Bright Sword: Conquer the monk at the beginning and take down Zhou Weiguo

That was the chisel mark left by his master, Qin Wuqian.

That person had disappeared for many years and no one knew whether he was dead or alive, but now, the clue was right in front of us.

That chisel mark, on the most inconspicuous side of the stele, appears casual, yet is actually precise. It's tilted slightly to the right by three degrees, landing just an inch higher. Combining the topography and surrounding structures, it perfectly avoids all blind spots. This technique, unmatched in the world, is unmatched.

"It's him." Qin Cang murmured, his voice as low as a wisp of wind.

Liu San wanted to interrupt, but when he saw the expression on his face that had never appeared before, he swallowed what he wanted to say.

Qin Cang's hand gripped the old sword tightly, his knuckles turning white. He had walked along this path, step by step, as if walking through a dead, silent dream. And this stele... this seal... was like a sudden intrusion of reality into the dream, cruel and clear, instantly tightening a string in his heart that had been buried for years, almost snapping it.

His master, Qin Wuqian, disappeared for fifteen years. His last words before disappearing were: "The line is still there."

From then on, he had been searching and walking all the time, from mountains to deserts, from desolate graves to cliffs, walking through one dead end after another, changing one map after another, but all clues pointed to the cliff, and there was no way to go.

until today.

"You said... this stone tablet was left by your master?" Liu San asked tentatively, with undisguised awe and curiosity in his voice.

Qin Cang nodded, but there was no relief in his eyes.

"What does he want to tell me?" Qin Cang muttered to himself, as if he was not asking Liu San, but asking the stone tablet, the seal, or even asking himself.

His heart was in turmoil, but he remained calm on the surface.

Over the years, he has been silently pursuing the traces of that line. He has dreamed of his master's back countless times and asked again and again: "What do you want me to find?" But the person in the dream never looked back, but just kept moving forward, walking to a distance that he could not reach.

He didn't believe in fate or luck, but he only believed what that man said.

"The line is still there."

He spent fifteen years verifying this statement, gambling every waking night on it.

He slowly stood up, turned to Liu San and said, "I want to go down."

"Are you crazy?" Liu San's eyes widened as he growled, "It's so open down there. If they find you, there won't be any way to escape!"

"They haven't arrived yet." Qin Cang's eyes flickered slightly. "They are on the back road, following the secondary route. They don't know we have entered the wind line gap, so they won't appear in this valley immediately."

Liu San gritted his teeth and said, "What about me? Should I stay and watch the wind line?"

"No." Qin Cang's eyes were calm. "Come with me. There's not only a monument below, but also a node entrance. I can't open it by myself. I need you to follow the location markings."

Liu San's face darkened, and he felt like slapping himself. Why had he followed this guy out? He hadn't even gotten the money yet, and he was about to lose his life.

But he finally nodded and silently tightened the cloth bag in his hand. Inside it were old line drawings that he had pieced together from line artists from all over the place, as well as some long-forgotten copies.

Crouching low, they slid slowly downhill from the edge of the valley. The soil between the rocks was soft and slippery, making no sound when stepped on, but easily sinking in. They avoided the center and chose to cut in from a fallen, moss-covered tree on the side.

Qin Cang walked very slowly, as if he was counting time with every step.

Liu San walked behind him and looked at his back. He suddenly felt that this man was not born cold and hard, but was ground into stone by something over the years.

Qin Cang walked to a position seven steps in front of the stone tablet and stopped. The wind suddenly became still, as if the entire space had held its breath.

He squatted down, drew the short blade from his waist, and lightly scratched the ground.

"This is the junction." He said in a low voice, "The point where a line converges, connecting to other branches."

Liu San blinked and whispered, "How did you know?"

"Line traces." Qin Cang didn't explain too much, pointing his finger at a barely perceptible line on the mud. "Feng shui, mountain terrain, rock formations, orientation, lighting... these can all serve as criteria for determining a line. This is an old-fashioned way of using lines, long forgotten by modern people."

Liu San stared at the "line" that he couldn't see at all, opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

"Go measure the rear triangular area and look for dents. There should be an indentation." Qin Cang ordered.

Liu San didn't dare to delay, crouching down and quickly running to the right rear. As expected, there was a slightly sunken stone slab on the slope at the triangle position, with a circle of rust embedded on it.

"Found it! It's right here!"

"Don't move!" Qin Cang said softly, "First see if there are any changes in the lines."

Liu San retracted his hand, looked at the ground, and shook his head after a while: "No movement."

"That means it hasn't been triggered yet." Qin Cang nodded. "I'll open the first one now, and you prepare to open the second one."

He slowly inserted the short blade into the center of the line on the ground, touched the chisel mark on the stone tablet with his fingertips, and felt a slight vibration.

"Master..." he murmured softly, "You really set up a meeting point here... What exactly do you want me to see?"

Before he finished speaking, the ground suddenly shook, there was a "click" sound behind the stone tablet, and the entire terrain sank slightly.

At the same time, a voice came from Liu San's side: "Master Qin! This thing is turning by itself! It's turning!"

Qin Cang's expression changed, and he stood up suddenly, his eyes like knives: "They are coming - they have also opened the other end of the meeting point!"

"What?" Liu San exclaimed, "How is that possible? How did they know?"

"It's not that they knew, they followed you in." Qin Cang gritted his teeth, his voice lowered to ice. "Have you paid attention to what's behind you since you came back?"

Liu San's face turned pale instantly: "I... I..."

Before he could finish his words, a sharp sound of breaking wind was suddenly heard in the distance, and a skinning blade so sharp that it made one's teeth ache pierced straight into the stone tablet where they had just stood!

Qin Cang did not hesitate, pulled Liu San up, turned around and ran towards the depths of the valley.

"If you don't leave now, not even a bone will be left!" When he said this, there was no fear in his eyes, but an extremely suppressed anger.

Over the years, he has been pursuing clues, enduring humiliation, and walking alone in the dark, not for the sake of risking his life.

But to find out the disappeared past.

Now, he finally reached the entrance - and they came too.

His heartbeat was unprecedentedly intense at this moment. He knew the truth behind the line lay just ahead, and that what was chasing them wasn't just the Skinners, wasn't just danger, but something he had long sensed but dared not face—the unspoken secret of his master before he disappeared that year.

"Liu San!" he growled, "From now on, you must obey all my instructions! This isn't about survival, it's about finding the real clue!"

Liu San's face was covered in sweat, and he nodded rapidly: "I'm listening! I'm listening! If you say jump off the cliff, I'll jump!"

The thing behind the door is alive - not alive, but some system is still functioning, even if it is just a residual trace.