I couldn't help but keep my eyes on Zhuoyangjin. Though her face was etched with exhaustion and her clothes were nearly coated in dust—something most girls couldn't stand—she seemed utterly unbothered. She lifted the sleeve of her jacket, which I first thought was blue but now appeared utterly blackened, to wipe her face, then immediately settled in beside Old Li, watching his actions with rapt attention.

Old Li, noticing the woman trailing him, frowned. "I need to step out the Bagua alignments to fix the Gate of Life and Death. Stay behind me. Keep your distance, go over to Master Luo's side."

Zhuoyangjin immediately scurried over and stood next to me. By then, the Qing soldier corpses were slowly closing in. Yamamoto and Takeya quickly opened fire. At the sound of the shots, the corpses seemed to recognize the danger; they would pause, take a step back, and then advance again. I watched, dumbfounded—this was a perfectly drilled formation!

"Master Luo, I have my reasons; you must forgive me." Zhuoyangjin tugged at my sleeve, pleadingly.

My attention was entirely monopolized by the Qing soldier corpses; I paid no heed to whatever she was saying. These corpses must have been rigorously selected and trained when alive. They surrounded the Japanese, and although they seemed momentarily fearful of the gunfire, their coordination in advancing, retreating, attacking, and defending never wavered. Though the corpses were desiccated, one could still discern that they had been roughly similar in size and build when alive. This clearly showed that whoever placed the coffins here had put careful thought into it, far beyond mere sacrificial burials; it seemed they intended to protect something, much like the previous skull-and-head lamp and the chain-bound zombie.

As I stood by, watching the devils fight the corpses, I frantically tried to make sense of the strange encounters since entering the cave. I was certain everything was man-made, and the person setting all this up must possess immense power. What I couldn't grasp was why they would meticulously arrange such things deep within a mountain. Moreover, this cave system was too bizarre—some parts warm as spring, others unbearably cold, featuring a blood spring and a glacier...

"Master Luo..." Zhuoyangjin called out to me timidly.

I looked at her impatiently. "What is it?"

"You must be wary of the Japanese. Having come this far, losing men and prestige, they certainly won't give up easily," Zhuoyangjin said softly.

Nonsense. Had I suffered less at the hands of that bastard Yamamoto? Cooperating with them only out of dire necessity didn't mean I'd forget the pain and trust them completely. I, Luo, am no three-year-old child!

I sneered. "I am naturally cautious of the devils... But don't think I trust you either!"

Hearing this, Zhuoyangjin's face instantly dimmed. She lowered her head, focusing only on her toes, silent for a long time. I couldn't be bothered with her and asked Old Li if he had located the door.

Old Li only glanced up at me, murmuring softly, "Kan... Zhen... No. Kun... Gen... Hmm..." As he spoke the directional terms, his feet stepped out the corresponding patterns. I knew he was tracing the Post-Heaven Bagua to find the location of the opening mechanism, so I dared not interrupt and quickly shut up.

Speaking of the door, I truly could not see anything resembling a door on the cave wall; it was nothing but uniformly rough stone. I wondered how Zhuoyangjin had been so sure a door existed here. This woman seemed more than just an ordinary escort. Thinking this, I couldn't help but glance at her a few times. Just as I looked, she also looked up at me, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. Recalling her choked expression when she asked why I hadn't descended the mountain, an indescribable feeling washed over me, and I quickly turned my gaze elsewhere.

"The Gate of Hell is about to open." Zhuoyangjin suddenly rushed over and clung to me tightly, her voice thick with tears. "Master Luo, the Gate of Hell is about to open. I told them to push you into the blood spring to save you, to let you escape down the mountain... Why didn't you leave..."

I tried to push her away, straining several times, but she held on tight. "Let go. I'm not used to being held like this," I said coldly. "Even if you colluded with them to push me into the icy blood spring, you were purely trying to kill me. Now that you see I'm alive, there’s no need for excuses. In any case, we must cooperate now; I won't turn hostile against you."

"No, truly not. Master Luo, you have to believe me." Zhuoyangjin buried her face against my chest and sobbed quietly. "I had no choice but to think of that idea... Master Luo, regarding you... regarding you..."

Before she could finish, Old Li shouted in surprise, "Found it, found it! Master Luo, come over here."

I immediately pushed Zhuoyangjin away and went over. "Where?" There was still nothing unusual around, and I couldn't fathom what Old Li was pointing to.

Old Li said excitedly, "Xun. Move a little to your left and see if there's anything unusual about that stone wall."

I immediately complied, going over to examine the wall closely, but after looking for a long time, I still found no anomaly. Old Li called for me to step aside with a look of disappointment, saying he would handle it personally.

Zhuoyangjin’s tears were not yet dry, but she volunteered to try instead. Old Li glanced at her. "I know you understand a bit, but if there's a hidden mechanism here, are you sure you can dodge it?"

Zhuoyangjin’s face flushed slightly, and she mumbled an excuse before retreating to the side, presumably admitting she didn't understand mechanical traps.

