After hearing the song from your family, I think I finally grasped the origins of this underground Tusi Imperial City. Later, based on the last line of your song and the embroidered shoe I found by chance, I deduced that we needed to head east, and that the plum blossoms on the sole indicated we would encounter certain events—events that might endanger our safety...

Is that right?" "Correct." "So, you know where this embroidered shoe came from?" "I do." "How do you know?" I pressed my advantage, steering the conversation back to the topic he was reluctant to discuss, hoping a slip of the tongue might reveal the truth about his apprenticeship. Ji shot back instantly, "My Master told me." "How did he tell you?

Did the old man or that dead infant tell you?" A surge of joy filled me; I thought Master Ji had indeed fallen for the bait. Master Ji fell silent for a long moment, then sighed deeply, "Since you press me repeatedly, I can only say a little.

Have you ever had this experience? When you first arrive somewhere, you feel an intense familiarity, as if you’ve been there before, and everything that happens afterward seems to have unfolded exactly the same way?" I froze, stammering, "...I actually have had that experience.

But what does that have to do with you and your Master?" "That's it. Think about it slowly!

If you really can't figure it out, I'll tell you later." With that, Master Ji clearly had no intention of discussing it further with me. Think?

Think my foot! I was so frustrated my teeth ached.

It was like hooking a loach, finally getting its head out of the mud, only for it to slip back in with a zzzip. Seeing my dejected expression, Master Ji sighed again, his tone gradually softening.

"Tell me, what exactly happened to you all afterwards?" I mirrored his sigh and recounted everything we had experienced along the way, step by step. Master Ji glanced at the soundly sleeping Man Niaoniao and Tan Ping'er, then remained silent for a while before saying, "Judging by what you've described, many of your deductions were accurate.

For instance, regarding the Yin Arrow wound on Man Niaoniao, the method you used was indeed consistent with the local way of treating such injuries. As for what you said about Leizi Mountain and the scene below it, I suspect that red sand is precisely cinnabar, and that large mortar was indeed used for refining ore..." "Cinnabar?" I interrupted, suddenly understanding why the sand was red!

"Yes, not just cinnabar, possibly mercury too." "Mercury?" I exclaimed, "Does the line in your song, 'that flowing silver,' refer to mercury?" "Perhaps?!" "Then... according to the song's meaning, is this mercury the same as what the historical figure Ba Guafing Qing bestowed upon the ancient Tujia people in your lyrics?" "Maybe?!" "And the female statue I saw on the suspended building—is that Ba Guafing Qing?" "Probably?!" I was boiling over.

Master Ji always used such ambiguous language to evade me. Was he genuinely unsure, or was he deliberately concealing things?

If it was the latter, what was he so concerned about? Was this also part of the rules of their profession?

I said bitterly, annoyance steaming off me, "All of this is sung in your Banshou song, yet now you're muddying the waters with vague answers. What is your game?" My temper had gotten the better of my manners.

Master Ji remained incredibly patient, completely ignoring my visible fury, and said slowly, "Didn't I tell you? Everything, including that Banshou song, was told to me by my Master.

I am currently verifying the content of that song, one piece at a time!" "Fine!" I thought, realizing Master Ji wouldn't budge on how he became an apprentice. I changed the subject.

"I won't press you about anything else, since you won't talk. Now, I have a few other matters I need your experienced analysis on!" "Good!" "First, this sword—what is its origin?" "This should be the legendary King Ba Sword, the very one carried by Lord Lin Jun." "Alright!

Then what about that Black-Clothed Imperial Post Bead (Xuan Yi Du You Zhu)?" "The Xuan Yi Du You Zhu? Who told you that name?" "Man Niaoniao!" Master Ji snorted with laughter, the first genuine smile I’d seen from him in ages.

"Do you know what Xuan Yi Du You actually means?" "I don't!" "Xuan Yi Du You is an ancient alias for a turtle, mentioned in old medical texts. So, calling it the Xuan Yi Du You Zhu is less clear than just calling it the 'Turtle Bead,' wouldn't you say!" "What?" I turned and glared fiercely at Man Niaoniao, who was sleeping soundly on the ground.

