He softly padded to the coffin, first listening cautiously for any sound from within, then picking up a half-brick from the outside and tossing it in. Seeing no reaction, he finally ventured closer, though from the very beginning until this moment, he had kept the black donkey's hoof held high on his shoulder, his expression grave. After all, anyone would fear for their life in such a dangerous place; his earlier composure had only been an attempt to soothe Lu Zong's panicked heart.

He approached the coffin and began muttering something to it, sounding like some ancient incantation, as if Ma Xiong were performing a solemn rite. Lu Zong felt curious, wondering what exactly he intended to do.

Finally, Ma Xiong forced the black donkey's hoof inside the coffin, looking like he was exerting considerable effort. Lu Zong guessed it must have been shoved into the female corpse's mouth. He vaguely recalled Ma Xiong mentioning this method of warding off evil once: stuffing a protective object like a black donkey's hoof into the corpse's orifice could block the continued eruption of the body's resentful energy, thus offering better protection.

After a moment, the grinding, creaking sound finally ceased. It seemed the body was no longer turning to dust. Both men let out a collective sigh of relief.

Ma Xiong turned and walked toward Lu Zong, who also stepped out from behind the pillar, moving in Ma Xiong's direction. Suddenly, he saw a plume of white smoke rising from the coffin behind Ma Xiong. He stood there, mouth agape, staring behind his companion, unable to utter a word.

Ma Xiong, however, seemed oblivious, walking straight toward him, intending to comfort the terrified Lu Zong. He appeared not to notice the coffin behind him starting to change, emitting greenish smoke.

It was only when he saw Lu Zong stuttering and pointing behind him, shouting, "Ma Xiong, look behind you, that corpse, it's... it's coming alive again..." that Ma Xiong finally noticed. He hastily spun around. Indeed, a stream of white smoke was billowing from the coffin, rising straight up.

His face shifted instantly. Lu Zong noticed his features contort with fear, unsure what was about to happen.

Ma Xiong immediately roared at Lu Zong, "Lu Zong, run! Don't look back, just run!" Then he rushed toward Lu Zong, grabbed him, and they fled desperately.

Lu Zong had no idea what was happening; he simply followed Ma Xiong, trusting him implicitly. Even Ma Xiong, such an experienced tomb raider, was terrified; what hope did these novices, who had never encountered a Zongzi (hopping corpse), have?

He felt the wind whistling past his ears, moving at an unprecedented speed—a power born of the desperate urge to survive. He suddenly realized how precious life was.

In his haste, his stomach was filled with vast amounts of air, leaving him feeling bloated. This must be what the legends called "drinking the northwest wind." At least here, there was northwest wind to drink, unlike outside the desert where even that was scarce.

He stole a glance at Ma Xiong, trying to discern something from his face, to grasp the current situation. All he saw on Ma Xiong's frantic, panicked face was the stark terror of impending death.

Suddenly, he heard a buzzing sound close behind him and spun back in alarm, only to discover that the dust that had formed the female corpse was now clinging close behind them, desperately pursuing them, and had even coalesced into a humanoid shape, resembling the female corpse itself.

He pointed behind him, stuttering, "Ma Xiong, look behind us! That powder—it turned into bugs! White bugs, thousands of them, chasing us, look...!"

But Ma Xiong didn't turn back, only gasping, "Stop talking! We've hit thousand-year corpse worms! Follow me, ignore everything else. Don't let them pin you, or we are done for."

Though he didn't know precisely what corpse worms were, he knew what thousand-year corpse worms meant—they were corpse worms that had lived for a thousand years. But why were they chasing him? And what would happen if they managed to pin him down?

He glanced back again and was horrified to see the white, powdery substance slowly swelling, becoming about the size of a finger. Some of them were already transforming, shedding their outer white casings to reveal insects entirely black, resembling dung beetles. The thought that these things had sprouted from the corpse made him gag, his adrenaline spiking and his strength surging.

Just as he was about to turn back and focus on running, he felt a sudden numbness in his leg, and his upper body lunged forward while his legs remained rooted. Unluckily, in this life-or-death moment, he tripped. A needle-like pain shot through his knee instantly.

A chill ran through him; he figured he was about to become a delicious lunch for those corpse worms. Without further thought, he wrenched his hands free from Ma Xiong’s grasp, shoved him away violently, and shouted wildly, "Ma Xiong, go! Don't mind me, I can't go on. Go, don't worry about me!"

But Ma Xiong was not so heartless. He yanked Lu Zong up, slung him over his shoulder, and continued moving forward, though his speed was noticeably slower. The corpse worms behind them were closing in, and he could almost clearly hear the fluttering of their wings.

Grit ting his teeth, Lu Zong grabbed a protruding piece of wood on the cave ceiling with both hands, then kicked Ma Xiong, who was carrying him, a considerable distance away, yelling, "Go! Don't look after me! If you stay, neither of us will live! Go! Remember, you must help save them for me."

