Xu Zhiwu said, "We have encountered them before. But there is no definitive proof that they were looking for the Golden Eyes and Silver Pearls."

Ni Qiong paused to consider, then said, "It’s quite easy to run into a few foreigners in Lhasa. However... according to my reliable intelligence, there are also reports of two separate groups of Germans arriving. The young man we met in the Tibetan restaurant was one group, but as for the other, I inquired around Lhasa extensively and received no word. I wonder if it’s the group you mentioned."

Saying this, he turned to me and continued, "Xiao Luo, you certainly have resourceful friends. When I was in Lhasa, a little beggar even came up to me and handed me a crumpled note written in Manchu—look at this..." As he spoke, he pulled a dirty, wrinkled piece of paper from his pocket, carefully smoothing it out and presenting it to me. "Do you recognize this?"

I shook my head in confusion. To me, it was all just squiggly scribbles. I was lucky if I could recognize a few Han characters; Manchu script was from some ancient era, how could I possibly know it!

Seeing this, Ni Qiong offered the note to Xu Zhiwu. After studying it for a long time, Xu Zhiwu also shook his head. "I don't recognize it." He was about to pass it to Old Li, but Li quickly waved him off. "I'm a simple man. I don't understand these things."

Ni Qiong then sighed. "I do know a little Manchu... I managed to decipher the gist of it. It essentially tells me that I must ensure Xiao Luo's safety. And under no circumstances should I take him to any dangerous place, or I will bear all consequences."

No way! Who had the time to play such a pointless game? I was utterly speechless. I absolutely despise people who pry into your life and then interfere under the guise of caring. Thinking of it made me wave my hand dismissively. "Just ignore it. I don't know anyone who knows Manchu or can write in it."

Ni Qiong seemed hesitant, his expression grave. "Of course, you don't have to pay attention. I'm just incredibly puzzled—who knows that I can read Manchu? Why else would they write to me in Manchu instead of Tibetan or something else! Who could it be... Even Danzeng Zongji (Ni Qiong's wife) doesn't know I read Manchu... Does writing in Manchu mean they want secrecy, or perhaps..."

I pondered for a long time but couldn't figure out a satisfactory answer. Impatient with Ni Qiong continuing to dwell on the issue, I said, "Let's talk about something else. In any case, if anything happens to me, it won't be on your head."

Ni Qiong didn't answer me directly. He thought to himself for a long time, then sought Xu Zhiwu's opinion before reluctantly agreeing that I should continue traveling with them.

Enough small talk. Once the decision was made, Ni Qiong told us to pack up and then led us toward the search for the so-called 'lock' that leads to the world of eternal life.

Halfway there, Ni Qiong asked Xu Zhiwu, "Didn't you say you already know how to open the lock?"

Xu Zhiwu calmly replied, "Yes."

Ni Qiong was about to press him for more details, but Xu Zhiwu cut him off, "I’m thinking about that right now. Don't interrupt me." Ni Qiong wisely bit his tongue.

I had assumed the entrance Ni Qiong spoke of would be inside the Guge ruins city walls. To my surprise, Ni Qiong led us directly to the main gate of the Guge ruins, but instead of entering, he stopped by the entrance to exchange a few words in Tibetan with the gatekeeper, Tajie, before moving on. Only after walking a few steps did it click: This was the path leading to the desiccated corpse cave!

So, I quickly asked Ni Qiong, "What's going on?"

"Aren't you looking for the lock? This is the path to the entrance," Ni Qiong replied.

"But, but... but we’re heading toward the desiccated corpse cave right now," I stammered out.

Anyone who has visited the desiccated corpse cave will understand why I was so reluctant to set foot in it again. No rational person would ever want to go back a second time.

"Xiao Luo, just follow Brother Ni Qiong," Xu Zhiwu mumbled. Looking at his expression, it seemed he had other things on his mind.

...Re-entering the desiccated corpse cave, the group was far more familiar with the route. Except for Old Li, the rest of us managed to maintain a semblance of calm on the surface. The rock painting we had seen last time had been completely covered by Tajie, the gatekeeper, with wet mud—not a trace remained.

Ni Qiong led us through endless twists and turns deep inside. Judging by the cave’s serpentine nature, the rock painting we saw previously was, at best, near the entrance, and the various skeletal remains and dried flesh inside were merely props placed by the threshold to scare people away. The air in the cave grew increasingly thin, and I started feeling dizzy, yet Ni Qiong showed no signs of stopping.

"Ni Qiong, how much further?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Almost there, almost there," Ni Qiong replied without turning back.

