Chang Dong felt that he was just one step away from some truths: "I heard someone say that after a person is swallowed by the living tombs of the Shi Duian formations, they don’t always turn into human skeletons—only one out of ten, is that right?" Fei Tang was a bit puzzled, not understanding why Chang Dong had taken such notice of this detail. Only Ye Liuxi clearly saw the deeper implications, feeling a complex mix of emotions: he wanted Chang Dong to know the truth, yet he was also afraid that when he faced it, he would have to uncover yet another wound. Zhao Guanshou found it amusing: "One out of ten? Is that such a precise figure? Wouldn’t even the scholars of the classical schools dare to make such a claim? Does the person who said this have to be standing right beside the living tombs, counting each one individually?" Chang Dong remained silent. Whether it was Ah He or the old Qian who had said this—he no longer remembered—but indeed, neither was a scholar of the classical tradition, and both held marginal status. Zhao Guanshou added: "I don’t know what the exact ratio is, but it’s much like cultivating flowers—when seeds are planted, whether "After all, does it really matter? Those people either died or became human skeletons—both equally tragic in their fate. To me, there's no real difference." "But how do you know that the final group of human skeletons amounted to exactly eighteen?" When Chang Dong first arrived, he didn't speak much. Now, however, he was suddenly asking repeated questions, which made Zhao Guanshou feel a bit puzzled. "Our scouts reported that the last group fed to the Eye Tomb consisted of exactly eighteen people. Therefore, I believe the final group of human skeletons could not have been any larger than that. Is there a problem with this?" Chang Dong felt his hands and feet grow cold. Feeding, two years ago, the final group, eighteen people. Everything seemed to align with perfect precision. He had always found it strange: when he first entered the pass and encountered the first group of human skeletons in the remote village, Kong Yang happened to be among them—too coincidental. Now it made sense. If the last group fed were all the camellias, it meant that the ones who were struck when the vehicles collided at the gate and later killed in the remote village were all his teammates from the beginning. He simply hadn't recognized them, because they had only recently formed temporary alliances and weren't very familiar with one another, and due to their significant physical changes, even Kong Yang had to be identified by the necklace. He held his rifle steady, aimed it, guided Ye Liuxi and his team in coordinated defense, urged Fei Tang and Ding Liu to finish off their targets—people he had wanted to see laid to rest for two years. His mind nearly froze; his voice was dry, so dry that he found it unfamiliar even to himself: "I still have one more question..." Zhao Guanshou grew impatient: "I don't have time to answer all your questions..." Ye Liuxi spoke firmly: "Let him ask. You'll answer." Zhao Guanshou glanced at Ye Liuxi, a hint of displeasure passing through her eyes, yet she still upheld her face. Chang Dong said, "Two years ago, I led a team to Ge Tou Sha Po... using your internal geographical terms, that's the desert south of Shui Dui Yadan." "There, we encountered a severe sandstorm—sudden, unexpected, not predicted by the weather forecasts. Even the search and rescue teams later said they had never seen a sandstorm with such powerful destruction. My team members, as well as my then fiancée, Kong Yang, all perished. Their remains were never found, our vehicles disappeared, and our entire camp was completely wiped out." Ding Liu exclaimed, "What? My elder brother still has a fiancée?" Ye Liuxi turned to her, giving her a sharp look, slightly embarrassed, and gently pulled at the edge of her dress, softly reminding, "They were killed." Ding Liu exhaled, feeling flushed with relief and regret—she had only heard the word 'fiancée'. Changdong was completely unaware of these interruptions: "Then, recently, when we entered the pass, near the deserted village close to the ruins of the dead bodies and the wind-eroded landforms, I encountered Kong Yang, now transformed into a human frame, and others..." At that moment, not only Ding Liu, but Fei Tang and Gao Shen also gasped in surprise. Now it finally made sense why Changdong had been unusually emotional over the past two days. "Later, at the entrance of Xiao Yangzhou city, I saw an abandoned vehicle belonging to a scorpion-eyed creature, bearing the mountain tea insignia—this was the very vehicle I used as my command car during my initial campaign..." Zhao Guanshou interrupted: "I know exactly what you're about to ask. Come on, you'll find out soon enough." The flowing lights on either side dimmed, as if aware that they would be passing by, the glass display cases and the paintings on the walls gradually fading into a deep shadow. Fei Tang, disappointed not to have seen more, turned back with lingering regret as he reached the end. The golden panel hung on the wall shone brilliantly in the darkness. Fei Tang suddenly deeply grasped an old saying—gold will always shine wherever it is. As he walked past the dim transitional area of the exhibition hall, a sudden glow emerged, revealing a massive reconstructed model of a fortress. It must be the famous Yumen Pass. In form, it exudes the grandeur of the world-renowned Juyuan Pass, with the Great Wall extending outwards on either side, the