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

Just as Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi decided to go to Longyin Mountain, the sky turned overcast again.

Guipu and Han Song each led a group of people to accompany them.

Aygul still pretends to be Jiang Ruoxi's assistant, but in reality, she stays by her side every step of the way.

Song Tiezhu led his men to guard several entrances and exits at the foot of the mountain, while Qiao San also sent more men to temporarily block the wild paths leading up the mountain.

Ye Chen didn't want to make such a fuss, but Jiang Ruoxi made it clear: "Wen Jiuhong dared to enter the mountain under the lantern, which clearly shows that he doesn't take the Qiao family's mountain closure order seriously. If we keep hiding, it will seem like we're afraid of him."

When the group arrived at Longyin Mountain, it was already evening.

The sky was dim and yellow, and the mountain wind swept up from the valley floor, feeling like countless wet and cold hands patting your face.

Ye Chen didn't go to the Qiao family's old house. Instead, he led his men up the mountain along the rarely used herb-gathering path behind the mountain.

He and his ghost servant both recognized this road; they had taken a section of it when they evacuated from the Dragon Heart Cave last time.

The road was extremely narrow, and many of the stone steps had collapsed, so in some places you had to move sideways along the cliff face.

Jiang Ruoxi held onto the black gold rope that Ayiguli handed her and walked very steadily.

She didn't cry out in fear, nor did she ask anyone to carry her.

Ye Chen saw this and felt both heartache and pride.

By the time we reached the halfway point up the mountain, it was almost completely dark.

Han Song suddenly squatted down and pointed to a pile of ashes on the ground, saying, "There were three lanterns here. The oil hadn't even dried yet, and they stopped right here."

Ye Chen stepped forward and saw three tiny copper oil bowls scattered next to the ashes, the wicks of which had been burned to black ash.

The bottom of the bowl was still warm, as if the fire had just been extinguished.

Ye Chen straightened up and looked around.

The night fog drifted out of the forest, so thick it seemed impossible to disperse.

Wen Jiuhong's men should be on the mountain.

"From here to the entrance of Longxin Ancient Cave, there's still half a mountain to go. If they've already entered the cave, we'll have to block them from the outside. If they haven't entered yet, we'll be faster than them."

"The ghost servant said in a low voice."

Ye Chen nodded, instructing Han Song and Song Tiezhu to lead a group around from the left, while he led Jiang Ruoxi, Ayiguli, and the ghost servant straight up the main road.

Ye Chen looked up at the sky.

There were no stars, no moon, only boundless blackness, as if someone had covered the entire mountain with a thick, soaked cloth.

As Ye Chen approached the vicinity of Dragon Neck Slope, where he had previously discovered the Dragon Heart Gate, he suddenly stopped.

He saw a few very faint lights flickering in the fog on the ridge ahead, like will-o'-the-wisps, or like someone carrying a lantern.

The light moved extremely slowly, up and down, as if it were traveling along some ancient ritual route.

Ye Chen pressed down on Jiang Ruoxi's arm, signaling everyone to kneel down.

He held his breath and strained his eyes to see.

The few points of light stopped in the center of Longjing Slope, then circled around a certain point three times before sinking down together, as if they were being led into the ground.

"They've gone into the cave."

Ye Chen said in a deep voice.

The ghost servant had already heard the faint sound of the mechanism activating, and his face turned extremely pale: "The Dragon Heart Gate can be opened from the outside? How do they have the key?"

Ye Chen was equally shocked.

The Gate of the Dragon's Heart is an array set up by the ancestors of Medicine King Valley, which can only be opened by those who are of Medicine King Valley bloodline or possess the Peace Jade Pendant.

But he had clearly seen those points of light sink down from the ground, as if they had been sucked into the earth.

"Unless someone knowledgeable opens the door for them," Aygul suddenly said.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ruoxi subconsciously tightened her grip on the restored jade pendant at her chest.

Ye Chen turned to look at her, and both of them had a thought they were extremely reluctant to say aloud: Could there be someone else in Medicine King Valley?

Or perhaps, it was the living creature mentioned by the ghost servant who had once gone down into the tomb?

Ye Chen dared not think any further. With a wave of his hand, he led the group toward Dragon Neck Slope.

The wind on the slope was so strong it could blow a person away.

Ye Chen left Jiang Ruoxi and Ayiguli behind a clump of short pines at the foot of the slope, while he went forward with Guipu and Han Song.

