The feel of my hand against the stone wall was profoundly strange, not heavy or cold, but light, as if the wall itself were not firmly rooted. I cautiously applied pressure to the right, and the wall immediately shifted with a soft zha-zha sound, remarkably easy to move—a single finger could nudge it. This, undoubtedly, was the door that Zhuoma Yangjin had spoken of so often. The door seemed to run on casters underneath, sliding open with surprising smoothness to reveal something resembling a tombstone, inscribed with characters that looked like Tibetan script but were not quite the same.

Seeing this, Zhuoma Yangjin let out a cry of joy and rushed over, crouching down to trace the strange writing painstakingly, character by character, with her fingertip. I was momentarily stunned by this unexpected development after the stone slid away. I turned to look at Old Li, confusion etched on my face. He mirrored my bewilderment. "It looks like a tomb chamber," he said, "but the barrage of arrows seems more for intimidation than actual lethality; they lacked any real force. As soon as one fired, it dropped harmlessly to the ground; we didn't even need to dodge. Then again, perhaps the mechanisms are failing... Those characters aren't Tibetan; I don't know what they are... But why would someone be buried here? This mountain has terrible feng shui—jagged rocks everywhere, devoid of the vital energy of a dragon vein. It's unsuitable for either a living residence or a tomb. How could this be? How could this be?" He repeated the phrase twice before falling silent, his head bowed in deep contemplation.

Over there, Yamamoto had noticed our progress and quickly called out in strained Mandarin, "Is the door open yet?" No one answered him. After a moment, Zhuoma Yangjin stood up and replied in Mandarin herself, "No. Only one mechanism has been activated." It was clear that this exchange was orchestrated for the benefit of Old Li and me.

Yamamoto seemed unconvinced. He fired several shots rapidly at the corpses, then rushed over and crouched down to examine the strange inscriptions. After studying them for a long time, he stood up as if to speak to me, but I glared at him with pure resentment and refused to acknowledge him. He paused, then turned back and began chattering urgently to Zhuoma Yangjin in Japanese. Within moments, Takeye, who was struggling with the advancing corpses, urgently called Yamamoto back to assist. Yamamoto cast a complex glance at Old Li and me before sprinting back to reinforce Takeye.

I was completely at a loss, having no idea what to do next. Old Li believed it was a tomb chamber, and if so, it must be completely sealed. Moreover, if this was indeed the burial site, opening the tomb door was likely irrelevant. The deceased, having gone to such lengths to set up mechanisms and arrange the walking dead within this cave, certainly intended to keep people away from their grave. It was highly improbable they would have dug another passage leading out of the mountain from within their own tomb.

Realizing this, my hope instantly evaporated. I slumped onto the ground, head hanging low, not wanting to utter a single word.

"Yamamoto says this is Manchu script," Zhuoma Yangjin suddenly interjected out of the blue.

I lazily glanced at her sideways. "Just because he says so?"

Zhuoma Yangjin walked over seriously and sat down beside me. "I recognize some Manchu script," she said softly. "It is exactly as Yamamoto stated, and moreover..." She paused, turning to look at Old Li, hesitating slightly. "...this is a tomb, the tomb of a high-ranking official from the Qing Dynasty... A Canjiang (Assistant General) under Shengtai. I wonder if Li-zheng knows."

Hearing his name mentioned, Old Li responded, "I don't know about high Qing officials; I'm not a history expert."

An Assistant General under Shengtai? That was a third-rank military officer. Since the epitaph was inscribed in Manchu, the deceased must have been Manchu... If he was Manchu and a high official, why was he buried in the southwest instead of being returned to his ancestral home in the northeast?

This realization ignited my curiosity far beyond anything else. Forgetting my annoyance with Zhuoma Yangjin, I urgently asked her, "What else does the Manchu inscription say?"

Zhuoma Yangjin shook her head, saying the Manchu text consisted of only two simple sentences: Tomb of Canjiang Changshuo, established in the tenth month of the Ren-chen Year.

"How can you be so certain he was an Assistant General under Shengtai? The tombstone doesn't say so." I was astonished by Zhuoma Yangjin’s supposed knowledge of Qing history. "You understand Manchu?"

Zhuoma Yangjin looked troubled and hesitated before whispering, "I learned a little Manchu from my grandfather when I was young. I know a bit about Qing history. Besides, Shengtai served as the High Commissioner to Tibet and signed the Convention Between Great Britain and Tibet Respecting Trade and Intercourse—how could we possibly forget someone who signed such a treaty that humiliated the nation and ceded territory for peace?"

I felt that the mysteries surrounding Zhuoma Yangjin were deepening. While what she said sounded plausible on the surface, something felt fundamentally wrong. I was about to press her further when Old Li approached. "I've examined it closely," he said. "This tombstone seems movable too, Technician Luo. You need to come over here again."

