I was a mineral prospector in Chengdu, who transmigrated into the body of a mortal sword immortal.

The saw blade had moved back and forth in the crack in the stone hundreds of times. Li Bai's arms were already aching and numb, sweat dripping from his forehead and stinging his eyes. He stopped, wiped his face with his sleeve, and listened intently—the passage was eerily quiet. This silence only made him more uneasy. He looked down at the crack; a sliver of moonlight shone through the gap in the iron grille of the ventilation shaft above, illuminating the edge of the stone slab. There, a shallow groove had been sawed, but it was far from cutting through. Two hours… almost half an hour had passed. He gritted his teeth, gripped the saw blade again, and pressed all his strength into the slender metal. This time, the resistance as the saw blade cut into the stone seemed less, but what followed was an extremely faint "creak"—not the sound of the stone, but the saw blade itself groaning under its strain.

Li Bai's heart sank suddenly.

He immediately stopped, pulled out the saw blade, and examined it carefully in the dim moonlight. A tiny crack had appeared in the middle of the blade. If he applied any more force, it could break at any moment.

What should I do?

There is no second saw blade.

Time continues to pass.

Sweat beaded on his forehead again, this time not from exertion, but from fear. If the saw blade broke, he would lose all chance of opening the stone slab. He couldn't let the tools that Duan Qiniang had risked her life to bring him go to waste.

Li Bai forced himself to calm down. He took a deep breath, the damp, musty air filling his lungs, carrying the nauseatingly sweet and fishy smell unique to the prison. He closed his eyes, recalling his knowledge of rock structures from his previous life as a geological engineer. This stone slab was likely made of bluestone, hard but brittle, and the gaps between its edges and the ground were probably filled with a mixture of lime and glutinous rice paste—a common adhesive in the Tang Dynasty, which had become fragile after a century.

Perhaps... it's not necessary to saw through the entire slab.

He reopened his eyes, his gaze falling on the four corners of the stone slab. The slab was embedded in grooves in the ground; if he could clear away the filler at the junction of the four corners and the grooves, perhaps he could pry the slab loose.

Li Bai changed the angle of the saw blade, no longer trying to saw through the edge of the stone slab, but instead carefully scraping and cutting along the cracks to remove the decayed filler. This action required much less force, but demanded greater precision. He had to control the depth and angle of each scrape, removing the filler without making too much noise.

"rustle……"

The soft, rustling sound resumed, but was even fainter than before, like silkworms nibbling on mulberry leaves.

Time passed by, second by second.

Li Bai's fingertips were white from pressing down hard for so long, and the shackles on his wrists rubbed against his skin with each movement, causing the skin to break and bleed. But he felt no pain. All his attention was focused on that one-inch gap, on the point where the tip of the saw blade made contact with the filler.

After an unknown amount of time, a small gap was finally cleared out in the upper left corner of the stone slab from the filler.

Li Bai stopped and took a breath. He reached out and touched the corner, his fingertips able to feel an extremely slight loosening between the stone slab and the groove.

effective.

Hope has been rekindled.

He moved to the lower right corner and continued repeating the same movements. This time, he was more skilled and his movements were more stable. Sweat streamed down his back, soaking through his thin prison uniform and clinging stickily to his skin. The sound of patrolling guards approached from afar. Li Bai immediately stopped all movement, held his breath, and curled up in the shadows of the corner, motionless.

The footsteps paused briefly at the cell door.

Li Bai's heart was pounding in his chest. He could hear the sound of his blood rushing through his veins, smell the acrid odor of sweat mixed with fear, and feel the cold touch of the shackles against his burning skin.

The guards seemed to be conducting a routine check. A moment later, footsteps sounded again and then faded into the distance.

Li Bai waited for more than ten breaths to confirm that the guards had really left before resuming his actions.

The filler in the bottom right corner has also been removed.

Then there's the bottom left corner.

Finally, there's the top right corner.

