Upon hearing that there was a house, and it wasn’t small, everyone became tense.

In the deep mountains, there was a house that had been prohibited for others to enter by King Liang twenty years ago.

This association inevitably made people feel it had a profound meaning.

Qin Fang furrowed his brow and climbed up a tree.

As Qin Fang climbed, Captain Lu and the others also climbed trees.

Indeed, there was a house to the southwest; from their angle, the house looked quite sizable, but they couldn’t see much else because it was hidden among the wild grass and trees.

Everyone came down from the trees. Captain Lu looked at Qin Fang and asked, “General?”

Qin Fang said, “Tao Shan and I will take five people to investigate. You go call for more men and surround this area. The house is a bit far from here, so we won’t be able to observe any movements here. Unless we are discovered as soon as we reach Beast Mountain, then if we are already discovered at that time, we will have startled the snake from the grass, and it won’t matter how many more people we call.”

Captain Lu replied, “Understood.”

Captain Lu took the remaining five soldiers down the mountain.

He went to the eastern suburb military camp to call for reinforcements while the five soldiers gathered the others on the mountain to avoid making unnecessary noise as they ventured deeper into the mountain.

Meanwhile, Qin Fang and the others continued to move forward.

Speaking of which, this stepped mountain path indeed led to the house in the southwest.

However, looking at the state of this stepped mountain path indicated that the people inside the house hadn’t moved for a long time.

After the stepped mountain path, they switched to a stone path, which was quite smooth.

Tao Shan said, “General, something is watching us in secret.”

Qin Fang replied, “Yes, several of them. They should be wild beasts; don’t worry about them.”

The gazes of wild beasts are different from those of humans.

The only creatures that can watch them in this place without causing any noise are wild beasts.

If it were humans, they would be discovered when getting closer.

After thinking for a moment, Qin Fang explained, “Generally speaking, wild beasts don’t actively attack humans unless they are hungry, feel threatened, or if a female beast is nursing and someone or another animal approaches it, it will attack to protect its young. However, there are exceptions for some wild beasts, like tigers.”

Since he was a child, Qin Fang often went up the mountains to play, so he understood something about the wild beasts up there. Later, he served in the military at the border and had hunted, naturally coming up with his own conclusions. “Do you know why wild beasts don’t actively attack humans?”

Tao Shan asked, “Why?”

Other soldiers were also puzzled.

Qin Fang explained, “Because humans fear wild beasts, and wild beasts fear humans. In this world, humans are in charge; it’s not wild beasts that capture humans for trade; it’s humans that capture wild beasts for trade.

So even though they are beasts, in their consciousness, they also know that we humans are powerful and dangerous. Therefore, unless in special circumstances, they won’t actively attack humans.”

This is actually similar to the psychological tactics in military strategy: during a battle, if there’s no foundation, they will only test each other.

But between humans and animals, there’s no need for testing anymore since humans have already taken the dominant position.

Hearing Qin Fang say this, Tao Shan and the others felt much more at ease.

However, to be cautious in case the beasts watching them included tigers or lions, they were still very careful.

However, their caution was indeed warranted, but here, they could completely relax.

Lions live in the grasslands, making them kings among animals, but they are kings of the grasslands.

Tigers, too, are kings among animals, but they are the kings of the forest.

Therefore, there has always been a debate over which is the king of beasts, as they live in different places and can’t be compared.

In this area, lions wouldn’t exist, so the wild beasts that Qin Fang considered dangerous would be tigers.

But the habits of tigers made it very unlikely for them to come out at this time, as tigers generally hunt at night; during the day, they mostly sleep.

This was why Qin Fang could reassure the soldiers not to worry about the wild beasts watching them.

Of course, being at ease and not worrying did not mean being careless; caution and vigilance are still necessary in the wild.

After walking for another quarter of an hour, they finally arrived near the so-called house.

However, they were all dumbfounded.

Because the area around the house was overgrown with weeds, it was impossible for anyone to live there.

So no matter how they looked at it, it seemed unbelievable.

One soldier said, “General, could there be a trap here?”

Qin Fang replied, “I don’t sense any human presence here. Tao Shan, you stay here to assist; the rest follow me inside.”

“Understood.” One of the soldiers stepped forward and said, “General, let me lead the way.”

Qin Fang didn’t call his own people to take the lead recklessly.

He said, “You come behind me.” If danger were to arise, his own skills would be able to handle it to some extent.

The soldiers felt a slight surge of emotion in their hearts. “Yes, sir.”

Qin Fang moved to the front, leading five soldiers carefully along the mountain path.

Tao Shan concealed himself outside, feeling worried but knowing someone had to stay behind.

