The bronze chest, lifted by Fatty, came loose from the bone, and its contents spilled out. In our eyes, this was no different from an atomic bomb dropping—my heart leaped into my throat, my mind went blank, and the four of us, including Old Sheepskin, froze.

Our gazes all fell to the ground beneath Fatty's feet. From the shattered remains of the chest, a dried corpse of an old yellow weasel, covered in white fur, had tumbled out. It was significantly larger than a common yellow weasel; its size was almost that of a small goat, and its white fur was over an inch long. Its four paws were curled inward, clutching something resembling a bloody egg. This fleshy orb was affixed right over its sternum—we couldn't tell what it was. The flesh was the vivid red of fresh blood, instantly instilling dread. Within the blood-egg, it seemed countless resentful souls were concentrated.

Before we could recover, the blood-egg in the old yellow weasel's grasp was stirred by a gust of wind, and it began to writhe slowly. From its corpse-fur, countless white lice, stiff as tiny scraps of paper, emerged. These parasitic lice born on corpses specialized in draining the yang energy of the living, and they too moved at the slightest breeze. In the blink of an eye, the entire cave was infested. We were immediately surrounded by these ice-flake-like lice. I cried out that things were bad; everyone in the research institute had likely been killed by these things—it seemed no one had escaped.

The situation had spiraled downward in an instant. We would be devoured by swarms of these body lice within minutes. This creature didn't suck blood but instead fed exclusively on the vital energy of the living. Furthermore, it could bore through canvas, and it spread so rapidly that it was impossible to guard against. I covered my head with my clothes and yelled to the others, "Run! Quickly, head toward the Fallen Water Bridge!" If we could jump into the water and let the current wash us, perhaps there would be a sliver of hope for survival. Standing on dry land, we would quickly become just more corpses in the ossuary cave.

Recent experiences had filled Fatty with intense hatred for weasels, and he seemed to forget that the old yellow weasel in the bronze chest had been dead for countless years. He cursed venomously, "Even if I die, I'll drag this old weasel down with me!" Ignoring the excruciating bites of the white lice tearing at him, he stomped down, crushing the bloody tumor on the chest of the old weasel. Foul-smelling, thick blood splattered everywhere. The white lice that had been parasitizing the weasel's corpse lost their host and scattered instantly, though those swarming us continued to drain our vital energy with deadly purpose.

I had intended to lead everyone toward the Fallen Water Bridge, but clearly, it was too late. We would likely be bitten to death halfway there. Every inch of my body felt as if countless steel needles were drawing out my marrow. With every painful surge, a portion of my vitality ebbed away; I grew weak and on the verge of collapse. Overwhelmed by the unbearable pain, I could only roll back and forth on the ground, trying to rub the lice off.

At that moment, Old Sheepskin roared, "We can live if we enter the Golden Well!" We couldn't bother questioning his sudden proclamation. When desperate, one grasps at any straw, and he seemed to know a great deal about this place; following his advice might offer a path to survival.

The hole covered in crisscrossing dragon-patterned bricks was right beside us. The four of us scrambled and jumped down. The more we fell, the more we were enveloped by the ghostly luminescence. The well walls were lined with dragon bricks, but there was no water at the bottom. In the phosphorescence, we saw many semi-transparent, protruding objects at the base of the Golden Well. They felt smooth and warm to the touch, like some kind of stone, some already broken, others intact. It seemed clear water was flowing beneath them. The Golden Well beneath the tomb wasn't excessively deep, but the fall was still hard. I tumbled to the bottom, turning to see Ding Sitian had fallen beside me. Her body was already extremely frail, and after being bitten by the swarms of white lice, she became completely immobile upon falling into the well. I tried to pull her deeper inside, but my vision kept blacking out; I couldn't even lift my arm to reach her.

Fatty, relying on his tough hide which resisted the bites better, while screaming in agony, grabbed me and Ding Sitian by the collar, one in each hand, and dragged us backward a couple of steps before collapsing onto the ground himself. By then, he couldn't even speak, only making gurgling noises in his throat as he rolled and struggled.

From the moment the bronze coffin of the old yellow weasel cracked until we were almost too paralyzed to move from the bites, no more than a minute or two had passed. We hadn't even had time to feel despair before our minds began to go numb. Life truly hinges on that last breath—the so-called essence, energy, and spirit. Once the vital energy dissipates from a living body, death is imminent.

Both Fatty and I were already poisoned by the corpse toxin and had mentally prepared ourselves to die here. But neither of us mentioned it, fearing it would sadden Old Sheepskin and Ding Sitian. Prior to this, Fatty and I believed that if our poisons flared up and we died, saving Old Sheepskin and Ding Sitian would mean our deaths were not in vain. Looking back before death, we would feel no regret or unease about saving our comrades; we could die with a clear conscience and meet Old Ma peacefully.

Unexpectedly, it seemed Ding Sitian’s poison hadn't been entirely purged, and Old Sheepskin had wandered deeper into the sleeping ground. Not only had we failed to lead them back to the pastures, but now we were all about to end our lives together in this dreadful place in the most brutal manner possible. There is nothing more terrifying in the world.

The awareness in my mind grew increasingly faint, yet the strong sense of unwillingness persisted. How could I close my eyes in death here? Amidst the pain of a thousand needles piercing me, my fingers clawed at the ground, tearing off my own fingernails, but to no avail. I could neither alleviate the pain nor escape to heaven.

The only sound reaching my ears was the unbearable wailing of my companions. This sound was more grating than the screams of a pig being slaughtered—a sound of profound internal agony trapped in the throat, unable to escape fully. Every second stretched out as if it were an eternity. Just as I had surrendered all hope, wishing only for death to come quickly and end this hellish torment, I heard Old Sheepskin panting heavily, dragging the Kangxi precious saber—which had fallen into the well with us—and furiously stabbing at the semi-transparent stone above our heads.

