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

As we emerged from the small cave on the north mountain, dawn was breaking.

The mountain path was shrouded in thick fog, like a white curtain rising from the ground, obscuring the trees and dilapidated temples in the distance.

Ye Chen and his group did not linger in Meixi. After retrieving their belongings, they headed towards Jiangcheng.

Jiang Ruoxi sat in the back seat, looking at the few pages of letter again and again, finally folding them up and putting them close to her heart without saying a word.

Ye Chen looked at her in the rearview mirror. She tilted her head to look out the window. The morning light shone through the car window and fell on her forehead, making that part of her skin almost transparent.

After returning to the Jiang family villa, everyone rested for only two hours before Ye Chen summoned Gui Pu, Han Song, Ayiguli, and Song Tiezhu to his study.

Jiang Ruoxi spread the old city map out on the table. The map was quite old, with frayed edges at the folds and faded ink, but fortunately the main lines were still clearly visible.

After looking at it, the ghost servant said, "This painting depicts the old wharf area in the south. It's quite old. I went there once twenty years ago. It's located by the river, surrounded by water on three sides. The alleys inside are extremely complicated. If a stranger goes in, nine times out of ten they won't be able to find their way out. Now, I'm afraid a lot of it has been demolished. It's not surprising that Wen Jiuhong chose this place as his headquarters. The Blackwater started out on the waterways."

Ye Chen asked Song Tiezhu to check the current situation in that area and see if there was anything wrong.

By noon, Song Tiezhu and his men had obtained information from the provincial shipping department and several veteran boatmen: the old dock on the map was called Wuyi Ferry, which was the place they had explored at night last time.

However, this picture depicts Wuyidu Town decades ago, which is different from the current Wuyidu ferry crossing. It was a whole riverside shantytown that was included in the South Bank Old City Renovation Area a few years ago. Most of it has been demolished, with only a few old alleys along the river remaining untouched. Very few people lived there, mostly elderly holdouts.

Wen Jiuhong said the answer was at the headquarters, which most likely referred to an old house still standing in the old town. The key question was where to find it.

If the Blackwater headquarters has not been destroyed, it is very likely that it is hidden underground in those seemingly demolished areas.

"Who got the land for the old city redevelopment?" Jiang Ruoxi suddenly asked.

Song Tiezhu took out his phone and looked at it: "A company called Nanjiang Real Estate is registered in the south. Fang Zhe said that Wen Jiuhong has a cousin who is a shareholder in Nanjiang Real Estate, but he is not listed as a shareholder."

Jiang Ruoxi nodded.

This is another of Blackwater's old tricks of using money to pave the way; their purpose is very clear.

She turned to look at Ye Chen: "Their roots are in those old alleys that haven't been completely demolished. We have to go there, but we can't do it in a big way."

Ye Chen didn't object, but only asked Han Song, "How many people can you gather now? They need to be truly trustworthy."

Han Song held up three fingers: "Including the veterans from Iron Shield Logistics, there are about thirty people, but they can only leave in batches and cannot arrive on the same day, as it would be easy to alert them. Brother Song and I can take a group of people over first to rent houses and check out the land, and you can leave in the second batch."

Ghost Servant added, "Wen Jiuhong will definitely send people to keep an eye on Longyin Mountain and the Jiang Group. If we all leave at once, he will immediately know that we are heading for the headquarters. We need to leave people in Jiangcheng to continue to pretend. He Jianping cannot leave, Zhou Wantong should stay in the provincial capital, and we should not tell the truth to Qiao San. Just say that Ye Chen took Jiang Ruoxi to the south to recuperate and temporarily left Jiangcheng for a few days."

Ye Chen felt that this method was the safest, and there was no better way.

He then turned to Jiang Ruoxi: "This trip is very dangerous. Wen Jiuhong's lair is even harder to enter than Longyin Mountain, but I know you have no choice but to go."

Jiang Ruoxi looked up, her gaze falling on the old city map, and said softly, "My mother left this map for me not so that I would hide at home. I want to see with my own eyes what the roots of the Blackwater look like. You come with me, and neither of us will be the ones left behind."

After the plan was agreed upon, Ye Chen first went to see his master, Su Qinghan.

Ye Chen recounted everything that happened in the small cave in Beishan, and then showed Su Qinghan the map of the old city.

Su Qinghan listened quietly, only frowning when she saw a certain mark on the map.

The mark was hidden at the southernmost end of the map; it was extremely small and drawn like an upside-down gourd.

Su Qinghan pointed at it and said, "Your father mentioned to me years ago that there is a place called 'Upside-down Gourd' at the Blackwater headquarters, which is used to imprison people. If he left anything behind in Blackwater back then, it would only be there. If you go in this time, don't rush to find Wen Jiuhong. Go to Upside-down Gourd. He captured Zhang Da and Jiang Ruoxi's mother. That place is used by Blackwater to imprison people. Your father may have been imprisoned there back then. There are some things he couldn't bring back, so he left them there."

Ye Chen engraved the three words "inverted gourd" in his heart.

After returning from Medicine King Valley, he went to see Tu Er and Fang Zhe again.

Tu Er already knew what was happening outside, and his attitude had softened considerably compared to the previous days, but he still refused to mention the core of the headquarters.

Ye Chen didn't press him, but only asked him to draw the position of the inverted gourd.

Tu Er remained silent for a long time before finally drawing it.

He said that Daohulu was located under an abandoned fish warehouse at the old ferry crossing on the south bank. The entrance was at the bottom of the warehouse, and there were three iron gates outside. Two black-tailed snakes were kept at the entrance. They were not venomous, but they were extremely sensitive. If anyone approached at night, the snakes would make a hissing sound.

Ye Chen nodded and told Han Song to write it down.

Two days before her departure, Jiang Ruoxi handed over all the company's affairs to Xiao Zhou and hired two shifts of caregivers to take turns looking after Zhang Da.

Zhang Da was already able to get out of bed and walk around. Knowing that Jiang Ruoxi was going south, he grabbed her hand and, with tears streaming down his face, advised her: "Ruoxi, those people are ruthless and heartless. If you go, take more people with you. Don't trust strangers, don't drink water randomly, and don't wander off on random roads."

Jiang Ruoxi grasped Zhang Da's hand in return and said softly, "Uncle Zhang, don't worry, with Ye Chen here, nothing else matters."

Zhang Da looked at Ye Chen and nodded emphatically after a long while.

On the third day, before dawn, Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi, along with their ghost servant and Ayiguli, set off in an inconspicuous old van.

Han Song and Song Tiezhu each led a team, taking different routes, and agreed to meet at the outskirts of the old city on the south bank.

Jiang Ruoxi hung the jade pendant around her neck and clutched the Ruoxi Lock in her hand, barely speaking the whole way.

Ye Chen sat down next to her, took the Ku Zhao Sword off his back, placed it horizontally on his lap, and slowly wiped it with a very fine soft cloth.

The sword was dull, like a piece of black wood that had been sleeping for many years, but when Ye Chen held it, he always felt a very faint warmth seeping into his palm.

The warmth was just like the temperature Su Qinghan had when she was a child, carrying her back from the mountains and pressing her against her back.

When the car drove out of Jiangcheng, it was still dark.

Ye Chen glanced back at the rear window.

Longyin Mountain lies far on the horizon, like a black dragon slowly awakening.

Jiang Ruoxi also turned around and glanced back, then said softly, "We will come back."

Ye Chen took her hand and placed it on his knee, their fingers intertwined.

The road ahead is long.

But they walked together every step of the way.