Lu Zong asked, a touch bewildered, "Fatty, what's wrong? What did you guys just see that you won't let me go up and take a look?"

Fatty replied, "Did you notice absolutely nothing just now?"

Lu Zong grew even more perplexed, pressing on with curiosity, "What exactly did you see just now that scared you all so much? Especially you, Ma Xiong. Back in the day, the two of us guarded the corpses of so many brothers on the battlefield and never felt scared, so why have you become such a coward now?"

Ma Xiong answered without hesitation, "Lu Zong, I have to disagree with that. Although we guarded the bodies of seven or eight brothers together back then, even as they decayed, we weren't afraid. But those were brothers; I felt indebted to them. Even if they killed me, I would have no regrets. But this place is different. These thousand-year-old mummies harbor nothing but hatred for us, a bone-deep loathing. How can you expect me to be at ease? You are my only family and friend now; I don't want to see you get hurt."

Hearing this, Lu Zong felt a pang of guilt, realizing how important he was to Ma Xiong. He apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, Ma Xiong. I was just too impulsive."

Fatty saw the tension in the air and tried to lighten the mood, "Everyone, relax a little. Let's not harp on sore subjects. Lu Zong, didn't you want to know what we saw just now? Well, I'll tell you."

Lu Zong looked at Fatty's hurried expression, urging him to speak about what they had seen.

Fatty spoke slowly, word by word, "Just now, we saw that mummy actually climb onto your back!"

"What? Climbed onto my back?" Lu Zong stared at Fatty with disbelief. Seeing such a serious expression, he couldn't tell if Fatty was joking. Could what he was saying be true?

He looked at Ma Xiong, who nodded at him, only then confirming that everything Fatty had said was real.

But why hadn't he felt anything? Was it another hallucination on their part? No, why would two people share the exact same hallucination?

He looked back at where he had been standing, placed a stone where he felt the phantom weight on his back, and then walked to the opposite side of the crystal, gazing into its center. To his astonishment, he saw that the stone had landed squarely on the mummy's head, right in the center, as if it had been deliberately placed there.

He looked up at the stone, but nothing was on it; the mummy was nowhere to be seen.

Given this situation, there was only one possibility: the mummy was inside the crystal all along.

But how could that be? The crystal showed no signs of artificial carving. And to put a person inside, the crystal would have to be cut open. Yet, despite its uneven surface, the crystal was completely airtight. Could it be that the female corpse had naturally grown inside the crystal?

He laughed, wondering what was wrong with his mind for thinking such a thing, and mocked himself. But how else could he explain what just happened? Was there a female corpse directly above their heads that was invisible to the naked eye, only visible through the crystal?

If Lu Zong had to choose, he would stick with the former explanation as more plausible.

Suddenly, he remembered what Ma Xiong and Fatty had witnessed in that side passage. He wondered what they had seen there, hoping it might explain this phenomenon. He quickly asked, "Ma Xiong, what did you two see in that passage?"

Ma Xiong looked at Lu Zong, still stuttering, unwilling to tell him. Helplessly, Lu Zong turned to Fatty. Since Fatty didn't share a deep emotional bond with him, he surely wouldn't hide anything, and might even exaggerate any harm that might come to him.

He urgently asked Fatty, "Fatty, what exactly did you see just now? Just tell me. It doesn't matter now; maybe telling me will help us. Whatever you saw must contain a lot of information, so I need to know what you saw."

Fatty glanced at Ma Xiong, who looked down, unsure if he should tell Lu Zong, choosing avoidance instead. Lu Zong had to urge Fatty again, and only then did Fatty reluctantly say to Lu Zong, "Just now, we saw your soul?"

"My soul?" Lu Zong gasped, "What does that mean? What do you mean, my soul?"

Fatty explained, "Don't rush. Listen to me. When the passage collapsed, we saw a translucent thing roll out. By instinct, both of us were certain we saw a ghost. But when we looked closer, we realized that transparent soul had your features; it looked just like your soul, drifting about. Normally, according to the ways of tomb raiders, we shouldn't pay attention to lonely ghosts. But we saw the ghost of a living person—what were we supposed to do? Actually, we weren't entirely sure if it was your ghost, since you were still alive. Even if a soul leaves the body, the body should be in a state of shock or even unconsciousness, but we saw a living person's soul wandering around in broad daylight. Ma Xiong and I discussed it, and we both agreed: we encountered a once-in-a-millennium event of 'body-snatching possession.' That ghost had taken a fancy to your physical body and wanted to forcibly eject your soul, which is why we focused on protecting you."