By the time the filler in all four corners was completely removed, Li Bai was utterly exhausted. He slumped to the ground, leaning against the cold stone wall, panting heavily. The muscles in his arms trembled uncontrollably, and his fingertips were numb from the prolonged exertion. He looked down at the saw blade in his hand—the crack was still there, but fortunately, it hadn't broken.

It will be midnight in half an hour.

Next comes the most crucial step: prying open the stone slab.

Li Bai rested for a moment, gathering his last bit of strength. He stood up, walked to the stone slab, squatted down, and inserted his fingers into the tiny gap in the upper left corner. His fingertips touched the cold bottom of the stone slab, and he could feel the empty space below, as well as an even stronger, cold air carrying the smell of earth and decay.

He took a deep breath, concentrated all his strength in his arms, and thrust upwards with a powerful effort—

The stone slab remained completely still.

Li Bai's heart sank again. No, the stone slab was too heavy; with his current strength, he couldn't possibly pry it up. Moreover, he was shackled, restricting his arm movement and preventing him from using his full strength.

What should I do?

He stared at the stone slab, his mind racing. His geological knowledge from his past life resurfaced—the lever principle. He needed a fulcrum, something strong enough to be inserted into a gap, to act as a lever to pry the stone slab up.

Li Bai looked around. The cell was empty except for straw and a pile of moldy rags. The walls were made of solid stone bricks, fitting together perfectly, with nothing to disassemble. His gaze finally settled on the shackles on his wrists.

The shackles were made of fine iron, connected by a thick iron chain in the middle. Each link of the chain was as thick as a thumb and extremely sturdy.

Perhaps... we could use chains as levers?

Li Bai immediately took action. He first folded the iron chain in half to form a double-stranded, thicker "crowbar," and then forcefully inserted one folded end into the gap in the upper left corner of the stone slab. The gap was very narrow, making it extremely difficult to insert the iron chain. He could only use a saw blade to widen the gap little by little before forcing the iron chain in.

This process took another fifteen minutes.

When one end of the chain finally got stuck deep in the gap, Li Bai was exhausted and almost collapsed. But he dared not stop. Midnight was approaching, and Duan Qiniang was waiting for him outside the city. Every moment of delay increased the danger of being discovered.

He gripped the other end of the chain with both hands, pressed his entire weight onto it, and with his last ounce of strength, pushed down with a mighty thud—

"Creak..."

A dull, teeth-grinding scraping sound rang out.

The stone slab moved.

Although it was only a very small, almost negligible loosening, it did move.

Li Bai's heart pounded wildly. He exerted his strength again, this time bracing his feet against the wall and using the power of his waist, abdomen, and legs to almost hang from the iron chains, desperately pressing downwards.

"Crunch... crunch..."

The scraping sound grew louder, and the stone slab began to warp upwards little by little. The gap widened from the upper left corner, revealing a dark, gaping space below. A stronger, more pungent stench, a mixture of silt, rotting matter, and groundwater, suddenly gushed out from the gap, assaulting Li Bai's nostrils and nearly suffocating him.

But he dared not let go.

He gritted his teeth and continued pressing down on the iron chain until the stone slab was pried up to a height where he could reach into his palm. Only then did he forcefully wed the iron chain into the gap to secure the stone slab.

Then he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. His sweat had dried up, and his throat was parched as if on fire. He looked up at the gap that had been pried open—about two fingers wide, pitch black below, he couldn't see anything, only hear a very faint sound of flowing water, and the even clearer smell of rotting mud.

The passage is open.

Duan Qiniang did not lie to him.

Li Bai lay on the ground, his chest heaving. He needed rest, even if only for a short while. But he knew time was running out. He had to clear the mud from the entrance and enter the secret passage before midnight.

He struggled to his feet, gripped the chain again, and pried the stone slab higher. This time, he saw what lay below the crevice—it was indeed a narrow passage, only waist-high and barely wide enough for one person to crawl through. The bottom of the passage was filled with thick, dark silt, almost completely blocking the space, with only a shallow stream of water flowing slowly in the middle.

