I took the photograph from Professor Sun’s hand and exchanged a look with Shirley Yang. On the photo were six fist-sized, blood-red jade beasts. Their shapes were bizarre, like a cross between a lion and a tiger, yet covered in feathers, and each possessed only a single eye, giving them a ferocious look. Despite the exquisite craftsmanship, the jade beasts were covered in mercury spots, which lent them an intensely sinister and chilling aura.

For some inexplicable reason, the moment I realized these items belonged to the proprietor of the coffin shop, an overwhelming disgust washed over me. I couldn't bear to look longer; merely glancing at them brought back thoughts of raising fish with the dead, churning my stomach until I felt sick. I asked Professor Sun, "Professor, was this photo taken yesterday at the stone tablet shop? Are those jade beasts in the picture the ones found in the stone casket in the coffin shop?"

Professor Sun nodded. "Yes. I thought you might find this photo useful, so I had my assistant rush back to the county seat overnight to develop the negatives. Take another close look and see if there’s anything unusual about them."

Shirley Yang also didn't wish to look at these evil effigies, but upon hearing the Professor's words, she sensed a clue related to the Muchen Pearl. She picked up the photograph again, examining it closely, and finally spotted the distinguishing features: "Professor, all six red jade beasts have only a single eye, and they are disproportionately large, not conforming to normal ratios. Furthermore... the most peculiar thing is that the beasts' single eyes are identical to the Muchen Pearl."

Professor Sun told us, "Precisely. That’s why I advised you not to be discouraged. Where there is a will, there is a way."

Shirley Yang and I were overjoyed, yet utterly perplexed. How could the ancient Dian Kingdom, tucked away in a remote corner of the Southern Frontier, have any connection to the Muchen Pearl? Could it be that the long-lost Muchen Pearl had been hidden within the tomb of some Dian king for all these years?

Although Professor Sun knew little about the Phoenix Gallbladder Muchen Pearl, he possessed a wealth of ancient encrypted information and an extremely deep knowledge of historical archives. Professor Sun firmly believed the Muchen Pearl existed; this divine artifact held extraordinary significance for ancient rulers, symbolizing power and prosperity. Moreover, differing cultural backgrounds and geographical relationships led to varying interpretations of the pearl.

It could be stated with certainty that the jade beasts found in the coffin shop originated from the ancient Dian Kingdom of Yunnan. The Dian State was one of the three commanderies established under the Qin Dynasty. During the late Qin period, when the empire plunged into chaos, this region closed its borders, declared itself a kingdom, and broke away from the central administration until it was pacified again during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han.

Records indicate that a faction within the ancient Dian Kingdom adhered to shamanistic evil arts. Due to fundamental differences in their worldview and values, considerable conflict arose within the kingdom. These believers in evil gods left Dian to escape the turmoil, migrating to live in the deep mountains along the banks of the Lancang River. The leader of this group called himself the Xian King—such self-proclaimed 'grass-head' emperors are countless throughout Chinese history, and historical records offer only scattered mentions of this particular Xian King. These jade beasts were the sacrificial implements used by the Xian King for his sorcery.

The six red jade beasts represented the six directions: East, South, West, North, Heaven, and Earth, each possessing its own name and function. During sacrificial rites, the Xian King would ingest hallucinogenic substances to push his spirit into a certain state of unconsciousness. Simultaneously, the six jade beasts, fixed on six altars, would generate a specific magnetic field, thus allowing for communication on a spiritual and conscious level with the evil god totems.

The jade beasts used in the Xian King’s major rites were far larger than the set found beneath the coffin shop. The set we discovered likely belonged to a high-ranking shaman within the kingdom. As for how it ended up in the possession of the old coffin shop owner, or how he acquired these evil arts, that remains unclear. There are many possibilities; perhaps he was a tomb robber, or perhaps he was a descendant of one of the Xian King’s shamans.

Regarding the six red jade beasts, it is possible that the Xian King, based on his own understanding, materialized the Muchen Pearl or created some extension of it. Furthermore, this Xian King likely saw the true Muchen Pearl and might even have been its last owner. However, without further documentation, this is the only inference we can tentatively make.

I found Professor Sun's analysis highly convincing. As long as there was even a sliver of a chance, we had to exert every effort. But when I asked Professor Sun about the probable location of the Xian King's tomb, he knew absolutely nothing. The tomb was inherently situated in a remote location, and since the Xian King was adept in esoteric arts, the burial site would certainly be exceptionally secret. After so many years, the probability of finding it was slim to none.

