"You're not... not with you?" Man Niao Niao spat out a few more mouthfuls of saliva. "Bullshit!" I shot him a look, my unease growing.

"Qin Ping'er must be in danger." This thought ballooned in my mind, almost bursting my skull, much like the feeling when Qin Ping'er was snatched by the Monkey-Headed Eagle back in Anle Cave, only far more intense. "Stop asking..." Ji Ye also spat out a mouthful of viscous material. "If she's not here, go find her.

What's the point of all this incessant chatter?" I glared fiercely at Ji Ye. Too furious to mentally formulate how I would "day-fuck" this old rogue, I quickly asked, "How did you two end up in this state? Was Ping'er poisoned too?" Ji Ye glanced at Man Niao Niao and said, "It’s all because of this damned, unlucky, cowardly Man Niao Niao.

He has no shame when bragging. Seeing this huge cauldron, he thought it was some kind of Gu and insisted on taking a look..." Man Niao Niao chimed in, "How was I supposed to know it was this son-of-a-bitch thing back then? Didn't I see how powerful your Si Knife was?

I figured with you and your Si Knife here, any fierce Gu would just be your appetizer, right? Otherwise, would I go crazy like a sow in heat to poke that covering on the cauldron?" "All mouth and no substance," Ji Ye retorted, refusing to yield, glaring at Man Niao Niao. "I'm not the Jade Emperor; I can't fix everything.

Haven't I told you before? Caution ensures a thousand voyages succeed, and carelessness leads to great disaster. Who told you to be so rash and ignore the words of your elders?" "You...

what does my being 'all mouth' have to do with this situation?" "..." Ji Ye and Man Niao Niao argued back and forth, trading barbs for ages without getting to the heart of the matter. I grew frantic. "Stop it!

What the hell are you two fighting about? I asked what happened to Qin Ping'er!" The arguing between Man Niao Niao and Ji Ye abruptly ceased. They exchanged a look and said in unison, "We don't know!" I was utterly depressed.

From the words of these two unlucky cronies, I more or less pieced together the sequence of events—Ji Ye and company came along the corridor and accidentally spotted a cauldron half-buried there. Man Niao Niao got fidgety, snatched Ji Ye's Si Knife, and started stirring around inside the cauldron. There must have been some substance isolating the mercury from the air, which Man Niao Niao disturbed, revealing the silvery mercury.

Man Niao Niao, always known for his greed, thought it was buried silver and, ecstatic, reached in to scoop it up. Instead, he got his whole body covered in mercury beads. Startled by Ji Ye’s booming shout, Man Niao Niao flinched and flung his hand out, splashing Ji Ye and Hua'er entirely with mercury!

After that, neither of them knew what happened until I put them in the water to revive them. Therefore, during that time, neither Ji Ye nor Man Niao Niao noticed where Qin Ping'er was. Their assertion that Qin Ping'er was with me was merely an inference based on our relationship; they hadn't seen it with their own eyes.

In short: Qin Ping'er had vanished into thin air! I calmed down now. Although I was secretly anxious about Qin Ping'er's safety, panicking and flailing would accomplish nothing in the current situation.

I needed to survey the surroundings and analyze the possible cause of the incident. Ignoring the still-muttering Ji Ye and Man Niao Niao, I climbed onto the corridor and cautiously approached the half-buried giant cauldron. Daring not to touch the mercury inside, I leaned down and used Ji Ye's Si Knife to scrape the giant cauldron.

As layers of verdigris flaked away, my initial guess was confirmed: this was indeed a bronze cauldron. Judging by the thickness of the corrosion, it had been sitting here for at least several hundred years. Still, I couldn't figure out who would bury such a massive cauldron here, nor what purpose the mercury served.

I shook my head, about to stand up, when my gaze inadvertently caught what seemed to be several lines of text on the exterior wall of the bronze. They were in raised relief, but the blue-green patina made the cauldron surface patchy and uneven, so even up close, I couldn't accurately discern the characters. I squatted down again, reached out to wipe away the patina covering the cauldron wall, and carefully scraped it again with the Si Knife.

