Xu Zhiwu and the others instantly stood still, holding their breath, and indeed felt a faint breeze brush against their faces. In a single moment, everyone’s expression shifted drastically; it turned out Yanzi and Zaxi had completely tricked them.

Geng Wei’s face darkened. He sharply questioned Yanzi, "What is going on here?" Before Yanzi could answer, Old Li interjected, "Let’s all speak calmly. After all, things have reached this point."

Geng Wei looked at Old Li, drawing out his voice, "Calmly? You try being calm." Old Li offered a slight smile and remained silent. Yanzi glanced at Old Li, still not speaking, then immediately turned and walked forward.

Before any of us moved, Geng Wei looked at us and asked awkwardly, "Should we follow her?"

"If we don't follow her, we have no way out on our own," I replied, spreading my hands with resignation. Geng Wei immediately hurried to catch up when he heard that. I let out a wry smile, thinking to myself, You’re showing your hand too obviously. We’re all here to get rich, but I haven’t seen anyone else act like you. The moment things look bad, you turn hostile, and the second there’s a hint of benefit, you start sucking up.

Seeing us follow, Yanzi acted as if nothing was wrong, walking for a stretch, stopping periodically to check if anyone had fallen behind. Even with Geng Wei’s thick skin, he still felt a bit embarrassed; he deliberately lagged a few steps behind, shuffling between the four of us. Of course, it wasn't that anyone looked down on anyone else—everyone was there for profit, no one was morally superior—but Geng Wei’s reactions were simply a bit over the top.

Though Yanzi was young, she possessed considerable composure. She walked ahead without betraying her feelings, occasionally calling out to us to be careful. After walking straight ahead on the flat ground for about half an hour, the floor began to narrow, and rough stone walls appeared on both sides, looking as if they had been roughly cleaved by an axe, uneven and jagged.

Geng Wei and Tang Minghao were greatly astonished by the appearance of such a tunnel beneath the lake, looking around restlessly. I dared not let my guard down; this tunnel gave me a profoundly unsettling sense of déjà vu. I quietly asked Old Li, and he agreed it was best to be cautious. Yanzi also stopped maintaining a distance from us and closely followed the group.

The atmosphere instantly and wordlessly grew tense.

But after passing through this narrow stretch, the path suddenly opened into a very spacious area. However, unlike before, it wasn't flat; but here, the scent of fresh air was much stronger, suggesting we were nearing some exit. That confining tunnel segment had made me fear we had stumbled into another bizarre location, yet this turned out to be a sudden change for the better—a place remarkably quiet and peaceful.

My tightly strung nerves finally relaxed, and I let out a long breath. I whispered to Old Li, "Looks like I was overreacting." Old Li whispered back, "That skull lamp is still a bit strange. It couldn't have just been placed there to scare us, could it?" I thought that was possible, and my heart tightened once more.

Yanzi completely shed her former air of unflappable composure, which had remained steady even if the mountain collapsed, and began cautiously testing the attitudes of Old Li and me: "Do you two see... anything unusual here?"

"I don't know," I replied. Old Li also shook his head silently. Yanzi seemed a bit at a loss, perhaps not having anticipated encountering something like this. Since Old Li and I weren't expressing much, she turned to Xu Zhiwu. Xu Zhiwu offered, "It should be fine, right? Wasn't that just a false alarm a moment ago?" Yanzi’s expression brightened upon hearing this, but Xu Zhiwu immediately added, "Though, maybe not."

Yanzi waved her hand impatiently. "I didn't expect it to be this troublesome... Let's go, let's go." With that, she turned and took the lead. Old Li shot me a meaningful look, signaling for me to follow her with him.

After all, Yanzi was still a girl. After stomping off petulantly for a couple of steps, she hesitated to move forward, turning back to look at Old Li and me with a pleading expression. For some reason, she seemed to be drawing closer to us.

Among a group dominated by men, the only woman extending us favor—we certainly weren't going to be obtuse about it. So, I beckoned everyone to follow.

Although there was fresh air and the surroundings appeared exceptionally quiet and tranquil, everyone subconsciously closed the distance between themselves and others, fearing that if something truly happened, they would have someone to watch their back.

Cautiously inching forward a short distance without incident, I started to relax my vigilance, thinking perhaps we had truly worried for nothing.

Just as I was thinking this, Yanzi let out a piercing shriek, "Ah—a ghost!" Her hand trembled as she pointed to the left. We had all been focused intently ahead for any abnormality. Following the direction of her finger, we saw: at some unknown point, an old woman had appeared to our left and rear—no, not just an old woman, but also a table set with silver drinking utensils. She was mechanically lifting a wine pot, about to pour liquor into a small cup beside her. After pouring one cup, she would slowly raise her head to stare blankly at us for a moment, then lower her head to pour again. The pot seemed empty, yet she continued with perfect form, holding the pot body with one hand and the handle with the other, the spout slightly inclined toward the cup... When the cup seemed full, she looked at us again, then continued pouring the next cup, repeating this cycle, which made our hair stand on end.