central city tower rising in successive layers with soaring eaves and projecting roof corners, its gate arches solemn and dark. Zhao Guanshou turned to Chang Dong and asked, "Do you think, Chang Dong, this Yumen Pass fortress is missing something?" What could be missing? Ye Liuxi was puzzled—everything seemed normal: there were roofs, gate arches, no cracked tiles or missing bricks. Chang Dong replied, "It's missing the main gate." Zhao Guanshou was satisfied, "Well observed—very attentive." He walked to the wall, grasped the golden carved lion embedded in the wall, and turned it gently to the side. A constant clatter of sounds: steel plates extend, bend, interlock, and freely arrange themselves, producing sharp, resonant impacts. Various shifting lights and hues dance and flicker, dazzling the eyes. When the sounds subside and the lights stabilize… Fei Tang gasped, "The Spirit-Storage Pavilion of the Ancient Treasures?" What emerged within the archway were layered, stacked pavilions—stacked upon one another—so many of them that it was hard to count. Half of the shelves housed objects resembling full-motion holograms. The first thing Fei Tang noticed was the *Qijiang Grass*, swaying without a breeze, graceful as a water snake, winding and curving elegantly. The other half of the shelves remained dark, like scattered patches of black cloth. Chang Dong murmured, "So the main gate of Yumen Pass is actually a Spirit-Storage Pavilion of the Ancient Treasures?" It makes sense why "one step beyond the pass means blood runs dry"—to return eastward, one must simply pass through countless arrays of spectral ghosts and spirits. Zhao Guanshou nodded. "Since the passage of the Jade Gate has been over two thousand years, all things have their lifespan. Many immortals and spirits have perished. These darkened ones are precisely those that have already vanished. When the day comes when all such spirits are extinguished, the great gate of the Jade Gate will naturally open. 'Southern Dipper breaks the Jade Gate'—Liyang Dong intended to leverage external support to unlock the gate, but ultimately failed. Thus, both inside and outside the gate have weathered a shared trial. Having learned from Liyang Dong's experience, the people of Scorpion's Eye have grown wiser, altering their strategy. Recognizing that the outside world would never accept the arrival of immortals and spirits, they now choose to rely solely on internal strength, aiming to break through and dismantle the ancient, towering spirit framework. As for the Eye Tomb, it emerged from within this very framework—indeed, this has turned out to be a fortunate coincidence. The ancient spirit framework is a sacred sanctuary, and we never wished for anyone to enter. By settling upon the mound of corpses and the natural terraces, the Eye Tomb has effectively established a natural barrier." "The people of Xieyan have to please the Eye Tomb in order to obtain information from it, and feeding is the most effective method." "Two years ago, after making thorough preparations for self-protection, Xieyan believed itself fully prepared and forcibly opened the Bogu Spirit Pavilion." Fei Tang widened his eyes: "Opened the Bogu Spirit Pavilion? Once it's opened, won't those spirits and ghosts then cause trouble for us?" Zhao Guanshou looked at him with a deep, significant expression: "Your 'us'—do you mean primarily the people from beyond the frontier?" Fei Tang felt embarrassed. Indeed, although he couldn't help sympathizing with those people who wept as they were shackled and marched across the frontier, at crucial moments, he still maintained a clear distinction between the people inside and outside the frontier: once the Bogu Spirit Pavilion was opened, the first to suffer would be Luo Bu Po, followed closely by Dunhuang, and further east, eventually reaching Xi'an. Zhao Guanshou seemed to have already seen through what he was thinking: "Don't worry. It won't be that easy to open. Even if there are cracks and a few escape, they will Fei Tang's cheeks flushed, and he stammered, unable to speak. Suddenly he felt selfish, then realized that others would probably think the same: though he usually enjoyed ghost and monster films, those were still films after all. "But that one time, the consequences were serious—the ancient architectural framework of the Bogu Yāo collapsed at one corner, and the entire city of Yumen Pass experienced body-soul separation." As he spoke, he gently twisted the golden crane's head again to the same angle, and with the metallic clink of the joints, the framework gradually withdrew. The various lights and hues blended and flowed into a mass, then gradually clarified. This time, there was a similar 3D holographic projection—a miniature model of Yumen Pass—but as if the screen had malfunctioned, he still sensed a shadow of the same shape hovering over the city, the model itself clear and sharp, while the shadow remained hazy, ethereal and drifting. Zhao Guanshou quickly offered an explanation: "See? We believe that a city has its own spirit. The physical body of Yumen Pass is fixed and cannot move, but its spirit can—when Lady Long of the Long family forcibly shifted the main gate of Yumen Pass, she was actually moving the spirit gate. Occasionally, when sandstorms are particularly strong, the spirit city itself will drift a short distance." As he spoke, the heavy spirit city drifted slightly to the left, as if the spirit were about to depart. Pointing to the section now covered by the spirit city, Zhao Guanshou