If he thought he could take down both Old Li and me at the same time, he’d be dead meat. So, I casually mentioned to Old Li, "Old Li, with our combined skills, knocking out three or five guys shouldn't be a problem if things get hairy, right?"

Old Li stopped what he was doing, looked up at me as if to ask what on earth I was playing at, and simply queried with his eyes. I jerked my chin toward Malyatis, and he immediately understood, pretending to be just as unconcerned. "Technician Luo, are your hands itching for a kill?"

I gave Malyatis a cold laugh meant for him and said nothing more.

Truthfully, we weren't afraid of Malyatis making a move. But the path ahead was uncertain, and we didn't know what dangers awaited us. I truly didn't want to waste our precious energy on that foolish man, Malyatis.

Malyatis caught the hidden meaning in our words. He immediately adopted a submissive posture, though not entirely timidly. "Luo Lian, Li Zeng, you aren't still thinking of silencing me, are you? If I die, finding another geologist as brilliant as me to partner with won't be easy. Moreover…" He trailed off, only offering a chilling smirk.

I couldn't be bothered to argue with him. A clever man would understand my warning and refrain from rash actions. Malyatis was no fool. However, I couldn't afford to let my guard down; the murderous intent glinting in his eyes was no joke. I was certain he would strike the moment we slipped up.

While lost in thought, Malyatis suddenly cried out in alarm. Following that, Old Li looked at him with a half-smile and slowly stood up, murmuring, "Excuse me... excuse me..."

I saw that Old Li was holding a thin stack of dark, yellowed, ancient papers. He walked toward me, glancing back to glare at Malyatis, warning him against any sudden moves. Malyatis stared blankly at the items in Old Li's hand, his expression betraying a desperate longing for his eyes to sprout hands and snatch them away, yet he dared not make a move due to the clear strength displayed by Old Li and me.

Seeing his ignoble look, I couldn't help a small, internal chuckle. When Old Li approached, I asked, "What have you got there?"

Old Li replied, "Haven't looked yet. Shine the light for me so I can open it." He shot a nervous glance at Malyatis. Seeing Malyatis’s desperate state, I guessed that whatever Old Li held was exactly what he was after—something valuable, most likely. So, I glared at Malyatis and told him to stand back. But instead of moving away, he shamelessly edged closer, brazenly asserting, "I'm the most familiar with these things. You two might not understand yet; let me take a look."

That was, admittedly, true. Old Li and I exchanged a look, and he nodded. I snapped impatiently, "Then you’d better stand back while you look."

Malyatis hovered, wanting to get closer but afraid to approach, craning his face toward us.

Old Li carefully unfolded the paper. The thin stack turned out to be a single sheet, slightly troublesome to open due to its age; one wrong move and it might tear. Once opened, it revealed countless winding tunnels drawn in fountain pen, with a pagoda-like structure in the center. The tunnels had various annotations, such as "Dried Corpse Cave," "Life Gate to the Left," "Blood-Sucking Cocoon Men Here"... seemingly a map, and likely the layout after entering the Dried Corpse Cave.

Indeed, Malyatis's expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed, "That’s it, that’s the map..." His eyes immediately shone with a greedy green light, making it look as if he wished he could snatch the map and swallow it whole.

Old Li calmly folded the map and tucked it securely away. Then he beckoned Malyatis over. "This is what you’ve been searching for, isn't it?"

Malyatis offered an awkward smile, tacitly admitting it.

"Do you know where we are now? Can you tell from the map?" Old Li continued questioning.

Malyatis pondered briefly, seemingly debating whether to speak. I interjected, "Right now, it’s best if we all cooperate closely. Otherwise, we only have a dead end. You know that if we find a way out, we won't forget you."

Hearing my words, Malyatis suddenly smiled faintly. "Luo Lian, you are truly naive. Do you think we can still go back? I'll tell you the truth: we can't. Once here, we have no choice but to enter the Seven-Story Pagoda or wait here to die."

Before I could reply, Old Li broke in, "The Seven-Story Pagoda?"

Malyatis maintained his faint smile. "Yes, the Seven-Story Pagoda. Perhaps only by going through it can we find the way back."

Another completely unfamiliar term. Was the Seven-Story Pagoda Malyatis mentioned the pagoda-like structure on the map? I asked him, and he didn't feign mystery, smilingly confirming it, adding that we were standing right at the entrance to the Seven-Story Pagoda.

I suddenly had the urge to slap Malyatis twice. He said all this with a relaxed smile, utterly self-assured, confident that we wouldn't dare harm him. Suppressing my impulse for violence, I asked coldly, "So, our only option now is to go into the Pagoda?"

