Chapter 188 - 184: 5 Years Ago, an Alias Named Zhinan

After the past few days of investigation, the rebel army and the Wandering Beastmen had come to the same conclusion.

The most suspicious place in the entire mining area was the Punishment Cave.

Wolf Day, leader of the rebel army, pointed authoritatively at a small map on the ground. "There are always one or two days each month," he said, "when the five Eight Pattern Priests enter the depths of the Punishment Cave together and descend underground."

Wolf Night, who also grew quite serious when the topic turned to battle, raised a hand. "My brother and I have been locked up in there before. I was held in a deeper section than he was, and I definitely saw the five of them go down together. So, my brother and I suspect that the Beast God’s physical body is likely beneath the Punishment Cave."

Nan Zishi looked away from him and pointed at the map. "Tonight’s plan is very risky. The rebel army and the Wandering Beastmen just need to coordinate their efforts; we can’t let them expose their identities. The rest of us will go down into the Punishment Cave. After we get out, we can escape along this route."

Xuan Jin agreed with Nan Zishi’s decision, but not with her taking the risk alongside them. "Little female, you’re the heart of our family. It would be safer for you to stay here in the cave."

Nan Zishi lifted her eyes and gave Xuan Jin a cool glance. "I’m not a burden. My skills aren’t weak—I’m at least stronger than a Beast General."

"Besides, if you get caught by five Eight Pattern Priests, do you really think I could escape the mining area on my own?"

It was true. With such a major operation underway, they would only feel at ease if their female master was with them.

The three Seven-striped Beast Kings finally nodded. "Alright, female master. We’ll follow your lead."

...

It was time to get down to business. The Wandering Beastmen and the members of the rebel army all dropped their usual playful attitudes and grew serious.

A beastman from the rebel army snuck into the cave, bringing tattered Beast Skins and using tree sap to disguise all four of them.

This was especially true for Nan Zishi. Since females weren’t allowed in the Punishment Cave, she donned a large, shapeless Beast Skin robe to disguise herself as a male.

Nan Zishi was completely transformed into the spitting image of a short male beastman. Her face was smudged with dirt, her hair was a mess, and the oversized Beast Skin robe completely concealed her figure.

She took a mirror out of her spatial storage to have a look.

Her thoughts instantly drifted back to a scene from five years ago in Ten Thousand Beasts City. ’Back then, I also wore a large Beast Skin, disguised myself as a male, and even took on the alias Zhinan.’

’With my face this dirty, even Yi probably wouldn’t recognize me.’

’Yi... he was hailed as the most beautiful Male Beastman in Ten Thousand Beasts City. I never saw him display his strength, so he probably wasn’t very powerful. He was just a good friend who hung out with me back then.’

"Lady Nan, you three lords," the rebel said, "Hou Ting has already made the arrangements. Once you arrive, follow him into the mining area."

Nan Zishi led the way with the three males following behind. "Let’s go."

Nan Zishi’s group arrived at the appointed place, where Hou Ting emerged from the mining area to meet them.

Hou Ting led the group into the mining area, speaking as they walked. "Lady Nan, my lords. Tomorrow is the full moon. Following past patterns, all five Eight Pattern Priests will be here. We can’t be sure about today, though, so we must be quick."

Hou Ting continued, "Right now, only Lord Xiang Ze is in the Punishment Cave, torturing beastmen. Once we get past him, the rest shouldn’t be much of a problem."

"Okay."

Hou Ting led the four of them into the Punishment Cave, and it was Nan Zishi’s first time witnessing such a gruesome sight.

This Priest, Xiang Ze, seemed to be something of a sadist. Being tough and thick-skinned himself, he appeared to find it amusing how fragile these weaker beastmen were. The entire cave reeked of the thick stench of fresh blood.

Wolf Day, Wolf Night, and Xuan Jin formed a protective triangle around Nan Zishi.

"Xiang Ze is just up ahead," Hou Ting whispered. "Everyone, keep a low profile."

