Hearing Zhuoma Yangjin say this eased my mind considerably. I quickly asked her what the medicinal herb smell was all about.

Zhuoma Yangjin paused for thought, then asked me, "Do you remember when I told you to seek out Master Banqin or one of his successors?" Her words seemed to come out of nowhere. Nevertheless, I nodded.

Zhuoma Yangjin continued, "Master Banqin possesses a secret formula that can implant something into the blood of humans or animals, allowing them to evade some of the less formidable beings of Shangri-La."

I seemed to recall hearing something about this. It must have been when the lion was injured; Old Li had asked me to take the cloth stained with the lion’s blood, saying it would be useful. The lion’s mother had been personally raised by Master Banqin, so it stood to reason the lion inherited some of its mother's lineage, allowing it to evade the Shangri-La creatures. Didn't that white python, the one capable of dissolving people into juice, show extreme apprehension toward the lion back then? It seemed that was the reason.

“So, your blood has it too?” My eyes were starting to feel strained from the cloth binding them. Walking cautiously in the dark, led by Zhuoma Yangjin, I paused slightly and loosened the blindfold with my hand to ease the discomfort.

Zhuoma Yangjin immediately stepped forward to check the tightness of the blindfold and see if I could manage to see the path. No matter how great my curiosity, I dared not act presumptuously in such circumstances. The cloth covered my eyes completely and securely. Seeing nothing amiss, Zhuoma Yangjin finally answered my earlier question, "Yes. Master Banqin had me drink water steeped with various herbs and bathe in them, or mixed them into my food since I was a child. Therefore, my blood is different from that of ordinary people; it carries the scent of medicinal herbs. However, this can only repel lower-level threats, such as the strange insects at the communication station on Qiangbake Mountain, and the white python. It is completely useless against those zombies and the faceless ones."

No wonder her subordinates could tell if the blood on them was hers just by a slight touch, and no wonder she, a mere girl, showed no fear on Qiangbake Mountain—it all made sense now. Speaking of Qiangbake Mountain, I suddenly remembered something critically important and was about to ask, but Old Li spoke first.

“So, you are quite familiar with Master Banqin?” Old Li asked in the darkness.

Wangmu let out a cold laugh. “Familiar? They are as familiar as one can possibly be. You two... why are you like white...” She likely intended to call us idiots but stopped short, pausing to say, “How can your minds be so slow to catch on?”

Zhuoma Yangjin smiled faintly. “Wangmu, you are becoming increasingly heedless of propriety. You shouldn't be so rude to guests.” Although she said this, there was no hint of true reproach in her tone. It seemed she doted on this young girl; otherwise, the girl wouldn't dare speak to us in such a manner.

Indeed, Wangmu retorted, “What guest is he? I’m already weary of saving him.”

Zhuoma Yangjin quickly told her not to mention such things. Wangmu snorted in dissatisfaction and fell silent. I quickly expressed my gratitude to Zhuoma Yangjin and exchanged some pleasantries before steering the conversation back to the main topic.

“Yangjin, how were you saved when you jumped out of Shengtai’s tomb chamber?” I asked. I had worried constantly about her safety back at the hospital, but suddenly meeting her underground in this complex and perilous situation, I hadn't been able to ask then.

“Oh. That, oh.” Zhuoma Yangjin replied calmly. “My family found me. They were the ones who called the police to rescue you two as well.”

Hearing this, Old Li and I immediately offered profuse thanks once more. Zhuoma Yangjin was extremely reluctant for us to be so polite; she stated calmly that it was nothing and we shouldn't make such a fuss. I knew she was downplaying it, but the matter surely wasn't that simple.

“By the way, how did you know about Shengtai’s tomb?” Zhuoma Yangjin shifted the subject, asking.

So I quickly told her about Xu Zhiwu and Ni Qiong. After listening, Zhuoma Yangjin frowned. “When you were in the hospital, I hadn't fully recovered yet, nor could I spare the effort to arrange people... I didn’t expect Xu Zhiwu and Ni Qiong to be so resourceful. Those two... hehe... hehe...” She ended with two cold sneers, her tone dripping with contempt.

“You mean you know Xu Zhiwu and Ni Qiong?” I realized Zhuoma Yangjin was far more capable than I had imagined.

Zhuoma Yangjin replied, “Know them? I had my people escort them out of the dried-corpse cave.” This meant the two of them were alive. They had abandoned us to save themselves in a moment of crisis; I had nothing to say about that. After all, others were under no obligation to rescue those of us who seemed doomed at the time.

“Ni Qiong was scheming at every turn,” Zhuoma Yangjin continued. “Unfortunately, he never dared to approach us for the second Golden Eye Silver Pearl. He grew timid; the moment he saw you two were in trouble, he lost the nerve to proceed further. He was sent out of the cave by Wangmu and the others like a stray dog. Otherwise, if they had managed to follow you into the seventh level, their Old Buddha’s scheme would have succeeded, and they could have achieved immortality.”

