Ma Xiong was speechless once again.

To break the strange atmosphere and rally everyone's spirits, Elder Qian said, "This might be the passage the zongzi mentioned, the one leading to the main axis." He nodded to himself; though he couldn't see, he felt a faint breeze brush past his face.

They proceeded forward for about thirty meters when Lu Zong abruptly halted, then turned back to Ma Xiong, saying, "Did you notice a place where this tunnel seems to bend?" Ma Xiong thought for a moment.

No, it seemed they had been walking in a straight line the whole time.

Lu Zong said, "I thought so too, but take a look ahead." Ma Xiong quickly raised his head and looked forward.

He saw a burial chamber ahead.

Ma Xiong exclaimed in surprise, "Quick, Lu Zong, they found the exit! Look ahead!" Elder Qian said to the overjoyed Ma Xiong, his tone flat, "Found jack shit.

They’re back again." Ma Xiong quickly peered closer and indeed, the group realized that the chamber before them was identical to the one they had started from. "Lu Zong, what’s going on?" Ma Xiong asked anxiously. "Maybe the tunnel curved and we didn't realize it," Lu Zong said, seemingly calm. "Let's backtrack now and see if we can find an exit." There was no alternative; they had to go back the way they came, dejected.

But they hadn't walked far before trouble arose: they encountered a fork they hadn't seen before! Ma Xiong wailed, "Elder Qian, what’s happening?" Elder Qian mocked him in Ma Xiong's own tone, "How should I know? Did being scared make you forget your Mandarin? Such a small thing has you this terrified." In reality, Ma Xiong could see the fear etched on Elder Qian and the others’ faces, yet they still dared to mock him.

Just you wait, I'll play a trick on you, Ma Xiong thought.

Ma Xiong adopted a serious expression and stared intently at Elder Qian, then pointed dramatically behind him with feigned surprise. "Elder Qian, behind you…?" True to form, Elder Qian spun around swiftly and retreated toward Ma Xiong.

Only when he confirmed there was nothing behind him did he realize he’d been fooled.

He turned back and rolled his eyes at Ma Xiong.

But the moment he finished rolling his eyes, his expression became utterly bizarre.

Ma Xiong could see he was terrified, as if Ma Xiong were seeing some monster lurking nearby.

At that moment, Ma Xiong thought Elder Qian was truly clever to react so quickly; he must have been trying to turn one of his own tricks back on him.

But Ma Xiong wasn’t that foolish to fall for it again.

Thus, Ma Xiong calmly told Lu Zong, "I’m not scared." But before Ma Xiong could finish speaking, he saw Elder Qian sink to his knees, utterly motionless.

It was then that Ma Xiong realized the seriousness of the situation.

He immediately used his qi to search the surroundings.

However, the moment Ma Xiong’s yin qi dispersed, it vanished, as if it had been absorbed into thin air.

Ma Xiong had a premonition that Elder Qian hadn't been lying.

Perhaps the yin qi he sent out had been completely absorbed by the monster behind him.

He broke out in a cold sweat, paralyzed, unsure what to do, and stood there stiffly like a wooden post.

As Ma Xiong stood there in stunned silence, Elder Qian yanked him forcefully.

Unprepared, Ma Xiong tumbled to his knees.

This position allowed Ma Xiong to clearly see Elder Qian’s face: it was slick with sweat, clearly indicating he was terrified by whatever lay before them.

Ma Xiong was extremely curious about the monster behind him and tried to steal a glance to see what it was.

But just as Ma Xiong started to raise his head, Elder Qian pressed it back down, whispering gently, "Do you want to die? Absolutely do not turn around right now." Ma Xiong grasped the severity of the situation and remained frozen on his knees.

After about two shichen (four hours), Elder Qian finally collapsed onto the ground, suggesting the monster had departed.

He sat down, and Ma Xiong did too.

Having knelt for two hours, Ma Xiong’s back felt close to breaking.

He cursed Elder Qian for his cowardice, wondering what could scare him that badly.

Elder Qian said, "It was Ge Mei.

Ge Mei was possessed." "What? Ge Mei was possessed?" Ma Xiong exclaimed. "Of course.

Only a zongzi of a certain high level could possess Ge Mei.

Ge Mei is no ordinary person," Elder Qian said, looking deeply shocked. "Didn't you feel an immense wave of yin qi behind you?" Ma Xiong nodded and confirmed that he had.

Elder Qian looked on the verge of a mental breakdown. "What kind of tomb is this, filled with such evil and unclean things? I shouldn't have followed Ge Mei here in the first place." Ma Xiong naturally picked up on the undertones in Elder Qian's words—that Ge Mei was special, and that he himself was accompanying Ge Mei here.

He chose not to press the matter now, but Lu Zong, seeing Ma Xiong remain silent, didn't press either.

Regardless, he knew neither of them was ordinary now.

It was clear Elder Qian hadn't anticipated such peril here.

Hearing the despair in Elder Qian's voice made Ma Xiong uneasy.

That familiar sense of rootlessness washed over him again.

It seemed Elder Qian didn't know the true purpose of entering this tomb either; perhaps only Ge Mei did.

Or perhaps not even Ge Mei knew.

Were their fates dictated by themselves, by Ge Mei, by the tomb master, or even by the long-dead master? Ma Xiong was completely ignorant, following them blindly.

