He looked at Ma Xiong, whose eyes were sharp and fixed on the mummy before them, and asked with curiosity, "What is it? Did you find something unusual?"

Ma Xiong looked up at Chief Lu with sheer delight, exclaiming excitedly, "Look at this—it's actually a female corpse."

Lu Zong was speechless, left only to continue examining the desiccated body. These findings were undoubtedly more valuable to him than discovering any treasure here.

But Ma Xiong’s excitement had considerably dampened. He noticed several skeletons beside the mummy, presumably the remains of the Japanese soldiers guarding these bodies. Seeing a rifle resting on each corpse, he walked over and began to play with one.

With practiced ease, he disassembled and reassembled the weapon, then surprisingly discovered a string of bullets in the dead soldier's pocket. Thrilled and adept, he loaded the ammunition and immediately aimed the rifle at Lu Zong.

He shouted, "Lu Zong, turn around now, and do exactly as I say, or I'll shoot. You have the right to remain silent, but choosing that path guarantees your death."

Lu Zong turned back, casually sweeping his bored gaze over Ma Xiong before immediately returning his attention to the mummy.

However, barely three seconds after turning away, he snapped his head back, his eyes wide with astonishment as he reassessed Ma Xiong. A look of sheer terror crossed his face, and pointing a trembling finger, he stammered, "Ma Xiong, you…."

Ma Xiong, seeing Lu Zong’s frightened expression, assumed it was a reaction to the gun being pointed at him. He chuckled, saying, "What’s the fear? I was just joking with you."

Yet, Lu Zong’s tension didn't ease at all; he kept pointing and stammering at Ma Xiong. Ma Xiong grew impatient, tossed the rifle onto the floor, stomped on it twice, and snapped angrily, "Why are you like this? You don't even trust your old comrade. I was just trying to scare you a little with a gun, why make such a fuss?"

Lu Zong’s expression remained unchanged, his finger still fixed on Ma Xiong, stuttering out, "Ma Xiong, you… you…."

It was then that Ma Xiong realized he had completely misunderstood Lu Zong. He felt a strange presence behind him and hastily spun around.

The instant he turned, he saw a man standing directly behind him. He couldn't make out the details clearly because the figure vanished the moment he saw it, giving him a fright. Pale-faced, he rushed back to Lu Zong’s side, staring nervously behind him, his voice shaky, asking, "Lu Zong, wh-what… what was that just now? Do you know him? Why was he standing behind me?"

Lu Zong nodded grimly, falling silent. It seemed he had suffered a severe psychological blow, explaining his despondent quietude.

Ma Xiong crouched down, rubbing his head, trying to clear his chaotic thoughts, but the more he thought, the more tangled the horrifying sensation became. He glanced at Lu Zong, who was squatting motionless, appearing as if asleep. He stepped forward and nudged him, only to realize Lu Zong wasn't still—he was sobbing, trembling, consumed by sorrow.

Confused, Ma Xiong asked, "Lu Zong, why are you sad? That was just a man standing there; why the tears?"

Lu Zong finally lifted his head, his eyes swimming with tears, and choked out, "Do you know who was standing behind you just now?"

Ma Xiong asked curiously, "Who was it? Tell me quickly."

Lu Zong said sadly, "It was a colleague who discovered the Loulan Beauty with me years ago."

Ma Xiong’s heart skipped a beat. "What? A colleague who discovered the Loulan Beauty with you? That means we definitely didn't come to the wrong place! So why are you sad?"

Lu Zong wiped his tears, forced a cheerful expression, and explained, "I'm crying tears of extreme joy."

Ma Xiong still sensed something was amiss. He vaguely felt the person he saw looked somewhat familiar, but the impression was too fleeting. He attributed it to a hallucination.

He had another question. "Right, that man—why did he disappear instantly? Did you see where he went?"

Lu Zong didn't answer. Instead, he walked to the spot where he had originally been standing, picked up the weapon from the ground, and stood in the exact posture Ma Xiong had just assumed. He asked Ma Xiong, "Ma Xiong, did you see the monster behind me?"

Ma Xiong looked at Lu Zong curiously, unable to contain a laugh. "I saw you, you monster."

Disbelieving, Lu Zong turned around. Sure enough, the space behind him was empty. Nothing there.

He muttered to himself, "Why? Why could I see him just moments ago?"

Ma Xiong moved to Lu Zong's side and inspected the wall behind him. "If that person can really vanish into thin air, I suspect there must be a secret passage behind us, blocked by a door. Maybe I accidentally triggered it when I picked up the gun, revealing him. But why did he go back? Did those Shamans treat him well?"

