Ma Xiong, however, remained silent, instead gesturing for Lu Zong to quiet down and observe Ganda carefully.

Lu Zong watched Ganda curiously. For some reason, Ganda’s expression now was one of utter bewilderment, as if he couldn't see the three of them at all. He stood there eerily still and mysterious, almost petrified.

Ma Xiong whispered, "Shh. Look at Ganda. Doesn't he look like a statue?"

Prompted by Ma Xiong, they all hastily looked up and suddenly felt that Ma Xiong might be right. At that moment, Ganda was standing stock-still against the stone wall. From a distance, he truly did resemble a statue, almost blending in with the rock itself.

Lu Zong anxiously asked, "What's wrong with Ganda? Is he frozen? Has he turned to stone?"

Ma Xiong shook his head, then looked at Fatty, who also shook his head and said, "This has nothing to do with Fatty. I didn't do anything. But I do sense something rather strange."

Lu Zong hurriedly asked him what was strange.

Fatty calmly replied, "Look at Ganda's posture. Doesn't it look like he's preparing to jump down?"

The two looked towards Ganda and noticed his body leaning outward, his right arm already detached from the stone wall. His next move clearly looked like a leap, yet he was frozen there.

Lu Zong grew even more curious. "Fatty, what do you think that guy is doing? Why is he so stiff and unmoving? Is it really possible he turned to stone?"

Fatty shook his head, equally puzzled. "I’m not sure, but I am certain it has something to do with the carnivorous plant. I suspect the seed of that carnivorous plant in his mind has germinated again, starting to control his thoughts."

Ma Xiong countered, "If it were truly like what Fatty says, and he was undergoing an intense internal struggle, he should be confused and flustered right now, not this composed."

Fatty explained, "That means the plant's thoughts have gained the upper hand and are controlling his body. Subconsciously, it keeps hinting to him that he is just a plant, meant to exist according to a plant's way of survival, so he has become still."

Ma Xiong looked at Ganda, then at Lu Zong. Lu Zong could not accept this reality; if Ganda had really become a vegetable, wouldn't he be responsible for taking a life?

He looked at the still Ganda, shook his head, and tried to soothe his collapsing thoughts.

He yelled at Ganda again, "Ganda, come down! Stop scaring us, hurry up and get down!"

This time, they actually saw Ganda’s body begin to move. What started as stiffness slowly transitioned into activity; he began to move step by step. However, his reason was still absent; his body climbed down mechanically, his movements stiff, much like a zombie. Lu Zong said, "It must be our voices that awakened his consciousness! Let's push harder, don't stop, see if we can fully bring him back. This is a battle of wills between us and the vine plant. As long as our voices are loud enough, our strength great enough, and we have enough determination, patience, and—"

He shouted first, "Ganda, keep it up! Climb down quickly, we believe in you!"

As soon as he finished his first sentence, Ganda dropped down with a thud from above, followed by a muffled roar from his throat, and then he fell silent again.

The three rushed over. Lu Zong checked his breathing and pressed against his chest, saying, "He's still alive, truly alive. His heart rate and breathing are normal. Let's rub his body to prevent it from stiffening up; he should wake up soon."

The three busied themselves in a flurry. Fatty complained, "Damn, Ganda old boy is lucky. Everyone who’s ever enjoyed my massage techniques in this life is dead, so I suppose only Ganda has the guts to enjoy my massage. And you know what, I’m actually a little grateful."

Ma Xiong found Fatty's words strange and leaned in to look. He discovered that the spots Fatty had massaged were swollen and red, and then the swollen parts began to subside, shrink, and contract, the skin bunching up into a dark green mass.

He slapped Fatty’s fat hand away with a snap, cursing, "Fatty, is this your massage skill? Look, you’ve turned Ganda green! Be careful he doesn't turn into a green-hat zombie and come looking for you!"

Fatty didn't believe it and poked his head out to look, then sucked in a sharp breath. "No way! Fatty knows Ganda's old bones are soft; he doesn't have much strength. When I usually knead a child's shoulders, the child never cries out in pain. Can this old fellow really be that delicate? Didn't you guys say he often travels the desert?"

Lu Zong also believed Fatty, reasoning that although Fatty enjoyed joking around, he usually knew his limits and wouldn't do anything so extreme. He nodded and said, "I think this is Ganda's problem." He then reached out and gently kneaded Ganda's shoulder.

