Tan Muxing had been alternating between chest compressions and artificial respiration. Now that he confirmed her breathing was gradually recovering, he dared not relax and continued persisting.
After a short while, Liu Jun and others, following the information Tan Muxing left behind, traced the dark river and found the two in distress.
It wasn’t until the emergency personnel were about to carry Chu Qianli away that Tan Muxing allowed some space, though he still nervously followed behind.
Inside the hospital, the unconscious Chu Qianli was taken away for emergency treatment by medical staff, while others paced anxiously in the corridor.
Liu Jun reported, “At the explosion site, there were soldiers from Country A and defected soldiers from Country H, but the mastermind behind this incident has not been found.”
Liu Jun and his team extinguished the flames near the imposing pillar, then arrested remaining personnel, but Lin and the others were nowhere to be seen. They probably escaped during the initial explosion and their current whereabouts are unknown.
“Understood,” Pan Yicheng said solemnly. “Aibona has already notified Q. They will launch a nationwide manhunt. This matter must have a proper explanation.”
Lin, together with Country A, suddenly initiated an armed rebellion, not only causing severe losses within Country H’s forces but also dragging innocent Chinese teams into the mess, causing very bad repercussions.
Pan Yicheng had already ordered Xu Zaiyuan and Mei Rujing to withdraw, leaving only armed police stationed near the relics to closely monitor the situation, fearing Chinese personnel would be affected by the civil war in Country H.
“Muxing, you should go back and change your clothes first,” Pan Yicheng sighed as he saw Tan Muxing sitting exhausted on a bench and advised, “We’ll notify you as soon as there’s news. Don’t push yourself to collapse too.”
Tan Muxing silently shook his head.
Recovery of breathing after drowning does not mean recovery. Many people might remain unconscious indefinitely, fall into brain death, or become vegetative.
Chu Qianli hadn’t opened her eyes yet, so naturally Tan Muxing refused to leave.
Pan Yicheng noticed his persistence and found it hard to say more, so he brought him a blanket and hot tea.
Just then, a sharp male voice came from nearby: “Don’t worry, she’s completely fine. She’s just been recently enlightened, not brain dead at all.”
Hearing this, Tan Muxing looked up and saw Huang Jue, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, now in an active form. Huang Jue had collapsed inside the tunnel and was sent to the hospital by Pan Yicheng and others—he never expected him to appear now.
Pan Yicheng showed hesitation: “…Why do you always appear all of a sudden?”
“It’s that relic causing trouble again. Didn’t expect you humans to be so petty—rudely kicking me out, and recently making my disciples extremely unstable,” said the fox immortal Huang Xian, dissatisfied. “These people are really impolite; they didn’t even post a sign saying ‘No foxes allowed’ at the entrance!”
According to Huang Xian, the murals on the tunnel walls conveyed messages to humans, but as a fox immortal, he was inexplicably driven out, causing his disciple Huang Jue to cough up blood and faint on the spot. This tunnel was a selective passage, and his identity barred him from entering.
Tan Muxing trembled as he asked, “Is she really okay?”
“Of course she’s okay. I’ve treated so many people, just a quick look and I know what’s wrong,” Huang Xian glanced toward the emergency room door and said calmly, “Actually, it’s more like her destiny has arrived.”
In Huang Xian’s vision, when Chu Qianli was brought in, her whole body was wrapped in golden light, though ordinary people could not see it. She seemed to have gained a new breakthrough from the murals.
Pan Yicheng’s expression was complicated. “You’re practicing medicine without a license, aren’t you?”
“As long as I can heal, what does it matter?” Huang Xian snapped like a fox whose tail had been stepped on, angry and ashamed. “Otherwise, let’s bet—I bet she’ll wake up soon!”
At the next moment, someone came out of the room announcing good news: Chu Qianli had successfully woken up!
Tan Muxing immediately relaxed and instinctively stood up, staring intently at the ward, waiting for the medical staff’s notification.
Huang Xian was quite proud. “I won the bet.”
“But I never made a bet with you,” Pan Yicheng reminded him. “Her waking up is thanks to hospital treatment, which doesn’t change the fact that you’re practicing medicine without a license.”
“Tsk.”
Tan Muxing entered the room to meet Chu Qianli.
Huang Xian looked at Pan Yicheng, who stood motionless beside them, and asked in puzzlement, “Aren’t you going in?”
