Although I knew what had just happened was merely a dream, the contents were enough to leave me deeply unsettled.

Taking several deep breaths, I realized that the earlier sensation of oxygen deprivation might have been purely psychological; the air around me was, in fact, quite plentiful.

I then patted my pockets and found the magnet was no longer with me. I must have given it to Da Xiong earlier, and I had no idea if he had thrown it away.

Sitting there, watching the seconds tick by, my mind wandered through many thoughts, beginning with a review of the events that had transpired with Grandpa.

In the dream, Grandpa had said everything he did was actually meant to help me.

Though I knew the probability was infinitesimally small, perhaps as his biological grandson, I would readily accept such a possibility without condition.

All this time, we had always believed Grandpa’s actions were geared toward creating catastrophe and exacting revenge on society.

Yet, even now, he had never truly succeeded in that aim.

Perhaps it was only because we intervened in time that Grandpa was never successful.

But in reality, Grandpa had succeeded every single time.

Every setup Grandpa orchestrated had successfully tricked me, utilizing me to obtain exactly what he desired.

However, all these things he had managed to accomplish had no bearing on real society.

Not a single uninvolved person had died innocently due to Grandpa’s villainy; he had brought no disaster or disease to any place.

This could actually be interpreted as Grandpa patiently setting up one massive scheme, intending to unleash a single, devastating catastrophe all at once.

But it could also mean that Grandpa’s actions were never intended for destruction at all, and we had simply misjudged him as a villain.

If such a hypothesis holds true, then Grandpa’s deeds must have had some other purpose.

Thinking along the lines of him wanting to help me, several assumptions arise.

The first assumption is that Grandpa was accomplishing things for me that I was fundamentally incapable of doing myself.

I have far too many weaknesses—being soft-hearted, indecisive, or perhaps too kind—preventing me from doing anything that might harm others, or even risk harming them.

Releasing the giant serpent from the depths of Heizhugou to plague humanity—that was something I absolutely could not do.

Resurrecting the various monsters in the Resurrection Tree sacs of Lop Nur and bringing all the world’s dead back to life, causing immense disaster—that too was impossible for me.

But when considering the reality: the giant serpent never broke free to wreak havoc; instead, the Ghost Eye spewing Nether Fire was buried deep underground because of its appearance.

And at Lop Nur, my blood successfully stained the Corpse Jade, yet the global resurrection of the dead never occurred, and the monsters within those tree sacs inexplicably perished.

I previously suspected the people of Deban Village were the resurrected dead, but even if that were true, these deceased individuals lived a life entirely detached from worldly conflict, being even friendlier and kinder than most actual living people.

Was Grandpa truly committing evil? I truly couldn't be certain.

As I pondered this, I suddenly felt the ground tremble faintly.

“An earthquake?” I started, bracing my hands against the ground to steady myself.

This slight vibration lasted for about seven or eight seconds before vanishing.

“Rumble, rumble…” As the vibration ceased, a far stranger booming sound echoed from the surroundings, like some immense weight being moved.

Before I could process what was happening, someone burst out of the tent behind me.

I turned to see it was Xiao Ge.

His face was pale as he surveyed the area, cold sweat plastering his brow from the pain in his shoulder wound.

After watching for a moment, he spoke to me, “Hurry and wake them up. We can’t stay here long. The order of the Divine Hall is restarting; if it completes, we’ll all be disposed of as refuse.”

I didn't have time to ask what he meant, but I knew this must be extremely dangerous even without explanation.

So, I went into the tent and woke up Nie Chuan and Da Xiong.

They weren't deeply asleep and immediately scrambled out of their shelter.

We swept the area with our flashlights and discovered the source of the strange booming noise.

It turned out the countless tombstones were retracting back into the earth; their sheer number was what created such a powerful sound.

Xiao Ge, standing ahead, sighed with a solemn expression. “I didn’t expect we’d be too late. The order that resets only once every thousand years has already begun to activate.”

He turned to look at us and said, “I must reach the uppermost layer today. You all need to quickly resolve whatever you must and leave this place as soon as possible.”

At that moment, Nie Chuan tugged at my sleeve and said, “* [Name], a word, if you please.”

I glanced at him, knowing he must have something important to discuss, so I stepped into the tent with him.

As soon as we were inside, Nie Chuan asked me, “Are you confident you can defeat Monk Lei Yun?”

I shook my head. “Of course not. We couldn’t even beat one of his subordinates, could we?”

Nie Chuan nodded. “Originally, following Xiao Ge to seek revenge on Monk Lei Yun was secondary. What you really wanted was to uncover the secrets of this Divine Hall to see if it connects to the matter we’ve been investigating, right?”

I replied, “Exactly. This Divine Hall holds many secrets, perhaps related to the collapse of Atlantis.”

Nie Chuan’s expression grew serious, and he pulled out the semi-withered seed. “We have strayed from our original objective. Our sole purpose was to find an antidote for Liang Qian. Now that we have the antidote, if we rashly die here, all the effort we put into this journey will be wasted. Do you understand?”

I had already guessed what Nie Chuan was about to say, but I hadn't expected him to ask for my opinion so humbly now.

After thinking it over, I nodded and said, “Alright, I understand. We’ll leave right now.”

In truth, if it weren't for the dream I just had, I wouldn't have agreed with Nie Chuan so readily, because Grandpa’s words in the dream had practically revealed the entirety of this Divine Hall to me.

Though I still don’t know exactly what lies on the highest level of this hall, it must be connected to Nian (lingering resentment/thoughts).

If the accumulated Nian throughout history, as Grandpa claimed in the dream, can form physical matter, then this Divine Hall is a place designed to process Nian.

Nie Chuan, seeing my prompt agreement, exchanged a look with Da Xiong beside him and nodded.

He then went to inform Xiao Ge of our decision to depart.

Xiao Ge looked at the three of us, his gaze filled with an ineffable emotion.

But I could perceive that his dominant feeling was one of relief, as he understood that staying here meant death could be only a moment away.

There are many places in this world accessible only to specific individuals; ordinary people should lead mundane lives, otherwise, they will certainly pay a heavy price.

I knew that Xiao Ge and we were fundamentally not the same kind of people.

In that moment, I seemed to understand why Boss Wu had relentlessly pursued Xiao Ge, and why Xiao Ge always walked alone in the obscure, dark corners unknown to others.

“This is for you,” Xiao Ge finally said after several seconds.

I saw he was holding a simple, unadorned dagger and felt a surge of confusion.

He then explained, “This blade can easily pierce the bronze walls. If you need to go back, carrying this will be more convenient.”

Hearing this, Nie Chuan took the knife from his hand and said, “Thank you.”

“Alright, hurry up and leave now. If there’s a chance, we will meet again…” At this, Xiao Ge surprisingly managed a faint smile.

After saying this, he drew the Black Gold Ancient Blade from his waist, dragged it lightly along the ground, and slowly walked toward the deep darkness ahead.

Watching his receding figure with the knife, the three of us stood transfixed.

Perhaps some people are born as innate warriors…

We watched Xiao Ge walk until he vanished into the farthest reaches of the darkness.

At that moment, a strong premonition told me that I would never see him again from this day forward…

After Xiao Ge completely disappeared into the shadows, we packed up the tent and began retracing our steps.

Finding the way back was simple: one only needed to proceed in the direction of the lower terrain.

The descent was always faster than the climb, and soon we arrived at the spot where Xiao Ge had fought the Executioner earlier.

The surrounding tombstones were slowly sinking back into the ground; many areas had already become level plains.