Unparalleled medical and martial arts skills, saving the CEO's fiancée at the start.

Ye Chen did not linger on the island. Taking advantage of the thick night fog, he led Ji Changming and the iron box back the way they came.

Ji Changming was trapped at the stern of the boat, with two veterans watching him from the left and right.

The old man huddled in the cabin, not saying a word, only coughing incessantly.

Aygul stood at the bow of the boat, her hand on the hilt of her knife, her eyes never leaving him.

When the boat reached the wild shore, Song Tiezhu was already waiting there with his car.

The group returned to the old house in Qing Shi Lane as dawn was breaking.

After Ye Chen entered the room, he first asked Song Tiezhu to lock up Ji Changming, and then went to check on Qin Wuyi and Fang Jiuzhi.

The two men were still alive, but their complexions were getting worse every day.

With his acupoints sealed by silver needles, Qin Wuyi's martial arts skills were effectively halved.

Fang Jiuzhi huddled in the corner like an old dog with its spine broken, trembling at the sound of someone coming in.

Ye Chen didn't say much to them, only telling the guards to keep a close watch, before turning and entering the main house.

He placed the tin box on the table, opened it, and gently took out the indigo-covered notebook inside.

The pages were brittle, making a very faint rustling sound when turned, like the wind passing between the pages of an old book.

Jiang Ruoxi brought over a lamp and sat down opposite him. The two of them were almost head to head, looking at the notebook together.

Jiang Yuanshan's handwriting is very neat, with slender strokes, carrying the scholarly air unique to intellectuals of that era.

I started keeping a journal thirty years ago, on and off. Some pages are detailed, while others are only a few lines long.

Ye Chen turned to the first few pages, which described the first meeting between Jiang Yuanshan and Su Youdao.

The two met in a used bookstore in the provincial capital and got into an argument over a tattered copy of a local gazetteer. They ended up becoming friends after a fight, sitting down for a drink.

Ye Changfeng was mentioned quite a few times in the notes.

Jiang Yuanshan called him "Brother Ye" and said that he was "extremely skilled in martial arts, had a very low alcohol tolerance, and always stood up for others at crucial moments."

Jiang Yuanshan wrote with great restraint, but the repeated underlines in several sentences still revealed his respect and regret for his elder brother.

Ye Chen read through the pages one by one, feeling as if his heart was being gently soothed by warm water.

It turns out that in other people's eyes, my father was such a flesh-and-blood person.

The further you flip through the pages, the more fragmented the records become.

The route of the ancient tomb, the thickness of the broken stones, the direction of the underground river, and the position of the three lamps are all drawn in great detail.

What caught Ye Chen's attention the most was a map drawn on the third-to-last page of the journal.

The map didn't depict the entire Longyin Mountain, but rather a side cave beneath the Longxin Ancient Cave.

Jiang Yuanshan wrote a few lines on the side of the map: "The third level cannot be opened without the joint efforts of three people. Youdao and I have already found out its entrance and calculated its location. Unfortunately, the heavens are not on our side and we do not have the key. The key is with Yuanshan. If anything happens to Yuanshan, give it to Ruoxi. Ruoxi is young and will temporarily stay with my wife. If my wife cannot find it, use plum blossoms as a token."

Ye Chen stared at the four characters "Yi Mei Wei Ji" (meaning "with plum blossoms as a mark"), and then thought of the black velvet bag embroidered with plum blossoms in the dark room of the dock.

Jiang Ruoxi's mother's name contains the character "Mei" (梅).

Jiang Yuanshan clearly left something behind through the Mei family before he died, which is very likely the key to the third level. And the whereabouts of that thing may be hidden in that velvet pouch embroidered with plum blossoms.

"Those are my mother's things," Jiang Ruoxi said softly, her fingers touching the blackened velvet bag.

"My dad used to call her Amei. The plum blossoms on this bag are obviously embroidered by her. Did my mother leave me a small wooden box before she passed away? There were a few of her old things inside. Later, the old house was renovated, and the box disappeared. I've never found it. If there's something she wanted to give me in that box, could it... still be hidden in some wall of the old house?"

