Ge Mei replied, "I wasn't talking about you. I meant the Soul-Returning Pill."

Ma Xiong became even more embarrassed.

After Ge Mei finished speaking, she slipped into the opening, prompting the others to prepare to follow.

But just as Ge Mei was halfway through the entrance, that singing-like sound started up again.

Ma Xiong quickly pulled her body back out, warning, "No, danger."

Ge Mei looked surprised. "What's wrong?"

Ma Xiong explained, "Didn't you hear that strange cry just now? The rest of them heard it twice, and both times they were unlucky."

Ge Mei declared, "I want to see what kind of thing can actually sing. If I catch it, I can certainly sell it for a good price."

Saying that, she rolled up her sleeves, ready for a fight. The strange sound continued. Ge Mei listened closely for a moment, then quietly approached the coffin. Finally, she pressed her ear against the wood, and a look of dawning surprise spread across her face.

Ge Mei called out, "You two, come listen. Is the sound coming from inside the coffin?"

Ma Xiong and Lu Zong responded, "Ge Mei, stop messing with us. Look, the lid of the coffin is already open."

Ge Mei clarified, "I didn't say inside the coffin. I meant the hollow space within the structure of the coffin itself."

"A hollow space?" Ma Xiong and Lu Zong started, then knocked on the wooden planks of the coffin. Indeed, the knocks returned a hollow thud-thud. It seemed the coffin was truly hollow.

What kind of creature could survive this long? Two thousand years! Ge Mei instructed, "You two, press down on the top of the coffin. Don't let anything escape from above."

Ma Xiong and Lu Zong nodded. Lu Zong stepped forward and placed his hands on the coffin lid.

Ma Xiong moved forward, saying, "Your method is flawed. Let me show you the right way."

Lu Zong quickly stepped aside, leaving room for Ma Xiong to demonstrate.

Ma Xiong approached, but instead of gathering his qi and unleashing a technique as Lu Zong expected, he simply sat down directly on top of it with a sigh. Lu Zong muttered, "Good move."

Ma Xiong shook his head humbly: "Tired. Need a rest."

Once Ma Xiong was settled, Ge Mei pulled a small dagger from her waist and traced a circle on the side panel of the coffin. After finishing the circle, she placed the knife on the ground. Then, she retrieved a larger knife from her waist and cut a large hole along the groove she had just scored. Ge Mei quickly covered the opening with her hand and reached inside.

The creature inside likely knew it had been discovered the moment something reached in, and it struggled desperately to flee. But with Ge Mei blocking the side and Ma Xiong pressing down on top, escape was impossible. It could only thrash wildly within the enclosure.

This thing clearly possessed considerable strength; the entire heavy coffin began to shake violently. Ma Xiong started to lose his footing and repeatedly urged Ge Mei to finish it quickly. Ge Mei pulled a genuine leather glove from her pocket, slipped it on, and then pushed her hand deeper inside.

By this point, the creature was nearly exhausted, as the frequency and amplitude of the coffin's shaking began to diminish. However, the moment Ge Mei’s hand entered, the thing sprang back to life, seemingly with even greater intensity. The coffin bounced under its assaults as if performing ballet.

Ge Mei suddenly furrowed her brow and took a sharp, deep breath. Ma Xiong thought the worst: Ge Mei must have been bitten by that thing.

Ma Xiong watched as if Ge Mei was being dragged inward by the monster; her face was pressed tightly against the coffin panel, and the creature seemed intent on pulling her inside.

Ge Mei, being battle-hardened, remained unhurried. She used one hand to grapple with the thing while attempting to retrieve the knife with the other. But under the monster’s pulling force, Ge Mei had drifted far from her original spot, and even with her arm fully extended, she couldn't reach the fallen blade.

Seeing this, Ma Xiong understood Ge Mei’s intent and unhesitatingly stepped forward to hand her the knife.

After receiving the knife, Ge Mei didn't blindly stab at the coffin panel, knowing a misplaced thrust could injure herself—a situation they commonly called zimo (self-touching).

Ge Mei moved the knife along the coffin panel, probing. Finally, putting all her strength into it, she drove the blade down hard.

Immediately, a heart-rending shriek erupted from within, sounding like a woman weeping uncontrollably, filling the listeners with dread. The coffin’s swinging amplitude and frequency dropped again. Ma Xiong saw blood seeping from the hole Ge Mei had pierced. After about half an hour, the screaming finally ceased. Ge Mei then pulled the creature out of the coffin.

Ma Xiong and Lu Zong stared intently. The monster’s appearance was truly bizarre: a pointed snout, shaggy, tawny fur, and a pair of beady, darting eyes. Ma Xiong asked Lu Zong, "What does it look like to you?"

Lu Zong thought for a moment and replied, "I think it resembles a fox."

Ge Mei countered, "I think it looks more like a weasel."

Ma Xiong said, "I’ve seen weasels, and yes, it really does look like one. I only said resembles one, but its snout is sharper than a common weasel's."

