A cold breeze! As Su Xuan approached the rocks, he felt a faint, cold draft brush against him. He hurriedly searched for its source, eventually finding a palm-sized hole hidden in the tall grass. The breeze was blowing out from this small opening. If it hadn't been for that cool draft, he almost certainly would have missed it.

He then took out the military-grade shovel he carried, expanded the opening, and revealed a downward-sloping passage just large enough for a single person. Logically, he should have been pleased, but he was somewhat disappointed. He considered the corpse that had fallen from the sky. How could it possibly have squeezed into this hole? Unless the body was still alive when it fell and crawled in on its own… But is that possible? Clearly not!

Nevertheless, he turned on his flashlight and squeezed into the opening. This would be his last attempt. If he found nothing, he would put the matter out of his mind for good and go straight home.

The tunnel was surprisingly deep. After walking for more than ten minutes, the space suddenly opened up into a cavern with the distinct features of a karst cave. The beam of his flashlight danced across the cavern, making the space feel like another world.

DRIP. DRIP. DRIP.

Water trickled slowly from the ceiling, falling into a pool in the center of the cave. Su Xuan aimed his flashlight at the pool and suddenly narrowed his eyes. A person was sitting cross-legged in the water, completely motionless.

His long hair was unbound, and he was dressed in a long robe. He sat there with skin so translucent he looked no different from a living person. Su Xuan stared at the figure for a long time, finally concluding that it had to be a corpse. A surge of horror suddenly welled up inside him.

If this is the corpse that fell from the sky, how did it get in here and sit down? Why hasn't it decomposed?

There were no answers to be found. Su Xuan took a deep breath and slowly stepped into the water, moving closer to the figure. The water was shallow, barely covering his feet, but it was bone-chillingly cold.

"Who are you?" Su Xuan stood before the man, whispering to himself.

The man appeared to be in his forties, with a long beard and a dignified air about him. The robe he wore was tattered, as though it had been burned.

What is this? In front of the man, Su Xuan noticed a square, four-legged object containing ashes. It looked very much like a small incense burner.

Just as Su Xuan reached for it, something unexpected occurred! The corpse, which he was sure had been dead for ages, suddenly raised a hand and lunged for his head! A wave of mortal danger washed over him. Acting on pure instinct, Su Xuan leaped backward, simultaneously pulling the Ruyi Stick from his back. He had brought it along specifically as a self-defense tool, or perhaps as a climbing staff.

But after missing its mark, the hand simply fell limp. At this, Su Xuan's eyes lit up. That incense burner must be an extremely rare treasure! Otherwise, why would the body retain a flicker of consciousness after death, as if to protect it?

Su Xuan approached the figure once more. This time, he didn't dare to grab the incense burner directly, instead prodding the body with the Ruyi Stick. The body tilted and fell into the water. Breathing a sigh of relief, Su Xuan picked up the incense burner.

Then, another strange thing happened. The moment Su Xuan picked up the incense burner, lifting it from the pool, the water's temperature instantly became less frigid. At the same time, the corpse carbonized, turned black, and decayed into a skeleton. Even its clothes disintegrated into dust.

This made Su Xuan even more certain that the incense burner was a treasure. At the very least, it can preserve a body from decay!

I have to get out of here! Not wanting to linger, Su Xuan turned to leave with the incense burner. But after taking a few steps, he turned back. Plucking up his courage, he searched the skeleton for any other treasures but found nothing. It seemed the incense burner was the man's sole legacy.

Only then did Su Xuan leave the cave. Once outside in the sunlight, he examined the incense burner again. It was made of an unknown, rust-free material that emitted a noble glow. Engraved on its surface was a single word: Longevity.

The Furnace of Longevity? Su Xuan blinked. The name seemed fitting. The corpse had sat in that cave for who knows how many years without decaying, achieving a sort of pseudo-immortality.

If only it came with an instruction manual, he mused. For now, he was certain the Furnace of Longevity could keep a corpse from decaying, but is that its only function?

He glanced at the time—it was already afternoon. He started back the way he came, hoping to return before dark.

But he didn't know that the moment he left, the woman in red had appeared in the very same cave.

The woman in red pressed her hand into the pool. The surface rippled subtly, and soon, tendrils of white mist began to rise from the water. The mist condensed into a human shape, looking exactly as the corpse had before it decayed.

"He has taken your legacy, but it will not be wasted," the woman in red said to the misty figure. "And Senior, meeting you is a fortuitous opportunity for me as well. Please do not blame me."

The woman in red closed her eyes and began to absorb the humanoid mist. The little girl's figure materialized by the water's edge, but she didn't dare come any closer. She seemed terrified of the misty figure, even though it no longer possessed any consciousness.

"Little Sister," the woman in red said softly after she had finished absorbing the mist, turning to the little girl. "I need to stay here for two days to assimilate what I have gained. While I'm gone, can you protect your Brother Su?"

"Okay," the little girl nodded obediently, then blinked her big eyes and asked, "Sister, can you give me a name?"

"We'll call you Little Cutie," the woman in red said with a smile.

"But that doesn't really sound like a name!" the little girl pouted, clearly dissatisfied. "I want a real name."

"All things are a matter of destiny," the woman in red said, her tone unreadable. "You will receive your true name one day."

"Oh." It was unclear if the little girl understood, but she murmured, "Then I'll just be Little Cutie for now." With that, her figure vanished.

The woman in red sat cross-legged on a stone in the cave and closed her beautiful eyes.

It was evening by the time Su Xuan got home. He called Zhong Huilan to ask if he was needed to stand guard at Kangnai that night. She told him it wasn't necessary, as she had already set an inescapable trap. If the culprit dared to show up, there would be no escape. In fact, his presence might scare them away.

Su Xuan thought it made sense. He ate dinner absentmindedly and then locked himself in his room. He took out the Furnace of Longevity and the incense he had bought on the way home.

He wanted to see what other wonders the incense burner held. It did not disappoint. When he placed the incense into the Furnace of Longevity and lit it, something truly supernatural occurred...

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