Swallowing, Yanzi toyed with the semi-circular black bowl on the table. "I don't know the specifics. It's just not as simple as you imagine. Doctor Tshering likely exists in the shepherd Tshering’s body in a form of spirit—though that's just my guess. Mima Chagma certainly didn't say so."

After all this talk, we still hadn't gotten to the heart of the matter. I didn't want to dwell on this issue any longer. "Let's go back. We need to return immediately. We’ve done all we can for Doctor Tshering. The spirits haven't given us any guidance, so we can only go back for now," I stated.

Xu Zhiwu hesitated, saying nothing. Old Li, fearful that Tang Minghao might cause some other strange incident, also agreed that leaving quickly was best. Yanzi pursed her lips, still absently fiddling with the black bowl on the table, silent.

The atmosphere immediately grew awkward, but my stance was firm; I was determined to leave. But... how exactly could we get back? Since Yanzi could find this small, dark chamber, she must know the way. Yet, she insisted on searching for some treasure. I admitted that initially, I had been motivated by greed, but after all the strange things that had happened, could I still be obsessed with a treasure I hadn't even seen? Just keeping our lives intact would be good enough.

"Luo Lian, you—come look at this small bowl. Don't you think it looks strange?" After a long silence, Yanzi suddenly uttered this inexplicable sentence, then pointed sharply, holding the bowl out for me to see. Fearing some trickery, I dared not take it. I glanced at it a few times and felt that the bowl was indeed somewhat odd; it wasn't purely black, but a strange dark red, so deep it almost verged on black. Of course, this was just a feeling. As for why it was that way, I couldn't articulate it.

"Don't you think the size and dimensions of this bowl look familiar?" Yanzi asked with a half-smile. I shook my head and looked at Old Li and Xu Zhiwu. Xu Zhiwu stared at it for a long moment, then his face suddenly changed drastically. "Could this be a Kapala bowl?"

Yanzi looked quite surprised. "Oh? You actually know about Kapala bowls?" She forgot that Xu Zhiwu was an expert in Tibetan studies. Xu Zhiwu didn't answer her, but instead walked over solemnly to examine the bowl closely. After looking at all three bowls, his expression grew even more bewildered.

"As far as I know, Kapala bowls are usually inlaid with silver and various gemstones. There’s no mention of them being painted. This dark red color is..." Xu Zhiwu asked Yanzi.

Yanzi’s gaze drifted somewhere out of sight, and after a long pause, she replied, "I don't know either."

Xu Zhiwu sighed. "There must be some deity enshrined here... Could we have unintentionally offended him?" Saying this, he made two gestures of reverence into the empty air and murmured words of apology.

Yanzi looked at Xu Zhiwu, very pleased with his piety and humility. "I didn't expect you old fellow to know so much." Xu Zhiwu offered a polite smile.

I quietly asked Old Li, "What is a Kapala bowl?"

Old Li replied, "A bowl made from a human skull, also called a skull cup, that's what it is." Hearing this, I immediately felt a chill run down my spine. "Wh... what... this is it?" I stammered, unable to find my words. I had heard people mention skull bowls before, saying they were a type of ritual implement. But I had always taken it as folklore, never imagining such a thing actually existed. I seemed to recall that such a skull had to be willingly offered by a Lama who had achieved a certain level of practice before his death. If that were true, then there were three Lama heads here. Thinking of this, an involuntary shiver ran through me.

It was better when I didn't know, but now that I understood, perhaps due to fear, I felt a pervasive coldness everywhere, as if tiny, chilling wisps of wind were seeping into my skin and pores. "I... let's... let's go," I naturally couldn't admit I was scared, so I struggled to find an excuse. "There definitely isn't a way back here," I said.

Tang Minghao, who had been weak and unconscious for some time, woke up at this moment. He opened his eyes and looked at us with confusion. "What are you all doing here? I remember there was a strange-looking man, a doctor. Where did he go?" He was referring to Doctor Tshering, of course. So, I briefly replied, "He's dead."

"Oh." Tang Minghao seemed rather dejected. "I felt like he could still be saved." I quickly cut him off. If some nerve in him snapped again and he went mad, it would be even worse.

"Brother Hao, you're overthinking it. The man is dead; how could he be saved?" I insisted.

Tang Minghao looked lost. "I don't know either. It was just a very strong feeling I had from the start. I don't know." He was about to say more, but Yanzi quickly interjected, "It's nothing, you just had a nightmare. You're fine now." It seemed she, too, was afraid of Tang Minghao losing control.

