Someone in the Coffin

The journey westward might involve monks, white horses, monkeys, pigs, and porters; it could also be a movie. What remains memorable is that a certain film with the same name may not have much depth or profound expression, but the female lead leaves a lasting impression.

There aren't many women who can be described as having headlights like a car.

Compared to others, a woman like Qin Yanan has a greater advantage; her skin is so delicate that even a knife cannot cut it, making it difficult for gravity to do anything destructive.

The highway was relatively smooth, Zhu Juntang slept comfortably. She was used to being taken care of in any situation, so she didn't cover herself with a blanket. Qin Yanan took a blanket and covered her with it, then patted Liu Chang'an, who was chatting with the driver about everything from car tire manufacturing to rubber raw materials, and then about the history of plantation slave owners and imperialist division of Africa.

"You didn't lose them, did you?" Qin Yanan asked.

"No," Liu Chang'an said confidently. If the other party was on the highway, it would be impossible to lose them. But if they got off the highway, it would be impossible to drive very fast on the roads of the Bow Family Realm. It would actually be easier to catch up.

Qin Yanan nodded in relief, then said to Liu Chang'an, "Could you talk about something interesting?"

If someone is constantly talking next to you about things you have absolutely no interest in, it's just a constant buzzing noise.

"No, thank you." Liu Chang'an glanced at his phone again and said to the driver, "You can drive now. After you get off the highway, find somewhere to stay in the city. If we don't come looking for you to drive tomorrow morning, you'll have to go back to Junsha by yourself."

The driver glanced back at Zhu Juntang. Although this wasn't the Third Miss's order, the fact that the Third Miss could sleep peacefully here, along with the eldest Miss Qin Family, meant he didn't need to worry about Liu Chang'an doing anything wrong to her.

"Okay, I'll inform the assistant." The driver nodded; it was a necessary procedure and a polite warning.

Liu Chang'an didn't take it seriously, feeling that Zhu Juntang's aura was more tempting as food than as a woman.

After a long and arduous journey of more than three hours, we finally exited the highway and entered the Bow Family Realm area. Near the entrance to the city, we dropped off the driver, and Liu Chang'an took over to continue the journey.

During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, Gongjiajie belonged to Jingchu. During the Spring and Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period and Bow Family Realm periods, it was part of the Qianzhong region of Chu, originally named Dayong, and was the site of the ancient Yong state. The complex and diverse strata here have created unique local landscapes, the most distinctive of which is the quartz sandstone peak forest landform, which is rare in the world.

"Do you think there's a surveillance or listening system in this car, or just a recording system?" Liu Chang'an asked without turning his head.

"It's definitely there." Qin Yanan said with certainty, "It's installed on every one of Zhu Juntang's cars, but without remote control, the data is only recorded locally, and generally only she has permission to access it after it's uploaded."

Liu Chang'an then remained silent.

Liu Chang'an only glanced at his phone every now and then. Qin Yanan was very curious about how he managed to track and locate him. Had he prepared this in advance?

However, Liu Chang'an Chang'an's question reminded her not to speak carelessly, so Qin Yanan had no choice but to remain patient.

The car passed through the city and headed towards the mountains.

The mountains of the Bow Family Realm are different from most other places. In people's minds, a "mountain" is probably triangular in shape, with layers of high and low, big and small stacked together to form a mountain range.

The mountains of the Bow Family Realm are like a forest, with each tree branch stuck into the ground, like chalk being taken out of a box and arranged one by one.

Such unique terrain is rare on Earth, so a long time ago, a movie depicting alien landscapes came to the Bow Family Realm to film as a prototype.

The car stopped at a cliff edge.

This is one of the major scenic areas in the Bow Family Realm. There are many pillar mountains in the scenic area... They are like pillars stuck in the ground, so let's call them pillar mountains.

Zhuzishan Mountain has no gentle or steep slopes for people to climb; it only has sheer cliffs going straight up and down. The summit is not a triangular peak like that of ordinary mountains, but a flat top, or some unevenness. Overall, it is quite different from ordinary mountains.

