Liu Dashao suddenly woke up as the tomb chamber blazed with light, finding Fan Debiao, Da Guoguo, Cai Qingchong, Su Yougui, and the others gone from beside him. Liu Dashao wondered, Did Da Guoguo and the others abandon me?

Impossible! Even if they were going to leave me, Fan Debiao would have woken me up.

Did something happen while I was sleeping? Just as he was racking his brain for an answer, a monster with the body of a man and the head of a dragon suddenly burst out from another exit of the chamber, wielding a feather-like weapon that was visibly cast from bronze.

The creature towered over two meters tall, and the bronze feather weapon in its grasp appeared lethally sharp. At that moment, the two eyes atop the dragon's head flashed red, and raising its weapon, it charged furiously toward Liu Dashao.

The monster moved with terrifying speed; as it ran, dust billowed up around its feet, and its weapon scraped sparks off the stone floor. Seeing the monster hurtling toward him, Liu Dashao was terrified and tried to bolt, but no matter how much effort he exerted, he couldn't lift his feet.

Faced with this predicament, he completely collapsed internally, muttering to himself, "Damn it, am I going to die here today?" As the monster closed the distance, Liu Dashao could only let out wails. Just then, he felt something incessantly tugging at him.

Liu Dashao blinked open his eyes to find flashlights illuminating the surroundings. The monster was gone; it had all been a dream!

His cries of “Ah!” and “Ah!” had woken everyone else. Fan Debiao, seeing Liu Dashao awake, released his grip.

"Dashao, what the hell are you screaming about? It sounds downright eerie in this tomb chamber!" Still rattled by the nightmare, Liu Dashao hadn't fully recovered.

He merely shook his head without answering Fan Debiao, thinking, Why would I run into a monster like that for no reason? Could it be a lingering effect from before?

Da Guoguo, noticing Liu Dashao ignoring Fan Debiao, patted him and asked, "You okay?" Liu Dashao shook his head. "I'm fine, just had a bad dream." Liu Dashao's commotion had completely chased away everyone else's sleepiness.

Fan Debiao checked his watch; it was seven o'clock. Everyone pulled out compressed biscuits from their packs and started eating.

After finishing his biscuit, Fan Debiao suddenly complained of a stomachache and announced he needed to find a place to relieve himself, walking off immediately. Liu Dashao cursed inwardly, "Stomachache, my ass.

I bet you're off looking for treasure." With Da Guoguo present, Liu Dashao didn't voice his suspicions. If Da Guoguo knew Fan Debiao was pulling a stunt like this, it would surely spark an internal conflict.

After eating the compressed biscuits, the group began discussing the ancient tomb. Da Guoguo remarked, "Since entering this tomb, none of us has seen anything dating back to the Three Kingdoms period, not even any burial goods.

I find that quite odd." Cai Qingchong chimed in, "That's right. I checked the terrain of this ridge when we came in.

This place is outside the main mountain range, with no major rivers nearby. Setting aside benefiting descendants, burying someone here would surely lead to the extinction of their lineage." Hearing Cai Qingchong, Liu Dashao also found it very strange.

"Historical records describe Zhang Jiao as a man who understood the ways of Heaven above and the Earth below, with extraordinary skill in Feng Shui. How could such a person establish his tomb in a location like this?

Is he an idiot?" As he spoke, they suddenly heard Fan Debiao yell out, "Ah!" Hearing Fan Debiao’s shout, everyone instinctively felt their way toward the direction of the sound. Liu Dashao asked as he walked toward him, "Fan Debiao, what happened?" Fan Debiao replied, "A dead body!

Damn it, there’s a dead body here!" Hearing Fan Debiao’s voice, Liu Dashao confirmed he was safe, then paused. "Hell, we’ve seen all sorts of monsters; why be afraid of a dead body!" Fan Debiao retorted, "The Jiao Ren, as fierce as they are, are handsome.

This dead person is too damn ugly! I was paralyzed with shock when I first saw its appearance!" Hearing Fan Debiao say that, Liu Dashao also felt a pang of curiosity.

A corpse more terrifying than a Jiao Ren? This trip into the mountains was truly eye-opening.

Moments later, the group converged around Fan Debiao. Shining their flashlights, they saw a corpse lying against the tomb wall.

Upon a closer look, everyone present, except Fan Debiao, froze, staring fixedly at the body by the wall. The entire tomb chamber was unnervingly quiet, a silence that inspired an involuntary tremor.

Liu Dashao, Da Guoguo, Fan Debiao, and the others gazed unblinking at the corpse by the wall, silence reigning between them for a long moment. The corpse looked as if its skin had just been violently flayed off; its entire body was crimson, and the flesh was horribly mangled, looking as though it had been pecked at by something.

Yet, the expression on the corpse’s face betrayed no sign of pain, a fact that left Liu Dashao utterly perplexed. Seeing everyone staring blankly at the corpse, Fan Debiao broke the tension.

He addressed Liu Dashao, "Stunned, are you? Just now you claimed you'd seen everything, and now look at you, terrified by a corpse!" Liu Dashao ignored Fan Debiao, focusing on the body.

"This looks like someone whose skin was just stripped off. Could there be tomb robbers who arrived shortly before us, and they encountered a flaying monster?

Was this person killed by that flaying monster?" "Impossible! There are no other raiding tunnels here besides ours," Da Guoguo stated definitively after hearing Liu Dashao.

Fan Debiao walked to the center of the group. "Could this person have died here over two thousand years ago?

No, that’s impossible; this corpse clearly looks like it was skinned just recently!" In this ancient tomb, which they believed no one else had entered besides themselves, finding a freshly flayed corpse presented an enigma that plunged everyone into confusion. It was then that Liu Dashao suddenly considered: Could this corpse belong to one of us?

He quickly counted those around him; yes, there were five people. Since Liu Dashao was uncertain, he counted several more times, but the final tally remained five.

At this point, all five fell silent. The atmosphere in the tomb chamber grew intensely bizarre as they stared with wide eyes at the corpse on the floor.

Just then, a gust of cold wind brushed the back of Liu Dashao's neck. He immediately turned around, shining his flashlight, but found only a cold, solid wall.

Since he was standing with his back to the tomb passage, he assumed the breeze came from that direction and dismissed it, turning back to face the corpse. The moment Liu Dashao turned back, Fan Debiao shrieked, "Ghost!" Hearing Fan Debiao yell about a ghost, Liu Dashao thought the corpse on the floor had reanimated and quickly pulled a talisman from his pack to slap onto the corpse's face.

Gaining focus, he saw the body remained exactly as before, unchanged. Annoyed, Liu Dashao stood up and confronted Fan Debiao, "Are you trying to fool me?

Where's the ghost!" Fan Debiao pointed upward with his finger. "A cold gust just blew down from above, making my neck feel icy, and I got goosebumps all over.

I’m certain there’s a ghost up there!" Hearing Fan Debiao’s explanation, everyone angled their flashlights toward the ceiling and searched thoroughly, finding nothing. This made Liu Dashao even angrier.

"You’re sick, always going on about ghosts, making my poor little heart pound like crazy. Have you no pity?" No sooner had he finished speaking than the other four shone their flashlights behind Liu Dashao, staring intently at the space behind him.

Fan Debiao’s mouth gaped so wide his jaw nearly dropped off. Seeing their expressions, Liu Dashao knew something was wrong; there must be some terrifying monster behind him.

Please, not another Jiao Ren companion!