Chapter 1

In a tomb passage barely wide enough for one person, Wu Xie crawled forward with difficulty. He had no idea how long he had been moving. His body was severely dehydrated, and he could no longer feel his limbs. Maybe they had been worn away, or perhaps unknown insects had devoured them.

With no ammunition left and no supplies, he lay hopelessly on the sandy ground. This time, no one would come to save him.

Fatty was outside, and the Silent Bottle—he had no idea which hole he had fallen into.

This large-scale operation orchestrated by Jin Wantang had taken many lives. Even Jin Wantang himself had perished in this conspiracy.

Now, Wu Xie figured, he was next.

He had survived countless adventures, defeated enemies lurking in the shadows again and again, but this time—it was finally his turn.

His consciousness began to fade, his breathing grew heavy, and his limbs twisted into unnatural angles. Slowly, unwillingly, he closed his eyes.

“Wu Xie.”

“Wu Xie.”

“Wu Xie!”

He heard someone calling his name.

Yes, it was the Silent Bottle! Had he come to save him?

Using the last of his strength, he forced open his cloudy, lifeless eyes and tried to move them, hoping to catch one final glimpse of his taciturn companion.

But… nothing.

Was something blocking his view? He had clearly heard the voice—where? Where was he? Silent Bottle! Where are you?!

“Ah… ugh…”

With great effort, Wu Xie struggled to rise. His body contorted into a strange, twisted position as he crawled on his knees. Slowly, he turned his neck to scan his surroundings.

Darkness. Pure, suffocating darkness. He couldn’t see.

He couldn’t see where Silent Bottle was!

“Silent Bottle? Where are you? I… I can’t see you anymore.”

Wu Xie stretched out his slightly less damaged hand into the void, shaking it desperately in all directions, hoping to feel even the slightest touch—a piece of fabric, anything.

“Hahh~”

Breathing heavily, he groped blindly in the darkness. But in the end, his fingers found nothing but the cold stone walls of the tomb passage.

In his daze, he heard Fatty’s agonized screams—his voice filled with pain as he called out his name.

“Tianzhen! Tianzhen! Run!”

Run? Where could he run?

Wu Xie bent down, burying his face in his hands, letting out a hopeless wail.

“Wu Xie, Wu Xie…”

Someone gently lifted him up in the darkness. The person carried the scent of snow—cold and crisp.

“Silent Bottle, you came.”

[My hands hurt, my legs hurt too. I think I can’t see you anymore. And… I heard Fatty… he’s in trouble.]

The rest of his words never made it out. He collapsed heavily to the ground, unable to get up again.

He vaguely felt Silent Bottle carrying him away, out of this endless tomb passage.

They found Fatty, Xiaohua, and the Blind Man. They spent half a year recovering in a hospital. Strangely enough, even their wounds had disappeared.

Then, they returned to Rain Village to retire—farming, running a small restaurant, quarreling with the neighborhood aunties. Life was peaceful, even joyful.

Day after day passed. But their bodies never aged. None of them did. Time left no mark on them.

And… why wasn’t it raining? Why did he feel water dripping on his face?

Something was wrong. This didn’t make sense.

Could it be…

Wu Xie’s eyes flew open. His body was still weak, wracked with unbearable pain.

As expected… an illusion.

He had fallen into another illusion.

Was his heart truly so unsteady? Wu Xie couldn’t help but doubt himself.

Greedily, he craned his neck and licked the water droplets from the stone wall, trying to regain a sliver of strength.

He slumped to the ground. He had no idea how much time had passed. But maybe, just maybe, the water had helped. His body had recovered just a little bit of strength.