Xingtie: My silly online friend is actually a raccoon!

"Wow?!"

Xing stared wide-eyed at the smooth, mirror-like metal box in front of her, then at the sandalwood planks scattered on the ground, and couldn't help but exclaim.

"Is Luze playing some kind of nesting doll game with us, like there's a box inside a box?!"

"From the letter to the wooden box, and now to the metal box, we could have just had Jingyuan hand it over to us, but instead we went through such a long and complicated process, even using a secret code..." She became more and more angry as she spoke, feeling like she had been made a fool of.

Moreover, this feeling was incredibly familiar, exactly the same as when I first encountered fireworks.

"It shouldn't be what you think." Dan Heng stepped forward, his slender fingers gently tracing the surface of the metal box, his gaze falling on a row of faintly visible markings on the side of the box.

"This is a hibernation pod."

"Hibernation...that means he's lying inside, right?"

Xing's voice suddenly rose, and the resentment she felt from being tricked vanished instantly.

Dan Heng did not answer, but only frowned slightly.

"Do we have to decrypt this time too?" March 7 asked cautiously, already mentally prepared to search for hidden keys again.

"No need, it's already activated." Yao Guang pointed to a lit display panel on the side of the cabin, where the pressure reading was slowly decreasing at a visible rate.

Drop...drop...drop...

After three crisp beeps, a ring of white mist first leaked out from the edge of the cabin, followed by a long hiss.

Then came a soft popping sound, like a huge vacuum plug being pulled out.

Then the metal bolts pop open one by one.

Click, click, click.

Finally, the hatch rose up, accompanied by a low mechanical hum.

Everyone eagerly peered into the cabin.

A tall, thin, and hunched old man slowly sat up from his hibernation pod.

His face was unusually pale due to his long period of hibernation, his long gray hair was casually draped over his shoulders, and his left sleeve hung loosely at his side.

He raised his cloudy yet bright eyes to meet the shocked or confused gazes of the crowd.

"Who is this old man?" Xing felt a pang of disappointment when she saw that it wasn't Lu Ze, and her face was filled with disappointment.

"Heh heh, it seems you're all not very happy to see this old man." Jing Tian stretched his stiff neck, his tone clearly teasing.

"Teacher, how could it be you in here?" Fu Xuan's voice trembled slightly as she took a step forward.

She was naturally surprised that Tian was still alive.

But after the initial shock, all the clues in my mind began to come together rapidly.

The copying machine, the fake death—why did Lu Ze hand this box over to Jing Yuan? Why did he have to keep it a secret from everyone?

But there's one last question. Where did Lu Ze go?

"Oh dear, these young people nowadays, they don't even want their teachers anymore once they have a lover. I've been sitting here for ages and no one has come to help me up."

Seeing his apprentice's surprised and anxious expression, Jing Tian hummed twice like a playful old man.

Fu Xuan was both annoyed and amused by what he said. The emotions that had been building up for thirty years were stuck in his throat, and he didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

Yao Guang reacted even faster, stepping forward to support Jing Tian's shoulder and carefully helping him out of the hibernation pod.

"Don't be impatient, I will tell you what happened back then."

Knowing they were all anxious to find out Lu Ze's whereabouts, Jing Tian refused to play the riddle-maker.

He first stretched his stiff body, the empty sleeve of his severed arm swaying gently with the movement, and then slowly spoke.

"This story begins the night before we used the Cloud-Gazing Mirror..."