Seeing the corpses instantly dredged up unpleasant memories; these Germans reminded me of the Japanese devils I encountered on Mount Qiang Kaba. What motives drove them to continuously search for these horrifying things?

Before I could find an answer, a chill suddenly struck the back of my neck. Feeling uneasy, I looked back, and the sight instantly stole half my courage. I distinctly remembered there should have been at least a dozen lights near where we entered. Now, looking back, the lights closest to us were flickering violently, and the initial cluster had already vanished.

We were deep inside a cave; none of us had felt even the slightest breeze. Niyong also seemed to notice the anomaly. He glanced back at the lights and immediately let out a scream: "This, this, this...!"

Watching Niyong’s panic, I, who had been barely suppressing my own terror, suddenly lost my composure. I had witnessed major incidents before, but people invariably harbor fear toward the unknown.

Just as I was about to lose control of my emotions, Old Li roared from behind me, "Stop spacing out! Follow me!"

Niyong snapped out of his shock, and like we had found our anchor, the few of us bolted deeper into the cavern, following Old Li. Beyond the whooshing sound of the wind, the rustling noise grew clearer and clearer. I realized with dread that this cursed place held too many oddities; chances were we wouldn't be getting out.

While my mind raced, Niyong shrieked again, "Ah! Quickly, quickly...!"

It was already frightening enough, and Niyong's constant yelping was maddening. I could no longer hold back and yelled at him, "Don't you have any of the mettle of the Tibetans? You were the one who wanted to enter the cave, and you’re the one panicking. What is it?"

Xu Zhiwu, his face pale, pointed ahead with a trembling voice, "Xiao Luo... look... there's a door up ahead."

I followed the direction of his finger. An extremely ancient and very heavy wooden door blocked our path. Just as I stepped forward to push it, Old Li was already there, murmuring to himself as if talking to the door, "No way... this makes no sense..."

The rustling sounds were drawing nearer. I could worry about formalities later and strode past him. Following Old Li's gaze, my heart sank. I heard Old Li repeating incessantly, "Nine-Heart Lock... Nine-Heart Lock..."

Niyong was momentarily stunned: "What is a Nine-Heart Lock? I've never heard of it."

I picked up the conversation: "The Nine-Heart Lock was prevalent during the Warring States period. Allies used it to secure confidential documents transmitted between them. If intercepted by an enemy nation, there was no worry of decryption because the mechanism resembled a modern combination lock, designed by master craftsmen based on the numbers of the Lo Shu square. This technique has long been lost to time. I never expected it to become our obstacle today."

Niyong and Xu Zhiwu stared at me blankly, their expressions asking: Are we doomed?

Old Li ignored my explanation, but watching the sweat stream down his brow and drip from his chin, I knew he was equally helpless.

Just as despair began to set in, the rustling sound abruptly ceased. All of us, except Old Li, spun around to look, eyes wide.

In the firelight, seven or eight meters away, stood a creature that was neither bear nor human, constantly writhing. It was 'writhing' because as the monster slowly approached us, it didn't walk; instead, it advanced like the tracks of a tank.

Niyong didn't hesitate. He pulled out the pistol he had picked up earlier, chambered a round, and fired three shots in quick succession. The bullets struck the monster's head accurately. Yet, at that moment, we instinctively backed away. The creature showed no reaction and continued its slow advance.

My eyes darted, and with a sweep of my arm, my military training took over. I threw a hand grenade, and the torch hit the monster's head squarely. That seemed to provoke it instantly. Upon contact with the torch, the monster looked as if it were melting, and the rustling sound reappeared.

Xu Zhiwu screamed repeatedly, "It's bugs, bugs! Ahhh!"

I was utterly rattled. So this monster was composed of insects—no wonder it moved like a tank with treads, and no wonder Niyong's bullets had no effect. I instinctively turned and yelled at Old Li, "Old Li! If we can't open that lock, we're all finished! Niyong! That thing fears fire—light the torches!"

Although Xu Zhiwu was timid, he proved useful now. Hearing my shout, before Niyong could even light a torch, he fumbled in his pocket and pulled out something that startled both Niyong and me—Hong Xing Erguotou Baijiu!

Seeing our stunned faces, Xu Zhiwu anxiously urged, "It's just liquor, what are you looking at? Quick, give me a lighter! I have several more bottles."

Niyong, like an idiot, obediently handed over his lighter. Then Xu Zhiwu called to me, "Xiao Luo, you threw that torch accurately; can you throw a liquor bottle just as well?"

Without a word, I snatched an Erguotou and smashed it hard onto the ground in front of me.

