In the beginning, the idea to bring Master Jiu along was thought up by Xiao Feng.

And as it turns out, this decision was correct.

Although, in many places, Master Jiu appeared extremely unreliable, he still played the role he was meant to.

For example, Zhao Guo'an's leg, which even the highly skilled Sun Shijie was at a loss with, was solved by Master Jiu, who wasn't even known for medical skills.

This matched the old saying: Each field has its expert.

After a moment of waiting, Master Jiu said, "I did encounter similar situations before, but it's the phrase I've repeated countless times: there's an essential difference between a cave and a mausoleum, such as the airflow.

You see, a mausoleum is built for the dead, constructed with only anti-theft measures in mind, with no concerns for ventilation, making it easier to deal with; just light incense and see which direction the smoke goes.

But now the air flows freely, so..."

Xiao Feng made a pause gesture, interrupting, "So, is there a way to find the right path?"

Master Jiu pondered for a while, then sighed, "I can only say I'll do my best."

After saying this, he took out an octagonal disc from his backpack.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Feng and Zhao Guo'an exchanged a glance, both feeling a sense of unreliability.

You should know that previously, even through a wall, this thing didn't work well, so how could it be effective underground about ten meters?

While they were in doubt, Master Jiu said, "This is called the Eight Gates. It's usually only used when you really don't know which direction to go because the results it provides are very general, and the accuracy is hard to control."

Xiao Feng's face darkened; this old guy is as unreliable as ever.

Master Jiu continued to say, "The so-called Eight Gates refer to Kai, Xiu, Sheng, Shang, Du, Jing, Si, Jing.

The specific principles can't be explained in a short time; there's a lot of knowledge here, and even I only understand a little.

Simply put, Kai, Xiu, Sheng represent the auspicious gates; Si, Jing, Shang stand for the inauspicious gates; Du and Jing represent neutral gates, meaning a fifty-fifty chance of good or bad."

As he spoke, Master Jiu looked at the compass in his hand, took out chalk, and began drawing on the ground with mysterious patterns that no one could understand.

However, everyone could understand the arrows and words.

First was the arrow pointing in the direction from where they came, with the words Kai, Xiu, Sheng, meaning clearly that the best choice was to go back the way they came.

Xiao Feng frowned slightly, suspecting that this old fellow Master Jiu had written this on purpose, trying to get him to decide to go back.

But suspicion is one thing; finding any evidence surely leads nowhere.

Then there was the arrow pointing to the left passage, labeled with Du and Jing. According to Master Jiu's previous explanation, going left meant mixed fortune, a fifty-fifty chance.

As for the arrow pointing to the right, there was obviously no need to look; if going back was auspicious and left was uncertain, then right would certainly be inauspicious.

"So according to this, we should go left next?" Xiao Feng asked.

Master Jiu put the chalk and compass back in his bag and rubbed his chin, "It's not quite right to say that. According to the book, the Eight Gates must consider many factors: environment, time, even space."

Besides, you must consider mutual enhancement and restraint.

The ancients said, 'An auspicious gate restrained by an auspicious palace doesn't manifest auspiciously; an inauspicious gate restrained by an inauspicious palace fails to manifest inauspiciously. An auspicious gate mutually enhanced results in great benefits, an inauspicious gate mutually enhanced leads to unavoidable disasters; an auspicious gate restrained by a palace doesn't yield auspicious results, an inauspicious gate restrained by a palace results in greater inauspiciousness.'

Xiao Feng slowly closed his eyes, feeling a flame burning in his chest, increasingly out of control...

"This talk is pointless, isn't it?" Zhao Guo'an said frustratedly, "If that's the case, going in any direction wouldn't be considered wrong."

The impulsive young girl simply used her foot to erase Master Jiu's arrows and diagrams on the ground, saying angrily, "You're just deliberately wasting time!"

"Enough." Xiao Feng said calmly, raising his hand to stop the others who were about to complain about Master Jiu but hadn't started yet.

For a moment, the audience was silent, waiting for Xiao Feng's next move.

Yet Xiao Feng just looked at Master Jiu and said mildly, "Don't let it happen again."

Master Jiu's heart skipped a beat, cold sweat broke out uncontrollably on his back.

Xiao Feng's four words seemed calm but felt ice-cold to Master Jiu, like falling into an ice cellar.

In truth, Master Jiu did partially guide intentionally, wanting Xiao Feng to develop the idea of retreat; since they weren't too deep in, he could still suggest withdrawing.

But the four words "Don't let it happen again" showed Xiao Feng's intentions clearly, that going deeper was unavoidable.

"I understand..." Master Jiu replied with a bitter smile.

Indeed, Xiao Feng's recent lazy demeanor and mix of teasing with everyone made Master Jiu almost forget how he was initially coerced.

It was hard to say if Xiao Feng was a bad person, but he definitely wasn't a good one, at least Master Jiu could confirm this much.

If this happened again, his fate would be quite miserable!

After admonishing Master Jiu, Xiao Feng chose to go right, knowing at least that he had some confidence, compared to going left.

And when they saw the "five stinking mud pools," despite being mentally prepared, everyone felt a chill from the bottom of their hearts. This outcome was indeed very tragic!

Even Sun Shijie felt somewhat sympathetic, although the five people ended up like this due to coveting his ancestral treasure.

"Hard to accept, right?" Xiao Feng smiled and said, "Think about it differently, everyone must pay for their actions; no one invited them in, so they're paying for their folly."

Lu Yao hesitated, "That's true, but dying without a whole body, this price seems too steep!"

"Is it?" Xiao Feng laughed again, sarcastically saying, "Actually, whether it's finding it scary or thinking they're pitiful, it all boils down to fearing the same outcome happening to oneself."

At these words, everyone immediately realized Xiao Feng was truly in a foul mood.

Because under normal circumstances, aside from Zhao Guo'an and Lin Jiaxuan, he rarely contradicted others, especially pampering the young girl and Lu Yao.

But now, even Lu Yao was rendered speechless by Xiao Feng, indicating the seriousness of the situation.

...

Meanwhile, several hundred kilometers away in Jiangcheng.

Gao Panpan was sitting on the office sofa organizing files, her professional attire exuding a mature beauty.

She looked practiced, as if she had already settled into the role of a personal secretary.

"Click!"

The lock turned, and the office door opened.

Gao Panpan immediately stood up, "Director Du, in half an hour, you have an appointment with..."

Her words stopped abruptly because she realized the person who entered wasn't Du Linlang, but a short-haired young man with a rose in his mouth.

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