Indeed, after another twenty minutes or so deeper in, a faint, weak light gradually emerged ahead. Upon seeing the light, everyone was startled and stopped dead, looking to Ni Qiong for guidance.

"It's fine," Ni Qiong calmly looked at us. "I instructed someone to light the lamps ahead. Because if you suddenly bumped into some of the things in here... in the dark... it might frighten you."

Ni Qiong said it so casually—afraid we would be startled. But when we reached the two continuous rows of oil lamps burning along the path, we all gasped, sucking in a sharp breath. Skull lamps! Human skull lamps! A relentless procession of human skulls!

Old Li and I instantly turned ashen. We exchanged a look, and without a word, stumbled back several steps, desperately fighting the urge to bolt.

Ni Qiong and Xu Zhiwu were startled by our reaction and repeatedly asked what was wrong, what was happening. Only then did they realize we had already encountered such lamps on Mount Qiangbake. Last time, those human skull lamps were connected by iron chains, one end of which was tied to an undead jiangshi.

After hearing our explanation, Ni Qiong seemed unsurprised and calmly corrected one mistake. "Relax, that thing isn't in this part of the cave for now. And that wasn't a jiangshi. It was a qishi [reanimated corpse]."

"Qishi?" I looked at Old Li and Xu Zhiwu; they both looked equally confused. "What is that?"

"It's used to guard the crystal... Don't ask so many questions; even I don't know much," Ni Qiong snapped, clearly annoyed by our ignorance. "Let’s discuss what’s in front of us right now. I’ve been in this cave many times... but only been here many times; I’ve never had any success."

Xu Zhiwu asked him, "These human skull lamps—are they your handiwork?"

Ni Qiong sneered, "If I had the capability to procure so many skeletons, why would I take such a risk by releasing the Golden Eyes and Silver Pearls to lure capable people here?"

Ni Qiong was usually impeccably polite and spoke with great refinement, but once inside the cave, he became extremely irritable. It was rare to get a pleasant answer when questioning him. Fortunately, no one took it to heart. He led us forward, weaving our way between the flanking rows of skull lamps, in silence.

A strange yet familiar odor hung in the air. It wasn't the stale stench of mummies or anything else; it was... a faint, very familiar herbal scent. I vividly remembered having asked about this smell somewhere before, but I couldn't place it. So, I quietly asked Old Li if he recognized the scent.

Old Li was clearly trying hard to identify it too. He sniffed deeply. "It smells like Tibetan incense, but also has a hint of sulfur..." Before he could finish, Ni Qiong abruptly cut him off. "The oil and the wick for these lamps were custom-made by the original cave builders. Never mind you two; even I haven't seen them before."

Even so, I truly felt the smell was familiar. Ni Qiong curtly dismissed my thought: "You couldn't have seen this anywhere else, because these lamps and oil are used to counteract a certain type of monster... We must hurry. If the lamps go out before we leave, I fear not a single one of us will make it out of the cave whole."

Xu Zhiwu seemed unconvinced. "What monster? It can’t be that serious, can it?"

Ni Qiong just sneered and said no more. After taking a few more steps, he told us to pay close attention to the cave walls on either side, saying there were more rock paintings. Ni Qiong knew this cave like the back of his hand; when he told us to look for the paintings, they soon appeared before us. However, these paintings were somewhat different from the last ones. The lines in the previous paintings were flowing and lively, clear and vivid. But these were twisted and obscure, extremely abstract. After staring for a while, I could only make out something resembling a crown—perhaps a human head wearing a crown—but the face clearly wasn't human; it was a monster with a long, dinosaur-like gaping maw—or so it seemed. Though, staring too long can certainly strain the eyes.

I was about to look closer, but Ni Qiong urged us, saying time was short and we needed to hurry to the most crucial spot. So, I only took fleeting glances at the other images, sensing that all the lines were painfully contorted, their content impossible to discern immediately.

Following Ni Qiong through several more turns, the skull lamps still lined the walls, and that strange smell gradually faded.

Walking along, Ni Qiong suddenly let out an astonished "Yi!"

"What is it?" Xu Zhiwu quickly asked.

Ni Qiong pointed at a large pile of fresh earth on the floor, his face extremely pale, unable to utter a full sentence.

My heart immediately sank. Could someone have entered before us? Had they dug up something critically important? But...

My complexion turned the color of dishwater as I asked, "Isn't this whole thing supposed to be a secret? Ni Qiong, besides you, how did anyone else find out?"

Ni Qiong shook his head, biting his lip tightly, remaining silent. He stopped walking straight ahead, instead stepping over the pile of dirt and veering off to the side. We had no choice but to follow.