Pan Yicheng stood at the door the whole time. He was clearly worried but did not step forward.
“Timing is everything. I’ll go in two minutes late,” Pan Yicheng touched his nose and then asked, “So what exactly do the murals in the tunnel say?”
“I don’t know, but I guess it’s related to decisions you mortals make, so they kicked me out,” Huang Xian said. “No matter what immortal sect it is, there are always similarities—either in the image of the immortal or in the cultivation philosophy. Even people far apart can have the same experiences…”
“Even ordinary mortals with no belief or cultivation process sometimes have flashes of insight that even they find miraculous. The murals record these shared experiences.”
Pan Yicheng was stunned. “You mean the collective unconscious?”
“…” Huang Xian looked confused. “What’s collective unconscious?”
Pan Yicheng, as a university professor, patiently explained to the illiterate fox: “The spiritual residue of countless shared experiences during human evolution is hidden in each person in an undefined way, possibly never consciously discovered in a lifetime, but it invisibly drives or restricts everyone.”
Huang Xian was utterly bewildered. “…Say something a fox can understand.”
Pan Yicheng stroked his chin thoughtfully and kindly: “If you use the theory of collective unconscious, then even the ‘out-of-body’ immortals can be explained. After all, figures like fox immortals are common symbols, expressions of human subconscious.”
“I’m a bona fide fox immortal!” Huang Xian exclaimed. “No science, no science! You’re more offensive to foxes than any stinky Taoist!”
Taoists at least deny the ‘out-of-body’ immortals from a Taoist viewpoint, but Pan Yicheng denied them from an atheistic perspective.
Inside the ward, Chu Qianli underwent complex examinations. It was confirmed that her body had no abnormalities, much to the amazement of the medical staff. Their greatest worry was brain death, an irreversible damage, but she seemed very relaxed during drowning, avoiding the risks caused by improper struggling.
After finishing their busy work, the medical staff left and exchanged updates with Pan Yicheng outside. Another person entered through the door.
Chu Qianli lifted her eyes to see the visitor and immediately brightened, excitedly saying, “Xingxing.”
When Tan Muxing stepped into the room and saw her newly awakened, he felt as if he had crossed worlds. Perhaps the icy stillness of the dark river left a deep impression; seeing her so radiant and joyful again made him feel as if falling into a dream, unable to believe it.
Chu Qianli looked at him puzzled as he stood frozen.
After a moment, Tan Muxing lowered his eyes and softly spoke, “Is it true?”
“What?”
“…You said then that you had no regrets.”
He guessed she had a premonition back then, which was why she spoke as if bidding farewell.
Chu Qianli was startled, then lowered her head in disappointment and whispered, “Sorry, I lied…”
“I only realized underwater—I do have regrets.”
If she could never see him again, she would feel infinite regret.
Seeing her so downcast, Tan Muxing finally couldn’t help but step forward and embrace her.
When he touched her warm body, a genuine sense of having lost and found her surged through him. He trembled uncontrollably, wanting to dispel the nightmare by the dark river in his mind.
She was vibrant and joyful, full of inexhaustible life force—not a fragile, cold shell.
She had all sorts of mischievous ideas, but also cared for and healed others thoughtfully, always making things positive and beautiful.
He couldn’t imagine her disappearing.
Chu Qianli noticed Tan Muxing trembling. She pressed her face against his arm, buried herself in his embrace, and her eyes reddened. Instinctively, she rubbed her face against him.
“I’m back.”
They had searched for each other for so long in the cold, dim river water, finally able to share a pure, warm embrace.
They silently cuddled as if they were two stars bound since ancient times, intimately inseparable despite sunrise and sunset.
After a long while, Tan Muxing calmed down and gently released her, as if handling something fragile.
Chu Qianli felt the warmth that belonged to him withdraw. She pursed her lips and muttered, “Xingxing stole a kiss.”
“Huh?”
“You kissed me secretly by the water—I felt it then!” she accused indignantly.
Tan Muxing, just recovering from intense emotions, was caught off guard by her accusation. He flusteredly explained, “That was CPR—alternating chest compressions and artificial respiration, in a 30 to 2 ratio…”
He was so mentally distracted at the time, with no other thoughts, yet she turned it around on him!
“I don’t care, I want it back.”