I followed Old Li back to the stone. Old Li was in no rush to move it. Instead, he leaned close to me and whispered, "This tomb is deeply peculiar. I suspect there is something sinister inside. Look at the zombies ahead, and even those Qing soldier corpses—they could easily kill someone. Yet, near this tomb, the mechanisms have lost all murderous intent. The stone wall moves, and the tombstone moves too. It doesn't seem designed to keep outsiders out, but rather to facilitate the people inside coming out."

Could it be that the owner of this tomb chamber intended to resurrect himself one day after death? I wanted to ask Old Li if he was trying to scare me, but his expression suggested otherwise, so the question I was about to ask died on my tongue.

Old Li was not one for excessive talk. After saying this, he instructed me to stand on the right again, and when he was positioned on the left of the tombstone, we should pull outwards simultaneously. This time, he didn't even tell me to stand clear. I dared not be careless and imitated my initial stance, pressing my body as close as possible to the stone, then pulling with all my might.

Just like the stone wall, Old Li and I barely needed any effort; the tombstone split down the middle and retracted into the adjacent stone walls. I gathered my strength, poised to drop and roll, covering my head if another volley of arrows shot out the moment the stone parted... To my surprise, the opening of the tombstone was met with absolute silence.

At that very moment, the Qing soldier corpses abruptly intensified their attack. Yamamoto’s rifle and Takeye’s flamethrower formed an impenetrable wall of fire, yet the corpses did not retreat a single step, forcing their way toward the blaze. Gunfire, the roar of the flamethrower, and the crisp crackling of burning clothes and hair filled the cavern, along with the unbearable stench of charred flesh and fabric.

Yamamoto and Takeye's firepower began to wane; they were struggling to hold the line and repeatedly urged us to hurry into the tomb chamber to see if we could take temporary refuge.

The chamber had just been opened, and the noxious miasma inside had not yet dispersed. Rushing in recklessly would only guarantee our deaths. We were not that foolish. Therefore, after pushing the tombstone aside, Old Li and I immediately moved to the side without looking inside.

Zhuoma Yangjin rushed over impatiently. "Well? Did you see what's inside?" she asked me.

I shook my head.

"Then why didn't you go look?" she asked, her eyes wide.

I couldn't be bothered to explain and gestured for her to ask Old Li. Old Li, being patient, explained the danger, warning her not to approach the entrance now, as the toxic fumes within the crypt could be lethal.

But before Old Li finished speaking, Zhuoma Yangjin recklessly rushed forward with a series of loud dong-dong-dong sounds, stuck her neck into the doorway, and then quickly retracted two steps back to our side.

"Technician Luo, it's a tomb chamber inside, with a pitch-black coffin right in the center," Zhuoma Yangjin reported back to us with a hint of triumph.

I snorted, still displeased by her reckless behavior, and remained silent. Old Li asked if she smelled anything strange or felt unwell from inhaling any of the fumes.

Zhuoma Yangjin waved her hands dismissively. "No, no. We can go into that chamber right now. You can completely trust me." She paused, her expression turning solemn. "Li-zheng, Technician Luo, the three of us must stand united now, no matter what. What is inside the tomb chamber is critically important to us. Whether we live or die, we cannot let the Japanese succeed."

I was momentarily stunned, having never seen Zhuoma Yangjin so resolute and stern, especially when she said the phrase "whether we live or die," her face radiating a willingness to face martyrdom—completely unlike the Zhuoma Yangjin I thought I knew.

"..." Old Li and I exchanged glances, completely baffled by her declaration.

Zhuoma Yangjin continued immediately. "Remember that saying? 'Beneath Mount Qiangba lies the Gate of Hell, where faceless demons reside.' Now, very soon... we will see the thing that turns people into faceless demons." She took a deep breath, sounding strangely excited. "Regardless of the outcome, to witness this thing, I will die without regret... But I emphasize again: we must be of one mind now... If you trust me, listen to me from this moment until we are inside the tomb."

I didn't absorb anything she said after that; my mind was consumed by "faceless demons, faceless demons." I overlooked the abnormality in Zhuoma Yangjin—how did she know so much? How could she be so certain we could enter the chamber immediately?

Old Li, however, did not share my confusion; his expression showed he understood. As soon as Zhuoma Yangjin finished speaking, he seemed to realize something and immediately agreed to cooperate. Zhuoma Yangjin then gave us several detailed instructions, stressing that we must guard against Yamamoto; he was utterly cunning and not someone an ordinary person could handle.

After we conferred, seeing that Yamamoto's side was nearly out of ammunition and the corpses were closing in, Zhuoma Yangjin loudly called out to Yamamoto and the others in Japanese, urging them to hurry into the tomb chamber.

Fortunately, the corpses moved very slowly—many times slower than the zombies from before—allowing Yamamoto and his men to quickly disengage and rejoin us.

However, even though the corpses moved slowly, they still advanced toward us step by step without hesitation, just as before.