So, Old Sun tossed a glow stick down. Ge Mei lit it and swept the light around. Ma Xiong and Old Sun crowded together, peering down, hoping to spot a protruding step on the wall.

But that was almost impossible. Since the tomb owner intended for them to fall, they certainly hadn't planned an exit. Therefore, their hopes for something so absurd weren't very high.

“Wow, did it have to be this perverse?” Ma Xiong and Old Sun exclaimed almost in unison. The massive pit, far from having steps, was impossibly smooth and perfectly vertical. Forget humans; even an immortal couldn't climb out of that.

Just as they were marveling, Ge Mei suddenly stopped them and said, “Look to the sides, both of you.”

Ma Xiong and Old Sun eagerly craned their necks to look around the base of the pit. To their astonishment, they discovered that beneath this main drop, there were four more depressions extending outwards, facing the Southeast, Northwest, Northeast, and Southwest.

They shouted to Ge Mei, “Ge Mei, how deep is that pit?”

Ge Mei replied, “That’s not a pit; those are four tunnels.”

Ma Xiong, Old Sun, and the rest of the group froze. “So, there’s another layer connected to this pit—a whole system of connected tunnels. Looks like it’s all one contiguous structure.”

Ge Mei nodded. “Trying to find an exit among so many tunnels now is like finding a needle in a haystack.” To add a little color to their grim situation, Ma Xiong said to Ge Mei, “Ge Mei, if you let me, I won’t have to die to meet King Yama. When I do, I’ll definitely go ask him for your souls back. You all just rest easy and head there first.”

“What?” Ge Mei shouted excitedly. “Are you saying you ate a Soul-Returning Pill?”

Ma Xiong nodded to Ge Mei and added, “And I ate some Zongzi while I was at it.”

Ge Mei excitedly called over Old Sun. “Old Sun, what level Zongzi would he be considered now?”

Old Sun pondered for a moment. “He took a two-thousand-year Soul-Returning Pill, then bit off the neck flesh of a converging Zongzi that gathered Yin energy, and incidentally absorbed a bit of Yin energy when you were afflicted. He’s probably a Grade Four Great Zongzi now.”

Ge Mei became even more thrilled. “He truly lives up to being our lucky star. Their mission’s objective can be considered achieved now.”

Ma Xiong paused. “What do you mean their objective is achieved? What was their goal in coming here in the first place?”

Ma Xiong asked Ge Mei.

Ge Mei said, “Since their immediate goal has been reached, I might as well tell you why they came. In fact, their purpose wasn't the precious burial goods inside, but to find a person—a person who is no ordinary individual.” Ma Xiong grew more curious. “Who is so important that someone would trade their life for?” Ge Mei seemed to be creating suspense. “Actually, the reason we needed to find this person was to uncover an earth-shattering secret, and this person is the key to finding that secret. Now that we’ve found him, you will be an indispensable key to future success.”

Ma Xiong frowned. “What on earth are you talking about? How did I become a key? I don't recall being that conspicuous.”

Ge Mei said, “That’s a long story. I’ll explain everything later when we get out. Right now, our main task is figuring out how to find the Demon Pagoda and get out safely.”

Ma Xiong realized she was right. They were still in danger. Although he was quite curious about being a 'key,' his life currently took precedence. So, he reluctantly kept quiet, focusing instead on how to rescue himself.

As everyone was deep in thought, Ge Mei suddenly spoke up.

Ge Mei said, “Old Sun, give me your Sky-Soaring Hook and pull me up. There are so many corpses down there—I estimate they’re from the Qing Dynasty judging by their peasant clothing. If you didn’t know better, you’d think we were filming a period drama.”

So, Old Sun took the hook from his waist, tethered one end to himself, and tossed the other to Ge Mei. After about three or four minutes, Ge Mei shouted, “Pull!” Old Sun then turned to Ma Xiong and said, “Move aside first.”

Ma Xiong had witnessed Old Sun’s rashness many times before, so he quickly got clear, fearing any immediate danger.

Sure enough, Old Sun gathered his internal energy for a moment, then yelled at Ge Mei, “Are you ready?”

Ge Mei shouted back, “Ready! Pull!”

Old Sun suddenly roared, abruptly contracting his abdomen and thrusting his hips back. Ge Mei let out a sharp cry as she was abruptly flung upwards from the pit. Ma Xiong saw that Ge Mei had a corpse tied to her front. The entire process took perhaps only fifteen seconds. Ge Mei was rescued so quickly. Ma Xiong wondered how much practice it took to develop such familiarity and strength.

Finally, Ge Mei swung toward Ma Xiong’s position, so Ma Xiong quickly dodged.

With a smack, Ge Mei landed. Fortunately, a hapless dead body had cushioned the landing below; otherwise, Ma Xiong would have gained another compatriot.

Ge Mei clutched her waist. “Old Sun, your power hasn't degraded at all; it’s gotten even stronger!”

Old Sun humbly replied, “Not bad.”

