A piece of Japanese incense

The leading butterfly entered the crack first, and the huge group of butterflies came in one after another like a stream that had found its home. Points of moonlight flickered in the dark crack, illuminating the way ahead.

Yu Nian and Zhi Yihe leaned sideways and struggled to squeeze into the crack. The crack was damp, and under their feet were slippery stone steps that sloped downward.

"Strange!" Zhi Yihe said as they walked, "This road isn't on the map~"

Yu Nian held her hand and said, "Once the arrow is shot, there's no turning back. They're leading the way, so just follow them!"

They walked out of the crack and came to a closed oval natural stone chamber. The chamber was not large, with walls made of solid golden rock. Some strange phosphorescent mosses hung from the ceiling, barely providing a little light.

When they saw the scene inside the stone chamber clearly, they found that there was no way out.

There was no other exit from the stone chamber except the cracked entrance they had entered through. The walls were smooth and seamless.

"What's going on? There's no way out?" Yu Nian looked around and confirmed that this was indeed a dead end.

Zhi Yihe wondered: "Why did they bring us here?"

A vast swarm of multi-spiritual butterflies circled within the stone chamber, their moon-white light like stars, illuminating the entire chamber with a dreamlike quality. The leading multi-spiritual butterfly, however, broke away from the swarm and flew alone to a smooth, flat stone wall in the center of the chamber.

It hovered quietly in front of the stone wall, flapping its wings. It just stayed there, persistently waiting for... something?

Yu Nian and Zhi Yihe's eyes were all focused on it.

"What does this mean?" Zhi Yihe walked to the stone wall. There were no scratches, cracks or traces of mechanism buttons on it.

Yu Nian tapped it with his fingers, and it made a dull, solid sound.

Zhi Yihe touched the surface of the stone wall inch by inch and found nothing unusual.

"There is no mechanism, nor secret door..." Zhi Yihe was a little anxious.

This butterfly that saved Yu Nian and led them here couldn't possibly stop here for no reason.

The Wanling Butterfly was still floating in front of the stone wall, stubbornly staying in that position.

"Ah He, don't be impatient. It must have brought us here for a reason. Perhaps... there needs to be a certain method?"

Zhi Yihe pressed his entire body against the rough mountain wall, his eyes fixed on the wings of the Wanling Butterfly without blinking, for fear of disturbing it.

"Wait!" Zhi Yihe shouted, "Look! That position! That spot!"

She pressed her fingertips on the spot on the stone wall where the butterfly had landed.

"boom--"

A low and ancient sound of a mechanism turning came from the stone wall. The stone wall that Zhi Yihe was holding down, which was originally a whole and so tightly fitted that not even a blade could be inserted, suddenly developed a straight crack as thin as a hairline.

It expanded silently, quickly changing from the thickness of a hair to the width of a finger, and the edges of the gap were extremely smooth.

"Oh my God!" Zhi Yihe's eyes widened as he looked in disbelief at the increasingly widening gap in front of him.

"Wow!" she exclaimed in amazement. "What kind of magical technology is this? They turned a mountain into an invisible door?!"

Yu Nian made a prompt decision, carried Zhi Yihe on his back and walked out of the mountain.

After passing through the water curtain and experiencing a brief sense of weightlessness, the scene in front of me suddenly changed.

It was no longer a cave shimmering with golden light, but a vast open garden shrouded in the night.

Underfoot lay a smooth bluestone path, flanked by shadowy trees of various shapes. In the distance, the eaves and brackets of pavilions and towers were silhouetted in the thin moonlight. The air was moist, carrying the freshness of grass and trees.

"Where is this?" Yu Nian wondered, "Is there a courtyard hidden in the belly of the mountain?"

Zhi Yihe sighed, "I don't know. It's not even shown on the map..."

The two walked along the bluestone path. The courtyard was huge and had no boundaries. They passed through one moon gate, one hanging flower gate, one archway after another...

Behind each door is an independent little world: there is the Jiangnan charm of overlapping rockery and winding streams; there is a Zen courtyard with green pines and cypresses and silent stone lanterns; there is a magnificent palace with blooming flowers and carved beams and painted buildings... The styles are very different, but they are unified in this huge garden.

