The few people surrounding Ma Xiong watched his strange behavior, daring not to move, fearful that any action on their part might invite trouble from him. Lu Zong, especially, who had just emerged from the darkness, seemed to carry the shadow of that gloom within him; he dared not do anything, merely staring blankly at Ma Xiong, terrified that another misfortune might befall him. The things he had encountered in the dark were too dreadful; even thinking about them now made his heart pound. Fortunately, the others hadn't asked him about his experiences, or he would surely have been frightened out of his wits again.

However, he knew this was inevitable; he would have to tell them sooner or later. For now, it was just avoidance, but he would delay as long as possible.

Elder Qian certainly had no idea what trick Ma Xiong was up to, merely staring at him blankly, unsure of his actions.

Suddenly, Ma Xiong picked up a brick from the surroundings and hurled it at the corpse.

With a whum, Ma Xiong felt a sharp pain in his head and immediately opened his eyes, finding himself back in reality. He couldn't help but wonder if he had bumped into Elder Qian just now, and a wave of guilt washed over him.

Ma Xiong woke Elder Qian up and asked him what had happened.

Elder Qian exclaimed, "Hey, what's wrong with you? Why did you run into the wall? Luckily, I stopped you in time, or you'd have ended up a two-souled person. Right, what were you asking about just now?"

Ma Xiong replied, "A lot of people were surrounding me just now. I didn't ask anything; they just refused to tell me."

Elder Qian suddenly looked terrified and anxiously asked Ma Xiong, "What? Many people surrounded you? What was their attitude toward you? Did you violate any of them?"

Seeing Elder Qian become so tense, Lu Zong and Ge Mei also became somewhat high-strung, looking at Ma Xiong as if he were mentally unstable. It seemed every word he spoke was of critical interest, directly related to their survival.

Ma Xiong said, "It didn't seem good. They were fierce toward me and asked if I was the one who killed that female corpse."

Elder Qian asked, "And how did you answer them?"

I answered them with action: I ran away.

"Ah, you little rogue, you've stirred up a hornet's nest! There must be many dazongzi (big zombies) around us. You've provoked them now, and I bet they'll come out soon to settle accounts with both of us."

Lu Zong exclaimed in panic, "How is that possible? Look around, everything is sealed tight. Where would any zongzi come from?"

Elder Qian snapped, "You idiot, where do you think this female corpse came from?"

"You mean they came from inside the wall cavity?"

Qian Lao stared fearfully at the seemingly solid wall, but they saw no movement.

Elder Qian anxiously asked, "What is it?"

Ma Xiong said, "Why is that female corpse gone?"

Elder Qian quickly looked down; indeed, the female corpse was gone. Just as they were puzzling over this, the floor began to crack slowly with loud pīlīpālā sounds, and at the same time, they felt things falling from above. They quickly looked up; a layer of planks overhead had disappeared, replaced by numerous objects hanging from the ceiling, resembling sleeping bags, suspended silently like delicious lunches caught in a spider's web.

Elder Qian grabbed Ge Mei's hand and rushed toward the base of the wall, where the collapse seemed less severe. Ma Xiong and Na Men asked in confusion, "What's going on?"

Elder Qian explained, "Didn't you just say you saw many people when you were communicating with the female ghost? Those are the zongzi buried here."

Ma Xiong sputtered, "Impossible! There were at least a hundred people just now, but in such a small space... Are you saying there are over a hundred zongzi here?"

Elder Qian nodded at him.

Ma Xiong asked, "Didn't you say I could control them?"

Elder Qian snapped back angrily, "Dealing with ten is already a stretch, let alone a hundred!" At that moment, they felt rumbling beneath their feet, as if something was pushing up the floorboards. Simultaneously, Elder Qian noticed the straps above beginning to snap, occasionally dropping small amounts of milky white liquid.

Elder Qian said, "The spot we're standing on isn't safe anymore. Come, everyone, hold onto me tightly! Let's just fly up!"

They all exchanged bewildered glances, thinking Elder Qian was joking, so they paid it no mind. To their surprise, Elder Qian pulled out a grappling hook from his waist and, with a few swings, easily secured it to a seemingly sturdy point on the ceiling. Damn, Elder Qian had this trick up his sleeve too! So, they all clung tightly to Elder Qian. Unbelievably, his slender body was so agile that he easily swung them into the air. Ma Xiong exclaimed, "Elder Qian, you’re amazing!"

Elder Qian chuckled, "Otherwise, how would I survive in this line of work?"

Just as Elder Qian finished speaking, a desiccated corpse suddenly dropped from above, smashing into pieces upon hitting the ground. Another fell quickly. They looked up and saw that the hanging straps were beginning to break; it seemed they were all packed with zongzi. However, the tomb's master probably overlooked one thing: if they fall to the ground, they shatter. How could they come out to harm people?

And so, the group and Elder Qian witnessed a unique and horrifying spectacle of things falling from above. I imagine even Qin Shi Huang could not have conceived of such a grand scene; perhaps no director in the world could orchestrate such a magnificent display.

