Ma Xiong panicked, shedding any pretense of machismo. He snapped back fiercely, "Damn it, you've screwed all of us over, you know what they came here for? They came here to rob us, boss! Alright, I'm done talking, I need to save my own skin. Take care of yourself, you hear me?"

As he trailed off, his tone softened noticeably. After all, he was her man, and a man had to cover for his woman when she made a mistake.

But there was no response. Ma Xiong pressed again, "You take care of yourself, don't stay at your place for now, move out. This piece of paper is seriously cursed. Hey, Lusha, are you even listening to me?"

Still silence from that end. Ma Xiong grew agitated, roaring into the phone, "Lusha! Lusha! Is that you? Are you there? Say something, Lusha! What are you doing? Lusha, can you hear me?"

Then, a raspy, aged woman's voice finally came through, weak and dry: "I hear."

Ma Xiong’s body shuddered. He quickly demanded, "Who are you? Whoever you are, please release Lusha. If you want someone, come find me."

The voice remained slow and deliberate: "Bring the Yaota Tu to meet me." Then, the line clicked dead.

In his haste and panic, Ma Xiong nearly wept. He redialed immediately, but the line remained unanswered. Lu Zong and Fatty looked at Ma Xiong’s expression and knew instantly something was wrong with Lusha. They pressed him urgently for details.

Ma Xiong recounted the entire sequence of events, his voice cracking by the end; it was clear the vengeful spirit had latched onto Lusha.

Lu Zong and Fatty offered comfort for a moment before asking, "What exactly is this 'Yaota Tu' he mentioned?"

Fatty chimed in, "Since she wants the Yaota Tu, and Lusha gave the blueprint to the company commander the day before yesterday, it must be the map we were talking about."

Ma Xiong shouted down toward the cluster of elderly men claiming to be scientists or archaeologists, "Does any of you know what the Yaota Tu is?"

After a significant pause, a withered hand rose from below. "The Yaota Tu is a legend from Xinjiang. The legend says King Sageteng Ruitu vanquished all the rampaging demons, monsters, and wandering spirits, then imprisoned them in a tomb he modified. He then swore an oath: whoever dared open this tomb without permission would have their soul eternally denied rest and would serve those ghosts for a lifetime, until the next person opened the Yaota, at which point the curse would automatically transfer."

Ma Xiong glanced at Fatty and Lu Zong. "What do we do now? Do we stop those people or go rescue Lusha?"

Lu Zong mused, "Those people used the Yaota Tu to find this place, which means the Yaota must be beneath this very tomb. But one thing is baffling: why did that paper say the curse could only be broken by entering Cao Cao's Tomb, while she calls the Yaota a hell from which there is no return? Those two points must contradict each other. Unless that queen is lying."

Just then, Han Chong emerged from inside, having apparently overheard enough of their conversation. He stated, "It doesn't have to be one or the other. The queen might not be lying, and the Yaota could indeed be inside Cao Cao's Tomb."

Ma Xiong asked curiously, "How do you explain that?"

Han Chong replied, "Think of it this way: the queen said entering Cao Cao's Tomb might lift the curse; she never said you couldn't touch the Yaota."

Ma Xiong nodded, "That makes sense. Do we need to go in now? The curse hasn't settled on us anyway."

As he spoke, Han Chong's expression shifted noticeably. He pulled the group into the tent. "Show me your arms?"

The others grumbled, "What are you doing?" They would much rather believe Han Chong was cracking a joke. Clearly, they were unwilling to have something examined on their limbs.

"Show me your arms," Han Chong repeated.

They finally stretched out their arms lazily, deliberately adopting a nonchalant posture.

As Han Chong peeled back Lu Zong’s sleeve, they were astonished to find a birthmark shaped exactly like an ear on Lu Zong’s forearm. Ma Xiong exclaimed, "Hey Lu Zong, how did we never notice that birthmark on your arm before?"

Lu Zong groaned mournfully, "I never noticed it either! How the hell did I suddenly get a new birthmark?"

Han Chong stated coldly, "You two lift up your sleeves and see if you have birthmarks too."

Watching Han Chong’s unhurried demeanor, it seemed he was absolutely certain they both bore marks on their arms.

Having no choice, they pulled up their sleeves, and to their shock, an identical mark was present on both their arms.

Fatty scrutinized them closely for a long time before sighing in disappointment. "Damn it, why is Ma Xiong’s birthmark bigger than mine, and Lu Zong’s is better looking than mine? So greedy."

