“Yes, yes, yes!” the sturdy man Zhong Kui repeatedly nodded, bowing to pick up a piece of gold jewelry he fancied, but just then, Uncle Diao laid a hand on his arm.

“Old man, this is…?” Zhong Kui looked utterly bewildered.

“Remember, wealth shouldn’t be flaunted, lest it invite unnecessary trouble. Another point: items can be sold to domestic collectors, but absolutely not overseas,” Uncle Diao stated, emphasizing every word.

“Fine! We’ll listen to you.” Zhong Kui cupped his hands. With Uncle Diao holding the fort, everyone behaved properly, each having their own internal sense of fairness regarding the division. Young Master Liu acquired several bronze bells, Fan Debiao got some sundry ornaments, and as for the tiger-shaped mask, it was returned to the coffin under Uncle Diao’s repeated insistence. Some things could be taken; others could not. That mask was not something ordinary humans could command; mishandling it could bring about sudden death.

As they were talking, they heard Wang Feifei let out a soft moan, waking up drowsily. She rubbed her head, injured from the fall, and asked, “Where… where are we? And the zombies?”

Young Master Liu couldn't help but smile. “You’re awake, that’s good. We can leave the mausoleum now.”

“Leave the mausoleum?” Wang Feifei’s face changed drastically, shaking her head like a drum responding to a beat: “No way! Time moves faster in this accursed place than in the outside world. I don’t want to come out as an eighty-year-old granny when I haven’t even gotten married yet.”

Young Master Liu was momentarily stunned. But they had no connection to the outside world now; they couldn’t just stay in the ancient city indefinitely. No matter what, even if exiting through this tunnel was risky, they had to fight for even a one percent chance. So, Young Master Liu said, “No matter what, we have to try.”

After much coaxing, Wang Feifei finally agreed to leave the tomb. Thus, led by Fan Debiao, the group squeezed into the mysterious and unfathomable tunnel.

The environment inside the tunnel was extremely dark. Young Master Liu handed the wolf-eye flashlight to Fan Debiao, letting him lead the way.

Fortunately, although the air in the tunnel was thick and foul, it wasn't lacking oxygen. Gusts of chilling wind occasionally blew against their faces. While somewhat biting, this was enough to prove that this underground passage was connected to the outside world. A weight lifted slightly from Young Master Liu’s anxious heart.

He couldn't tell how long they crawled through the earth, worn out until his throat was dry and his body drenched in sweat, yet no light appeared ahead. This wasn't surprising; our Young Master Liu’s foundation wasn't weak, nor did he suffer from congenital polio. But in a tunnel where only one person could crawl forward at a time, even great stamina wouldn't last long.

Furthermore, the tunnel twisted and turned incessantly, suddenly ascending, then plunging downwards, disorienting everyone to the point where they couldn't distinguish east from west. He began to secretly regret his rash decision to enter the tunnel, not knowing how long the crawling ordeal would last. Now, everyone’s energy was nearly depleted; they could neither advance nor retreat. Fan Debiao simply collapsed with a thud, lying flat on his stomach against the dirt, panting heavily, “That’s it, my god, I can’t move anymore. Should we rest a bit?”

Young Master Liu was thinking the same thing and was about to call for a halt when he heard Uncle Diao shout excitedly, “There’s light ahead! I think we’ve reached the end.”

Upon hearing “light,” everyone’s spirits instantly lifted.

The word “light” for this group was undoubtedly like ice cream in the summer, a padded coat in winter, bread when starving, a bulb in the darkness—in short, it was everyone’s pillar of spiritual support and source of motivation. They crawled desperately toward the light. Although it appeared close, they still crawled for nearly half an hour before finally reaching the tunnel exit. That rascal Fan Debiao stopped complaining about fatigue and let out a cheer as he scrambled out, followed closely by Young Master Liu leaping out after him.

Suddenly, their eyes were flooded with brightness, and the vista was vast. After the prolonged darkness, Young Master Liu’s eyes couldn't immediately adjust to the brilliant outside world; everything looked a blinding white. Only after several minutes did his vision slowly recover.