Professor Sun also strongly cautioned us against tomb robbing, urging us to find alternative solutions. He noted that there are many avenues to problem-solving, and modern medicine is highly advanced; resolving issues through scientific means would be best. He advised us not to be overly obsessed with the Muchen Pearl, explaining that ancient people held incomplete values and lacked a deep understanding of nature—they often misinterpreted natural phenomena like wind, rain, thunder, and lightning as divine manifestations, incorporating much baseless imagination. Professor Sun promised to notify us immediately should he uncover any new leads. I readily agreed, assuring him, "Please don't worry about that, Professor. How could we possibly resort to tomb robbing? Besides, even if we wanted to, we wouldn't know where to look."

Professor Sun nodded. "That’s good. I despise tomb robbers most in my life. Although archaeology shares some common ground with grave robbing, the extent of damage tomb robbing inflicts upon cultural relics is far too severe. For the nation and the ethnic heritage..."

I feared the Professor launching into a lecture; he reminded me of the disciplinary dean in primary school—always escalating minor issues, complicating simple matters, and elevating everything to some unreachable height. Whenever I heard this stern, moralistic rhetoric, I became profoundly uncomfortable. Seeing that the Professor had shared essentially all the information available to him, and anything more would be superfluous, I expressed my gratitude profusely to him and rose to leave with Shirley Yang. As we departed, I took the photograph of the jade beasts. Professor Sun, needing to rush back to the stone tablet shop to continue his work, did not return to the county guesthouse; after bidding us farewell, he left on his own.

Shirley Yang and I returned to the county guesthouse and found the Blind Man fortune-telling by the entrance for a local woman. The Blind Man was telling the woman, "This is terrible! Madam, you were originally the Queen Mother of the West in heaven, but because you grew weary of celestial life, you chose to reincarnate and wander the mortal realm for amusement. Now it is time to return to the Heavenly Court, which is why you have contracted this incurable illness. In less than three months, when you hear the celestial music sounding from above, that will be the time for your departure back to the palace..."

The woman asked with a mournful face, "Old Immortal, are you saying my illness is untreatable? But I cannot bear to leave my husband; I don't want to live with the Jade Emperor. We have no feelings for each other, and besides, I still have two children at home."

The Blind Man appeared quite troubled. He told the woman, "Your Majesty, if you truly do not wish to return to the palace, there might be a way, though I..."

The woman urged him repeatedly, pressing a ten-yuan banknote into his hand, begging the Blind Man to devise a way for her to live another fifty or sixty years.

The Blind Man rubbed the note between his fingers, realizing it was ten yuan, and immediately adopted a serious tone. "Very well. I shall take the risk and intercede on your behalf with the Jade Emperor. Since one day in heaven is a year on earth, I shall persuade the Jade Emperor to wait an extra two or three months for you, allowing you a few more decades in the mortal world. But this will be hard on the Jade Emperor. You have no idea—he misses you so much he can barely eat or sleep. The last time I saw him, he had shrunk by three whole sizes and had no heart for state affairs; he waits for you day and night."

I worried that the Blind Man was spinning too wild a tale, fearing the woman's husband might cause trouble later, perhaps accusing him of sowing discord in their marriage. So, I called out to the Blind Man to join us for lunch in the cafeteria. Seeing us back, the Blind Man quickly pocketed the money and sent the woman away. I took his bamboo cane and guided him into the dining hall.

We planned to eat lunch and then return to Xi'an before heading back to Beijing. The three of us sat at one table. Shirley Yang was deeply preoccupied and couldn't eat much, while I kept looking at the photograph of the jade beasts while I ate.

At this point, all leads had dried up, leaving only these red jade beasts whose eyes resembled the Muchen Pearl so closely. It seemed the next logical step was to search for the Xian King's tomb in Yunnan. If we were lucky, we might unearth the Phoenix Gallbladder; at the very least, we might find one or two related clues.

The main difficulty, however, was locating the Xian King's tomb. We only knew it was generally somewhere in Yunnan, along the Lancang River—and that river was vast. We couldn't possibly comb the entire territory, section by section, kilometer by kilometer, could we?

