I served as Li Bai's page.

As dawn broke, Li Bai began moving stones and digging again. Zhao Rui and his wife, along with their disciple and Yu Qing, arrived. They saw that the area they had dug out the day before was now filled with newly slid-down stones and soil, and knew that no matter how hard they tried, it would be useless. However, Li Bai and Zhao Rui were unwilling to give up.

Li Bai said, "Everyone, listen to my instructions. Those who are strong, move the stones; those who are weak, carry the soil. Yuehua, go find some trees or wood. We'll dig out a little space, and then use the trees or wood to support the top. As long as we dig to the entrance, there's hope."

Under Li Bai's command, everyone worked together, propping up any small opening with wooden planks. Although progress was slow, they saw hope, which energized them even more.

After digging all morning, around noon, we finally saw the entrance to the Jade Maiden Cave. However, the entrance had collapsed in the middle, and a large rock blocked the cave. We tried to move the rock, but no matter what we did, we couldn't budge it an inch.

Li Bai, holding a candle, peered inside from the large rock. It was filled with collapsed boulders and mud, sealing it almost completely. We all shouted into the cave, "Xiao Feng!" but there was no response.

At that moment, the sound of mud and rocks flowing came from above the cave.

"Run, everyone! The cave is collapsing again!" I shouted anxiously. Everyone ran out, but Li Bai remained lying motionless on the large rock. I used all my strength to pull him down and we ran out. Just as we ran out of the tunnel we had dug, the rocks above collapsed with a loud crash. The Jade Maiden Cave was buried completely again.

Everyone collapsed to the ground. Zhao Rui and his wife wept bitterly, while Li Bai sat there expressionless and silent. I could see that Li Bai was in extreme pain; his affectionate heart was slowly dying.

"Yuehua, do you have any wine? I'd like to have a drink," Li Bai said.

Yuqing said, "There's some in the tent. Yesterday, the masters from Tianshi Cave brought it over when they came to help. They said we could have a couple of sips to relax when we were tired."

As soon as Yuqing finished speaking, Li Bai walked into the tent. I followed him.

Upon entering the tent, Li Bai walked to the wine jar, leaned against the wall, and began to drink while standing and holding the jar.

"Young master, you can't drink like this. Come, sit down. I'll pour it into a bowl, and you can drink it slowly." I tried to snatch the wine jar. The moment my hand touched the jar, Li Bai threw me to the ground.

Li Bai grabbed the jar and drank wildly. In no time, he finished the jar. Fueled by the alcohol, he picked up another jar, but under its influence, he suddenly slumped to the ground, and the jar fell and shattered.

Li Bai pounded the broken jar with both hands: "I told you to break, but you wouldn't let me drink it. I'm going to drink it anyway! I love you so much, why did you have to break?"

"Young Master, you can't do this! Your hands are bleeding!" I grabbed Li Bai's hands tightly to stop him from smashing the broken jar. Li Bai struggled desperately, but after a few rounds, he finally calmed down. I helped him to bed, bandaged his wounds, and stayed by his bedside, watching him slowly fall asleep.

Soon, the rest of the people returned to their tents, sitting listlessly. Yuqing and I busied ourselves making lunch.

Zhao Rui came to Li Bai's bedside and saw that Li Bai's face was flushed: "Yuebi, how much wine did he drink? Why is his face so red?"

"I got drunk after only one jar," I replied.

Zhao Rui touched Li Bai's forehead: "It's so hot, you have a fever. Madam, have you managed to retrieve anything from the East Cave?"

"When I ran, I took the two bundles from the head of your bed and put them under the pillow on the bed where you sleep," said Lady Zhao Rui.

Zhao Rui pulled the two packages from under the pillow, opened one of them, took out a small bottle, poured out two pills, and stuffed them into Li Bai's mouth. I quickly helped Li Bai up and poured him a glass of water: "Young Master, come, drink some water and swallow the pills."

Li Bai leaned weakly on my shoulder, obediently taking a large gulp of medicine, which choked him and caused him to cough violently. Fortunately, he managed to swallow the medicine. I helped him lie down, and he fell asleep again shortly afterward.

After lunch, everyone sat there, unsure of what to do. Digging the Jade Maiden Cave again was no longer a realistic option.

Zhao Rui glanced at Li Bai, who was still unconscious, and said to me, "Yuehua, when Twelve wakes up, you should go back to Chengdu. Staying here will only make you more heartbroken."

"Master, what about you?"

"We're leaving in a couple of days too, heading back to our hometown, Zhao Jiaba. I won't be going back to Chengdu with you."

I walked to Li Bai's bedside and touched his forehead with my hand; surprisingly, it wasn't hot anymore.

At this moment, Li Bai woke up, sat up, got out of bed, and started looking for things everywhere.

"Twelve, stop looking. I know you want to find tools. Forget it, let's not waste our time. I already told Yuehua, you two go back to Chengdu."

"I'm not going back. I need to see her alive or dead. I must find my junior sister."

"Your junior sister is buried so deep in the cave, how could you possibly see her? Go back."

"No." Li Bai said, and rushed out of the tent.

I followed him from Dongyan Cave to Qinglian Cave, but the entire cave was buried; the reading platform, the pond, and the waterfall were all gone. We then came to Yunu Cave, where Li Bai drew his sword and built a small grave with mud on the slope in front of the cave. I went to the nearby cliff and picked a bunch of wildflowers, woven them into a wreath, and placed it on the grave. Li Bai carved the words "I love the tomb of Zhao Feng" on a piece of wood and placed it in front of the grave.

After doing all this, Li Bai sat in front of the grave without saying a word, reluctant to leave for a long time.

Zhao Rui and his wife also came over, and seeing the grave, they couldn't help but feel sad again.

"Twelve, I know you like Xiaofeng, and Xiaofeng likes you too. I originally planned to marry Xiaofeng to you after you got a certain official position. Who knew she would leave us like this? This is fate. Don't be sad. You still have to do what you have to do. Go back to Chengdu and wait for Lord Li's good news. I'm not going. Your teacher's wife and I are going back to our hometown," Zhao Rui said.

"Master, I don't want to go to Chengdu anymore. I want to go back to my hometown," Li Bai replied.

"This won't do. You're letting Xiaofeng down, letting down the education I've given you over the past ten years, and especially letting down your parents who raised you. Don't give up at the first sign of trouble. Things will pass. Be strong."

"Master."

"Enough said, it's settled then. You still need to continue working hard for your official career. If you don't hear from Lord Li Ting, go to Yuzhou to pay your respects to Lord Li Yong. Lord Li Yong is superior to Lord Li Ting in both power and literary achievement. Your master won't accompany you. When you're out in the world, you must be adaptable in all things. Drink less alcohol, so as not to neglect your duties. Remember what I said." After Zhao Rui finished speaking, he pulled Li Bai towards the tent.

Back in the tent, Zhao Rui called out his disciples and Yu Qing together:

"Master, I'm going back to my hometown. Those of you with families should also go back to your own hometowns. Yuqing has no parents and grew up with Abbess Kongming. Now that Abbess Kongming is dead and Jade Maiden Cave is destroyed, you should come back to Zhao Family Village with us. Yuqing, are you willing?"

Overjoyed, Yuqing wept and immediately knelt before Mr. and Mrs. Zhao, saying, "Thank you for taking me in, Master Zhao. I am willing to go with you." She then kowtowed three times.