Chapter 213

The hairless yak's head suddenly began to move; fortunately, I and Pangzi had mentally prepared ourselves beforehand. Pangzi raised his gun to shoot, but in my haste I saw that although the yak's head looked strangely abnormal, it had no intention of harming us, so I first stopped Pangzi and carefully examined what was going on with this yak's head.

When the yak was alive, its face was first skinned off while still alive, and then it was slaughtered—a practice we had seen depicted in the murals of the Reincarnation Temple. This was not strange; as an ancient tradition, it symbolized releasing the soul first, so the flesh could be safely consumed.

It turned out that in this slaughterhouse there was a large wooden rack that could clamp the cow in the middle, with both front and back sides able to extend and retract. This way, once the cow was clamped inside, no matter how great its brute strength, it could not exert itself, allowing the butcher to slaughter it at will.

The body of that yak's head was clamped in that blood-soaked wooden rack; the cow's hide had not been stripped off, and its tail was still twitching. Before the headless empty cow carcass lay a heavy axe that had severed the cow's head. The yak's head we saw was hanging by a rope in midair, its eyes still rotating, as if it were the exact moment the head had just been severed—here, time had suddenly frozen and ceased to flow, and thus this yak remained fixed at—the very instant before its vital signs disappeared.

The separation of head and body, while vital signs persist for several seconds or even minutes before disappearing, is quite common in the biological world. For example, after a chicken's head is chopped off, the headless body can still run for a while. In ancient times, those sentenced to decapitation, when their head had just hit the ground, if someone shouted the condemned criminal's name, the head would still react—this is because the nerves had not yet died.

But that is only a momentary phenomenon. From the time I and Pangzi discovered this not-yet-dead yak's head until now, it has continuously maintained that state between life and death. Could it really have remained like this for thousands of years? Not only this unfortunate yak, but every blade of grass and tree in the entire "E Luo Hai City," including lit lamps, unfinished works, slaughtered yaks, cooked beef, and the undried bloody handprints on the stone gates—all were frozen in those final few seconds. And yet, in this empty city, not a single human shadow remains. Is all this related to the disaster that destroyed "E Luo Hai City"? What kind of disaster could possess such terrifying power?

Thinking that what we had just eaten might have been a pot of beef cooked for thousands of years made me feel nauseous without even trying. The phenomena in this city are truly unbelievable. It would be safer to withdraw outside the city first, then re-enter the hive-like main city after dawn. So I and Pangzi called Shirley Yang and the others, packed our things, and headed back the way we came.

I looked up at the sky; night had long fallen, but the light within "E Luo Hai City" remained exactly as it was when I first discovered this place—like being in twilight dusk. Although there were many lamps, they appeared hazy and indistinct. Perhaps even the light at the time of the ancient city's destruction had permanently lingered. If not for Axiong's confirmation, I would surely have believed this to be a ghost city.

As I walked, I briefly recounted the situation in the slaughterhouse to Shirley Yang. However, Shirley Yang believed this was not merely a matter of being lost outside the flow of time. For instance, the beef cooked in the pot was indeed tender and delicious; once eaten, it would not reappear on its own. Everything in the city was fixed at a certain time period. If unaffected by external forces, it would never change. The outside sky had turned from dim to pitch black, and our watches kept normal time—this indicates that time around us is still flowing normally. Moreover, there is one point most easily overlooked: the phenomena in "E Luo Hai City" are not static and motionless. They merely permanently retain a specific form; they are not due to time freezing. Thus, we can temporarily exclude the idea of spacetime-induced chaos, though we still cannot determine the cause of this phenomenon. For convenience, let us call that eternal-seeming moment in "E Luo Hai City" the "X-ray"—a mysterious ancient city entirely suspended on the "X-ray," with "X" representing the unknown.

To solve the mystery of the "X-ray," we must first clarify what happened in "E Luo Hai City" at its final moment. We also need to wait until dawn, then re-enter the city to check for any changes before we can further confirm. Perhaps the truth lies deep within the hive-like fortress.

I was driven to distraction by the strange occurrences in this ancient city, unable to make heads or tails of anything, even feeling like I might go mad. At this moment, hearing Shirley Yang's analysis, I found her thoughts exceptionally clear. It seems people compare themselves to others and must die; goods compare to others and must be discarded. But perhaps I am simply destined to be a leader in this life, so I lack the mind for a staff officer.

We climbed back from outside the city walls to the green rock beside the "Wind-Eroded Lake." Looking back at night, "E Luo Hai City" lay silently submerged underground, still flickering with countless lights. Yet the city's light remained as dim as dusk. It appears that even by tomorrow morning, the city will remain exactly as it is.

After all this back-and-forth, Ming Shu and Axiong were already exhausted from overexertion. Since "striped flood dragons" roamed the mountain forests, we dared not descend the cliffs, so we only found a sheltered spot on the green rock to rest, preparing to wait until dawn before entering the main city to investigate.

Thus we took turns keeping watch. When dawn came the next day, I found Shirley Yang already awake, intently flipping through the "Scripture Map" we had discovered in the Reincarnation Temple. The cloud cover above was thick, and the sunlight filtering through the gaps was insufficient. Surrounded by sheer cliffs and towering peaks, the valley was extremely dim. The "E Luo Hai City" below the rocks seemed completely cut off from this world, unchanged, its lights flickering yet eerily silent—the entire city remained suspended on the "X-ray."

Shirley Yang said she had a premonition: if we failed to uncover the secret of the "X-ray" today, perhaps the entire group would forever be unable to leave this valley beyond the "Gate of Disaster." This place is truly a "desperate situation."

