Although Old Li said so, I was still extremely happy. Compared to the previous situation where there was absolutely no escape, the discovery of these few openings was incredibly encouraging. Even if I couldn't think of a solution right away, there was still hope.

"It's fine, we'll think of a way slowly," I said.

His words stumped me. I truly hadn't thought of a plan.

Old Li looked at me. "What plan?"

It was Ma Yatis who spoke up. He said, "Don't you Chinese value the Thirty-Six Stratagems from Sun Tzu's Art of War? Why don't we use a stratagem? I've already figured out those monsters. Every time they see me fall, they swarm over, just like a moment ago, piling onto me. But the problem is they never actually bite me, meaning their actual lethality isn't that great... Do you understand?"

I had understood that long ago; did he need to point it out?! "Get to the point..." I couldn't stand Ma Yatis pretending to be profound and quoting classics.

"Perhaps we can try, just try..." Ma Yatis suggested hesitantly.

Although Ma Yatis's suggestion was a bit absurd, when he first proposed it, I almost burst out laughing. The old fellow was treating the human-faced monsters like some highly calculating beings that required trickery. However, Old Li hesitantly agreed with Ma Yatis's idea, and I had no choice but to go along with them.

So the three of us returned to the side of the blood spring water. But before we made our move, I remembered what Zhuoma Yangjin had told me: only approach the successor of Master Banchin if there are no wounds on the body. Because if the blood spring water touches you while you have an open wound, it can kill you—or perhaps turn you into a faceless being. It took me a long time later to figure out why Zhuoma Yangjin had warned me about open wounds.

"Old Li, let's check ourselves for any wounds, even the most minute ones!" I warned them with a serious expression.

Old Li was startled but quickly understood and carefully examined himself. Ma Yatis wasn't a fool; he was a shrewd geologist and Sinologist. So, following our example, he meticulously checked his entire body as well.

"There are some bruised spots, but no broken skin," Old Li reported after his check.

"Then it's fine," I said, as I found myself in the same condition as Old Li.

Ma Yatis was very adept at reading expressions. Seeing that I wasn't entirely fond of him, he hesitated before moving his face close to Old Li's. "Li Zeng, check if I have any wounds on my face. I fell face down."

Old Li patiently looked at his face and indicated there were no problems. Ma Yatis then joyfully smeared the blood spring water on his face, hands, and clothes, and asked us to help smear some on his back. Then he instructed us to do the same, and he ran over first to collapse on the ground, remaining motionless.

The group of human-faced monsters immediately let out a cry and swooped down, densely surrounding Ma Yatis. His endurance was exceptional; he remained perfectly still even in such a terrifying situation.

Old Li and I didn't dare to delay. We quickly coated our entire bodies with the blood spring water and went to lie down next to Ma Yatis.

The stench of the blood spring water intensified, and I lay on the ground with my eyes closed, my heart pounding. I didn't know if Ma Yatis's plan would work. If it failed, even if the human-faced monsters didn't bite me, being surrounded by them so densely would give me nightmares for the rest of my life.

I held my breath and listened carefully to the movements of the human-faced monsters. Strangely, this time they didn't immediately swarm toward Old Li and me. Instead, as soon as we lay down, they began to make low, agitated noises, crying out, "Ya ya." I dared not open my eyes to look, not knowing what was happening.

However, contrary to Ma Yatis's expectations, the human-faced monsters did not land on the three of us as anticipated. Instead, after making their "ya ya" cries for a while, sensing a few monsters circling near my face and sniffing for a moment—my palms grew so tense they started sweating, waiting for Ma Yatis to give the signal to fight... To my surprise, after sniffing around, they fled in a sudden swarm without another word, retreating all the way back to their lair and no longer hovering over the cave entrance.

Ma Yatis expressed deep regret. "Originally, I intended for them all to land on us; with a bit of blood spring water, we could have easily dazed them and then thrown them all into the spring one by one... Who knew they were so timid that the blood spring water on just the three of us scared them away... What a pity..." As he spoke, he sighed and shook his head, acting as if genuinely disappointed.

I put on a look of contempt as I regarded him, but inwardly, I still held a degree of admiration for him. It truly showed he wasn't a fool to devise a way to get rid of the human-faced monsters in such a short time. However, I didn't say anything aloud.

Alright, now it was time to deal with the unknown algae on the stone wall. I tried first by pouring the blood spring water onto the wall. The algae there was the same species as the one on the ground. As soon as the blood spring water touched it, the slick, watery algae withered even faster than its counterparts on the ground, much like radish sprouts thrown into boiling water at home, becoming limp in less than a minute. I truly hadn't expected the potency of the blood spring water to be so strong.

