The crevice was narrow, just wide enough for one person to squeeze through.

Zhou Jiayu dragged his bag with one hand, painstakingly maneuvering his body through the crack. The hard rock scraped against his skin, leaving faint streaks of blood.

Faced with such a crevice, any normal person would feel fear, worrying that the gap might get narrower and narrower, eventually trapping them motionless between the rocks, or even leaving them to die a slow, suffocating death inside.

However, his concern for Lin Zhushui allowed Zhou Jiayu to overcome his inner dread. He followed the charred corpses’ footsteps, moving forward step by step, and quickly delved deeper into the rock.

Fortunately, the most worrying thing didn’t happen. The crevice didn’t get narrower; instead, after passing a certain point, it widened, transforming from a mere crack into a narrow tunnel still only wide enough for one person to pass.

This tunnel, however, didn’t seem to be naturally formed. The ground was paved with bluestone slabs, and oil lamps hung on both sides for illumination. Judging by the condition of the oil lamps, Zhou Jiayu deduced that this path had been in use in recent years. Although it looked somewhat old, there was at least plenty of lamp oil inside.

The charred corpses continued to move forward. Zhou Jiayu tentatively called out, “Sir!”

The tunnel was extremely quiet, and no one responded to his call.

“Sir—” Another call, and Zhou Jiayu continued to follow the charred corpses deeper into the tunnel.

As Zhou Jiayu walked, he observed his surroundings.

It seemed no one had passed through the tunnel for some time; a thin layer of ash covered the ground. Zhou Jiayu wiped a bit with his hand and found that the ash looked like traces of something burnt. He suspiciously looked up, somewhat suspecting that these things had fallen off the charred corpses ahead.

Further along the path, Zhou Jiayu also discovered some murals on the tunnel walls. These murals were exquisitely painted with colorful pigments, seemingly depicting a clan’s history—how they thrived and multiplied through the long river of time, gradually forming their own lineage. The earlier paintings were too abstract for Zhou Jiayu to understand, but when he reached a certain section of the tunnel, he saw a group of small figures in the mural performing what looked like a sacrificial ritual around a volcano.

These murals were most likely painted by the Meng family to record their clan’s history. However, these murals were incomplete, only depicting the Meng family’s prosperous and flourishing period. Much of the subsequent content had been forcibly scraped off with sharp, hard objects, seemingly deliberately destroying the later patterns.

Zhou Jiayu touched the destroyed part of the wall with his hand and felt that the marks were still very fresh, as if they had been scraped off recently.

The final content of the mural depicted a sudden volcanic eruption. Representing magma, red spread across the entire wall in the mural, its lifelike appearance making the immense disaster seem to reappear before Zhou Jiayu’s eyes.

At this point, Zhou Jiayu finally confirmed that the place he had entered was indeed the legendary Meng family sacrificial ground.

According to Xu Jian, everyone wanted to find the Meng family’s sacrificial ground in order to obtain the secret treasure that had caused the Meng family’s demise back then. However, he wondered what Meng Yangtian’s intentions were in leading him here. Zhou Jiayu thought this, quickening his pace slightly.

The tunnel was long, but it was a single path. Although the surrounding light didn’t change, Zhou Jiayu, who was very sensitive to heat, felt the temperature ahead rising. The charred corpses that had been walking forward suddenly stopped at a corner, emitting low growls.

Zhou Jiayu’s first reaction to hearing this sound was that they wanted to attack him. He quickly pulled out his prepared weapon and took a defensive stance.

But after a while, the charred corpses standing at the front of the tunnel still didn’t move. Only after careful observation did Zhou Jiayu realize that they seemed to be afraid of something ahead and refused to go further.

What were they afraid of? Zhou Jiayu felt a bit confused. He held his dagger and walked forward. After turning the corner, Zhou Jiayu felt a blast of hot air on his face. This heat carried the pungent smell of sulfur. Zhou Jiayu looked up and saw that the corner led to a deep, abyss-like cliff, and below the cliff, fiery red magma was churning and flowing.

