After lingering at the doorway for a moment, Hermes stepped slowly back inside the house.
He carefully trod over the stones set within the verdant, soft-as-moss turf, with Baidi residing within his body, following him all the way to the constant-temperature incubator at the very center.
At first, due to the distance, Baidi could not clearly see what lay inside the incubator. Only upon drawing closer did he discover that a tiny, exquisite child lay sleeping within.
The child had not a single strand of hair on its head, and its body was covered by a quilt made of flawless white Laiying gauze. The little one's eyes were tightly closed in peaceful slumber.
Baidi felt thoroughly bewildered and curious at the sight, utterly unable to fathom why he should be witnessing anything so bizarre. Yet he knew full well that this was hardly the optimal moment to investigate the cause.
Hermes gazed upon the scene in silence, as though time itself had frozen. After a long while, Baidi noticed him begin to move at a slow pace, walking toward that stand of beautiful maple trees.
As they passed through the woods, Baidi had expected to encounter still more astonishing sights, but he never imagined a massive wall waiting for them on the other side.
The wall was immensely broad, imparting an oppressive sense of insurmountability. More startling still was that the interior of the wall was partitioned into countless compartments of varying sizes.
Each compartment housed a different variety of creature—arthropods such as spiders and butterflies, alongside numerous fish and plants. Stranger yet, every single compartment seemed to conceal a small alchemical array, casting a faint yet mystical glow.
Baidi acutely perceived that ever since laying eyes upon this wall, Hermes's mood had undergone a distinct transformation. A deep obsession radiated from his gaze, as if the wall and the secrets contained within bore paramount importance to him.
Baidi could not help wondering what secrets the wall truly hid, and why Hermes should be so utterly captivated by it.
"I wonder how Brol and the others are doing?" Amidst his wandering thoughts, Baidi suddenly remembered them.
The next second, he felt as though he were being lifted by an invisible force, gradually separating from this vessel and floating slowly upward into midair.
Just then—bang, bang, bang! A hurried and violent knocking shattered the stillness.
Accompanying the knocks came an aged and anxious voice, calling out repeatedly, "Xiaohe, Xiaohe..."
Baidi saw him standing motionless there, utterly silent, like a sculpture. Yet the knocking grew louder and louder, threatening to shake the entire room apart. Hermes maintained his silence, offering no response.
"I know you're in there, open the door at once!!" The old man's voice penetrated the room through the crack in the door with extraordinary clarity. Evidently, he had employed some sort of alchemical array to enhance the propagation of his sound.
Yet, faced with the elder's shouts, Hermes remained entirely unmoved.
Just when Baidi assumed the farce would end here, the man suddenly sighed and turned toward the experimental workbench.
Yet at that very moment, an unexpected development occurred. His footsteps came to an abrupt halt, as though he had suddenly recalled something, and he instantly whirled around and sprinted toward the central incubator.
Looking from afar, Baidi saw an elderly man draped in a black cloak standing beside the incubator, several tufts of snow-white hair and a beard protruding from beneath the brim of his hooded hat. The elder stood quietly there, gazing down at the child within the incubator.
"Clan Leader Winchester, you..." Upon first catching sight of the elder, Hermes was plainly tense, his voice inevitably tinged with a measure of helplessness.
"Aren't I right here? Why did nobody answer when I called?" Winchester did not look at Hermes, keeping his eyes fixed instead on the child before him. Suddenly, he raised his head to look at him, a trace of confusion and displeasure flickering in his gaze.
"I was busy just now and didn't hear." Seeing Hermes at a loss and frozen for a moment, Baidi watched him hastily offer an explanation.
"Hmph." The old man gave a soft, cold snort and said no more. The atmosphere in the entire room abruptly plunged into an eerie stillness, as though an invisible pressure blanketed everyone present.
"You're raising that spider quite nicely," Winchester remarked suddenly.
Baidi's gaze involuntarily followed the elder's line of sight, finding a large golden web suspended above the incubator. Under the illumination of the lights, the web shimmered with a dazzling brilliance, resembling a piece of exquisite artwork.
Hermes's lips twitched slightly, as though he wished to say something, but ultimately no sound escaped him. The elder seemed oblivious to his actions and continued on of his own accord. "It really isn't easy getting in here, I must have a proper look." With that, he began to survey his surroundings.
"Grandfather..." Hermes finally mustered the courage to murmur softly.
"So I'm still your grandfather, am I?" A trace of mockery laced the old man's tone, and he paid Hermes little further heed, his attention entirely captured by the surrounding environment, as though brimming with curiosity about everything here.
"You know that I..." Hermes started to speak, but the old man raised a hand to signal him to stop.
"What are your plans for the future? Are you still going to continue this?" the elder asked.
Without a word, Hermes turned and pulled a book from the cabinet, saying, "I have not abandoned the most fundamental principles of an Alchemist. This laboratory and this book—I believe they will become the finest things in my life, and I will leave them both to the next clan leader."