But the zongzi on the ground were different; they faced no danger of shattering. They emerged from beneath the earth and stared straight at them, finally grinning.

By now, a layer of the floor had been lifted, revealing the ground littered with coffin lids, tomb bricks, corpses, and their various grotesque organs—enough to make Ge Mei retch.

But what was most unbearable was that the spot where Elder Qian’s hook was anchored began shedding fragments. Elder Qian could feel the rope trembling. Lu Zong glanced at Elder Qian and saw him staring at the trembling hook; he realized Elder Qian was also scared. Lu Zong asked, "What do we do now?"

Elder Qian replied, "What do you mean, 'what to do'?"

Lu Zong thought Elder Qian was feigning ignorance and angrily said, "Look at your hook!"

Unexpectedly, Elder Qian maintained an expression of stubborn nonchalance and told him, "What about my hook? This thing was forged from Xuanti (Mysterious Iron) extracted from three hundred meters beneath Mount Xuanshi, hammered for seventy-two days. Ordinary iron would be perforated just by hanging it."

Lu Zong retorted, "I’m not questioning the hook's hardness! I'm saying the section of the wall holding your hook is about to collapse! What do we do now?"

Elder Qian sighed, "What else can we do? We can only fall."

As soon as Elder Qian finished speaking, the wall finally gave way under the pressure of the four of them, crashing down with a pā sound. The three of them and Elder Qian cried out simultaneously as they fell. Ma Xiong cursed Elder Qian: "What a jinx!"

As soon as the four dropped, a burst of gruesome shrieks erupted from below. Lu Zong looked down and realized they had landed squarely on top of three zongzi—two beneath Elder Qian and one beneath Ma Xiong. A large zongzi next to Ma Xiong noticed them and shambled toward him. Ma Xiong nervously backed away, but after retreating only a few feet, he found himself cornered against the tomb wall. He steeled himself, preparing to fight desperately when the corpse reached him. However, when the zongzi was still a few meters away, it abruptly stopped. She looked at it in confusion, perhaps thinking it was about to charge suddenly. But she was mistaken; it walked right in front of Ma Xiong and knelt, displaying profound reverence. I said, "Elder Qian, what's going on? It seems to worship me."

Elder Qian also stared at the scene, his mouth hanging open, refusing to close for a long moment, finally letting out a sigh of awe, "The Reanimation Pill truly lives up to its name. It seems you can effortlessly subdue a zongzi now. Your cultivation is no less than any squad leader in the Tianmen sect, perhaps even surpassing them. You just lack experience."

Ma Xiong exclaimed excitedly, "Then I’m not afraid of them! They're my fans!"

Elder Qian cautioned, "Yes, but you can only control ten zongzi at a time. If there are too many, they can suppress your energy. Here’s the plan: I'll go distract those zongzi, and you find ten to control. Have those ten attack the others to rescue me first. Once those ten are gone, you control another ten, and so on, wearing them down until they are all destroyed. Haha, we are too clever!"

Ma Xiong replied, "GOOD IDEA! Alright, you bait, go fish now."

Elder Qian said solemnly, "Save me first when the time comes."

Ma Xiong replied distractedly, "Got it."

Elder Qian moved toward the dazongzi, glancing back three times in succession. His heart was certainly uneasy; after all, no one willingly places their life in the hands of a rogue.

After what felt like half a century, Elder Qian finally reached the throng of zongzi. Those dull-witted creatures finally noticed Elder Qian and slowly began shuffling towards him.

It appeared these zongzi were not as well-preserved as the female corpse earlier; most were half-rotted, perhaps because they had been sealed in coffins with insufficient air. Their bodies exuded a thick stench, and occasionally, one or two maggots would wriggle out, plopping onto the ground.

Elder Qian trembled as he moved to the front of them. Lu Zong and Ge Mei hid in a corner, with the ready-to-fight Ma Xiong ahead. As he pushed through the crowd of zongzi, his body occasionally collided with them. Some of the rotten ones burst open on impact, sizzling and oozing putrid flesh. They curiously reached out with their hands to pull out exposed organs, spilling intestines everywhere. They probably hadn't seen their own insides in their entire existence and must have wondered, "What are these things I possess?"

All these zongzi were now moving toward Elder Qian.

Seeing Elder Qian charge ahead, it was Ma Xiong's turn. He walked behind the other zongzi and lightly nudged one of them. The zongzi whipped its head around, splashing blood in his face, making him instantly nauseous. The creature realized he was there and lunged. He urgently stared into its eyes, but it showed no reaction and continued to lunge. Ma Xiong quickly dodged. What's wrong? Is my power not as strong as his? Why isn't he afraid of me? While he was pondering, the creature lunged again. Ma Xiong quickly snatched a wooden board from the ground and smacked it down, instantly severing the desiccated corpse in two, though it continued to twitch. Seeing it posed no immediate threat, Ma Xiong ignored it.

Ma Xiong puzzled over it: Why isn't he afraid of me? Perhaps he was blind in life, so he couldn't sense that sense of authority in my gaze.

Elder Qian yelled out to him, "Heavens, hurry up and save me!"