Shirley Yang asked me, "Don't you often boast about your expertise in Fenjin Dingxue [Geomantic Divination]? How can such a small matter trouble you? You always say that by the riverside, one just needs to look up at the stars to find it."

I managed a wry smile. "My dear woman, it’s not that simple. Fenjin Dingxue can only be applied in flat areas without significant topographical fluctuations. I've been to Yunnan when fighting on the front lines; mountains and plateaus make up over ninety percent of the province's area. Yunnan has three major water systems: besides the Jinsha River and the Nujiang River, there is the Lancang River, running from north to south through the entire province. Moreover, the topography is complex and ever-changing, originating from the Hengduan Mountains in the north, with countless branching ridges. Without a specific target, even with profound feng shui secrets, we’d likely search for a hundred years and still find nothing."

Shirley Yang said to me, "This is rare. Even you are sounding discouraged. It seems this time is truly difficult."

I replied, "I am not discouraged. I think we can summarize our current situation as: confidence without certainty. Confidence is always sufficient, but right now, we have zero certainty. We can't go looking for a needle in a haystack. We might as well return to Beijing first, confer with everyone, and try to gather as much intelligence as possible. Even having a thirty percent chance is better than having none."

The Blind Man suddenly interjected, "You two, listening to your conversation, are you thinking of heading to Yunnan to rob a tomb? I advise you to give up that idea immediately. Back in the day, a group of us Xieling Lishi [Grave Raiders] sought immense fortune by trying to raid the tomb of the Xian King in Yunnan. But we hadn't expected the place to be fraught with danger; we lost six men for nothing. Only I, relying on my true skills, managed to escape by a hair's breadth—and these two eyes are proof I left something behind in Yunnan. Even now, recalling it sends shivers down my spine."

The Blind Man's simple words struck me like a thunderclap in the middle of summer. I spat out the food in my mouth right onto his face. "What did you just say? You searched for the Xian King’s tomb in Yunnan? If you are lying or exaggerating in the slightest, we will abandon you and not take you to the capital."

The Blind Man wiped his face. "What kind of person am I, to speak falsehoods? I did raid a Dian King's tomb on Lijia Mountain in Yunnan, but I was too late; the mingqi [burial objects] had already been taken by those before me. In that tomb, besides a large human thigh bone, all that remained was half a map of the ancient Dian Kingdom made of human skin, and even the script was blurred. I, being the sort who never leaves empty-handed, could not forgo such unrighteous wealth, so I took it along. Later, in Suzhou, I hired a skilled artisan who specialized in restoring ancient calligraphy and paintings, and he cleaned the human skin map (the Shi Nong) sixteen times with ice vinegar until it was perfectly restored. Who would have known that upon examining it, this map actually showed the location of the Xian King’s tomb?"

Shirley Yang said to the Blind Man, "The Xian King led a group of his people away from the Dian Kingdom and migrated far into the deep mountains to live in seclusion. How could a Dian King's tomb contain a map to the Xian King's tomb? You must not be deceiving us."

The Blind Man insisted, "I speak with certainty. These two states were originally one family. It is said that the Xian King chose a site of great geomantic fortune, where he was buried after death. That place had a very unique environment, making it impossible for anyone to rob the tomb. Consider the great heroes like Emperor Tang or Emperor Han—powerful in life, they still couldn't prevent their tombs from being robbed and their remains desecrated after death. Since ancient times, royalty placed immense importance on what happened after death, fearing tomb robbing above all else. After the Xian King died, his followers dispersed. Some wished to reintegrate with their ancestral kingdom and drew a map of the Xian King's tomb to present to the Dian King, claiming they could also secure such an auspicious site for him. These details are recorded on the back of this human skin map. However, perhaps they never found such a treasure trove, otherwise, how could I have managed to steal this human skin map?"

The Blind Man retrieved a packet from his bosom and opened it, revealing a leather ancient map. Though restored, it was still extremely indistinct; the mountains and rivers were vaguely discernible.

The Blind Man declared, "I am not trying to fool you both. I have carried this map with me for many years and never show it to anyone. Today, seeing your disbelief, I brought it out for you to see. However, I offer one piece of advice: notice the blank space in this map within the Worm Valley—that area is deeply strange, like a dragon's pool and a tiger's den. No matter how many arms or heads you possess, or if you are a reincarnation of a Vajra Arhat, once you enter the Worm Valley, you will never return."