Entry into the village is prohibited.

With the clues left by Cheng Zhijie, the Echo Passage suddenly became much simpler.

They walked to a fork in the road, where there were strips of cloth left by Cheng Zhijie at both cave entrances. They chose one of the paths, but after a few steps, they found that there were no strips of cloth left behind.

They then returned along the same route and took another path.

Sui Chuke muttered under his breath, "Is Cheng Hui running out of clothes to tear?"

Following behind, Sui Zhixu carefully stroked the patterns engraved on the sword. The patterns depicted the rising sun piercing through the forest and breaking through the bamboo on the outside of the scabbard. She continued walking forward with the sword in hand.

Cheng Zhijie's cloth strip disappeared, and the group also walked out of the secret passage.

However, the faces of the group were not relaxed. In the thick darkness, a somber atmosphere seeped into their hearts instead of into their eyes.

He knew that his face was always expressionless, as if he were invisible in the darkness.

Fan Lingzhang was not the one in charge. He shielded Sui Zhixu behind him and was extremely vigilant about his surroundings, even though Sui Zhixu was the one carrying the sword.

Sui Zhixu looked up and saw the back of his neck, recalling the two embracing at the lakeside pavilion.

In an instant, her gaze shifted from his neck to the coffin hanging in mid-air in the main hall.

The light, coming from some unknown gap, gathered on the hanging coffin and shone on the black iron chains, reflecting a bright light.

One end of the iron chain was embedded in the wall, and the thick iron chain wrapped the black wooden hanging coffin so tightly that it was almost integrated into the coffin.

It looked very strange. As far as she knew, there was no custom of hanging coffins in Hedong, let alone such a bizarre hanging coffin.

“It seems that Master Cheng is not here.” Fan Lingzhang whispered in her ear.

Sui Zhixu remained silent, walked into the center of the main hall, and raised a tinderbox to illuminate the bottom of the hanging coffin.

“It’s ingenious. The light shines on the coffin’s iron chains, while everything else is dark. You can’t see any other path in the main hall.” Sui Chuke walked up to her, his tone heavy.

The light shone on the bottom of the coffin, where the square mechanism was recessed, and a silver hairpin was clearly nailed into the gap to prevent the mechanism from rebounding.

Following Chu Ke's clapping, he shouted, "Good brother! You've really made your brother proud! Hurry up and find the way!"

Just as he finished speaking and was about to search around, an arrow pierced the night sky and struck the doorway.

With a clang, Sui Zhixu blocked the attack with his sword and shouted back, "Zirong, step back behind me."

Fan Lingzhang blew out the tinderbox and hid behind Sui Zhixu.

In the darkness, Fan Lingzhang could occasionally see the glint of the twin swords. He was puzzled, for he had never known that his wife could use a sword.

Arrows rained down, their sharp whistling sounds piercing the air clearly audible in the darkness.

With swords in both hands, Xu and Liu Lu took turns shielding the two people behind them from arrows.

Sui Chuke's rudimentary skills were no match for such a perilous situation, so he obediently hid behind Sui Zhixu and Liu Lü.

It was pitch black, and time flew by under pressure.

Soon the rain of arrows disappeared, and the light of torches appeared at both ends of the wall.

The sudden light made Sui Zhixu squint. There were holes as tall as a person on the east and west walls, and the two holes were filled with people holding torches.

Looking down at them from above.

"Another outsider. Get out of here right now, or don't blame me for being impolite."

Sui Chuke pushed aside Sui Zhixu, stood below him, and shouted upwards, "You're from Yungang Village, aren't you?"

Su Zhixu was momentarily caught off guard and was pushed aside, but fortunately Liu Lü and Fan Lingzhang caught her.

By the firelight, she saw several iron chains connecting wooden planks near the cave entrance on the top of the main hall. The iron chains were close to the ground, and the wooden planks connected the cave entrance to the ground.

