The two stared at the mummy's stake-like legs for a long moment, wanting to step forward and pull out the spikes, yet fearing some mechanism might be triggered. It was just like when Xiao Shu was pinned to the stone; in reality, it was only because Xiao Yu accidentally touched that strange-looking tree that Xiao Shu, resting on the stone, suffered that calamity.

"I think it's best if we don't touch it, let's leave quickly," Xiao Yu suggested, the words masking his lingering guilt over the last incident.

"No hurry!" Xiao Shu remained quite composed. She crouched down and gently peeled away the bone of the leg, leaving two black, gleaming spikes standing upright on the ground. She found this peculiar: "Why are these spikes growing out of the ground, as if they've taken root?"

"These are exactly the same as the spikes that pinned you to the stone last time. Back then, Old He and I checked the stone and the spikes all over—up, down, front, back, inside, and out—and discovered they genuinely emerged from the stone," Xiao Yu said uneasily, eager to leave but unable to interrupt as Xiao Shu seemed so focused.

While the two were lost in thought, a syrupy voice that made the hairs stand on end drifted in from the doorway: "Those are called Soul-Nailing Spikes. Anyone killed upon them can never reincarnate. Only those who trespass into a forbidden area or commit a heinous sin are pinned by them."

Startled by the sudden sound, both whipped their heads around. The speaker was Zhang Yuqiu, clad in a skin-tight, purplish-red suit overlaid with a sheer white jacket—a distinctly postmodern ensemble.

"How do you know that?" Xiao Shu asked, confused.

"I know plenty more!" With that, Zhang Yuqiu tossed two sets of tight suits she was holding over to Xiao Shu and Xiao Yu, commanding, "Put these on immediately. The outside has been overrun by flesh-eating Nether-Insects."

Xiao Shu took the suit, glanced at Zhang Yuqiu with a hint of embarrassment, and said, "We need to change."

"Yes! You must put these on," Zhang Yuqiu deliberately feigned indifference. "Hurry up and wear them; I'll get you out of here."

Xiao Shu and Xiao Yu exchanged a look and simultaneously said, "Could you please turn around!"

"This issue!" Zhang Yuqiu intertwined her ten fingers, looking quite troubled. "I have an obligation to protect you. If I turn my face away, and one of you two gets nailed by a Soul-Nailing Spike, wouldn't all my efforts be for naught? This is a forbidden zone. Didn't you see the Bagua bronze bells hanging in the four corners of the room? If one does something forbidden in a restricted area, the Soul-Nailing Spike will instantly jut up from beneath the feet, pinning a person fast until their essence and blood are drained, turning them into a mummy. Just like her." As she spoke, she gestured with her chin toward the severed mummy pieces on the floor.

"Huh? Does that mean I violated a forbidden zone when I was in Miao Village last time?" Hearing this, Xiao Shu grew increasingly perplexed. "You were just sitting on a rock," Xiao Yu interjected coolly, showing a clear aversion to Zhang Yuqiu's ceaseless chatter. "That rock might be the switch connecting two realms. After he was pinned to the stone, did everything around you change? Did the Sea of Specters appear?"

"Mm," Xiao Yu nodded in agreement, "That's exactly what happened. We used the water from the Sea of Specters to bring Xiao Shu back."

"That means her life was not meant to end. Hurry up and change clothes to leave. If we delay, I can't predict what might happen here."

Just as Zhang Yuqiu kept urging them on, Xiao Yu suddenly blurted out, "I don't want to go. You two go ahead." The woman instantly froze, speaking with a hint of anxiety, "Those disgusting insects will devour every living and dead person in this entire hospital. If you don't leave now, by the time they find this place, it will be too late."