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

Before dawn, Ye Chen and his group set off.

Two cars, eight people.

Ye Chen, Jiang Ruoxi, Ayiguli, Guipu, plus Song Tiezhu and three veterans from Iron Shield Logistics.

There weren't many people, but each one was carefully selected.

Su Qinghan did not go.

She stood at the gate of the courtyard and waited until the car had driven quite a distance before turning back into the house.

Ye Chen saw her figure getting smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror, like a lone pine tree growing by the mountain gate.

He knew that his master wasn't going with him because he was afraid that he would expose his back to the outside world.

Jiang Ruoxi has her battles to fight.

By the time the car reached the foot of Longyin Mountain, it was already broad daylight.

The group parked their car by a bamboo grove and took a mountain road instead.

Ye Chen carried the Ku Zhao sword at the front, with Jiang Ruoxi following behind in her soft boots, carrying a jade pendant and a velvet pouch embroidered with plum blossoms in her arms.

Ayiguli and Guipu stood on either side, while Song Tiezhu led three veterans to cover the rear.

This group of people walked silently along the mountain path, yet they resembled a small army heading to their doom.

When we reached Longjingpo, the river wind suddenly picked up.

Ye Chen told them to stop for a moment, then walked to the spot where the Dragon Heart Gate had been discovered last time, took out the complete Peace Jade Pendant, and placed it directly above the crack in the ground.

The crack suddenly glowed again, and the ground slowly sank, revealing downward stone steps.

Just like last time, the formation was alive. The more intact the jade pendant was, the milder the reaction, as if it recognized its owner.

"Stay close," Ye Chen said, and walked down first.

The passage was dark, with only a few specks of light from the moss on the cliff face.

Jiang Ruoxi placed her hand on Ye Chen's back, with only an arm's length between them.

Aygul turned her flashlight to its weakest setting and shone it on the first few steps. Ghost Servant walked at the back, each step extremely steady.

Song Tiezhu and the veterans stayed outside the Dragon Heart Gate to guard the perimeter.

Ye Chen said that this trip wouldn't require too many people; sending too many would be a burden.

Song Tiezhu didn't insist. He just stuffed a pack of spare batteries and two rolls of bandages into Ye Chen's bag, and then punched him: "If you need anything down there, just knock on a rock three times. If I hear you, I'll come down and carry you."

Ye Chen chuckled and scolded him before turning and entering the cave.

The smell in the passageway was different from last time.

The last time I came in, the aroma of herbs was pure and clean, like old ginseng breathing in fresh soil.

This time, however, it was noticeably lighter, with a very faint hint of fishy sweetness mixed in with the fragrance, as if something deep inside had been opened up.

The ghost servant whispered from behind, "The earth's energy has leaked out; there are living things inside, or perhaps it's letting in the outside wind."

Aygul didn't speak, but the knife was pulled an inch further from its sheath.

Ye Chen didn't rush to light the lamp, but instead used his inner energy to sense it.

Although the power of the dragon's heart had been processed by Su Qinghan, after entering the ancient cave, he could still feel the warm mass within his body slowly rising, like revisiting an old place, or as if it were greeting a very deep place.

They followed the same route they took last time to the second floor.

The stone hall is still there, and the jade coffin is still on the high platform, but the three lamps are gone.

Ye Chen paused for a moment after noticing that the light fixture was empty.

Ye Chen thought of the Dragon Heart Bronze Lamp.

It has completed its mission and gone out like a lamp.

Fortunately, the lamp was gone, but his father left him a sword.

"The entrance to the third floor should be in this location." Ye Chen took out Jiang Yuanshan's notebook and flipped to the map with the forked holes drawn on it.

Ye Chen crouched down and found a very hidden crack in a floor tile in the southwest corner of the stone hall.

He tapped the paving stone lightly with his sword sheath, and the paving stone slid open like a clam shell, revealing a crack just wide enough for one person to pass through sideways.

