Xie Lian said softly, “…No matter what, it’s impossible for it to just appear behind us without making any noise and do something so awful.”

Even if Xie Lian didn't trust his own insights, he trusted Hua Cheng's. Besides, to be honest, when it came to his instincts about danger, he trusted himself very much. Hua Cheng said, "Go back. Take a look."

The two of them walked side by side back the same way. After walking through the twists and turns in the cave for a while, they stopped.

It wasn't that they wanted to stop, but they were forced to because they had nowhere else to go. The tunnel they had come from was winding, but there was only one path. But now, before they could even get back to the beginning, a cold stone wall suddenly appeared out of nowhere!

Both of them remained expressionless. Xie Lian asked, "Is this an illusion or is it real?"

A silver butterfly flew up slowly, bumping against the uneven stone wall. Nothing unusual happened, and it bounced back. Hua Cheng said, "It's true."

Xie Lian nodded and said, “That’s going to be very tricky.”

Ghost walls are common and have two forms: the first is an illusion. You think there's a stone wall, but it's not; it's just an illusion. This is also easy to break. Simply go up and touch it, or slap yourself in the face or pour a basin of cold water on yourself, then sober up and try again.

The second type distorts your memory of the road, sense of direction, and other sensory perceptions. This is a slightly more severe form. For example, at a fork in the road, you might think you chose the left, but in reality, your mind wandered and you took the right. There's also the so-called "ghost circling," which is simply a trick: the distance between a person's left and right foot is subtly different, and the inhuman object can confuse your mind and magnify this discrepancy. Unknowingly, you might end up walking in a straight line, but in reality, you've gone in a large circle. Upon returning, you'll wonder: Why are we back here again?!

But to them, both of these methods were trivial. This cold stone wall was actually the third type: it was real.

Xie Lian was just considering whether to violently break through the stone wall to see what was behind it when he heard Hua Cheng say, "Brother, give me your hand."

Xie Lian: “?”

Although he was doubtful, he still obediently handed his hand to Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng gently held his hand, placed it in his palm, and covered it with his other hand, as if putting something on him.

Xie Lian held his breath for a moment, then raised his hand and asked curiously, "What is this?"

On the third finger of his left hand, a thin red string appeared. It was tied by Hua Cheng himself. Moreover, this red string stretched out and connected with the red string between Hua Cheng's fingers.

Hua Cheng raised his hand and showed him the identical small red butterfly-shaped knot on both of their hands. He smiled and said, "It's tied together."

Xie Lian felt his face getting a little hot after hearing this. Perhaps he was being too sensitive, so he rubbed his face vigorously twice, as if afraid Hua Cheng would notice his heartbeat was much faster than usual. He laughed and said, "Is this some kind of magic?"

"Yeah." Hua Cheng straightened his expression slightly, lowered his hand, and said, "Although we won't separate on our own initiative, we're keeping this thread just in case. This thread won't break, it won't get short. As long as it's intact, we know the person on the other end is okay. Unless that person is gone, we can definitely follow this thread to find the person on the other end."

Xie Lian asked, “What do you mean by gone?”

Hua Chengdao: "Dead, or vanished into thin air."

Xie Lian was about to speak when he suddenly heard a faint vibration in the distance. He listened intently for a moment and asked, "Who's fighting?"

The force and frequency were as if someone were pounding the mountain with their fists. Xie Lian said, "This kind of strength is definitely not possessed by an ordinary person. It must be a martial god. Could it be General Pei?"

Hua Chengdao: "It came from the front."

This "front" naturally refers to the place they had originally intended to go, but had to turn back because Pei Ming and his companions disappeared along the way. But Pei Ming and his companions had disappeared behind them, so how could they have suddenly run to the front? And if it wasn't Pei Ming, who could it be?

The two exchanged glances, then walked side by side to see exactly what was going on. But halfway through, the sound of punches hitting the mountain suddenly died away. It was unclear whether it was intentional or simply exhaustion.

But since they were already here, why would they give up halfway? So, Xie Lian and Hua Cheng continued walking towards the source of the sound. A few silver butterflies fluttered in front of the dark, blue cave, lighting their way. Suddenly, Xie Lian's sharp eyes caught sight of something unusual on the nearby stone wall and he asked, "What's that? A red line?"

