The way of sticking to the old ways lies in guarding one's heart.

The young Mohist's hurried words were like ice water poured over a head, instantly freezing the heavy atmosphere in the stone chamber. The deep pain and confusion in Ji Zhai's eyes were instantly replaced by an extreme coldness and sharpness! He turned abruptly and strode to a bronze cylinder about half a person's height in the corner of the stone chamber. The surface of the cylinder was covered with fine engravings, and one end was connected to several thick copper pipes deeply embedded in the rock wall.

“‘Hear the Earth’!” Ji Zhai shouted in a low voice, leaning down and pressing his ear tightly against the bronze inverted bowl at the top of the cylinder, holding his breath and concentrating.

The stone chamber fell into a deathly silence, even the deafening roar of forging hammers from the workshop outside seemed to be temporarily shut out. Xiao Yuxuan's heart leaped into his throat, and the evil energy within him, temporarily suppressed by the medicine, seemed to sense the impending crisis and began to stir restlessly.

Time seemed to stand still. Only Ji Zhai's slightly closed eyes and his profile, pressed tightly against the inverted bowl with utmost concentration, showed that he was listening to the subtle tremors coming from the depths of the earth, which ordinary people could not perceive.

A moment later, Ji Zhai suddenly straightened up, his face as solemn as iron! His calm eyes were now flashing with cold light, like a sharp blade drawn from its sheath!

"Southwest! Absolutely! Heavy armor! Warhorses! Number... no less than two thousand! Marching at a rapid pace, their target is directly at Jiangyuan Pass!" His voice was resolute, with a metallic penetrating power, instantly overpowering the roar of the workshop and clearly reaching the ears of all the Mohists inside and outside the stone chamber!

"Waaaaaah!"

Almost as soon as Ji Zhai finished speaking, a deep, long horn sound, like the mournful cry of a giant beast, suddenly rang out from a lookout hole at the highest point deep within the Craftsman's Fortress! The sound pierced through the mountain rocks and echoed layer by layer in the vast underground space, carrying an ancient and solemn warning!

"Enemy attack! Qin army is attacking! Level one alert!"

"Close all external gates! All mechanisms in place!"

"Non-warriors, retreat to the inner walls! Craftsmen, stand guard! Warriors, take your positions!"

Short, clear commands, imbued with the characteristic calm of the Mohists, like a rapid drumbeat, instantly replaced the workshop's original order! The roar of the vast mechanical forest didn't cease; instead, it accelerated at an even more tense and efficient pace! Huge gears creaked heavily, and thick iron chains jingled taut! The Mohists, who had been focused on forging, suddenly moved with lightning speed! Bare-chested burly men dropped their hammers, grabbing bronze halberds and leather-covered shields leaning against the wall; craftsmen operating levers swiftly activated mechanisms, locking intricate components; and many more, like well-trained worker ants, rushed towards the bronze cannon muzzles and crossbow firing ports on the workshop walls—hidden behind massive gears and linkages, protruding like the menacing fangs of a giant beast!

Throughout the entire Jiangyuan, this colossal metal beast, slumbering within the mountain's belly, instantly opened its cold eyes and bared its sharp claws at the sound of the horn! A chilling aura, a mixture of iron and fire, order and destruction, spread out like a tangible cold wave!

"Quick! Help him up!" Ji Zhai shouted to the young Mohist, then strode to a corner of the stone chamber and abruptly pulled open a heavy bronze cabinet. Inside were not gold or silver, but a set of dark gray armor, gleaming with a cold metallic luster, neatly arranged! The armor plates were finely detailed and uniquely shaped, with intricate bronze mechanisms connecting the joints, covering all vital organs, yet remarkably lightweight.

The young Mohist immediately stepped forward, swiftly yet carefully helping the weakened Xiao Yuxuan to his feet. Xiao Yuxuan was wracked with pain, his steps unsteady, barely able to support himself. He watched as Ji Zhai, with astonishing speed, donned the strange, dark gray armor that gleamed with a cold luster. The heavy bronze armor plates covered Ji Zhai's slightly hunched body, the intricate mechanisms at the joints emitting a subtle, smooth metallic creaking with each movement. When he finally placed a helmet of the same material, revealing only the eyes and nose of a ferocious beast, on his head, the weary, aged, and conflicted leader of the Mohist school vanished, replaced by a war machine that seemed to have emerged from the Bronze Age, radiating a cold metallic aura and a resolute killing intent!

Ji Zhai (or rather, the Mo family's chief disciple who had now transformed into a "defense weapon") turned around. The only eye visible beneath his beast-faced helmet was cold and sharp, devoid of any confusion. He walked to the bedside, picked up the broken piece of wood engraved with the words "Suspended Blade" that Xiao Yuxuan had hidden in his arms, and the cold, miniature crossbow bolt, glanced at them, and then tossed them back into Xiao Yuxuan's arms.

"This thing is your last chance at life, the 'Hanging Blade'." Ji Zhai's voice came through the hideous beast-faced helmet, carrying a metallic hum, cold and utterly emotionless. "It may also be the 'Mechanism' that will incinerate everything! The choice is yours!"