Lu Zong had no leads either, so he crouched near the wall to search for any telltale signs on the stone.

Indeed, he discovered a hairline crack, as thin as a razor blade. He excitedly called Ma Xiong over to look.

Ma Xiong, equally energized, pulled out his Swiss Army knife from his waist and began prying at the wall furiously.

But the wall proved impossibly hard. Even with both of them applying force, they couldn't budge the stone slab. They reluctantly abandoned the idea of prying it open, wondering how the Japanese managed to construct such a rigid door in ancient times.

He remembered that his colleague had appeared only when Ma Xiong picked up the guns. He lowered his head to the floor, searching for any trace there.

Finally, he spotted a small crank wrapped around the terminal of the rifle sling, capable of swinging side to side. He excitedly nudged it; it took considerable effort to move. This looked promising. He called Ma Xiong over, and together they pulled and pushed the mechanism.

Before long, the door sprang open automatically. Although age had naturally degraded the mechanism's efficiency, the door nonetheless popped open slightly.

He eagerly pushed the door wider and saw, just as he suspected, another seemingly endless secret tunnel. It seemed endless only because it was pitch black inside; nothing was visible, leaving "endless" as the only descriptor.

Ma Xiong leaned in to peer into the darkness but was disappointed to find that he could barely make out his own fingers, let alone anything further inside.

A spark of inspiration hit him, and he began rummaging through his pack. Lu Zong smiled faintly; Ma Xiong was still the same—always carrying peculiar items for every situation.

This time, he pulled out a pair of illumination flares. He lit one and affixed it to the muzzle of the rifle, then fired into the hole. Instantly, the pitch-black passage was illuminated as bright as day. They saw that the long, straight shaft was empty; no life signs at all. Where had that person come from, and where could he be going?

There wasn't time for a closer look; the flare had gone out. Perhaps the speed of the rifle shot had accelerated its burning rate, causing it to extinguish quickly.

Although both men were now wearing night-vision goggles, they still needed direct illumination for clear observation. The goggles only provided vague images; small, stationary objects were nearly impossible to spot.

Ma Xiong fired another signaling flare into the tunnel. To their surprise, the light traveled about three meters inward and stopped abruptly, accompanied by a sharp snap, like something falling to the ground.

Their immediate thought was that the flare had landed and must have been blocked by something.

The flare died out the moment it hit the ground; they saw nothing.

Ma Xiong, quick to react, immediately launched another illumination flare inside. They watched as the previous flare lay quietly on the floor, its tip visibly flattened, as if something had stepped on it.

The two men gaped, speechless for a long moment.

Ma Xiong stammered, "Lu Zong, did you see a figure block that torch? I swear I saw a black shadow zip across to the middle of the room, knock the flare down, and vanish again."

Lu Zong nodded frantically, his eyes filled with terror. It appeared they had encountered an enemy. But who could it be?

Lu Zong whispered, "I don't think it was human. Its body seemed massive, and it was incredibly fast. I couldn't see its form at all, just an opaque black shadow flashing past, and then what happened. Are we dealing with some kind of giant creature?"

Ma Xiong joked darkly, "You don't think that was your colleague, do you?"

Lu Zong shuddered violently, shook his head, and spat onto the ground. "Bah, bah, don't talk nonsense! How could that be my colleague? Why would they harm me?"

Both Ma Xiong and Lu Zong were plunged into confusion, uncertain whether to proceed or retreat.

To steady their nerves, Ma Xiong pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and then lit one for Lu Zong.

Lu Zong worriedly asked, "Is this appropriate? We only have so much oxygen?"

Ma Xiong dismissed the concern carelessly. "What's appropriate now? We might lose our lives anyway; who cares about a little air? Smoke it. If you don't, you're wasting it."

Lu Zong reluctantly began to smoke.

In the deep darkness of the tunnel, only two glowing tips were noticeable.

Lu Zong’s gaze was drawn to those two embers piercing the black void. Suddenly, he had an idea.

He leaned close to Ma Xiong and whispered a few sentences in his ear. Ma Xiong nodded repeatedly as he listened.

Following Lu Zong's instructions, Ma Xiong placed the cigarette from his mouth and the one Lu Zong was smoking at the entrance of the passage. He then lit several more cigarettes and arranged them near the doorway. The two men retreated silently behind cover, intently watching the burning tips for any sign of movement.