The three of them stood in front of the cave and looked inside. The optical fibers inside were dim and lifeless, as if the cave were bottomless.

"Where does this lead? That ditch just kept going in, I wonder what's in there?" Ling Feng asked.

"We can only go in and take a look," Zhou Tianhao said.

"We should have brought that duck with us. We still don't know if there's any poison gas in here," Fourth Master said.

“This place isn’t enclosed. Even if there was poisonous gas, it has already dispersed. It’s fine,” Zhou Tianhao said.

Fourth Master nodded, and then the three of them went into the cave. As soon as they entered, they felt that the surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the sound of flowing water.

Gradually, the three of them went deeper and deeper into the area, not knowing how far they had walked or where they had ended up.

"Watch out!" Suddenly, Fourth Master noticed that the wind direction had changed. He pushed Zhou Tianhao forward and then he and Ling Feng turned around to avoid the hidden arrows that were shot out from inside.

The arrow came so suddenly that none of the three were prepared. When Fourth Master pushed Zhou Tianhao forward, it wasn't to use him as a shield, but because their position meant they had no choice but to lunge forward to avoid the arrows.

After understanding the situation, Master Zhou clasped his hands in thanks to Fourth Master and said, "Thank you!"

"I just don't want that deal to fall through," Fourth Master said.

“Since you’ve agreed, you can’t fail to do it! The things that were just shot out prove that there are people guarding this place,” said Master Zhou.

"It seems so. If we hadn't retreated in time, we would probably have been injured by it," Fourth Master said.

"Who would have laid such a treacherous trap here to harm people?" Ling Feng asked.

“It seems there’s some unspeakable secret in this cave, otherwise he wouldn’t be so wary of anyone coming in,” said Master Zhou.

“Indeed, Daoist Master, perhaps we will encounter something else as we go in. What do you think is inside?” Fourth Master said. “Is there really nothing strange about this place, Daoist Master?”

Master Zhou pondered, "Is this really the place where they refine the raw materials for their so-called elixirs?"

"An elixir? What is that?" Fourth Master asked in surprise.

Master Zhou didn't want to reveal too much to Fourth Master, even though he himself didn't believe that immortality was possible in this world. However, this was a matter of the Quanzhen Sect, and family scandals shouldn't be aired in public. But now that the three of them had gone through hardships together, he had no choice but to speak up.

"In the past ten years or so, the entire Quanzhen Sect has become obsessed with refining elixirs. Since the sect leader returned from the mountains fifteen years ago, he has become addicted to this art of alchemy!" said Master Zhou.

Upon hearing this, the Fourth Prince's heart sank. In recent years, Emperor Kangxi had also become obsessed with consuming tonics, the origins of which the Fourth Prince was unaware of, but he had gleaned some information from Consort De's words. No one dared to advise him against it.

"Do those pills really have the effect of prolonging life?" Fourth Master couldn't help but ask.

"Some of them can indeed nourish the body and treat some common ailments, but they have absolutely no effect on achieving immortality. In fact, many of these elixirs are highly poisonous. If a person eats them, not only will they not achieve immortality, but they may even die from poisoning," said Master Zhou.

Upon hearing this, the Fourth Prince immediately felt he could no longer stand idly by while Emperor Kangxi consumed those substances. This time, he was determined to meet the leader of the Quanzhen Sect and expose these deceptive tricks.

"Isn't that just deceiving the world and stealing a reputation? How could Taoism, with its thousand-year-old tradition, have fallen to this level?" Fourth Master couldn't help but say. He wasn't being sarcastic, but rather felt that these things were harmful to the country and its people, and were truly not good things.

Master Zhou also felt that the entire sect of Taoists was now obsessed with refining elixirs, which made them ashamed to face their ancestors and even more ashamed to face the world.

"Master, if these pills are truly useless, or even deadly, why would anyone still take them? Are there still people testing them?" Fourth Master suddenly asked, remembering something.

“You’re right. There are indeed people who test drugs. But not many people are willing to be such test subjects because long-term consumption of elixirs is life-threatening. The reason I left the mountain was that I didn’t want to do those things with them, so I don’t know how they test the efficacy of the drugs,” Zhou Tianhao said.

Fourth Master said, "Perhaps this cave can answer your questions. I have a feeling that someone deliberately placed these hidden weapons here, and that the vengeful spirits here are preventing villagers from approaching at will."

"You mean, the secret hidden here might be related to something within the Quanzhen Sect?" Zhou Tianhao asked.

“That’s right, because this area, spanning dozens of miles, is the territory of the Quanzhen Sect, and the surrounding mountain people rely on the Quanzhen Sect for their livelihood. Who else could have the ability to control such a big event?” Fourth Master said.

Zhou Tianhao hadn't expected that Fourth Master had thought further ahead than he had, because what he said was indeed true: all the mountain people around here depended on the Quanzhen Sect. Some of them grew vegetables, most of which were transported to the sect; some grew grain, also mostly of which were sold to the sect; and some simply worked for the sect.