The previous few points of light had indeed disappeared, but a very thin crack appeared in the ground, revealing a very faint mossy phosphorescence.

The Dragon Heart Gate has opened a crack less than half a foot wide; it is not yet fully closed.

Ye Chen squatted down, wedged the scabbard of the Ku Zhao sword into the gap, and listened inside.

There was a breeze inside the cave, very faint, like someone breathing against the stone wall.

The wind carried a very faint, sweet, musty scent, somewhat similar to the smell on the third floor, but even more aged.

"They've gone inside, and they probably haven't gone far," Ye Chen said.

Han Song pulled a thin-bladed flashlight from his waist and shone it through the crack in the door. He could only see that the slippery stone steps were bluish in the light, and the deeper part was pitch black.

The ghost servant also held the iron ruler in his hand and said in a deep voice, "Go in, Miss Ruoxi doesn't need to follow."

Ye Chen turned to look at Jiang Ruoxi.

Jiang Ruoxi emerged from behind the clump of dwarf pines, her face pale from the wind, but her eyes hardened: "I'm going. If there's anything inside that concerns my father, I have to see it with my own eyes."

Ye Chen didn't say anything, but took off his coat and wrapped it around her, then put a calming pill into her hand.

Then he whispered to Aygul, "Once inside, only walk where Uncle Gui and I have walked. Stay close to her every step of the way." Aygul nodded.

The five people filed into the Dragon Heart Gate.

This time, the composure of the last time was gone. The air inside the cave was cold and sticky, as if it were rising from the bottom of extremely deep water.

Ye Chen led the way, with Ghost Servant bringing up the rear.

After walking for about 15 minutes, a fork in the road appeared ahead.

The left path led to the underground river they had visited before, while the right path was extremely narrow, as if it had been carved out later.

There were a few drops of undried wax and half a muddy footprint on the ground at the fork in the road.

Ye Chen squatted down and took a look. The footprints were huge, like those of someone wearing boots, and they were very deep.

Wen Jiuhong and his gang were on the right path.

"They didn't go to the underground river, nor to the second level," Ye Chen said in a low voice.

"The right path was dug later. It wasn't mentioned in Jiang Yuanshan's notes. It was probably a side path that the Blackwater secretly dug back then in order to find the entrance to the third level. They were familiar with this place."

The group walked along the right path, the terrain getting lower and lower, and the air becoming increasingly murky.

After walking for a while, a crooked bronze mirror suddenly appeared in the flashlight beam. Behind the bronze mirror was an extremely long slope, on which several pieces of lantern glass were scattered.

Further ahead, there was a faint light flickering, as if someone had lit a huge lamp in the distance.

Ye Chen gestured to turn off the flashlights, and the group crouched low as they moved forward.

The faint light grew brighter and brighter, and finally, after turning a corner around a stone wall, the view suddenly opened up before us.

It was a huge, naturally formed cavern, with a bluish fire burning in the center. There was no firewood or oil; it looked like some kind of gas was spontaneously combusting.

Three people were standing by the fire, one of whom was extremely thin and tall, and was slowly putting a wooden box into the fire.

Ye Chen recognized Wen Jiuhong at a glance.

The wooden box was very similar in style to the copper box unearthed from Jiang Ruoxi's mother's old house, and the lid was wrapped with a small piece of old cloth embroidered with plum blossoms.

Jiang Ruoxi shuddered and almost rushed out, but Ye Chen held her down firmly.

Her eyes were like fire, filled with shock, hatred, and a deep, almost scalding rage.

That wooden box belonged to her mother, yet Wen Jiuhong took it and burned it.

Ye Chen saw it too, and his blood rushed to his head.

He reached out and touched the withered sword.

The sword trembled violently in its sheath, as if even it could not contain its rage.

Ghost Servant and Han Song have already flanked them from both sides.

Aygul's knife gleamed with a cold, snake-scale-like light under the blue flames.

"Wen Jiuhong." Ye Chen stepped out from the shadows, his voice echoing through the cave.

"You're not going anywhere tonight." Wen Jiuhong turned around, his face still bearing that gentle, calm smile.

The blue flames behind him suddenly shot up several feet, as if they had been startled awake.

The firelight stretched his shadow long and grotesque, like a ghost standing at the gates of hell.

He slowly withdrew his hand from the fire; the wooden box had been mostly engulfed by flames.

He looked at Ye Chen and said softly, "I'm not going anywhere. I've been waiting for you for a long time."