162: [First North Mountain]

Zhou Rui squatted by the edge of the pit, staring at the spot that had been reburied, still clutching a shovel in his hand.

"Master, so there are two jade plaques on North Mountain?"

Chen Zhen put away the North Mountain jade plaque that had no inscription. "That seems to be the case now."

"Then who put this inscribed one in there?"

Zhou Rui tapped the ground with the handle of his shovel. "Shen Zhiyuan? He took the original and put a replica in its place? What for?"

Yun Xi leaned against a nearby pine tree, her hands in her pockets. "Maybe it wasn't him who put it there."

Chen Zhen glanced at her.

Yun Xi gestured with her chin toward the foot of the mountain. "Your jade plaque points to North Mountain. Which one is it pointing to? The original, or the inscribed one?"

Chen Zhen took out the nanshan jade tablet, held it in his palm, and injected spiritual power into it.

The jade plaque lit up, its radiance pointing underground—not toward the stone monument, but somewhere deeper, slightly to the west.

"There is something else down there."

Zhou Rui's eyes lit up. "Dig?"

"No digging. Shen Zhiyuan said it couldn't be dug up, and there's a reason for that."

Chen Zhen put the jade plaque away, stood up, and looked around.

The gravel slope extended to the west, the gradient easing, with some low shrubs growing there, their leaves grayish-green and covered in morning dew.

Yun Xi straightened up from the tree trunk. "Then what do we do? Just stand here and stare?"

Chen Zhen ignored her, squatted down, and placed both hands on the ground, his spiritual power not probing downward, but spreading outward.

The system panel popped up.

[Underground energy structure detected] [Type: Seal] [Range: 50-meter radius] [Core depth: 3 meters] [Status: Loose]

A 50-meter radius. 3 meters deep.

Chen Zhen stood up, walked a few steps to the west, squatted down again, and probed once more.

The same result.

The Seal was a circle, with its center 20 meters west of the stone monument.

"There is a Seal underneath," he said. "Circular, with a 50-meter radius."

Zhou Rui leaned in. "What is it sealing?"

"I don't know. The thing Shen Zhiyuan sensed is inside."

Yun Xi walked over and stomped on the ground with her foot. "Three meters deep, it wouldn't be hard to dig. Why not dig?"

Chen Zhen thought for a moment. "The Seal is loose, and it wasn't a natural loosening. Someone is tampering with it."

Zhou Rui's expression changed. "Who?"

"I don't know. But Shen Zhiyuan sensed it, so he didn't dare to dig. He wasn't afraid of what was inside the Seal; he was afraid of the person tampering with it."

Chen Zhen stood up, walked 20 meters to the west, and stood above the center of the circle.

The ground looked normal; gravel, weeds, and soil, no different from the surrounding area.

But when he probed with his spiritual power, he could feel the edge of the Seal.

[Seal Core · North Mountain] [Status: Activated] [Integrity: 87%] [Suggestion: Inject spiritual power to reinforce, or find the key to fully open]

Key. When this word popped up, Chen Zhen was stunned for a moment. Are the four jade plaques the keys? He took out the four jade plaques, held them in his palm, and walked toward the center of the circle. The jade plaques began to glow, not with the uniform light from before, but flickering on and off, as if scanning.

[Key matching in progress...] [Match rate: 75%] [Missing: North Mountain original plaque]

Missing the North Mountain original plaque. The one in his hand without the inscription was the original plaque. The inscribed one wasn't a key; it was a marker.

Chen Zhen took out the North Mountain jade plaque without the inscription separately and brought it close to the center of the circle. The jade plaque suddenly flared with light, and the numbers on the system panel jumped.

[Match rate: 100%] [Seal can be opened]

The four jade plaques, each in its place. East Mountain, West Mountain, Nanshan, plus this North Mountain original plaque. Zhou Rui stared at the glowing jade plaque and swallowed hard. "Master, should we open it?"

Chen Zhen stared at the number for three seconds, then withdrew his hand. The jade plaque dimmed.

"No."

Zhou Rui was stunned. "Why?"

"And what happens after we open it? If whatever is inside the Seal gets out, who's going to deal with it? Even Shen Zhiyuan couldn't suppress it; can you?" Chen Zhen put the jade plaque away and turned to walk down the mountain. "Let's go back. First, we need to figure out who set this Seal and what it's sealing."

Zhou Rui caught up. "It might be written in Shen Zhiyuan's notes."

"We'll look through them when we get back."

Yun Xi walked at the back, looking back at the center of the circle once. She didn't say anything, just turned and followed.

Going down the mountain was faster than going up. When they arrived at Uncle Chen's house, it wasn't even noon yet.

Uncle Chen was chopping wood in the courtyard. Seeing them return, he paused with his axe. "Didn't dig it up?"

"We took a look. We didn't dig." Chen Zhen walked into the courtyard.

Uncle Chen continued chopping.

The axe fell, splitting the firewood in two with a crisp sound. "That old man said it couldn't be dug up, and he had a point."

"Do you know what he meant by what was underneath?"

Uncle Chen gathered up the chopped firewood and walked into the house.

"I don't know. And I don't want to know."

He stacked the firewood by the stove and brushed the wood shavings off his hands.

"Living to my age, you shouldn't know things you aren't supposed to. Knowing them just makes it hard to sleep." He glanced at Chen Zhen. "You young people are different. If you want to know, go find out."

Chen Zhen helped him stack the firewood properly.

"Stay the night before you go?" Uncle Chen asked.

"No. We're taking the afternoon bus."

Uncle Chen nodded and took a pot of porridge off the stove. "Then have a bowl of porridge before you go. It's leftover from the morning, still hot."

The porridge was millet porridge, thick enough for a chopstick to stand upright in. Chen Zhen had two bowls, Zhou Rui had three, and Yun Xi had one.

When they left, Uncle Chen saw them to the door. He took three persimmons out of his pocket and stuffed one into each of their hands. "From the tree, they're ripe. Sweet."

The persimmon was so soft it was almost liquid. Chen Zhen took a bite; it was indeed sweet.

On the bus ride back, Zhou Rui leaned against the window and finished his persimmon, his fingers covered in juice. He licked his fingers and pulled out his notebook to write something down.

"Master, who do you think set that Seal?"

Chen Zhen thought for a moment.

"The four jade plaques are the keys. Whoever could set a Seal like this must be at least at the Peak of Qi Refining, or higher."

"Higher than you?"

"Higher than me."

Zhou Rui's hand paused, and he looked up at him. "Then what do you plan to do?"

Chen Zhen leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. "Find them. Find the person who set the Seal, or their descendants."

"How will you find them?"

"Shen Zhiyuan's notes. He came to North Mountain and knew about the Seal. He must have investigated it."

Zhou Rui nodded and lowered his head to continue writing.

Outside the bus window, sunlight leaked through the gaps in the clouds, shining onto the ridges of the fields, golden and bright.