He asked, "Han Chong, Lu Sha, why exactly were you two locked up in there? Tell me about it." In truth, he had already formed his own theories. He was certain that when he first saw the coffin, it hadn't been opened for a thousand years, and since the group had only arrived a few days ago, he found it impossible that the coffin had been opened shortly before, only to have them placed inside. But then why were the two inside? And why did the two inside look more than twenty years older?

The more he pondered, the more confused he became, feeling his brain cells were taxed to the limit. At this moment, all he wanted was to hear their account.

Yet, the two stammered, unable to offer a coherent explanation, causing Lu Zong to sweat from his forehead in frustration.

The more they failed to articulate, the stranger he found it. They must be hiding something; otherwise, they wouldn't be stumbling over their words. He thought sadly: Could these really be the two after they time-traveled and simply couldn't remember?

He did a rough calculation: even if Lu Sha and the other were twenty-five now, after twenty years, they would be forty-five—right in the throes of menopause. Better not to provoke them; a woman's temper at that stage was like a needle in the ocean—touch it, and you’d get pricked all over.

But that didn't fit either. He paused, recalling that the coffin lid had indeed remained sealed. The black, charcoal-like substance coating its surface was distributed too uniformly to be artificial. It must have settled there evenly from the millennia of decay of the material covering it. If the coffin had been opened, that surface material would have long since blown away or scattered, even if it had been reapplied later—it wouldn't be this uniform. Could it be that the two entered before the coffin was sealed? In other words, could it be that they were locked inside a thousand years ago?

The more he considered it, the more fearful he became. Trembling, he pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and began taking long drags. Han Chong and Lu Sha seemed overcome with fright, huddled together, squatting in the corner of the wall and shivering. Gan Dama Xiong and the other also squatted near Han Chong and Lu Sha, but they remained silent, like strangers to one another. Lu Zong could tell they were huddling together to put on a show for him. He said nothing, just squatted on the ground, smoking gloomily. He didn't know what to do.

After a long while, Han Chong finally spoke, "Lu Zong, this place looks so terrifying and desolate. We should leave quickly; we don't have much preserved food left, do we?"

Reminded by Han Chong, Lu Zong realized he hadn't eaten anything for nearly a full day. He took out some compressed biscuits and dried beef from the food pack and offered them around, but the key issue was the lack of water; those dry rations were incredibly hard to swallow. Compounding the difficulty was the desert environment; even deep underground, the oppressive heat was palpable. Lu Zong could only comfort them, saying, "I've been to this place before, though that was above this cavern. I remember we aren't far from an oasis if we proceed; we can replenish our water supply there and regroup."

Hearing this, everyone’s spirits indeed lifted. They struggled to their feet and walked toward the large, ear-shaped opening.

Lu Zong walked at the very end. Looking at the people ahead—he wasn't sure if they were truly the same people—a sudden sense of unease washed over him, an unprecedented sense of oppression spreading through his body, as if a secret he had never perceived lay just beyond his grasp.

Suddenly, he stopped moving, turned, and looked back at the coffin. It had been pried open by Lu Zong and now lay silently on the ground, split into two halves. The separated halves were still identical. He suddenly felt that every person possessed a dual nature: one side sunny, the other dark. Depending on environmental and societal influences, some choose one way of life over the other. If one disposition becomes dominant, the other gradually degenerates and hides in some unknown corner. Perhaps under specific conditions, the mainstream personality recedes, allowing the hidden one to take control, making the person appear like someone else entirely. Could it be that the four of them were currently experiencing a split personality, with their other selves taking over? Based on his knowledge of them, they all seemed like relatively sunny types; therefore, what they were showing now must be their sinister, terrifying, and vicious sides. This was unfavorable to him. He became extremely afraid, suspecting that at any moment, they might unite against him, and his life would be in jeopardy. No, I must save them.

After deep contemplation, he discovered the core contradiction again: if they were suffering from multiple personalities, their age and physical features shouldn't be affected by such a condition. Yet, they were currently old and young, which offered no explanation. He sighed, abandoning this line of thought for the moment, and hurried to catch up with the others as they headed toward the cavern entrance.

Lu Zong watched as the group formed a human ladder to climb out of the large, ear-shaped hole. Only Ma Xiong remained on the ground. Lu Zong stepped forward and told Ma Xiong, "Ma Xiong, step on my back. I'll boost you out."

Ma Xiong stepped onto Lu Zong's shoulders without hesitation, bracing his hands against the surrounding walls. With Lu Zong pushing up, he finally managed to grasp his companions' hands and was pulled up.

Now, only Lu Zong remained below. By the time he realized what had happened, it was too late. He stared around dejectedly. The place was empty. The opening was at least four meters above his head. If they hadn't intended to help him, he could very well spend the rest of his life here.

He looked up and pleaded, "Han Chong, Lu Sha, Gan Dama Xiong, hurry and pull me up."

But when he looked up, the space overhead was empty. He shivered uncontrollably, having no idea where they had gone.

He screamed again with desperate effort, "Ma Xiong, Gan Da, are you there?"

The entire grand tomb chamber echoed only with the sound of his own voice, making the atmosphere eerie and horrifying. He called out again, his voice trembling, but the only reply was his own shaking echo.

He felt a wave of despair wash over him. It was his own carelessness in sending them up first that left him trapped.

However, beneath the despair, he felt a distinct strangeness. Who exactly were those people? Had they truly time-traveled and then arrived here? If so, why hadn't they pulled him up?

The more he pondered, the more curious he became about their true identities. Were they really people who had traveled from the past or future? Was that large ear-shaped opening truly a gate of time? Had they returned to the past, or jumped into the future?

He stood up, feeling that failing to uncover the truth would be too shameful, and hope reignited within him.

The tomb chamber was still empty all around, with only some broken gravestones and the coffin—which had appeared at some unknown point—to affirm to Lu Zong that those people had truly existed and what they had done to this world.

He walked around the perimeter but found nothing unusual. It seemed there were no other exits or mechanisms here. He felt a sense of disappointment. Finally, he decided to resort to the most primitive yet effective method: move the coffin over, climb atop it, and use it to reach the opening.

He estimated the coffin was at least two meters long. Coupled with his own height of 1.8 meters, that should be enough to span the distance. The immediate priority was figuring out how to drag the coffin over to this spot. This sarcophagus looked incredibly heavy, let alone moving it alone.