Suddenly, Chu Qianli stood on the bed, swiftly leaned forward, then pulled away, revealing a sly smile.
Tan Muxing only felt a moist and soft touch on his cheek. When he realized it was a kiss, his ears instantly flushed deep red, an indescribable heartbeat stirring inside.
Countless mushroom clouds exploded within his chest, making him so bashful he lost control and stared back at her in disbelief.
She smiled brightly at him, her small face unable to hide her pride, fully indulging in his reckless spoiling.
If there were an idiom for a heart fluttering wildly, just now it was like a little bear’s heart fluttering.
Chu Qianli boldly reached out, actively asking for a hug from him, and deliberately stretched the tone with a smile: “My lifesaver star.”
Tan Muxing’s face flushed hot. He opened his mouth to say something but was rendered speechless by her cuteness, so he silently reached out to hug her back.
The next moment, someone at the door awkwardly cleared their throat: “Ahem, how’s the recovery going now…”
Pan Yicheng mistakenly thought he had timed his entrance well, but clearly, it was still not the right moment.
Seeing Professor Pan enter, Tan Muxing immediately stood up like lightning, blushing deeply as he stepped back toward the wall.
Pan Yicheng feigned ignorance and calmly said, “Looks like you both have regained your spirits.”
“Professor Pan.”
“It’s nothing. I just have two questions, then you should rest well,” Pan Yicheng said. “Muxing said the explosion happened after he went to find you. Did you meet Lin then?”
“Not only him, but also Lilith we met during the selection. Qiao was taken away by them.”
Pan Yicheng pondered: “These people still haven’t been found. After they escaped, they should be preparing for the next round soon.”
If Lin and the others can’t seize the key, there will probably be a decisive battle at the Gate of Truth, though no one knows when they will gather their forces.
Chu Qianli said seriously, “Professor Pan, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“We can’t open the relic now; it’s not the right time.”
Chu Qianli relayed the mural information to Pan Yicheng. The Chinese side had come to cooperate in developing the infant stone, but the situation had obviously changed and was completely different from the original intention.
She described the disastrous consequences of premature excavation—endless raging wars would burn everything down—causing Tan Muxing and Pan Yicheng’s faces to change drastically.
Pan Yicheng sighed, “I’ve felt this recently. Even if Country A suddenly intervenes, even if the relic opens, it’s no guarantee other countries won’t fight over it. It will likely lead to chaos.”
China had an agreement with the Mondsen family, but other forces wouldn’t care. Faced with huge profits, any alliance could easily collapse, like the civil strife in Country H.
Chu Qianli recalled, “I completed a massive divination underwater using the murals. I saw countless scenes of the future: fifty years later, the current world order is completely disrupted; many once-powerful countries perish one after another. Humanity enters an unimaginably chaotic era. But the five stars in the sky remain undying. Two hundred years later, a youth from the East will set foot here again. That will be the true moment to open the relic…”
“The future living environment will be very different from now. People might live long-term in virtual worlds. The infant stone will not only be an energy material but also able to regulate human brain activity,” Chu Qianli added. “But if we recklessly excavate it now, it might intensify existing conflicts and lead to the extinction of major civilizations worldwide.”
Tan Muxing understood, “Before nuclear weapons were born, the world wasn’t like this either.”
“I will report this back,” Pan Yicheng thought for a moment. “If the relic must be shut down, how confident are you?”
Hearing this, Chu Qianli knew Pan Professor had made up his mind. They were not here to rush and divide human resources but perhaps should wait naturally for future generations to discover them.
“The seventh bead is right at the Gate of Truth. There’s no need to specially build it. Only after the first six beads are placed can the calibration start,” Chu Qianli said. “I just need to touch the dial with seven stars in a row in the hall.”
Other key placement points were built independently, requiring no help from other keys. Only the final calibration demanded precision; six stars in a row must open the device. Fortunately, this time there was no need to design it; the hall’s astronomical facilities can calibrate it.
Pan Yicheng showed a troubled expression. “But Q has stationed people in the hall.”
The Chinese side was willing to keep their forces and close the relic, but the Mondsen family might not agree. According to Chu Qianli, it was uncertain whether Country H would exist in the future. The relic might no longer belong to Mondsen.
After a moment’s thought, Chu Qianli lowered her head and said, “May I meet him once?”
“What do you want to do?”
“Let me divine for him once and see what kind of future he wants.”
