On August 25, 1945, the day before the Japanese Emperor announced surrender to the world, a series of twelve encrypted telegrams were sent to the then Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Expeditionary Forces in China, General Okamura Yasuji. One of the intercepted telegrams contained information about Unit 931.
"So mysterious?" Qin Yu looked at Mo Yongxin with doubt. He couldn't believe that she knew about something like this. The Mo family was even more extensive than he had imagined.
"Yes, after Japan's surrender and withdrawal, the country originally intended to thoroughly investigate this mysterious unit. However, due to certain historical reasons, it was delayed for over three years. By the time they turned their attention back, this enigmatic unit had vanished without a trace, leaving no clues behind."
Qin Yu held the iron plate in his hand, listening to Mo Yongxin's words, and pondered silently. Why would this mysterious unit appear deep within the Copper Plateau? What were they here for?
"Qin Yu, do you think they might be here for the Dragon Crystal Fluid?" Mo Yongxin expressed her opinion.
"It's possible, but the likelihood is low. From this massive altar to the River of Styx and the cave itself, there must be something unknown to us."
Qin Yu had a bold speculation in his mind, but it was not the right time to voice it. If his guess was correct, they would soon see that thing.
"Come and look, there are patterns on these stone pillars!" Mo Yongxin called Qin Yu over. Each of the nine pillars was carved with various patterns. On the first pillar, there was a depiction of a group of half-naked humans armed with different weapons, fighting against a ferocious monster. The bloody jaws of the monster were clamped onto the bodies of several humans.
The second pillar portrayed a different scene. The monster was wreaking havoc, and countless humans lay in pools of blood, while the survivors huddled together, seemingly praying...
In the third image, a halo appeared in mid-air, and a colossal beast with numerous legs appeared above the crowd. The people underground cheered and rejoiced as the beast charged towards the monster, engaging in battle.
The fourth image depicted the beast trampling the monster underfoot, the sky stained with blood. All the people knelt on the ground, bowing down to the beast, and some offered sacrificial items for its enjoyment.
Seeing this, Qin Yu and Mo Yongxin exchanged glances, puzzled and bewildered. The giant creature in the picture was clearly an enlarged version of a millipede. They both simultaneously realized this. No wonder there were so many millipedes in this cave. It turned out that the altar was built specifically to worship the millipedes.
"I've never heard of a tribe that worships millipedes. I remember that only some ethnic minorities in the Miao regions use certain insects as totems in their worship," Qin Yu remarked.
Qin Yu walked towards the fifth stone pillar. Instead of patterns, this pillar was inscribed with some text. Fortunately, he was a Chinese language and literature major, so he recognized most of the characters. However, the absence of punctuation made it a bit challenging to determine the sentence structure.
After considerable effort, Qin Yu finally managed to comprehend the text. However, it was precisely this text that caused his pupils to contract, and he muttered to himself, "Entropy Tribe, this tribe is actually the Entropy Tribe."
"Entropy Tribe? Qin Yu, what does this text say?" Mo Yongxin saw Qin Yu's reaction and curiously asked.
"This is a clan chronicle that provides a general introduction to a tribe called the Entropy Tribe. It originated around BC and has been living in the Copper Plateau for generations, worshiping the Millipede God," Qin Yu translated the text on the stone pillar for Mo Yongxin to hear.
It wasn't just the content of the text that startled Qin Yu; it was the name of the tribe itself: Entropy. In the ancient book "Zhu Ge's Internal Classic," there was a section on divine abilities that mentioned various powers, including one called spatial teleportation.
Spatial teleportation is an ability that allows individuals to instantly move to any desired location, unaffected by spatial boundaries. Below the description of this ability, there was a footnote: Entropy Tribe, a mysterious ancient race that isolates itself from the outside world. Its members can awaken the talent for spatial teleportation through special rituals. (Note: The word "Entropy" was carefully chosen by Jiudeng after much consideration. It's an interesting term, and I recommend everyone to research it. Jiudeng also recommends a sci-fi movie called "Quantum Leap," which mentions the concept of entropy and spatial teleportation.)
