The new hotel we arrived at was booked in advance by Xue Dong. When we got there, the rooms were already checked in. After Jiang Man registered her identity, she saw that I was still standing at the door and hadn't gone in. She came over and nudged me: "You've been spacing out on the way here. Is something wrong?"
"The monkey has gone missing."
I gestured to my phone: "I've called him four or five times already, but all of them are unreachable."
Xue Dong, who was standing next to Jiang Man, overheard our conversation and comforted us, saying, "Mr. Duan, aren't you being too sensitive? The monkey went to a mountainous area, where it's normal to not have a signal."
"Impossible. The monkeys used satellite phones, and the old site of Qingyun Town is less than ten kilometers away from the current town. How could it have lost signal?"
I felt that Xue Dong's statement was unreliable, so I urged him, "Contact the other members of the exploration team immediately and see if you can get through on the phone."
When Jiang Man and Xue Dong went to make the call, she also said to me, "Things haven't reached the point of no return yet, so don't be too nervous. When we first entered Ping'an Village, didn't we also encounter a situation where electronic devices malfunctioned? Since Ping'an Village is the guardian of the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace, it's not impossible that the two have something in common."
"I hope so."
After thinking about it for a moment, I felt that if the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace really had a radio dead zone, it couldn't possibly be so close to Qingyun Town. I said to Jiang Man, "The three keys we replicated won't be delivered until tonight. After Xue Dong finishes his call, no matter what the outcome, I will take people to Qingyun Town first. You stay here and wait for the keys to be replicated, and then go to Qingyun Town to meet me."
"We are now at a critical juncture in the search for the Miao Immortal Palace, and splitting our forces into two groups would be a major mistake."
Upon hearing my plan, Jiang Man had already guessed what I was going to do: "It's understandable that you're worried about Monkey's safety and want to return to Qingyun Town. However, according to you, the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace is very likely located at the old site of Qingyun Town that Monkey is looking for. This means that there are only two possibilities for his disappearance: first, the signal is missing, as we suspect; second, they encountered some other accident there."
If the monkeys encounter the first scenario, your plan might still be somewhat effective. You can conduct the survey, and we'll provide support. However, in that case, I'll lose contact with you.
If it's the second scenario, and the monkeys went missing because they encountered other teams, it would be difficult for you to launch a rescue with your limited manpower! There's even a worse possibility: they might have encountered the black-robed figures at the Qingyun Town ruins. Regardless of their fate, the black-robed figures, having obtained the three beast heads, already have the opportunity to enter the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace. What use would it be for me to wait here then?
Seeing that Jiang Man had analyzed all the possibilities, I lit a cigarette and asked, "So what's your idea?"
Jiang Man said clearly, "We'll go to Qingyun Town together and have Xue Dong arrange for people to stay here and wait. Once we get the goods, they can come and meet up with us. This way, it will be much easier for us to deal with any situation."
"No! That's too risky."
I shook my head and looked at Jiang Man seriously: "You've been out of contact for two days in a row, which has made Uncle Tian very worried. So my suggestion is that you don't participate in the next operation."
"Are you kidding me? We've put in so much effort to find Duan Jinyan, and we're about to see the results. You want me to back out?"
Jiang Man looked at me speechlessly: "You and I both know that my being captured by the Black Robe was just an accident. Can you stop overreacting like my dad?"
Do you really think that getting arrested this time is a trivial matter?
My view on this matter is completely different from Jiang Man's: "The reason I was able to save you today is because I have the three beast heads that can open the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace. The reason the black-robed people were willing to release you is because they don't want to cause any more trouble and make the Tianxia Group an obstacle for them when they have the key and the opportunity to open the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace."
In the eyes of those in black robes, we were nothing more than a bunch of greenhorns, inexperienced newcomers, utterly worthless. That's why they were willing to trade you for the beast heads! But you're different. As Jiang Tianyi's successor, you have too many halos around you. If we had found a smaller tomb this time, I'm not sure if we could have rescued you from their clutches!
"What we're doing is inherently risky, and everyone is mentally prepared for that. Besides, I was captured by them last time to stay and rescue people, not because I was weak. As long as we're careful next time we meet them, there won't be any problems."
Jiang Man looked at me stubbornly: "My life is my life, but aren't your lives also lives? Just because my father is Jiang Tianyi, you treat me differently? What kind of logic is that? We are a team. Since we are all comrades, we should take care of each other instead of dividing ourselves into different classes!"
“We’ve come this far thanks to the Jiang family’s support, and protecting you is my promise to Uncle Tian! Aside from agreeing to Uncle Tian’s conditions, I don’t really want you to participate in the next operation. I’ve been very worried about you these past two days while you were missing. If something happens to you during the next operation, it will affect my focus and mindset.”
I looked at Jiang Man seriously: "Going into tombs is not something a girl should be involved in. Your falling into the hands of the Black Robe has served as a wake-up call for me. They are a large-scale criminal organization, and we have no advantage in fighting them with real weapons on the ground."
If we want to challenge them, we have to go underground. The tombs are full of traps and mechanisms, and too many people going there wouldn't be a good thing. Besides, it's a battle of feng shui knowledge! Although we seem very inexperienced compared to those feng shui masters in black robes, our chances of winning are much greater than on the surface!
Given the vast disparity in strength between the two sides, confronting them is already a precarious undertaking for me. If I were to bring you along, it would be impossible to manage everything. Therefore, for the upcoming operation, no matter how many people we send, the number who can ultimately enter the tomb is limited, and we have more than enough personnel. You don't need to come along.”
Do you really think I came to Sichuan just to find Duan Jinyan?
Jiang Man looked into my eyes and said very seriously, "I came here specifically for you, and it's precisely because things have reached this final stage that I can't back out!"
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