Beyond the dirt pile was another relatively spacious cavern. There was nothing on the walls, but light seemed to filter in from somewhere, vaguely outlining our figures so that faces were indistinct. Ni Qiong continued to lead, and suddenly, thump—he stumbled and fell heavily.

We were greatly alarmed, thinking he had been ambushed. We shouted questions, simultaneously trying to back away and rush forward to help Ni Qiong up, plunging the scene into chaos. Fortunately, Ni Qiong recovered quickly and said in a deep voice, "It's nothing, everyone calm down!" Hearing this, knowing he was physically alright, we steadied ourselves. Xu Zhiwu immediately asked if he was hurt and if he could get up, or if he needed help.

In the gloom, I couldn't see Ni Qiong’s expression, but I heard him say with immense calm, "A dead body." Fearing we hadn't understood, he added, "A dead body tripped me."

A dead body? Xu Zhiwu reacted first, rushing forward to look, then quickly called to Old Li and me: "Xiao Luo, Li Zeng, come look... It's a German! How is this possible! How could it be!" He stared fixedly at the corpse, repeating "How could it be" several times.

When Old Li and I went to look, we froze. It truly was unimaginable! Lying on the ground was the young German man who had been speaking German to Xu Zhiwu in the middle of the road when Xu Zhiwu ran a red light in Lhasa. He hadn't been dead long; his body hadn't stiffened yet. He lay on his back, eyes wide open, and a long trail of blood stretched out from beneath him, curving deeper into the cave...

This... all of us immediately lost our composure. Ni Qiong looked at Xu Zhiwu, and Xu Zhiwu looked at Old Li and me...

"What do we do?" I was completely clueless.

Xu Zhiwu, having seen more of the world, calmed down quickly. He grabbed a piece of cloth, wrapped it around his hand, and turned the body of the young German over.

As soon as he flipped the body, Xu Zhiwu shrieked and immediately jumped back, pointing at the corpse and stammering, "You... you... look..."

He didn't need to say it; we all saw it: a massive, gaping hole in the body's back, shards of broken bone and torn flesh scattered around. The edges of the wound were jagged, serrated bite marks—I could state with certainty that they were bite marks, the kind left by an animal with extremely powerful jaw muscles that had torn away most of his back bone and flesh in a single bite!

"In the cave... in the cave..." I tried to say there was at least a lion- or tiger-sized beast in here, but my whole body was trembling, my teeth chattering so hard I couldn't form a complete word.

Everyone was too terrified to move, frozen, unsure whether to run or flee.

My legs felt weak, and the terrifying experiences on Mount Qiangbake flooded my mind one by one. I told myself I needed to leave immediately, get away from this cursed place, but I couldn't muster any strength in my limbs. Even my mind felt weak, completely blank. I only knew one thing: this time, we were finished.

...

After a long pause, someone finally spoke—it was Ni Qiong. He managed with difficulty, "It seems the Golden Eyes and Silver Pearls truly are ominous objects; they've already attracted monsters... None of us... will be spared..."

I had just managed to escape the shadow of the jiangshi and qishi on Mount Qiangbake, and now this! I regretted everything. I truly regretted it all. I should have listened to the young girl who sang Tibetan opera and never gotten involved... Damn it, why was my curiosity so strong, why did I insist on following Xu Zhiwu to see what this was all about!

Overcome with regret and fear, I lost all my usual composure.

Just then, a grating sound, like the movement of a heavy wooden door, echoed from deep within the cave.

When I heard it, I immediately thought a fierce beast was emerging. Everyone turned deathly pale, their guts churning. We wanted to run, but our feet refused to obey.

Xu Zhiwu stammered, asking Ni Qiong, "Wh-what... what do we do..."

Although Ni Qiong was panicked, he was slightly better off than the other three of us. He could still manage to speak in complete sentences, though his voice trembled. "We can only... follow the blood trail now... Escape, I think we can't escape. We might as well go look." Hearing only the content, an outsider might think he wasn't scared at all. But looking at his face, it was completely white. His displayed terror was no less than ours. Moreover, his voice trembled as he spoke. Even this scared, he still insisted on going deeper? Did he really not know the power of the Faceless Ones? I thought my ears must have been frightened into hearing wrong.

Xu Zhiwu trembled, asking in disbelief, "Go in? ...Now?"

Ni Qiong hesitated again, weakly saying, "Now..." He paused, thought for a moment, and then added, "Or maybe we can go back and grab some weapons and gear."

At these words, everyone snapped back to reality. Without waiting for Ni Qiong to speak, we immediately turned around and scrambled, rolling and crawling, back toward the exit. The grating door sound abruptly stopped.