To be fair, Qin Fang and the others were extremely cautious.

However, with Qin Fang’s keen intuition, he detected nothing unusual.

Everything appeared to be an abandoned courtyard—oh no, it looked like a Taoist temple.

They arrived at the entrance, where they found a plaque that read “Changshou Pavilion.”

For some reason, seeing that name made Qin Fang more inclined to believe it was indeed a Taoist temple.

But who would build a temple here?

King Liang?

Aside from King Liang, he couldn’t think of anyone else.

“Prepare to infiltrate,” Qin Fang whispered.

The temple door was wide open, or rather, it had fallen to the ground due to its dilapidated state.

There was no door left at all.

As soon as they entered the temple and took a few steps inside, they heard a sound—a rustling noise from chains dragging on the ground.

“Be careful; there’s something inside, probably a person,” Qin Fang warned.

The noise of the chains scraping against the ground indicated that someone was moving—there was little chance it was an animal.

So, there was someone here.

Qin Fang drew his sword. “You all stay hidden and be ready to assist. I’ll go take a look.”

“Yes, sir.”

With agile movements, Qin Fang slipped in, approaching the source of the noise.

He reached a window, and because the window was so dilapidated, he could see inside clearly.

However, he was puzzled by what he saw.

Inside was a person, disheveled, with their hands and feet bound.

They were rolling on the ground, which was the cause of the noise from the chains.

After rolling for a while, the person lay flat on the ground.

Qin Fang observed them, perplexed.

Looking around the room, it appeared to be an alchemy room.

Oh, and there was a piece of meat on the ground—fresh, bloody meat.

He noted that there was no one else in the room; it was only the chained person.

Qin Fang deftly climbed through the window.

Just as he was about to approach, he suddenly heard a commotion outside.

A shadow rushed in quickly from outside.

Qin Fang tightened his grip on his sword, fearing the worst.

To his surprise, it was an old tiger.

This tiger looked extremely aged, its signs of aging were very apparent.

The tiger let out a roar and positioned itself in front of the chained person.

Hearing the noise, the soldiers rushed to the window. “General?” They were startled to see the tiger. “General, why is there a tiger?”

The chained person was also startled by the commotion.

He scrambled to his feet, looking at Qin Fang and then at the tiger, with a confused expression that suggested he was far from normal.

“Roar…” The tiger did not attack; this was not typical behavior.

Usually, tigers would pounce on their prey without hesitation.

Tigers were ferocious creatures, unmatched in speed and strength—far beyond that of a human.

Even though the tiger before them was very old, it was still unusual for it to be so wary of Qin Fang.

Qin Fang held no murderous intent toward the tiger.

In this rundown temple, especially after the noise, the lack of other people meant it was only the chained individual… and the tiger?

The chained person was bound and unable to move, but how did he survive?

Looking at the piece of raw meat on the ground, was the tiger keeping the chained person alive?

This possibility struck Qin Fang as utterly bizarre.

Since he sensed the tiger had no intention of attacking him, he redirected his attention to the chained individual. “Can you understand what I’m saying?”

“Excuse me… can you… understand my words?” The person’s voice was hoarse, sounding as if they had damaged their throat.

“Who are you? Why are you here?” Qin Fang asked.

“Who… who?” The chained person stared at Qin Fang. “Who are you?”

One soldier commented, “General, could he be a fool?”

Another soldier chimed in, “You’re the fool! If he were normal, he wouldn’t be here, would he?”

Qin Fang instructed, “You all go check the other rooms and see if you find anything.”

“Yes, sir!” The five soldiers quickly left.

“Fool… fool?” The chained person shook his head. “I’m not a fool… I’m not. I am… immortal! I have the elixir of immortality. Yes, yes, I must refine the elixir of immortality…” As he spoke, the chained person began to rise, mumbling, “Where is it? Where’s the elixir of immortality?”

Qin Fang thought for a moment. “Are you a Taoist? Were you refining medicine here?”

The chained person’s eyes lit up. “Yes… yes, I refine medicine! I refine the elixir of immortality!”

“Do you know King Liang?” Qin Fang asked.

King Liang?

The chained person first looked puzzled, then suddenly brightened. “King Liang told me to refine medicine! King Liang… King Liang wants to live forever…”

From the chained person’s words, Qin Fang drew some conclusions: this temple was built by King Liang, and this chained person was likely a Taoist captured by King Liang to refine medicine.

The fact that he was bound by chains indicated that he had been taken by force rather than being invited.

Since King Liang had died twenty years ago, this person had probably been captured two decades ago.

This meant he had likely been bound here for over twenty years.

But how had he survived all that time?

Had this old tiger kept him alive?