The voice of that man was like a viper slithering; the moment it entered my ears, I felt as if I’d been stung, raising goosebumps all over my body.

“……You……are Nie Chuan, aren’t you……” The voice echoed in my ears.

I froze, quickly asking, “How do you know my name! Who are you?”

The man was silent for a moment, then said, “Have you seen the stone tablet next to this coffin? You should know, I am the Prophet.”

Just as I was about to answer, Xiao Bai pulled me back, asking, “Who are you talking to?”

I told Xiao Bai, “The person in the coffin is talking to me through the insect.”

Xiao Bai paused, then asked, “The insect? Oh… what did he say?”

I shook my head and said, “Don’t interrupt. Let me finish talking to him, then I’ll tell you.”

So Xiao Bai fell silent. I turned back to the mysterious man and asked, “What Prophet? Even if you are a Prophet, you must have a name, right? Who are you? What dynasty are you from? What did you do before?”

I felt like I was interrogating a prisoner; I had no idea where I got the nerve to question someone like this.

However, the other party seemed quite cooperative, saying, “I have no identity, no status. I have been locked in this coffin since birth. But even without seeing the light of day, I can sense all things in the world, and I can see the trajectory of their development. Thus, many nobles and generals treat me as a deity, worshipping me and asking for counsel on the state of the realm. My name is Shi Sheng.”

Listening to him speak, he sounded quite honest, though his tone of voice was a bit frightening, so I relaxed a little and said, “Alright, Shi Sheng, tell me why you know me.”

Shi Sheng stated plainly, “It is prophecy.”

I questioned back, “Prophecy? What prophecy?”

Shi Sheng replied, “Meaning, I already knew that you would come here.”

I frowned and asked, “You just said you foresee matters of great importance to the world. Does that mean I have some connection to those great matters?”

Shi Sheng was silent for a moment before answering, “Yes…”

His answer was so brief that I felt a bit dizzy, so I asked again, “What kind of connection exactly?”

Shi Sheng said, “Heaven’s secrets must not be revealed. However, you can ask me what you should do. Back when King Wu of Zhou sought Jiang Shang, he only asked for direction. Your questions are too specific.”

I was speechless for a moment, then asked, “Fine, then what should I do?”

Shi Sheng instructed, “The key to all mysteries lies in Karamayr, Mount Kunlun in Tibet. Take the hint from the glass bead and go to Kunlun Mountain; there you will unravel everything.”

I exclaimed, “Hey! What kind of hint is that? It’s as good as saying nothing!”

Shi Sheng countered, “Do you wish to see your grandfather? Do you wish to reclaim your identity? Then go to Kunlun. Deep within those snow-covered peaks lies the origin of all life, and the spring that restrains evil.”

I was utterly confused, unsure of what to say.

At that point, Shi Sheng added, “Do not try to open this coffin. This stone is made of Xuanwu Stone, which is a hundred times harder than refined steel. Furthermore, it is a single, seamless piece of stone; you will never manage to open it.”

I nodded and said, “Alright, I believe you. We won’t open the coffin. But I still have one question: why did my cell phone ring when I got close to the coffin?”

Shi Sheng answered, “I can control any signal composed of electromagnetic waves; such a trivial matter is nothing to me. Just as I am controlling your brainwaves now to achieve this dialogue.”

I nodded again, saying, “Alright, thank you for your guidance, Shi Sheng. I hope you won’t be too lonely here by yourself.”

Shi Sheng replied, “Thank you, my friend. To show my gratitude for your concern, I’ll give you one more hint: On your journey to Karamayr in Kunlun, be careful of the stones.”

I froze once more and asked, “Be careful of stones? Are you saying there might be a landslide?”

The moment I asked, the signal in my mind abruptly cut off. Then, a plume of black smoke seemed to emerge from the small hole in the coffin.

Simultaneously, the insect in my hand chirped a sharp sound, as if struck heavily, and flew up, disappearing into the nearby bushes.

I stood stunned until Xiao Bai said, “The insect inside the coffin died.”

I came back to my senses and nodded, saying, “Yes, yes…”

Xiao Bai asked me again, “How was it? What did the person inside say to you? Were there any clues about opening the coffin?”

I turned back to the stone coffin, stained crimson with Toad King’s blood, and said, “We’re not opening it. This was another dead end. Let’s go find the ray to solve the mystery of the glass bead. The Toad King is gone, the matter is concluded; there’s no need to linger on this stone coffin.”

Xiao Bai looked confused and asked again, “Why won’t you open the coffin? If we don’t open it, the prophecy on the stone tablet can’t be solved, right?”

