But that thing certainly wouldn't listen to him; he wasn't ready, yet the thing began to struggle again. Ma Xiong felt as if he were about to starve into a bowl of zhajiangmian (fried sauce noodles), unable to care about anything else. Seeing the roast duck before him, he naturally thought of cooking up a zhajiangmian stewed with roast duck. Thus, he brought his mouth to it again, hoping to take a fierce bite, just to fill his stomach—even if it was only one bite.

But just as his mouth descended, unexpectedly, the roast duck stretched out two palms and slapped him twice. Ma Xiong grew increasingly convinced that something was wrong. But he reasoned, Since you dare slap me with duck paws, I'll eat your damn paws first today—that’s braised duck palm for dinner.

However, before his mouth could reach it, he felt a heat rush across his cheeks, followed by a stinging pain. His head swam, and then he pitched forward onto the ground.

In a daze, he saw Old Qian and Ge Mei stand up, so he too struggled to regain consciousness. The entire sequence of events replayed in his mind. He wanted to wake up, but all his efforts were in vain. He resigned himself to sinking back into sleep, though still struggling to surface.

But when he finally did wake, he noticed everything around him was pitch black. A little panicked, he called out, "Old Qian, Ge Mei, where are you?"

Upon finishing, he heard Ge Mei's voice: "Ma Xiong, we're here. Don't worry, we're all still together, not separated." Only then did Ma Xiong nod in relief, then immediately thought that they couldn't see his nod anyway, so he said, "Hurry over here! What on earth happened to us? Where are we right now?"

Immediately following came Old Qian's voice, sounding as steady and unruffled as ever. But at that moment, he wasn't answering Ma Xiong's question; instead, he burst out angrily, "Hey, you brat! You were just trying to eat me, weren't you? Damn it, did you mistake me for a roast duck?"

Ma Xiong hastily replied, flustered, "Ah, how did you know? Were you the roast duck just now? I knew something was strange! So, you were the one who turned into a roast duck! Good heavens, it’s really weird. I just touched that thing, and suddenly you turned into a roast duck? Tell me, wasn't that thing like some kind of Demon-Revealing Mirror, where whoever sees it immediately reveals their true form?"

Old Qian muttered an oath, "Damn it, that stone must have been cursed, making us hallucinate. We were hallucinating just now. But I have a feeling we're in now, because when I woke up, I suddenly felt us collectively sinking. I knew something was wrong. In no time, we plunged into darkness. What does that signify? It means we've entered."

Ma Xiong thought for a moment, clearing the junk information from his head, and then said, "Whether we're in or not is simple—just shine a flashlight, right?" Ge Mei chimed in, "Yes, yes, shine a flashlight! Quick, whoever has one, hand it over!"

It was only then that Ma Xiong realized they weren't keeping the flashlights off because their brains were addled; it was because they simply didn't have any flashlights. For a moment, he felt that strange sensation of the masses feeling satisfied when the rulers eat fine foods.

Suddenly, he saw a brief flash of light in front of him, originating from an unknown place, then instantly vanishing. He was certain it was just a spark. Illuminated by that spark, he saw the face of a mature, composed man appear before him. He didn't know the man at all, nor did he have any memory of him. He searched his mind carefully, and suddenly the hairs on his body stood on end, because he remembered that when they entered, there were only three of them: Ma Xiong, Ge Mei, and Old Qian. When had a stranger appeared beside him?

Then, he suddenly recalled the fourth person Old Qian had mentioned in the tomb. A chill shot through him. Right, who exactly was this person? He quickly asked, "Who are you, and why are you here?"

But from the opposite direction came Old Qian’s clear voice: "Wow, this is bad! Ma Xiong's brain has been fried! He doesn't even recognize me. I just picked up a stone from the ground, and when I knocked it against something, I realized these are 'Spark Stones,' they can be used for light. Everyone quickly find something flammable nearby. If we get a fire going, we'll know how to deal with this darkness ahead."

After Old Qian finished speaking, Ma Xiong couldn't bother with the strange phenomenon he had just witnessed. Finding light first was the priority. In this darkness, he had no understanding of the surroundings. If there were any hidden dangers here, and he couldn't see them, he’d be in deep trouble.

He groped around blindly in the dark and suddenly felt something that resembled a coffin—definitely wood. He couldn't be bothered with niceties; using all his strength, he finally wrenched a piece of wood off it. Following the sound, he moved to Old Qian's side and handed it over, saying, "Use this first."