This hapless fellow had pulled such an archaic and bizarre name on me, keeping me in the dark for so long. Damn it, his 'calamity' was coming.

Master Ji’s smile faded, and he asked gravely, "What else did he tell you?" I then relayed what Man Niaoniao had told me about the Xuan Yi Du You Zhu. Master Ji fell silent again, his expression growing peculiar.

After a long moment, he finally said, "A tortoise lives a thousand years, an old turtle ten thousand; it's not surprising such a massive turtle would harbor this thing inside. What he said about the ox having ox-gall and the dog having dog-treasure is also correct.

The key point is that I have never heard the name 'Xuan Yi Du You Zhu' before. I don't know if he made it up or if it's real." Hearing that made me feel slightly better.

His ignorance didn't automatically mean Man Niaoniao had fabricated the name. I mean, for a roughneck like Man Niaoniao, did he really have the capacity to invent such a strange name?

Of course, I only thought that to myself. But seeing Master Ji's strange expression made me momentarily curious again.

Then I thought, to hell with it! Why should I worry about the authenticity of a mere name?

Why obsess over whether it's true or false? Master Ji took a puff of his tobacco.

"Anything else you need to ask? — Besides how I became an apprentice!" "How much do you know about Ba Manzi?" "Ba Manzi is a legendary hero in Tujia history.

He once promised the King of Chu three cities as thanks for lending troops. However, after the Chu soldiers helped the Ba State resolve their crisis, Ba Manzi, considering his nation, refused to cede the three cities to Chu.

Instead, he offered his own head, and severed it himself. The King of Chu, marveling at his loyalty and bravery, no longer demanded the cities, and instead gave Ba Manzi's severed head a grand burial.

The Ba State also solemnly buried Ba Manzi’s headless body." "That doesn't make sense. If that’s the case, why is Ba Manzi buried here, and in a boat coffin at that?" "That...

I'm not entirely clear on the specifics. But the Tujia people have always emphasized ancestor worship, so different locations might have cenotaphs, or perhaps just a mound raised as a tribute, with nothing inside.

For example, some say Ba Manzi’s tomb is in Chongqing, while we here in Xi Du also claim to have one, reportedly in Duting Mountain in western Lichuan. Because the Tujia people historically relied on oral tradition rather than written records to document their history, the final result of passing stories down generation after generation is that the truth becomes obscured.

This is the fundamental reason why so many mysteries persist in Tujia history. As for why they would carve a lifelike head to place on the body, from the Tujia emotional perspective, it should be understandable.

As for the boat coffin burial, I know very little and have never seen one. The specific reason will likely only be uncovered through future inquiries." Before I could ask, Master Ji continued, "As for those two giant turtles, why they are flipped over, who turned the second one over, and why they are bound by iron chains—and how they relate to the King Ba Sword in your hand—I cannot explain clearly yet.

However, thinking in connection with that boat coffin, I speculate the two giant turtles might be guarding Ba Manzi's tomb." That was something I had never considered before. Since Master Ji, a Tujia Tima, could not explain these matters, I naturally did not wish to speculate further.

In any case, this was all in the past. As for General Ba Manzi’s soul possessing Tan Ping’er, I had no intention of seeking confirmation from Master Ji.

Previously, I would have dismissed such a thing as nonsense, but encountering that black rabbit in Anle Cave had already changed my perspective. This long conversation cleared up many doubts in my mind.

Although these clarifications were a mix of truth and falsehood, and much of the content remained unverified, it felt like being drunk—vomiting out most of the congested matter in my chest left my body feeling much lighter. Of course, if I could learn how Master Ji communicates with the dead, I believe many subsequent mysteries, like the suspended building, could be solved easily.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Master Ji remained tight-lipped about this matter. Could I force it out of him?

Naturally, the matter of the Blood Soul Tablet (Xue Hun Bei) was what I most wanted to know. Thinking of the Blood Soul Tablet, I suddenly realized we had lingered in this dangerous place for too long.

As I stood up, I distinctly heard Tan Ping'er let out a sharp scream...