" The Resentment Person." The Snow Empress sheathed her sword. " The Earth Vein Resentment has eroded them over the years, turning them into this. They guard the Vein Eye, preventing anyone from approaching."
A Yao had already embedded the canal wood into the stone pillar. As she adjusted the angle of the pottery shard, she said, "They used canal wood to block the Vein Eye, which means they knew its function. They didn't want the earth's veins to be open."
"Then we absolutely cannot let them succeed." Snow Empress stood guard at the entrance. "How much longer until the second location?"
"Alright." A Yao pressed the last piece of pottery into place. Earth vein water gushed out from the bottom of the stone pillar, merging with the water flow at the first location, and flowing along the grain of the wood towards the third location. The dark red mist in the stone chamber was dispersed, and the Resentment Person in the corner cracks let out unwilling screams, but the blue light of the earth vein water kept them from getting close.
The two left the second stone chamber and continued deeper into the narrow passage. The further they went, the narrower the passage became, and the brighter the light traces of the earth's veins grew. The bamboo staff vibrated more and more violently in A Yao's hands, and the " Vein Eye " symbol in the middle of the staff almost turned burnt white. On the rock walls on both sides of the narrow passage, the red lines became denser and deeper, like pulsating blood vessels.
At the end of the narrow passage was an extremely narrow crevice in the stone. A dark red light shone from behind the crevice. A Yao squeezed through the crevice, with Snow Empress following closely behind. Behind the crevice was a huge underground space, ten times larger than the previous two stone chambers combined. The dome was extremely high, with no visible top, only countless red points of light floating in the air, like an inverted galaxy. The ground was a huge circular stone platform, and in the center of the platform, a third stone pillar rose from the ground. The pillar was three times thicker than the previous two, and its surface was covered with densely packed Vein Eye symbols, almost completely obscuring its surface.
At the base of the stone pillar, a huge cloud of dark red mist lingered. Within the mist, countless pairs of dark red eyes opened simultaneously, staring at the two people who emerged from the crack in the stone.
That was the den of small beasts. There were at least twenty of them. The larger ones were three feet tall, and the smaller ones were just over a foot tall. Their scales were jet black, and their tails were forked, with eerie blue flames burning at the tips. They were gathered around the base of the stone pillar, as if guarding something. At the very bottom of the pillar, the wood and pottery shards had been completely destroyed, with fragments scattered all over the ground. A tall, thin figure stood in front of the pillar, his back to them, holding a short knife in his hand.
It was an old man. His hair was completely white, he was so thin he was just a skeleton, and his face was ashen, like a dead man's. He was barefoot, and his toes were webbed. He slowly turned around, and the dark red eyes reflected the bluish light of the bamboo cane in A Yao's hand.
"People from the Spirit Vein Bureau," his voice was like sandpaper scraping, "Are here to block the Vein Eye again."
The Snow Empress's Blade is drawn. "Who are you?"
The old man raised his short knife. The old emblem of the Spirit Vein Bureau was engraved on the blade, and the seal script character "Spirit" was worn away to the point of being almost illegible.
"I am the last Vein Guardian," he said. "I have guarded it for forty years. For forty years, I have not allowed anyone to touch this Vein Eye. Because once it is opened, the Blind Zone will disappear. Once the Blind Zone is gone, the resentment will dissipate. Once the resentment dissipates..."
Snow Empress did not move.
A Yao gripped the bamboo staff tighter. The gleaming white of the staff reflected on her face, revealing a fine layer of sweat. " Vein Guardian," she said, her voice lower than usual, "You said you've guarded it for forty years. Then you should know that when the Vein Eye is blocked, the earth's water can't circulate, and the resentment in the Blind Zone will only accumulate. Forty years, you've guarded this Vein Eye, but how much has the Blind Zone expanded? How many more Resentment Beast have appeared? You know better than anyone else."