Zhou Jiayu immediately remembered that he had seen this place in the video Meng Yangtian sent him before—Lin Zhushui had fallen from the collapsing edge of the cliff.

Zhou Jiayu immediately looked at the collapsed area in the video. After clearly seeing the scene before him, his heart slowly grew cold.

Meng Yangtian hadn’t lied; the cliff ahead was indeed broken, and the original path was split in two, with flowing magma in between like an impassable chasm. If a real person fell in there, not even a true immortal could save them.

Zhou Jiayu peered down at the collapse, trying to find any trace of Lin Zhushui, but he found nothing in the end.

“Where’s Lin Zhushui? Meng Yangtian, didn’t you say you’d take me to see him?” Zhou Jiayu turned to the charred corpses, his tone very agitated. “Where is he?”

The charred corpses moved at the sound, slowly twisting their bodies and leading Zhou Jiayu in another direction. Zhou Jiayu followed and found a spiral staircase in the left corner of the tunnel, winding upwards to an unknown destination.

The charred corpses stood at the entrance and didn’t move, seemingly not intending to go up.

Since he had already come this far, Zhou Jiayu gritted his teeth and stepped onto the staircase.

The staircase was long, winding upwards in circles. The surrounding scenery was completely similar, and Zhou Jiayu quickly felt dizzy walking on it. However, he forced himself to suppress this feeling and continued to climb diligently.

After an unknown amount of time on the stairs, Zhou Jiayu finally saw a faint light ahead. He quickened his pace and ran out in one breath.

Unexpectedly, the source of the light was a high platform. The light here was very bright. Zhou Jiayu had been in the dark for too long, and his eyes were temporarily unable to withstand the strong light, so he involuntarily squinted.

“You’re finally here,” Meng Yangtian’s voice came.

Zhou Jiayu rubbed his eyes hard several times before he could clearly see Meng Yangtian standing on the high platform in front of him. This time, Meng Yangtian wasn’t in a wheelchair but stood against the light, making it impossible for Zhou Jiayu to see his face clearly.

“Where’s Sir?” Zhou Jiayu asked fiercely.

“Zhou Jiayu, you don’t have to be so nervous. Actually, I’m not a liar,” Meng Yangtian said softly. “Look to your right.”

Zhou Jiayu looked to his right. This sight almost made his heart stop. Below the high platform, there was a circular sculpture shaped like a lotus flower, standing amidst the churning magma. And Lin Zhushui was lying on the lotus platform in the center of the lotus, his eyes closed, his life unknown.

“What’s wrong with him!” Zhou Jiayu could no longer control the anger and panic in his heart. He rushed forward a few steps, grabbed Meng Yangtian by the collar.

Meng Yangtian, however, didn’t resist Zhou Jiayu’s actions. Instead, he chuckled softly, his laughter full of sarcasm: “Zhou Jiayu, don’t you understand? If I wanted to kill Lin Zhushui, I would have done it long ago. I saved him—”

At this point, the two were extremely close, and Meng Yangtian wasn’t wearing a hood, so Zhou Jiayu could see his face clearly.

Meng Yangtian’s face was half as beautiful as a painting, while the other half was severely burned, making it difficult to even discern his eyes and lips.

Zhou Jiayu was indeed startled for a moment when he first saw it, but at this moment, his worry for Lin Zhushui overshadowed any negative emotions: “What do you mean?”

“Just what it means,” Meng Yangtian said. “Do you want to see what Lin Zhushui saw?”

Zhou Jiayu hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Meng Yangtian said, “Then let go.”

Zhou Jiayu took a deep breath, released his hands, and even made a gesture of spreading his hands, indicating that he would not resort to violence again.

Meng Yangtian’s body seemed very weak. He offered no resistance when Zhou Jiayu grabbed him, which explained why he had been in a wheelchair and wrapped in a thick cloak during their previous meetings.

After Zhou Jiayu put him down, Meng Yangtian slowly took out something wrapped in cloth from his怀, and then casually handed it to Zhou Jiayu.

