Chapter Twenty: The Cellar Dead End

"Mr. He, the path back is sealed by the Dragon-Breaking Stone at the small gate. Don't be in a rush to kill; keep them alive," Ding Jun warned in time.

In an instant, the situation shifted again. Everyone felt endangered, unable to distinguish friend from foe. The woman stood stiffly, a strange, inscrutable smile on her face, staring straight ahead, her gaze gradually turning hollow and vacant.

Ding Jun suddenly realized that the situation had changed once more. He immediately strode forward, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with He Wuqiu to observe the woman at close range.

"Brother Ding, what do you make of this?" He Wuqiu asked.

Ding Jun let out a long sigh: "The enemy has already departed." He could sense that there was no vitality left in the woman's body; she had withered completely, just as she had been when she first lay in the ice coffin.

He Wuqiu hesitated, slowly squatting down. With a flick of his fingers, the red venomous insects crawled silently back into his sleeve.

"But has the other party really called off the battle just like that? Why go to such lengths to stage this performance?" He Wuqiu frowned, still wary and afraid to advance.

Ding Jun could not answer that. He had started this "resurrected corpse" drama and he had ended it, but the director was someone else; he was merely a spectator outside the circle.

Master Zhu rushed over with a swoosh, bypassed the three of them, and lunged at the ice coffin. The coffin was empty; it was clear at a single glance.

He turned around, his eyes bloodshot, glaring at He Wuqiu: "You... why didn't you ask her about the Heavenly Kingdom's treasure? We only came here for the treasure! She must have known where it was—wait, Old Shi knew about the treasure, and she told him everything. Damn it, all these years, Old Shi has been lying to us! I’ll fight him to the death! I’ll fight him to the death!"

He charged toward the stairs like a madman. Fang Qing and the others stepped aside early, letting him sprint up.

He Wuqiu shrugged and offered a silent, bitter smile. He had no response to Master Zhu's accusations.

"The dead deserve respect; I will return her to the ice coffin," Ding Jun said.

He walked over, supporting the woman's shoulders with one hand and her legs with the other, lifted her, and slowly placed her back into the ice coffin before bowing deeply.

Fang Qing followed, circling the coffin to inspect it, but could find nothing suspicious, and she couldn't help but let out a melancholy sigh.

"Senior, I hope you forgive us for the unwarranted disturbance. I will urge Uncle Shi to bury you as soon as possible. May you enter the cycle of reincarnation and be reborn soon," Ding Jun whispered a prayer.

Just then, Master Zhu’s miserable wailing echoed from the top of the stairs: "Open the door, open the door, let me out! Old Shi, open the door, you big liar, let me out..."

"The mastermind is likely outside. We’ve all been played," He Wuqiu whispered bleakly.

Ding Jun and Fang Qing stood at opposite ends of the coffin lid, exerting their strength to lift it, intending to close it back up.

"The jade medallion? What about the jade medallion?" Fang Qing suddenly realized.

The jade medallion had been the most eye-catching treasure in the coffin. When Auntie Ge had first come down, she had been captivated by it. It was clearly an ancient relic, and the quality of the jade alone was worth a million.

Fang Qing searched the woman's entire body, but the jade medallion was nowhere to be found.

This time, even Ding Jun began to scratch his head: "Miss Fang, it seems the jade medallion wasn't on her when we came down."

Fang Qing closed her eyes and meditated for a few minutes, then slowly nodded: "That's right. I always felt something was missing from the ice coffin; it was that. Perhaps someone deliberately created the 'resurrected corpse' drama just to lure us down and use us as funeral objects. In reality, they have already achieved all their goals, leaving behind only an unsolvable mess."

"What do we do?" the Fire God asked.

"What else can we do? We wait. We wait until someone triggers the mechanism for the Dragon-Breaking Stone and lets us out," He Wuqiu replied.

"Everyone, find a place to sit. Try to regulate your breathing and minimize your oxygen intake. I suspect the oxygen in this cellar won't last much longer," Ding Jun said.

He pulled Fang Qing toward the northwest corner of the cellar, sat down cross-legged, and leaned his back against the stone wall.

"Be careful," Fang Qing wrote in his palm, her eyes glancing sideways at the three members of the He family sitting at the cellar exit.

Ding Jun nodded calmly. As a master of individual combat, since he could recognize the critical issue of oxygen, he could naturally also think of the method of killing others to conserve it. There were six people in the cellar; for every one who died, one-sixth of the oxygen consumption could be reduced.

"It's good," Fang Qing wrote two more words. She leaned toward him, tilted her head, and rested it on his shoulder. Everything true and sincere was left unspoken.

Waiting for rescue was an agonizing torment. Two hours passed, feeling as long as two centuries. During this time, the three members of the He family whispered to each other a dozen times, and the fire of murder had already ignited in the Fire God’s eyes several times.

Ding Jun knew clearly that if the other side made a move, he would have to make the right decision: kill them or severely injure them.

In this situation, killing to stop killing was the best and simplest method, but this was not a battlefield. Did he really have to take others' lives to secure his own chance of survival? After leaving the Afghan battlefield, he thought he had escaped the circle of cold-blooded killing to live the life of an ordinary person.

