"When the Dragon Qi enters the acupoints, the Yang channels contract by only one measure, and the Yin channels will not expand unless by five-tenths," by calculating with the "Dragon Shaking Art," it was essentially just reversing the sequence used previously when turning the stone disc in the temple.

We completed the final turn of the stone disc, and the brick wall before us burst open with a sound. Fatty snatched up his assault rifle and charged out of the brick-figure passageway first, the rest of us following in a procession.

The group emerged outside and surveyed the surroundings with flashlights. Although we were in an underground structure, the space was vast. Though the carved beams and painted pillars were already stripped bare, the former magnificence of the place was still evident—we had truly reached the underground palace.

We seemed to be in the main hall of the underground palace. The exit, the brick wall we came through, was hidden behind a jade-carved throne. This secret wall was crafted with such exquisite skill that from within the hall, it was completely undetectable as a hidden door behind the jade seat.

We had finally arrived at the legendary Jingjue Royal Palace. To examine the place closely, we deployed every illumination device we carried. The throne and the floor of the grand hall were both made of jade. The chains holding the ceiling lamps had long since rotted and snapped, littering the ground. In various corners, several sand rats were scurrying about. It appeared the air circulated here. Aside from the jade artifacts, pottery, woodware, ironware, bronze ware, and silk textiles were all severely damaged by air corrosion.

For us, this situation was a mix of joy and sorrow. The joy was that since the underground palace had circulating air, it meant a connection to the underground water system, and Ye Yixin’s little life was saved.

The sorrow was that the ancient artifacts in the underground palace were heavily ruined. Some pottery jars had decayed beyond recognition, crumbling to dust at the slightest touch. Scattered everywhere were countless rusted suits of armor and weapons—such as scimitar-like curved swords, crane-beaked great axes, and recurved concave-bladed knives. The armor bore strange, ethnically characteristic plaques and buckles. The owners of these shields and curved blades were long gone, not even bones remaining; perhaps a few fragmented skulls could still be found with diligent searching.

The extreme age and air corrosion were one factor, but also, at some unknown point, many sand rats had burrowed in. These rats normally fed on the roots of desert plants and subterranean insects, and they dearly loved gnawing on hard objects. Many items within this palace had been chewed away by them.

The best-preserved item in the main hall was the jade throne. At the very top of the jade seat was an intricately carved crimson jade eye. The body of the seat was entirely inlaid with gold and silver, intricately carved with images of immortal mountains, swirling clouds, birds, flowers, fish, and beasts. Its base was a large slab of jade as pure white as sheep's milk, making it stand out spectacularly against the predominantly black backdrop of the hall.

Seeing this state of utter ruin, Fatty was thoroughly disappointed. He plopped down onto the jade throne and slapped the armrest, saying, “Only this thing is worth any money. For the rest, just contact the scrap collectors and send it all to the recycling center.”

I thought to myself that this bastard couldn't change his casual demeanor no matter where he was—no organization, no discipline. I needed to scare him a bit so that Shirley Yang and the others wouldn't laugh at me. So I said to Fatty, “Listen, Comrade Wang Kaixuan, this is the seat of the exploitative class of a feudal dynasty. Don't forget you come from a revolutionary cadre family. Sitting there, what about your principles and your revolutionary stance?”

Fatty burst out laughing, “Give it a rest, Old Hu, still playing the Political Commissar? What era is this that we still talk about stance? Tell me, is this jade throne worth a million US dollars? ... Ugh, this thing is way too big. If we don’t dismantle it, it’ll be hard to haul back.”

I continued to Fatty, “Don’t worry about hauling it back yet. Believe it or not, this jade throne was used by the Queen of Jingjue in life. Perhaps her spirit is still wandering these halls, lonely and solitary for thousands of years. You sit down just right, and maybe that Queen will notice. She'll surely think, ‘Hey, this fat guy isn't bad, so much plump flesh all over him. Fine, I’ll keep him here as the son-in-law marrying into the Jingjue kingdom. He can chew on me a bit to sharpen his teeth when he’s bored.’”

This talk didn’t actually frighten Fatty. Ye Yixin, who was no longer unconscious and could barely walk, was being supported by Shirley Yang. Upon hearing that the ghost of the late Jingjue Queen was still in the underground palace, Ye Yixin’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted again from fright.

Shirley Yang stomped her feet anxiously, “Can you two stop fooling around? Look at the time! Hurry up and help!”

Fatty and I realized we had caused trouble again and dared not bicker further. We went over, lifted Ye Yixin, and placed her on Fatty’s back for him to carry. Fatty, having missed an opportunity to say more, felt it was a poor calculation and continued muttering, “Son-in-law marrying in? I’ve never met someone as uncultured as you. Do you think a Queen is some village widow? The husband of a Queen, that should be called… called what? It probably shouldn't be called Fuma (Imperial Son-in-Law), should it?”

