Ye Liuyun aligned the key with the pattern and pressed it in. After it clicked home, he twisted it left and right to test.

It wouldn’t turn left, but right worked. The moment the key rotated, the whole ring spun with it.

He kept the triangular key cranked all the way to the right, then let go and waited for the gate to open.

A chorus of metallic clacks echoed from inside. After a few seconds the massive door shuddered and slid slowly sideways.

“Actually works,” he marveled silently. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The triangular key dropped free on its own; he caught it mid-fall. No telling if he’d need it again, so he tucked it away.

“One puppet, one martial artist—advance,” he ordered.

The air beyond was dank. With no idea what lay ahead, Ye Liuyun sent the pair in first, followed himself, then a second puppet and warrior brought up the rear.

Beyond the threshold a stone staircase descended. Wall-mounted ever-burning lamps lit every step. Though the sea pressed against the entrance, no water poured through; some array held it back.

They wound downward until, round a bend, they heard a rumble ending in a thunderous boom—the stone gate had shut behind them.

Both martial artists looked at Ye Liuyun: could they ever get out again?

He shrugged; if necessary he still had his teleportation black tower.

“Keep going—there’s always a way out,” he said, urging them onward.

The stairs ended at a modest subterranean cavern filled with drab gray haze. Nothing else occupied it.

Ye Liuyan probed: not energy, not demonic qi or yin breath—not even poison—and still unidentifiable.

He released Zhuque (Vermilion Bird), Xenocide-stealth Beast and Little Blue-ice to sniff around. After careful inspection all three agreed: ordinary mist—nothing special.

“Move on,” Ye Liuyan decided. “Xenocide stay invisible; Zhuque burn off fog where you can; Blue-ice keep tracking scents and have your Soul-fixing Pearl ready.”

They crossed into a larger cave choked with even thicker vapor; Zhuque tired of wasting flame trying to clear it all. Unease mounted in Ye Liuyan’s gut—even two eighth-level Unity warriors felt an eerie chill rising through their spines yet there were no wraiths present just this clinging dread

In places dense fog blocked his golden pupils’ sight entirely

The hollow chambers offered nothing but swirling mist

Ye Liuyan halted everyone sent one puppet forward alone its metallic footsteps echoing down passage He watched until vapor swallowed form though clangs still rang back

A sudden boom erupted where the puppets stood, then silence.

“What was that?” Zhuque asked Ye Liuyun.

He shook his head; he hadn’t seen the attacker either.

“Keep going.”

They advanced until the fallen puppet’s body came dimly into view. The closer they got, the stronger the sense of danger. Ye Liuyun dared not step farther.

“Try again.”

This time he sent two ancient-demon guards, two war-beasts, and two demon-puppets to scout while he and the rest hung back within sight.

The party reached the wrecked puppet, dragged it back. Ye Liuyun swept it with his golden pupils: the energy core had been blasted open and drained. From the scorch marks alone he couldn’t tell what had done it—only that it hadn’t been a ghost.

He left the husk where it lay; it might be contaminated. The guards pressed on.

Ahead, a war-beast growled at something. Asked what it saw, it only whined: maybe nothing—mist playing tricks.

“Halt! Defensive disks up!”

Ye Liuyun snapped the order and flung out his own array, shielding everyone.

“Zhuque—blanket fire, now!” He sent the command mentally.

They were deep in thick mist; anything hiding inside might be flushed out by flame.

Zhuque loosed a sea of fire that turned the cave into a furnace. Shrill howls answered from the blaze.

Through the roar they saw writhing clots of fog—shapeless save for flickering limbs and gaping faces—trying to smother the flames. Fire hurt them.

Little Blue Ice raised her Soul-Lock Pearl at the nearest wisp; instantly its struggles slowed, its shrieks rose, and moments later it burned away. The others blazed on, howling but unable to quench themselves.

Ye Liuyun shifted one creature beside them with spatial force; Blue Ice pinned it again while Zhuque banked her flames. He thrust his own soul into its core—a shifting knot of mist—and tore out a wisp of soul-fog, dragging it back to his sea of consciousness where Myriad-God Token’s golden light devoured it in moments. He rifled through its memories as best he could—and found they could be read.