Wang Chongyang circled the crowd, then quietly returned to the pavilion. As he passed through the corridor, everything seemed as peaceful as usual, yet his heart couldn't help but pound; he rushed forward, fearing greater dangers ahead that she might not be able to withstand. Wang Chongyang ascended the staircase at the end of the corridor to the first floor. Facing him were eight windows, their frames now in disrepair, followed by another long corridor to the right. "Are there secret rooms in these walls too? What strange beasts are hidden here?" Wang Chongyang's thoughts were consumed by Lin Chaoying, leaving no room for further contemplation as he moved forward with a heavy heart. After a few steps, he stopped abruptly, turning his head sharply. Indeed, she was not far behind him. "You reckless ferret, spilling blood everywhere, what if you attract lions and tigers?" she chided while tearing strips of cloth from her clothes to clean and bandage his wounds. His emotions stirred, and he blurted out, "Your leg injury is tied with my clothes, and your clothes are binding my hand injury. Thus, we are bound together."
"Did you injure your palm or your head?" Lin Chaoying asked, handing him a red silk pouch she had retrieved. Wang Chongyang pulled out the inner cloth and read: "Far, not near; curved, not straight; distance matters not, strength matters not; curves and straights matter not, thought matters not." He murmured, "It's rather disorienting." Lin Chaoying looked out the window towards the direction of the ferret colony's burrows and said, "This place is indeed disorienting." Wang Chongyang asked, "Is there a labyrinth here, perhaps to store weapons and defend against enemies?" Lin Chaoying nodded, "Much like your Tomb of the Living Dead?" Wang Chongyang thought that since she had brought it up, he might as well seize the opportunity. He stammered, "I... you..." Suddenly hearing voices from downstairs, he changed his tune, "Quickly hide inside." Seeing her standing there coldly, he hastily explained, "I've been telling them that I came here to expose the Jin kingdom's covetousness for this scripture and their intent to harm those involved. If they see..." Before he could finish, Lin Chaoying had already bypassed him and drifted into the corridor.
The voices drew closer. Wang Chongyang peeked out and saw more than ten people led by Tang Yuyi of the Gangba Sect charging up the stairs. He glanced out the window and saw the escaped beast pacing aimlessly around downstairs. By the time they turned back, the pursuers had already broken through. "The first brocade pouch is here!" Wang Chongyang shouted, flinging the red silk pouch out the window, where it fell below. Although some, including Tang Yuyi, sensed something amiss, the group, driven by a 'better safe than sorry' mentality and wary of Wang Chongyang's martial prowess, scrambled to break through the window and leap down to retrieve it.
Wang Chongyang hid to the side, ensuring they had all jumped down, then quickly pursued them down the corridor. After running ten-odd steps, he turned back alertly, finding Wan Xilan behind him, smiling and saying, "The Dark Swordsman is quite adept at charming people." Wang Chongyang hastily explained, "She has left the Dark Swordsman, and besides, we plan to leave this place immediately and will no longer participate in the contention." Upon hearing this, Wan Xilan found it increasingly difficult to maintain her smile. As if hearing him continue, "This piece is what was hidden in the first brocade pouch." Seeing her lack of reaction, Wang Chongyang intensified his tone, "According to this, the second brocade pouch should be in the labyrinth in the direction of the ferret burrows." Wan Xilan blinked, staring at Wang Chongyang's face, then glanced at the white cloth in his hand, and said resentfully, "You brute!" She swiftly snatched the cloth and dashed out of the corridor. Wang Chongyang was taken aback. He could understand being cursed by Lin Chaoying, but why was he being cursed after giving Wan Xilan such a generous gift? However, worried about Lin Chaoying's safety, he had no time to ponder and turned to continue his pursuit.