But no matter how many courtyards they walked through or how many corridors they passed, what made them shudder was that this garden seemed endless and dead silent!

There were no lights! No candles! All the windows were dark.

"Brother Nian..." Zhi Yihe hugged Yu Nian's arm tightly: "Are we still in the mountains? Could this be part of the tomb? How terrifying..."

The more she thought about it, the more terrified she became. Those female corpses scattered in the giant pit, this vast and magnificent garden that never saw the light of day...

Yu Nian's heart was also filled with alarm bells, a chill running down his spine. He suppressed his fear and tried to remain calm. "Don't be afraid. Look, there are trees, flowers, and a path here. It doesn't look like a tomb at all. Maybe... maybe this is a secret retreat built by the Xiqi royal family? I don't know why it was abandoned, so no one is here..."

His consolation was feeble and powerless, for even he himself could not explain this absolute darkness and boundless space.

They walked for who knows how much longer, through how many gates they passed. Zhi Yihe was already weak, relying solely on her willpower to sustain herself. The long trek, the extreme tension and fear, and her empty stomach had completely drained her strength.

"I can't do it anymore! I give up, I can't walk anymore!" She slumped on the steps, her forehead covered in sweat.

"Oh my God!" Zhi Yihe raised his head and screamed, "What do you want?! Give me a quick death!"

The shrill screams echoed in the empty courtyard, hitting the walls and causing echoes, adding a bit of eeriness.

Yu Nian looked at Zhi Yihe's devastated expression and sat down beside her: "It's okay~ We'll be out soon!"

He took off his outer robe and wrapped Zhi Yihe's body, holding her in his arms and warming her with his body temperature.

"Don't be afraid, I'm with you. Let's not leave yet, just rest here." Yu Nian whispered comfortingly, looking around vigilantly in the darkness.

Since they stepped into this courtyard, the guiding butterflies have never appeared again, leaving only the two of them, relying on each other for survival.

Zhi Yihe leaned on Yu Nian's chest, listening to his steady and strong heartbeat, and his tense nerves and collapsed emotions calmed down a little.

Yu Nian patted her back gently, as if lulling her to sleep when she was little, and forced himself to think calmly. He wondered if he could see the surroundings clearly at daybreak. Was there a central building in the garden? Could those unlit rooms offer shelter or clues?

……

As the night deepened, the cold and hunger were like a thorn in their flesh, gnawing at the will of the two men.

Zhi Yihe's body grew colder and colder, and her consciousness began to blur. Despite Yu Nian's repeated soothing words, she finally gave up, her heavy eyelids closed, and she fell into a semi-comatose sleep.

Yu Nian sensed she was asleep, but he didn't dare sleep, forcing himself to stay awake. However, his body, which had just recovered from a serious injury, and the immense psychological pressure at the moment, made his eyelids grow heavier the harder he tried to keep his eyes open...

Finally, the two exhausted figures snuggled together and fell into a deep sleep.

Yu Nian opened her eyes and found soft and silky bedding beneath her, with a faint soothing fragrance lingering around her nose.

He sat up suddenly. There was a carved bed with light gauze curtains. Beside the bed stood a row of maids with their heads bowed and their eyes lowered respectfully.

The leading maid, seeing she had woken up, showed no sign of commotion. She turned around and quickly and silently exited the room.

Yu Nian's mind exploded with a roar: "Where's Ah He?!" He roared, ignoring the maids' outstretched hands, he threw back the quilt and jumped off the bed barefoot! The silky silk dress tripped him, and he pushed aside the maid who tried to stop him and rushed out of the room like a madman!

The glaring sunlight made him squint, and he found himself in an elegant and spacious courtyard with rockery, flowing water, and lush flowers and trees. It was completely different from the gloomy maze last night.

In the center of the courtyard, on a large rosewood lounge chair, an old man in a plain brocade robe, his hair and beard all white, was leisurely basking in the sun. Hearing the noise, he tilted his head slightly and glanced at Yu Nian, barefoot and disheveled, without a trace of surprise on his face.

"You're awake." The old man said calmly, "Tell me, little kid, how did you break into my 'Guiyuan'?"

"Where is the girl who was with me! Where is she?! How is she?!" Yu Nian didn't care about "Returning to the Garden". Zhi Yihe's safety was the only thing he cared about at the moment.