Jia Fengzi held the object in his palm, staring at it intently for a full quarter of an hour, before his pupils suddenly constricted: "Eh, a Mojin Talisman of the Cao lineage!"

Jia Fengzi finally regained a flicker of memory: "The tip of an authentic pangolin claw, indeed, it is a Mojin Talisman!"

"Senior Jia, forgive our intrusion today!" Young Master Liu stepped forward quickly to offer his apologies. Fan Debiao hurried up as well, saying, "Yes, yes, we truly hope Senior Jia will forgive our earlier rashness..."

"I seem to have had a dream, as if I slept for a very long time. You... are you perhaps Mojin Xiaowei?" Jia Fengzi weighed the Mojin Talisman in his hand, then looked at the two men.

Both nodded, saying, "Senior Jia is the true Mojin Xiaowei; even today, only you stand above the entire Mojin School in terms of skill!"

"Not at all, not at all. It is truly a case of the student surpassing the master. Your master is?" Scholar Jia was now completely lucid, not the least bit mad, and carried an imposing aura only those in high positions possess.

"Big Grasshopper, have you heard of him?" Fan Debiao ventured cautiously.

"Heh heh, heard of him? I've met him. Some years ago, when my illness wasn't so severe, I discussed some matters with him... You mean to say he is your...?" Scholar Jia inquired slowly, without hurry.

"Haha, he is indeed my boss; he's the one who brought me into the tomb raiding trade," Fan Debiao replied, feeling the tension in the conversation ease considerably.

"Oh, I see. No wonder you possess his Mojin Talisman. Big Grasshopper, while he may be cunning, his abilities are undeniably first-rate. Following him, you must have learned a great deal!" Senior Jia mused thoughtfully.

Fan Debiao shook his head with a wry smile: "Not at all. After years of being on the sidelines just taking care of things, I haven't learned much technique, though I’ve certainly managed to put on some weight."

"Heh heh, this young brother jokes," Scholar Jia let a benevolent smile surface, but his expression immediately darkened: "Wait a moment!"

"Our Mojin Gate has always adhered to its rules: as long as the talisman exists, the man lives; if the talisman is lost, the man dies. How could Big Grasshopper entrust something so vital to you? Could it be..."

Seeing that Scholar Jia was indeed perceptive and knowing he couldn't hide the truth any longer, Fan Debiao stated plainly: "Senior is truly a Senior. Our leader is indeed no longer among the living."

"Dead? How could he be dead? Where did he die?" Scholar Jia's eyes flew wide open.

Fan Debiao and Young Master Liu flinched, thinking his madness had returned, and instinctively stepped back. Only when they realized his gaze was clear did they continue: "Tibet."

"Hahahaha, are you taking me for a three-year-old? What kind of place is Tibet? It’s just a high plateau with some bandits running about. For an ordinary archaeological team, traversing it on foot is certainly difficult. But Big Grasshopper and I shared a deep bond; I know his capabilities well enough. Moreover, he was leading a tomb-raiding conglomerate—a massive operation with excellent equipment. There's no way he would capsize in a ditch! Tell me, who exactly are you, daring to impersonate Big Grasshopper!" Scholar Jia asked with a cold smile.

"Hahahaha, Senior Jia is indeed a master. But don't forget, deep in the Tibetan plateau, there is a forbidden zone for the living. Our boss had a large team, and we encountered mechanical traps we couldn't defend against in time. Everyone perished, save for the boss and one other brother who managed to escape, but they were all afflicted by a strange virus, suffering severe dehydration and rapid aging. He passed away a week ago," Fan Debiao finished, closing his eyes in pain.

"Guge Ruins, traps... Could it be a shifting sand pile?" Scholar Jia tilted his head, clearly deep in thought.

"It was a bed crossbow!" Fan Debiao slowly articulated the three words. "Who would have thought something thousands of years old could still function!"

Scholar Jia's expression finally softened. "It seems this was a case of mistaken identity, friend. Don't be too saddened. Although our Mojin School relies on skill to make a living, that doesn't mean we can command the winds and rains effortlessly. We put our very lives on the line!"

After talking around the subject for quite some time, they finally moved to the main point: "Tell me, what is it you two have come to seek from me?" Scholar Jia was an exceptionally astute man and had naturally guessed their purpose, but he still asked the question.

"To be honest, we have spent years searching for a truth, and the final piece of that truth is likely hidden in this place. If Senior Jia is still inclined, are you willing to walk into this forbidden zone of the living one more time?" Young Master Liu quickly laid out his proposal.