Xu Zhiwu then pulled out several more bottles of Erguotou from his coat and pockets, one after another. I threw them all onto the ground and quickly followed up by tossing the lit torch. With a whoosh, the liquor on the ground ignited. As I expected, the bugs genuinely feared fire and immediately recoiled.

I glanced back at Old Li. He was still muttering to himself, but the lock remained untouched. I knew Old Li had no confidence in opening it without breaking it, so he was strategizing.

Seizing the moment, I pulled Niyong a few steps forward and asked, looking at the cluster of bugs, "Niyong, have you ever seen this thing?"

Niyong shook his head: "In the Tibetan regions, only on the Great Snow Mountains are there large coleopteran insects, but those are white. This slick, jet-black one is extremely rare..."

Hearing this, I began to guess, but I wasn't certain. Right now, I didn't care how these bugs came to be; I only cared if Old Li could solve the lock. I pushed aside my thoughts and quickly walked up to Old Li.

Before I could speak, Old Li spoke first: "Top horizontal 3 empty 9, left vertical 3 empty 1, bottom 1 empty 2, center empty 8 empty, right vertical 952. Which numbers occupy the empty spaces?"

I was momentarily confused: "What empty what?"

Xu Zhiwu heard clearly. He pulled a pen from his pocket, drew a square on the ground divided into nine smaller squares, and asked Old Li to repeat the sequence of numbers. Old Li then walked over and murmured, "The Nine Palace grid only gives one digit, missing eight; how do we assemble them?"

I was starting to grasp the concept, but I was truly inept with numbers, so I kept quiet. Niyong was the same. I exchanged a look with him. I knew those bottles of liquor wouldn't last long, and the bugs were gradually regrouping, seemingly preparing to cross the flames.

So, Niyong and I walked halfway, looking for anything useful to defend against the next insect attack, while the two key figures, Old Li and Xu Zhiwu, continued their intense concentration.

"In this Nine Palace grid of 1–9, three numbers are missing: 4, 6, and 7. But the large Nine Palace matrix isn't provided. If we assemble it incorrectly, and the lock malfunctions, we truly have no way out," Xu Zhiwu said, closing his eyes in distress.

Old Li remained fixed on the nine squares and suddenly declared, "Calculating using our Taoist principles, this Nine Palace cannot be separated from the Five Elements theory. Of the missing numbers, only 7 is an odd number."

With that, Old Li turned to look at the lock, then drew a cross on the ground, designating North at the top, South at the bottom, West left, and East right. He then wrote North 2, South 4, West 6, and East 8 on the four directions, and labeled the odd numbers: Metal 1, Wood 3, Water 5, Fire 7, Earth 9.

Finally, he inscribed the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches around the cross. Old Li drew faster and faster. Xu Zhiwu gradually realized that Old Li had found a viable method, but since he didn't fully understand the Taoist Qimen Bagua techniques, he too quieted down, watching Old Li work alone.

After the time it took to smoke one cigarette, the flames from the liquor began to die down. The bugs attempted to cross the fire, but the ground had been scorched for a long time. After a few steps, they collapsed, motionless. I guessed their feet were burned. I quickly signaled Niyong; we ignited the wooden sticks wrapped in cloth and sprinkled the gunpowder from the bullets onto them.

Gradually, more bugs approached to test the barrier. Eventually, the ground was covered with their corpses. I was astonished by their intelligence—they were using their dead companions as a bridge for food! I quickly took out my lighter, ignited a torch, and waved it vigorously, trying my best to keep the bugs away. God knows what it felt like to be bitten by those things alive.

While Niyong and I fought desperately against the swarm, Old Li's calculations behind us were nearing completion. Xu Zhiwu could barely find standing room amidst the dense numbers and incomprehensible modern words Old Li had scrawled on the ground. Finally, Old Li wiped his forehead, walked to the Nine-Heart Lock, took a deep breath, and quickly pressed his fingers into the three empty slots on the lock: top horizontal 4, left vertical 7, bottom horizontal 6. With a few ka-ka clicks of the internal springs, the lock actually opened.

Xu Zhiwu’s eyes widened staring at Old Li. Just then, the bright look in Old Li’s eyes dimmed, and he collapsed right in front of the wooden door. Xu Zhiwu rushed forward, shouting, "Xiao Luo, Niyong, quickly! The lock is open, Old Li has fainted."

Hearing this, Niyong and I mustered our last bit of strength, waved the torches that were about to extinguish, crossed the final line of defense, lifted Old Li, and bolted through the wooden door. We quickly shut it behind us, just in time to hear the sound of something being torn apart outside.

The three of us wiped the sweat from our brows simultaneously. I checked Old Li and found he had only fainted from exhaustion, which eased the stone in my heart. But the scene before us left the three of us utterly dumbfounded...