“Let’s call him Wu Xie,” said the old dog Wu, choosing a homophone, hoping he would be ‘wu xie’ (innocent), pure and clean. Looking at his grandson in the swaddling blanket, tears streamed down his face, and his murky eyes seemed to foresee the child’s future fate. Wu Xie always thought that the ‘wu xie’ here was his grandfather’s hope for him to break free from his destiny. When he truly understood the meaning of ‘wu xie’, a chill penetrated to his bones. He cried out in despair before his grandfather’s tombstone, feeling a sense of helplessness and desolation he had never experienced before.

Silence, endless silence, so quiet that all the sounds that shouldn’t be heard became incredibly clear. Do these people not speak? Li Cu closed his eyes, silently assessing his surroundings. After a brief communication with him, these people extinguished their lighting devices and fell silent around him, blending into the dimness. He could hear no breathing, no heartbeat, not a hint of restlessness.

These people were as controllable as machines. If he didn’t know for certain that they wouldn’t leave, Li Cu wouldn’t even know if they were still around him. All his wounds had been treated; the corroded skin was disinfected and bandaged, and the heavily injured leg had been cut open in several places to drain blood and reduce swelling, with joints secured. The medicine applied seemed to have special effects; the pain was suppressed and not so pronounced, and there was a tingling warmth in all his wounds.

When everything reaches its worst, things will start to get better. Any hint of recovery is extreme happiness. He began to set a principle for himself: if he didn’t know the consequences of an action, he would absolutely not carry it out. The hallmark of youthful recklessness is the belief that one can bear all consequences, but in reality? Another characteristic of youthful recklessness is the quick realization that one can bear nothing at all.

He let go of his inner anxiety, calming himself like these people, being alone was one of his few strengths. In the dim light, he became increasingly calm. Except for Wang Meng, he wouldn’t lose to anyone in daydreaming.

When the light turned on again, Li Cu felt a moment of disorientation, suddenly pulled back from his daze, feeling a slight discomfort from the inertia. Gradually, every corner hiding a person lit up. The long shadows of these people combined with the surrounding twisted vines and the strange phosphorescence and lights made everything seem very dreamlike; these people appeared like elves suddenly emerging from a Nordic forest.

Their low conversations indicated that someone had returned with news. They spoke in an incomprehensible language, and Li Cu couldn’t understand what they were saying. After their conversation, the leader came to Li Cu’s side and asked him, “Do you know what Wu Xie really wants to do? Has he revealed any information?”

Li Cu shook his head, and the person showed a look of confusion. He pondered for a moment and divided everyone into three groups using that language, sending them off in different directions. Then Li Cu was also picked up and began to move quickly, clinging to the vines.

The men in black moved very swiftly, without a word, navigating through various channels as they sped through the architectural complex.

The person carrying him was very strong, and his speed was not affected at all by the weight he was carrying. It was hard to tell how much time had passed, but the walls around them changed from concrete to rock. The cave was square-shaped, clearly man-made.

As they continued deeper into the cave, Li Zu discovered that it was an excavation site, with various supporting scaffolds and small rail carts filled with hewn stones.

As they moved further in, the paths became chaotic and disordered, with the shapes of the excavations becoming very irregular.

Clearly, this group was unfamiliar with the area; they often found themselves at dead ends, but they never hesitated. Upon realizing a path was blocked, they would immediately mark it and backtrack. However, after walking for a long time, they suddenly came across a cavern.

The cavern was also excavated, with the digging directed downward. The bottom of the cavern was already more than ten meters lower than the passageway, resembling a bomb crater.

Inside the cavern, there were steel-framed scaffolds, with many steel locks suspending numerous baskets. The scaffolds crisscrossed between the cavern walls.

The bottom of the cavern was unevenly dug, with countless small openings that could only accommodate one person, densely distributed at the bottom of the cavern, where numerous ropes could be seen hanging into these holes.

They descended to the bottom of the cavern and reached the edges of those small openings, realizing that these were vertical shafts leading down.

One man in black said, “If this is a mine, then this is the vein they found. So they’re concentrating on mining here.”

Two of them tugged on a rope to test its strength. After discovering it was not secure, they directly used their feet to grip the edges of the shaft and slid down.

The others began reinforcing some parts of the scaffolding on the cave’s structure, checking its sturdiness. Some were looking for the best lookout positions, while others started to rest.

Li Zu didn’t know their purpose; he just numbly watched, but he realized that he was temporarily safe. These people seemed intent on taking him somewhere, and they didn’t know the route.

Over the next six hours, he watched them explore all the shafts below at a rapid pace. Wu Xie had given him a piece of advice in his dreams: in uncertain situations, try to ask fewer questions and minimize any communication with the others. All information exchange should be analyzed from the questions posed by the other party, first understanding what they knew and what they assumed he knew, and then responding cautiously.

However, as Li Zu saw time pass and they continued to jump around in the shafts, he began to feel restless. Unable to hold back, he asked, “What exactly are you doing?”

The man in black, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them upon hearing the question and looked at Li Zu with a hint of confusion.

“You don’t know what we’re doing?” The man sat up suddenly.

Li Zu was taken aback, suddenly feeling something was off. Just as he was about to change his wording, the man in black approached him: “How could you not know what we’re doing?”

Li Zu felt a surge of anxiety and couldn’t control his facial expression. Seeing Li Zu’s fearful demeanor only deepened the man’s confusion. Li Zu stammered, “I mean, your efficiency is too low. What exactly are you doing? Even a fool would have figured it out by now.”

The other party looked at Li Cu with a disgusted expression and said, “Then tell me, what are we doing? Prove that you know what we are doing.” Li Cu was at a loss for words; he opened his mouth in shock, thinking, “Wow, problems arise so quickly.” The other person called over several others nearby, and they all gathered around, discussing in a language he couldn’t understand. Then, the leader drew a dagger with a swift motion. He coldly stared at Li Cu and said, “You have a bit of a problem, kid. Although I don’t know what the problem is, are you not telling us the truth?”