I stopped a few paces short of Ming Shu and Axiang, facing the muzzle of the gun Ming Shu pointed directly at me. I finally understood—it must have been Axiang who told him I was possessed by that thing. I harbored no ill will toward her; she shouldn't have set me up, right? Could it really be because I refused to marry her? How could a woman be like that! But Axiang always seemed so gentle, she wouldn't resort to this, would she? Perhaps it was simply because I was too captivating; my mind started to cloud over. Then it suddenly struck me: what if there was something attached to me? Why hadn't I felt it?

I immediately recited two passages from Selected Works of Mao Zedong in my mind: "The integration of theory and practice is the style of work closely linked with the masses, as is the style of self-criticism." No problem, I was still myself; I could relax.

Ming Shu said to me, "Brother Hu, our friendship runs deep. I see a limitless future for you, which is why I intended to betroth Axiang to you. But you truly have a problem now; Axiang's eyes don't lie."

The situation within this "E’luohai City" was far beyond human imagination; anything could happen. I was mentally prepared for this. Moreover, I knew that since the deaths of Ming Shu's wife and bodyguards, he had become extremely jumpy, capable of anything. For his own safety, he would absolutely dare to fire that gun.

But just as Ming Shu raised his weapon, Fatty and Shirley Yang, standing behind me, had already aimed their respective hunting rifles at his head. I waved my hand back at Fatty, signaling them to calm down. If either side lost control and fired first, whoever ended up in a pool of blood would lead to a truly horrific fratricide.

Ming Shu had been overly tense just now, but his "Little Zhuge" mind slowly recovered. He naturally saw the current predicament. He must have realized that even the slightest rash move from him would result in Fatty and Shirley Yang putting two holes in his head without hesitation. He wanted to put his pistol away but felt awkward. He tried to offer some meaningless pleasantries to smooth things over, stammering and unable to speak. After a long pause, he finally explained that he only drew the gun to shoot whatever was on my back. In this world, when would a prospective father-in-law ever shoot his future son-in-law?

I could see from the muzzles of Fatty and Shirley Yang's guns that Ming Shu's psychological defenses had completely collapsed. Even if someone lent him courage, he wouldn't dare fire now. So, I went directly to Axiang and asked, "What exactly is going on? What did you see clinging to my back?"

Axiang replied, "Brother Hu, I'm very scared. I truly saw something black on your back just now, but I couldn't make out what it was. It looked like a black vortex."

A "black vortex"? Had the eyeball curse on me begun to change? But why didn't Axiang see anything on Shirley Yang or Fatty? I quickly pointed to the back of my neck with my finger and asked Axiang, "Was it here?"

Axiang shook her head. "No, it was inside your backpack... it's still there now."

I hurriedly took off the backpack from my back and found that both zippers on the pack were open. It seemed that at the end of the passage, Fatty had taken out the "Yin-probing Claw" from my bag to check for mechanisms behind the stone door. Since he intended to put it back after use, he took the shortcut of not zipping the backpack up. Axiang's eyes could only see the uncovered areas. Even without direct sight or light, what could possibly be inside my backpack?

I shook everything out of it, and Axiang pointed at one item, saying, "That's it..."

Shirley Yang also came over to examine it. "The Phoenix Gallbladder!" This bead had originally fused with the head of King Xian. Later, we brought it back to Beijing. Even after meticulous cutting by skilled artisans, it was difficult to fully restore its original appearance. Looking at it now, we discovered that the layer of jade-like stone on its surface was gradually melting away, revealing the bead inside. It possessed an inherent energy that could attract Chaotic Qi. What Axiang saw was precisely that thing.

It seemed the "Phoenix Gallbladder" must have been influenced by this mysterious ancient city, perhaps related to the "thread" that froze time. With this bead in hand, perhaps we held the key to unlocking the door sealed with countless ancient secrets.

Seeing that we weren't alarmed by this, Fatty took the opportunity to disarm Ming Shu, casually confiscating his gold Swiss watch along with it. Ming Shu was now completely subdued under Fatty's control and didn't dare utter a single sound.

Shirley Yang and I observed the "Phoenix Gallbladder" for a while, but we couldn't decipher its meaning immediately. In any case, this eye of reincarnation, symbolizing endless life, and the secrets of this "E’luohai City" still required further exploration within the city walls. We carefully put the bead back, offered Ming Shu and Axiang a brief explanation that it was all a misunderstanding—there wasn't even a ghost in this "E’luohai City"—and told them not to worry. If they still felt uneasy and wanted to part ways, they were free to go; nobody would stop them since they had their own legs.

? Afterward, we walked into the grand hall behind the stone door. It was a single-chamber hall, with lamps illuminating the stone pillars. The walls were completely covered with hundreds of sheets of human skin. Previously, we had seen murals painted on walls, but here, the important events of the city were inscribed onto the surface of the human skins using four colors: red, white, black, and blue. This was the only place in "E’luohai City" where we found records of events and symbolic markings.