He looked around. Oh my god, where was this? How had he ended up in a gobi desert? What in the world was going on? The Golden Ancient City was located in the heart of the Taklamakan Desert, surrounded by hundreds of miles of endless yellow sand. But here, there were patches of barren land with fiercely shaped rocks, and even some sparse green vegetation in sight. Based on these few details alone, it was a world apart from the Taklamakan Desert in the great Northwest.

Wang Feifei’s first action was to pull out a mirror to check herself. Only after confirming there were no signs of aging did she let out a long sigh of relief, asking, “Huh? Why is there vegetation here? Did we get out of the desert?”

Young Master Liu also found it bizarre, but couldn't figure out the reason immediately. He asked, “Clay Man Zhang, Uncle Diao, what do you make of this? The plants here are clearly subtropical; you never see them in the Northwest. We weren't fast crawling through the tunnel—maybe only about five or six kilometers—but we actually emerged from the desert? Could it be… could it be that we entered a…”

At this point, Young Master Liu suddenly thought of a word, and his expression changed drastically, swallowing the second half of his sentence.

Uncle Diao glanced at Young Master Liu, then exchanged a look with Clay Man Zhang. After a silent communication of understanding, he said solemnly, “Are you suggesting we entered a wormhole?”

Young Master Liu took a deep breath and nodded grimly.

“Wormhole? We didn’t see any worms in the tunnel,” Fan Debiao asked, completely confused.

Clay Man Zhang ignored Fan Debiao’s misunderstanding and simply stated, “Saying anything now is useless. We need to get down this slope and figure out exactly where we are.”

Uncle Diao nodded. “Let’s hope we’re still in China.”

Seeing that no one was paying attention to him and instead speaking cryptic words, Fan Debiao glared fiercely at Clay Man Zhang, snorted, and pouted so hard he could hang two oil jars on it.

The gobi was crisscrossed everywhere, but choked with gravel, making walking extremely difficult. It took nearly three hours for the group to traverse it. Perhaps due to Fan Debiao’s great luck, he stumbled upon Zhang Jiao’s zombie mid-way. Young Master Liu, without a second thought, retrieved the Black Donkey Hoof from her mouth. Clay Man Zhang, pitying her status as a grandmaster, simply dug a pit on the spot and buried her back into the earth.

Beyond the gobi was a highway. The group walked along the road. There were no signposts, so they had no idea where they were. Fortunately, a truck drove by—a Jiefang brand truck. Young Master Liu became somewhat excited. “It looks like we’re still within Chinese territory. Thank heavens.”

Saying this, he reached out to flag the truck down, but the vehicle ignored them. Instead, as if deliberately trying to annoy them, it deliberately gunned the engine as it approached.

Young Master Liu cursed under his breath. Although the truck didn't stop, everyone clearly saw the license plate started with the character “Xi” (), which represents Tibet. They were most likely in the Tibetan region.

After walking some distance further, several of them were exhausted and simply sat down by the roadside. Wang Feifei remarked, “We look like we crawled out of a pile of dead people, all grimy like this. No wonder no one wanted to give us a ride. But—” As Wang Feifei spoke, she narcissistically stroked her face, which, despite being covered in mud, retained its delicate beauty.

“But if this young lady steps forward personally, success is guaranteed—” Saying this, she drew out the final sound, “guaranteed-”

The others couldn't help but want to laugh but lacked the energy. However, they had to admit the power of the "beauty effect." Sometimes, things men couldn't accomplish could be done effortlessly by a beautiful woman—this was why it was so easy for beautiful women to find jobs. After all, what man didn't appreciate beauty?

As they chatted, another minivan drove past. Wang Feifei quickly waved her hand. The “beauty effect” kicked in. Although the minivan had already passed them, it reversed and stopped in front of the group. The driver was a middle-aged man, lean and wiry, resembling a dried corpse. He stuck his head out and, speaking a broken Mandarin, asked, “You folks… need to go… where?”

Young Master Liu quickly asked, “Where are we?”

The driver looked at Young Master Liu with a strange expression, as if he thought he was a lunatic who had escaped from a mental institution. He said, “I asked where you need to go!”