Ye Xiu couldn't bear to see Hong Ling like this. He walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Listen to me, Hong Ling. Although we don't know why you've turned into Meishu's appearance, you don't need to worry. Perhaps this is the secret to the immortality of you Bone Gatherers."

"No, I have to find my father! He must know how to save me!" Hong Ling was horrified, feeling like she was cursed. She cried out that she needed to find her father, but where her father was at that moment, no one knew.

Birdman picked up Meishu's scroll again, glancing at it twice. There was absolutely no mention of the Bone Gatherers inside. He looked calmly at Ye Xiu. "Do you think it's possible that Meishu's remains are actually inside this bone jar? Hong Ling's bones entered, merged perfectly with Meishu's remains, causing the current situation."

"Interesting. You mean the immortality of the Bone Gatherers is actually letting one's own bones find someone else's shell to continue living?" Old Liu said this while beginning to climb toward the top of the jar, eager to see what exactly was inside this bone container. "Hey, Death God, don't just stand there—help me push this jar over."

Ye Xiu glanced at Hong Ling and turned to help Old Liu. The two pushed against the jar from one direction, but it didn't budge an inch; there was no sign of it toppling.

"It's useless. I already used my Heavenly Eye to clearly see the situation inside the jar. After Hong Ling came out, the jar was completely empty," Birdman mused quietly, reaching a conclusion. "Do you think it's possible that during the Xia Dynasty, this Meishu had already made contact with the Bone Gatherers? Perhaps she possessed the Bone Gatherers' ability for eternal life, or maybe she found the secret to their immortality."

Ye Xiu certainly considered this point, but the contradiction was that if Meishu already had a superior way to resurrect and preserve her body, why would she resort to disgusting things like Corpse Flowers and Bamboo Ground Worms? He looked up toward the cave beneath the third perimeter wall in the distance. "There's nothing left to investigate here. I think the answers must lie within this third wall."

"That's the absolute center of the Soul Tomb, and the final realm within the entire Nine Layers of Poisonous Fierceness Array," Old Liu perked up, following closely behind Ye Xiu.

"I must find a way to restore myself!" At this moment, Hong Ling wiped away her tears. Her eyes held fear, but they were also filled with hope. After this experience of dying and being reborn, she seemed to understand the true meaning of the Bone Gatherers' existence in this world.

Old Liu smiled and patted Hong Ling's shoulder. "Honestly, this form suits you much better than your original one. Even if you find a way to change back, don't bother—this is a steal for you."

"What did you say, Little Sha!" Hong Ling angrily summoned Little Sha. As Little Sha enlarged, it swatted Old Liu far away, and Hong Ling finally let out a long-missed smile.

"I don't think it's that simple," Birdman flew beside Ye Xiu, looking worried. "If this setup was orchestrated by Meishu, she could very easily have infiltrated our group disguised as Hong Ling."

"What benefit would she gain by blending in with us?" Ye Xiu glanced back at Hong Ling. Meishu's flirtatious gaze was captivating. "What could a woman from the Xia Dynasty possibly gain from the likes of us?"

"Immortality! Could she be relying on Hong Ling to continue her eternal life?" Birdman had a vivid imagination, but then he slapped his own head. "Actually, I'm overthinking this. Even if Meishu had that ability, she wouldn't need to find Hong Ling specifically. She has so many of her own kin; she could simply find others for immortality. Why wait until now?"

Ye Xiu pondered Birdman's words; his concern was not without merit. However, as their pace quickened, the deep black cave beneath the third wall appeared before them. He realized he didn't need to dwell on Meishu's scheming, because what lay before him was clearly not just a mere cave, but a vertical shaft—meaning the passage inside ascended gradually. This wasn't traditional tunneling; it was an ascent to the heavens.

"Damn it, the wind in here is fierce!" Old Liu was the first to stick his head into the cave. But a gale was blowing down from above. The moment Old Liu entered, he was slammed back out, his face covered in dust.

"Can we fly over the wall like before?" Ye Xiu asked Birdman. Although the wall was high, flying over it would be much easier than drilling through this wind tunnel.

Birdman shook his head, having already grasped everything. "The barrier above this wall is the same as the first one. This wind shaft is the only way through."

Ye Xiu trusted Birdman's judgment; his Heavenly Eye was far superior to Old Liu's sunglasses. But watching the dust constantly blowing out of the opening, he knew that crawling inside would be harder than climbing to heaven.

"I'll let Little Sha try!" Hong Ling said, raising her hand. Little Sha slowly enlarged its body and began crawling into the cave. However, the closer it got to the opening, the stronger the wind blowing out became. It only managed to stabilize its bulk in the narrow entrance with slow, deliberate movements.

"Little Sha's body can block some of the wind force. We can climb up by following close behind Little Sha," Ye Xiu said, entering the cave first. The instant he crawled in, his ears were filled with a deafening roar; aside from the wind, there was no other sensation. He clung tightly behind Little Sha, feeling the wind cut like knives, chilling him to the bone.

"Hong Ling, you go in the middle, Birdman and I will cover the rear," Old Liu pushed Hong Ling into the shaft and took up the rear position himself. He glanced back at Birdman and instructed, "You need to watch out back there!"

Birdman rolled his eyes at Old Liu and said nothing. Thus, the four of them followed closely behind Little Sha, moving slowly through the cave—and, for the time being, quite smoothly.

"How long is this climb going to take?" Before long, Old Liu began to grumble. He took out his headlamp, illuminating a large section of the path, and exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, do you guys see that? It looks like something is carved into both sides of the shaft!"

Ye Xiu turned his head to look at the cave wall. Indeed, there were carvings appearing, but they mostly depicted dancing beauties, nothing too strange.

Hong Ling, crawling just behind Ye Xiu, was practically alongside him. She glanced at the carvings and cried out, "Ah! There's a figure carved here that looks so similar to my current appearance! Is that Meishu?"

Ye Xiu looked at Hong Ling, then back at the wall. The wall depicted Meishu, of course, but also many other women. Given that Jie of Xia was known for his lust, such imagery was hardly unexpected.

"Hurry up and climb! Something seems to be chasing us from below!" Birdman, at the very end, spoke in a low tone.

"Wait! There's a rustling sound from above too—did you hear that?" Ye Xiu pricked up his ears, feeling that something was indeed amiss. Ancient caves are rarely welcoming to outsiders.