The people of Great Zhou erupted in fury, condemning him for butchering royal kin and slaughtering his own citizens.
Disheartened, King Mu abandoned his homeland, leading the Eight Great Clans into the northern wilderness.”
Wang Cang Hai let out a soft sigh. “So in the end, Ji Mu couldn’t return to Great Zhou after parting ways with the Queen Mother of the West at Kunlun.”
Qilin sighed as well. “And because he had slaughtered too many members of the Ji royal bloodline, he felt unworthy of his surname.
So when he left Chang’an, he announced to the world—he would no longer bear the name ‘Ji’.
Instead, he would take the name of his fallen nation—henceforth calling himself Zhou Mu.”
The Clue to Escape
Zhang Hai Xing raised his voice again:
“Clan Leader, does it say anything about how to get out of here?”
Qilin shook his head. “There’s no map or clear instructions.”
“No,” Wang Cang Hai said. “The Eight Steeds mural already gives us a clue.”
“The way the horses are positioned follows the Eight Trigrams and Na Jia sequence. That’s the key to opening the exit.”
Qilin asked, “How do we unlock it?”
Wang Cang Hai tilted his head up toward him. “Clan Leader, come down first.”
He opened his arms slightly—as if preparing to catch him.
Qilin estimated the height.
If I jump down too quickly, I might crash into Wan Bao.
So, instead—
He chose to descend step by step, using the stone slabs as footholds.
Wang Cang Hai lowered his arms, his expression growing colder, calmer—
Then, he bowed his head and began tracing a diagram in the dirt with the tip of his boot.
Qilin drew closer to see—
And realized—
It was the Jing Fang Eight Palace Trigram Map.
The arrangement of positions perfectly matched the Eight Steeds mural from the ceiling.
Qilin couldn’t help but admire Wan Bao’s keen eye and intellect.
Meanwhile, Zhang Hai Xing and Zhang Hai Wang craned their necks to watch Wang Cang Hai draw, but they couldn’t understand a thing.
Wang Cang Hai finished the diagram, furrowed his brows in thought, and said:
“To unlock the exit, we need to cut the Nine-Headed Serpent Cypress at three precise locations.”
Qilin scratched his head. “Your diagram has sixteen different orientations. How do we pinpoint the right ones?”
Wang Cang Hai countered with a question:
“At the end of your story, where did King Mu go when he left Great Zhou?”
Qilin’s eyes lit up. “North!”
Wang Cang Hai nodded. “Correct.
If we treat this trigram map like a tortoiseshell divination chart, the ‘head’ of the tortoise should point north.
That means the three vines we need to cut are positioned at Qian Gua, Gou Gua, and Dun Pi.”
Qilin unsheathed the black-gold saber in a single motion. “I’ll go chop the tree.”
Wang Cang Hai said, “Good. I’ll cover you.”
The two moved forward side by side, while the Zhang clan members followed closely behind.
Qilin’s movements were swift and precise—
His blade danced through the air, tearing three deep gaps into the entangled mass of cypress vines.
Suddenly—
A thunderous crack erupted from the ground.
The Nine-Headed Serpent Cypress’s roots burst through the floor—
Stretching high into the cavern.
Without warning—
Wang Cang Hai grabbed Qilin and rolled to the ground—
Dodging through the gaps in the twisting roots.
Qilin was startled.
He turned back to look—
The serpent cypress’s roots had already coiled tightly over the ground, sealing the gap seamlessly, trapping the Zhang clan members on the other side of the vine net.
Qilin lay flat on his back, while Wang Cang Hai was pressed down on top of him, making it hard for Qilin to breathe.
His face flushed red, cheeks puffing in frustration.
“Why are you crushing me?” Qilin huffed.
Wang Cang Hai answered with perfect composure. “The ground is dirty. I can’t lie on it.”
Qilin grew even more indignant. “So just because you don’t want to get dirty, you’re using me as a human cushion? That’s too much!”
With that, he pushed Wang Cang Hai off and sat up, his expression full of irritation.
“I promised to take them with us. Now it’s just the two of us who escaped—what the hell is this supposed to be?”
He rose to his feet decisively. “No, I have to go back and save the Zhang clan.”
Wang Cang Hai also stood up, looking down at Qilin from above.
His voice was calm but firm.
“We haven’t escaped.”
“We’ve only sunk deeper into the lake.”
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