make that sound yesterday. Why is it making that sound today?" Hu Beikang asked, bewildered, his gaze fixed intently on the giant rock. "What exactly is going on?"

The other men were also confused. That sound was indeed strange—why did it sound like striking a metal plate? "It's definitely not that simple." Thinking this, he glanced absently at the men beside him.

But after scrutinizing it for a long time, he couldn't discern anything meaningful.

Unbeknownst to them, dusk had fallen again. Young Master Liu had spent the entire day exhausting every method, even employing the Kuixing Tidou technique from the Zhengyi Talismans. Yet, all he gained were several scrapes on his feet and nothing more.

Helpless, the group returned to the barracks, planning to resume their investigation the next day.

However, when they returned to the site of the great stone the following morning, the rock was emitting a faint luster. This faint glow immediately piqued the curiosity of everyone present—a massive stone actually radiating light.

Some of the braver men stepped forward to inspect the strange phenomenon, but as soon as they approached, the weak light was so intense that they had to shield their eyes and retreat. Even Young Master Liu tried every means to get closer, but ultimately returned unsuccessful.

Young Master Liu then instructed Fan Debiao, "This stone is highly unusual. Don't report it to the higher-ups yet. Otherwise, if they investigate, they might accuse us of practicing feudal superstition, and being paraded through the streets for criticism would be disastrous."

Fan Debiao nodded, not wanting this strange rock to be taken away by the authorities. Otherwise, the great stone he had found would be lost to him.

But the situation finally took a turn on the third day. When the group went out to look, they suddenly discovered a small fissure on the massive stone. The crack was dark and deep, revealing nothing of what lay inside. However, surrounding the exterior of the large sphere was another source—a yellow, almost transparent source. The fissure ran right through this yellow, translucent circle.

Viewed from a distance, it looked remarkably like a cat's eye.

Young Master Liu shuddered internally. This cat's eye looked terribly familiar. Could this be connected to the incident where he smeared whitewash over the cat's eye at Yang Baosan's house?

His heart was violently unsettled.

"Young Master Liu, Young Master Liu!" Just then, his good friend Tian Guoqiang rushed up behind the engineering team. Seeing Young Master Liu, he gasped, "Young Master Liu, this is terrible! Something has happened at Yang Baosan's house!"

Just as he was thinking of Yang Baosan, Tian Guoqiang suddenly brought news of a catastrophe at his home. This was too coincidental.

"What happened, Tian Guoqiang? Tell me slowly; there's no rush," Young Master Liu inquired.

"This morning, Yang Baosan was taking his usual walk along the path near the small river at the east end of the village. But this morning, Yang Baosan's corpse was found discarded by the riverbank. No one knows who did it. When we turned over his body, it was covered in putrid flesh! On his chest, all sorts of bizarre images were carved. It was terrifying..." Tian Guoqiang spoke while panting, as if the sight he witnessed had made it difficult for him to breathe.

"What? Were there cat eyes carved on his chest? Look quickly, is it this cat's eye?" Young Master Liu frantically pointed to the cat's eye formation on the hilltop, signaling Tian Guoqiang to look.

Tian Guoqiang cried out, "Aiyah!" and sank to the ground. "What are you people doing up here? Why would you carve a cat's eye so high up? Is it beautiful or something?"

Young Master Liu quickly explained, "This wasn't carved by us. This stone naturally grew here; nobody knows how many years it has been in this spot. Right, where is Yang Baosan's body now?"

Young Master Liu asked, his curiosity piqued. It wasn't that he feared Yang Baosan dying with unfinished business; he genuinely feared the fellow might die holding a grudge and return as a jiangshi to bother him. He hadn't told him his lifespan was nearly up, and perhaps the deceased would hold that against him.

People know nothing before they die, but they know everything after.

Tian Guoqiang replied, "Yang Baosan's body is still at the village's temporary mortuary, guarded by his mother. His wife eloped with a man from our village the afternoon he died, leaving behind only a young boy who now lives with his grandmother. Those two poor souls," Tian Guoqiang said with pity.