He immediately took the lead, looking around intently, hoping to spot any weakness. Seeing Lu Zong search with such seriousness and care, Ma Xiong could only squat down to look for any trace, though he had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for, merely staring blankly at the ground, hoping to find something supernatural.

Suddenly, Lu Zong’s voice echoed from a distance: “Ma Xiong, hurry over here, I think there’s something over here!”

Ma Xiong rushed over, reaching Lu Zong’s side, and glanced at where his finger was pointing, spotting the very coffin that had held him captive earlier. Assuming Lu Zong had mistaken it for a different one, he laughed heartily, “Professor, Professor, I didn’t realize that with such profound knowledge, your memory was so poor! Didn’t you see the female corpse inside? Isn’t that your mother? Weren’t you just inside her belly a moment ago?”

Lu Zong shot him an annoyed look and said angrily, ‘Of course I realized this is the coffin that just held me, but haven’t you noticed its position has changed? It was right next to us the whole time, so why is it over here now? If we calculate from where you were standing, it must have moved at least ten meters.” He then stared intently at Ma Xiong. After thinking for a long moment, Lu Zong finally raised his eyes in surprise, replying equally astonished, “Right! The coffin was clearly right beside us, so why is it over here now? Could it be… the coffin can move?”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than they heard a series of cracking and popping sounds from the coffin, as if something were splitting apart, seemingly emanating from within. Both men hastily looked inside.

What they saw was startling: the female corpse within the coffin was slowly beginning to crack open, the lower portions already severely fissured and starting to decay, turning into fine, ash-grey powder.

Lu Zong stared at the ash-grey powder; it felt strangely familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before. He concentrated, trying to recall, and suddenly remembered seeing his own body crack open in exactly the same way, then dissolving into powder to become another version of himself.

The realization made him tense up again. He wondered if that previous vision had truly happened. If it had, then the current him wasn’t the real him, perhaps another person entirely? But who was that other person? Had he been reborn?

He nervously checked his body but found nothing out of the ordinary. He remembered that the other Ma Xiong and Gan Da he had encountered seemed significantly stronger, so he clenched his fists tightly. He heard a faint creaking sound of bones shifting, indicating he had indeed bulked up.

While secretly exhilarated, a terrifying thought flashed through his mind: “Could the female corpse be regenerating? About to become even more powerful than she is now?”

The thought startled him, and he quickly relayed it to Ma Xiong. He expected Ma Xiong to be as panicked as he was, but instead, Ma Xiong looked highly curious and excitedly asked, “What? Rebirth? That’s great! I’d like to see what this chick looked like when she was alive. Heh, she’s this beautiful even dead; she must have been devastatingly gorgeous in life.”

Lu Zong was unimpressed, cursing him, “You little brat only cares about women. You’ll end up ruined by a woman sooner or later. Quick, figure out a way to destroy this powder! I can’t guarantee I can fight this female zombie later; nothing works on these thousand-year-old Zongzi.”

To his surprise, Ma Xiong showed no nervousness at all. He looked at Lu Zong and grinned, “You don’t know what I used to do after retiring, do you? Heh.” With that, he pulled a piece of black donkey liver out of his pocket and waved it in front of Lu Zong.

Lu Zong ignored his foolish gesture, assuming the black donkey liver was a snack. He continued in his usual grumpy tone, “Hurry up and do something! Get some explosives out quickly. I want to blow up this coffin. I don’t care what you used to do; as long as it saves my life, that’s what matters.”

Ma Xiong replied calmly, “Well, the line of work I was in is exactly what can save your life. My ancestors were tomb raiders; three generations of my family were Tufuzi—grave robbers by trade. Although I haven’t experienced much myself, this little problem won't stump me. Step aside, let me deal with this powder.”

“Black donkey liver has the power to ward off evil; that’s common knowledge among us Tufuzi. It’s most effective against zombies and dried corpses. This dried corpse likely has too much unresolved grievance from its life, causing a breath to be trapped in its belly after death. This time, we released that breath, causing the substance that sustained its body for a thousand years to vanish. Its malevolence is now spreading, and the vengeful fire burning internally will rot the body away, equivalent to cremation, turning it to dust. Legend says anyone who sees such a dried corpse will die, with a mere five percent chance of survival. Lu Zong, do you believe it?”

Lu Zong stared, dumbfounded, at Ma Xiong’s practiced movements, finally managing to ask in astonishment after a long pause, “Ma Xiong, are you telling the truth? Were you really a tomb raider? Aren’t you a CIA intelligence agent? Have you been deceiving me all this time?”

Ma Xiong casually replied, “I haven't exactly deceived you either. It’s a long story; I’ll explain it all later when I have time. For now, step back, I need to subdue this Zongzi. Damn it, three thousand years! That’s five centuries older than the oldest Zongzi my dad ever saw. Looks like our chances of survival aren't great this time. Kid, you better prepare yourself.” Even now, Ma Xiong showed no trace of nervousness, truly looking like a battle-hardened veteran.

Lu Zong, however, was paralyzed with fear by Ma Xiong’s actions, standing stock-still beside him, watching. He felt the Ma Xiong before him was an entirely different person, not the man he thought he knew.

Seeing Lu Zong motionless, Ma Xiong let out a wry smile, walked up to him, hoisted Lu Zong onto his shoulder with a rough grip, and carried him toward a nearby pillar, tossing him gently to the other side. He reassured him, “Don’t worry, I won’t let us die here. Just watch in a moment, and I’ll show you my real skills.”

Leaving the stunned Lu Zong behind, he walked straight toward the coffin resting quietly nearby. He approached it with soft, measured steps. The coffin seemed to have moved a little further away now, but he couldn't concern himself with that. He picked up the black donkey liver and gently approached the coffin.

His soft footsteps echoed in the cavern, accompanied by a rhythmic, grating sound coming from within the coffin. Lu Zong, who had been watching from the side, finally turned back, focusing his gaze intently on Ma Xiong.