Two people together weren't enough to lift the coffin out, nor could they learn what was inside. Chang Dong walked about a kilometer along the flight path displayed on the transmission screen, locating the third terraced mound. Upon digging it open, another corner of a coffin emerged. The transmission range of the drone was limited, yet Chang Dong was insistent—determined to uncover the full pattern of these anomalous terraced mounds. He guided the drone in various directions, climbing to higher ground every few kilometers to capture bird's-eye views. Ye Liuxi initially followed him, but later grew tired and chose to stop and rest at her own convenience. She believed that capable people worked harder—Chang Dong had always been more meticulous than she, and she felt confident that as long as they remained within sight of each other, they wouldn't lose track of one another. By midday, the two paused beneath a particularly elegant yardan terrace to rest. Chang Dong carefully aligned and stitched together the various photos he had taken earlier, while Ye Liuxi tilted her head back, finishing off the only bottle of mineral water she had brought. The bottle was inverted and shaken gently, and she squinted, watching the last thin stream of water trickle down the bottle's wall... Chang Dong didn't look up—he simply threw his bottle over. The accumulated sand in the central area of Bai Long Dui is thicker than in the outer regions, forming a thick blanket underfoot, primarily due to wind-blown sand depositing when encountering resistance; the edges of the yardang terraces accumulate even more, naturally creating a gentle, soft slope that can serve as a natural backrest if not particularly formal. The bottle's mouth was buried deep into the sand pile, leaving only the base of the bottle exposed. Ye Liuxi pulled the water bottle out and tossed it back: "I haven't quite reached that level of thirst yet... I just don't want to waste it." She lowered her head, and by chance noticed a subtle pattern beneath the shallow sand surface where the bottle had been removed. She reached out to gently smooth it, but Chang Dong suddenly said, "That's enough." He handed her a map he had compiled and marked—enhanced with color contrasts, with terraces indicated by asterisks and connected by dashed red lines between successive terraces, making the layout Against a gray-white background, two nearly parallel red lines run from start to finish, neither extending infinitely. Chang Dong said, "It looks like a road—these raised platforms are like streetlights, symmetrically distributed on both sides. The width across the road is about a hundred meters, and along the length, there's one every kilometer. I counted: ten on each side, totaling twenty." So there are twenty... shadow coffins? Ye Liuxi frowned, "It's called a road, yet it doesn't quite feel like one. It seems as though a segment has been cut from a road—unclear which end is the beginning and which is the end. And where does it lead? Could it be an arranged formation, set up for display?" Not exactly. In ancient China, formations were usually either Ba-Gua or Qi-Xing arrays; such parallel, straight lines were rare. Chang Dong looked at Ye Liuxi, "By now, are you still unable to recall anything?" Before, he had never encountered someone experiencing memory loss, though television dramas often portrayed such cases—memory would typically return when the character encountered a significant scene or piece of information—otherwise, the plot couldn't progress. Ye Liuxi, despite losing her memory, managed to find a sense of accomplishment: "No, I'm not experiencing ordinary amnesia—it's 'notched,' difficult to recover." She could explain it any way she wanted, but no such term could be found online; likely, she was the only person in the world with this condition. Chang Dong unscrewed the bottle of mineral water and took a sip. The cool stream slid down her throat, yet it failed to cool the anxious pulse in her chest. What should come next? The current leads seemed all centered on the shadow coffin—how to extract it was a major issue, requiring additional manpower, but Chang Dong didn't want to involve people who weren't directly connected. Ye Liuxi solved it with one sentence: "Once your car is fully fueled, drive it in and crash into it. What's the point of the collision barrier? Won't you even be able to collapse a simple earth platform?" ... The matter was now settled. Only one final thing remained—Chang Dong wanted to see exactly how the 'Yumen Pass' had vanished. He drew circles and lines on the sand, indicating them to Ye Liuxi. "First, during the day you were cut by the salt crust and lost a