"Yes."
Mrs. Larry seemed extremely reluctant to recall certain past events, her face showing a pained expression, but her voice remained calm.
"We found some clues about a branch of the Maya civilization. We've never found such ruins on the Pampas Plateau before, so he's very excited. We're preparing supplies in Santa Fe City and planning to travel upstream along the Salado River to the Vera Town."
But for some reason, perhaps he discovered some new clue, he couldn't wait and headed north alone. I followed his trail all the way to the mining area north of Governor Crespo Town before catching up with him, but by then he had already been bitten by a snake. Due to the bad weather, I couldn't call for help, and by the time we returned to camp, he was already dead."
Mrs. Larry had clearly withheld some details, from Mr. Yeger. Mr. Yeger's disappearance to her pursuit and discovery of his snake bite, to her later dragging the wounded man back to camp alone—a journey filled with countless hardships, struggles, and dangers. Yet her calm voice spoke as if recounting a distant and insignificant event, and only Petru beside her could sense the stiffness and slight trembling in her body.
Just as Petru was about to say something, he saw Mrs. Larry's body suddenly sway, and then begin to tremble violently. Petru quickly reached out to support her.
The lady looked at Situ with some agitation, "You... you mean, there..."
Situ nodded. "On the Salado River, north of Governor Crespo Town and south of Vera Town, there is a gold mine that was mined a long time ago. Scattered around the mine are some ancient ruins, possibly left by the Maya People, but unfortunately destroyed during the mining. That should be one of the Alliance's Five Great Sacred Lands."
"How did you know?" Mrs. Larry asked.
"I am the guardian of that place," Situ said.
"What? You—" Mrs. Larry exclaimed in surprise, "You're an Indian?!"
Situ did not deny it.
Even Qingmu and Su Huilan were surprised. In their minds, Mr. Situ had always been a perfect Chinese man, but now, upon closer inspection, they discovered that his face did indeed have Native American features. However, no one had ever imagined that Native Americans could be so handsome.
"Didn't you just say you weren't sure if that place was the Alliance's Holy Land?" Su Huilan asked.
Situ said, "Yes, although my ancestors told me that I was the guardian of that place, I did not know what I was supposed to protect, just like Petru's family. We only knew that we were supposed to protect a place for generations. My family has long since passed away. Before my father died, he entrusted me to a Chinese man. After that, I went to United States and later moved to China."
After hearing some legends about the Alliance's Holy Land, I began to suspect that the place we had guarded for generations was one of those Holy Land. I've been there many times; those deep, ever-present, collapsing mines are easy to get lost in. I've gotten lost many times, sometimes ending up in strange places. Every time I emerged from the mines, I found that the world was no longer the world I knew.
Now I know that those mines must be connected to the Ramla Space, just like those Ghost Island in the South Pacific. Unfortunately, the mines are too scattered, and the secondary mining has severely damaged them. They are also very dangerous, so I can't find all the special caves that are related to Ramla.
Mr. Yeger's research on Maya civilization and Native American cultures greatly helped my later studies. Because of his research, I later turned my attention to the Tapu on the Pacific Ocean islands. In return, I gave him the information I had compiled about the ancient ruins near the Vera Gold Mine, which had always been of interest to me.
"So you were the one who gave him the clue!" Mrs. Larry looked at Situ, breathing rapidly. "Then how exactly did he die?"
"I don't know. I was hiding on an island in the South Pacific with my wife and daughter, studying Tapu's formation, and it had been more than two years since I gave him the clues. If I had known it would turn out like this..." Situ said with deep remorse.
Mrs. Larry sighed in disappointment.
Alice took the lady's arm and softly comforted her, "Madam, perhaps it really was just an accident. Mr. Yeger... he..."
She talked for a long time, but couldn't explain how Mr. Yeger had come to be. She knew that Yeg's death was the heaviest stone in Mrs. Larry's heart; the lady had always felt guilty and grieved. She didn't know how to comfort her.
"It's all my fault! It's all my fault! Waaah..." Alice sobbed.
Mrs. Larry reassured her, "I told you it's none of your business, Alice!"
Su Huilan knew that the best way to help someone forget their pain was to change the subject, so she said, " Mr. Stone, when exactly did you determine that that place was the Alliance's Holy Land?"
"Just as the inverted pyramid at the bottom of the sea was discovered," Situ said.
"So you blew it up to destroy the structural support of the First Space and open a path to the Original Space?"
"Yes, but..." Situ spread his hands, "It's clear I failed."
"You just said you've deduced the locations of the Five Great Sacred Lands. How did you deduce them, and where exactly are they?"
"I have to thank Petru for this." Situ smiled at Petru. "The story of Redbeard told me that the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt are the Holy Land they guard. So I understood that each Holy Land has a center, surrounded by special architectural complexes forming a formation. The entire formation creates a Mental Power Field that connects with Ramla. If what Cohen said is true, then the five Mental Power Field around the world combined constitute what he called the Earth Mental Power Field."
The Holy Land in the South Pacific are the easiest to analyze; they are clearly marked on the Petru nautical chart. A dozen or so Tapu form a whole around an inverted pyramid on the seabed. This is the first Holy Land, and we will analyze its nature later.
Centered on the three Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, or even the Pyramid of Khufu, the entire pyramid complex, large and small, forms a formation similar to the Tapu, creating a Mental Power Field. This is the Sacred Land of Fire guarded by the Redbeard Family for generations. That's why everyone who obtains the Soul of Fire feels as if they're being burned, but Petru doesn't feel it because his family's spiritual characteristics are adapted to the Mental Power Field of fire.
The third is the Vera Gold Mine, which I once guarded. The ancient ruins surrounding the mine must also have a similar formation to the Tapu Group. That's why I can use the Soul of Stone. These three places are now very clear."
"Where are the other two places?" Su Huilan's heart suddenly skipped a beat. She glanced at Qingmu and saw that Qingmu was like an old monk in meditation, his mouth slightly open, his eyes unfocused, staring blankly into the distance.
"The fourth place—" Situ also looked at Qingmu and smiled, "Is in Liuying Lane, Wuzhong City."
" Liuying Lane?" Although Su Huilan had a vague premonition, she still found it unbelievable when Situ said it.
Situ said, "There used to be a Mulberry Garden in Liuying Lane, but it is said that the Japanese army burned it down when they occupied Wuzhong. I should have realized it long ago. That Mulberry Garden, and the legendary thousand-year-old mulberry tree, were the center of the Sacred Land of Wood. Qingmu is the Guardian of the Holy Land, which is why he can use the Soul of Wood."