Ma Xiong asked, "Elder Qian, why did you just kneel there without attacking? Weren't you afraid Ge Mei would hurt you?" Elder Qian managed to regain some composure. "Ge Mei is their leader, after all.

No matter how casual I am with him normally, I can’t attack him when he’s not lucid.

Besides, the moment I knelt, Ge Mei seemed to realize his predicament and tried his utmost to control himself.

In the end, he managed to restrain it.

He’s probably gone now to shake off that spirit." Then Ma Xiong asked, "Then why didn't you let me look back?" Elder Qian explained, "If you had turned around, you would have been done for.

There was another reason Ge Mei didn't harm you: you still have three 'Bright Fires' on you.

You have one left now; if you had turned, that last one would have been extinguished, and death would have been certain." Ma Xiong realized with sudden clarity, "No wonder you didn't let me look back when that female ghost was (entangling) me.

I must have blown out the first two when I turned my head left and right previously, so you didn't want me to extinguish the third." "Exactly.

People actually have three fires: one on each shoulder and one on the crown of the head.

Each time a person turns their head, one is blown out.

You know this common knowledge, don't you?" Ma Xiong calmly countered, "But I had already blown out all three when I eliminated the female corpse, yet Ge Mei still didn't kill me." Elder Qian became agitated. "What? Yours were already out? That makes no sense." Ma Xiong suggested, "Perhaps your body carries too much yin qi.

Earlier, I noticed the qi I emitted simply disappeared.

I had to recall the dispersed qi; maybe when I took it back, I incidentally absorbed some of the dense yin qi from Ge Mei, allowing him to regain a bit of clarity." Elder Qian slapped his forehead. "That’s right! How could I forget that ability of yours? Let's go help Ge Mei now." Ma Xiong asked, "How do we help?" Elder Qian replied, "By completely absorbing the yin qi from Ge Mei, and perhaps leveling you up to 'Human Zongzi King' in the process." Ma Xiong thought: This is good; it saves Ge Mei and lets me accumulate energy.

Maybe I can use it someday when I rob a bank.

So, he followed Elder Qian to find Ge Mei.

They followed the route Ge Mei fled along, but after circling the area once, they couldn't find him.

At the same time, they discovered a new problem: no matter which direction they walked, they seemed to be circling their original burial chamber, unable to escape.

But how had Ge Mei gotten out? Lu Zong asked Elder Qian.

Elder Qian replied excitedly, "You don't even know this? Even if you didn't learn it in school, haven't you picked anything up from following Elder Qian for so long? You truly don't know how you manage.

You need to use your brain to think carefully about such a simple matter.

First, find a weak spot, then follow the vine to the melon, and finally, you gradually reach the melon and find the result.

The logic is crystal clear." Lu Zong said, "Fatty, can you tell Ma Xiong what’s going on?" Elder Qian lowered his head bashfully, his face flushed, and admitted, "Actually, I don't know either." They had no choice; even without a path, they had to find a way to walk.

Ma Xiong said, "We can't just blunder around like this.

Let’s leave markers in the places we’ve passed.

That way, we’ll know if we walk through them again." Elder Qian said, "GOOD… that is, let’s do that." Lu Zong secretly chuckled, wanting to try out some English.

I’ll tell you, it’s GOOD ye-die (daddy).

Elder Qian quickly chimed in agreement: "Yes, yes, it’s GOOD ye-die." From that moment on, Ma Xiong realized he wasn't just a Super Human, nor just a Super Zongzi, but the Super Human Zongzi Rogue King.

Passing through a junction, Ma Xiong wrote the character '' (Liú) on the wall.

Elder Qian immediately followed, writing '' (Máng) right after it.

Elder Qian commented on how expressive the combination was.

They continued on, never encountering the 'Liúmáng' characters they had written.

Ma Xiong wondered why it was going so smoothly—perhaps someone’s pride was wounded by the writing, and an unknown person had erased it.

But fueled by a sliver of hope in their hearts, the group held firm to the belief that they hadn't lost their way, relying purely on instinct.

However, the result was deeply disappointing.

When they reached the end, Ma Xiong discovered they had circled back to the original burial chamber.

I was utterly disheartened.

What was going on? I clearly hadn't walked through any marked areas just now.

How could we be back without retracing our steps? There was only one answer, Elder Qian told Ma Xiong: This was not the previous chamber.

There must be two identical chambers set up to confuse them.

Yes, that had to be it.

Lu Zong and Ma Xiong grit their teeth and affirmed the conclusion. "We killed so many zongzi here earlier; the original one must have piles of zongzi corpses.

We can check if the corpses are here to know the difference!" So Fatty rushed forward, scraped away the layer of earth, and indeed found many zongzi. "This must be the chamber we were in before." Ma Xiong countered, "No, Elder Qian, why do I feel the qi here is only half as strong as before? Go check the other half for zongzi!" Lu Zong walked to the opposite side, scraped away the dirt, and found nothing.

He dug down again in frustration, but still found nothing.

Finally, he could only shake his head weakly at Ma Xiong.

Elder Qian declared, "Ge Mei, after being possessed, must have split these zongzi between the two chambers to confuse us so we couldn't tell the difference."