Marshal Zhang showed not the slightest regard for my taunts, his righteous face glaring at me with rigidly set eyes.

If Marshal Zhang was here, did that mean Brother Liu and Second Brother Guan of the Peach Garden brotherhood were stationed behind the other two side doors? Who knew, but when I stepped forward for a closer look, I saw neither Brother Liu nor Second Brother Guan at the side entrances. Instead, I was surprised to see a black rabbit carved onto the left side door. Focusing my gaze, I realized the black rabbit looked strangely familiar. After a moment of thought, blast it all, wasn't that the very same one we encountered in the Anle Cave? Filled with suspicion, I walked to the right side door and saw a turtle carved onto the tightly shut wooden panel.

Because my vision of the world at this moment was rendered in stark black and white, the various patterns on the doors were exceptionally clear.

This was fine, really. Seeing too much of the gaudy, colorful world could lead to aesthetic fatigue. Experiencing a world of absolute clarity, black and white, was, once in a while, a great pleasure in life!

No more musings; let's return to the scene. I looked up at the plaque above the stone archway, expecting to see the celestial script found on the outer plaque. To my disappointment, the plaque was pure white, utterly devoid of any characters or markings. I surmised that when Qin Cheng copied this stone archway, he was also keeping with the times, writing those eight great characters on two separate plaques—one hung outside for the admiration of the world, and one hung inside purely for his own appreciation. Though Qin Cheng’s archway was similar in structure, height, and girth to the one before me, this one was clearly carved from a single colossal piece of stone, thus eliminating any concerns about how it was erected.

Three doors, six faces, carved with a tiger, a horse, a snake, a Zhang Fei, a rabbit, and a turtle, respectively. Although I couldn't yet articulate their true significance, I had a faint suspicion that this underground city must be connected to our Tujia people. Never mind the stilt-house clusters built into the mountainside; just this stone archway alone bore a striking resemblance to the one in the ruins of the Tusi Imperial City outside. Moreover, the central gate of the archway was carved with the Tujia totem: the tiger. This suggested that the phrase, "To unravel the Blood Soul, seek out Qin Cheng," might indeed point to this very location.

However, this was not the time to rack my brains analyzing causes and effects. The most pressing matter right now was to find Qin Ping'er first.

I shoved forcefully against the doors with my shoulder, but they didn't budge an inch. They lacked any handholds whatsoever, making it utterly futile for me to try and open the stone gates alone—like an ant trying to shake a mountain. The stone walls flanking the archway rose about four meters high, offering no purchase near the base. It looked like getting down was easy, but getting up would be hard.

I sighed helplessly, brought my mouth close to the stone door, and called out, "Ping'er... Ping'er..." twice. There was no reply, and even the strange noises previously stirred up by the black snake had vanished without a trace.

It seemed my only recourse was to seek answers among those few large trees and inside that stilt house.

"Hua'er, let's go take a look at that stilt house..." I patted Hua'er's head with the embroidered shoe. Hua'er let out a soft grunt and remained still; the tears in its eyes seemed to have dried up too.

"Come on, partner..." I called out again.

Hua'er still stood frozen. The embroidered shoe hitting its head did nothing; it paid my words no heed.

Seeing Hua'er refuse to move, I worried it had spotted the long-awaited "Half-Puppet" manifesting behind me. I spun around in alarm, but the area before me was empty, not a shadow in sight.

This was strange. There was no sign of the legendary "Half-Puppet," and Hua'er had a very good relationship with Qin Ping'er. Even without normal human reason, Hua'er could distinguish basic affection from loathing. Ping'er was gone; shouldn't it be anxious?

I was unwilling to give up; I was counting on Hua'er’s keen sense of smell to help me find Qin Ping'er! "Partner, what's wrong?" I reached out to stroke its head. Hua'er didn't even look at me, twisting its head away, letting out no sound. It plopped down onto the ground, rested its head on its front paws, and peacefully drifted off to sleep...

Seeing Hua'er in this state, I couldn't bear to wake it, even though I felt a surge of profound frustration. Remembering how tirelessly it had run, enduring fear, just to find the embroidered shoe, I felt it deserved a good rest. So, I stopped bothering it and turned toward the stilt house.