Lu Zong had never believed in things like ghosts. Hearing them say a ghost was after his body, he naturally took it as a joke, saying, "How is that possible? I think you must have misseen things. How could such a bizarre thing happen? It must have been a collective hallucination."

Ma Xiong quickly smoothed things over, saying, "Of course, we aren't certain we saw a ghost. It could very well be a hallucination. Let's not dwell on it, haha. Forget we mentioned it."

Lu Zong looked at Ma Xiong's expression and knew he firmly believed in what he saw—that everything he witnessed was real. His words were just meant to comfort Lu Zong. He felt a surge of gratitude for Ma Xiong. However, the priority now was to stabilize everyone's nerves. He said, "Ma Xiong is right. What you saw was definitely a hallucination. I swear, it must be this ear crystal causing trouble. Everything seen outside and everything seen here is an illusion. Ma Xiong, I have a feeling this stone isn't ordinary; it's not typical crystal. It must be hiding some kind of magic."

Ma Xiong looked at Lu Zong, surprised by his quick thinking, and quickly chimed in, "I also feel this stone is unusual."

He had only said that to placate Lu Zong, but Lu Zong pressed further, saying to Ma Xiong, "Since you feel the same way I do, please explain to everyone in detail why we are experiencing these hallucinations."

Ma Xiong's mind went blank, not knowing what to say. In front of so many people, he couldn't admit defeat. He braced himself and said, "I feel that the reason we are having these hallucinations is likely because our minds were deeply engrossed in thinking about something. Hallucinations occur when our optic nerves are stimulated, causing the brain's central processing unit to display vivid images. Another way hallucinations can be produced is by disrupting a person's brainwaves, altering them, which also generates different pictures in the neural center, leading us to see things that don't exist in reality. In my view, it's likely this stone is affecting our brainwaves, causing the hallucinations."

Ma Xiong wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, relieved that the meager scientific terms he could recall managed to pass muster.

Fatty looked at Ma Xiong with admiration, surprised at how much he knew. Now, they only waited for Lu Zong's assessment of Ma Xiong's theory.

Lu Zong looked at Ma Xiong and smiled, saying, "Although Ma Xiong's explanation wasn't perfectly clear, he basically conveyed my thoughts. I feel this stone might influence brainwaves; it’s probably more than just crystal. Let's examine it closely and see what sets it apart from ordinary crystal."

With that, he bent down and began studying the crystal intently.

Ganda, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up, "Lu Zong, do you feel that this crystal has magnetism? Look, Ma Xiong's Swiss knife is pointing directly at the crystal. Is this crystal magnetically attracting that treasured knife?"

Hearing Ganda's remark, Lu Zong quickly looked towards Ma Xiong's waist. Sure enough, his Swiss Army knife was pointing straight at the crystal. His heart jolted, and he quickly patted himself down, finding nothing metallic. Finally, he borrowed a compass from Fatty. A compass would be the best indicator of an object's magnetism, so he hurriedly held it in his hands and circled the crystal.

A strange phenomenon occurred: the compass, which should have pointed in one direction, kept spinning and pointing relentlessly toward the crystal. It seemed the crystal possessed powerful magnetism.

If the crystal was magnetic, it was bound to generate strong electromagnetic waves and magnetic waves. Getting close would naturally interfere with brainwaves, but he never expected its disruptive power to be so great as to affect vision from such a distance.

He declared, "This is not ordinary crystal; it's very likely not crystal at all, but some substance yet to be discovered on Earth."

Ma Xiong raised a counterpoint, "Then are those scattered crystals around it also not crystal?"

Lu Zong replied calmly, "The scattered small pieces are likely crystals, but this large one is definitely more than just crystal. Magnetic crystals have never been discovered in this world, and one that can disrupt human thought... I almost feel like this stone is alive. Look at the female corpse inside—doesn't it resemble a baby gestating inside a stone, with this stone acting like a placenta protecting the infant? Are the surrounding scattered crystals merely for distracting people's thoughts, or are they naturally formed?"

"Could this be Ice Crystal Jade Fetus?" Ma Xiong exclaimed loudly.