A strange thing happened. The area Lu Zong had touched also began to slowly wither and contract, finally turning green, the same color as the surrounding vegetation.

Lu Zong quickly drew his hand back, unable to believe what he was seeing. He stared dumbfounded at the shocking sight and muttered, "What in the world is going on?"

The answer came in the form of Ganda’s weak cough. Ganda had woken up.

Lu Zong quickly started rubbing Ganda’s back, but the sight of the green skin made him stop abruptly. He quickly stabilized himself and comforted Ganda, saying, "Ganda, everything is fine now, it’s all fine. Don't worry. How are you feeling?"

Ganda looked at Lu Zong with great pain, coughed a few more times, and said, "My whole body aches now, like my body isn't mine. It feels like my bones are being squeezed to pieces. It hurts so much. Damn it, it’s more painful than shooting up opium. Lu Zong, tell me the truth, what is wrong with me?"

Lu Zong felt a chill run down his spine listening to Ganda’s description. His pain had spread throughout his entire body. Had the plant spread everywhere? This meant that if the plant's thoughts—its central nervous system—were successfully implanted, Ganda would become a walking corpse, a pure "vegetative person." No sensation, no consciousness; to put it vividly, a corpse housing a plant, controlled by the plant.

He dared not think further. If this progressed, who knew how serious it would become? The best course now was to keep Ganda’s mind stable; as long as he had his own consciousness, things could be managed.

He said, "Ganda, don't worry. You were in pain because you just fell from up there. You’ll be fine after some rest. Trust us, just rest for a while."

Ganda struggled against lying down, instead curling into a ball, squatting there with his hands tucked between his knees, saying in a strange voice, "I don't want to rest, I don't want to sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see that carnivorous plant spreading inside me, talking to me, persuading me to surrender, to submit to them. I don't dare sleep."

Ma Xiong looked helplessly at Ganda and said to Lu Zong, "If he keeps making such a fuss, we might as well just knock him out with a brick."

Fatty checked the time precisely and said, "Forget it, let's let Ganda stay awake for a while longer. If he falls asleep, the plant might take advantage and control Ganda, which wouldn't be good."

Lu Zong nodded too. "Forget it. Let Ganda have some time alone to calm down. We should look around to see how to get down from here; this chain netting is really dense."

Speaking of the chain netting, he observed it carefully. He felt that this net must be suspended from the winding mountain wall, encircling it and splitting the cliff face in two. He wasn't sure what the chain net was for, so he asked Fatty, "Fatty, do you know what this chain net is for? Why would they construct a chain net here?"

Fatty glanced at it and shook his head, saying, "I can't be sure. Based on my thirty-plus years of tomb raiding experience, this chain net is likely for sacrifices. Look at these chains, as thick as an arm; if you tied a person to one, I guarantee they couldn't escape."

Lu Zong curiously continued, "Then how do you think they performed the sacrifice?"

Fatty said, "This is purely my wild guessing, my personal conjecture, not necessarily correct—just consider it me telling you a story. I imagine they would hang bodies from the chains and let them air-dry naturally. After drying, they would become mummies, looking much thinner, and the people would believe their deities had consumed them, thus completing the sacrifice."

Lu Zong commented, "As expected of Fatty, you have a rich imagination."

Unexpectedly, Fatty seemed a bit modest. "Don't praise me so much; I prefer to keep a low profile. But I'll be honest to avoid you thinking I’m impractical. This isn't purely personal speculation; I heard my second uncle mention something similar before."

Lu Zong grew very interested and asked in surprise, "What? Your second uncle was also a tomb raider?"

Fatty nodded. "My whole family are tomb raiders; we are a hundred percent lineage of grave robbers. My second uncle told me that he once robbed a tomb in the Shandong area, in a village called Zhaizhai in Liaocheng. There was a Han tomb cluster there, covering an area the size of a football field, all tombs belonging to some minority group from the Han Dynasty. He said he saw chain links just like these inside, though smaller in scale. He saw them all covered with skeletons, which scared him so much he thought he’d seen ghosts. He quit for over a year until he couldn't make ends meet and had to come back out of retirement."

Lu Zong listened with great interest as Fatty recounted his family matters, chuckling happily. "I never realized Fatty was so knowledgeable. You must teach me properly sometime."

Fatty replied proudly, "Keep it low key, keep it low key."

Lu Zong then pressed on, "But why don't we see any skeletons or mummies hanging up here?"