The sound, they discovered, was coming from inside the wall, like the cry of a newborn infant. All four froze, exchanging bewildered glances, unsure what trick this was.

Lu Zong asked, "What is happening? Why is there a baby crying? Whose parents left their child in here?"

Fatty scoffed, "Damn it, maybe those two girls you brought along got together, and this is the baby they birthed."

Ma Xiong firmly countered, "Doesn't look like it. Rosa is a foreign girl; her baby should have foreign features. But this child is crying purely in Mandarin; you can't detect any foreign accent at all."

Fatty nodded, convinced. "Then this sound isn't human. It must be some kind of beast. Maybe we should hide first, in case whatever is inside attacks us."

Lu Zong shook his head. "No, beasts don't make such delicate sounds. I feel this is the cry of a newborn. Regardless, we have to see what's going on—two lives are at stake."

Saying this, he walked forward alone, preparing to knock down the wall to see what creature lay inside. As he strode resolutely toward the structure, he muttered, "Perhaps beyond this wall is the exit. Maybe some heartless parents abandoned their child in this cave, and the crying is meant to lure us out."

Ma Xiong ignored Lu Zong's reasoning, drawing two knives from his person, handing one to Fatty and the other to Ganda, then advanced unarmed, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Lu Zong, wary of any sudden attack on his companion.

Lu Zong had reached the wall. He tapped it—solid. He moved slightly to another spot and tapped again—still solid. He grew more perplexed, unable to pinpoint the source of the cry. As he turned to ponder, he suddenly heard the wall vibrate twice. Assuming it was Ma Xiong tapping, he advised, "Ma Xiong, stop knocking. I already checked everywhere; there's nothing to find. What's the use of you tapping again?"

But Ma Xiong took a moment to register the statement before replying in shock, "No, I didn't hit it just now. The wall moved on its own." He even held out his hand for Lu Zong to see, proving his innocence.

Lu Zong's mind reeled. Did the wall just move? Or was someone knocking from the other side? He instantly grew alert, moved to the wall, and rapped his knuckles against it.

Tap-tap-tap...

An equally rhythmic knocking returned from the other side: Tap-tap-tap...

Lu Zong frantically called to the remaining three, "Hurry up and help! Someone must be trapped inside; we need to rescue them." He then took the lead, pounding on the wall, ready to smash it down.

However, with every impact he delivered, a distinct click-clack sound echoed back. The wall was definitely solid, yet a knocking sound emanated from within. Ma Xiong watched Lu Zong toil away, his own understanding slowly crystallizing. He even saw, emerging from the wall, something resembling a grasping claw reaching toward Lu Zong.

He shrieked Lu Zong's name and rushed forward, intending to pull him back. Though he hadn't seen anything concrete, his sixth sense screamed that Lu Zong was in danger.

Sometimes, intuition is profoundly accurate, especially for those who rely on gut feelings, like operatives from the CIA—he trusted this feeling implicitly and charged forward without hesitation.

But the instant his foot landed, a section of the wall abruptly fractured, revealing an opening the size of an urn. He froze, stunned by the shockwave, and stopped moving forward. For within that shattered breach lay a sleeping infant.

He was dumbstruck, as were the other three. They would never have imagined finding a baby only a few months old in this place. The sheer eeriness of the atmosphere prevented any immediate reaction; they simply stared at the infant in silence.

Its delicate skin seemed vibrant amidst the dull, lightless hollow. Its arms and legs kicked out randomly, betraying a playful nature. Its nose rose and fell, and its mouth twitched continuously, the sharp crying emanating clearly from its body.

The four stood frozen for perhaps ten seconds before Lu Zong was the first to react. He glanced at the others and smiled faintly, "Don't be nervous, it's just a child." He then stepped forward, intending to pick up the infant for a closer look.

The tension eased slightly among the other three. Just an infant, probably no major issue. None of them paused to consider how deeply wrong the infant's presence here truly was.

But after a few seconds of observation, Ma Xiong's mind raced, connecting a series of incongruities. First, the infant was locked in that alcove; how could it survive without air or food? Second, who was knocking on the wall earlier? Such a small infant wouldn't know the specific pattern Lu Zong had used to respond.

As he considered this, he looked toward the infant cradled in Lu Zong's arms. A look of blissful contentment was spreading across Lu Zong's face. Behind the baby trailed something resembling an umbilical cord. From a distance, it looked vague, perhaps just a cord, but as Ma Xiong stared harder, it increasingly resembled a creeping vine.

