No sooner had he finished speaking than the sound of the Fatty crying out, "Aiyo!" reached them. Ma Xiong hurriedly turned back to look. Lu Zong felt that since Ma Xiong had turned, everything should be fine, so he glanced back too.

To his dismay, he saw the severed heads hiding behind him opening their mouths wide to lunge at him. Startled, he quickly blocked them with the black donkey hooves. When the mutated corpse worms bit down on the hooves, they immediately dropped to the ground, dead.

Noticing the Fatty standing there bewildered and almost mesmerized, Lu Zong hurried over to him, grabbed a black donkey hoof he held, and brought it down hard on the corpse worm latching onto the Fatty. The worm instantly fell, and the Fatty snapped out of his daze. He looked at Lu Zong and mumbled, "Lu Zong, I thought I saw a beautiful woman just now." Lu Zong ignored him, turning back to see what Ma Xiong planned to do next.

However, he suddenly realized that all the corpses plastered to the opposite wall had vanished. He spun around; the corpses on the wall behind him were gone too. At that moment, Ma Xiong was staring upwards, dumbfounded.

Lu Zong seemed to sense something and raised his gaze. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of corpses were now floating lightly overhead, threatening to rain down at any second. A mere impact from the falling bodies could crush the three of them into paste, let alone the fact that they were alive.

Lu Zong whispered, his voice trembling, "Ma Xiong, stop spacing out! What do we do now?" Ma Xiong took a deep breath and said, "Hold your breath and dive under the water. You need a huge lungful—we might not be able to surface again after this dive." Saying this, his head plunged down, and he disappeared.

Fearing they would be separated, Lu Zong quickly took a deep breath and dove in after him. He saw Ma Xiong swimming steadily forward and hurried to catch up. Behind him, the Fatty was slowly propelling his bulky body, struggling to follow.

Lu Zong didn't have time to think much; he simply signaled for the Fatty to keep up and then swam on toward Ma Xiong. A series of thwack sounds echoed from above; the corpses were probably starting to hit the water. Ma Xiong swam ahead, seemingly unconcerned, moving with an almost playful ease, as if the end of the world was someone else's problem.

He grimaced slightly and continued swimming. He wondered what bizarre situation awaited them next. It was clear he couldn't outswim the corpse worms.

Several had already passed him and were now surrounding Ma Xiong. Lu Zong observed them closely and realized they weren't human remains at all, just creatures whose limbs and features bore a rough resemblance to humans. Perhaps because they had been surrounded by dried corpses in this place for so long, they had slowly evolved into these ghastly, inhuman forms.

There was an old saying: the first person a child sees upon birth will shape their adult appearance. It seemed to be true here. Yet, the corpse worms didn't attack him.

They merely encircled him. Soon, Ma Xiong was out of sight, and the Fatty behind him had vanished without a sound. He presumed they were both entangled by these worms.

He dared not struggle too much, choosing instead to swim quietly forward. He had been holding his breath for a long time and was nearly spent. A small bubble escaped his lips, providing momentary relief.

He wondered what Ma Xiong was up to. Did he mean it when he said they might not get back out? Perhaps Ma Xiong or the Fatty would come to his rescue.

But as the seconds ticked by, neither Ma Xiong nor the Fatty appeared. Despair began to set in. The suffocating sensation made him involuntarily open his mouth, and water flooded in great gulps, yet oddly, he felt much better.

Just as he was about to give up, he felt someone tugging at his clothing. He spun around in surprise—it was Ma Xiong. Ma Xiong pulled him downward, constantly driving deeper and deeper, as if searching for some exit below.

He saw the Fatty not far ahead, straining to pull something loose, engaged in some mysterious activity. When they reached him, Lu Zong understood: beneath their feet was a massive sheet of metal, impossibly long, smooth, and flat—undeniably the work of human hands. "Why would they lay a metal plate here?" he wondered aloud.

The corpse worms overhead, seeing their prey disappear, began swimming urgently toward them. There was no time to waste. Ma Xiong gestured for Lu Zong and the Fatty to help him pull the metal plate free.

Lu Zong then noticed a protruding handle on the plate. The Fatty was exerting all his strength to yank it open. It was clearly the handle of a hatch, suggesting a secret passage lay beneath.

Lu Zong joined the Fatty, and the three of them pulled together. Due to the water pressure, they couldn't budge it, which meant the space beneath was filled with air, not water. This offered a renewed spark of hope.

But the corpse worms were already closing in from behind; time was running out. Lu Zong snatched a military knife from the Fatty's waist and used it to pry at the edge. Surprisingly, it yielded.

As a gap opened, a small vortex of current rushed inward. That made things easier. He slowly pried the opening wider until it filled with water, then gave a light tug, and the cover lifted.