"Of course. And... you three better not get any funny ideas about me. Without me, no matter how strong you are, you'll end up dead. No one knows the situation here better than I do," Malyatis stated arrogantly.

Old Li picked up the conversation, sneering, "You better not have any thoughts either. Without Old Li and Technician Luo, you'll die here too."

Malyatis gave a skeptical smile but remained silent.

Old Li turned to me. "Technician Luo, what do we do now?"

I froze. Malyatis said the only path to survival lay through the Seven-Story Pagoda... But... never mind. "Let's take out the map and study it carefully," I conceded.

Old Li did as instructed, but to prevent Malyatis from tampering with it, he unfolded it slowly, little by little. I am naturally hopeless with maps; I couldn't make heads or tails of it. I could only make out the text. Starting from the upper left corner: Dried Corpse Cave, then a door; next, an abyss marked with 'Human-Faced Monster,' 'Anesthetic Algae,' and 'Blood Spring Water'; then crossing the abyss, there were six winding tunnels labeled the Six Paths, from left to right: Heaven Path (also noted: Life Route, No Danger), Asura Path (also noted: Danger Unknown), Human Path (also noted: Likely Traps), Animal Path (also noted: Most Dangerous Path, one might become a mindless beast), Hungry Ghost Path (also noted: All Illusions, Dangerless), and Hell Path (also noted: Heaven and Hell, determined by a single thought).

The tunnels grew increasingly complex after that, branching out until my vision swam, and I didn't want to look anymore. Malyatis leaned in, not daring to touch the map, but pointing with his index finger suspended in the air toward the Hungry Ghost Path. "We fell into the Hungry Ghost Path."

Without looking up, Old Li fixed his gaze only on Malyatis's hand. Malyatis immediately drew his hand back. "As if I care so much about this thing. I just wanted to confirm if my memory was right by comparing it," he muttered indignantly.

No one paid him any attention. Old Li continued studying the map while I pondered what this Seven-Story Pagoda might be. Truthfully, I had grown numb to these kinds of things, unsure whether to approach what was coming with fear or some other emotion. My mind felt somewhat chaotic. If the Hungry Ghost Path was illusion, how could all three of us have seen the exact same scene? It was impossible for three minds to conjure the identical thing simultaneously... In short, the map felt wrong somehow, or perhaps I was the one who was wrong.

The moment my attention wavered, Malyatis seized the opportunity to lean in, pointing and chatting animatedly with Old Li about the map—where we currently were, how we should proceed next, babbling on incessantly.

Malyatis was likely correct; Old Li offered no rebuttal, occasionally asking him a question. Malyatis answered everything, despite his pretense.

After puzzling over it for a while, Old Li called for me to get ready; we were heading into the Seven-Story Pagoda immediately. As he spoke to me, Malyatis stared intently at the map in Old Li's hands, prompting Old Li to quickly tuck it away. Malyatis swallowed hard, clearly unwilling.

There wasn't much to prepare, really. Malyatis was familiar with the situation and informed us that according to the map, our location was precisely at the entrance of the Seven-Story Pagoda, an entrance that wasn't hidden but situated in the northwest corner. He then dropped his previous arrogance and condescension, saying earnestly, "Luo Lian, Li Zeng. The Seven-Story Pagoda won't be smooth sailing. The three of us must cooperate closely, without any hidden agendas, or else everyone..."

This was something all three of us—Old Li, myself, and Malyatis—had already stated. We were inextricably linked now, sharing our fate, life, and death, whether we liked it or not.

The arrangement settled, Old Li led us toward the northeast corner. Following Malyatis's directions, we effortlessly found a small, collapsed, misshapen doorway.

"This is it. Let's go," Malyatis said, stooping to crawl inside first. I hesitated for a moment, then ducked through after Old Li. We emerged from the opening with surprising smoothness and no incident. Before us lay a wide, flat path, and Old Li’s light illuminated far into the gloom. The surroundings were dark and unnervingly silent. So quiet that even breathing seemed heavy, let alone speaking.

We stood stunned for a moment, then a faint "Puh—puh" sound drifted down from above. Soon, the sound grew more distinct. We exchanged uneasy glances, unsure of its meaning, when suddenly a whoosh sounded overhead, and countless clumps of dirt rained down upon us. Before we could react, a few live men—German men—thumped down onto the ground.

I was greatly alarmed and couldn't move in time. Those men, upon seeing Malyatis, shrieked and immediately swarmed him, skillfully tying him up securely before administering a brutal beating.