From a distance, it was hard to tell what it was, but it was incredibly strange. It resembled a red thread, but much thicker and wiggling constantly, more like a long red worm. Xie Lian slowly walked to the edge of the stone wall, examined it carefully, and said, "Isn't this a half-moon scorpion-tailed snake?"

Sure enough, it was the lower half of a purple-red scorpion snake, sticking out of the wall, twitching and swaying. Its upper body seemed buried in the stone wall. Xie Lian asked, "Did it go into a hole and can't get out?"

Hua Cheng said: "I'm afraid not."

The scorpiontail snake's entire body was suspended in mid-air. Since snakes can't climb walls, how could it have swum so high up to dig a hole? Furthermore, there were plenty of holes in the rock wall. Even if it had to, why did it choose such a small one? This "hole" was also strange; it almost perfectly matched the shape of the snake's body, which is why it was stuck.

Xie Lian wanted to grab the snake and pull it out to see what was happening, but it was extremely alert, lashing out with its scorpion tail, nearly stabbing Xie Lian. So, Hua Cheng flicked it. Although it seemed casual, the snake seemed to be frightened and didn't dare to move. Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was about to speak when he suddenly stopped and said, "Did you hear that?"

Hua Cheng also said, "I heard it."

The two looked forward together.

In the darkness, a low breathing sound could be heard slowly, very steady and very gentle.

Two dead butterflies played with each other and flew towards the source of the breathing sound. They flew higher and higher, and the silver light rose higher and higher. Gradually, it illuminated a pair of hands.

They were a pair of hands. A man's hands. The backs of the hands were bloodstained and scarred, drooping as if dead. Above them, a dishevelled head was reflected, also drooping as if dead.

However, there is no lower body.

Yes, the person "hanging" high on the stone wall had no lower body. Only his upper body was exposed, as if he had grown out of the stone wall out of thin air!

In the past, Xie Lian had seen some nobles, upon hunting, sever their prey's heads, treat them with chemicals to prevent them from rotting, and then hang them on the walls of their mansions for everyone to see. This scene reminded him of the tiger, deer, wolf, and other animal heads lined up on the walls. But this man was clearly still breathing; he was still alive!

Xie Lian took a step closer and asked, “What is this? Is it the true form of the mountain monster?”

However, there was no response from his side. Xie Lian felt a sudden chill run down his spine and turned around. Sure enough—Hua Cheng was gone!

Thanks for the pity: "Sanlang?!"

Naturally, no one answered. Instead, the figure hanging on the wall mumbled a few words, as if half awake and talking in his sleep. Xie Lian had no interest in paying attention to him at the moment. He turned around twice, then suddenly remembered the red string Hua Cheng had tied on his hand. With great joy, he raised it. Sure enough, the string was still there, unbroken. So, Xie Lian felt a little relieved, holding onto the string, pulling as he walked. As he walked, the string finally reached its end.

The other end of the red line actually connected to a stone wall!

Xie Lian was in disbelief. He pulled twice more, and longer red lines continued to emerge from the stone wall. He almost wondered if Hua Cheng was inside this stone wall at this moment?

Upon thinking of this possibility, Xie Lian said nothing and raised his sword to break the wall. However, before the tip of his sword even touched the stone wall, his vision suddenly went black. The stone wall in front of him seemed to suddenly open its huge mouth like a basin, and swallowed him whole in a roar!

The blackness before his eyes did not pass quickly, but turned into a continuous darkness as Xie Lian was swallowed up. Sand, gravel and soil were pressing down on him from all directions, making him feel suffocated. Moreover, these sand, gravel and soil were constantly moving. It felt like being swallowed by a giant monster. This monster had eaten a lot of messy things besides him, and its stomach was churning in order to digest them. It was also like being trapped in quicksand, with no place to exert strength, and the harder he tried, the deeper he sank. Xie Lian was about to break through the wall and retreat, but then he remembered that Hua Cheng might be in there too. Instead of retreating, he advanced, waving his arms to break the sand and cut the soil, while pulling the red line to barely move forward. At this moment, a hand suddenly reached out from the front and accurately grabbed his wrist. Xie Lian said, "Who?!"