said: "This area originally belonged to outside the pass, but because the spirit city has covered it, it doesn't strictly count as exiting the pass. Thus, it represents a rare transitional zone—gray territory." In the flash of a moment, Ye Liuxi suddenly remembered something. During the time at Baidongdui, he had repeatedly called upon the wind with his blood, and then, deep within the Yadan formations, strange phenomena had frequently appeared. At that time, Chang Dong had explained it thus: "It's as if two transparent film sheets had been superimposed upon one another." Then, after a while, these phenomena would fade away. She asked, "This gray zone—people from within the pass can reach it, since it doesn't count as truly leaving the pass, is that right?" Zhao Guanshou nodded. Fei Tang murmured, "People from outside the pass can also reach it, commonly referred to as 'seeing ghosts' or experiencing strange incidents, isn't that correct?" He never forgot, at Bailong Dui, how the tendrils that rapidly coalesced in the wind and sand had pulled him several dozen meters away, nearly causing him to lose his bladder. Zhao Guanshou continued, "The collapse of the ancient magical structure has never happened before in two thousand years. The separation between body and spirit has been unprecedented in distance, and the resulting sandstorm was immense—so powerful that one could truly say the heavens had split and the earth cracked. It was far beyond anything ordinary." Chang Dong felt a bit dazed. Indeed, during the incident involving Shancha, the sand waves had reached several dozen meters high, lifting even off-road vehicles like toys. For a while, he had thought it wasn't just a sandstorm, but a harbinger of the end of days. Zhao Guanshou looked at him with a touch of pity. "The timing and circumstances you described match perfectly. I suspect it wasn't a natural sandstorm that struck you—quite by coincidence, it was precisely the moment when the Bogu妖's support structure collapsed." The holographic projection on the cave wall shifted again, and the model of the Soul City had now moved farther away. Chang Dong wanted to speak, but his throat felt thick and heavy, and there was a constant vibration in his eardrums, yet he didn't miss a single word Zhao Guanshou spoke next. "That day, although the Daoist city dispatched all its personnel to stabilize the Soul City, it still took several hours. Fortunately, the area covered by the Soul City at the time was largely uninhabited. I believe that's when you and your team, along with the Scorpion-Eye personnel, encountered the disaster." Chang Dong remained silent. Yes, that must have been it. It made sense that their vehicles had been taken—after all, vehicles were scarce resources within the interior region, and taking them as a matter of convenience was both logical and practical. It makes perfect sense to take Kong Yang and his teammates—after all, if we need to feed the Eye of the Tomb, who would willingly give up fresh, ready-made provisions? In his dazed state, he once thought the figures he saw were the spirits of Kong Yang and his teammates bidding him farewell. Now he realizes he was completely mistaken—totally wrong. Those were the people from the Scorpion's Eye. ... Chang Dong stammered slightly, and only after a long pause managed to say, "It's just that my luck hasn't been good." He had said these words when he was forced to kneel before the families of the deceased—he had then believed he was facing a century-long sandstorm, that his luck had truly been poor. Now that the truth has come to light, the very words he can still offer remain the same. Suddenly, he finds himself laughing—it's truly funny, and he actually starts to laugh. Pausing, he adds, "Let's go. Let's go measure the Unwritten Heavenly Seal for Liu Xi. Don't keep the family waiting too long." Zhao Guanshou was about to take a step, when Ye Liu Xi spoke up. "It's just fortune-telling, isn't it? Whether we do it now or later, it makes no difference. Please wait a moment with your family—we're quite tired now and would like to go back and rest." Zhao Guanshou pressed his lips together, showing no clear signs of emotion. After a while, he said, "Very well. Just follow the light stream out. There will be someone at the gate to escort you to your quarters. I'll go and inform the old lady from the Sign family and won't see you off personally." He watched as Ye Liuxi and the others walked out. Ye Liuxi had already walked a few steps away when she suddenly remembered something and quickly turned back. "Could I ask you one thing?" "Go on." "Is there a woman by Jiang Zhan's side named Qingzhi?" She couldn't feel at ease until she had this clarified. Zhao Guanshou nodded. "Yes. She is very favored by Jiang Zhan; even people from the Scorpion Court refer to her as Miss Qingzhi. A few days ago, she tried to gain entry here, was discovered, and managed to defeat four Yulin guards before escaping unharmed—she's certainly no easy opponent Comfortable, yet a little resentful: Can't stand her, yet still treat her like a favorite? Such a waste! —— Indeed, upon leaving the museum, someone was waiting at the steps. A young woman in the black uniform of the Yulin Guard, with a white dove embroidered on her shoulder. She looked up as she heard their footsteps. Not much older than twenty, with fair skin, clear features, and a loose bun tied at her side—she seemed familiar. Ye Liuxi was still trying to recall where he'd seen her before, while Fei Tang gasped out, "Ah, Hé?"