I know Shirley Yang's map is severely damaged—it was stolen by a Portuguese priest who took the secrets of the Reincarnation Sect, intending to dig for treasure, but before he could act, he was killed due to religious conflict. We have always been unable to determine whether the terrain depicted in the map is "the Land of the Great Peng Bird" or "the Phoenix Divine Palace." So I asked Shirley Yang: have you made any new discoveries now?

Shirley Yang said: "By comparing it with the surrounding terrain, we can determine that the Scripture Map is indeed the map of the Phoenix Divine Palace—E Luo Hai City. But despite our utmost effort, we have only restored less than thirty percent of the Portuguese priest's stolen sketch, and even that is fragmented—east one piece, west one piece, disconnected. However, if time permits, I can, based on the environment here, fill in the missing parts of the map."

If we had a map of the ancient city, even just a portion for reference, it would be an enormous help to us. I gathered my strength, woke Pangzi, Ming Shu, and Axiong one by one, and divided the little remaining food among everyone as breakfast. After this meal, we would have no reserves left—except for fishing in the lake, our only option would be to go into the city and cook yak meat ourselves.

When we re-entered the city, Ming Shu again discussed with me: we might as well not enter the city; instead, we could cross mountains and ridges to find a way out. Since that ancient city is so strange, why risk our lives?

I pretended not to hear, thinking: I and Pangzi and Shirley Yang have exerted tremendous effort to find the origin of the "Phoenix Gallbladder." Having come this far with great difficulty, how could I give up so easily? Better to die in battle than to live in retreat. I immediately quickened my pace, taking a few fast steps and rushing ahead into the city.

Aside from the things we had touched, everything else remained unchanged—even the thin layer of light mist in the city was still the same. Pangzi went straight into the slaughterhouse and cut several large pieces of "fresh" yak meat for reserve.

Last night, I had intended to wait until dawn to clearly see the structure of the tall "hive" before marching straight to the Huanglong, but the light in the city remained dim. Looking up from beneath the "hive," the lights within the main city appeared like hundreds or thousands of fireflies quietly attached to the hive, creating an atmosphere that gave one a sense of oppressive urgency.

The exposed "great hive" is only half; the larger part lies deep underground. According to the values of the Demon Kingdom, important power institutions should be underground. Thus we walked around the city's base, found the largest cave, and entered the "hive" interior. The density of the caves and the complexity of the structure truly resembled a beehive or ant nest, making one suspect whether the inhabitants were human or insects.

Back in the late 1960s to early 1970s, when the nation was digging deep caves and stockpiling grain, defectors who had fled abroad maliciously accused us of being the "Gray" family, otherwise why would the whole nation be digging caves? I too had dug such "civil defense" facilities, but compared to this underground "E Luo Hai City," it seemed like petty witchcraft versus great sorcery. Perhaps many of these caves existed naturally; otherwise, with only the manpower and equipment of that time, it would be hard to imagine constructing such a project.

We took the largest passage downward into the earth. Here, the passage and the caves on both sides were illuminated by lights. With each segment we advanced, Shirley Yang would use her pen to record the terrain on paper. She sketched at great speed, and along the way we did not lose much time, producing a simple yet practical route map.

I occasionally used the "Wolf Eye" flashlight to illuminate the caves on both sides. Most of the unlit cave dwellings were empty, while some caves had damp areas where many cockroaches larger than rats gathered—even striking them with gunstocks failed to kill them. As we went deeper, the number of cave dwellings decreased, but their scale increased.

At the end of the underground hive city stood two virtual stone gates. On the left and right sides of the passage, there was also a door opening each, with a blue and a white gemstone embedded respectively on each door opening. Shining a flashlight inside, the left-side cavity measured several tens of square meters, with a very high ceiling. Deep within stood a stone-carved ghost-head statue, its face ugly and ferocious. Below it was carved a pattern of seven-spotted ladybugs, and weak tallow lamps burned in the four corners. On the ground in the center lay side by side the black cow and white horse—two steamed offerings. The contents of the other door opening were similar.

Shirley Yang consulted the "Scripture Map," where one fragment showed "Ice Palace" and "Fire Palace"—identical to this place. However, the map should have marked the area inside the great stone gate at the end of the passage, but that portion was damaged and lost. Only at the damaged edge of the Scripture Map could one see a pattern resembling animal bones. Recalling that in the Reincarnation Sect's "Black Tiger Xuan Altar," the lowest layer of the crystal bricks also bore similar patterns—could these bones be related to the total disappearance of humanity in "E Luo Hai City"?

Carrying these questions, I pushed open the stone gate at the end. As soon as I entered, I immediately felt a chill run straight to my heart and lungs. I thought the evil aura in this hall was heavy enough—dark and cool, completely different from the environment above. What I saw was a hall of pearls and jewels, though although there were many lamps, they were all very dim. The hall was deep, and I could not clearly see the interior.

At this moment, Shirley Yang and Pangzi also followed me through the stone gate. I was about to move forward when I suddenly felt something missing. I turned back and saw Ming Shu and Axiong standing outside, not following in. I called out to them: "Come on, what are you waiting for, still leaking?"

Axiong hid behind Ming Shu and whispered in his ear. Ming Shu listened, his face full of panic. I grew increasingly puzzled and walked back to ask them what they were up to.

Ming Shu suddenly drew his pistol and pointed it at me: "Don't come over—absolutely do not come over. If you come closer, I'll shoot. You… you have something on your back."