Old Li stepped out the Bagua alignments slowly and deliberately, moving toward the wall. Up ahead, Yamamoto, who was holding off the corpses, gasped out in heavily accented Chinese, asking Zhuoyangjin if she had found the Gate of Life, as they were nearly overwhelmed. He then fired another shot, causing the corpses to retreat half a step before pressing forward again. His words were clearly intended for us; if he meant to speak to Zhuoyangjin, he could have used Japanese.

Zhuoyangjin looked to me and Old Li for guidance. I kept silent, while Old Li was entirely absorbed in observing the subtle differences in the left stone wall. The Qing soldier corpses had closed in quite a bit, and Yamamoto and his partner were now using flamethrowers along with their guns, managing just barely to keep the horde from breaking through.

I felt anxious along with Yamamoto, but could only watch Old Li press his ear against the stone wall, occasionally tapping it lightly, then lifting his head to study the wall's grain... His slow, deliberate actions almost drove me crazy, yet I couldn't lash out, couldn't rush Old Li, couldn't distract his concentration. Coupled with the chaotic noise of gunshots and the roar of the flamethrowers from Yamamoto and Takeya, the whole situation was intensely irritating.

To make matters worse, Zhuoyangjin, ignoring the tension, came and hooked her arm through mine, leaning against me. "What are you doing!" I flung her off roughly. She looked at me with a wronged and innocent expression, like a little girl. "Master Luo, the Gate of Hell is opening, and no one knows if we can survive—even if he opens it, it's just a possibility of survival. So..."

Before she could finish, I cut her off coldly. "So what? Life and death are matters of a single thought. Even if I die, I will never forgive someone who tried to kill me."

Zhuoyangjin's face changed drastically, and she looked at me mournfully. "Master Luo, I truly did it to save you... Don't you believe me, don't you believe what I feel for you..." She paused here, then continued, "Didn't I tell you to seek out Master Banqin or his successor if you escaped unharmed? I had my reasons for all of that. I’m sorry... I should have told you all this beforehand."

I am not one to offer forgiveness easily, and I hate the words "I'm sorry" the most. Things have happened; the irreversible consequences are already manifest. Apologies afterward, whether I forgive or not, are utterly useless. Therefore, if I must deal with someone who has said "I'm sorry" to me, my only recourse is to choose to forget what they did and interact with them anew, rather than forgiving their past actions. The same applied to Zhuoyangjin. I didn't want to hear any more of her explanations. Although I harbored suspicions that she wasn't just an ordinary accompanying translator, those matters belonged to the past. Now, cooperation was essential for us to escape this deadly situation. As she herself put it, even if Old Li opened the door, we had no idea what lay beyond it; we could not predict life or death.

Thinking this, I sighed. "Forget it, let's not talk about that."

Zhuoyangjin wept silently, whispering miserably, "I shouldn't have kept secrets from you."

I pretended not to see her tears and asked Old Li if he was done. This time, Old Li answered with surprising briskness: "Done. Everyone stand back." Hearing this, Zhuoyangjin immediately pulled me toward Yamamoto and the others. The corpses at Yamamoto's position had already formed a dense, seamless human wall, blocking the path back—we truly had no choice, no retreat, and were completely dependent on Old Li to open this so-called door.

Seeing us retreat, Old Li agilely pressed his body against the left stone wall, extended his right hand to strike the base of the wall, and then swiftly dodged to the side. With a crisp kacha, the stone wall actually indented inward a few inches. I was overjoyed and immediately moved to investigate and assist Old Li, but he barked a sharp command: "Don't come near!"

His tone was severe. I paused, then immediately understood: this door must be so secretive that there were certainly other formidable mechanisms involved. Wasn't that how it always went in Wuxia novels? And historical notes often mentioned the prevalence of hidden rooms and traps—deadly things that required real firepower and cautious maneuvering. I dared not act rashly and dutifully retreated to my original spot.

The little devils, upon seeing Old Li locate the door, became galvanized and proactively attacked the corpses, actually forcing them back a considerable distance.

I distrusted the character of the devils, but I trusted their ability to fight the corpses, so I focused solely on Old Li's actions.

After that strike with his right hand, Old Li paused again, calculated something by counting on his fingers for a moment, shifted half a step to the right, then drew his dagger and inserted it into the recessed gap. He immediately protected his head with both hands and nimbly and rapidly slipped to stand against the right stone wall.

Sure enough, less than half a second later, a flurry of arrows shot out from the indented gap with a "swish-swish-swish!" I clearly saw that the arrowheads were blue, evidently coated in potent poison. However, this mechanism wasn't overly sophisticated; compared to the meticulously placed zombies and Qing soldier corpses we had already encountered, this was much inferior—anyone with a slight knowledge should know how to evade it.

Before long, the ground was littered with long and short arrows. Old Li beckoned me over to help him push the door open. I mimicked his posture, pressing my body flat against the indented stone wall. He gave me an approving look. "Push to the right with your strength, and make absolutely sure your body is completely shielded by the wall." I understood this was to guard against any mechanisms behind the wall, so I nodded to him to show I understood.