The silt must be removed.

Li Bai had no tools, so he could only use his hands.

He knelt by the crevice, reaching in to grab a handful of mud. It felt cold and sticky, like rotting flesh, sending a chill down his spine. Suppressing his nausea, he scooped the mud out handful by handful and threw it onto the cell floor. The mud was mixed with gravel, rotting plant roots, and even the bones of small, unidentified animals. With each handful he pulled out, the passage became clearer, but the nauseating stench grew stronger.

After rummaging around a dozen times, a small space was cleared from the mud at the entrance of the passage, just big enough for a person to curl up and squeeze in.

Li Bai stopped and looked at his hands—they were covered in black mud, and his fingernails were filled with grime. He didn't care about that and listened intently to the sounds outside again.

The passageway remained quiet.

But the time should already be close to midnight.

He had to leave.

Li Bai took out the small porcelain bottle left by Duan Qiniang from his pocket and removed the wax-sealed stopper. Inside was a pale yellow powder with a pungent, minty yet more spicy smell. He carefully poured out a little powder and sprinkled it on the ground near the cell door—to deter any prison dogs that might pass by.

Then, he plugged the porcelain bottle and put it back into his pocket.

Finally, he glanced at the cell that had imprisoned him for so many days: the pile of moldy straw in the corner, the perpetually dripping cracks in the stone ceiling, the cold stone walls, and the heavy shackles on his wrists.

It's all coming to an end.

Li Bai took a deep breath, bent down, and peered into the crack beneath the stone slab. A wave of cold, damp air rushed in, carrying the stench of mud and groundwater. The passage was so narrow it was suffocating; he had to curl up to his limit just to squeeze in.

He first lowered his upper body in, placing his hands on the cold, muddy bottom of the passage. The chill of the mud seeped into his bones through his palms. He gritted his teeth, pushed hard, and dragged his entire body into the passage.

The stone slab fell behind him with a muffled "bang".

The passageway was instantly plunged into absolute darkness.

Li Bai lay motionless on the cold mud. His eyes needed time to adjust to the darkness, while his ears picked up every sound around him—the aftershock of a stone slab hitting the ground overhead, the faint sound of flowing water in the distance, and further away… something seemed to be wriggling.

Is it a rat? Or something else?

he does not know.

All he knew was that he had to crawl forward.

The passage was so narrow it was almost unbearable. Li Bai had to press his body as low as possible, practically crawling forward along the mud. With each inch he moved, he had to use his elbows and knees to push himself up in the mud and then inch forward. The icy mud soaked through his thin prison clothes; the chill felt like countless needles piercing his skin and seeping into his bones. The shackles on his wrists scraped against the stone walls on either side of the passage, making a cracking sound that was amplified infinitely in the confined space.

He dared not stop.

The only way forward is forward.

After climbing for about ten zhang (approximately 33 meters), the passage began to slope downwards. The slope was very steep, and Li Bai could barely control his body, letting himself slide down. The mud became even more slippery, like an oiled slope. He desperately braced his elbows and knees against the stone walls on both sides, trying to slow his descent, but to little avail.

"Thump—"

He fell into a puddle.

The icy groundwater instantly submerged his lower body. The water wasn't deep, only up to his waist, but the chill felt like countless knives cutting into his skin. Li Bai struggled to his feet from the puddle, soaked to the bone, his teeth chattering from the cold.

He looked around—it seemed to be a slightly wider intersection. The passage split into two, one continuing forward and the other turning left. Duan Qiniang didn't tell him which one to take.

Li Bai's heart sank.

He has to make a choice.

He closed his eyes and carefully recalled Duan Qiniang's words—"a narrow drainage tunnel leading to a desolate grave somewhere outside the city." Since it was a drainage tunnel, the direction of the water flow should be the direction of the exit.