The old man didn't lower his dagger, but his lips twitched. " The Blind Zone expanded after the Spirit Vein Bureau withdrew. You ignored it, so the resentment naturally spread. I blocked the Vein Eye, at least keeping the Blind Zone in place and preventing it from expanding. Your people from the Spirit Vein Bureau came, saying they wanted to open the Vein Eye. After that, can you guarantee the resentment won't dissipate outside?"
"Whether the resentment dissipates or not cannot be determined by blocking the Vein Eye." A Yao took a step forward, the blue light from her bamboo staff illuminating the earth vein water even brighter. "If you block the Vein Eye, the earth vein water won't circulate, it will accumulate in the Blind Zone, and the resentment will only grow stronger. Only by opening the Vein Eye and allowing the water to circulate will the resentment be diluted. You've been guarding this place for forty years, guarding a poisonous pool that's only getting denser."
The old man's ashen face tensed. He brandished his short knife, and the small beasts immediately took a step forward, their dark red eyes gleaming with even greater ferocity. "What do you know? I've seen firsthand what it's like when resentment spreads. Forty years ago, before the Spirit Vein Bureau withdrew, they tried Vein Eye. After they opened them, all the Resentment Beast in the Blind Zone came out, and more than a dozen people died. The people from the Spirit Vein Bureau just walked away, leaving us, the people living on the edge of the Blind Zone, to die."
Snow Empress's sword didn't move, but her voice broke in. "Forty years ago, the Spirit Vein Bureau withdrew because the supplies were cut off. It wasn't that they didn't want to manage it, but that they couldn't. But things are different now. A Yao is Meng Qi's apprentice, and Meng Qi was responsible for maintaining this area's Vein Eye back then. In his notes, he wrote that opening the Vein Eye can't be done brute force; it must be done according to the Three Eyes Return to One array diagram. When all three Vein Eye are opened at the same time, the earth vein water circulates back, and the resentment will be suppressed back into the depths of the earth vein. If only one is opened, the resentment will indeed rush outwards, but if all three are opened at the same time, it won't."
The old man paused for a moment. " Meng Qi?" He stared at A Yao, "You're Meng Qi's apprentice?"
A Yao nodded. "Master passed the notes to me. He made a mistake back then, tampering with the Vein Eye and widening the Blind Zone. Before he died, he organized the notes and told me to open all three Vein Eye according to the array diagram. The Three Eyes Return to One; missing even one will not work."
The old man lowered his short knife slightly. His gaze shifted back and forth between A Yao and his bamboo cane, as if he were weighing something. Sensing his hesitation, the small animals grew restless, and several began to paw at the ground, creating a harsh scraping sound on the stone platform.
" Three Eyes Return to One." The old man repeated the phrase. His voice suddenly lowered, as if squeezed from the depths of his throat. " Meng Qi also used this phrase back then. But he left before he finished. He said he would come back, and I waited for him for ten years, but he didn't come back. Later, everyone from the Spirit Vein Bureau withdrew without even saying goodbye."
"He's dead," A Yao said. "He died out there. The notebook was given to me before he died. He asked me to do this for him."
The old man remained silent for a long time. The only sounds in the stone chamber were the flowing water from the earth's veins and the low growls of the small beast. The red dots of light floated slowly on the dome, shining on the old man's skeletal face and making the wrinkles on his face look like deep, knife-carved ravines.
"What proof do you have?" he finally spoke. "I can look at Meng Qi's notes. But he also claimed back then that the Three Eyes Return to One, and what happened? He only opened one Vein Eye before the Blind Zone exploded. What makes you think it won't happen this time?"
A Yao handed the bamboo cane to her left hand, and with her right hand pulled a roll of yellowed paper from her backpack. The roll was bound with hemp rope, and the edges were already frayed. She handed the roll over, and the old man hesitated for a moment before using a short knife to pry open the hemp rope. The roll unfolded, revealing densely packed handwritten characters and diagrams. The ink had turned gray, but the strokes were still clear.