Seeing his casual gesture, Zhou Jiayu thought the item wasn’t very important, but when he lifted the black cloth and saw what was inside, a cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

It was a palm-sized notebook. On the cover of the notebook, a Golden Crow was outlined with flexible brushstrokes. This Golden Crow had three legs, a black fish-like body, a tender yellow beak, and light yellow feet, all eighty percent similar to the Ji Ba in Zhou Jiayu’s mind.

Zhou Jiayu’s movements paused. Meng Yangtian sensed his hesitation and laughed, “Are you scared? If you’re scared now, you still have a chance to turn back.”

“Scared?” Zhou Jiayu sneered, “Why should I be scared?”

The person he cared about most was right beside him. With just a little more effort, he could save him. Thinking this, Zhou Jiayu’s heart filled with determination, and he felt nothing to fear.

Zhou Jiayu opened the first page of the notebook and saw the cowhide paper he had seen many times before. The same texture, the same yellow, all spoke to a certain truth—the cowhide papers they had obtained were torn from this very notebook.

But to be cautious, Zhou Jiayu still took out Lin Zhushui’s cowhide paper, which he had kept in his pocket, and carefully compared them. He indeed found tear marks at the very end of the notebook.

“See, I really didn’t lie to you.” Meng Yangtian saw Zhou Jiayu’s expression grow increasingly ugly, but he smiled very happily. “This is the original. The person who possesses this can see the future seen by every user.”

“Then what did you say I saw?” Zhou Jiayu asked cautiously.

“Fire,” Meng Yangtian said, “and Lin Zhushui turning into ashes in the flames.”

Zhou Jiayu was silent; Meng Yangtian was indeed right.

“You don’t have to believe what I say. You have it now, you can see for yourself if I’m lying.” Meng Yangtian’s tone was very low and gentle, like a bewitching devil, making it impossible to refuse his suggestion. “Aren’t you curious why Lin Zhushui abandoned you and came alone?”

Zhou Jiayu was curious, terribly curious, but he pretended to be indifferent, asking nonchalantly, “I just want to rescue Sir. You just need to tell me how to save him.”

Meng Yangtian said, “Zhou Jiayu, do you know how bad your acting is?”

Zhou Jiayu said, “So what if it’s bad? Does saving Lin Zhushui require acting?”

Meng Yangtian was a little annoyed by Zhou Jiayu’s unpredictable behavior and was about to continue taunting him when Zhou Jiayu suddenly had a flash of inspiration and preempted him: “Meng Yangtian, I saw your aunt.”

Meng Yangtian’s smile suddenly froze, and a hint of ferocity appeared in his eyes, making his already grim face particularly terrifying: “What did you do to my aunt?”

Zhou Jiayu was not scared at all: “We chatted with her for a while.”

Meng Yangtian’s eyes were terrifying, as if he wanted to tear Zhou Jiayu apart: “You shouldn’t have touched her.”

“No, we didn’t touch her,” Zhou Jiayu said. “We just chatted with her for a while, and she asked us to give you a message.”

Meng Yangtian clearly thought Zhou Jiayu was threatening him, and he squeezed out a word through gritted teeth: “Speak.”

Zhou Jiayu said expressionlessly, “She asked us to tell you to ask you when you’re going to find a partner.”

Meng Yangtian: “…”

Zhou Jiayu said, “She also said you’re already over forty…”

Meng Yangtian: “…”

Zhou Jiayu: “You’ve been working outside all this time, and you haven’t paid your social security and housing provident fund.”

The air became eerily still. Meng Yangtian was silent for a very long time, so long that Zhou Jiayu was about to urge him, when he suddenly spoke: “You’re right, you are all upright gentlemen, how could you harm others? I was overthinking it.”

He sighed lightly, and there was a hint of pity in his eyes as he looked at Zhou Jiayu. “Zhou Jiayu, I won’t lie to you anymore. If you really want to save Lin Zhushui, you should first see what truly happened to your own future.”

Zhou Jiayu felt that Meng Yangtian’s hostility towards him had faded considerably, replaced now by a kind of pity that Zhou Jiayu didn’t understand.

