My mouth opened, and I felt my usually sharp mind suddenly fall short. Just as I was about to speak, Tan Ping'er continued, “Haven't you always been searching for the special significance of the number 'forty-eight'? In fact, besides the three Earth Kings—Red, Black, and White—and Lady Ba of Qing, the Eight Great Kings vaguely hinting at 'four-eight,' the 'forty-eight' in our Tujia culture holds another meaning. Generally, many ethnic groups consider 'nine' the ultimate, supreme number, with 'nine times nine makes eighty-one, returning to one' as the ultimate limit for all things. But the supreme number for us Tujia people is actually seven; seven times seven is forty-nine, which is the limit. However, we Tujia people trust neither heaven nor earth; we trust our ancestors. To express our reverence for them, we consciously subtract one from the ultimate number, resulting in forty-eight! This is the other reason the number 'forty-eight' is ubiquitous in the Tusi Imperial City.”

Her words left Man Niao Niao and me utterly dumbfounded, and even Old Man Ji, who claimed to be worldly-wise, involuntarily let a trace of murky drool escape the corner of his mouth. What Tan Ping'er said sounded more fantastic than the Arabian Nights, yet what she spoke of seemed plausible. In the Tujia region, there are many place names containing the character 'seven,' such as 'Seven-Path Water' and 'Seven Phoenix Dam,' and many matters adhere to concepts like 'forty-nine days later,' whereas place names containing 'nine' are rare, nor do they observe customs like 'eighty-one' or 'returning to one.' I wanted to raise objections, but I genuinely could find no concrete evidence to support a counterargument.

Hearing Tan Ping'er speak so confidently, using "we Tujia people" repeatedly, I couldn't help but ask, “Is this another memory from your past life? How did you become Tujia? Why did you venture alone into this bird's mouth?”

“Heh heh! Because Tan City is here. I am a descendant of Tan City. Tan City was Tujia, so of course, I am Tujia!”

Tan City? I was greatly startled. The Tan City we had labored to find was right inside this bird's mouth? I looked around blankly. Apart from Zhuque’s relatively small oral cavity and the two stone horses with their legs already raised as if to move, there was nothing else. Where was the renowned Tusi King Tan City?

Our entire purpose in coming to the Tangya Tusi Imperial City was to find Tusi King Tan City and unlock the secret of the Blood Soul Tablet. Hearing Tan City’s name abruptly jolted me as if pricked by a needle, instantly restoring my vigor. I no longer cared to press Tan Ping'er about past and present lives. Trembling, I scanned the surroundings, trying to locate the hiding place of Tusi King Tan City.

Seeing my agitated expression, Tan Ping'er slowly walked to my side and gently took my arm, saying, “Don't be anxious yet. I will tell you where Tan City is.”

“You… you couldn't possibly be Tan City, could you?” Man Niao Niao suddenly pointed at Tan Ping'er in alarm.

I turned back in astonishment, my own heart churning with doubt. Yes, looking at Tan Ping'er’s words and actions at this moment, she was vastly different from the delicate young woman in my memory. She spoke with perfect logic, and what she said seemed entirely reasonable; the cause and effect of the situation indeed appeared to be so. The Tusi King Tan City we sought had been dead for hundreds of years. Could his soul have possessed Tan Ping'er? Was this the method he chose to reveal the secret of the Blood Soul Tablet to us? This was something I had never imagined. However, recalling how close I myself had come to being "ghost-possessed," I considered this a highly plausible possibility.

“What are you saying?” Tan Ping'er pouted with a delicate feigned indignation. “You think I’m possessed? Your name is Man Niao Niao, right? If I were truly possessed, how would I know your name?”

“Then…” Man Niao Niao couldn't continue the conversation.

Tan Ping'er ignored Man Niao Niao’s gaze, a mixture of shock and suspicion, and led me to one of the stone horses, pointing at its belly and saying, “The Tusi King Tan City we’ve been searching for is inside here!”

This statement stunned the three Tujia men. We had never, in our wildest imaginings, conceived that the illustrious Tusi King Tan City would be interred within a meticulously carved stone horse. This was completely different from all Tujia burial methods spanning a thousand years, and in my experience, such a burial practice was exceedingly rare in the world.