Ma Xiong, watching Lu Zong swing precariously from the ceiling, became furiously enraged, veins bulging on his neck, cursing, "What the hell is wrong with you, kid? You don't have to be this ruthless just to make me seem heartless! Today, I'll risk my life to get you down!" With that, he charged back toward Lu Zong.

But it was too late. Lu Zong felt a cool sensation on his back. He glanced over his shoulder and saw handfuls of corpse worms clinging to his shoulder. His hands trembled, and he fell from the beam. A series of crunching sounds echoed as he landed, the sound of the worms being crushed beneath him.

His stomach lurched, threatening to heave. The thought that these were worms that had fed on human flesh made goosebumps erupt all over him. Ma Xiong was momentarily stunned by the sight, unsure what to do. Lu Zong saw the frozen Ma Xiong and roared, "Go! If you stay, both of us are done for! Go!"

But Ma Xiong made no move to leave. Instead, he pulled out a burning torch, lit it, and walked straight toward Lu Zong. The corpse worms that were flying toward Ma Xiong were instantly drawn to the flame, rushing toward the torch like moths to a fire, accompanied by the crisp, crackling sound of scorched insect bodies, which sent shivers down Lu Zong's entire body.

However, he felt no discomfort on his body. If those corpse worms were biting him, he should be feeling pain, but he felt nothing. He looked at his shoulder again and was astonished to see the worms lying still, eyes closed, appearing perfectly dormant, showing no sign of hostility.

His curiosity surged even higher. He urgently asked Ma Xiong, who was approaching him, "Ma Xiong, why aren't these corpse worms biting me?"

Hearing this, Ma Xiong hastily looked up at him and noticed with surprise that the worms showed no aggression toward Lu Zong. His face contorted into an odd shape, utterly bewildered by what this signified, muttering to himself, "That's impossible. These corpse worms are extremely aggressive. Why wouldn't they attack a human? Could it be... Lu Zong, you..."

Hearing Ma Xiong's fragmented words, Lu Zong grew even more inquisitive, urging him on, "What are you trying to say? Just spit it out! Can you stop being so agonizingly slow?"

Ma Xiong didn't elaborate immediately but proceeded to light two more burning sticks in quick succession, illuminating most of the cavern within their sight range. He asked Lu Zong, "Lu Zong, what exactly is your connection to that female corpse?"

Lu Zong was completely lost. He asked out of sheer curiosity, "What do you mean, what connection do I have to that female corpse?"

Ma Xiong explained, "There are generally two types of people these corpse worms won't attack: the direct descendants of the female corpse or those related to her master by bloodline. The other type is those born with the ability to communicate with the spiritual realm—essentially, an Yin-Yang person. Since these corpse worms live within dead bodies for extended periods, they might also be considered Yin-Yang insects. Because they belong to the same species, they won't attack an Yin-Yang person either. Given the current situation, you either have a tie to the female corpse, or you are an Yin-Yang person."

Lu Zong stared blankly at Ma Xiong’s words for several seconds before collecting his thoughts. Then, glancing at the corpse worms peacefully sleeping on his shoulder, he stammered, "What? I have a connection to a corpse? How is that possible? We're not even from the same era; even having an affair couldn't connect us! Could it be some entanglement from past lives? No way, my ancestors were all proper Southerners; who would ever come to this godforsaken, barren place? Could I be an Yin-Yang person? Wait, what exactly is an Yin-Yang person?"

Ma Xiong stopped walking. Since Lu Zong was temporarily safe from the corpse worms, there was no need for him to risk approaching. If the torches provoked those merciless, man-eating worms, things would become complicated. He stopped about ten meters from Lu Zong and explained, "An Yin-Yang person lives in the realm of the living but can communicate with those in the realm of the dead. These people usually acquire exceptionally heavy Yin energy at birth, perhaps from carrying ancestral artifacts given to them by their parents. Antiques that have passed down through generations are saturated with Yin energy, and when carried by a child, they accumulate this energy within their body. However, this is extremely rare. Such antiques possessing sufficient Yin energy must be at least a thousand years old and must not have been carried by other children in recent years, otherwise, the energy would dissipate. Accumulating enough Yin energy in the body isn't enough; they also require initiation by another established Yin-Yang person to fully become one. Once they become Yin-Yang people, their responsibilities increase; they become conduits for information between the two realms, able to witness events in the underworld and understand the requests of certain ghosts. Such people are collectively called Yin-Yang people. Could you be... are you an Yin-Yang person?"

To Ma Xiong's surprise, Lu Zong burst into loud laughter. "What are you talking about? How could I be an Yin-Yang person? Ghosts don't exist in this world, let alone seeing them! Forget it, I'd rather admit I had a fling with that female ghost!"