Having said that, he stopped looking at Xiao Yuxuan and strode out of the stone chamber, merging into the bustling workshop outside, which resembled a boiling furnace. His heavy footsteps echoed within the stone chamber, eventually being swallowed up by the even more deafening sounds of forging hammers and gears meshing.

"Follow me!" the young Mohist whispered, helping Xiao Yuxuan through the huge square hole and into the core of the workshop.

The scene before him shook Xiao Yuxuan to his core!

The workshop's structure was far more complex and massive than he had seen before. They were now suspended in mid-air on a circular stone corridor surrounding a massive central forge and gear train. The corridor was only a few feet wide, its outer edge a bottomless, crimson abyss illuminated by the firelight from the forge below. The inner walls were carved with countless holes and platforms of varying sizes, like a honeycomb. Behind each hole, one could vaguely see massive crossbow arms gleaming coldly or dark cannon muzzles! On the platforms, Mohist warriors (*the elite combat guards among the Mohists*) clad in dark gray metal armor similar to Ji Zhai's, wielding spears and powerful crossbows, stood silent as statues, their cold gazes fixed through the firing ports towards the workshop's only connection to the outside world—a deep passageway sealed off by a massive bronze gate!

"BOOM—!!!"

A deafening roar, far deeper and more resounding than the sound of a forging hammer, like an earth dragon turning over, suddenly erupted from the depths of the passageway! The entire mountainside trembled violently! Dust fell in a flurry from the stone corridor!

"Close the gate! The mountain gate is closed!" A loud voice rang out from below, echoing with a metallic sound.

Xiao Yuxuan, leaning against the cold stone wall, peered out through a firing port. At the end of the passage, a colossal ancient bronze gate, several meters high and riddled with impact marks, was slowly sinking into the ground, pulled by dozens of thick, taut bronze hinges, emitting a sickening metallic scraping sound! The last glimmer of light through the cracks was extinguished! The passage was plunged into absolute darkness! Then, several even heavier inner gates, carved from single blocks of stone, crashed down with overwhelming force, sealing the passage completely! Jiangyuan, this metal behemoth, had sealed itself entirely deep within the mountain!

"The Qin army... has begun its attack on the gate..." The young Mohist's voice was tense.

Before the words were even finished!

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Heavy, thunderous impacts, like the beating of drums by celestial beings, echoed from the depths of the passageway sealed off by layers of massive stone gates! Each impact was accompanied by a slight tremor throughout the entire mountain! Dust and gravel rained down from the dome and stone walls! Those were battering rams! Huge battering rams, covered in bronze or iron, were being driven by the Qin army outside, relentlessly pounding against the gates of Jiangyuan!

"Hmph! You think you can shake the 'Immovable Pass' made of basalt and black copper with this mortal iron?" The Mohist controlling the gate below let out a disdainful snort. But the impact still made Xiao Yuxuan on the stone corridor lose his balance. The surging evil energy in his body was stirred up again by the violent tremor, and a sharp pain made him almost suffocate.

"Hold on!"

"Crossbows! Ready!"

"Preheat the kerosene tank!"

The brief command remained clear amidst the deafening noise. On the circular stone corridor, the Mohists behind each firing port were like taut bowstrings, their eyes fixed on the area below, the tunnel gate area illuminated by the firelight of the forge, resembling the entrance to hell.

"boom--!!!"

Another deafening roar! This time, accompanied by a piercing metallic tearing sound! A huge fragment of bronze, with dark red molten marks on its edges, shot out like a cannonball from the direction of the tunnel gate, slamming heavily into a forge below, sparks flying everywhere! Smoke and dust billowed!

"Armor-piercing spikes!" The young Mohist's pupils contracted. "The Qin army's 'siege darts'! They've used heavy siege weapons!"

Xiao Yuxuan's heart sank! He recalled the Qin army's terrifying ability to breach city walls during the Battle of the Wei River! They could even demolish sturdy city towers!

Through the billowing smoke and dust, a massive, twisted, and torn hole appeared in the center of the outermost, heavy gate, carved from a single block of basalt! Scorching air and the battle cries of the Qin army outside instantly rushed in! Although the inner, even thicker, dark bronze gates remained tightly shut, this first barrier had been breached! The behemoth that was Jiangyuan had been ripped open with its first wound!

"put!"

A cold, metallic command boomed like thunder across the circular stone corridor! It was Ji Zhai's voice! He was now standing on a command platform at the highest point of the corridor, his dark gray beast-face helmet gleaming menacingly in the firelight of the forge!

With his command!

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—!"

Countless powerful, chilling clicks of the triggers tore through the air! Dozens of massive ballistae hidden in the shadows fired simultaneously from the firing ports on the stone wall! Arm-thick, specially made armor-piercing heavy crossbow bolts, gleaming with a chilling light, rained down with piercing shrieks, like the fangs of death, from all angles towards the breached gate!

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

The muffled thud of crossbow bolts piercing the breach and the piercing screams of Qin soldiers echoed instantly from outside the hole! Immediately following was the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground! Clearly, the Qin vanguard, attempting to pour in through the breach, had suffered a devastating blow!