lot of blood. That night, at the Gray Eight camp, we saw ghost flames and shadows on the tents—after that, everything remained normal, and we left the next morning." Then everything went smoothly to Luo Bu Town, where we shopped and took a bath, and met with Meng Jin Gu's group. "Second, it happened when we entered the White Dragon Ridge. You mentioned that blood dripped onto the ground, and the wounds wrapped up would only bleed moderately—despite that, starting from that night at midnight when Fei Tang was dragged away, strange things began to unfold. The next day during the day, the vehicle tracks we had made disappeared, and Huo Ya discovered the shadowed coffin platform. That night at midnight, the Gray Eight and two of their subordinates died suddenly. By morning, everything returned to normal, and the northeast hiking group's Cherokee SUV sped right into the White Dragon Ridge." Chang Dong said: "Including this latest incident, we now have only two and a half such occurrences. We're trying to extract some patterns from within these events." "Your blood is indeed similar to a medium—whether it summoned Yu Men Pass or not, we can't yet be certain. But at least, some unusual phenomena will manifest." Ye Liuxi nodded, having personally witnessed the winds of change; it would have been difficult to deny them. "The phenomena began around midnight. The first time lasted only briefly, while the second time—spanning from FeiTang being pulled along until Gui Ba's death—lasted at least 24 hours." "The first occurrence of the phenomena took place quite far from where you first bled. After you were cut by the salt shell, we still traveled a considerable distance before reaching the midnight transfer to Gui Ba's camp. There were indeed several tens of miles of travel in between." "But in the subsequent two instances, your blood was spilled near the camp. Can I assume that the distance of the blood plays a role—perhaps influencing the intensity and duration of the phenomena?" Ye Liuxi realized: "You're suggesting that during the two episodes at Bai Long Dui, the duration of the phenomena should have been roughly the same?" According to a 24-hour schedule, as long as you stay here until midnight, theoretically, you can witness the disappearance of this very "Yumen Pass" right before your eyes. Ye Liuxi reminded him, "Are you sure? The head chef has probably seen this process and then went completely mad." Chang Dong replied, "If I go mad, then you won't have to worry about me anymore. I don't like to cause trouble." Ye Liuxi couldn't understand, "Why are you so determined? You've already come and gone several times to help Kong Yang—what about the Yumen Pass, the shadow coffin—things that have long surpassed your imagination? Shouldn't you have given up when faced with difficulties?" A common person, upon realizing that events couldn't be controlled by human effort, would have already retreated. Chang Dong asked her, "Retreated to where?" "Back to start all over again." Chang Dong remained silent. After a pause, he said, "When I was a child, I had a compulsion when writing essays—every paragraph had to end with a period before I could start a new one." "I originally thought the matter of Kong Yang had come to an end—having the body carried away was merely a lingering attachment. But once you found me, I realized it might not be finished. And now, here, I see it's far from over." "If I'm asked to step back now, there will always be a question mark hovering above my head. Going back wouldn't be a fresh beginning—it would be endless self-chaos, something I've chosen for myself." "To truly begin anew, one must show genuine sincerity. Don't leave behind a mess at the outset. Even a simple closing point is a form of self-resolution." Ye Liuxi listened quietly, unconsciously gathering the sand beside her into a pile and then pushing it aside to smooth it out. Chang Dong suddenly said, "Don't move." Ye Liuxi paused, and Chang Dong lifted her hand, then brushed away the loose sand on the ground. Beneath the sand lay a distinct impression—a clear, deep groove resembling a fetal imprint. Chang Dong thought for a moment, then asked Ye Liuxi to rise. He himself carefully shifted the sand to one side. After a while, the groove became more pronounced—the imprint was broader than that of a typical small Ye Liuxi was about to speak, but Chang Dong had already opened his mouth: "All-steel radial tire, commonly used on trucks." He pushed aside the final handful of sand at the edge of the Yadan formation. The tire imprint had pressed straight through and vanished beneath the formation. Chang Dong then instructed Ye Liuxi: "Truck outer tires are