Although quite a few of the Corpse Fiends were annihilated by the blast, an endless stream surged up from behind, rendering the effort utterly useless. It had only managed a temporary clearing of the surrounding horde.

Watching the seemingly inexhaustible tide of Corpse Fiends well up again, Fatty collapsed onto the ground, wheezing, "Oh my god, what are we going to do now? These Corpse Fiends are like Terminators; I think we're done for."

Ge Mei, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke up. "Don't panic. I might have an idea, though I don't know if it will work."

Lu Zong quickly pressed, "What idea? Spit it out! Anything is better than blindly flailing around like headless flies."

Ge Mei said, "As the saying goes, to catch bandits, first catch their king. If we can subdue their leader, won't the problem be solved right there?"

Fatty slapped his forehead and cursed, "Damn it, why didn't I think of that? If we capture their King, we can subdue all these Corpse Fiends, right?"

Saying that, he scrambled onto a large boulder behind Ge Mei, trying to pinpoint the location of the Corpse Fiend leader.

But the entire area was swarming with mangled corpses; how could they possibly pick out their boss?

In the instant they were strategizing, the Corpse Fiends were already surging forward again. Ma Xiong and Lu Zong plunged back into the fray, pushing the horde back, both drenched in sweat. They glared at Fatty, who looked quite relaxed up on the rock, and snapped, "Fatty, have you got any conscience? Look at these things, they’re attacking! If you don't hurry up, a few of us might turn into Corpse Fiends ourselves."

However, Fatty, still standing on the rock, didn't utter a word. He stared straight ahead, his gaze fixed, as if he had spotted something profoundly strange. Ma Xiong urgently asked, "Fatty, what the hell did you see? Is it the leader of these Corpse Fiends? Let's go subdue it quickly!" With that, Ma Xiong started to climb up onto the boulder where Fatty stood.

Fatty finally noticed Ma Xiong attempting to climb up and quickly stopped him. "No, no, we need to leave right now. I know the exit."

Lu Zong noticed Fatty's expression was extremely flustered, as if he had witnessed something unbelievable. While he was full of curiosity, he saw Fatty climb down from the rock and grab Ma Xiong, preventing him from ascending. Ma Xiong looked at Fatty with equal confusion.

Lu Zong said, "Fatty, what exactly did you see up there? Tell us quickly. Is there anything else you three have been hiding from us?"

Fatty waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing, nothing at all. Let's go, I know the way out."

With that, he nervously grabbed Ge Mei and hurried toward the area behind the boulder. Seeing Fatty unwilling to elaborate, the others had no choice but to circle around the back of the rock.

Arriving behind the boulder, since the source of the Corpse Fiends was on the other side, and most of them had been drawn to that end during the earlier fight, there were very few here. Lu Zong slapped his own head and muttered, "Damn it, I'm such an idiot. How could I forget about this weaker flank back here?"

Fatty pulled Ge Mei through the sparse crowd of Corpse Fiends. Lu Zong observed that Fatty was deliberately skirting the direction he had been looking earlier, acting as if he were escaping something. This only deepened Lu Zong's suspicion of Fatty.

But for now, survival was paramount, so he didn't press Fatty. He just followed behind. Fatty took the lead in dealing with the Corpse Fiends ahead.

Suddenly, Fatty, leading the way, stopped dead. His expression froze in place, unmoving.

Lu Zong, fending off the Corps Fiends from the rear, urged impatiently, "Fatty, why did you stop? Keep moving! We're running out of time!"

Fatty muttered to himself ahead, "That's not right. I just noticed a shadow flicker past me. It looked… familiar."

This statement completely startled everyone. "A shadow? What shadow?"

Their confusion was understandable. Although they were underground, the surroundings were now dotted with myriad sparkling little lights. In their earlier haste, they hadn't noticed. But if Fatty saw a shadow, how could they see anything in this place that was suddenly as bright as day?

Ma Xiong mustered his courage and laughed loudly. "Fatty, you must be scared out of your wits. How could you see a shadow in a cave this bright?"

Lu Zong chimed in, "Yeah, Fatty, you must have misseen it. In a room this well-lit, even if you saw something, it should be a living person or a lifeless corpse, right? How could you see a shadow?"

Fatty didn't argue, just patted his head. "Oh, right. Maybe my old eyes are playing tricks on me. Ahem, let's go."