By this point, the space beneath was completely flooded. Ma Xiong jumped down first, followed by Lu Zong and the Fatty. They left the corpse worms outside, clanging against the metal hatch.

Ma Xiong secured the upper hatch, then ordered the other two to pull the handle on the underside. Because of the water pressure differential, the lower door opened quickly with a loud whoosh, and air rushed in. The three collapsed onto the metal plate, gulping air.

The Fatty was gasping uncontrollably, repeatedly clutching his throat and coughing. He cursed, "Damn it, that was too much! I never thought I could hold my breath for that long." Lu Zong managed a strained laugh.

"Yeah, I always thought I couldn't swim underwater, either." Lu Zong wasn't joking with them. He walked to the edge of the hatch and peered down, an indescribable joy washing over his face. Lu Zong and the Fatty guessed Ma Xiong must have seen something extraordinary, or the usually reserved Ma Xiong wouldn't be this excited.

He scrambled over and looked down into the opening beneath the metal sheet. "Ah!" Lu Zong was completely captivated by the vista below. It was clearly a world unlike any they had known.

Mountains soared skyward, water trickled, and lush green vegetation carpeted every patch of earth. If they weren't underground, he would have sworn he was looking at paradise. The distance from the lip of the hatch to the ground below seemed to be over two hundred meters.

The Fatty was moved to the verge of tears. "We finally found the main burial chamber of the Earth Palace!" Ma Xiong exclaimed with feeling, "That antechamber was damn long; we nearly got lost in there. But it was worth it.

I truly thought that last part was a hallucination." "But how do we get down?" Lu Zong looked below and noticed the crown of a large tree extending to within a meter of their opening. "We can climb onto that treetop and then use the tree to climb down." Ma Xiong studied the view carefully. "It seems that's the only way now.

'A glimmer of life in desperation'—that's what this is. Though, it's still pretty desperate." Now that they had found a path down, they needed to descend. But they immediately faced a new dilemma: Who would go first?

The Fatty knelt before the opening, peered out, and shrank back in terror, cursing, "No way! My weight can't just be dropped down there so easily. Who would be here to keep your spirits up if I'm gone?

I'm not going, not even if you kill me!" That left Lu Zong as the most suitable candidate for the descent. First, he was lighter and more agile. Second, he needed the practice in nerve.

(The second part was an addition by the Fatty, who felt he had been Lu Zong's spiritual anchor throughout their journey and couldn't be left behind.) Lu Zong shook his head helplessly and cursed the Fatty in jest, "Damn it, there are too many shameless people in this world." He was already preparing himself to be lowered. He fastened the rope Ma Xiong handed him around his waist, and under the combined effort of Ma Xiong and the Fatty pulling, he slowly slid down. Soon, he was level with the top of the large tree.

He signaled for Ma Xiong to swing the rope toward the tree. As soon as the rope reached the treetop, he grabbed hold of the crown. Fortunately, the tree was sturdy enough to support his weight.

He untied the rope from his body and announced, "Good. This tree is very strong. Who's next?

This tree can hold all three of us." Ma Xiong said to the visibly terrified Fatty, "Fatty, you go down now. Otherwise, when you're the last one up there, no one will be here to hold the rope, and I'm afraid I can't support your weight just by pulling. I'll hold the rope here for you." The Fatty considered this; it was true.

If he didn't go down now, when it was just him left above, he would truly be calling out to heaven and earth to no avail. He tied the rope around his waist, then secured the other end to the metal hatch, just in case Ma Xiong couldn't hold on. And so, to the Fatty's wails of protest and agony, Ma Xiong slowly lowered him down.

Watching the Fatty's massive posterior dangle, Lu Zong felt a hollowness in his stomach. If the Fatty didn't mind losing a piece of his backside, Lu Zong probably wouldn't either. The problem was, the Fatty definitely would mind.

The Fatty shrieked from mid-air, "Ma Xiong, hold tight! Lu Zong, hurry and catch your Uncle Fatty! I can't take much more!" Lu Zong snapped out of his daydream.

Seeing such a corpulent body suspended in the void made his own heart pound, let alone the Fatty's firsthand experience. Lu Zong shouted up from below, "Ma Xiong, swing the Fatty over to me!" Ma Xiong cursed, panting, "Swing him? Hell no!

I could probably just drop him! Fatty, why are you so heavy? I can barely hold on, let alone swing you over!" The Fatty's voice was almost a plea, "Ma Xiong, I beg you, please don't let go!

My life is in your hands, man! Hold on! I'll kick the rope under me over to Lu Zong, and he can grab it and pull me the rest of the way.

It'll be quick!" Saying that, he kicked his legs toward the tree, sending the rope drifting toward Lu Zong, who immediately snatched it. But that kick caused the rope to drop another meter or two, and the Fatty screamed in the air, "Help! Help!" Lu Zong's heart softened upon hearing his cries.