“Immortality?!” Hearing those four words, my mind immediately flashed back to things Ni Qiong had said. “Can one truly achieve immortality?”

Zhuoma Yangjin continued leading us forward, it seemed we turned a corner, and the path began to gradually slope upward.

“Yes, immortality. And you have already witnessed it.” Saying this, Zhuoma Yangjin cautioned us to be careful, warning that we were about to start climbing a very long flight of stairs. “We’ve seen an immortal?!” I was utterly astonished. As I carefully bent over to climb the steps, I asked her with some exertion, “Who is it?”

“Haha...” Zhuoma Yangjin laughed with a hint of smugness. “If I didn’t tell you, you certainly wouldn’t know. If I had told you earlier, those Germans definitely wouldn't have considered fleeing; they would have preferred being bitten to death by the cocoon people, or strangled by cocoon silk...”

I was impatient. Seeing her about to continue her boastful display, I quickly interrupted her, “Tell me first, which one is the immortal? The big-mouthed monster? Or the human-faced monster? Or the cocoon people... The cocoon people were so terrifying, they didn’t seem like...”

Zhuoma Yangjin countered, “Why are you so certain it isn't the cocoon people? Didn’t you notice that, except for the newly deceased Mark, all the cocoon people appeared in pairs?”

Old Li picked up the thread. “Yes, and I also noticed that the cocoon person subdued by the herbs had half a body growing out of its left side.”

Wangmu looked surprised. “You noticed that much detail.”

Old Li smiled but said nothing more.

Zhuoma Yangjin confirmed, “That’s right; that is the body growing out of his own body, just not fully developed. If it had grown completely—like the cocoon people we just saw—it would be a complete, identical person joined onto the original. Now, do you understand why I said those five cocoon people were actually only three individuals?”

I nodded, still not entirely grasping it. “But what does that have to do with immortality?”

Zhuoma Yangjin seemed tired; walking and talking made her breathless. “Didn’t you... didn’t you realize? Their bodies have a replication function. If one physical body ages and dies, the new one that grows out of it will continue to grow another one on itself, and so on, ensuring that a healthy body is always available under any circumstances. That is immortality—at least, bodily immortality.”

“But do those bodies still possess thought?” I immediately asked.

“No, they retain only animal instincts: cruelty and bloodlust. They have absolutely no thought,” Zhuoma Yangjin replied.

That was uninteresting; they were just walking dead, what was the appeal? Thinking this, I voiced my sentiment. Zhuoma Yangjin smiled. “Didn't you know there is something else that can completely replicate a person’s thoughts and memories from their lifetime?”

My interest immediately flared. I stopped walking and repeatedly asked, “What! What is it?”

Zhuoma Yangjin tilted her head, thinking, but hadn't spoken yet. Wangmu sharply reminded her, “Princess, you shouldn’t blurt out everything you shouldn't when you see your heart's desire.”

Zhuoma Yangjin coughed awkwardly. I realized they must have matters they were uncomfortable sharing with outsiders, so I quickly stopped pressing and started making small talk with Old Li instead.

Old Li seemed distracted, as if pondering something. Since I was never polite with him, I directly asked him what was on his mind.

Old Li said glumly, “I’m thinking about what Yangjin said regarding Master Banqin. Technician Luo, you know, I spent some time with Master Banqin. He truly was a mysterious figure. He repeatedly warned me never to let anyone casually enter the communication station on the mountain. Furthermore, he taught me some things, but... but he never mentioned anything about a princess or Guge to me.” His tone betrayed a hint of doubt regarding Zhuoma Yangjin’s account of Master Banqin.

How could Zhuoma Yangjin not grasp the implication in Old Li’s words? She asked, “Master Banqin never left Qiangbake Mountain in his lifetime, correct?”

Old Li nodded. Zhuoma Yangjin continued, “Did he not repeatedly state that if the secrets of Qiangbake Mountain were discovered, the entire Qinghai-Tibet Plateau would inevitably descend into chaos and upheaval?”

This statement was very familiar; Zhuoma Yangjin had repeated it to me many times herself. Old Li remained silent. As she was about to say more, Wangmu quickly interjected, “Princess, aren’t some matters unsuitable for outsiders to know?”

Zhuoma Yangjin smiled. “It doesn’t matter; Luo Lianli is not an outsider.”

Wangmu replied, “I dare not meddle in what you say. I am just reminding you that it is always better not to let outsiders know about certain vital matters.”

Hearing this, Zhuoma Yangjin suddenly fell silent. After a long pause, she murmured to herself, “Outsiders... outsiders...” She sounded somewhat melancholy. “Forget it...” she sighed. “In any case, you just need to know that Master Banqin was a loyal subject of our Guge. Do not press this point further; I will tell you about other things concerning Guge to pass the time.”