About thirty people filed into the narrow opening through the Golden Armored War God’s ear. The entrance proved challenging, as the passage was extremely tight. It felt as if the tunnel had been formed by several fissures that cracked through the War God’s body during an earthquake. People had to squeeze through sideways like flatbread pressed against an oven wall, carefully inching their way down the spiral passage. Even someone with Nie Jiuluo’s build found it cramped, let alone the others.
The passage carried the musty smell of years of accumulated dust. Along the way, voices occasionally called out “I’m stuck, give me a push!” or “Damn it, help pull me through!”
Anyone slightly overweight wouldn’t even make it through to Qingrang.
Though the atmosphere was tense and laughter seemed inappropriate, Nie Jiuluo couldn’t help finding it amusing. She tried hard to suppress her laughter while mischievously waiting to see if Yan Tuo would get stuck.
Yan Tuo did indeed get caught at one point, though not because of his size—his backpack strap had somehow snagged on something and took a while to free. Nie Jiuluo doubled over with laughter, to which Yan Tuo could only respond helplessly after removing his pack: “You’re treating this like a spring outing.”
“But it’s funny! Why can’t I laugh?” Nie Jiuluo retorted.
…
The descent through the Golden Armored War God took at least twenty minutes, though this was mainly due to the difficult passage.
Eventually, even the most challenging path comes to an end.
Various discussions broke out among the group.
“Are we at the heel now? Left foot or right foot?”
“Should be the left foot, since we entered through the left ear—it has to correspond.”
So this was the “Golden Man Gate”—an entrance requiring passage through the body, entering from the head and exiting through the feet. Nie Jiuluo found it fascinating. She had always assumed the Golden Man Gate was simply a sturdy gold-cast door with the outline of a golden figure carved on it.
The ancestors had more imagination than she’d given them credit for.
Xing Shen’s voice carried from the front: “Our team will go first. Sun Li will guard the gate. We’ll see you all inside.”
Though his voice wasn’t particularly loud, the tense atmosphere returned immediately. Everyone fell silent, listening to the departing footsteps and the eerie sounds that suddenly rushed in when the door opened and closed.
With half the group gone, the “human presence” diminished sharply. When those strange sounds arose, many people shuddered involuntarily.
Someone asked nervously, “Why is there sound? It’s like wind blowing—how can there be wind underground?”
Yu Rong replied, “Didn’t you study? The wind is just air movement caused by temperature differences. Since underground temperatures vary, of course, there’s wind.”
The person continued, “Will it rain too?”
This was beyond Yu Rong’s expertise. She responded irritably, “Yes! And there’ll be thunder too!”
Several people couldn’t help but laugh. Through the laughter, Sun Li asked, “Who from your team will stay to guard the gate?”
Each team had to leave one person to guard the gate. Comparatively, gate duty was the better assignment with the highest safety factor.
Yu Rong considered for a moment: “Que Cha can guard. Any objections?”
She knew Que Cha was skilled with a bow, but in Qingrang, dangers came from all directions. Que Cha’s overall abilities were still lacking, making her more suited to sniping from a fortified position.
No one objected—to compete with Que Cha for this duty would suggest they were inferior to her.
Que Cha looked somewhat disappointed: “I can’t go in?”
Yu Rong explained, “In close combat, arrows won’t be much use, and who could protect you then? You and Sun Li can guard the entrance—it’s no small responsibility. If we return and find the Golden Man Gate closed, we’ll be trapped inside forever.”
Yan Tuo started, moving closer to Nie Jiuluo: “The Golden Man Gate can’t be opened from Black and White Rapids?”
“Of course not,” Nie Jiuluo replied. “The Golden Man Gate was built to contain the Di Xiao. It can only be opened from the outside. If it could be opened from the inside, wouldn’t the Di Xiao have escaped long ago?”
After thinking for a moment, she added, “I suspect the passage through the body only exists when the Golden Man Gate is activated. Once it returns to its normal position, the passage disappears. So even if the Di Xiao found the stone door at the heel and broke through it, they’d just find solid stone inside.”
An hour passed quickly, and Yu Rong raised her hand: “Let’s go.”
She activated the mechanism to open the stone door and led the way out.
Presumably for concealment, the area beyond the stone door continued as a winding cave tunnel rather than opening immediately. Only after walking some distance did they emerge from the cave.
The view suddenly expanded before them—an enormous, downward-slanting crevasse, like an endless tongue split toward the earth’s depths. The surroundings weren’t pitch black; as far as the eye could see, patches of dimly glowing patterns were scattered about.
Nie Jiuluo went to examine the nearest patch. It was made of luminous stones.
Yan Tuo followed: “Anything special about them?”
Nie Jiuluo pointed to the patterns on the ground: “These are cloud scroll patterns, a common bronze decoration. I studied ancient decorative patterns—this style first appeared during the Warring States period and became popular in the Qin Dynasty.”
Yu Rong knew nothing about this and couldn’t contribute, but someone else chimed in: “They say this was built during the Chan Tou Army’s peak in the Qin Dynasty. They spent several years working down here, and though they used fire for light, wood, and oil were too costly. So they brought in lots of luminous stones—paving paths, making signs, building markers—firstly for lighting, and secondly, because Di Xiao dislikes light, so it acts as a barrier too. But they’re all placed in the outer areas; there are fewer as you get closer to Black and White Rapids.”
Quite sophisticated, thought Nie Jiuluo as she examined several more stones nearby. Indeed, they featured common ancient patterns—besides cloud scrolls, there were zigzag patterns, cloud-and-vapor patterns, and others. Though not as bright as modern lighting, it was adequate to see by.
Yu Rong had no interest in such matters. She wouldn’t have cared if they’d carved Pikachu into the stones—as long as they provided light, that was enough.
She quickly organized the group: Gou family member Wu Qinghe and map reader Mao Liang took the lead, with Sun Zhou providing cover. The others were positioned either front or back, with six Di Xiao—hooded in black bags and bound together in a line—held in the middle. She didn’t try to control where Nie Jiuluo and Yan Tuo walked; they could choose their positions.
After arranging everyone, she noticed Que Cha—how polite, escorting them to the cave entrance.
Yu Rong thought for a moment and instructed her quietly: “If people return as a large group, that’s fine, but if they come back individually or in small numbers, be extra careful.”
Que Cha didn’t understand: “Careful of what?”
“Watch for signs of being grabbed or bitten.”
Que Cha nodded quickly, her heart pounding as she realized the importance of her responsibility.
As previously agreed, both front and rear teams would follow the same route. Every half hour, Xing Shen’s group would mark the ground with luminous powder to indicate they had safely passed through that section.
Half an hour into their journey, Yu Rong’s group discovered the first marker left by Xing Shen—α.
The path ahead seemed relatively smooth. Though they were underground and the surroundings were eerie, with occasional strange air currents passing by, the presence of the advance team and the protection of Gou family member Wu Qinghe and the eccentric Sun Zhou kept everyone’s spirits relatively high. Still, they tacitly avoided loud chatter to prevent unnecessary trouble.