There were also large sacrificial vessels in the hall, and deeper inside, there were several statues of **female deities. Shirley Yang took only a few glances before saying, "The information recorded on these human skins is too vital. Although we can't fully decipher the symbols, combining them with the section about the war against the Demon Kingdom in the narrative poem sung by the Great King of the Master Jewel, we can understand those long-lost ancient histories. This can absolutely solve most of the problems we are facing."

Although we had accumulated a considerable amount of intelligence concerning data and information, up to this point, it had all been disconnected fragments. Only Shirley Yang could synthesize and utilize it effectively. I couldn't be of much help in this regard, only able to offer suggestions.

So, we had Ming Shu and Axiang rest in the hall while Fatty took charge of roasting beef to feed everyone. Shirley Yang and I began analyzing the scroll paintings on the human skins, gradually clarifying one thread of clues after another.

As the main city of the Demon Kingdom, "E’luohai City" possessed a political structure entirely different from other nations. During the Demon Kingdom's zenith, its rule extended around the Kunlun Mountains. There were no successive kings; the entire domain was governed directly by the remains of the "Serpent God," the deity they worshipped. All major decisions were made by the high priests through sacrificial rites to the "Serpent God's Bones," followed by divination. In that ancient era, "divination" was a solemn and significant activity, not to be undertaken lightly; it could only be performed after intervals of several years, even decades.

The absence of a king explained why the city had no palace, only a temple. The so-called royal family members were powerful wizards who held significant influence, but their status ranked fifth or lower within the kingdom.

In the Demon Kingdom's value system, the "Serpent God's Bones" was the highest deity, second only to this "Evil God's" burial cave; the next in line was the "Pure Sight Āgama" (Giant-Eyed Serpent), which possessed a single black fleshy eye on its forehead.

After that came the "Ghost Mother," who appeared most frequently in Demon Kingdom legends. The Demon Kingdom's religion believed that each generation of the "Ghost Mother" was a reincarnation, never permitted to show her face, always requiring her features to be obscured. This was because her eyes were the seventh type of eye, the "Demon Eye," capable of rivaling the "Buddha Eye." Just as the Buddha Eye is boundless, the Demon Eye is limitless, and not every generation of Ghost Mother possessed this demonic vision.

Below the "Ghost Mother" were several High Priests who commanded some form of dark arts, resembling an early form of "T بحيث" (Chong Technique). Of course, the "T بحيث" of that time was far less complex than during King Xian's era; it couldn't harm people invisibly but was primarily used for major sacrificial ceremonies.

Their burial customs were also peculiar. Only "High Priests" were qualified to be interred in the "Nine-Story Demon Tower." The ancient Demon Kingdom tombs I observed at the ruins of the "Great Phoenix Temple" in Kunlun Pass should belong to a Ghost Mother. This is because the first "Ghost Mother," named "Nian Xiong Hei Yan," considered the daughter of the Evil God, had already been buried in the Demon Tower on the Dragon Summit Glacier. These terms are mentioned multiple times in the legends of King Gesar.

In these human skin murals, scenes depicting warfare even showed the participation of wolf packs and other wild beasts. That white wolf among them was likely "Crystal Freedom Mountain," but the status of the White Wolf King and the "Dapu" ghost-worm was quite low, equivalent only to demon slaves. The ancient legends passed down from that period generally magnified and deified the characteristics of certain tribes and wild beasts, enshrining them as spirits of mountains and rivers, much like the legendary era in China before the Xia and Shang dynasties.

In the legends of King Gesar, due to the aggression of the "Northern Demons" (the Demon Kingdom), the three kingdoms of Lingdi, Rongdi, and Jiadi repeatedly faced annihilation. Finally, a king possessing the Master Jewel appeared on the plateau, aided by Master Padmasambhava. This coalition army then marched into the northern snowlands to slay demons, achieving a decisive victory over the Demon Kingdom. The sudden weakening of the Demon Kingdom was likely caused by a catastrophic disaster in "E’luohai City," but these human skins contained no record of that event.

At this point, Fatty called out to us, "If you've got an ass, you're bound to find a place to get spanked. Let's eat first."

I also felt the pangs of hunger rising, so I temporarily set these matters aside and went over to eat. When I looked back, Shirley Yang was still staring intently at the last few sheets of human skin. I called her several times before she finally walked over.

However, Shirley Yang did not reach for the beef Fatty had roasted. She walked directly over to Axiang and, seemingly casually, pushed aside Axiang's long hair with her hand, examining the back of her neck. Axiang's complexion had already changed. Shirley Yang then looked at Ming Shu's nape, who, not knowing what she intended, allowed her a brief look at his neck.

Seeing Shirley Yang biting her lip, I knew something was wrong. She always made that habitual gesture before making an important judgment or decision. Indeed, Shirley Yang turned to me and said, "I think we were all deceived by Axiang's eyes. This city is real, but this is not E’luohai City at all. This place is the Bottomless Ghost Cave..."