A moment of distraction, and the cracks in the crystal spirit platter had spread to their limit; even a slight movement atop the demon tower would shatter it. Ming Shu had just mentioned an ancient curse sealed within this crystal, which made everyone's hearts hang in suspense, yet they had to consciously suppress their breathing, terrified that even a louder heartbeat might vibrate the crystal apart. Compared to a vicious trap, an invisible curse was far more dangerous.

Inley Yang stepped forward and gently tapped the crystal remains of the spiritual lid into countless fragments. I knew she was always cautious; for her to act so decisively when no one could be certain meant she had absolute confidence, and I immediately relaxed.

After the disc-shaped iceberg crystal shattered, nothing happened as expected. Fatty kept complaining that Ming Shu had overreacted, that such shock tactics could easily induce a heart attack, which was far more dangerous than any curse or mechanism.

Inley Yang turned to us and said, "Uncle Ming was right, but this crystal platter on the top floor is a fake. The real cursed crystal platter is in the deepest chamber. The demon tower enshrining the crystal corpse of the evil god was also mentioned in the epic long song by the Master of Enemy-Conquering Pearls: the silver demon slave, the White Wolf King, named 'Crystal Zizai Mountain'—it serves the evil god at the tower's base. Once anyone approaches, the demon wolf army will descend from the sky and swallow the intruders."

The Wolf God, "Crystal Zizai Mountain," was a demon slave of the Demon Kingdom, and similar legends exist in the earliest Tibetan mythological systems. "Crystal Zizai Mountain" was a colossal white wolf in life, the ancestor of all evil wolves in Kunlun Mountain, but it only received this title after death. Legend says that after it was slain by Master Lian Sheng, its corpse transformed into a massive iceberg crystal stone, hence the name "Crystal Zizai Mountain."

Within this "Crystal Zizai Mountain," formed from the corpse of the white wolf demon slave, lay the vicious curse of the demon slave's restless spirit. Anyone who dared to approach would meet a terrible end without burial. The Demon Kingdom was a people who worshipped the abyss and caverns; the glacial crystal corpse, the symbol of the evil god, must surely be on the very lowest level of the nine-story demon tower. When digging to the deepest point, we must be extremely careful not to damage the "Crystal Zizai Mountain" and bring ruin upon ourselves.

This Dragon's Summit Glacier was once a vast lake, and we judged the location of the demon tower to be precisely on the island in the center of that lake. Surrounding the demon tower were permafrost or rock, and beyond that, the deep glacier; its lowest layer might even connect to the ice abyss where the "Snow Maitreya" was hidden. The deeper we dug, the more dangerous it became.

We set up our deployment and methodically dug through two levels. There were no accompanying sacrificial burials, only a pile of ox skulls resembling a mani mound—just bleached skulls and horns. This likely indicated some form of white ox-head worship, given the great significance of yaks on the plateau. Being entirely valuable, in ancient Tibet, every tribe was united on this one point.

The earliest ice caves we found contained burial spirit pagodas of the Rime Sect masters, extravagantly magnificent and immensely wealthy, but this most crucial nine-story demon tower held nothing, which naturally caused us some disappointment. Fatigue set in, so we returned to the top of the demon tower, started a fire for warmth and food, and then quickly crawled into our sleeping bags to rest.

At two in the afternoon, I woke them up. We needed to dig to the deepest point before dark. If we were fast enough, we could leave the Dragon's Summit Glacier before the cold wave hit. Then, Ming Shu could take the glacial crystal corpse back to Hong Kong, and Fatty and I could follow the clues to find the Demon Kingdom's altar, finally shaking off these large burdens.

Everyone geared up with tools and weapons. Ming Shu took out his ancestral "Thirteen-Whiskered Ceramic Cat" from his bag, carefully counting its thirteen ceramic whiskers to ensure none were missing. He placed it on the ground and bowed twice with Ah Xiang.

Fatty and I watched curiously. I asked Ming Shu, "The cat's whiskers are intact. Does that mean we'll succeed immediately and retreat unscathed?"

Ming Shu said, "Of course. This thing is very effective. We must succeed and retreat safely—that’s why our ancestors coined the phrase 'all whiskers, all body intact.'"

After speaking, Ming Shu handed the "Thirteen-Whiskered Ceramic Cat" to Ah Xiang for safekeeping. He retrieved the Tian Guan Copper Seal engraved with "Heavenly Official Bestows Blessings, All Restrictions Removed" from his backpack, preparing to use it when digging for the "Glacial Crystal Corpse."

Seeing this fake seal reminded me that this one was counterfeit and useless. Fortunately, before leaving Beijing, Inley Yang had arranged for someone to procure a set of thirty-six "Star Official Corpse-Pinning Needles" from the US—ancient artifacts used by Tang Dynasty Tomb Robbers. These had drifted overseas, and with this set, we should manage somehow. However, until we saw the actual glacial crystal corpse, we couldn't guess what it was. In short, we would act according to the situation.

As I was lost in thought, everyone else was ready. Fatty, Bi Dehuang, Chu Yi, and I split into two teams, one team digging one level while the other rested, alternating turns. The progress was fast enough; we estimated reaching the ninth level within three hours.

