He felt extremely uncomfortable hearing those words. How could that Fatty speak so crudely? When would he ever learn to be as refined and civilized as I am? Damn it all.

He looked at the encouraging gaze of the Fatty, reluctantly hoisted Ganda onto his back, and then scrambled onto the surrounding rock. He peered ahead and saw that the dense swarm of snakes was actually showing signs of surging toward them. His heart grew even more anxious. He called out, "Fatty, look! The snakes behind you are starting to attack. As soon as I fly over, you all immediately stand on this rock. They’re initiating the assault!"

The Fatty impatiently responded, "Alright, alright! Are you ready? I'm going to pull the rope now."

Ma Xiong looked at the Fatty with deep affection, then said, "Okay, when I count one, two, three, everyone pull with all their might."

One... two... three! As soon as the word left his mouth, the Fatty exerted all his strength, hurling the vine forward with force. Ma Xiong, standing on the rock, gathered all his strength, planted his feet forward, and pushed off his support, swinging across with the vine. He watched himself rapidly and boldly reach the doorway to survival, feeling a surge of joy in his heart.

But before his excitement could peak, he slammed hard against the stone wall. The joy drained away by more than half. He could hardly believe his eyes. He had successfully swung across, but his body hadn't knocked open the door to survival. He was merely rejected at the threshold, and even banging his head bloody proved utterly useless.

Disappointed, he looked back at the Fatty and Lu Zong. They had noticed the awkward scene as well. Had he misjudged it? He tried to re-observe that illusion and then carefully compared it to the wall. It was exactly the same, yet the door that should have been there simply wasn't. What was going on?

Ma Xiong made a helpless gesture toward the Fatty and Lu Zong, his arms aching, and asked, "Hey, you two, what do we do now? My arms are completely sore."

The Fatty, seeing Ma Xiong's look of agony, paced back and forth on the rock, completely at a loss. He failed to notice a snake diligently climbing up right beneath his feet.

Finally, the snake's head emerged slightly, and Lu Zong noticed it, kicking it flying away with one swift motion. His peripheral vision swept over the stone beneath his feet, and a chill ran down his spine. The rock was densely covered in snakes—a mass of purplish-black that drowned out any other color in the cavern. He grabbed the Fatty, pulling his attention to the sight before them, and asked, "Fatty, have your ancestors ever had the experience of being a snake's breakfast?"

The Fatty replied with trepidation, "I've never encountered a scene this terrifying, but I have run into something similar before."

Lu Zong sensed a deep mystery at play and quickly pressed, "What similar situation did you encounter? Tell me."

The Fatty licked his dry, cracked lips and said, "My grandfather was once trapped in a massive, deep ancient tomb. He wandered inside for several days and couldn't find his way out. By the time his dry rations ran out and his water was nearly gone, his only thought was to sit there and wait to die. Unexpectedly, right when he was close to death, he encountered a snake. Overcome by hunger, he ended up roasting and eating it. But the aroma of the roasting snake meat attracted a large number of snakes from the surrounding area—though not as many or as large as the ones here. My grandfather was terrified, but fear immediately gave way to the realization that their purpose in coming here was to share a portion of snake meat with him. So, he quickly roasted a few more fire-snakes, specifically the ones that were rushing at the front. Incredibly, before the roasted snakes were even fully dead, while their bodies were still writhing, the unbearably hungry swarm rushed forward and tore the cooked snake apart to devour it."

Lu Zong exclaimed with excitement, "Exactly! If we don't want to be breakfast for the snakes, why don't we make the snakes our breakfast?"

He continued, "Fatty, this is what we'll do. Do you have a lighter in your pocket?"

The Fatty pulled out a box of matches and asked, "Are you thinking of trying my grandfather's trick?"

Lu Zong blinked, "Of course. It's the only option left now. If we don't try it, we can only fail."

The Fatty said, "Maybe it really will work. Ma Xiong, wait on the other side for a moment. We’ll wipe out these snakes shortly, and then I’ll treat you to braised snake meat."

Ma Xiong struggled to reply, "You two had better hurry up. Don't worry about my stomach; I'm about to lose my life, what good is braised snake meat then?"

The Fatty chuckled, "Alright, hold on for a moment. Lu Zong, light the match in your hand. Diesel... ah, does anyone have diesel? Anything flammable will do!"

Lu Zong watched the short matchstick slowly extinguish, then looked down at the dense mass of snakes below, and said to the Fatty, "Fatty, it seems one match won't even kill a single venomous snake."

The Fatty looked at the sparse matches left in the box, pondered for a moment, and, having nothing else to say, continued to joke with Ma Xiong, "Ma Xiong, if we can't cook the meat properly, do you have any ideas?"

Ma Xiong had noticed the situation on the other side and understood they were out of fuel. Sweat was already beading on his forehead. He looked at Lu Zong and the Fatty, then suddenly noticed the rock beneath their feet. It was perfectly cut into a square, likely intended for placing something—perhaps offerings during a sacrifice to the deities. Since it was a place for offerings, it was bound to hold things like wine or meat. Wine, after all, would make excellent fuel!

He shouted to the Fatty and Lu Zong, "Fatty, look around you for anything like wine! Anything ** will do; we’ll use alcohol as fuel today!"

The Fatty discovered a small protrusion in the rock above their heads and stood on his tiptoes to reach it. Finally, after the Fatty’s clumsy efforts, he managed to retrieve whatever was inside.

Because the Fatty’s large body blocked Ma Xiong’s view, he couldn't see what was inside. He only heard Lu Zong let out an excited cry of, "Wow!"

He realized it must be something good and asked Lu Zong, "Lu Zong, what exactly is in there?"

Lu Zong turned back to Ma Xiong in astonishment, then shrieked excitedly, "There are some yellow ** inside! It’s either urine or wine, it looks like we’re saved!"

Ma Xiong was so excited he nearly lost his grip, but luckily, his reaction was quick, or he would have fallen.