He opened his mouth and ate a mouthful of mud, which he spat out bitterly. Then the hand grabbed him and pulled him into an embrace. A familiar voice rang out from above: "Brother, it's me!"

Upon hearing this voice, Xie Lian relaxed completely. He hugged the other person tightly and blurted out, "...Great! The red thread is still there. I finally found you!"

Hua Cheng also hugged him tightly and said with certainty: "It's not broken! I found you too."

It turned out that the strange things they had just encountered were exactly the same. Xie Lian observed the half-ling hanging high on the wall, while Hua Cheng kept a vigilant eye on his surroundings, wary of anything lurking in the darkness. Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, Xie Lian, standing beside him, disappeared. And out of nowhere, a stone wall appeared. Hua Cheng, holding the red string, walked along, searching until he found the end of the string connected to the wall, and he went in to look for Xie Lian.

In reality, there was only an extra wall between them at first, but each believed the other was inside, so they simultaneously entered. Xie Lian mentally repeated for the umpteenth time how Hua Cheng truly anticipated everything. He said, "Luckily, you connected a red thread! Otherwise, it's hard to say whether we could find it. No wonder General Pei and the others disappeared so suddenly. It turns out it wasn't a sneak attack at all, but... they were swallowed by a mountain monster."

Hua Cheng said, "Yes, the location was unfortunate. The shovel just happened to dig into the belly of the mountain monster."

Xie Lian couldn’t help but cough lightly.

Yes. They must be in the belly of one of the three mountain monsters: "Old, Sick, and Dead." Yinyu had asked Xie Lian if they wanted to dig upwards, and the spot they chose happened to be the monster's habitat. Xie Lian readily agreed, his extraordinary luck truly paying off. The sand, rocks, and dirt on all sides were pressing down on their living space, making it increasingly cramped and stuffy. Xie Lian felt it was unsuitable to stay here for long and asked, "How are we going to get out now?"

Hua Cheng said, "It's been dug through, and it's not very happy. It's digesting us, which is a bit troublesome. But don't worry, brother, we can get out eventually." He then joked, "This is probably what it feels like to have a dead classmate."

Xie Lian was slightly startled by this, his lips curling up slightly, but then he quickly suppressed it, saying, "That halfling outside was probably also swallowed by the mountain monster. The sound of fists hitting the mountain we heard earlier was probably him trying to escape, smashing against the rock wall. He was just like the scorpion-tailed snake, not completely swallowed, only half." So the effect was extremely creepy. Hua Cheng said, "But he's not the one who came with us this time."

Xie Lian suddenly remembered the messy hair and said, "Wait, I know who that is. It must be Qi Ying!"

Hua Cheng seemed to think for a moment before remembering, and said, "Oh, the one with curly hair. That's him, right?"

Xie Lian asked, “I wonder if he’s alright? Did he pass out? He wasn’t responding just now.”

Hua Cheng said: "It's okay, I fell asleep."

“…”

Xie Lian asked, “How did you know?”

Hua Cheng said, "I left a few silver butterflies outside and just sent it over. My right eye can now see what's happening outside."

As soon as he finished speaking, he uttered a soft "Hmm?" and seemed to have seen something strange. Xie Lian asked, "What's going on out there?"

Hua Cheng remained silent, lowering his head slightly. He gently lifted his chin and rested their foreheads together. Xie Lian opened his eyes, closed them, and opened them again, saying, "This is truly... miraculous."

His right eye also saw a different picture from the one in front of him. Although it was dark, he could still make out the general outline.

The silver butterfly, monitoring the outside world, seemed to be hiding in a pile of weeds, and at the bottom of the screen, a dark shadow was slowly approaching. Xie Lian whispered, "Someone's coming, I don't know who it is. Where is your silver butterfly hiding? Will it be discovered?"

Hua Cheng said, "It's in his hair. The light is hidden, so it won't be discovered."

The shadowy figure finally got close enough and raised his face, looking pale.

Xie Lian asked, “Yin Yu?”