However, the Qin army's offensive did not stop there!

"Fire! Fire! Burn these ground rats!" came the furious roar of the Qin general from outside!

"laugh--!"

A thick, foul-smelling, blackish-yellow liquid, like the breath of a venomous dragon, suddenly gushed in from the breach in the gate! Upon contact with the residual heat of the furnace below, the liquid erupted into a towering inferno with a deafening roar! Instantly, a raging sea of ​​fire formed at the entrance to the passageway! Scorching air surged and billowed thick smoke!

"Fire Oil!" The young Mohist's expression changed.

"Turn the launcher!" Ji Zhai's icy voice rang out again, without the slightest hint of panic.

On a platform inside the stone corridor, a Mohist suddenly pulled a huge bronze handle! Accompanied by the heavy clanging of gears, several previously sealed holes in the stone wall suddenly flipped open! Several intricately designed bronze instruments emerged, shaped like giant scorpion tails, with bowl-shaped nozzles at the ends!

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!"

Several powerful jets of water, carrying a chilling aura, shot precisely at the flames at the breach in the sluice gate! The water was not ordinary water; it seemed to be mixed with some special white powder, which hissed upon contact with the fire, quickly suppressing and extinguishing the flames formed by the raging oil! Only billowing smoke and a pungent odor remained.

The shift from offense to defense happened in the blink of an eye! The ingenuity and efficiency of the Mohist defensive siege equipment were breathtaking! However, Xiao Yuxuan keenly noticed that when the powder-mixed water extinguished the flames, the Mohist pilot controlling the rotating projectile showed no joy of victory in his eyes, but rather a complex and profound sorrow. This sorrow was identical to the pain Ji Zhai had felt earlier!

Boom!!!

The moment the fierce oil attack was neutralized, an even deeper, more terrifying roar came from the depths of the mountain! This tremor far surpassed the previous one! The entire Craftsman's Enclosure seemed to be violently shaken by an invisible giant hand! The massive gears groaned under the strain! The stone corridor shook violently! Large chunks of rock crashed down from the dome! A huge forge support below was struck by falling rocks, emitting a piercing metallic creak. The forge tilted, and molten iron poured out like lava, instantly engulfing two Mohists below who couldn't dodge in time! The agonizing screams lasted only half a second before abruptly ceasing! The air was filled with the stench of charred flesh!

"An earthquake... no! It's a 'walled city mine'! The Qin army is digging tunnels! They've detonated the 'walled city mine'!" the young Mohist exclaimed in shock, his voice trembling with despair!

Xiao Yuxuan clung tightly to the stone wall, barely managing to avoid being thrown off balance by the violent tremors! He looked down at the figures of the Mohists below, swallowed by the molten iron and instantly reduced to charred remains; at the frozen expressions of shock and grief on the faces of the Mohists around him; at Ji Zhai's back on the command platform, standing as upright as a pine tree amidst the tremors, yet radiating boundless heaviness and coldness… The scene of mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the banks of the Wei River, the bloody light of General Bai's suicide, the poisonous smoke silently spreading from the mouth of Eagle's Sorrow Valley—all these images overlapped violently with the hellish scene before him!

A rigid adherence to tradition? A defensive structure? How ironic! What did this ingenious mechanism, this deadly weapon, this fortress built with countless hours of painstaking effort protect? And what did it destroy? It could withstand the swords of the outside world, but it couldn't stop the disaster of the mountain collapsing! It could kill the enemies who attacked the city, but it also instantly devoured its own defenders!

A tremendous sense of sorrow and absurdity, like an icy tide, overwhelmed Xiao Yuxuan! The evil energy within him clashed wildly under the intense emotional impact, and a sweet taste rose in his throat as another mouthful of foul blood, tinged with the stench of sulfur, surged up! He clenched his teeth tightly and swallowed it down! His gaze, however, remained fixed on the dark gray figure on the command platform, a figure that resembled a metal fortress!

Ji Zhai slowly turned around, his cold gaze from beneath his beast-face helmet sweeping over the chaotic workshop below, over the two pools of rapidly solidifying charred remains, over the suppressed grief and indignation in the young Mo Zhe's eyes, and finally landing on Xiao Yuxuan's face, contorted with pain and grief.

Through the billowing smoke and flying sparks, through the deafening crashes and the cries of the dying, Ji Zhai's voice, transmitted through the beast-faced helmet, struck Xiao Yuxuan's heart with exceptional clarity, like a cold block of iron:

"Did you see that? Xiao Yuxuan!"

"This... is the price of 'defending'!"

"The way of sticking to tradition is not about defending the city!"

"Guard your heart!"

"If you can't hold onto that tiny flame of 'non-aggression' and 'universal love' in your heart, no matter how clever you are or how powerful you are, in the end... it's just adding another raging fire to this inescapable hell!"

His voice, carrying a calm that pierced through all the clamor and was almost desperate, was more deafening than any roar! In this destructive furnace where the earth shook and flesh flew everywhere, it was like the last mournful warning bell tolling!