He crouched down and felt the direction of the water flow with his hand. The water in the puddle was slowly flowing towards the channel on the left.

left.

Without further hesitation, Li Bai climbed towards the passage on the left.

The passage was narrower than before, with some sections requiring one to squeeze sideways. The rough, uneven stone walls were covered in sharp protrusions, and each step left new cuts. Blood mixed with mud clung stickily to his skin. Cold, pain, exhaustion, fear… a multitude of sensations intertwined, almost breaking his will.

But he can't stop.

The image of Duan Qiniang appeared in my mind—her eyes gleaming in the darkness, her words "Because you are Li Bai," and "I will wait for you."

The image of Yang Yuhuan appears—when she was fifteen, in the spring of Chengdu, she turned back and smiled sweetly at him.

The image of Yang Xiaohuan emerges—on the streets of Chengdu in 2003, her eyes revealing deep sorrow and helplessness.

Three faces overlapped at this moment.

He has to go out.

For them.

Also for myself.

Li Bai gritted his teeth, suppressing all the pain and exhaustion, and continued crawling forward. The passage seemed endless, darkness swallowed everything, and only the sound of his elbows and knees scraping against the mud and his own heavy breathing echoed in the confined space.

After climbing for an unknown amount of time, a glimmer of light finally appeared ahead.

It was neither moonlight nor lamplight, but an extremely faint, pale green glow, like fireflies on a summer night, appearing and disappearing in the darkness.

Li Bai's heart raced.

Is it for export?

He quickened his pace, climbing towards the glowing light. The light grew closer and brighter. He finally saw it clearly—it wasn't an exit, but a stone wall. Embedded in the wall were several stones emitting a ghostly green light, like some kind of ancient fluorite. The stones were arranged in a strange pattern, like writing, or perhaps symbols.

Li Bai stopped what he was doing and stared at the glowing stones.

This pattern... he felt like he'd seen it somewhere before.

In his previous life, he had seen similar symbols in the archaeological reports of the Sanxingdui site. They were a type of sacrificial script from the ancient Shu civilization, representing "gate" or "passage".

Could this secret passage be related to the ancient Shu civilization?

Li Bai reached out and touched the glowing stones. The stones were cool to the touch, yet smooth and delicate, like jade. When his fingers touched the largest stone in the center, the stone wall suddenly trembled.

Immediately afterwards, the stone wall slowly slid open to both sides.

A real, moonlit exit appeared before him.

The cold moonlight spilled onto a patch of overgrown ground outside the cave entrance. In the distance were low mounds, with a few crooked tombstones faintly visible—this was indeed an abandoned graveyard.

Li Bai crawled out of the cave and collapsed onto the cold grass. The night wind rushed towards him, carrying the scent of earth and grass. Although still cold, it smelled much better than the suffocating stench of the secret passage. He looked up at the starry sky above. Countless stars twinkled, and the Milky Way stretched across the sky like a luminous ribbon.

He came out.

They emerged from that dark and hopeless prison.

"Li Bai?"

A familiar voice came from the shadows beside me.

Li Bai sat up abruptly and looked in the direction the sound came from. In the moonlight, Duan Qiniang emerged from behind a tombstone. She was dressed in dark, coarse cloth, her hair wrapped in a cloth, and her face covered in dirt, but her eyes shone brightly in the moonlight.

"You...you really came out." Her voice trembled slightly as she quickly walked to Li Bai's side, knelt down, and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Are you injured?"

Li Bai looked down at himself—his body was covered in black mud, his prison clothes were tattered, and his arms and legs were covered in cuts, blood and mud mixed together, making him look utterly wretched.

"It's nothing," he shook his head, his voice hoarse. "Just superficial wounds."

Duan Qiniang took out a clean cloth from her bosom, dampened it with water from her water pouch, and carefully wiped the dirt off Li Bai's face. Her movements were very gentle, her fingertips trembling slightly.

