Chapter 1258: Puzzle Game

"What a shame," He Lingchuan sighed. "He destroyed everything himself; I doubt a single trace was left."

Lingguang suddenly ran in from the outer chamber, clutching several stone fragments.

"They have writing on them."

The stone fragments had been mixed with miscellaneous items like wood and pottery, and the outer chamber was dimly lit. The three of them hadn't searched carefully before, but hearing Lingguang's words, they were stirred.

He Lingchuan patted Lingguang's head, praising it.

"Our Lingguang is truly meticulous!"

The little monkey smiled shyly, a bit embarrassed, and added, "There's more outside."

When they went to the outer chamber to look, they indeed found several more stone slabs inscribed with characters.

Fu Liushan took a tattered cloth, wiped a thick layer of dust from the stone slabs, and then assigned tasks to everyone.

"Come on, let's piece them together."

Judging by the patterns on the stone slabs, they appeared to have originally been part of a couplet from the altar table.

Qu Yu's cave dwelling was certainly unique; even its couplets were carved from stone slabs.

The small characters resembled the flowing, vigorous script on the stone walls, suggesting they were all written by Qu Yu.

Perhaps before his death, he couldn't find suitable writing material, so he simply cut down the stone couplets, scraped off the original inscriptions, and wrote new words on them.

The writing was tiny and somewhat messy, indicating the writer's haste.

Fu Liushan thought for a moment, then took a small bag of flour from his pocket and sprinkled it onto the stone slabs.

After wiping off the excess powder, the characters on the slabs turned white, making them easier to read.

"I, Qu Yu, a closed-door disciple under the Great Immortal Shouan, was granted the title True Immortal Minghui."

This first sentence, an introduction, confirmed He Lingchuan's conjecture.

However, Qu Yu was truly unique. His title was "Minghui" (Bright Radiance), yet he preferred living in a sunless underground palace.

Oh, it seemed the title had been granted to him by Immortal Shouan.

When pieced together, the characters on the several stone slabs formed another final letter from Qu Yu.

It stated that the war between the Sky Demons and the Immortals had been ongoing for over a hundred years.

True Immortal Minghui had participated in the entire Immortal-Demon War, and his research on Sky Demons far surpassed that of most other Immortals. He was also the first to discover that Sky Demons could actually use humans as vessels, thereby descending their avatars and controlling them from a distance.

Human bodies were too fragile, so such descents were deemed meaningless, and even when Immortals learned of it, they didn't take it seriously.

However, a Sky Demon had actually captured an Immortal and successfully refined them into their own avatar!

In terms of physical structure, Immortals were no different from ordinary humans, except that their bodies were more robust, their lifespans longer, and they were skilled in magic, capable of flight and teleportation.

As the news spread, the Immortals were enraged, and the battle between Immortals and Demons immediately escalated to a fever pitch, with all previous negotiations overturned.

At this time, the Sky Demons were severely fractured internally, and the Immortals held the upper hand. However, the world could no longer sustain the battle between the two sides, showing signs of collapse. Suddenly, cracks appeared beneath Qu Yu's cave dwelling, where he had lived for hundreds of years, emitting malevolent energy.

Knowing the place was no longer safe, he was in the process of relocating when a specimen in the Well of Light suddenly escaped, breaking through the underground palace's barrier and fleeing.

Logically, such a lapse shouldn't have occurred, but he hadn't anticipated that among the Sky Demons he had captured as ornaments, one was pregnant.

Many years later, the demon spawn was suddenly born, breaking out of Crystal Mountain and escaping.

Although it was a small monster with severe congenital deficiencies, it was incredibly agile.

Qu Yu pursued it and slew it outside the underground palace.

Unfortunately, it was still too late; the demon spawn had already sent a distress signal to the Sky Demons.

Qu Yu's cave dwelling was exposed.

Before he could withdraw, Miao Zhantian arrived.

Qu Yu was no match and sustained severe injuries. Just as he was about to be captured, Immortal Shouan's flying sword split the mountain, slaying two Sky Demons, giving Qu Yu a chance to escape back to his dwelling, destroy all his research findings, and peacefully pass away.

Between the lines, the story was harrowing.

The three of them read it, and for a long time, remained silent.

He Lingchuan looked at the stone slabs. "They look like they were smashed," he said. "Someone took out their frustration on them."

"The Sky Demons finally broke in, only to find nothing. They must have been infuriated."

"The contents on these slabs were useless to the Sky Demons, which is why Qu Yu didn't hesitate to write this final letter."

At that moment, Dong Rui dug out another irregularly shaped stone slab from the pile of wooden fragments, blew off the dust, and glanced at it. "Oh, there's another slab here," he said. "It's blank."

Did Qu Yu have nothing more to say, so he left this slab blank?

"Can it be pieced together with the other slabs?"

They all tried, but it couldn't be.

This blank stone slab seemed to have been casually cut by Qu Yu from a stone wall, forming a single piece that didn't belong to the couplet.

"When his life was hanging by a thread, Qu Yu wouldn't have done anything unnecessary," He Lingchuan said, examining the slab. "There might be a hidden secret on it."

He couldn't discern anything, so he handed it to the other two.

They passed it around, and even Lingguang dropped a few drops of liquid on it, but the slab remained just a slab, completely blank.

Dong Rui mumbled, "If it were that easy to decipher, the Sky Demons would have figured it out ages ago."

They didn't know how many types of spells Qu Yu mastered, or what enchantments he might have placed on this slab. How could they possibly find a way to break it?

"Qu Yu must have known very well that his enemy was Miao Zhantian, and few spells could deceive its Eye of Truth," He Lingchuan mused. "Where was this stone slab cut from?"

They would have to carry the slab around and try to fit it everywhere, to see where it belonged.

The group searched the secret chamber for a long time, trying the stone walls, the stone floor, and even the stone ceiling, but couldn't find its original source.

The slab didn't fit anywhere.

"Could it not be from here?" Even Fu Liushan couldn't help but scratch his cheek. "If it was cut from outside, that would be troublesome!"

In such a vast underground palace, with stone walls everywhere, who knew where Qu Yu might have cut the slab from!

"Assuming this slab was left by him before his death, it must have been for transmitting a message, and specifically to his own people," He Lingchuan said, shaking his head. "If no one could find it, the message on this slab wouldn't be conveyed, rendering his effort useless, wouldn't it?"

Dong Rui rolled his eyes. "Then how do you suggest we find it?" he retorted. "There are only these two small rooms, inside and out, and it doesn't fit anywhere!"

He Lingchuan picked up the stone slab again and gently rubbed it.

The slab was very thin, about the thickness of a date pit.

One side was extremely smooth, smoothed by years of friction, not by metal cutting.

Earlier, Dong Rui had found it beneath the altar table.

Thinking of this, He Lingchuan immediately said, "Wait, we haven't checked one place yet!"

He pointed to Qu Yu's remains.

"The stone bed?" Dong Rui tilted his head. "I already checked there."

He had examined it very thoroughly just now.

"What about the position where Immortal Qu was sitting?" Qu Yu wore wide robes and long sleeves, occupying a lot of space.

"Uh…" Dong Rui was speechless.

Qu Yu was still sitting there undisturbed; no one had moved his remains, and of course, no one had looked beneath where he was sitting.

The thought hadn't even crossed their minds.

He Lingchuan bowed to Qu Yu's remains and whispered, "Elder Qu, please forgive my intrusion."

With that, he gently moved the Immortal's remains aside.