"Mr. He, don't waste your efforts." For the last time, as the Fire God moved to the far east of the cellar and He Xiangjun reached the far north, Ding Jun spoke in a deep voice, "My life is not worth mentioning, but this time I must ensure Miss Fang survives. Therefore, the moment you make a move, I will kill. I will show no mercy. One life in exchange for your three."

He Wuqiu smiled gently and elegantly: "I'm sorry, I have no choice."

Ding Jun immediately replied coldly: "Very well, you are seeking death. It is I who have no choice."

"You alone cannot kill the three of us," He Wuqiu said, sounding like a gentle, earnest, and well-meaning friend. "Why not kill Miss Fang and Master Zhu first to temporarily resolve the current predicament? When it becomes absolutely necessary, we can think of other ways."

Ding Jun answered decisively: "Whoever moves first dies first. I’ve made myself perfectly clear."

He Wuqiu laughed softly, as if facing an impulsive child, still patiently explaining: "Brother Ding, you only live once, but there are countless beauties in the world. I admit, Miss Fang is a beauty; my little brother was enchanted by her the moment he saw her. However, we must remember, if there is no life, what is the point of beauties, money, or treasure? I have always been a reasonable person, and I appreciate smart people the most. Please don't misunderstand my good intentions."

During this time, the positions of the Fire God and He Xiangjun were constantly being adjusted. The battle was on the verge of breaking out.

Suddenly, Fang Qing stood up, her index fingers tapping her forehead repeatedly. Then, she turned around, pressed her forehead against the stone wall, and tapped her temples with her index fingers, clearly struggling to solve a baffling puzzle.

"Fang—" He Wuqiu was about to speak but was stopped by a gesture from Ding Jun.

"Why? Why? Why..." Fang Qing asked herself seven times. Suddenly, she tossed her head back and looked at Ding Jun, confusion, fear, suspicion, and anxiety flickering in her eyes.

"Do you remember what I said about seeing the 'Vessel of Ten Thousand Poisons' in Si Qin's eyes? Why was that? She was just a pregnant woman with only an infant in her womb; why did the vision of the 'Vessel of Ten Thousand Poisons' appear in her eyes? Someone must have done something to her. The 'Vessel of Ten Thousand Poisons' is a place for cultivating poisonous insects. Could it be that she herself had transformed into the 'Vessel of Ten Thousand Poisons'?"

Ding Jun didn't speak, signaling with his eyes for Fang Qing to continue.

"We are imprisoned here, and this cellar has become the 'Vessel of Ten Thousand Poisons.' In order to save oxygen and survive, we are killing each other until only one remains. Who orchestrated all this? Who wants to drag the ancient and majestic Toling Monastery into this, turning it into a battlefield for their own whims?"

A light dawned in Ding Jun’s mind. Fang Qing's comparison of their current predicament to the 'Vessel of Ten Thousand Poisons' was incredibly accurate. Miao border poison-masters would place venomous insects into a sealed container, letting them bite and kill each other to determine the final winner, which would then sublimate into a potent poison. The upcoming battle was no different from a struggle among venomous insects.

The person who closed the Dragon-Breaking Stone and imprisoned the six of them was the mastermind behind this shadow war. Insects kill each other to become a poison; what do humans become when they kill each other? The last person to walk out after slaughtering their peers must be utterly devoid of humanity, cruel, and selfish to the extreme. Such a person would also become a monster devoid of human nature.

"I connected the situation in the cellar to Si Qin—that’s the most important part. Why was the 'Vessel of Ten Thousand Poisons' in her eyes? Could it be... could it be..." Fang Qing couldn't go on.

He Wuqiu muttered in response: "Could it be that the infant in the pregnant woman's womb is the final product of the 'Vessel of Ten Thousand Poisons'?"

This conclusion was chilling.

The infant in Si Qin's womb was the last hope of the Shi family. For this infant, Shi Miaoshou was willing to fight to the death. If the infant was the product of the 'Vessel of Ten Thousand Poisons,' who would dare to raise it?

"Are you sure you didn't see it wrong? How could the thing shown in that pregnant woman's eyes possibly be the 'Vessel of Ten Thousand Poisons'?" He Xiangjun also spoke up.

Fang Qing nodded wearily, indicating she could not be mistaken.

"Big Brother, this is too strange. Si Qin is still so young. Cultivating the 'Vessel of Ten Thousand Poisons' requires years of uninterrupted nurturing. But she had her husband and father-in-law by her side; how could they not notice her abnormality?" He Xiangjun said.

"When we get out and find her to see for ourselves, we will understand," He Wuqiu replied.

The focus of the incident returned to the realistic problem of survival. In other words, whoever could kill all their peers might be the only one to see tomorrow's sun.

"Three against two, our chances of winning are slightly higher, aren't they?" A smile appeared on He Wuqiu’s face.

Ding Jun did not want to answer; he just waited in silence.

"To survive, we must try," He Wuqiu said again. "I have never believed in myths, and the Americans' Delta Force has created too many myths. Myths will eventually shatter. Those high-and-mighty idols will eventually be pushed over, fall to the ground, and become mere rubble."

"Whoever moves first dies first." Ding Jun only replied with those six words.

He Wuqiu sighed: "Threatening us? Three against two, it seems we have already won."

It appeared that this bloody battle was inevitable. The baseness of human nature was exposed before the desire for survival. This time, Ding Jun only sought to protect himself and Fang Qing, striking only after the enemy moved. Whoever approached first would be killed without exception.