"I waited outside for almost an hour," she said softly. "I heard noises inside, but I didn't dare to go closer for fear of being discovered... I thought you wouldn't be able to get out."

"I'm out." Li Bai took her hand; it was cold but soft. "Thank you, Seventh Sister."

Duan Qiniang's face flushed slightly in the moonlight. She withdrew her hand and took a bundle from the nearby bushes: "These are the clothes I prepared for you, and a travel permit to leave the city. Change into them quickly; we must leave here before dawn."

Li Bai took the bundle, opened it, and found a set of ordinary gray cloth clothes, a pair of cloth shoes, and a travel permit stamped with the official seal, on which was written a false name and false identity—a shop assistant from a certain merchant guild, going out of the city on business.

"Where did you get it?" Li Bai asked.

"I bought it with money," Duan Qiniang said briefly. "I still have some connections in Chang'an, not many, but enough to handle these things. Don't ask anymore, hurry up and change your clothes."

Li Bai asked no more questions, quickly took off his soaking wet prison clothes, and changed into clean cloth clothes. The cloth clothes were somewhat loose, but very soft, and had the dry smell of sunshine. He put on cloth shoes and carefully tucked his travel permit into his bosom.

"What about the shackles?" Duan Qiniang looked at the heavy shackles on his wrists. "Wearing these is too conspicuous."

Li Bai looked down at his shackles. While crawling through the secret passage, the shackles had been worn slightly deformed by the stone walls, and the chains had developed several cracks. He gripped the chains, took a deep breath, and mobilized the meager thirty percent of his true energy from his dantian.

His true energy surged along his meridians to his arms, concentrating at his wrists. He suddenly exerted force—

"Snap!"

The chain snapped instantly.

The shackles were still on his wrists, but the connection in the middle had broken. Li Bai tore off the broken chain and threw it into the grass. The shackles themselves couldn't be removed for the time being, but at least they weren't so conspicuous anymore.

Duan Qiniang looked at him in surprise: "Your spiritual power... has recovered?"

"It's recovered a little," Li Bai said. "Not much, but enough."

Duan Qiniang nodded without asking further questions. She then pulled out a small porcelain bottle from her bosom: "This is wound medicine. Treat your wound. We need to hurry; the prison will discover you're missing very soon."

Li Bai took the medicine bottle and quickly treated a few of the deeper wounds. The powder stung when he sprinkled it on, but the sensation was quickly replaced by a cooling effect. He finished bandaging the wounds and stood up.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

Duan Qiniang looked at him; in the moonlight, her eyes were clear and resolute.

"Leave Chang'an first," she said, "and then...go wherever you want to go."

Li Bai remained silent for a moment.

Where does he want to go?

He wanted to rescue Yang Guifei, but he didn't have the ability yet. He wanted to return to the modern world, but he didn't know how. He wanted to find the Azure Lotus Sword, regain all his power, and uncover the secrets of the Western Mausoleum Kingdom and Sanxingdui…

But all of this will take time.

What he needs most right now is a safe place to heal his injuries, regain his strength, and then... make further plans.

"Let's leave Chang'an first," he repeated Duan Qiniang's words. "Then, we'll go to Mount Shu."

Duan Qiniang was taken aback: "Shushan?"

"Yes." Li Bai nodded. "The answers I need are there."

Duan Qiniang didn't ask any more questions. She turned around and pointed to a faintly visible path in the distance: "There's a path over there that bypasses the main road and leads directly out of the city. I've arranged for a carriage to wait in the woods ten miles away."

Li Bai followed her and walked down the path.

Moonlight spilled onto the desolate graves, casting long shadows of the tombstones like silent guards. A night breeze rustled through the grass. In the distance, the outline of Chang'an city loomed in the darkness, its lights dim, like a sleeping behemoth.

Li Bai turned back and took one last look at the city.

He will come back.

When he returns, he will no longer be a helpless prisoner.

He is the true Sword Immortal of Mount Shu.