Seeing Fatty still rambling, Shirley Yang couldn't help but say angrily, “Called a eunuch!”

If it weren't for the death of Hao Aiguo in the archaeology team casting a heavy shadow, laughing at this moment would have been completely inappropriate. I forcibly restrained myself and joined the others in searching the spacious underground palace for a source of water.

The underground palace of the ancient Jingjue Kingdom wasn't as vast as I had initially imagined. Only the main hall was truly grand; the side halls were relatively simple. The main entrance to the front hall and the stone steps were completely sealed by sand. Near the front door, a section of black stone roofing had been destroyed by explosives. This indicated that others had accessed this underground palace before. Judging by the extent and nature of the damage to the stone door, it wasn't recent work; it looked at least several decades old, possibly done by the owner of that black-and-white photograph. Now, that breach was long buried by yellow sand.

After examining the side halls, we moved to the rear hall, which served as the living quarters for the royal family members. Here were several jade-railed fountains, though they had long since run dry. As the group moved and observed, Shirley suddenly exclaimed, “Do you hear that? Is that the sound of running water?”

I strained my ears to listen; indeed, I heard the gentle gurgle of water not far off. Judging by the direction, the sound was coming from behind the sleeping chambers. We immediately quickened our pace, following the sound of water into a mountain cavern behind the hall.

The cavern floor was extremely low. After descending quite deep, we arrived in a natural stone chamber the size of a small stadium. Although natural, this area had clearly undergone artificial modification; the floor was remarkably flat. In the chamber was a small underground lake, with a raised patch of land in the center like a tiny island, only about ten square meters in size. The lake surface was calm and mirrored, surrounding the small islet.

Our group had subsisted on the minimum rationed water supply for an entire week. Forget being in the desert; even having this little water on a normal day would be tough. Seeing the cool underground water now, everyone rushed to plunge their heads in and drink their fill.

Shirley Yang stopped the group, “This water source has been abandoned for many years; we don’t know if it’s stagnant or flowing. Moreover, underground rivers constantly change course. The groundwater now might not be the same as two thousand years ago. The Western Regions have a lot of sulfur and nitre underground; what if the water is poisoned? Let’s observe first.”

I looked closer and saw several multicolored small fish swimming in the lake water, so I laughed, “You worry too much. There are fish in this lake, so there must be a spring deep down; it’s flowing water, not poison.”

At these words, the others could no longer hold back. They rushed to the lake edge and drank deeply, filling their bellies until water actually started flowing out of their mouths when they moved. Only then did they stop.

Ye Yixin was suffering from dehydration and couldn't drink large amounts of pure water directly. Shirley Yang mixed a thermos of water with salt and administered it to her little by little. Having drunk too much ourselves, we were too weak to move and could only rest on the spot.

I had never felt water taste so good. Lying flat on the ground with my belly distended, eyes closed, I rested. Everything became quiet around me. I thought I could hear the sound of flowing water in the distance, meaning there was more than one water source in this underground palace. The small lake where we drank was very quiet. The sound of water I heard back in the rear hall must have come from a source further away—probably a large underground river, perhaps the Zidun Dark River that bypassed Mount Zagrama.

Just as I was lost in thought, I suddenly heard Shirley Yang utter an “Eh,” her voice filled with surprise. I quickly pushed myself up with my hands and asked what was wrong. Shirley Yang pointed to the raised area in the center of the lake, motioning for me to look there.

Professor Chen and the others also sat up from the ground. Everyone followed Shirley Yang’s pointed direction and saw an unbelievable sight.

The islet in the lake was suddenly covered in a dense layer of thousands of pale green nymphs. Their bodies were gradually turning grayish-white, and one by one, they were wriggling out of their shells. The newly emerged insect bodies seemed to have a lot of fluorescence, sparkling brilliantly like countless scattered stars. The insects stretched their newly acquired wings, ready to take flight in a moment.

Just then, countless large rats rushed into the cavern from all directions. These rats showed no fear of humans, completely ignoring us. Without hesitation, they leaped into the lake, swimming toward the islet, scrambling onto the raised patch, greedily grabbing the freshly molted insects, and devouring them ceaselessly. In a flash, they wiped the entire bounty clean.

Seeing so many large rats swimming in the lake, we realized these rats must dine here regularly, otherwise, why would they be so adept? The thought made us nauseous beyond measure. We opened our mouths and vomited loudly, regurgitating the entire contents of the lake water we had just swallowed.