At this point, Han Chong also pulled up his own sleeve. "Look at my arm."

Fatty drooled slightly, "So smooth." He immediately received a sharp blow to the head from Lu Zong.

What lay on Han Chong’s arm was a bloody face—a face so vividly crimson it was perfectly affixed to his skin, as if it were a natural birthmark.

"What... what is this?" Lu Zong stammered, examining the mark on Han Chong’s arm.

Han Chong explained, "When I was putting my clothes on downstairs just now, I suddenly felt a sharp, piercing pain in my arm, and when I looked, I saw this mark. But I was already unconscious then, and someone was speaking to me in my stupor, so I just repeated their nonsensical words; I don't know what happened. That feeling only gradually faded after a few minutes."

Ma Xiong tightened his grip on his gun, suddenly remembering Lusha. He figured Lusha must be in a similar state to Han Chong and should be awake now.

He quickly called Lusha’s number. Surprisingly, the call connected smoothly.

Lusha’s sobbing came through the receiver. Ma Xiong tried to soothe her, "It’s alright, sweetheart. You stay put right where you are, and I'll send someone to fetch you. We’ll figure this out together then. Do you have a bloody face birthmark on your arm?"

Lusha nodded, though realizing Ma Xiong couldn't see her, she just made a soft 'en' sound.

Ma Xiong spat out a curse through clenched teeth, "Damn it, this queen is clearly sexist. Unforgivable! Lusha, stay safe at home, don't go out anywhere, I'll send people to get you."

He hung up reluctantly, saying, "We split up now. Han Chong, I’ll give you a few brothers, you go help me bring Lusha back here; you two can look out for each other. Fatty, you come with Lu Zong and me into the cave to track down the Yaota Tu and lift our curse. What do you say?"

Lu Zong agreed, "That’s fine, let’s do it. Ma Xiong, you should also bring a few trusted subordinates with us; just the three of us might not be able to take on those seven or eight people."

Ma Xiong nodded and shouted, "Move out!"

Outside the cave entrance, he gathered everyone who could be considered 'family'—the professors, scientists, archaeologists—and addressed them. "I’m going down to pursue the fugitives. You people stay here and call the police later to guard every single exit. Understood?"

The elderly men nodded their heads rapidly, like chickens pecking at millet. He shot them a look of contempt, then turned back, saying, "Good. Now, Dongzi, Dawei, Old He, come with me. All other brothers follow Sister-in-law Han Chong’s orders."

Han Chong shot Ma Xiong a glare—no time for jokes when things were this serious.

Ma Xiong, with his three men, descended into the tomb with Lu Zong and Fatty. Ma Xiong introduced the three: "Dongzi, don't let his age fool you; his marksmanship is incredible. Compared to him, other snipers look like kids playing with slingshots. Dawei excels at hand-to-hand combat; if you aren't pointing a gun at his head, you’re in for serious trouble. As for Old He... hell, like Fatty, he used to be a Feng Shui master, but when that didn't pan out, he started digging up cremains. After he got caught, he didn't learn his lesson and tried stealing more ashes until the police finally arrested him; he’s completely numb to it now, treats it like routine."

Fatty eyed the Feng Shui master curiously. "Old He, what exactly can you do?"

Old He scratched his head, looking at Ma Xiong, also a little curious, and asked without politeness, "I’m wondering that too. I just came along to earn a living; why did you bring me in?"

Ma Xiong rubbed his head and chuckled, "Honestly, it was a whim. I just picked you, perhaps because I felt you were persistent, lucky, a kind of mascot. Think of yourself as a lucky charm."

Lu Zong roared with laughter, slapping Old He on the shoulder. "A lucky charm whose main occupation is doing time in prison!"

The excavated area of Cao Cao’s Tomb wasn't actually very large. They hadn’t walked far before reaching the undeveloped sections, which were already heavily damaged, showing clear signs of bullet impacts from above.

Ma Xiong signaled for silence; it was dangerous here.

Suddenly, Ma Xiong heard a series of ragged, rapid breaths nearby, the sound of extreme tension.

He aimed his gun in that direction and swiftly flipped on his tactical light. Standing illuminated in the beam were two exquisitely beautiful women. His tightly wound nerves relaxed slightly, and he demanded harshly, "Who are you two, and what are you doing here?"

The two women suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Professor Fatty!"

He then remembered—these were Fatty's two apprentices from before. They must have been missed during the firefight.

Fatty peered at the young women happily, then sharply reprimanded them, "Who told you to hide back here?"

For more novels, visit storyread.net.