But when he followed Meng Yangtian’s instructions and dripped his own blood onto the notebook’s cover, he finally understood the source of this pity.

Zhou Jiayu’s vision went black, and the scene became distorted. He saw a person slumped on a hospital bed in the backlight, softly moaning in pain. This voice was all too familiar to Zhou Jiayu—it was his own voice, Zhou Jiayu’s voice.

“It hurts so much, Sir, it hurts so much.” The voice was heavily laced with crying, “Sir, I hurt so much, please, kill me, I beg you, kill me…” The voice was extremely faint, like a flickering candle flame, as if a gentle breeze would extinguish it completely.

Lin Zhushui sat by the bed, but remained silent.

“Please, Sir, Sir… I can’t take it anymore…” The voice continued to beg, filled with such pain that Zhou Jiayu, as an observer, felt a pang of unbearable sympathy.

“Jiayu,” Lin Zhushui spoke, “Can you bear it a little longer?” His tone carried a hint of helplessness, a tone Zhou Jiayu had never heard from Lin Zhushui before. He coaxed the person on the bed like a child, “Just bear it a little longer… give me some time…”

The person on the bed paused their pleading at the words. However, just as Zhou Jiayu thought he would agree with Lin Zhushui, he erupted in a heartbreaking scream. He wailed, “Lin Zhushui, let me go, I don’t like you anymore, let me go—”

Hearing this, Zhou Jiayu’s blood seemed to freeze throughout his body. He knew how much he liked Lin Zhushui; how could he not? He couldn’t imagine what kind of torment could make him say such a thing.

“I just want to die, I just want to die…” the voice said, “Have mercy on me, I can’t take it anymore—”

The lights in the room suddenly came on. Zhou Jiayu finally saw the scene clearly. He saw a person covered in black spots sitting on the bed. Although their appearance was identical to his own, they were almost unrecognizable as the same person. A stench of decay emanated from him, almost like a corpse freshly dug from a grave. The most terrifying part was the many bandages wrapped around his body, through which even crimson flesh could be seen.

Lin Zhushui turned on the light and stood by the bed, gazing at Zhou Jiayu. He gently touched his face. He slowly opened his eyes, and his pupils had a faint reddish hue, but this red was more watery than what Zhou Jiayu had seen before.

“Let me look at you again,” Lin Zhushui said.

The person on the bed seemed to feel something, and his crying subsided. He muttered “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” and slowly leaned his head against Lin Zhushui’s chest.

Lin Zhushui said, “Do you still like me?”

He nodded, using all his strength, and whispered, “I like you, I like you, I like Sir the most.” After saying this, he touched Lin Zhushui’s lips with his own.

Lin Zhushui smiled: “I like you too.” He pressed his head down, deepened the kiss, and then, flames suddenly ignited.

Being burned by fire should have been an extremely painful experience, but the person’s face only showed relief. Zhou Jiayu watched him burn in Lin Zhushui’s arms, finally turning into black ashes.

Lin Zhushui sat at the head of the bed, holding the handful of ashes. His usually tall and straight figure, for the first time, appeared stooped. He called out to him: “Zhou Jiayu.”

The scene stopped there.

Zhou Jiayu woke up from the illusion. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Meng Yangtian’s indifferent expression. Zhou Jiayu asked, “Is that true?”

Meng Yangtian said, “This book never lies.”

Zhou Jiayu said, “I’m sick?”

Meng Yangtian laughed: “Zhou Jiayu, do you really think resurrection has no side effects?”

Zhou Jiayu looked at Meng Yangtian.

Meng Yangtian suddenly reached out and stroked Zhou Jiayu’s face with his finger: “Besides, you were resurrected in someone else’s body. How long this body can last was always unknown… But what Lin Zhushui saw about your future gave the answer. Your time is running out.”

Zhou Jiayu finally understood what the black spots he saw were. They were traces of his body slowly decaying, from the outside in, from a living person to a dead one. The pain of watching himself slowly rot, even his love for Lin Zhushui could not save him from despair. In the end, he even began to beg Lin Zhushui for death.

