At this moment, Young Master Liu began to internally criticize the person digging the tunnel. He was now completely certain that the scoundrel was either idling away his time or had succumbed to the effects of the Corpse Scent Arisaema.

With no time to ponder further, the finish line was in sight. Everyone rushed out of the tunnel opening and landed on a tomb passage. It was a passage paved with Han bricks, distinctly in the Central Plains style, lined with numerous lit lamps on both sides. The passage was empty; nobody knew how the lamps had been lit.

The tunnel had been bored into the wall of the tomb passage. Now, they couldn't tell if this hole was dug from the inside out or drilled in from the outside.

Uncle Diao and the others weren't here, yet these lamps were burning on their own. This meant Uncle Diao and his group had definitely been here. And this was a Han-style tomb passage—truly baffling. Young Master Liu thought he needed to find Uncle Diao and the others quickly to figure out what was going on.

So, everyone hurried down the passage. As they ran, a side chamber suddenly appeared, light spilling out from within. He suspected Uncle Diao and the others were inside.

Young Master Liu dashed into the side chamber first, and the sight before him instantly stunned him.

The second to enter was Fan DeBiao, who naturally saw what Young Master Liu saw and immediately blurted out, "Damn it, what an emo!"

Everyone gathered in that side chamber and was collectively stunned by the scene before them.

A person lay on the ground, submerged in a pool of blood. This person had a head full of white hair, his clothes ragged and torn. Beside him sat a bulging backpack. Perhaps Fan DeBiao found the person’s state aesthetically pleasing in a certain way, earning him the immediate label of "emo."

Everyone probably knew who this person was! Yes, it was Clay Figure Zhang. This astonished Young Master Liu and immediately signaled that something was terribly wrong.

According to Clay Figure Zhang, only those who found the right Xuanmen (Mysterious Gate) could reach this place. How could he be here? And looking so wretched—where were the others?

And was the tunnel he dug?

Of course, this wasn't the time to dwell on those questions. Clay Figure Zhang was lying in a pool of blood, and they didn't know if he was dead or alive. The priority now was to save him.

While the others were still gaping in astonishment, Young Master Liu was the first to rush over and help Clay Figure Zhang sit up. He checked for a pulse; thankfully, he was still alive.

He had several rough wounds, all quite deep, but the bleeding seemed to have stopped. The scarf covering his face had fallen off, but his face was a mess of blood and sand mixed together, completely obscuring his features.

The others snapped back to reality now. Although nobody understood the situation, in their current society, human life was paramount; saving him was the most important thing.

Only Wang Feifei on the team possessed some rudimentary medical knowledge from years ago. She pulled out the medical kit from her bag and took out a bottle of powdered medicine, sprinkling it over Clay Figure Zhang's wounds. The man grimaced in pain, which was a good sign—at least he hadn't lost consciousness.

After applying the medicine, Wang Feifei administered an injection, probably for tetanus. Watching Wang Feifei work breathlessly, Young Master Liu felt ashamed. If they managed to get out of this, he resolved to diligently study medical knowledge.

Once Clay Figure Zhang's wounds were dressed, everyone sat down in the side chamber to rest. Young Master Liu felt the place was strange, so he turned to Wang Zhicai and asked, "President Wang, did you notice? The structure here is Central Plains style."

Wang Zhicai nodded. "I noticed that a while ago. I can't figure out what’s going on either."

Hearing Wang Zhicai say that completely scrambled Young Master Liu's thoughts. The things they had encountered on this journey were too numerous—all sorts of bizarre occurrences. Now, in the tomb of the Golden Queen, a Central Plains-style passage had appeared. Thinking about it, it bore a surprising resemblance to their experience in Zhang Jiao's tomb.

While resting, they suddenly heard music drifting into their ears. The sound was somewhat familiar. Listening closely, wasn't that his mobile phone ringtone? Instantly, everyone else’s gaze shifted to Young Master Liu.

He quickly pulled out his phone to look. The screen displayed the name "Uncle Diao." This completely baffled Young Master Liu—the idea that they could make phone calls in this place was simply unbelievable.

Young Master Liu decided to ignore the strangeness and pressed the answer button: "Uncle Diao, what's the situation?"

"I don't know either. The signal suddenly popped up. Where are you guys now?" Uncle Diao's voice came through the receiver.

Although the situation felt weird, contacting Uncle Diao was a good thing. Young Master Liu told him, "We came through a tunnel into a Central Plains-style passage. We are resting in a side chamber now. What’s happening on your end?"

"A Central Plains-style passage." Obviously, Uncle Diao found that incredible too. "My situation is a bit hard to describe."

Young Master Liu’s heart sank. What could be so hard to describe? "Tell me the general situation, whatever it is."

Uncle Diao paused. "Listen for yourself." Then, a gurgling sound came from the receiver.

Young Master Liu immediately understood. "Damn it, you guys fell into water!"

"Who knows. We were running and suddenly fell into an underground river. Now we are being carried by the current. You guys hurry up and see if you can find the underground river," Uncle Diao instructed.

Just as Young Master Liu was about to speak, the call abruptly dropped. It was too sudden; before he could ask why the line went dead, Young Master Liu’s stomach lurched. Did something happen to Uncle Diao and the others?

Young Master Liu put away his phone, his thoughts growing even more chaotic. An underground river—that’s right! Uncle Diao told them to look for an underground river. Young Master Liu immediately stood up. "Quick, everyone, let's look for the underground river."

"What underground river?" Everyone looked at Young Master Liu with blank expressions.

"Uncle Diao and the others might be in trouble. He told us to find the underground river," Young Master Liu explained to everyone.

At this, everyone jolted up from the floor. As Wang Zhicai straightened up, he immediately slumped back down.

Lin Miaoke quickly supported Wang Zhicai. Young Master Liu saw that Wang Zhicai was pale, his lips cracked—a clear sign of severe dehydration.

"It’s nothing serious, just needs some water," Wang Feifei said, then frantically searched her bag for water, but after looking everywhere, she found none, then glanced at the others.

The others shook their heads—no water left! This was unexpected for everyone. Young Master Liu declared, "We can't wait. Even if we can't find Uncle Diao, we need to find the underground river first to save Wang Zhicai."

With that, Young Master Liu led the way out of the side chamber. Fan DeBiao hoisted Clay Figure Zhang onto his back, Jackson carried Wang Zhicai, and Wang Feifei covered the rear. The group sprinted down the tomb passage.

Before long, they squeezed into another tomb chamber. This room was entirely empty except for a square opening in the center. Approaching it, they saw it was an underground passage—ancient, worn steps descended into the unknown.

Young Master Liu looked up to survey the surroundings; there were no other paths available. He turned to look at Wang Zhicai and Clay Figure Zhang. If they didn't get water soon, they could collapse at any moment.