Now, how could they get out?

Ge Mei asked, “Which tunnel entrance did you come in through?”

Lu Zong replied that it was already sealed, “That stone behind you is their entrance.”

Ge Mei said, “Let’s go take a look at the entrance.”

Arriving at the stone door, Ge Mei stepped forward, touched the surface, and drew a knife from her waist, scoring it a few times. Only faint white marks appeared. Ma Xiong remarked, “Ge Mei, it’s useless. That’s a rock, after all. How can a knife scratch it?”

Ge Mei explained, “It’s not actually stone; it’s a layer of hardened earth, as solid as a boulder. Even a military shovel only leaves a white mark. This earth was mixed using a secret court formula from that era, blended with glutinous rice paste, boys' urine, and all sorts of other bizarre things. It’s stronger than modern concrete. But it has one fatal weakness: it softens instantly when corroded by anything acidic, becoming as weak as tofu.”

Lu Zong lamented, “Where are we supposed to find an acidic substance now?”

Ge Mei said, “Aren’t there some right here?” Ge Mei walked to the edge of the large pit and pointed below.

Right! These corpses must have decomposed down there. With so many bodies concentrated together, there would naturally be concentrated fluid flowing out—that fluid would be the acidic substance.

But how could they bring it up? Neither Ma Xiong nor Lu Zong wanted to climb down to retrieve it.

Ge Mei looked at Old Sun with a hint of guilt. Ma Xiong and Lu Zong immediately understood what she meant and looked at Old Sun with shared expressions of guilt.

Old Sun nervously reeled in his hook. “Ge Mei, you know this hook is how I make my living. You’re asking me to hook up those corpses? Are you people even civilized?”

There was no choice. “These are extraordinary times, Old Sun; can you not be so stingy?” Old Sun stalled them for about half an hour, then, tears welling up, he nodded, kissed the hook, and headed toward the pit of decaying corpses.

With a swing and a reel, Old Sun brought up a corpse. In just five or six minutes, three or four bodies were piled up on top.

Ge Mei shouted, “Enough!” Old Sun quickly stopped. Out of habit, he started to kiss the hook again. Ma Xiong felt like throwing up watching him.

However, midway through, Old Sun seemed to remember something. He quickly flung the hook far away, as decisively as if he’d just discovered his girlfriend wasn't a virgin.

Ge Mei took the hook from Old Sun and personally dragged each corpse to the entrance, piling them up until the doorway was completely blocked.

After all that commotion, the interior of the tomb was stinking horribly and terrifying. The ground was covered with wriggling maggots, and repulsive things like intestines trailed three or four meters out from the entrance. Ma Xiong almost retched.

After about three or four hours, Ge Mei said, “That’s enough. Old Sun, let me borrow your hook.” Old Sun handed it over without hesitation. Ge Mei said, “Good boy, I’ll get you a new one when we get back.”

Old Sun’s eyes lit up. He quickly pulled out a notebook from his pocket and wrote an IOU, handing it to Ge Mei for her signature.

Ma Xiong stepped forward to look. The page was densely covered with IOUs, including: introducing the niece of the second aunt of the girlfriend of the security guard, who was the nephew of the sister of Ge Mei's sister’s classmate, to Old Sun; giving Old Sun the calligraphy and paintings of that Qin Dynasty beauty; and many other similar requests involving beautiful women. Only this one was different. Ma Xiong asked, “Old Sun, you still don’t have a girlfriend, do you?”

Old Sun replied, “Not yet. Why, are you going to introduce one to me?”

Ma Xiong offered, “Then I’ll introduce Cuihua to you.”

Old Sun’s eyes shone with excitement. “That’s fantastic! Wait, who is Cuihua?”

Ma Xiong said, “She’s my classmate’s grandmother.”

Old Sun fell silent, perhaps reminiscing about his first love.

By this time, Ge Mei had finished clearing the corpses from the doorway and returned the hook to Old Sun. Lu Zong noticed several cracks appearing on the sealed stone door. Ge Mei pulled her dagger, aimed it at one of the cracks, and stabbed straight in. Crack-crack, the door sounded like it was breaking. Ge Mei made a few more cuts in other cracks, and the door shattered almost completely. Lu Zong walked over and kicked the doorway open.

Finally, they returned to the tomb chamber.

But this room had changed again. All the doors that had just cracked open were now completely sealed. Now they couldn't find the entrance.

But what happened next left them stunned; they almost doubted the intelligence of the tomb owner.

The sealed doors cracked open again, and the holes that had appeared moments ago reappeared.

You think we’re idiots? Knowing that’s a dead end and still going in? Damn it, you think I, an Yin-Yang person, am useless? Watch this.

So, Ma Xiong remeasured the Yin and Yang currents in the tunnels using his own Yin energy, then told the other three, “The Yin energy in this tunnel is the lowest; this must be the path to life.”

Ge Mei looked at him in disbelief. “Incredible! That’s truly amazing.”

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