I want to tread the heavens

After leaving the stone chamber at the first checkpoint, we walked down the newly opened secret passage for about half an hour, and then three paths appeared ahead.

According to the silk star map obtained from the altar, the rightmost winding path downwards, marked "Eye of the Spirit Vein," should be the main path leading to the core of the underground palace. However, Yue Rong's condition was deteriorating. Although the wound on his left arm had stopped bleeding, the bluish-black veins under his skin had spread to his shoulder, and his face, illuminated by the silvery-blue light, exuded a deathly ashen hue.

"Uncle Rong, we must find a way to stabilize your injuries first!" Ling Xiao was extremely anxious and forcibly helped Yue Rong to a relatively dry corner of a side passage to sit down. "The situation in the underground palace is unknown, you can't hold on like this."

Fa Cai was so anxious that he circled around the two men's feet, making whimpering sounds, and occasionally nudging Yue Rong's cold hands with his wet nose.

"It's alright, I won't die..." Yue Rong tried to wave his hand, but it aggravated his wound. His brows furrowed, he groaned, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

"It's alright!" Ling Xiao's eyes reddened, his voice trembling with tears. "That masked man's demonic poison is so potent, if we drag this out any longer... Uncle Rong, tell me, is there anything that can temporarily suppress the poison? Herbs, ores, anything will do! I'll go find it!"

Looking at the boy's anxious and stubborn eyes, Yue Rong knew he couldn't persuade him otherwise. After a moment of silence, he said in a low voice, "Ordinary medicines are useless... unless it's a spiritual object containing the purest yang energy, which might temporarily neutralize the yin and coldness of the demonic energy. The old land is barren, so such a spiritual object..." He paused, as if remembering something, "...I heard Guo Yun mention it years ago, saying that in the Guo family's alchemy room, there used to be a special kind of 'Crimson Yang Moss,' growing on the remnants of the earth's fire veins. It was intensely yang in nature and was an auxiliary ingredient in refining certain exorcising pills. I just don't know if it still exists after all these years."

"Red Sun Moss? Pill Refining Room?" Ling Xiao's eyes lit up. He remembered that place! When he sneaked into the inner courtyard before, he had caught a glimpse of that detached little building from afar. It was said that it used to be where the Guo family's ancestor refined pills, but it was later abandoned and was very gloomy. No one usually went there.

"I'll go find it!" Ling Xiao said immediately.

"Nonsense!" Yue Rong shouted sharply, "That place has been abandoned for many years, and its condition is unknown. Moreover, although the inner courtyard is not as heavily guarded as before, it is by no means a place you can enter and leave at will! My injuries can still hold out until we reach the underground palace..."

"Uncle Rong!" Ling Xiao interrupted him, speaking to Uncle Rong with such determination for the first time. "You taught me that a man must take responsibility. You are my family, my responsibility. I absolutely cannot stand by and watch... watch something happen to you!"

He took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound reliable: "I know the way, and it's late at night, when the guards are least vigilant. I'll just sneak in for a quick look, find what I need, and come right back. I won't stay long. Fa Cai has a keen sense of smell; he can help me find what I need and also give me a warning. If there's any danger, I'll run immediately; I won't be reckless."

Yue Rong looked at him. In the boy's eyes was an unwavering determination, but also a deep-seated fear—not fear of danger, but fear of Yue Rong's possible departure. Yue Rong's heart skipped a beat, and the rebuke that rose to his lips was swallowed back down.

"You...sigh." He sighed deeply, pulled a small, dark cylinder from his pocket, and handed it to Ling Xiao. "This is a 'Groundhog,' a little gadget the lord gave me years ago. Press here, and it will shoot out a barbed rope to hook onto something high up for leverage. If you get stuck in a windowless room, you can try walking on the roof. Remember, if things get difficult, retreat immediately! Preserving yourself is the most important thing!"

Ling Xiao nodded emphatically, gripping the cylinder tightly. He then untied the water pouch and the last half-eaten piece of dry rations from his waist and forced them onto Yue Rong, saying, "Uncle Rong, you stay here and meditate until I return!"

After saying that, he picked up Fa Cai and turned to leave.

"Xiao'er," Yue Rong suddenly called out to him.

Ling Xiao turned around.

"Be careful." Yue Rong only said two words, his eyes filled with heavy worry.

"Yes!" Ling Xiao nodded vigorously, his figure disappearing into the darkness leading to another fork in the road above. That fork in the road had very faint markings on the silk star map, pointing in the direction of the Guo family's inner courtyard.

Yue Rong leaned against the cold stone wall, watching the boy's figure disappear. He slowly closed his eyes and gripped the broken knife tightly in his hand. The anxiety in his heart burned like wildfire—but now, all he could do was wait and trust.

With his keen sense of smell and familiarity with the old terrain, Ling Xiao spent nearly an hour carefully navigating through the intricate underground passages and abandoned drainage system before finally finding an exit—a hidden vent concealed in the crevices of the artificial rockery in the back garden of the inner courtyard.

