Searching for the Key

Deep within Ghost Island, this place seemed like an ancient ruin forgotten by time. Beneath the gray sky, broken stone pillars, like the bones of giants, stood crookedly embedded in the scorched black earth.

Shattered statues lay half-buried amid the wild grass, their hollow eye sockets gazing at the gray heavens as though silently recounting the glory and downfall of ten thousand years ago. The sea wind passed through the broken walls and crumbling ruins with a low, mournful howl, sweeping up rotten fallen leaves from the ground and sending them spiraling into the distance.

The air was thick with an old, damp scent, mixed with the fishy smell of soil and an indescribable stench of decay.

Led by the Imperial Butterfly, Lu Changsheng's group traveled through the ruins for roughly half an hour.

"Oops, it doesn't seem to be here."

The Imperial Butterfly suddenly stopped. Its pale golden wings hovered in midair as its little head looked from side to side, its tone carrying a hint of guilty unease.

"What?!" Shi Jingtian immediately bristled. His eyes widened like bronze bells as he roared, "Little Butterfly, are you screwing with us?! How many times has this been already? First you said east, then you said west. You've been leading us in circles like a headless fly! This is way too unreliable!"

"I... I slept for tens of thousands of years, so I can't quite remember the locations on the island..." the Imperial Butterfly protested pitifully, its voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz. "Besides, Ghost Island is so huge, and the terrain has changed so much. It's already pretty good that I can remember the general direction..."

Shi Jingtian rolled his eyes and snapped without mercy, "I think you slept yourself stupid! You can't even remember the way, yet you