"A vine!" A thought snapped him back to reality. He looked frantically back at the infant in Lu Zong's embrace and saw that on the side of the body Lu Zong held, a fissure was beginning to open. In the gap, a layer of sticky, blood-red matter was exposed. The first thing that sprang to his mind was internal organs.

He nearly suffocated. He even watched as great quantities of matter spilled outward, and the urge to retch assaulted his throat once more. With no time for further thought, he yelled at Lu Zong, "Lu Zong, throw that thing away immediately! It’s a monster!"

But Lu Zong didn't seem to register the warning. He slowly turned, regarding the nauseated Ma Xiong, and chuckled, "A monster? Heh, how could it be a monster? It’s so cute..." He then looked down at the infant and finally saw that its body had split open, the contents oozing from its belly flowing all over him. The thick, crimson substance induced immediate vomiting, and he frantically tossed the infant’s body away.

But it was too late. He realized the ruptured section of the infant had latched onto his clothing; he couldn't yank it free no matter how hard he pulled. He looked at the split opening and was horrified to see that the inside of the infant’s body was lined with teeth. To be precise, it was covered in fine, sharp hooks that gripped his clothes and were beginning to devour the fabric rapidly.

His mind exploded. He grabbed the infant's body, trying to tear it off, but that proved nearly impossible. Its bite held with immense force; even if he shed the clothes, it would only bite the remaining fabric.

Ma Xiong shrieked from behind, "Lu Zong, I'm coming to save you!" and charged forward. Since his knives were with Ganda and Fatty, he had to engage the creature barehanded. No, in his eyes, this was no longer an infant; it was a massive maw slowly consuming his companion.

He landed a punch on the infant’s head, but it seemed unfazed, continuing to devour Lu Zong. Lu Zong held onto its feet, trying to prevent it from biting further, but its strength was overwhelming. Seeing Lu Zong near his breaking point, Ma Xiong grabbed the creature's feet as well, trying to wrench it off Lu Zong's body.

Despite their immense combined strength, they could only maintain a stalemate, at best preventing further consumption. Just as Ma Xiong was about to call for Fatty, Fatty was already beside them. With a swift swing of his Swiss Army knife, there was a wet thwack, and the infant’s body split into two halves, falling to the ground.

Lu Zong collapsed, utterly drained, gasping for breath. Ma Xiong, however, felt the crisis was far from over. He knew this thing wouldn't die easily, so he remained vigilant, guarding against any chance of its revival and attack.

To be certain, he pulled out a fire starter from his pocket and incinerated the corpse. He asked Ganda, "Ganda, do you know what this thing was? Why have we never seen or heard of it? This must be some specialty from your Xinjiang region."

Ganda shook his head. "I don't know, never seen it. The only man-eaters we have there are giant carnivorous plants; we haven't seen any carnivorous animals."

"Carnivorous plants?" Ma Xiong asked, intrigued. "Plants that eat meat? Oh, you have those here? I’ve heard legends, but never seen one. Do you truly have such plants around here?"

Ganda replied, "Yes, the pitcher plant is one example. The pitcher opens fully during the day, but if a small animal crawls inside, the flower heart slowly closes before the animal notices, trapping it inside. Then, it secretes a substance similar to digestive fluid to completely break down the carcass before opening again. We have plenty of these plants, but they only eat small animals; they never eat humans."

Hearing Ganda mention carnivorous plants, Ma Xiong suddenly recalled the vine-like appendage connected to the infant. He immediately went back to the remains to examine what that cord truly was.

Indeed, among the burning remains, he found that single cord. The infant's body was entirely engulfed in roaring flames, yet this one vine remained untouched by the fire. It looked utterly bizarre. He took it in his hand, turning it over; it felt heavy, almost alive, as thick as a three-inch snake and covered entirely in soft little barbs. Squeezing it hard caused a sharp pain. The more he examined it, the more it resembled a true plant vine. He began tracing it downward, hoping to follow it to its root, to discover what the terminus held.

Suddenly, the vine twitched. Then, it violently sprang from his palm, writhed in the air for a moment, and swiftly wrapped itself around his waist, tightening rapidly. He felt immediate suffocation. He clamped his hands around the vine, trying to tear it free, but this thing was even tougher than the infant; once wrapped around him, it wouldn't budge an inch. Beads of sweat erupted on his forehead.

In a flash, the vine-like object had completely constricted him. He struggled fiercely, but the more he fought, the less air he could draw in. Finally, he gave up struggling, resigning himself to being pulled by the serpentine vine.