I thought he had gone mad from the pain. I figured he might as well hand the saber to me so I could slit my own throat and end it cleanly. So I reached out, clawing uselessly in the air, trying to snatch the long saber to commit suicide. But as I reached out, I suddenly felt a rush of coolness. It turned out Old Sheepskin had used the saber to puncture a hazy, transparent layer of rock above, and a large volume of clear water gushed out. This water was like the jade artifact from Guanyin Bodhisattva's vase; the moment it touched my body, the pain instantly stopped.

The coolness spread through my arm, bringing an indescribable comfort. My brain cleared significantly from its semi-numb state. I immediately realized this was no ordinary water. Old Sheepskin told us to flee into the Golden Well because it contained a "water gall." At the time, I knew that a Golden Well was a place where qi converged in feng shui, and water symbolizes life, hence a Golden Well possessing living water (sheng shui) was precious. But I still couldn't explain the mechanism by which this living water transformed into a water gall.

Later, when I joined the army as an engineer and learned more about geology and minerals, I discovered a type of ore called "water gall agate." Agate is a cryptocrystalline mineral of quartz and chalcedony, brittle yet hard, with a Mohs hardness of 7, highly resistant to wear, possessing a waxy luster, and appearing translucent. It is a product of ancient volcanic activity, a cryptocrystalline aggregate composed primarily of silicon dioxide. As the silicon dioxide colloid condensed, it trapped superheated water vapor, which turned into liquid water upon cooling. This clear water remained eternally within the agate—pure water from over a hundred million years ago.

The Golden Well beneath the sleeping ground contained a mineral layer similar to water gall agate, though not exactly the same; its crystal layers were thinner and more translucent. Crucially, the thin mineral layer beneath this Golden Well stored water condensed from rare qi—truly sheng shui—which could neutralize all poisons, cure all diseases, and possess the miraculous effect of bringing the dead back to life. The Japanese had mined a significant amount of the mineral bodies holding this Golden Well sheng shui, but perhaps because this substance could not regenerate and its existing supply was too scarce, they left some intact for research. Thus, the last vestiges of this living water in the well saved our lives.

Old Sheepskin stabbed wildly with the long saber, releasing all the jade-like liquid hidden in the mineral vein, flooding the well shaft over half a meter deep. We were brought back from the brink of death, floating in the water while leaning against the well wall. Recalling this experience—from life to death, and then back to life—a span of barely two or three minutes felt like an eon. This might be what is called relativity: happy times, no matter how long, feel brief, while painful moments, no matter how short, feel unending.

At the time, I did not yet realize that this water condensed from qi not only saved us then but also resonated with ancient lore: "Where great mountains and rivers meet harmoniously, jade marrow is born; consuming it grants immortality." While this qi-condensed water, like dragon's heavenly dew, could not grant eternal life, it could indeed cure hundreds of strange poisons and possessed the power to revive the dead.

The Rong poison and corpse toxin within Fatty, Ding Sitian, and me were unknowingly purged. Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps it was a miracle belonging only to the proletariat, but at that moment, we were completely stunned, unable to process everything that had happened for a long time. We watched the lice clinging to the water surface, each one bloated and round, forming a white, floating expanse of tens of thousands. I picked up a few; the white lice were transparent as snow, round and flat, covered entirely in clear, stiff hairs, with bloated abdomens and six legs paddling frantically. When pinched with a fingernail, they released a stream of black fluid.

Old Sheepskin suddenly spoke, telling us that when he was a tomb robber, he had heard rumors of these corpse-born Rong lice, never expecting they truly existed. If not for the life-saving water gall in the Golden Well, we would have been dead long ago. These Rong lice were not truly living beings. That yellow weasel had refined a life essence as large as a blood-egg before death; after death, the flesh-egg did not decompose but spawned countless Rong lice—the crystallization of its spirit. They were like the mother and child pearls within a lodestone, normally clinging to the corpse fur like dandruff. They came alive upon encountering qi, and neither water nor fire could destroy them; they specialized in sucking the spirit of the living to replenish the mother pearl. The Rong lice from a single corpse could leave not a single living person within several miles. Fortunately, Fatty had stomped and broken that blood-egg; otherwise, even with the water gall protecting us, the lice from the weasel's corpse would have continued to emerge until all nearby living souls were drained. It was likely the people in the research institute had no defenses against them, leading to their deaths. Old Sheepskin felt that the Chairman’s educated youth (referring to me, I realized) was only saved because he was with us. These Rong insects were now gorged on sheng shui, but since the mother pearl was destroyed, they would wither and dissipate soon, posing no further threat to the living.

I asked Old Sheepskin to explain everything; I was growing increasingly confused. Having gone through these trials of life and death together, we were linked like a single rope—if one dies, all die; if one lives, all live. There was no need for further concealment.

Old Sheepskin struggled to stand up in the water. He admitted that while he had told us most of the truth, there were still secrets. Now was not the time to reveal them; the Golden Well might not be safe either, and we needed to leave quickly. He said he would tell us everything after we were out.

Drenched by the clear water from the water gall, though shivering violently from the cold, none of us felt pain anymore, and a bit of strength returned. Hearing Old Sheepskin say there was still danger, we climbed out of the well like drowned chickens, intending to return to the research institute building to find some dry clothes. Otherwise, we couldn't possibly go home like this. Just as we reached the cave floor littered with tortoise bones, we heard a sudden, foul wind ahead, and large swathes of black and gray matter drifted past our eyes. When I grabbed a handful, it was nothing but the greasy residue from dead bodies.