Liu Dashao and Jackson wandered around for a while with little to show for it. Finally, between the feet of the Buddha statue, they found a clue: nestled quietly there was a desiccated corpse, clutching a scepter made of Huyang wood. Finding a body in such a place wasn't unusual, but an exposed one certainly was. Liu Dashao and Jackson decided to investigate. The corpse was remarkably preserved, clad in white Daoist robes, features perfectly distinct—just alarmingly pale, suggesting it was a woman.

Jackson exclaimed in awe, "A miracle! I never imagined an ancient corpse could remain this intact."

Liu Dashao chuckled, "There might be a preservative bead in that corpse's mouth. Those are treasures."

Hearing Liu Dashao mention a bead capable of preservation inside the corpse's mouth instantly piqued Jackson’s curiosity. He stepped up to the body and gently touched its chin. The corpse’s small cherry lips parted, revealing a large preservative bead. Jackson paused for a beat, then reached out to take it.

"Stop!" a sharp command suddenly rang out from behind them.

Startled by the voice, Jackson froze, his right hand suspended inches from the corpse.

Both Liu Dashao and Jackson snapped their heads around, but saw no one—only a cold, blue-brick wall. Liu Dashao frowned, wondering where the sound had originated. Could a ghost be at work? The thought sent a chill down his spine.

Jackson wiped a bead of cold sweat from his forehead and said calmly, "Chinese Daoists. What exactly is going on?"

"I don't know. That voice was eerily similar to the gunshot from earlier—only the sound manifested, never the source," Liu Dashao mused, turning to Jackson.

Jackson stared intensely at the opposite wall, his brow deeply furrowed, sweeping his flashlight beam back and forth. The preservative bead in the female corpse’s mouth was momentarily forgotten.

Liu Dashao’s confidence began to waver. China, after all, was a land steeped in myths and ghost stories. Even with a commitment to scientific reasoning, encountering something inexplicable inevitably led the mind toward the supernatural.

Foreigners were different; even if the sky fell, they could probably attribute it to a 'magnetic field anomaly.' Seeing Liu Dashao's perplexed expression, Jackson remarked, "Dashao, you think there’s a ghost here? Don't buy into that nonsense. There must be some strange field interference at play."

As he spoke, Liu Dashao kept turning over the events in his mind. The gunshot and the shout had sounded so real. Even if they were echoes of magnetic flux or friction from artifacts, they shouldn't possess such vivid realism.

Liu Dashao looked around, finally fixing his gaze on Jackson’s flashlight. Fan Debiao had procured this light from the tomb chamber upstairs, meaning someone else had definitely been here. Therefore, the recent voices must have come from a living person. But why did he see Jackson reaching for the bead?

"There is definitely someone inside that wall, someone who can see us, even if we can't see them. Shall we go investigate it together?" Liu Dashao suggested to Jackson.

"That’s exactly what I was thinking," Jackson replied with a grin.

Without further discussion, the two approached the brick wall in a tactical sweep. Because the chamber was vast and they shared only one flashlight—Fan Debiao’s slightly depleted battery—the beam’s range was significantly reduced, making the entire tomb feel even more desolate.

"I told you to stop!" As Liu Dashao and Jackson crept closer, the same voice echoed from within the wall.

"What did you touch this time?" Liu Dashao and Jackson looked at each other and asked in unison.

Naturally, neither of them had touched anything. Liu Dashao and Jackson shrugged with bitter smiles. Liu Dashao cursed inwardly, Damn it, what the hell is going on? Is there a madman in there? Yet, the voice held a familiar quality, though it felt strange upon closer thought.

Liu Dashao took a deep breath, splashed some water on his face to compose himself, and said, "Jackson, there’s certainly a lunatic in there. Since we don't have any tranquilizers, if that person bursts out of the wall, don't show mercy—hit him with a 'brick slab'."

Jackson grinned mischievously and asked, "What brick slab?"

Hearing this, Liu Dashao felt utterly mortified. The kid hadn't grasped the colloquial meaning of 'brick slab' (ban zhuan), and he had no idea what Jackson was grinning about.

Liu Dashao felt around and found two sturdy blue bricks, handing one to Jackson. "If anything flies out of there, greet it with this." In truth, the brick was useless as a weapon, but it was the best available option in this tomb.

The two men crept up to the brick wall as if stalking a weasel. Jackson ran the flashlight over the surface a few times; the wall showed no abnormalities, only an intense, biting cold. Looking at it, Liu Dashao hesitated to touch it. What if it was one of those 'man-eating walls' Old Man Kramer had warned about? If he were sucked in, who knew where he’d end up—being deposited at the Great Hall of the People would certainly be awkward.

"To him who fears death, life is a veritable hell!" Jackson spat out the phrase with a touch of anger. Saying this, he grabbed his brick and began hammering incessantly against the wall.