I turned back to Xiao Bai and said, “Xiao Bai, after we decipher the mystery of the glass bead, would you be willing to walk around outside with me? I need your help.”

Hearing this, Xiao Bai’s face suddenly flushed red, and she lowered her head, saying, “You are my boyfriend; of course, I’m willing to follow you.”

Seeing her reaction, my heart filled with joy, so I pulled her into a tight hug and said, “What about your Plant Repository?”

Xiao Bai clearly hadn’t expected me to embrace her; she immediately shoved me away, asking with a red face, “What are you doing?”

I felt awkward and looked at her helplessly.

Xiao Bai seemed to realize my embarrassment, so she bit her lower lip and said, “I… I’m not ready yet. As for the Plant Repository, I needed to guard it because the Toad King was here. Now that the Toad King is dead, I no longer need to guard it.”

I nodded and said, “That’s great. I won’t treat you unfairly. Once all the mysteries are solved, we’ll definitely have a fortune and live a good life.”

Xiao Bai nodded but remained silent.

I smiled faintly and said, “Good. Then tell me, where is the spaceship your ancestors left behind?”

Xiao Bai thought for a moment and said, “I don’t know!”

I nearly tumbled over, asking, “You don’t know? Didn’t you say you’d bring me there?”

Xiao Bai looked a little embarrassed and confessed, “Yes, but I truly don’t know. I only know it’s in this area; I don’t know the specific location.”

I slapped my forehead, feeling a bit frustrated, and asked, “What does your spaceship look like? What shape is it?”

Xiao Bai replied, “Oh, it’s triangular, about the size of a truck.”

I nodded, “There’s nothing for it then; we’ll have to search through the grass. It’s probably covered by weeds.”

Xiao Bai didn't say anything, just trotted obediently behind me.

I shook my head slightly, pushed aside a clump of grass, and crawled in.

It was pitch black inside the undergrowth. Further away were taller grasses, but the tallest didn’t reach above my chest, so visibility was relatively clear.

However, I still felt a bit uneasy when I noticed that the leaves of these grasses were writhing like octopuses.

Fortunately, although these grasses possessed animal characteristics, they weren’t an aggressive type of animal, so they only occasionally grabbed me and wouldn’t let go; they didn’t attack as a swarm.

Xiao Bai followed behind me without a word, her eyes also searching everywhere.

At this point, I asked her, “Searching like this isn't a solution. Isn't there any kind of insect that could find the spaceship?”

Xiao Bai shook her head and said, “What are you thinking? The insects here aren't omniscient. And most critically, no matter how powerful an insect is, it can’t know what’s going on inside a person’s head.”

I spread my hands in a gesture of helplessness and continued searching.

We walked deep into the grass for an unknown amount of time when I suddenly seemed to hear movement ahead.

Xiao Bai also seemed to hear it and stopped abruptly.

I looked back at Xiao Bai and made a downward gesture with my hand, signaling her to squat down.

Then, both of us slowly crouched down.

At that moment, I heard a rustling sound nearby, like something disturbing the grass.

Judging by the volume of the sound, the creature’s size must be considerable, perhaps comparable to a human.

So I asked in a low voice, “Are there any other creatures in this Plant Repository?”

Xiao Bai shook her head and replied, “There shouldn’t be. Unless… unless it’s one of the Toad King’s minions.”

Just as she finished speaking, I heard a whoosh as the grass ahead parted, and a humanoid figure, like a giraffe, suddenly stretched its neck up high.

Seeing its neck was so long, clearly not a normal human posture, I instinctively ducked my head down in fright.

Xiao Bai also saw the creature but dared not utter a word.

Fortunately, although this black-faced, long-necked thing had a pair of green eyes the size of flashlights, its vision seemed poor, and it didn’t spot us.

After a few seconds, its neck retracted, and it continued searching for something in the grass.

I whispered to Xiao Bai, “What is that thing?”

Xiao Bai’s face looked pale, and she replied, “That’s one of the Toad King’s minions. I don’t know what to call these things, but they are very powerful.”

I asked again, “Were Number 2 and Number 12 dealing with things like this?”

Xiao Bai nodded and confirmed, “Yes. But logically, now that the Toad King is dead, these things should have dispersed. Why are they still here?”

While we were talking, I suddenly heard another strange sound—the ringing of a bell.

This sound came from the grass area to our front left. The tone was very clear, each ring distinct in my ears.

But hearing such a sound in this dark patch of grass was quite startling.

I swallowed hard and asked, “What the devil is this now?”

Xiao Bai shook her head, equally bewildered, and said to me, “The bell shouldn’t belong to our world; it probably came from your planet.”