The main hall was so dark that they hadn't noticed it at all.

The man at the top was nearly seventy years old, with a hoarse voice, "What do you want?"

"Nothing much. I'm the person in charge of repairing the grottoes. I've heard that His achievements here are timeless, and I'm very curious. Such a deity should be revered by thousands, yet he's not enshrined in the grottoes. I came here specifically to see him. I know from the murals that you are His most loyal followers. Don't you want Him to be worshipped by more people?"

Sui Chuke opened his arms, his face filled with infatuation and longing.

"And who are they?" The old man didn't answer but instead pressed him for an answer.

“Servants and maids. You should know that I always need some help. This world is too dangerous. I am just someone who is ordered by the Emperor to come here regularly to repair the grottoes. Unexpectedly, there have been continuous torrential rains in Hedong, and the disaster victims have set their sights on me, always thinking that I have gold and silver treasures. Heaven above, although I look rich, I am really just a believer who repairs the grottoes.”

It's unclear what the old man was thinking. He remained silent for a long time after Sui Chuke finished speaking. Their location was too far from the cave, and in the flickering firelight, Sui Zhixu couldn't see his expression.

He rubbed his withered, wrinkled hands against the stone wall, as if deep in thought.

Following Chu Ke's lead, they said, "Don't worry, we will not disturb the villagers' lives. Once we have gathered information about Him, we will leave immediately."

"You have three days. You must leave Lianyun Mountain after three days."

"Don't worry." Sui Chuke grinned and shouted at Fan Lingzhang, "Little Fan, take my bag and let's go."

Fan Lingzhang smiled and said, "Yes, my lord."

Beneath his sleeve, he squeezed Sui Zhixu's hand, his gesture carrying a hint of ingratiation and grievance that was impossible to ignore.

She gripped his hand back and patted it to comfort him.

Old man: "Come on up."

Sui Zhixu and Liu Lü stood side by side behind Sui Chuke. As she stepped onto the wooden plank, she overheard a villager holding a torch muttering, "Didn't they raise the plank last time they came back? I clearly remember raising it. It must have been those damned outsiders who did it. I don't understand why the village chief let outsiders in..."

It must be Cheng Zhijie; the silver hairpin on the device was his doing. Judging from what they're saying, they might have already surrounded the people.

As she observed the path, she sensed that they were constantly ascending. After turning a corner and walking several dozen steps, the view suddenly opened up.

The land is open, and in July, the corn stalks are tall and lush, a vibrant green.

"The village chief is back!"

"It's the village chief!"

As the procession moved onto the road, some people peeked out of their houses, some chatted by the roadside, and some elderly people held small children. Everyone who saw the old man greeted him warmly.

"They're quite united, better than those other groups." Sui Chuke mocked in her ear, clearly referring to the Mo Family Lodge.

"Those who understand the times are wise."

Sui Chuke: "Tch."

"Why are there still outsiders?" The question caused an uproar throughout Yungang Village.

"Two men and two women, why did the village chief let them in?"

"Get them out!"

At first they were just chattering, but then they all shouted in unison, "Get them out!"

Like soldiers waving flags and issuing battle commands, their momentum was fierce.

"Quiet, everyone! Chu Lang has come to build a stone statue for our great Him. Everything about Him has deeply attracted him. He is His new believer. In three days, they will take everything about Him out into the world and be revered by thousands. He will remember everything we have done and lead us to a state of bliss!"

The village chief shouted into the crowd, and in his excitement he even raised his cane and shouted, his face flushed and his eyes crazy and obsessed.

As Xu silently observed from within the crowd, the villagers, upon hearing of the blissful realm, showed longing on their faces and their eyes glazed over. Like the heretical cultivator Yueling had spoken of, someone who had gone astray in their cultivation.

They cared a lot about the paradise. A group of Buddhists used the entrance to the village as a tomb, the murals in the main hall to suppress the dead, and the high-hanging coffins as a mechanism. It was absurd.