Wang Chongyang reached the end of the corridor and saw another staircase. Observing the dust on the steps, he noticed three faint footprints leading downstairs, which he recognized as Lin Chaoying's. He thought, "Why didn't she wait for me here? What angered her? Why did she return downstairs instead of going up?" Just as he was about to step down, he noticed something unusual about the direction of the third footprint. Upon closer inspection, he found half a footprint in the middle of the staircase railing. He guessed that she was laying a false trail and had secretly returned the way she came. Wang Chongyang looked around as he followed the path. After about twenty-six or twenty-seven steps, he finally found her slender palm prints on the left wall. Using the same technique as before, he crossed his hands and exerted force, rotating the wall in front of him horizontally. However, only the lower half revealed a dark, gaping hole. He bent down and just managed to pass through when the secret door slammed shut with a swoosh like a scythe, returning to its original position. He thought that if he had hesitated even slightly, or if others had followed, they would have been cut in two. Facing the winding, narrow, dark stone path before him, Wang Chongyang suddenly wondered if this was related to the writing on the cloth. Since Lin Chaoying was likely ahead, he had no choice but to follow.
Following the stone path as it descended and turned, Wang Chongyang walked for about the time it takes to steep a cup of tea. To his right, the path widened by four feet. He peered through the gap and saw a vast cave. This was the dwelling of the beast he had seen downstairs. Behind the rock face in front of him was where the red silk pouch was hidden. He faintly heard a few mournful cries. Could such strange beasts also worry about their companions outside? Continuing forward for a while, a fork in the path appeared. Unconsciously, following the words on the cloth, he abandoned the straight path and chose the curved one. After a few steps inside, flying stones suddenly attacked from both sides. He blocked them with a sweep of his sleeves, and after less than half an hour, the flying stones ceased. Subsequently, Wang Chongyang encountered four more diverging paths. Although he anticipated attacks from flying stones, he stubbornly followed the words on the cloth, choosing the curved paths. With preparation, he easily avoided the flying stones and proceeded.
"How much further until I reach her?" At this moment, a familiar scream suddenly rang out. Rushing forward, he saw An Rongxun lying dead on the ground. Looking up, he saw a figure resembling Ai Fangqin fleeing frantically ahead. Wang Chongyang hurried to catch up, preventing him from harming anyone else.
The stone path became increasingly rugged and winding. Coupled with Ai Fangqin's desperate flight, Wang Chongyang maintained a distance of about ten paces. Gradually, he heard the sound of a rushing river ahead. The stone path led to a cliff. The cliff face was three to four feet wide, and the opposite cliff was about twenty zhang away. Between the two cliffs stood five giant stone pillars. Looking up, he saw jagged rock walls inverted, arching to cover the surroundings, clearly still within a cave. He watched as Ai Fangqin leaped onto the surface of the second stone pillar. As he prepared to jump further, the pillar suddenly swayed left and right. Unwarily, he fell into the river at the bottom of the cliff, his piteous cries echoing for a long time. Wang Chongyang became even more anxious, praying that she had safely passed this trial. He pondered whether the words on the cloth meant "far, not near" or "distance matters not, strength matters not."
Wang Chongyang gathered his energy, leaped lightly onto the fourth stone pillar, and it remained still. As he exerted force to move, the pillar indeed began to sway. Knowing this, Wang Chongyang used the momentum to push off, flying straight backward to the opposite cliff. While in flight, he caught sight of bloodstains on the edge of the fifth stone pillar, certain that most of it belonged to her. A fear and discomfort he had never experienced before surged through him. From the layers of rocks, he found another passage and immediately crawled into it.
This passage was much more difficult than the previous one. With stones of all shapes and sizes, slanted and uneven, some hanging above and others forming pits below, Wang Chongyang soon found himself crawling and climbing. It was almost pitch black here. Although his night vision had been greatly enhanced by practicing in the tomb, he remained extremely cautious, wary of any ferocious beasts or venomous creatures that might dwell within. After crawling like a gecko for less than two quarters of an hour, Wang Chongyang suddenly felt some liquid on his fingertips. "This is her blood." The bloodstain was still fresh; she must be not far ahead. Wang Chongyang quickened his pace, climbed onto the pile of rocks, and looked down to see another cliff. The distance to the opposite cliff was also about twenty zhang. A stone bridge spanned the gap, with stone bricks, each two feet square, laid out across its surface. From this vantage point, some brick surfaces, in the dim light, faintly displayed marks of horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and curved lines. Collectively, they resembled constellations, or totems, or even directions. He caught a glimpse of a white object floating in mid-air, which approached the first row of stone bricks at the bridge entrance. He recognized it as her, clad in black, her pale face visible in the dim light.
Kuai Shu Ge