Ye Chen looked up at her face, which was half-lit and half-shadowed by the lamplight.

She always wore that jade pendant close to her body, and now this velvet bag has reappeared.

The Mei family and Jiang Yuanshan's affairs were clearly much more numerous than she remembered before she was eight years old.

"Once we've finished dealing with things here, I'll go back to the old house with you," Ye Chen said, reaching out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Jiang Ruoxi's ear.

"The map your father remembers is related to the third level of the Dragon Heart Ancient Cave. If we want to completely settle the matter with Blackwater, we will have to go back to that place sooner or later. However, Qin Wuyi and Ji Changming are in our hands. Blackwater's foundation in the provincial capital has been almost destroyed. Now the most important thing to do is to eliminate those three hidden strongholds."

Jiang Ruoxi nodded, then suddenly remembered something and said, "Where's Zhang Heng? He doesn't know that Fang Jiuzhi has already been caught. I've asked He Jianping to keep an eye on him. He's a walking messenger. Once we dig out Tiezui Zhang, we'll take down this whole bunch of people in one fell swoop."

Ye Chen gave her an approving look: "President Jiang is showing more and more potential to be a detective. If the company closes down tomorrow, I'll open a detective agency for you, and you can be the boss."

Jiang Ruoxi rolled her eyes at him: "Stop being silly, it's almost dawn, you should rest for a while. I had someone cook some porridge, eat it before you go to sleep."

She got up and walked out, but turned back at the door to add, "Don't secretly take off the bandage on your arm. Uncle Gui said you bled again last night."

Just as Ye Chen was about to say it was alright, Jiang Ruoxi's gaze swept over him, carrying a hint of warning.

He immediately made a zipping motion on his mouth.

Jiang Ruoxi ignored him, turned around and left.

The room fell silent.

Ye Chen leaned his head back in the chair and closed his eyes for a while.

He was really tired.

It's not a physical fatigue, it's the kind of fatigue that seeps into your bones.

But he knew he couldn't let his guard down yet.

The Blackwater organization is like a snake with its head cut off, its body still writhing.

Qin Wuyi was merely the military commander of the provincial capital; he had superiors above him.

Wei Qing, Qin Wuyi, and Ji Zhangfang were all teeth that were released to bite.

The hand that truly holds the chain may be waiting for them in a more distant place.

Ye Chen opened his eyes, rewrapped Jiang Yuanshan's notebook, and put it into his inner pocket.

He took out his phone and dialed Su Qinghan's number.

I answered it after it rang only twice.

"Master, I've obtained Jiang Yuanshan's notes. They mention the branch cave on the third level, and there's a sentence left by Ruoxi's father: 'Use plum blossoms as a marker.'"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, then Su Qinghan's voice came through, clear and cold: "Take Jiang Ruoxi to her family's old house and ask her about her mother. If her mother really left something behind, there couldn't have been only a velvet pouch. Your Jiang family's jade pendant is the key, but the key can't open all the doors. You'll have to find it yourselves. I have something else to prepare for you. Come back when you have time. Remember, don't let Heishui find Jiang Ruoxi's family's old belongings first."

"I understand," Ye Chen replied softly.

After hanging up the phone, the morning light peeked in through the gap in the curtains, like someone had slashed a bright slit in the darkness with a knife.

Ye Chen stared at the light and slowly exhaled a long breath.

Jiang Ruoxi brought in a bowl of porridge from outside. Seeing that he had opened his eyes, she said, "Aren't you going to sleep?"

Ye Chen took the porridge and said with a smile, "Let's finish this bowl first. President Jiang brought it personally; it's comparable to a state banquet."

Jiang Ruoxi sat down on the chair next to him and watched him drink porridge in the morning light.

In the courtyard outside, Ayiguli was whispering something to her ghost servant.

Song Tiezhu squatted under the eaves wiping the car.