The moment I entered Qu Ruilin's tent, I was completely stunned.

He had nothing in his tent. Qu Ruilin was squatting on the ground, making models with the mud that had been brought in.

I don't know the scale of this model, but it's immediately clear that this is the area we are in.

Looking at the model made by Qu Ruilin, it feels like standing from God's perspective, taking in the surrounding mountains and landforms.

As soon as I entered, Qu Ruilin placed a sculpted artificial mountain in a crevice: "Wait a little longer, my sand table isn't finished yet."

I was amazed by Qu Ruilin's superb craftsmanship and excellent memory: "Is making this interrupting our conversation?"

Qu Ruilin fiddled with the mud in his hands, saying without looking up, "Speak your mind."

“The monkey is missing! Yesterday I received intelligence that the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace was likely located at the foot of the old site of Qingyun Town, so I took three beast heads to the county town to trade with the man in black robes, asking him to lead the survey team arranged by the Jiang family to conduct an investigation here. However, when I returned, he was gone.”

I lifted the tent flap, squatted down at the door, and lit a cigarette: "Last night, we found several tomb raiding holes in the valley. We dug all of them into blue clay. I can now conclude that those holes were dug by the monkeys, and based on the evidence we have, we have also confirmed that the people from Qingyun Village kidnapped the monkeys! But what I don't understand is, what was their purpose in kidnapping the monkeys and making them dig these holes?"

"I can't answer that question right now, but I'm confident I can give you an answer soon."

Qu Ruilin used a dagger to carve a river on the sand table, then placed a rockery on it, stood up and clapped his hands: "The sand table is basically finished. If nothing unexpected happens, the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace is located in this area."

"Is this the old site of Qingyun Town?"

I walked over and pointed to the miniature tailings dam, then turned my gaze to the surrounding mountains: "Although Miao Xiaoxian said that the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace was located at the old site of Qingyun Town, there doesn't seem to be a dragon vein here. It's all just small-scale feng shui formations. Don't you think that's a bit strange?"

Qu Ruilin unscrewed the kettle and said four words in a calm tone: "You're too attached to appearances."

"What do you mean by that? Have I been misled by the terrain here?"

I stared at the sand table for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out: "The mountains here are gentle, with no peaks or ridges, and no hidden dragon formations. Why do you say I'm being too attached to appearances?"

"Let me answer your first question first. I agree with what you said about the people of Ping'an Village kidnapping the monkey and using him to dig a tomb."

Qu Ruilin picked up a tree branch and stuck it into the mountain where the green clay was found: "After the three beast heads were lost, Ping'an Village has made a major mistake. They want to protect the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace, but now they only have a few options. The first is to find the team that stole the beast heads and take them back. However, they have been living in seclusion for many years. Before the team that took the beast heads enters the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace, it will be very difficult for the people of Ping'an Village to find them."

"Um."

I nodded, signaling Qu Ruilin to continue.

He continued, "The remaining option is to destroy the mechanism or keyhole that opens the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace. However, this would require a large number of people, which would easily expose the location of the entrance to the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace! So, only one possibility remains: they are planning to find a passage to enter the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace and destroy everything inside, so that all those who covet it will be wiped out."

Qu Ruilin's speculation shocked me. Pointing to the mountain model with straw sticks stuck in it, he said, "Look at this mountain yourself. Compared to any of the surrounding mountains, it doesn't stand out. How could the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace be located below it? And if the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace were so easy to enter, why would they have created three keys?"

"What I just said was just a guess. As for whether my guess can be verified, we'll have to wait and see."

Qu Ruilin glanced at his watch: "I brought some good tea with me, please have a taste."

I knew Qu Ruilin wasn't deliberately stalling for time, but since he said it would take longer to get a result, I had no choice but to patiently nod.

Outside the tent, in the woods, Qu Ruilin set up a camping gas stove, boiled water on it, and also placed a simple tea table.

I picked up the cup of tea that Qu Ruilin handed me and took a small sip: "How confident are you about finding the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace?"

Qu Ruilin looked at me: "Are you in a hurry?"

"The reason we are cooperating is to find Duan Jinyan. At present, I have no clue about the location of the entrance to the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace, and I can only rely on you."

I took a deep breath: "Since yesterday's transaction, I haven't found any people in black robes in this area. I don't know if we just haven't encountered them, or if they're not active in this area. If it's the latter, it means that one of our intelligence sources must be wrong, right?"

Qu Ruilin still didn't answer my question, but picked up the teapot and refilled my tea: "Have some tea."

We waited for about half an hour before Wei Shengnan led several members of the Wei family into the camp and headed straight for Qu Ruilin and us.

When Qu Ruilin saw Wei Shengnan return, he put down his teacup and asked, "How was it?"

Wei Shengnan nodded: "Just as you guessed, there's nothing on those two mountains."

Qu Ruilin's expression immediately relaxed after hearing Wei Shengnan's words.

Seeing his expression, I couldn't help but ask, "What are you talking about? And which two mountains did Wei Shengnan go to?"

"Let's go inside and talk."

Qu Ruilin stood up and walked directly into the tent. This time, he didn't beat around the bush and stuck two straw sticks into the models of the two mountains: "This morning, I had Shengnan take people to these mountains to drill scouting holes. I told them that if they found something at the foot of the mountain, they should check all three mountains. If they didn't find anything on two consecutive mountains, they could retreat directly."

I glanced at the two mountains that Qu Ruilin had remarked and froze on the spot.

The night before, after discovering the mountain range where the blue clay was located, I analyzed that the surrounding mountains were distributed according to the five-pointed star pattern. That's why I went to the second mountain to investigate and discovered pottery underground.

The two mountains that Qu Ruilin just marked are the other mountains I didn't have time to visit last night.

Of the five mountains, only two had problems, which already made me feel very uneasy, but I couldn't figure out where the problem lay.