It was already midnight when it emerged from the vent.

The sky was moonless, with only a few scattered stars casting a dim light. The entire Guo family compound was immersed in slumber, with only a few lanterns belonging to the night watchmen flickering in the night wind like will-o'-the-wisps.

The alchemy room is located on the east side of the inner courtyard. It is a separate two-story building with black tiles and upturned eaves, resembling a crouching giant beast in the night. Weeds grow wildly in front of the building, and the paint on the porch has long since peeled off. A rusty brass lock hangs on the door.

Ling Xiao held his breath and, under the cover of shadow, silently approached. Fa Cai pressed close to his ankle, each step extremely light, his amber eyes darting warily in the darkness.

The copper lock was rusted shut, and forcibly prying it open would surely alert someone. Ling Xiao went around to the side of the building and found a ventilator window; the wooden bars were already rotten. He gently pried open a few bars, just enough for him to squeeze in. Fa Cai jumped in first, landing silently.

A strong, pungent odor, a mixture of dust, mildew, and some strange medicinal smell, hit him. Ling Xiao covered his mouth and nose, and only after his eyes adjusted to the darkness did he slowly look around.

This is the main hall on the first floor, a very large but empty space. Scattered on the floor are some broken earthenware pots, rusted bronzeware, and several overturned, cobweb-covered empty medicine cabinets. In the very center is a huge bronze alchemy furnace, more than half a person's height, standing on three legs. The furnace body is carved with blurred cloud patterns and animal faces, the lid of which is long gone, and the furnace chamber is filled with black ash.

The air was cold and damp, carrying the unique scent of the earth. As soon as Fa Cai entered, his hair stood on end, and he let out a low growl of extreme unease, almost a whimper. He grabbed Ling Xiao's trouser leg tightly, trying to drag him out.

"Fa Cai, what's wrong?" Ling Xiao asked in a low voice, a strong sense of unease rising in his heart. This place was excessively quiet; there wasn't even a chirping of insects.

Fa Cai couldn't answer, he just paced around anxiously, his eyes fixed on the darkest part of the alchemy furnace behind him, as if something terrible was lurking there.

Ling Xiao suppressed his palpitations and began searching for the "Crimson Sun Moss" according to Yue Rong's description. Normally, this type of moss, which thrives in sunlight and requires the residual warmth of earth fire, should grow near heat sources. He looked down at the massive alchemy furnace—the original location of the earth fire vent.

He tiptoed around the clutter and walked behind the alchemy furnace. Sure enough, directly beneath the furnace, there was a circular depression about three feet in diameter, lined with black, honeycomb-shaped firebricks. Due to years of abandonment, the underground fire had long since died out, and the cracks between the bricks were covered with various kinds of dark green common moss, making them damp and slippery.

There is no red moss.

Ling Xiao was unwilling to give up. He squatted down and carefully brushed aside the ordinary moss with his hands, searching meticulously. The cold, sticky sensation on his fingertips was very uncomfortable. Fa Cai followed him, rubbing anxiously against his feet, its low growls never ceasing.

He searched every inch of the depression but still couldn't find the "fiery and masculine" reddish-brown moss. Just when Ling Xiao was about to give up, his fingertip touched an unusual protrusion in a very hidden brick crack at the edge of the depression.

It feels warm to the touch, with a delicate, velvety texture, and... it seems to have a very faint warmth.

A thought struck Ling Xiao, and he carefully peeled away the ordinary moss covering the surface. By the extremely faint starlight filtering through the broken window, he saw a small clump—only the size of a fingernail, growing close to the crack in the brickwork, dark red to brown in color, and covered with a layer of extremely fine, almost transparent silvery fuzz—a strange moss!

This is it! Although the color is not as bright red as its name "Red Sun," its subtle warmth and unique texture are definitely not ordinary!

Ling Xiao was overjoyed and immediately took out the small jade piece he had prepared beforehand (which he had broken off from the jade box he had obtained from the secret room earlier). He carefully scraped off this small patch of moss along with a little bit of the soil underneath and put it into a clean small cloth bag.

Just as he finished doing all this and was about to get up and leave—

Crack.

The black floor tile under his feet, which had been covered with moss and was originally unremarkable, suddenly sank slightly!

Immediately afterwards, centered on that floor tile, eight surrounding floor tiles simultaneously lit up with extremely faint, almost imperceptible, silver-white patterns! The patterns spread instantly like a spider web, forming an extremely complex star pattern with a diameter of about six feet!

Ling Xiao suddenly felt his footing give way, and he and the sunken floor tile plummeted downwards!

"Awooo—!" Fa Cai's terrified scream rang in his ears. At the last moment, the little guy didn't jump away on his own, but instead clung tightly to Ling Xiao's trouser leg, falling with him!

The wind howled, and darkness instantly swallowed everything.