“So what did Sir come to you for?” Zhou Jiayu remembered the conversation between Lin Zhushui and Jiang Zhu. “He came to find a way to resurrect people?”

“Clever,” Meng Yangtian said, “Indeed.”

Zhou Jiayu’s lips formed a tight, tense curve. He said, “Now that I know, how do I save him?”

Meng Yangtian’s expression was very strange, as if he couldn’t understand Zhou Jiayu’s question: “Now that you know your future, aren’t you anxious at all?”

Zhou Jiayu said coldly, “What’s the use of being anxious? If Sir can’t solve the problem, what can I do?”

Meng Yangtian laughed heartily: “You are truly an interesting person.”

Zhou Jiayu glanced to his right again. Lin Zhushui still lay unconscious on the lotus platform, his expression peaceful, like a sleeping beauty kidnapped by a giant dragon, waiting for his knight to rescue him.

Zhou Jiayu was very happy that he was that knight. He thanked himself for at least having the courage to come here and having the opportunity to save Lin Zhushui.

“What do I need to do?” Zhou Jiayu asked.

“This lotus platform is actually a formation,” Meng Yangtian said. “Our Meng family chooses one person for the annual sacrifice and places them on the lotus platform. When the flowing fire spreads, it will activate the formation on the lotus platform, making it operate.”

Zhou Jiayu asked, “What’s the purpose of the formation?”

Meng Yangtian said, “It can allow the extreme yang fire to infuse their body, making that person’s constitution lean towards yang.”

After listening to Meng Yangtian, Zhou Jiayu thought, no wonder the Meng family members were all so full of yang energy; they used this method.

This formation is beneficial and harmless to ordinary people, but Lin Zhushui, who has an extremely yang constitution, happens to be lying on it. What is a tonic for ordinary people, the yang energy entering his body, will become a deadly poison. At that time, even if Zhou Jiayu drained all the blood from his body, he might not be able to pull Lin Zhushui back from the brink of death.

“How do I stop this thing?” Zhou Jiayu asked again.

Meng Yangtian pointed upwards: “Continue up the stairs, and you’ll see a bridge. There’s a mechanism on that bridge that can stop the formation.”

Zhou Jiayu said, “That’s it?”

Meng Yangtian chuckled again, this time his laughter was extremely harsh: “But to activate this mechanism, you need an extreme yin object.”

Zhou Jiayu said, “Is that all?”

Meng Yangtian said, “That’s it.”

Zhou Jiayu got all the answers he wanted and, rolling up his sleeves, lunged at Meng Yangtian. Although his body was very weak, fortunately, Meng Yangtian wasn’t strong either and was completely unprepared, so he was directly tackled to the ground by Zhou Jiayu.

“You motherfer, do you think I don’t know you put Sir there? You son of a b*—” This time, Zhou Jiayu swore without restraint. He grabbed Meng Yangtian by the collar and punched him directly in the face, “This punch is for the people you killed.” His punch was extremely forceful, directly disfiguring Meng Yangtian’s nose.

“This punch is for the students in the school!” Zhou Jiayu’s punches landed squarely, showing no mercy. “This punch is for Xu Jinghuo—Meng Yangtian, I f*** you!”

Meng Yangtian was directly knocked unconscious, on the verge of dying under Zhou Jiayu’s blows. But at the last moment, Zhou Jiayu still retracted his fist and did not continue to attack Meng Yangtian.

Ji Ba angrily asked why he didn’t kill the bastard.

Zhou Jiayu spat on the ground: “I can’t kill him yet. How do I know if he’s lying to me? What if the method he told me is false? At that point, he’ll still be useful.”

Ji Ba didn’t expect Zhou Jiayu to be so thoughtful.

“Let’s go,” Zhou Jiayu shook his fist and looked at Lin Zhushui on the lotus platform beside him with a gentle smile. “I’m going to save my princess.”

After saying this, he stepped forward and continued upwards without a hint of hesitation.