Old Qian felt it and cursed, "Damn it, you little rascal, whose coffin did you just dismantle? You’re something else." Ma Xiong didn't care much either and shot back, "Damn it, light it for me first! How am I supposed to find firewood in the pitch black? Let’s make do for now and see what situation we’re in."

With the sound of the stone striking, he saw a glimmer of light appear before him. He watched the single flame with some excitement; finally, he felt a bit more settled. He looked at Old Qian’s face again—it was still that grimy look, not the handsome face from earlier. He grew increasingly perplexed. He distinctly remembered seeing a handsome man just moments ago, but now he was gone. There had to be something strange going on. His gaze swept through the still somewhat dim cavern. But after searching for a long time, he found nothing. Finally, he looked somewhat heartbroken.

He asked Old Qian, "Old Qian, what was the deal with that stranger I saw just now? The more I think about it, the more I feel like it was real. And I won't lie to you, I really did see a handsome man, right there in front of you."

Old Qian coughed lightly and said, "Hmm, you must have misseen it or your eyes were playing tricks on you. There are only the three of us here; how could there be a fourth person? Just tell yourself your eyes tricked you. If that doesn't convince you, then just tell yourself mentally that you saw a ghost. That way, you won't be so perplexed."

Ma Xiong shook his head. It seemed Old Qian was right; he must have seen a ghost, otherwise he wouldn't have seen it so clearly. Now, the flame in Old Qian's hand grew stronger. Taking advantage of the light, he looked around and realized they were deeply set inside a stone chamber. The surroundings were all stark white stone. The monochromatic color made the place seem even more mysterious. He shuddered slightly and then asked Old Qian with some astonishment, "Old Qian, doesn't this place feel weird? It's one thing that it's all stone, but what do you think this place is for? Why are there so many stones?"

Old Qian pondered for a moment and said, "I feel like this place is a tomb, and a tomb belonging to a very wealthy family."

Ma Xiong found this somewhat amusing. A wealthy family's tomb? Who would believe that? They didn't even know where they were, so how could there be a wealthy family's tomb here? Furthermore, where they were now was nothing but stone, with not a single burial object in sight, only one coffin. How could this be a rich family’s tomb?

Seeing Ma Xiong’s skeptical look, Old Qian explained, "Actually, this place, you and I both know it."

Ma Xiong found this even funnier. He had never even stepped off Earth; how could he have been to this desolate place that looked like some corner of Mars? He looked at Old Qian and chuckled foolishly.

Old Qian explained, "Haven't I told you? The spatial vitality here is very strong. We can travel through space and time to any place on Earth with heavy Yin energy. It's not surprising that we ended up here. Actually, I have been to this place before."

Ma Xiong suddenly remembered the post signed 'To Old Qian' that he saw on the Mushroom Stone. He quickly asked, "Right, Old Qian, I saw a post signed 'Lao Qian' up there. Did you write it?"

Unexpectedly, at Ma Xiong’s question, Old Qian’s face suddenly became tense, filled with fear. This made Ma Xiong a little scared too; he just stood there foolishly, unsure what to do. After a long while, Old Qian’s expression gradually improved, though it still held the look of someone with unbearable memories. He quickly replied, "Don't ask. None of you ask me about that stone. That stone is incredibly weird; everyone should just ignore it. We just need to focus on what we need to do."

After saying that, he walked over to the only piece of 'dowry' in the entire tomb chamber—that single coffin—and began studying it closely.

Ma Xiong knew Old Qian must have some shadow lingering in some corner of his heart. That mushroom cloud incident must have meant something significant to Old Qian for him to become so angry and fearful just mentioning the Mushroom Stone. He recalled the inscription Old Qian had written: Human flesh cannot be eaten; human flesh does not taste good.

What exactly did that sentence mean? He couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried. What puzzled him most right now was their current location. He hurriedly asked Old Qian, "Old Qian, tell us, where exactly are we right now? Please just say it."

Old Qian didn't answer hastily but first asked, "Do you remember Journey to the West? There is a scene I believe you all know."

Ma Xiong quickly replied, "Yes, I've watched that show several times! But how come I don't recall the four of them being trapped in this stone chamber? Are you trying to say we've encountered a Fox Spirit?"