Seeing that Young Master Liu had finally voiced it, Fan Debiao held nothing back: "Senior, we heard that decades ago, you undertook a major expedition in Tibet..."

Bringing it up was perhaps the worst idea. As soon as it was mentioned, Scholar Jia was instantly struck by the terrifying memory, and tears welled up in the corners of his eyes: "It's been so long since I've cried, I forgot the taste of tears. Five people died—five living souls, five—a full five people!!" Scholar Jia painfully stretched out one hand, which was visibly trembling.

"In the end, only I survived, muddled through it all. Yama must have spared me once," he sighed again.

"It was gruesome, unspeakably gruesome. I can still recall how they looked when they died. Because of that, I have a very long scar on my head..." As he spoke, Senior Jia pushed his hair aside to show them. The scar was long, almost dividing his entire head in two.

"What split it?" Yin Silu asked.

"I don't know, I can't recall clearly. I only remember I wasn't inside then; I was keeping watch near the entrance of the cave. There was a fellow named Hu Hansan who was supposed to be watching the lookout with me, but he was called down at the last minute. Later, I heard things going wrong inside the cave and started to descend to check. I had only gone down a short way when I felt a sudden sharp pain on my head, and then I knew nothing more. Hu Hansan went down and never came back up. He had a wife, she’d already had one child, and was pregnant with another. I have no face to see her..." Scholar Jia began recounting the bloody, chaotic night from the past...

Thirty years ago, Shaanxi, China.

Senior Jia wasn't actually his surname; his surname was Jia, and his given name was Zhuangyuan (Scholar/Top Graduate). This name carried significant meaning, and no one knew who bestowed it upon him. However, when some villagers had a baby, they dared not name the child rashly. They would find a fortune-teller, present the child's birth details—the time, date, year, and hour—to be analyzed for the Five Elements: what a Water-destined child needed to watch out for, what a Fire-destined child needed, what an Earth-destined child needed—that whole Five Elements business. In the end, the decision on the name was often left to the fortune-teller, requiring good food, drink, and a hefty payment for good fortune.

That day, he happened to encounter a fortune-teller in the village. This fortune-teller, while ostensibly reading fortunes, was also a shrewd businessman, always traveling where the business was. When he heard the Jia family had a son, he naturally headed toward their house.

Any fortune-teller, even if they knew the child wouldn't amount to much later, would concoct flattering nonsense just to solicit a larger reward. They'd declare the child couldn't succeed in martial arts but would excel in scholarly pursuits, suggesting they name him Zhuangyuan! Wishing him success as the top scholar!

Jia Zhuangyuan's mother, meanwhile, was a village shamaness who treated the sick and practiced spiritual rites; she believed in everything mystical. When the fortune-teller said this, she naturally believed him completely. Although it was a tumultuous era, Old Madam Jia never lacked food. Even though the villagers weren't wealthy, there was a custom where they would bring out the grain they had painstakingly saved to give to Old Madam Jia for treating their illnesses and driving away evil spirits. Thus, Jia Zhuangyuan's life was relatively comfortable.

Later, after Old Madam Jia passed away, Jia Zhuangyuan lost his support. He didn't inherit her medical and exorcism skills. His wife and child went hungry daily. A woman, after all, desires only a stable life. But this life became unbearable. One day, Jia Zhuangyuan's wife took their child and remarried.

Later, with no other options, Jia Zhuangyuan gradually came into contact with tomb raiders and began entering the profession. Jia Zhuangyuan did not follow the path of "scholarship" but instead took up "tomb raiding," which was perhaps an ironic twist of fate, proving that a good name couldn't dictate one's destiny.

Jia Zhuangyuan first raided a few tombs in the outskirts of Beijing. Whether it was bad luck or lack of success, he never struck it rich. However, his one stroke of good luck was meeting a grand master from the Mojin School, from whom he learned some genuine skills.

One day, while a few brothers were idle, they started chatting. The conversation drifted to the matters of Tibet. Being young and full of hot blood back then, they decided to make a trip. In their eyes, treasures in Tibet seemed as easy to acquire as picking them up off the ground.

Not long after entering the desertified region of Tibet, the group encountered something strange. Animals living in the desert either burrowed underground or were extremely resistant to thirst. The most common were camels; once they ate and drank their fill, they could go days without sustenance, but humans could not.