After thoroughly looting the sheltered mountain hollow, Wang Qiu'er stretched in satisfaction and guided the little monkey back to the Keeper's Shrine.
"Qiu'er, where are we going next?" Xiao Xiao held her milk tea and craned her neck curiously.
"We took the left path earlier, so let's go right this time." Wang Qiu'er followed the fork to the right of the Keeper's Shrine.
A gently sloping path lay ahead. They climbed the steps, passed the platform on the left, and turned straight onto the road ahead to the right.
Before long, a new Keeper's Shrine appeared before them—[Pillowstone Slope].
The terrain here was completely different. Huge, heavily weathered stone pillars filled the surroundings, and withered branches reached toward the gloomy sky like skeletal limbs, lending the place a desolate air.
After activating the Keeper's Shrine, Wang Qiu'er noticed a crumbling stone staircase on the right.
She climbed the stairs, only to find a waterfall of cascading sand at the top.
As the Destined One approached the sandfall, a deep, ethereal chant echoed around him:
[Without Cause, why does the head hang in the marketplace?]
[Without Cause, why are the Four Rivers Unmanaged?]
[Without Cause, why are all forms lost in bewilderment?]
[Without Cause, why is compassion turned upside down?]
[Without Cause, why does sand bury the black dragon's mane?]
[Thus it is said: Sound Shaking, Waves Turbid, old traces linger on the shore; conceal offense within defense, let cunning open the door.]
"What does that narration mean?" Xiao Xiao was utterly lost.
"Let cunning open the door..." Wang Qiu'er thought for a moment, then slapped her thigh. "I remember! After Sand Dalang broke through that wall, we found something called the Flying Dragon Scale in the chest. Its description said it could start the 'Four Rivers Unmanaged' quest to find