The Spirit Rhinoceros level was the lowest, and it was the first to succumb to the strain. Seeing this, Yan Qing had no choice but to temporarily put them away.

She turned to look at Chu Jiang, a man with a mysterious Gold Rank title. She wondered how well the wooden plaque would restrain him.

She stared at him for a long time, but couldn't detect a trace of discomfort on his calm and collected face. In the end, she had to admit that the Golden Rank title was indeed different.

However, she still cautiously maintained a skeptical attitude.

As for the two people, after trying so many methods in turn, they had to admit that they were currently unable to get out.

Chu Jiang No. 2 was a ruthless man. "Since that's the case, let's go straight in. No matter what that so-called cave god is up to, it's definitely dying. The two of us together might be able to handle it."

His proposal was approved almost instantly. One of Yan Qing's goals, the Azure Dragon Coffin, was said to be located deep within this cave. Regardless of whether it was a den of dragons or tigers, she was determined to venture in.

Yan Qing herself almost immediately followed, this time she specifically dragged Chu Jiang, who was pretending to be a wallflower, along, and advised him,

"Since you have nothing to do anyway, why don't you relive your own memories?"

This time, upon entering the cave, I clearly felt something was different.

Suddenly, a chilling wind blew in from the depths of the cave, making the two men, Chu Jiang No. 2 and Chu Jiang No. 2, shiver and their teeth chatter.

Yan Qing and the other person following behind felt nothing at all. It seemed they were indeed in a different time and space. In this time and space, they didn't exist at all.

The path inside the cave was very long. Yan Qing remembered clearly that it would take more than an hour just to get to the cliff where the Azure Dragon carried the coffin.

She glanced at Chu Jiang beside her, and patted his shoulder with a look of sympathy.

"Hey, you guys didn't get to feel that eerie wind for over an hour back then, did you?"

Chu Jiang wasn't stupid. He couldn't hide the schadenfreude on Yan Qing's face, but he was too lazy to argue with her. This girl still held a grudge against him for kidnapping her.

It's alright, she won't be able to laugh for long.

————————

After a night's rest, Yue Qi's energy and physical strength had recovered considerably.

The clan chief sent someone to tell them that the high shaman had agreed to meet with them in the morning.

He called Yan Che, and the two of them went to visit the great shaman.

The Great Shaman's residence was located at the southernmost tip of Yundianzi Village, where there was only an empty little building, completely out of place with the bustling scene in the village.

The two entered the small building and finally saw the great shaman with a weathered face.

He looked even younger than the clan leader, around fifty or sixty years old. However, he exuded a heavy aura of old age, as if he were about to be buried at any moment.

The shaman's hair was also tied up with straw rope, decorated with the tribe's totem, which was also in the shape of a gourd, but obviously much smaller, and densely wrapped with emerald green vines.

What's most unusual is that his eyes were covered with a black cloth.

The high shaman waved to the two of them, speaking in standard Mandarin.

"Distinguished guests, please have a seat."

His face was clearly turned toward where the two were standing, and he nodded politely to them.

Whether it was his imagination or not, Yue Qi clearly felt that the Great Witch seemed to be paying more attention to Yan Che.

The two first explained their purpose: they had come specifically to learn more about the details of Wuyun Mountain from the Great Shaman.

"A few of us plan to return to Wuyun Mountain soon, so we want to find out the real situation there."

The great shaman laughed upon hearing this, "You must be quite curious, why is the Black Cloud Mountain we speak of different from the one you personally experienced?"

Yue Qi and Yan Che exchanged a glance. It seemed that the great shaman should know the real reason now.

"More than a hundred years ago, on the day Wuyun Mountain collapsed, a ritual for the Fallen Flower Cave Maiden was indeed held." The Great Shaman didn't mince words and made a startling statement.

"However, that ceremony was actually just a deal between the Eighteen Villages and the Cave God."

The shaman's tone became much lower, and he looked increasingly haggard. "You should have heard the clan chief say that the Cave God has been the guardian deity of our eighteen villages for a thousand years, right?"

Yue Qi nodded, agreeing.

The shaman changed the subject, his tone tinged with self-deprecation, "If I told you that the Cave God is not a deity at all, but rather a being imprisoned on Black Cloud Mountain by a deity to be punished, and that our ancestors from the eighteen villages originally settled in these deep mountains and forests generation after generation to guard the suppression formation, would you believe me?"

Yue Qi's pupils contracted; he had never expected this outcome.

On the other hand, Yan Che beside him seemed to finally have an epiphany.

The high shaman turned to Yan Che, remained silent for a moment, and finally spoke.

"Young man, you must also be a descendant of our Eighteen Villages. If I'm not mistaken, your ancestors took away something very important. Do you remember it?"

The shaman's eyes were clear and bright, gazing gently at him. Yan Che, for some reason, suddenly felt a pang of guilt, even though he knew in his heart that he hadn't done anything wrong.

However, this does not mean that his ancestors did nothing.

In fact, based on his piecing together of information over the past few days, combined with stories passed down through his family, he has almost pieced together a fact that seems incredibly close to the truth.

He had indeed had a question about a certain crucial point, but the great shaman's words had filled that gap in his understanding.

In this way, the truth is almost obvious.

Yan Che raised his head and met the Great Shaman's eyes directly. "It seems that there are some things we really have to admit."

"According to my parents' dying words, they did indeed take some things from here more than a hundred years ago. But—"

His expression held a hint of uncertainty. "My parents once instructed that only women in the family could come into contact with this thing, so I myself have never seen it. In addition, I remember my father once said that divine objects are not something that mortals can control, so I really don't know what it is or where it is."

Yan Che knew that his words were actually very weak and unlikely to convince the other party.

Unexpectedly, the high shaman had no doubt about his words at all, and instead comforted him.

"Don't worry, I believe you. The divine object isn't with you at all, and you probably haven't even touched it from beginning to end. Otherwise, you certainly wouldn't have escaped my notice."