What's truly astonishing is that even on this seemingly isolated mountaintop, indigenous people live a self-sufficient life, like in a paradise on earth.

Whether there are any indigenous people on the top of Liu Chang'an Mountain where Liu Chang'an stopped the car is unknown, but the final location is definitely here.

This is the end of the road. Apart from a 20-meter-high pillar carved with dragons and phoenixes, there are only a few bare stones around it. There is nothing else to be seen at a glance.

Liu Chang'an and Qin Yanan got out of the car and looked around. Finally, Liu Chang'an looked up at the sky.

"How could it just vanish into thin air? There wasn't even a car. And such a huge coffin—it couldn't have been carried all this way by people, could it?" Qin Yanan looked around in disbelief.

"If they can carry it by hand and still keep a distance from our vehicle, that's really impressive," Liu Chang'an said admiringly.

"Is there some kind of mechanism here? Like turning it and a hole appears?" Qin Yanan circled around but found nothing.

"Jump up on that pillar and see," Liu Chang'an said, pointing to the pillar in the center of the square.

"I'm wearing a skirt." Qin Yanan was a little embarrassed because she was wearing a long skirt today, and there were no safety shorts underneath.

Liu Chang'an looked at her, not quite understanding.

Qin Yanan then walked to the pillar, hesitated for a while, and tried to jump several times, but she couldn't manage to jump directly to the top of the more than 20-meter-high pillar.

Liu Chang'an jumped on, looked around, and saw that there were no other vehicles or large transport vehicles nearby.

"Did you find anything?" Qin Yanan knew that it was wrong to worry about wearing a skirt and being exposed when actually doing something, but it was also true that Qin Yanan felt embarrassed, since she should always pay attention to her image in front of her elders.

In front of others, Qin Yanan was always quite composed when interacting with Liu Chang'an, but when they were alone, Qin Yanan always felt a little strange. He would always remind her of the emotions he showed her that night... those emotions were for Ye Sijin. But surprisingly, Qin Yanan didn't reject or separate them, but was willing to accept the feelings that had also fluctuated with her at that time.

"It probably flew to the top of the mountain." Liu Chang'an jumped down from the pillar.

Qin Yanan realized, "So after they got off the highway, they switched to helicopter transport."

"That's possible. The final location is here. I think it was most likely transported to the mountaintop." Liu Chang'an agreed with Qin Yanan's guess, although he also thought it was possible that it was something like a bat.

"How did you track and locate me?" Qin Yanan felt it was time to ask.

Liu Chang'an glanced at the car not far behind him. "There's someone in the coffin."

Qin Yanan was startled. In this desolate wilderness, in front of a cliff, with the night wind howling, the two of them stood in the pitch black. Liu Chang'an's sudden mention of someone in a coffin was truly terrifying.

"Someone... someone, could it... should it send you its location?" Qin Yanan bit her lip, feeling a slight pain. She usually dared to watch horror movies alone at night, but when she was with Liu Chang'an, she became a little more timid, or perhaps she unconsciously wanted to appear more vulnerable... A lively and energetic girl like An Nuan would definitely act the same way when she was alone with Liu Chang'an.

"Don't ask anymore, let's go up the mountain first." Liu Chang'an looked up at the mountaintop again.

"I can't go up unless someone helps me," Qin Yanan said somewhat reservedly. In this situation, it would be only natural for him to carry her up the mountain. However, she remembered the last time she thought he would carry her and jump off the Baolong Center to leave, she took the initiative to lean into his arms and wait for him to pick her up... but he actually told her to take the elevator. This was a vivid memory for a girl who was shy and rarely took the initiative.

"Take the elevator," Liu Chang'an said, pointing to another pillar-shaped mountain not far away, where a vertical elevator, half hidden inside the mountain and half hanging on the cliff, ascends to the top.

Qin Yanan calmly said "Oh," and turned to walk into the car.