Chapter 506

At a 45‑degree angle, I inserted the tail of the key, turned it one full circle, hooked the key, pulled back, turned another full circle back, leveled it, pushed hard inward, turned clockwise three turns, counterclockwise three turns, shoved it hard inward…… click, the lock opened.

I took a deep breath, gently lifted the bronze lock off, and flipped open the box.

The inside of the box is divided into upper and lower layers.

The upper layer held several small boxes with equally exquisite craftsmanship; I opened one and saw that it contained some pills.

The pills were wrapped in specially treated oil paper, moisture‑ and dust‑proof, and a slip of paper at the bottom of the box recorded the pills' names and uses.

The one I opened was a poison pill.

Dìluán actually left all this for me, once again showing his determination to enter reincarnation.

I didn't have time to open them one by one, so I pushed the upper layer aside to reveal the lower layer.

The lower compartment was larger, containing a letter, a thin handwritten notebook, two hand‑drawn maps, several hand‑drawn architectural drawings that needed to be pieced together, a well‑handled string of skull prayer beads, a few tokens, and assorted odds and ends; my heart was pounding, and I had no chance to examine them closely.

I pulled out the letter, then closed the box and locked it again with the bronze lock.

The hidden compartment in the beam had already been closed; I reopened it and placed the box inside, making too much noise.

The room's ceiling was higher than usual, the box was heavy, and the task was still quite difficult.

But I had nowhere to hide such a large box!

After thinking it over, I suddenly thought of something, made hand signs and chanted a spell, summoning the ghostly faces on the Soul‑guiding Lamp's chamber, opened the hidden compartment, and had them help me send the box back in.

I felt immensely relieved, and when I left the pawn shop I took the Soul‑guiding Lamp with me.

The Soul‑guiding Lamp recognizes its master; even if an ordinary person took it, they couldn't use it. Carrying it might be inconvenient, but it's certainly useful.

I waited until the hidden compartment closed again and the ghostly faces returned to the lamp's chamber before I let my heart settle.

I opened that letter.

From the paper and handwriting, the bulk of the letter had been written long ago; only a few final words were added just now.

I read it word by word in the faint light.

The more I read, the more shocked I became.

The letter also mentions Dìshì.

"I don't know what kind of relationship I have with Dìshì; he appeared out of nowhere, claiming to be my twin brother and activating a birth‑spell to prove it, yet my memory contains not a single fragment of him ever existing."

"He is like a ghost, everywhere, skilled in sorcery, adept at bewitching hearts; he is powerful, like my guiding lamp, leading me to continually explore the Feng Clan and expand outward. He says he will make the Feng Clan flourish, while he immerses himself in Buddhist practice, will one day achieve great attainment, and then the Feng Clan will be in my hands."

"With his help, my status rose all the way to Right Protector of the Feng Clan, strongly supported by the elders; my son Qiū'er hatched out, a rare three‑legged crow, said to be the Solar Divine Bird, capable of cultivating to ascend to immortality, yet my true form is a phoenix‑like bird—could Qiū'er actually take after his maternal side?"

"But who is his mother? Why do I have no memory of her existence, nor of anything before he hatched? My memory is like a suspended bridge—no origin in sight, no end in sight—and gradually I realized I had become merely an appendage of Dìshì."

"A birth‑spell left me utterly unable to escape his control; he ordered me to kill, and I killed; he ordered me to practice Buddhism, and I did—until the appearance of the Phoenix Voyage Boat made me truly realize how terrifying Dìshì is; he is practically a devil!"

"He can use sorcery to split off a fēnshēn from his own body; that fēnshēn unites with the most noble‑blooded woman of the Feng Clan to bear the next generation. The inferior portion is outright discarded, part becomes his tools, and the excellent portion is raised and carefully cultivated—my Qiū'er is such, as are the two children of the Phoenix Lord."

"I have also wondered whether I myself might be one of his fēnshēns, or even… his child, but the facts prove I am not."

"Who on earth am I?!"

This letter is less a letter and more a record of Dìluán's inner journey as he investigated his own origins.

A short middle section consists entirely of his self‑doubt and denial.

Between the lines one can feel his struggle and collapse during that period.

But soon his mindset changed; he no longer obsessed over his origins, nor did he care whether Fèngxiànqiū was his flesh and blood.

Perhaps he was brainwashed by Dìshì, or perhaps Dìshì tampered with his memory; he became extremely loyal, and the old handwriting stops here.

The new handwriting became messy.

And he acquired a title.

This part is the one written to me.

"Xiao Jiu, my life has been like a millet dream."

"Dìshì never intended to give the Feng Clan to me, nor did he ever truly regard me as his confidant; from beginning to end he wanted only this body of mine, and he personally stripped my skin! I have been driven to a dead end, I feel remorse, but you may not want to hear it—time is limited, space is limited, so I can only write this briefly: believe it or not, the judgment is yours."

"When you read this letter, you should have already gone through the grave‑slope cave leading beneath Phoenix Peak; the secrets in that cave you would have explored deeper than I did, but the deepest secrets there you may still lack the courage or ability to enter—for it is a forbidden zone even I dare not touch."

"I am not a good person, nor did I leave these things and this information to help you; I merely feel that my life has been wasted, I refuse to be toyed with by others for a lifetime, and he deserves his retribution!"

"I want him to know that no matter how powerful his sorcery, how cruel his methods, how unshakable his will, none can prevail against the heavenly way of reincarnation!"

A drop of blood spread across the letter paper, revealing endless hatred.

"From now on I can only remind you of a few points, and still that saying: believe it or not, the decision is yours."

"One, do not seek Nirvana. Whether Nirvana succeeds or not, you and your child will have no good outcome."

"Two, if you are forced to, you must undergo Nirvana, and if it succeeds, go at once to the cold pool in the heart of Phoenix Peak; the cold pool's water can temporarily suppress the effect of memory tampering on you."

"Three, among the pills I gave you there is an Earth Yin Pill made from the parasitic underground worm at the root of the black mandala at the yin‑yang junction, crafted over forty‑nine days; I have noted the sorcery used in my notebook, you may study it, but remember, you must not take it."

"Four, I suspect he is raising Qiū'er for his own use as well; be discerning."

"Five, do not lightly enter the Wǎngsǐ Chéng…"

The letter ends here, but it is obvious it wasn't finished—there was no time, and many drops of blood followed.

Yet even this limited information has left me utterly shocked…