Liu Dashao had been fooled by that line from Jackson five years ago and felt a strange sense of nostalgia hearing it again. Watching Jackson violently smashing the wall, cold sweat streamed down his own face; the man looked like a lunatic. Considering his frenzy, even if the madman inside the wall jumped out, it was questionable who would win in a fight with Jackson. Suddenly, Fan Debiao’s booming voice cut through the air, "Damn it, Dashao, you’ve driven Jackson insane!"

The sudden shout nearly made Liu Dashao lose his footing, and Jackson, startled by the reflex, swung his brick toward the source of the sound.

Liu Dashao turned toward Fan Debiao just as he flinched, the brick flying harmlessly over his head. Wang Feifei stood beside Fan Debiao, seemingly unperturbed.

"What the hell, why attack me with a brick? Are you trying to start a war, Jackson?" Fan Debiao cursed.

Jackson snapped back to reality, realizing his outburst was inappropriate, and began profusely apologizing out of embarrassment.

The group let the incident pass without argument. Fan Debiao and Wang Feifei joined them, and Fan Debiao asked Liu Dashao, "Brother, what just happened?"

Liu Dashao recounted the events to Fan Debiao and Wang Feifei. After listening, Wang Feifei walked to the brick wall and studied it carefully, announcing, "There really is a lunatic in here." Jackson, seeing her immediate belief, affirmed his earlier statement to her.

Fan Debiao leaned in conspiratorially to Liu Dashao, "Dashao, where did you say that preservative bead was? I’m going to snatch it."

Liu Dashao thought to himself, After listening to me for all this time, all Fan Debiao heard was ‘preservative bead’...

However, looking at the lifelike state of the female corpse, Liu Dashao felt it had considerable research value and asked Fan Debiao to hold off on defiling it for the time being.

Since Liu Dashao wouldn't let him take the bead, Fan Debiao, bored, wandered over to Wang Feifei, and they began examining the brick wall together.

"Rat-a-tat-tat..." Suddenly, the sound of a machine gun erupted from within the wall. The group reacted swiftly, dropping to the ground in prone positions within a second or two.

The gunfire ceased, followed by a wave of chaotic noise, also emanating from inside the wall. It seemed the burst of automatic fire wasn't directed at them.

The group scrambled to their feet and cautiously approached the wall. The commotion inside continued, now accompanied by several distinct voices, indicating there was more than one person in there.

They exchanged glances, momentarily speechless. Liu Dashao’s mind churned with conflicting thoughts, unable to formulate any rational explanation.

Just then, another voice emerged clearly from the brickwork: "Everyone stop breathing, close your eyes, and charge to the left."

Hearing this voice, Liu Dashao instantly recognized the speaker, his expression changing dramatically. "That’s him! It really is him! But how could he be here?"

Fan Debiao looked confused. "Who is it?"

Before Liu Dashao could answer Fan Debiao, the entire tomb chamber began to shake violently. Coffins occasionally tumbled from above, shattering into splinters upon impact.

The shaking lasted for about twenty seconds before subsiding, leaving everyone dizzy and disoriented. It took a while for them to regain their bearings.

Liu Dashao focused his vision forward and gasped in surprise. A gaping hole, resembling a palace gate, had appeared in the brick wall. The opening was shrouded in thick haze, and faint sounds of running could be heard within.

It was evident that the preceding violent tremor was what caused this breach.

Fan Debiao stared fixedly at the aperture for a long moment before asking Liu Dashao, "Dashao, who exactly was that 'he' you mentioned?"

Liu Dashao swallowed hard and told Fan Debiao, "I know that voice intimately. He is my..."

He didn't finish the sentence before figures suddenly burst through the hole.

No, not just one person. A group of people.

Liu Dashao quickly estimated there were over a dozen individuals pouring out of the brick wall. All wore gas masks and carried weaponry, all appearing quite modern. Frankly, a raiding party of over ten tomb robbers was a significant number.

Seeing the group emerge, Fan Debiao, Wang Feifei, and Jackson immediately scattered to defensive positions. The newcomers, noticing their movement, swiftly chambered rounds, aiming their weapons—a clear threat that any sudden action would result in immediate execution.

Fan Debiao, Wang Feifei, and Jackson were smart; seeing the enemy’s superior numbers and firepower, they instantly relaxed their stances, signaling compliance. Fan Debiao adopted a façade of nonchalance, making an observer think he was a seasoned veteran.

At this moment, Liu Dashao felt his tension ease, because he had already confirmed the identity of the group's leader. The shout from earlier had been Uncle Diao, and Liu Dashao was so familiar with his voice that he could never mistake it.

"Put the weapons away!" Sure enough, Uncle Diao’s voice commanded from within the ranks. As soon as the command fell, a man in an old Sun Yat-sen suit and a gas mask stepped out from the crowd. Liu Dashao was certain that was Uncle Diao.