Finally, I could read the inscription: "The stars arc towards the North, the waters flow East; when the Heavenly King establishes his apex, the Eight Directions convene; when the Southwest is the domain of the people, each generation secures their fiefdom; honoring Heaven and diligently serving the populace..." The text beyond that point was buried beneath the stone slabs of the corridor, leaving the rest unknown. Turning to the other side of the bronze vessel, after several passes of scraping, I discovered a somewhat crude carving—it depicted figures in armor, wielding long spears, smashing their helmets and mess kits. There was also a massive, roaring furnace upon which something enormous was being cooked—it didn't look like a pot, nor did it resemble a simple vessel.

The entire image was deeply perplexing; I couldn't fathom what the sculptor intended to convey. I tried pushing the bronze cauldron; it didn't budge an inch. Clearly, my strength was no match for its solidity.

Utterly dejected, but with no time to dwell on the cauldron, I stood up and surveyed the area. It was still just winding corridors and sparse clumps of grass, appearing utterly empty. Every feature was laid bare to my eyes.

The environment remained as eerily quiet as before, so quiet it amplified my growing panic. After searching around once more and finding no trace of Qin Ping'er, the thin veneer of "composure" in my heart began to wobble, almost collapsing entirely! Furious, I kicked the bronze cauldron hard, and unexpectedly, a dazzling white-and-blue light shot out, accompanied by a world-shaking boom that slammed down overhead.

It instantly left me dizzy, my ears roaring so loudly I couldn't hear anything else. Furthermore, the sudden, tremendous noise knocked me squarely onto the ground, staring blankly at the bronze cauldron before me. Had my latent potential erupted to make the cauldron ring out so violently?

Only when the second massive boom hit, further amplifying the ringing in my ears, did I suddenly realize: it was thunder, a sky-splitting, earth-shattering thunderclap! However, I couldn't be certain it was mere thunder, because the sky was clear. The bright, blazing sun still shone lazily on the land, there was no wind, and the weeds and trees stood stiffly, looking listless and lifeless under the sun's scorching rays.

These apocalyptic peals seemed to have no effect on them whatsoever. Damn it, what the hell is going on? Why was there sudden thunder?

Before I could figure out the question, a blinding white light, accompanied by a sound like the sky tearing open, cascaded down directly onto the bronze cauldron beside me. The cauldron instantly fractured, its shards spraying out like cannonballs into the pool, kicking up huge splashes of water with a loud clamor. Luckily, I was already knocked to the ground by the initial roar, or I might have ended up riddled with transparent holes.

Before I could celebrate my luck, hundreds of crystal-sparkling beads suddenly erupted before my eyes. My first thought was that it must be the mercury from the cauldron, and I instantly panicked, scrambling backward and fleeing outward. Although my movements couldn't be called slow, a few "pellets" still managed to strike my heels.

Fortunately, the heels of my Six-Eared Straw Sandals offered protection; the mercury beads shattered upon impact but quickly reformed into droplets, rolling across the ground before slipping into the pool with a rattle. I grew even more frustrated. In my terror, I thought, Motherfucker, why did this booming thunder erupt precisely when I kicked that cauldron?

Does this cauldron have a tiger's backside that shouldn't be touched? Or is it a problem with my karma, and I deserve to be struck by lightning? But I was extremely respectful and filial to my elders, I never stepped on food, nor had I committed any wicked deeds—overall, I should be a good person.

Why did the lightning single me out? I tried to look up to see how this explosive thunder formed, but the sun was directly overhead, its countless silver needles stabbing my eyes so fiercely I couldn't open them. I could only vaguely see that the sky was still intensely blue; there was no sign of the oppressive, dark clouds that herald a storm.

I was just about to ask Ji Ye what on earth was happening when I suddenly saw a serpentine blue sword—another lightning bolt, of course—aggressively piercing through the scorching sunlight and striking downwards, the earth-shattering thunder following closely behind. I quickly shut my eyes, dumbly thinking, It’s over for me this time! But then I abruptly heard Man Niao Niao shriek, "Ah—!" I opened my eyes and saw Man Niao Niao leap out of the water like a grasshopper scalded by heat, arms and legs flailing, moving with the ferocity of a phantom!