I was deeply shocked. Seeing the firm look in Tan Ping'er’s eyes, it didn't seem like she was weaving tales out of thin air, and after all, she had no reason to joke with us. Yet, the notion that Tan City was inside this stone horse was so incredibly bizarre that a huge question mark hung over its veracity in my mind. I walked around the stone horse, my gaze never leaving its surface. Finally, I noticed that this stone horse was formed by two halves joined together, the seam running along the horse's back and belly. The fissure was so tight that unless one looked closely, one would assume the horse was carved from a single massive block of marble. The carvings of birds, flowers, insects, and fish on the stone horse’s surface were similar to those on the two stone horses in the Steed Pavilion—exquisite and delicate.

Old Man Ji and Man Niao Niao also spotted the hairline crack. The three men exchanged glances, momentarily speechless.

The existence of this fissure at least proved the horse’s belly was hollow. But how could Tan Ping'er know for sure that Tusi King Cheng was buried inside, and not someone else? Or perhaps, the horse's belly contained something other than human remains?

Tan Ping'er perceived the doubt in my eyes, pointed to a dust-covered stone slab beneath the horse’s head, and commanded, “Kneel down and kowtow!”

My mind filled with suspicion, but seeing Tan Ping'er’s solemn expression, I suppressed my profound bewilderment and knelt on the stone slab as instructed, respectfully bowing three times. My thought process was this: since Tan Ping'er claimed a person was buried in the horse’s belly, it must be one of our ancestors. A few bows and kowtows were nothing compared to the final piece of the puzzle regarding the Blood Soul Tablet, which was my supreme conviction at that moment.

After finishing the third kowtow, I looked up at Tan Ping'er. She said, “Three times is not enough; you must kowtow thirty-six times!”

Thirty-six times? I was even more confused, but at this point, I could only follow Tan Ping'er’s lead. Having already done three, what was the harm in doing more? With that thought, a series of thuds followed, and the thirty-six kowtows were quickly completed.

Just as I was preparing to rise, I heard a dull creaking sound, and an earth mound surprisingly emerged from the front of the stone slab. The mound quickly cracked open, and a dark, round object appeared before everyone’s eyes.

This dark object looked familiar. Upon closer inspection, I gasped in shock. Wasn't the object dug up by the black rabbit in front of the Twin Fir Trees similar to this? Could this be another Tiger-Button Chunyu? Trembling, I picked up the dark object. It felt heavy, and the exterior seemed to be wrapped in something. Recalling my previous encounter, I tapped the dark object against the ground a few times. The outer layer quickly shattered, and the antique and exquisitely crafted Tiger-Button Chunyu was finally revealed in its true form.

Seeing the second Tiger-Button Chunyu, a flash went through my mind. I inverted the Chunyu, pointing the opening downward, and shook it hard. An embroidered shoe fell out.

I picked up the embroidered shoe and compared it with the one I had retrieved earlier. Good heavens, they were a pair! Aside from being left and right, the plum blossoms embroidered on the vamp and sole were identical. Their length and width were also exactly the same.

At this point, I finally fully believed Tan Ping'er. We had long speculated that the embroidered shoe buried in the grave mound beneath the Twin Fir Trees was made by Madam Mo, and since only one was left, the other must be beside her beloved husband, Tan Cheng. Seeing them lying side-by-side in my hands now, I was overcome with excitement. It seemed we had indeed found the resting place of Tusi King Tan Cheng.

The question was: now that we had found Tan Cheng, how could we obtain information about the Blood Soul Tablet from him?

Tan Ping'er seemed to read my thoughts completely. She pulled me over to the rear of the stone horse and pointed to a spot on its hindquarters, asking, “Look, what is this?” I focused my gaze and my eyes immediately widened—there was a hole on the horse’s rear, as thick as an arm! The location of the hole was the same as the small opening on the hindquarters of the stone horse in the Steed Pavilion, only this small hole was covered with a pale white substance, likely some kind of sealing wax. Removing the wax, I saw something inserted into the hole. I carefully pulled it out; it turned out to be a rod about the same thickness as the hole, resembling a rolling pin, painted black on the outside, and surprisingly light.

I gently tapped off the dried black lacquer and discovered another thick layer of wax sealed inside (I later learned from Old Man Ji that what I thought was wax was actually corpse oil). I found a thin, double-pointed stone shard and scraped the wax off layer by layer. After removing an outer wrapping made of some animal hide, a brightly colored object was **fully exposed before our eyes.

To be precise, that brightly colored object was a rolled-up book!

As soon as Old Man Ji saw the cover of the silk book, he exclaimed repeatedly, “Xilankapu! Xilankapu!!”

The air currents created by Old Man Ji’s breath stirred the silk book, and a portrait immediately caught our eyes—it was a towering, ancient tree with an immense canopy!