Hearing Fatty's attempt to cover up, the other two became even more puzzled. What exactly was Fatty playing at?

Suddenly, Ge Mei, who was being held by Fatty, let out a sharp scream, startling Lu Zong. When the others snapped their attention to Ge Mei, they noticed that, somehow, Ge Mei had slipped out of Fatty's grip. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, looking in the exact direction Fatty had been staring.

The instant everyone registered this, Ge Mei actually took a step forward. That step hung suspended in mid-air for a long moment before finally landing, swaying precariously, unsure of where to put her weight. Finally, her foot settled firmly in the direction Fatty had been looking.

Fatty's face instantly drained of color. He stammered, "Ge Mei, what are you doing?" Then he quickly pulled Ge Mei back toward him.

Ma Xiong and Lu Zong exchanged bewildered glances. Fatty had become an utter enigma now, constantly swirling around them, something they desperately wanted to unravel but felt completely incapable of doing.

Ignoring their reactions, Fatty gripped Ge Mei's hand. "Let's go quickly, we shouldn't linger here."

With that, he stepped forward to take both of Ge Mei's hands.

But what happened next was astounding. Ge Mei instantly wrenched her hands free from Fatty's grasp and bolted toward the spot Fatty had been observing.

Ever since Ge Mei had screamed just moments ago, the other two had felt something was deeply wrong. Ge Mei seemed possessed, as if her body was no longer her own, but being manipulated by an alien consciousness.

Fatty froze for a beat when Ge Mei slipped away, perhaps not expecting her to have that much strength. About a second later, Fatty fully reacted and gave chase.

However, Ge Mei's current speed was far beyond that of an ordinary person. Despite chasing breathlessly, a significant gap remained. He shouted back, "Lu Zong, Ma Xiong, hurry and stop Ge Mei! We can't let her do something reckless!"

Ma Xiong and Lu Zong were momentarily shocked, clearly not knowing what "reckless" action Fatty referred to, but they pursued anyway. Their intention in catching up wasn't strictly to restrain Ge Mei, but rather to see what mysterious thing lay ahead that was causing this frantic chase.

Closer, closer, step by step, they quickly approached the object. Although they didn't know what Fatty had seen earlier, when they spotted a dark, indistinct figure standing just outside the perimeter of the Corpse Fiend swarm ahead, a sudden inner alarm warned them: that was the thing they were seeking.

As their distance to the Corpse Fiends diminished, the surrounding light grew dimmer, and Fatty's restraining shouts from behind faded away.

From a distance, they saw what appeared to be a vaguely humanoid figure standing before them.

The shadow seemed to possess the build of an adult male, its arms raised high, almost in a gesture of surrender. However, what drew their attention was that the figure's thumbs were deeply jammed into its own ears, frozen motionless in that posture.

Even more peculiar was that the current light level wasn't entirely dim; observing something at this close range should have allowed for clear vision. Yet, all they could see was a silhouette—a distinct, clear black shadow standing not far in front of them.

Ge Mei's voice trembled. "It's him, it's him! Ge Rong! Oh, Fatty! Ah!"

Following Ge Mei's shriek, she suddenly went limp and fainted again.

Ma Xiong caught Ge Mei's falling body, looked at Lu Zong, and said, "What did Ge Mei mean by 'Ge Rong Fatty'? Hey, but you know, doesn't that thing's back look a bit like Fatty's physique?"

Lu Zong nodded after long consideration. "It does. I've never seen such a wretched physique. It looks even more terrifying than that multi-limbed corpse we saw before."

Mentioning the multi-limbed corpse sent a heavy shudder through both their bodies. Yes, that multi-limbed corpse and the thing before them shared a subtle similarity.

If this figure looked somewhat uncannily similar to Fatty, what did that imply? He glanced at the unconscious Ge Mei and concluded, "It seems that among us, the ones who know the most are Ge Mei and Fatty. These two must be hiding something from us."

Lu Zong nodded. "I really feel like we've been betrayed."

As soon as Lu Zong finished speaking, they heard a whoosh—a sharp sound that sliced through their eardrums, followed by a gust of stinging wind that zipped past their ears. They watched a bright object shoot directly toward the black figure, and immediately, the figure jerked and fell, collapsing onto the ground.