I couldn't help but smile broadly. I drew my dagger and stabbed it into a spot clear of algae. The dagger was extremely sharp, sinking in about halfway. I tested it by hanging my hand on it; it could support my weight.

With this hurdle cleared, the rest became much easier.

We each took off a piece of clothing, soaked it in the blood spring water, wiped it onto the stone wall, and then, using the dagger for support, we began to inch our way upward. Although troublesome and tedious, we managed to climb up.

Old Li and I ascended first, then found a rope, likely left behind by Xu Zhiwu or someone else, and lowered it to pull Ma Yatis up.

I had suffered at the hands of the Japanese before, and I knew the Germans couldn't be any better than those devilish Japanese. Therefore, I had preemptively warned Old Li to be wary of him, and besides, he still had many items on him that I needed to question him about clearly. Otherwise, I might not even know how I died.

So, as soon as Ma Yatis got up, I immediately pinned him to the ground with his hands twisted behind his back and told Old Li to search him. Ma Yatis hadn't anticipated this move and struggled violently, shouting, "Luo Lian, Li Zeng! What are you doing! What are you doing!"

Old Li and I carried out our respective tasks, ignoring his shouting and struggling. Old Li searched Ma Yatis inside and out; thankfully, he found nothing threatening. If there had been anything, or if Ma Yatis had dared to harbor any ill intentions, I swear to the heavens I would have knocked him out without hesitation and thrown him back into the abyss.

After the search, Old Li stepped aside, but I kept Ma Yatis’s hands firmly twisted behind him, allowing him to stand up so he would be slightly more comfortable. Then I began questioning him about his background, why he knew my and Old Li's names, and how their leader—that German young man whose back had been bitten off—had died.

Ma Yatis was very sensible; knowing he couldn't overpower Old Li and me, he cooperated perfectly, voluntarily answering every question we asked.

It turned out that Ma Yatis, like his leader, was one of the descendants of the team members sent by Himmler to Tibet to search for the Eye of the Earth. They had been monitoring all developments concerning Tibet and the Bone Dynasty. As for Niyong and the others guarding the Guge ruins, they had long established covert surveillance and understood them thoroughly. As for Xu Zhiwu, his actions were not sufficiently discreet; before coming to Tibet to seek the secrets of Guge, he had privately mentioned it to many people, nearly holding a press conference. Ma Yatis and his group had complex identities and numerous contacts, so this news had already spread to Europe. Their guiding and other arrangements in Lhasa were part of a premeditated plan to ascertain whether Old Li and I had joined forces with Xu Zhiwu.

Hearing Ma Yatis reach this point, I suddenly recalled something and asked him, "Does anyone among you know how to write Manchu script?" Niyong had mentioned that when he was in Lhasa, someone had given him a note written in Manchu characters regarding me.

"Manchu script?" Ma Yatis looked at me blankly. "What is that?"

His look of confusion didn't seem faked, suggesting the writer of the note must be someone else. So, I stopped asking about that and had him continue his story from leaving Lhasa to arriving at Guge.

Ma Yatis hesitated, his face etched with deep terror. "We encountered monsters."

Nonsense. Weren't the human-faced monsters and the one that could bite off half a man's back a type of monster? I must have seen quite a few monsters by now. I said, "I know you encountered monsters. Tell me the detailed situation clearly."

We were facing a dark abyss, with thick iron chains spanning above it. In the gloom, I lost my sense of direction and couldn't tell which side we were on. Niyong, Xu Zhiwu, and the others had already vanished, presumably having abandoned us and fled for their lives...

Ma Yatis stared across the chasm, his fear only intensifying. He swallowed hard. "We actually followed you to the Guge ruins. But because you rested at Niyong's house for a night, we didn't rest; we dug through a passage overnight and got in here. But... but..."

At this point, before I could even ask what passage he was talking about, Ma Yatis's face suddenly looked both bewildered and frightened, as if submerged in a bad memory. He choked out in terror, "But as soon as we entered, we realized something was wrong. Not long after entering, it was as if someone was following us, but every time we looked back, we couldn't see anyone trailing us. I swear in the name of the Lord... I even distinctly heard a woman's voice!"

A woman's voice? Old Li and I exchanged glances, both utterly perplexed. How could there be a woman in such a terrifying place?

"Are you sure you misheard?" I asked.