She halted precisely after taking 265 steps, faced the mountain wall, and called out, "Changzhi, open the gate."
In that instant, the seamless rock face split open, revealing a hidden entrance.
Gu Lili retrieved a flashlight from her bag and secured it to her head, then cautiously stepped inside.
Once she had fully entered, she spoke again, "Changzhi, close the gate."
The entrance sealed itself shut once more. Gu Lili was astonished—it was voice-activated.
She continued inward, and sure enough, there lay a coffin.
One glance told her it was black—an ominous color.
In traditional beliefs, black coffins are often reserved for those who died unnatural deaths: by illness, violence, or suicide.
She approached and pushed the lid open with a firm shove, revealing a skeleton within.
Her gaze fell on a small square box nestled near the feet. She bent down and retrieved it.
After carefully closing the coffin, she forced the box open. Inside were eight round, pitch-black pills.
Their color alone made her stomach turn.
Still, she unscrewed the cap of her bottled water and, one by one, swallowed all eight, washing them down.
The bitterness scorched its way from her mouth to her soul.
Utterly vile.
Once done, a wave of unease washed over her—tinged with regret.
What if she'd been perfectly fine without them, and now had just signed her own death warrant?
What a foolish way to die.
This man was a complete stranger. Why had she trusted his word so easily?
Yet, inexplicably, she didn't believe he meant her harm.
She shook the thought away.
Because she had just begun coughing blood.
Agonizing pain twisted through her abdomen, forcing her to the ground, where she writhed in torment.
"Was I deceived?" she gasped.
"No," came the sudden voice of the man. "Do not fear. I will not harm you. The pain will pass in thirty minutes. What you're experiencing is your body forming a protective barrier. After this, no poison will ever touch you."
"What about things like… sedatives?" she managed between clenched teeth.
"This is immunity to poison, not immunity to medicine," he replied. "If your body rejected all drugs, then fever, infection, anything—you'd never respond to treatment. Think, would that be wise?"
Still writhing, she groaned, "Maybe I trusted you too easily… What if someone sent you to kill me?"
"I would never betray that trust. And besides, I know what it is to be murdered—I was."
"How long have you been dead?"
"Seven hundred twenty-five years."
"What?!" Gu Lili's head spun. "You've been dead for over seven centuries? That's insane! You don't even sound like someone from that era. Shouldn't you be speaking in riddles and archaic prose?"
"I've roamed the mortal realm long enough to adapt. I've grown accustomed to how the world has changed. When I return, I'll be able to live as any other man."
"You're planning to come back for revenge, aren't you?"
"The one who killed me has long turned to dust."
"Then… do you mean to wipe out his descendants?"
"No," he answered quietly. "I have no desire to harm the innocent. I simply wish for another chance at life."
"I really do worry the underworld will catch up to you soon."
He fell silent for a while. "Are you feeling better now?"
Gu Lili snapped back to awareness—and realized, remarkably, that she was.
"What exactly did you give me?"
"This was my own creation. Before my death, I instructed my parents to place it in my coffin. I devoted myself to its development. This cave, too, was a place I often retreated to when I was alive."