Chapter 346: Bin Lian

Following the winding stone steps deep within the Temple, we went down, passing several massive stone pillars engraved with ancient patterns, and Huo La, Xiao Zhao, and Shan Kui finally came to a halt.

Before us stood a massive Stone Gate, several times wider and taller than the main door at the Temple's entrance; its surface was rough and heavy, scarred by the erosion of ages, faintly exuding an Intimidation sealed for a thousand years, serving as the barrier to Regigigas's sleeping realm.

Xiao Zhao tilted his head upward, his gaze moving from the base of the Stone Gate to its top, his mouth slightly open in awe: "Wow… this Stone Gate is enormous; it looks even wider and taller than the door that leads into the Temple. How on earth was such a massive stone moved here back then?"

Shan Kui also looked up at the colossal gate, gave a gentle shake of his head, and said with a hint of bewilderment: "I don't know; the previous Field Masters before me couldn't explain it either."

She paused, then her tone grew solemn: "But the older generation has a rumor that this Stone Gate stood here before the Snow Peak Temple was built. So people suspect that Regigigas fashioned it himself, using it to completely seal himself off from the outside world and sleep alone in the depths."

Huo La listened quietly to Shan Kui's words, said nothing, and walked straight to the Stone Gate.

He lifted his hand to gently run over the cold, rough stone surface, his fingertips tracing every pattern, moving slowly downward from the center of the Stone Gate, probing carefully, and finally in a corner at the very bottom he found what he had been looking for.

"Shanbei Owner, Xiao Zhao, come over quickly and look,"

Hearing Huo La's shout, Xiao Zhao and Shan Kui hurried over, crouched, and looked in the direction he indicated; beneath the Stone Gate were three uniformly sized, neatly carved hollows arranged in a straight line, clearly hewn deliberately rather than formed naturally.

"Look here; this must be the keyholes Regigigas mentioned for opening the lower passage," Huo La said, pointing at the three hollows with confidence.

Shan Kui leaned in for a closer look, his brows slightly furrowed with curiosity: "What could such huge keyholes possibly hold?"

As one of the Field Masters of Chunbai Dongtu and a guardian of the Snow Peak Temple, she has been stationed here for years, yet she never knew this Stone Gate concealed such a mechanism.

"If I'm not mistaken, this should be where the Stone Tablet is placed," Huo La said slowly.

"Stone Tablet?" Xiao Zhao and Shan Kui said in unison, their faces full of confusion, just as they were about to ask for more details, a clear, crisp male voice suddenly rang out from the darkness behind them, cutting them off.

"Exactly, the Stone Tablet."

The sudden voice made the unsuspecting Xiao Zhao shiver all over, and he instinctively ducked behind Huo La, exclaiming, "Who? Who's there?"

Huo La also became instantly alert, snapping his head toward the darkness from which the voice came, his eyes sharp and ready for any sudden situation.

Only Shan Kui, though a bit surprised, was not overly panicked and instead recognized the voice's owner.

She rose slowly, gazed toward the darkness, and said with a hint of helpless reproach, "Bin Lian, you're scaring people again here."

As Shan Kui's words faded, the silhouette in the darkness stepped forward; the flames of a Fireburst Beast in front of him gradually illuminated the figure, clearly revealing its face and form.

The newcomer sported striking blue hair tied neatly at the back, his upper body bare, showing sleek, solid, muscular lines; a chill of frozen soil emanated from him, and beside him floated an ethereal Snow Fairy Woman.

He was the other Field Master of Chunbai Dongtu's Pearl Team, Bin Lian.

Shan Kui watched Bin Lian saunter out, stormed over to his side, and stomped his foot on him twice, his tone full of complaint: "Out at this late hour, hiding in the Temple's darkness to scare people—what's the point? You almost gave us a heart attack!"

Bin Lian winced, sheepishly scratched the back of his head, a smile appearing on his face, and said apologetically: "Hehe, sorry, sorry. I was on patrol tonight and ran into your subordinates; they said you were in the Temple, so I came to check. I happened to hear you mention the Stone Tablet and couldn't help speaking up. I didn't mean to scare you."

After explaining why he had spoken out suddenly, Bin Lian awkwardly scratched his head again, bowed slightly toward Huo La and Xiao Zhao, and said sincerely: "I apologize to both of you for my rashness just now; it was thoughtless of me and I scared you."

Seeing Bin Lian's sincere attitude, Huo La lowered his guard, set aside the scare, and went straight to the core issue: "Field Master Bin Lian, no need to worry. I want to ask you—do you know the attributes of the three Stone Tablets that correspond to these three slots?"

When Huo La precisely asked about the Stone Tablet attributes, Bin Lian's eyes flashed with surprise, then he nodded knowingly, his tone firm: "It seems you already knew that the Stone Tablets that open this Stone Gate are the exclusive A​erzousi Stone Tablet of Aerzousi, no wonder—your whole journey has been to gather various Aerzousi Stone Tablets."

Shan Kui, sitting nearby, was completely bewildered, glancing at Bin Lian then at Huo La, his face full of confusion: "Bin Lian, what are you talking about? What Aerzousi Stone Tablet? I've never heard of this at all; I don't get it."

Bin Lian heard this, rolled his eyes helplessly, spread his hands toward Shan Kui, and said with exasperation: "Can you stop holed up in your own territory all the time and come out more, interact with us more?"

After that, Bin Lian ignored the still‑indignant Shan Kui, turned to Huo La, and said seriously: "The three Stone Tablets that correspond to this Stone Gate are the Rock Plate, the Steel Stone Board, and the Ice Pillar Stone Tablet."

"Wait, wait, how do you know these?" Shan Kui pressed again, eyes wide, still looking completely baffled, "I guard the Snow Peak Temple every day and never knew these details. How do you know?"

Bin Lian turned to her, sighed helplessly, his tone full of frustration: "It's fine that you stay holed up, but the historical records stored in the Temple—you should at least take time to read them; the information is clearly written in the documents."

Shan Kui was taken aback, then lowered his head, muttering softly in a voice as thin as a mosquito's hum, with a hint of grievance: "Those piles of documents are thicker than I am, all written in obscure ancient prose. When will I ever finish reading them? Just looking at them gives me a headache…"

Bin Lian ignored Shan Kui's quiet complaint, withdrew his gaze, and turned to Huo La, his expression becoming solemn as he slowly recounted the history of Chunbai Dongtu, his tone steady and candid: "The area I oversee and the one Shan Kui oversees were, long before the Diamond Team and Pearl Team arrived, a single ancient tribe that generations of us jointly guarded the Snow Peak Temple, serving as its protectors."

"Later, when the two squads settled in Chunbai Dongtu, ideological and philosophical differences grew, forcing the tribe to split; we each took separate areas to guard and no longer lived together. Yet even so, the duty of guarding the Snow Peak Temple remains a shared responsibility, jointly managed, never shirked."