Throughout the entire process, the old woman never spoke a word, merely repeating her actions mechanically. The fabric of her clothes made a "shushing" friction sound, like newly washed garments, every time she bent and straightened.

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances. "What... what is going on?" I asked Old Li, my voice trembling. Old Li looked toward Xu Zhiwu, who silently shook his head. He then looked at Yanzi, only to find her already pale with terror.

Fortunately, the old woman made no further moves; apart from startling everyone, she was not a direct threat. Recovering from our shock, we immediately bolted forward.

"Crack!" An incredibly distinct sound echoed clearly in everyone's ears. Immediately where I had just placed my foot, a man with a withered face but a tall, strong build emerged, holding a whip high in his right hand, gesturing as if driving sheep.

My limbs went weak with fear, my entire body turning cold. If I hadn't taken that step forward just then, wouldn't he have materialized right into me? Everyone froze for a moment, then erupted into chaotic screams and took off running.

"Thud! Thud!" Before I could react, my forehead slammed into something cold and hard, stinging so badly that stars swam before my eyes and cold sweat streamed down my back. Soon after, the others suffered the same fate, colliding heavily. Wails of pain erupted everywhere.

In the panic, I saw Old Li beside me and quickly grabbed his hand, asking what was happening. Old Li, his face etched with fear, simply said he didn't know. Looking at the others: Xu Zhiwu had already collapsed on the ground, muttering, "It's over, it's over." Geng Wei and Tang Minghao, having never witnessed such a scene, were trembling uncontrollably, looking desperately at Old Li and me. Yanzi’s face was ghastly white, her finger pointing behind us, trembling so much she couldn't speak.

I twisted my head around and saw that the flat ground was instantly covered with over a hundred people. Without exception, all of them had withered faces, vacant expressions, and mechanical movements. Among them was a woman, head bowed low, holding a tightly bundled infant to her chest, lifting her robe to nurse the child. After feeding for a moment, she would look up at us once. Then she would adjust her clothes and return to looking at her child; there was a Lama holding a prayer book, repeatedly adjusting his position as if the light was insufficient; there was a little girl with braided pigtails, wearing brightly colored clothes, hopping around in the motion of spinning yarn; there were people carrying peddler's shoulder poles, appearing to hawk goods through the streets; one person held a prayer wheel, their mouth opening and closing while walking in place; and there were others resembling serfs from old Tibet, holding farming tools, bent over as if working the soil...

All those figures moved like something in a silent film, busily performing various mechanical actions, watching us with expressionless faces.

Xu Zhiwu was still murmuring, "It's over, it's over..." I couldn't help but ask him, "What's over?"

Xu Zhiwu pointed at the people, stammering, "Their clothes... look... look... they are Tibetan attire..." My mind instantly went blank, "Are you suggesting this has something to do with Tibet?" Xu Zhiwu nodded weakly, and I felt a chill run through me. If this was related to Tibet, especially after the skull lamp appeared earlier, what that implied needed no further explanation.

I looked despairingly at Old Li, not even wanting to utter a word.

Old Li’s face was ashen. He asked me, "Does it look familiar?" I knew he was asking if it resembled the situation we encountered on Qiangbake Mountain, so I nodded, feeling my throat dry, unable to speak even if I wanted to.

"I... I I..." Yanzi stammered, her face bloodless, "No one... told... me... this kind of situation would occur..."

No one paid her any mind. Although those "people" hadn't advanced further, it didn't mean we were safe. Panic was useless; I quickly calmed down and discussed the current situation with Old Li.

Old Li had also regained his composure. "The moment I saw that skull lamp, I had a bad feeling... There’s a connection between this place and Qiangbake Mountain. Now that Xu Zhiwu says their clothes are Tibetan, we need to prepare for something akin to the reanimated corpses we faced before... However..." He paused. "It's normal for treasures to be guarded. You could even say that seeing these strange 'people' means there must be a treasure behind this stone gate. Otherwise, why would someone go to such lengths to build all these structures so deep beneath Fuxian Lake, arranging so many corpses reminiscent of Jiangshi?"

Before I could respond, Geng Wei’s voice shot up an octave. He exclaimed excitedly, "What did you say? There’s a treasure?" He showed absolutely no sign of being scared out of his wits.

Yanzi quickly picked up his thread, "Yes... there is, right behind the gate." Her voice also began to steady.

Old Li and I exchanged wry smiles. Even if there was a treasure, could the few of us really manage to open this thick stone gate, and could we guarantee that these "people" before us would remain frozen in their actions forever and pose no threat to us?