Tang Minghao looked at Yanzi, half-believing, half-skeptical, and responded with an "Oh." Old Li asked if he felt unwell or uncomfortable. Tang Minghao, without exception, shook his head, saying he was fine. As he spoke, his entire demeanor suddenly sobered, and he instantly looked full of energy. "There's something here. Why do I feel so familiar with this place?"

The only objects present were the three skull bowls. Could he be feeling kinship with those? I managed a weak smile, too afraid to speak. Old Li quickly changed the subject, talking about leaving and such. Tang Minghao ignored everyone, took a deep sniff, then stood up, turned his head, and looked at the skull bowls on the table with clear delight. He said to Yanzi, "Finally, I don't have to rely on you anymore."

Yanzi looked confused. "Rely on me for what?" she asked.

Tang Minghao could barely contain his joy. "There's a scent here that makes my mind incredibly clear. Before, I could only rely on the fragrance on your body to save my life. Now, here, I feel absolutely lucid; everything is clear."

That's it. Tang Minghao was acting crazy again, or perhaps possessed by some spirit. We couldn't understand his ramblings.

Yanzi was also momentarily bewildered. "You... what do you want to do?" she asked, startled and suspicious.

Tang Minghao said with utter seriousness, "I want a drink of water, using this..." He pointed at the skull bowl, "...using this to hold water to drink." Damn, I thought he had sobered up, but he was still mad, and seemingly crazier than before. What a joke—drinking water from that blackish-red skull bowl? Was he serious?

"Let's go, let's go. This is an inauspicious place," I said, taking the lead toward the exit. Unexpectedly, Tang Minghao grabbed me with surprising strength; I couldn't break free. "I need water," he said, his tone becoming somewhat urgent. "Pour me water, using that bowl."

"Where would we get water here? There is none," I said, struggling to pull my hand away.

Tang Minghao’s eyes rolled back, and his face turned menacing. "I don't care. I must drink water. Right now." Then he stared at Yanzi with a sinister look. Old Li also became flustered; everything he knew seemed useless against Tang Minghao. And Tang Minghao truly looked possessed. Could it be as Yanzi suggested—because we were Han Chinese, the spirits here were Tibetan?

Most importantly, if Tang Minghao suddenly turned hostile or anything, could we abandon him and flee for our lives? Back at the Guge ruins when we encountered the face-monster, Xu Zhiwu and Niquan had abandoned me and Old Li to escape alone, which is why I still couldn't fully trust him. Now, if the roles were reversed, I... Ugh, my mind became a chaotic mess, and I didn't know what to do.

"Yanzi, why don't you try lighting another stick of incense?" Old Li suggested. "Didn't that work before?"

Yanzi wasn't very confident and hesitated. "My incense... is specially made. It worked before, but with him like this, I'm not sure if it will work. Besides, besides... besides, this medicinal incense is all used up. Zhaxi specifically found it for me from an expert. They say it's two or three hundred years old."

"Two or three hundred years?" Xu Zhiwu gasped. "Then that makes it an antique?" Yanzi didn't reply. He muttered to himself, "It's truly a pity, a terrible pity... but without this, how can we save Tang Minghao?"

By this time, uneven blotches of dark red, like a rash, had appeared on Tang Minghao’s face, and his whole face looked slightly swollen. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he reached out to grab a skull bowl again. He seized it, looked at it for a few moments, made some gestures, as if searching for a place to bite.

"Don't bite it!" Yanzi cried out in alarm, snatching the skull bowl from Tang Minghao's grasp. "Don't bite it! That's disrespectful to the spirits." Tang Minghao paid no heed, lunging forward to snatch it back, but then he seemed to remember there were others on the table, so he quickly turned and clutched the two remaining bowls tightly to his chest, afraid we would try to take them.

"I want a drink of water," Tang Minghao began repeating the phrase. Old Li said softly, "Minghao, there is no water here. We’ll take you back immediately, back to the mainland, to Fuxian Lake, where you can drink as much water as you want."

In an instant, Tang Minghao’s frenzied state subsided, replaced by a low, desolate murmur. "I want water. There is water here; you are lying to me. You are lying. There is red water here, put it in the bowl for me to drink."

Red water! It took me a moment to process this, but Yanzi's face instantly turned deathly pale. She exclaimed, "Could this be an altar?! Does it require blood sacrifice?"

Xu Zhiwu blurted out, "An altar? Human blood? Mima Chagma?" He then added, "It must be! That's why these three ritual implements appeared—they definitely require human blood!" Everyone’s thoughts turned toward human blood sacrifice, but in fact, we overlooked the most crucial point: when the great fish with human hands and feet appeared, wasn't the water a red, bloody spring? But everything was so chaotic then, we never made the connection, and by the time we realized it, it was too late.