"Nonsense!" The old man's voice turned harsh instantly. "You should have known long ago that when I took you in and raised you by my side, it was in the hope that you would succeed me, rather than become some—"
"Grandfather!" Hermes shouted aloud. "You know this was Xiao'an's final wish, and it is also what I hope most to achieve."
"You all know perfectly well that such a thing is utterly impossible." Seemingly driven to fury, the elder drew a heavy, ragged breath.
"Where there's a will, there's a way. Without trying, how can one know it's impossible?" Hermes stared steadfastly at the old man.
"You—you! Even if you don't care about yourself, what about me? What about the entire village?" The elder's eyes widened as he asked in incredulous disbelief.
"In truth, the village can do completely fine without me. As long as our Alchemist Clan treats the environment reasonably in this place, we will surely continue to thrive. Besides, I have already found a tract of land with a stronger capacity for natural regeneration for everyone, and I will research even more alchemy for you all. In truth, my conscience is entirely clear."
Hermes's expression remained calm, as though he had long anticipated the old man's words.
The elder seemed on the verge of saying more, but catching Hermes's resolute gaze, he swallowed the words back down to his throat.
Hermes shook his head slightly, signaling the elder to say no more. "You know I will not give up on Xiaochu, so there is no need to try and persuade me further. Please, rest easy."
With that, he turned back toward the incubator, his gaze softening as he looked down upon the child inside, his eyes filled with doting affection and tenderness.
"Sigh..." The old man heaved a heavy sigh, his heart fraught with helplessness and worry. He knew that once Hermes made up his mind, it was exceedingly difficult to change it.
"Since you have chosen this path yourself, there is nothing I can do. After all, you are the child I raised, and I can only respect your choice. I hope you come to no harm..."
The elder prayed silently, hoping Hermes would smoothly execute his plan while also taking good care of himself and that child.
With those words, the five-pointed star array beneath the elder's feet flashed with a dazzling brilliance, instantly swallowing him whole.
When the light dissipated, the old man had vanished entirely, leaving only a thick, archaic book resting quietly upon the floor: *Taboos of Life*.
Hermes gazed unblinkingly at the book, as though drawn by an invisible force, before finally extending a hand after a long moment to pick it up gently.
"It will succeed, won't it..." he muttered in a low voice to himself, his gaze revealing a steadfast anticipation that seemed brimming with confidence in the future.
At his side, Baidi watched him in silence. Seeing him pick up the book and turn swiftly back toward the workbench to prepare for the work ahead, Baidi felt his vision gradually blur and his body sway involuntarily. Finally, darkness consumed his vision, and his consciousness plunged into an endless abyss.
"Ah, this place is so creepy," Nan Song muttered, rubbing the goosebumps all over his body. As they pressed onward, Brol had taken over carrying Baidi.
Originally, seeing that Brol was already burdened with so much luggage and encumbered by his own chains after walking this far, Makun had adamantly refused to hand Baidi over to him.
However, after Brol gave him eight hundred assurances—assisted by Nan Song's "friendly" persuasion—Makun had very reluctantly relinquished Baidi to Brol.
Watching Brol carry a person while remaining as lively as ever, and even hanging every single chain from his slightly slender arm, Makun felt an initial pang of guilt that lasted precisely half a second.
Then he shouldered his baggage and resumed feeling sorry for himself.
This cavern was far larger than any they had traversed previously, intricately winding and conveying an overall uncanny, flesh-like texture.
Whether other caves concealed various bugs was anyone's guess, but along the route Muyunchu led them, not a single insect was to be seen.
Moreover, looking back from behind, Muyunchu walked with her waist and back straight, arrayed in a red dress with a massive hem.
Having walked for so long, she showed not the slightest trace of fatigue, which truly made one harbor suspicions. Nan Song pondered this quietly to himself.
Faint light shimmered ahead, resembling a beacon of hope illuminating this bizarre Hive that had driven people mad with its prolonged stay.
"Ah, we're getting out!" Catching sight of that glimmer of light, Brol shouted excitedly, eager as he was to carry Matuan and trot lightly all the way toward the brightness.
Nan Song and Matuan exchanged a glance, an utterly bewildered expression washing over their faces, but seeing that Brol had already forged ahead, they had no choice but to shoulder their packs and break into a slow jog after him.
Despite catching sight of the light, the journey remained agonizingly long. Panting heavily, Nan Song and Matuan ran onward with difficulty until they finally broke out of the darkness.
Upon reaching Brol's side, they found him standing at a distance beside Muyunchu, while Nanger stood slightly further off.
The three of them had their gazes fixed simultaneously upon the upper area ahead. Out of curiosity, Nan Song stepped closer to look, only to see gentleness and reverence welling up in the depths of Muyunchu's eyes, as though she were gazing upon some sacred existence.
Unlike her, however, Brol and Nanger wore expressions of shock and disbelief, seemingly stunned by the sight before them.
A mysterious atmosphere permeated the air, inevitably stirring one's curiosity.