Nan Zishi, Wolf Day, and Wolf Night lowered their heads. Only Xuan Jin shot Xiang Ze a look of disdain.

Nan Zishi tugged on Xuan Jin’s Beast Skin robe.

Only then did Xuan Jin obediently lower his head.

"You’re not from the rebel army? Speak!" Xiang Ze’s whip cracked through the air.

"No... We’re really not..." The tortured beastman’s voice grew weaker and weaker, until it faded into silence.

The atmosphere was terrifyingly tense.

Hou Ting hurried the four of them past the scene.

Xiang Ze’s languid voice called out, "Halt."

All four of them went rigid. The three males were instantly on high alert, their Beast Patterns ready to materialize at a moment’s notice.

"Hou Ting, I’m thirsty."

The four of them slowly relaxed.

Hou Ting quickly turned and barked at Nan Zishi’s group, "Stay put and don’t cause trouble!"

With that, he trotted over and poured some water for Xiang Ze. "My lord, I’ll get back to my work."

Xiang Ze waved his hand dismissively, and Hou Ting hurried back to Nan Zishi and the others.

"You lot! A bunch of lowly beastmen who can’t even mine properly or finish your quotas. Follow me!"

As the group quickly followed Hou Ting past the area where Xiang Ze was torturing the prisoner, Nan Zishi finally let out a breath of relief.

Hou Ting said, "Lady Nan, my lords, the area we just passed is where they hold the Sin Beasts who fail to meet their mining quotas. Further in are some of the Beast World’s most serious criminals. We have to go through their section to reach the deepest part."

Wolf Night had been tortured here for many days, so the place had left a deep and lasting impression on him.

Hou Ting led the four of them through the high-security criminal section. The prisoners here were all large and powerfully built, making for an intimidating sight.

Wolf Day comforted her in a low voice, "Don’t be afraid. They may look big, but they’re no match for us."

Nan Zishi nodded.

Hou Ting led them to the very end of the passage and stopped. "I can’t go any further," he said. "My lords, you must be careful from here on out."

Wolf Night said to him, "Hou Ting, thank you for everything."

"It was nothing." Hou Ting turned and left.

...

Nan Zishi exchanged a look with Xuan Jin, Wolf Day, and Wolf Night, and then they all entered the tunnel together.

The passage appeared to lead deeper and deeper underground.

Nan Zishi asked, "With so many Sin Beasts here, aren’t the Priests afraid they might escape their cells and find their way down here?"

"That’s the strange thing," Wolf Day said. "It seems impossible to get in here."

Nan Zishi’s curiosity was piqued. She continued downward with her Beast Husbands, and at the very end of the passage, they found a large, dark metal door.

In the center of the metal door was a three-by-three grid containing nine numbered tiles.

Beside it was a line of beast-tongue writing.

Wolf Day read it aloud: "Nine-Palace Calculation."

Wolf Night read the smaller text below it aloud: "The sum of the numbers in each row, each column, and both main diagonals is the same."

"A magic square?" Nan Zishi asked, puzzled.

Wolf Day, Wolf Night, and Xuan Jin all turned to look at her.

Nan Zishi studied the three-by-three grid. The numbers were written in the Beast World’s script, which was both complex and unpleasant to look at.

There was an empty slot beside it, apparently for sliding the numbered tiles.

Nan Zishi prodded the numbered tiles; one of them was fixed in place.

"This must be a magic square combination lock," Nan Zishi said. "The beastmen of this world are generally not very good at math. Few can even handle addition and subtraction with numbers greater than ten. That’s why none of them can open this door."

’But for me, this isn’t a difficult problem at all.’

"Xuan Jin, tell me what each of these numbers is."

Xuan Jin stepped forward and read the jumbled Beast World numerals aloud, and Nan Zishi began to slide the tiles into place.

A puzzle that was considered impossibly difficult in the Beast World took Nan Zishi only a minute to solve.

As she slid the final tile into place, the massive door swung open.

Nan Zishi said, "Let’s go in."

"Right."