typically spaced more than two meters apart. You go left, I go right—look for another track. Unless it's a single-wheeled vehicle, there must be one within this range." Ye Liuxi quickly found it, and the two cleared away the sand covering a large area. Two tracks were revealed—one pressed beneath the Yadan terraced platform, the other running along its outer edge. What on earth was this? Had a single vehicle passed through the terraced platform, almost entirely? Ye Liuxi's heart pounded: "Could it be my truck?" Chang Dong lifted the iron spade at his side and struck it against the Yadan platform with a sharp clatter—the soil wasn't just compacted sand. He turned to Ye Liuxi and asked, "It's very likely, but exactly how did you manage it?" Ye Liu Xi suddenly had an idea: "The wheel ruts are found beneath the Yadan terraces—do they also exist beneath the sandy terraces?" —— The two of them tested three sandy terraces, using both hands and feet to clear the sand from the ground. Beneath the sandy terraces, there were shadow puppets in the terraces themselves, but no wheel ruts beneath them. Beneath the Yadan terraces, there were wheel ruts, yet given their composition and hardness, the terraces should not have contained shadow puppets. Ye Liu Xi herself was now completely puzzled: "I wouldn't have driven into the Yadan terraces at all—how could I have entered and then emerged in another time realm?" In films, there's an example: in *Harry Potter*, there's a platform that's only a fraction of a platform, where when you collide with it, you enter a magical world. Chang Dong reminded her: "The wheel ruts extend beyond the other end of the terrace—this means you actually 'passed through' it, not simply 'entered' it." Ye Liu Xi was deeply troubled. Chang Dong glanced at her: "What's wrong?" Don't you like to be a mysterious woman?" Ye Liuxi said. "I'm enough to captivate others. Does it really matter if I'm mysterious to myself?" ... The sky gradually darkened. Bai Long Dui has large day-night temperature differences, and with the wind, the perceived temperature felt even cooler. Even though they were not far from the sand platform that had been excavated, they tried to seek shelter behind nearby Yadan sand formations, yet couldn't fully escape the wind. Ye Liuxi pulled Chang Dong several times to shift their position. "Come this way a bit," she said. Chang Dong doubted whether she was using him as a windbreak. "Why do you keep pulling me?" "To block the wind," Chang Dong nearly laughed, then looked down and saw her neck nearly tucked into her collar. Softening, she shifted her body slightly, trying to bear as much of the wind as possible. Once Ye Liuxi felt comfortable herself, she became especially attentive to her companion's spiritual and cultural well-being. "Chang Dong, I'd like to tell you a horror story," she said. "No thanks," he replied. "It will take a while. If I don't say something, it'll be He wasn't really bored. Just by lowering his head and peering through the night-vision goggles, he could see how restless and uneasy she was—fidgeting with the soil platform behind her now and then, inserting both hands into her soft-shell pouch, and once, tilting her mouth to blow the hair strands falling across her cheeks. She would inevitably start talking, just as he did when he carved the leather—she always managed to throw a few sarcastic remarks his way. She was born with a temperament that made people want to knock her out; he suspected two reasons why she had survived thus far: first, because she was beautiful, and second, because most people simply couldn't hold their own against her. Indeed, she spoke up again. "Changdong, if you actually panic when we arrive, I won't leave you behind." "At that point, I'll tie you with a rope. While I sell melons, you'll perform shadow puppetry by the side; while I roast skewers, you'll fan the fire for me. If you don't do well, I won't say anything—I'll patiently communicate with you." Chang Dong said, "Please, just leave me alone—don't bother me anymore." Before he finished speaking, Ye Liuxi suddenly exclaimed, "Hm!" and unconsciously gripped his arm tightly, her voice lowered. "Look!" Chang Dong turned around. A slender column of sand was flowing steadily downward, undisturbed by the wind and sand, gently settling onto the sandy platform. It seemed as though there were a large sandbag suspended in midair, with a small opening at the bottom, through which sand was slowly seeping out. Chang Dong slowly raised his head, following the column of sand. On the gray, hazy sky, a single eye was slowly opening—sand poured steadily from the gradually spreading eyelids, flowing continuously.