Sui Zhixu's lips curled up, revealing a mocking smile where no one was paying attention.

The village chief settled them together and made them wait for him to send someone to take them to the temple he had built for Him in the village every day. They were not allowed to go out at other times, otherwise they would be driven out in less than three days.

He gave instructions to several people, then slammed the door shut. The instant the door closed, Sui Zhixu's indifferent peach blossom eyes met his aged and cloudy eyes. Their gazes met, and Sui Zhixu clearly felt the sinister smile and ill intent in his eyes.

Sui Zhixu smiled as well, her curved eyes like crescent moons, and her green dress as vibrant as the green of corn leaves in a cornfield. The village chief, seemingly lost in thought, darkened his face and slammed the wooden door shut.

The old wooden door creaked under the strong vibrations, dropping large amounts of dust that made Sui Chuke cough.

He squinted, flicking the dust around with his sleeve, and cursed, "Damn you two, you're having an affair right in front of me! Does your aunt even know he exists? Believe me, I'll expose you! No, I'll expose you to the whole clan for keeping a lover!"

As dust swirled in the air, Fan Lingzhang quickly shielded Sui Zhixu with his wide sleeves to protect her from the dust, and even Liu Lü hid to the side early on.

This was a catastrophe for the travelers from Chu.

"My God, I'm choking!" Sui Chuke kept patting his chest, his eyes filled with tears, and he kept gagging.

"Watch your mouth, or I'll make you mute for life if you keep talking nonsense."

Fan Lingzhang leaned on Sui Zhixu's shoulder, looking sullen, and hummed softly in her ear. She couldn't stand it anymore and scolded Sui Chuke.

Sui Chuke remained arrogant, raising his chin and looking at them mockingly, "Oh my god, isn't he just your kept man? Even if you're not the young master of the Sui family, the Sui family's wives are not someone a nobody like him can possibly befriend."

"You must know about the clan's dissatisfaction with your mother, right? It only calmed down a bit in the last three years when Cong Lan became prime minister. If a scholar like Cong Lan is treated like this, what about a lowly merchant like him? He's not even worthy of marrying into the family, let alone carrying your shoes. Even the Sui family isn't that lowly... Ugh! You again..."

Sui Zhixu took out a pill, grabbed Sui Chuke's chin, threw it in, lifted his chin, and said coldly, "What I do is none of your business. You look down on my father, but your mother still begged him to take Cheng Zhijie as her disciple. In front of me, you'd better put away your high and mighty aristocratic attitude."

"If it weren't for my mother and father, the Sui family wouldn't be where it is today. If you don't like it, then get out. If you want to be mute for the rest of your life, then go ahead and complain to the clan elders. The medical clinic is in my hands. See who will cure your poison?"

Su Chuke was completely speechless and could only point at her with his finger.

"Cheng Zhijie is missing and his remains may never be found. You, my good brother, are now worrying about me first. Do you really think that coming in here will guarantee everything is safe? How foolish."

Sui Zhixu spoke casually, and his cold voice made him sound unhurried, as if he had everything under control while leaving room for maneuver, making the other person feel that life and death were hanging by a thread.

"Zirong will stay by your side, as you said. He is now your helper. Find out the layout of Yungang Village as soon as possible and find Cheng Zhijie. The case in Jiangnan will implicate many officials."

As Xu closed her eyes to rest, the mermaid pearl by her ear swayed with her movements.

Her delicate brows furrowed slightly, her expression grave. Misappropriating disaster relief funds—such a large sum of money—was not something an ordinary person would dare to easily touch.

The list that Cheng Zhijie sent out already included a series of people from Luoyang to Hedong, with intricate relationships. Who exactly is the mastermind behind it all?

When Cheng Zhijie discovered that he was in trouble here, he was already close to the mastermind behind it all.

But now she has absolutely no ideas.