A faint, heavy breathing sound could be heard from inside, like someone slowly panting in the deepest darkness.

Jiang Ruoxi involuntarily gripped Ye Chen's clothes tightly.

Ye Chen grasped her hand and turned to ask, "Are you scared?"

Jiang Ruoxi looked up at him and smiled: "I'm scared. But you're here."

Ye Chen smiled and said, "That's right."

The four people entered the crevice one by one.

The space was extremely narrow, and the rock walls on both sides were wet, feeling like the inner walls of some kind of giant beast.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the view suddenly opened up before us.

A dark river lay before us, its waters gleaming black, the surface utterly still. A chill seemed to rise from the riverbed, making our bones ache.

A series of dark blue-green stone slabs, each only the size of a washbasin, protrude slightly from the water and lead intermittently to the other side of the river.

"Follow my footsteps." Ye Chen took a deep breath and stepped onto the first stone slab.

The stone slab sank slightly, but remained stable. He took two steps, then turned back to signal to Jiang Ruoxi.

Jiang Ruoxi followed his example, lowering her center of gravity as she stepped onto the platform.

Aygul and the ghost servant followed in turn.

As Ye Chen walked to the middle of the river, his left foot had just stepped onto a stone slab when the slab suddenly shook, as if something had pushed it from below.

Ye Chen quickly took half a step back, grabbed Jiang Ruoxi's hand, and led her to the previous stone slab.

The stone slab behind them had sunk, and several ripples of black water spread out, as if something alive had rolled around in the water.

"Hurry up!" Ye Chen shouted, leading Jiang Ruoxi across several stone slabs.

Aygul and Guipu followed closely behind, the group leaping swiftly across the water like birds skimming the surface.

By the time they reached the other side, Jiang Ruoxi's legs were already a little weak, but she didn't utter a sound.

After crossing the underground river, the cave suddenly descended, and the wind picked up.

They hadn't gone far when the fissure in the ground appeared before them. It was more than ten zhang wide, like a black gaping hole in the earth, with three heavy, dark iron chains stretching taut from one side of the stone platform to the other, like three giant bowstrings.

A cold wind howled beneath the crack, as if countless icy hands reached out from the darkness to pull people away.

Ye Chen took out the black gold rope given to him by Su Qinghan, tied Jiang Ruoxi's belt to his own, and then had Ayiguli and the ghost servant form a group.

Ye Chen stepped on the iron chain, slowly moving forward as if walking a tightrope.

The iron chain was extremely thick, but its surface was covered with moisture and was very slippery.

Jiang Ruoxi gripped Ye Chen's arm tightly with both hands and carefully stepped onto the iron chain.

A gust of wind surged up from below, making her clothes flutter like butterfly wings.

She dared not look down, and could only stare at Ye Chen's back, step by step, and then another step.

Halfway there, the eerie wind suddenly seemed to turn fierce, rushing up from under our feet.

Jiang Ruoxi slipped and fell downwards. Ye Chen reacted quickly, grabbing her waist and pressing his body down at the same time, managing to twist his legs around the iron chain.

The two were hanging in mid-air, teetering on the verge of falling.

Aygul shouted from behind, "Don't move!"

Jiang Ruoxi gritted her teeth and completely surrendered herself to Ye Chen.

Ye Chen held onto the iron chain with one hand and wrapped his arm around her with the other, slowly adjusting his center of gravity.

Ghost Servant pulled out the other end of the black gold rope from behind and tossed it to Ayiguli. The two of them worked together to pull them back little by little.

When Ye Chen stepped back onto the iron chain, his palms were bleeding.

Jiang Ruoxi looked at him, her eyes red.

Ye Chen smiled and said, "This bridge is a bit unreasonable. It's alright, there's still half left, let's keep going."

As he said this, he didn't even realize that the jade pendant in his arms was getting slightly warm, as if it were guiding them.