After taking a couple of steps, I turned back, returning to Hua'er’s side. I touched the corner of its eye with my hand and found that its tears had dried. After wiping at it for a long time, all I felt was a dry, rough sensation. What was odd was that, logically, fussing with its eyes like that should have prompted some reaction, yet this partner didn't even flutter an eyelid, letting me do as I pleased, as if those eyes weren't really its own.

I stood up, walking as I thought. I wondered how long Hua'er's tears would remain effective. If I couldn't find Qin Ping'er before I turned into a blind man again, I would once more be cast into a desperate situation.

Without hesitation, I quickened my pace, sprinting toward the stilt house.

I soon arrived before the cluster of large trees. Their crowns were wide, almost obscuring the lower section of the magnificent stilt house.

A doubt suddenly struck me. Generally speaking, traditional Tujia stilt houses are not built with large trees immediately in front of them, especially those with broad canopies. Because the orientation of a Tujia stilt house strictly adheres to principles—"Azure Dragon to the left, White Tiger to the right, Vermilion Bird in front, Black Tortoise behind"—they are mostly built into the mountainside, facing water in front, and predominantly situated facing west to east, a tradition stemming from sun worship. Even if terrain wasn't ideal for facing west, the main door would still open to the east. Recalling the first stilt house I entered after jumping down the collapsed sinkhole, although its general orientation was east-to-west, its tightly locked main door faced east, which is why Qin Ping'er and I had to make two ninety-degree turns to find the entrance.

The advantage of facing east is being able to see the sun immediately upon opening the door in the morning, so large trees were usually not planted in front, lest they block the sunlight, which would make the stilt house seem gloomy and cold, detrimental to the health of the residents, young and old. If trees were planted, they would be bamboo groves placed in front of the side wings flanking the main structure. The stilt houses of Elder Chen and Qiao Ge followed this layout.

I carefully reviewed my current bearings. The grave mound at that time was west of the two famous 'Husband and Wife' fir trees. After the mound collapsed, I jumped down with my back to the east. Next was a long, steep slope, followed by my fall into that stilt house. Ping'er and I descended the stairs east of that stilt house and walked onto the stone-stepped street. The stone archway behind Hua'er faced directly onto that stone-stepped street. These few pitch-black trees faced the stone archway, meaning they faced the main door. The magnificent stilt house behind the trees, judging by its layout, also faced the archway... Realizing this, I concluded: the stilt house behind the large trees also faced due East!

This was puzzling. Did the builders of this stilt house not know the tradition of not planting large trees in front of the house?

Of course, I now understood why these trees were entirely black. I now also understood that anything that normally possessed a dark color appeared as pure black in my vision, while lighter things naturally appeared pure white.

I took a few more steps, and a few branches stretched toward me.

I touched the tip of a branch and was surprised to find it was a cool, tender piece of tree moss. I gently plucked the moss and brought it to my nose. Instantly, my doubt deepened—the towering trees were actually Mawang trees!

I couldn't believe my perception. I ran to the other trees and plucked a piece of moss from each one. Smelling them, they were all Mawang trees too!

This Mawang tree is no ordinary tree; it occupies an extremely significant place in various Tujia legends, rumored to be a sacred tree. There are many Mawang trees in Xidu, but commonly found ones never grow this tall. There is a local legend that says Emperor Zhuanxu was once riding his horse past a tall Mawang tree. Tired, he took off his hat and hung it on a branch. He tied his horse to another branch and lay down to sleep. When he woke up, he looked up to find the Mawang tree had grown sky-high; his hat and horse were suspended halfway in the clouds. Angered, Zhuanxu uttered a curse: "Mawang tree, you shall not grow tall; stand three feet high, then bow your waist." From then on, Mawang trees never grow tall; the Mawang trees in Xidu indeed never exceed one meter in height. Of course, this legend has many versions, and the curse and the curser vary, but the core message remains: Mawang trees simply cannot grow into towering giants.

Furthermore, planting a Mawang tree in front of a house breaks a major taboo in Tujia custom. When building homes, the Tujia people have always prioritized "No mulberry in front, no peach behind," drawing on the homophones for 'mourning' (sang) and 'escape' (tao). This stilt house not only has large trees planted in front, but they are Mawang trees that realistically cannot reach such heights. In every aspect, this arrangement violently contradicts Tujia tradition!

And the strangeness extended far beyond these points...