An Ning walked toward the tree root, squatted down, and touched it with her left hand.

After confirming what she needed to, she started searching for a very distinctive stone.

Finally, she found a miniature version of the stone, which looked very much like the one on the drawing Third Grandfather had given her.

’A weathered stone, a wind-snapped tree... This must be it.’

’But where’s the cave?’

An Ning plopped down on the ground, her left hand on the tree root and her right hand on the stone, searching for the cave entrance.

’Could there be some kind of mechanism?’

An Ning had read her fair share of wuxia novels, so she was familiar with the idea of treasure trials and hidden mechanisms.

However, after searching in three full circles, she came up empty.

’Looks like I’ll have to rely on myself.’

Her spiritual power flowed out from her body, penetrating the rock face as she searched.

’Haha, found it!’

Behind the rock wall directly across from An Ning, concealed by more than half a meter of solid rock, was a downward passage.

She had found it, but how was she supposed to get in?

An Ning knew there was a cave, but just smashing her way in didn’t seem right.

If it caused the cave to collapse, it would be her fault.

Just as An Ning was racking her brains, the wind changed direction.

A gust of wind blowing from south to north stirred up a layer of sand and dirt from the ground.

An Ning closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, a small protrusion on the ground caught her attention.

An Ning used her hand to sweep away the thick layer of sand and dirt. When the ground was fully revealed, she smiled.

It turned out the stone and the tree were not real, but two patterns.

What she’d found earlier was a complete fluke!

There were two raised patterns on the ground.

In a flash, An Ning finally understood why Third Grandfather had tapped her palm a few times when he handed her the piece of paper.

’A code.’

An Ning was a little nervous. She raised one hand and knocked three times on the stone pattern to the left, then knocked twice on the tree pattern to the right.

Finally, she struck both patterns four times with both hands together.

GRIND... RUMBLE...

The stone wall, which had been perfectly seamless, began to move.

A section of the wall about half a person’s height slid downward, revealing an opening.

It was the very same opening An Ning had observed with her spiritual power.

’Such incredible craftsmanship.’

An Ning pressed her palms together in a prayer for the first time and murmured, "Forgive me for disturbing the ancestors of the An family."

She went down through the opening, sliding a dozen or so meters to a platform.

The platform was only one and a half meters long and connected to a downward flight of stairs.

The entire stairway was narrow, only wide enough for one person—and a slender one at that.

An Ning let her spiritual power unfurl to protect herself, took the flashlight out from her Klein Bottle, illuminated the stairs, and headed down.

When her hand touched the stone wall beside her, a bone-chilling coldness lingered long after.

On her way down, An Ning counted a total of forty-nine steps.

When she stepped off the last one, the space before her suddenly opened up.

It was about two to three hundred square meters, and the floor was covered with chests.

An Ning didn’t act rashly. Instead, her eyes fell on the ancestral tablets at the far end of the room. They were inscribed with names, all belonging to the An family.

She walked toward the consecrated tablets. At her feet lay a cushion, made of some unknown material that had miraculously resisted the ravages of time.

An Ning knelt and earnestly kowtowed three times.

"I am only half a member of the An Family. Forgive me for this great disturbance."

After kowtowing, An Ning stood up.

The moment she rose, the cushion under her feet disintegrated, turning to dust that dispersed into the air.

COUGH COUGH...

An Ning covered her mouth and nose, waving her other hand a few times.

The object that had been under the cushion was now revealed: a bamboo scroll.

’My... grasp on a scientific worldview... is starting to feel a little shaky.’

An Ning took a deep breath, picked up the bamboo scroll from the ground, and unrolled it.

When she saw the writing on the scroll, An Ning relaxed a little.

’Good, it’s in modern vernacular. Otherwise, I’d be worried I’d misunderstand it.’

The characters on the bamboo scroll were unfaded by time, clear and distinct.

"Greetings, fated one. This cave has been preserved by generations of the An family. That you could come here proves you have a deep connection with the An family. Everything here is yours; all that is asked is that you ensure the continuation of my An family’s line."

An Ning looked over the bamboo scroll. There was nothing else.

She put away the scroll, looked at the chests around her, and curiously opened one.

’Vases?’

One chest was filled with all sorts of vessels. An Ning closed it and continued to look.

There were colorful jewels, gleaming gold, rare treasures An Ning couldn’t name, and several chests of medicinal herbs, including several stalks of dried ginseng.

Another chest was filled with books, but the moment An Ning opened it, they looked as if they were about to turn to ash. She quickly preserved them with her spiritual power and closed the lid.

An Ning stored all the chests in her Klein Bottle. She didn’t feel safe leaving them in the cave.

As for the An family, she would definitely look after them.

As for these items, she had no use for them for now. She would decide what to do with them in the future.

After stowing everything away, An Ning kowtowed to the ancestral tablets again.

"Next time I come, I’ll bring you incense and candles."

An Ning returned the way she came, exiting the mountain peak without a hitch.

"Oh my god, it’s already dark!"

After An Ning came out, the stone sealed itself seamlessly once more, and the yellow earth and sand once again buried the two raised markings.

She didn’t need to clean anything up; she just had to hurry down the mountain.

When An Ning reached the halfway point down the mountain, she ran into Jiang Xia and Da Huang, who were heading up.

"What are you two doing?"

When Jiang Xia saw An Ning was safe and sound, he breathed an inward sigh of relief but feigned a casual air. "Da Huang insisted on coming up the mountain, so I’m just playing with him for a bit."

WOOF WOOF!

Da Huang barked twice unhappily, but Jiang Xia ruthlessly pushed his head down and said, "Oh, getting shy now? Fine, I won’t say any more."

"Honestly, *I’m* the one who wanted to come up the mountain. Is that not allowed?"

After just a few words from Jiang Xia, Da Huang looked aggrieved enough to cry.

’A dog’s life is so hard!’

’How many times have I been the scapegoat!’

An Ning looked at the reluctant Da Huang as she walked down the path. "I get the feeling Da Huang looks really wronged."

"Really? I don’t see it."

Jiang Xia deliberately got face-to-face with Da Huang and said seriously, "This is just his face shape. It’s called ’resentful dog face’."

An Ning burst out laughing at Jiang Xia’s nonsense.

"HAHAHA—I bet if Da Huang could talk, he’d be cursing you out right now."

WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF—

An Ning pointed at the frantically barking Da Huang and said, "See? Da Huang agrees with me."

Jiang Xia said no more. Any further, and Da Huang might actually revolt.

An Ning headed down the mountain first, while Jiang Xia made an excuse to wander around a bit longer, following a short while after her.

When An Ning entered the courtyard, the rooster started crowing as if to announce her arrival. Lin Cuihua rushed out of the house, chopsticks in hand.

"You troublesome thing, why are you just getting back?"

"If you hadn’t come back any later, I was about to go up the mountain to find you myself."

An Ning felt a pang of guilt but said in a sweet voice, "Mom, I was wrong."

"I’ll never do it again!"

Lin Cuihua looked An Ning over from front to back, only relaxing after confirming she wasn’t hurt.

"Oh, cut it out. I’m not falling for that!"