The third level was hung with wordless ghost banners patterned with starlight. The star patterns were divided into five colors: red, blue, white, green, and black, with black banners being the most numerous and blue the least. According to later Rime Sect records of the Demon Kingdom, these colors had different symbolic meanings: red represented blood, blue represented the sky, white represented mountains, green represented water sources, and black represented the abyss. The differences in the colors of the ghost banners also showed how the Demon Kingdom's faith differed from other religions. In their worldview and cosmology, the more black there was, the deeper the cavern, and the greater the power.

I told Fatty to tear down all these dizzying ghost banners and save them as fuel for the fire. Then, I descended first to the fourth level. This level of the demon tower was piled high with countless pebbles engraved with different symbols—perhaps the legendary "sutra stones." They might have value to archaeologists, but to us, they were just piles of junk rock. We looked through level after level, and it seemed that apart from the iceberg crystal stone used as the spiritual lid, there was nothing else of value. We had hoped for clues like murals recording the Demon Kingdom's eyeball temple, but seeing the reality firsthand, a sense of disappointment began to creep in.

We continued digging layer by layer until the eighth level, where we discovered it was entirely different from the upper floors. This level also had a crystal spiritual lid. When we first lifted the lid, we noticed nothing, but as soon as we stepped down, something felt wrong. There were many figures surrounding us. I quickly switched on the "Wolf Eye" flashlight while drawing my 1911 with the other hand.

Nineteen tall, ancient male corpses sat in a circle, surrounding us. Because the demon tower had always been frozen in ancient ice, these bodies were indistinguishable from the living, except their faces were unusually dark. Their attire was even stranger, closely resembling the bronze figures displayed in the Heavenly Palace of the Xian King's tomb.

Inley Yang followed me down. Seeing the ancient corpses sitting around, she told me, "They might be priests or guardians who voluntarily died in sacrifice after the 'Ice String Crystal Corpse' was interred. Be careful, there might be an ambush on this level."

I signaled for Fatty and the others, who were about to descend, to stop. I asked Ah Xiang to use her "Instinctual Eyes" to check if there was anything unclean on this level. Ah Xiang was almost crying from fright but reluctantly looked at the nineteen ancient corpses and shook her head, indicating there was nothing.

I dared not relax. Perhaps these guardian corpses, who died in the demon tower, harbored those insects capable of burning the soul to ashes—the true "Immeasurable Karmic Fire." Touching even a bit of it would be impossible to extinguish.

The excavation of this most important nine-story demon tower had been overly smooth. The smoother it was, the more I felt danger was lurking. Since this was already the eighth level, we still had plenty of prepared ginger juice. I had Fatty leave some as backup, and sprayed the rest onto all the ancient corpses. I then consolidated all the water in our canteens and sprinkled the entire eighth level of the tower. Everything was damp, only then did I feel secure enough to proceed to dig for the evil god's corpse on the deepest level.

We used the crowbar, black folders, and ice picks to pry open the large, pitch-black wooden plank, revealing a square space constructed of wood, earth, and stone, all entirely black. We threw down seventy or eighty fluorescent tubes, and the space finally brightened slightly.

None of us dared to rush down. We observed from the edge of the hole opened on the level above. Ming Shu was eager to see what the "Glacial Crystal Corpse" he had dreamed of looked like, so he squeezed to the very front. After staring for a long time, his face grew pale. Where was the evil god's corpse down here?

The lowest level only contained two circular crystals of the same size—one white and one blue—placed on a stone platform. Illuminated by the fluorescent tubes, they refracted a dazzling array of lights, revealing naturally formed star maps. Other than that, there was nothing else. But these two natural crystals could clearly not be the "Glacial Crystal Corpse," nor could they be the "Crystal Zizai Mountain" holding the curse, as they were only the size of a fist.

Fatty tried to comfort Ming Shu, saying that even though they hadn't found the real thing, these two commercial items looked valuable enough, so they hadn't come back empty-handed.

I told Ming Shu that the space below was too dark, and looking from above, we might miss details. We needed to go down to confirm; perhaps it was hidden somewhere. Since we were here, we should settle in and not leave until we had turned everything upside down.

So, everyone descended to the deepest level of the demon tower. Below this was the foundation. Unlike a Buddha tower in a temple that might have an underground palace, this was the final space. Moving aside the blue and white crystals, we found the stone platform could slide. I told Fatty to push.

Fatty alone shoved the stone platform aside. Beneath it was a very shallow pit dug into the frozen earth, containing a large, very thin piece of crystal stone. It had dense, natural markings resembling water ripples, etched with a divine general possessing a wolf's head and a human body. His face was ferocious and menacing; he wore a white helmet, silver armor, and a white robe, holding a silver-tasseled spear, poised as if leaping down, radiating power.

Inley Yang immediately warned everyone not to move. This was the "Crystal Zizai Mountain" containing the demon slave's curse. Although we didn't know what the legendary curse specifically referred to, the ripples inside the crystal stone were extremely peculiar and might generate a special sonic wave. If this crystal broke, the entire Dragon's Summit snow mountain and glacier risked collapse. Beneath the Crystal Zizai Mountain was an object, which might be the evil god's corpse.