"The Entropy Tribe possesses this kind of talent?"
When Qin Yu informed Mo Yongxin about the Entropy Tribe's abilities, her lips parted in astonishment. Spatial teleportation—it was too incredible to believe.
"I think I understand the purpose of Unit 931 coming here. They must have come for the Entropy Tribe's special ritual," Qin Yu said confidently. "However, they probably didn't anticipate encountering so many millipedes here. I wonder if they were completely wiped out or if some managed to escape."
"Having such a special ritual may not be useful after all. Even if it's considered the innate talent of the Entropy Tribe, without the bloodline of the Entropy Tribe, it's unlikely to be activated."
"That's hard to say. Perhaps they have acquired descendants of the Entropy Tribe, or maybe the talent can be activated as long as they perform the ritual. After all, this special ritual has only been tested within the Entropy Tribe and may not be useless for others."
Qin Yu's thoughts were not without merit. The ability of spatial teleportation is something even the Japanese wouldn't give up on if there was a slight hope of obtaining it. They are a nation driven by ambition.
"I don't think it's possible for the entire army to be wiped out. Any military force would always retain some reserves during missions, especially for special task forces. Could it be that they haven't sent anyone in since then?"
Qin Yu surveyed the surroundings with a serious expression. Suddenly, he leaned close to Mo Yongxin's ear, whispering softly, "Miss Mo, what do you think of Master He? How well do you know him?"
Mo Yongxin blushed at Qin Yu's sudden action, especially with him being so close, his breath near her ear. For all these years, no member of the opposite sex had ever come close to her, let alone whisper in her ear. This intimate gesture brought a sense of shyness to her expression.
"Miss Mo?" Qin Yu noticed that Mo Yongxin hadn't answered, so he whispered again.
"Ah! I've known Master He for a little over a year. He was there when a Feng Shui master mentioned Dragon Crystal Fluid to me. The Feng Shui master was quite old, and that's why I received the information and asked Master He to accompany me to the Copper Plateau," Mo Yongxin replied.
"Master He should have a good understanding of your Mo family, and could you please provide more details about how the news of Dragon Crystal Fluid was first obtained?"
"Master He is a friend of the Feng Shui master who told me about Dragon Crystal Fluid. He doesn't know much about the Mo family, and our interaction has only increased in the past three months. As for the news of Dragon Crystal Fluid, it was obtained through expensive channels."
"That's right!" Qin Yu nodded slightly and muttered to himself.
"What do you mean, 'that's right'? Do you know something? What's wrong with Master He? Do you suspect him?" Mo Yongxin quickly caught the key point in Qin Yu's words.
"It's just a thought, and it's too early to say. Let's continue and see." Qin Yu didn't delve further into the topic but walked towards another stone pillar ahead.
Unbeknownst to them, in a corner, a dark figure lurked, closely watching their every move.
.......................................
"Master He, what should we do now? The damn mechanism won't open again. I don't know what happened to my sister and Qin Yu, who fell down."
"Miss Mo, don't worry. This mechanism is time-based. It may take some time for it to trigger again. Let's wait a little longer. If we destroy this hidden groove, it will never open again," He Ping tried to reassure her.
"Wait? We've been waiting for over an hour, and it's still useless. This place is so strange. Who knows if there's any danger down there? What if my sister and Qin Yu are in danger?" Mo Yongxing instructed her bodyguard beside her, "Go inform the people above and bring some digging tools. If the mechanism won't open, I refuse to believe we can't dig through."
"Wait, let me give it a try first," He Ping called out when he saw the bodyguard about to leave. At the same time, he placed his hand on the hidden groove and carefully rotated it.
"Creak!" A crisp sound of gears echoed, and He Ping and Mo Yongxing both cheered as a hole appeared not far from where Qin Yu and Mo Yongxin had fallen.
"Master He, you're amazing!" Mo Yongxing patted He Ping's shoulder and smiled.