Ge Mei suggested, "Perhaps two thousand years of eating corpses has honed it into this shape." Ge Mei walked to the coffin, pried open the wooden side panel, revealing the narrow space it had occupied. "Such a small space wouldn't be enough to store food for a weasel for two thousand years. Therefore, there must be another exit beneath the coffin, allowing this weasel to venture out for food." Ge Mei lifted the entire coffin, exposing the base.

Sure enough, in the bottom of the coffin, they all saw another opening, compelling them to admire Ge Mei’s powers of deduction.

Ge Mei continued, "When they left, they must have searched these few burial chambers. But besides corpses, there’s hardly anything in these chambers that could sustain a weasel. I suspect this weasel has been eating human flesh. After eating human flesh for so long, it must have developed traits beyond those of an ordinary weasel—surviving over two millennia is just one aspect. It seems we have stumbled upon another treasure. We must study this thoroughly when we return." As Ge Mei finished speaking, the weasel suddenly twitched once, then lay perfectly still.

Lu Zong warned, "Weasels are cunning; they are masters of feigning death. That twitch suggests it isn't dead yet. We should hurry back and try to revive it; maybe we can save it?"

Ma Xiong argued, "Our most important task right now is to escape this place immediately. We can study this weasel creature later."

It was only then that they remembered their original plan to leave.

They approached the entrance tunnel, with Ge Mei leading the way once more. The three of them, plus one weasel, navigated the passage searching for an exit.

Indeed, following the path of that initial opening, they safely reached the central axis of the corridor.

Ma Xiong stated that their next objective was to find the exit leading out of the corridor.

Ge Mei sighed, "It seems this path won't work. Ever since we entered, I felt the tomb’s master never intended for anyone to leave easily, which is why we’ve been trapped in this step-by-step predicament. That door connecting the antechamber to the main corridor—they certainly won't be able to open that one."

Ma Xiong asked, "Then what do we do?"

Ge Mei replied, "We’ll have to resort to our old method. Although it requires more labor, the results are reliable."

Ma Xiong didn't quite grasp this, but Lu Zong figured it out. "You mean digging a thief's tunnel (daodong)?" Ge Mei nodded.

Old Sun looked displeased and grumbled, "Digging another tunnel. Every time they are so small, they squeeze me until my kidneys feel weak."

Saying "digging a thief's tunnel" is easy; doing it is another matter.

Ma Xiong surveyed the main axis. Just as the reanimated corpses ("zongzi") had indicated, there were many openings here, each undoubtedly fraught with unseen dangers. If they were to dig a tunnel here, what if they intersected one of these existing passages? They might stumble into some unknown peril.

Ma Xiong voiced his concerns to Ge Mei, who merely laughed heartily. "Actually, this won't harm you; on the contrary, it will help you escape."

Ma Xiong stared, unable to understand.

Ge Mei then explained, "While digging a thief’s tunnel is generally a common and effective method, the biggest difficulty is not knowing which direction to dig. If the tomb master hadn't set up so many malevolent tunnels, digging would actually be more troublesome because we wouldn't know where to aim. But now that there are so many evil passages, they actually point the way for us—meaning, we need to dig around where those passages are. Regardless of how we detour, those evil tunnels must stay within the tomb structure. Thus, by avoiding those openings, we can dig straight out of the tomb complex. It’s a case of where there is a drawback, there is always an advantage."

Ma Xiong and Lu Zong nodded repeatedly; the analysis was sound.

They immediately set to work. Ge Mei handed Ma Xiong a dagger from her waist, and then offered one to Old Sun. Sun didn't take it, instead tapping his hook attachment, indicating he would use that instead.

They chose a wall angled at forty-five degrees and began to dig.

Since the three of them dug side-by-side, the tunnel they excavated was quite large. Because they were digging diagonally, all the soil fell directly onto the floor, saving them the trouble of hauling dirt away.

However, after only a short while, Lu Zong began to feel tired; this was truly strenuous work. Ma Xiong glanced at Ge Mei and Lu Zong. They showed no decrease in strength; if anything, they seemed to be getting faster. At that moment, Old Sun muttered, "Damn it, I’ve never beaten you before. Today, I’m going to beat you."

It appeared the two of them were having a competition. Ge Mei ignored Old Sun and sped up her digging even more. Seeing Ge Mei accelerate, Old Sun likewise wasted no time in increasing his pace. Only Ma Xiong stood watching them, dumbfounded.

Ma Xiong thought, I’m an Yin-Yang person too; I can’t let them look down on me. Gritting his teeth, he started digging too.

But after only a few minutes of digging, his back ached again. Ma Xiong looked up at the others and saw they had already pulled about ten meters ahead of him. He realized he was lagging too far behind.

How could he catch up? An idea struck Ma Xiong. He abandoned his own digging and simply walked up into the tunnel they had already made. Since the other two were focused on their race, they didn’t notice Ma Xiong cheating. He picked up his dagger behind them and resumed digging. After only a short while, he felt tired again. He looked up and saw they had once again pulled about ten meters ahead. So, he walked up into the tunnel again and started digging anew, shouting, "Hurry up, you two! I’m about to catch up to your rear ends!"

Old Sun exclaimed in shock, "Damn it! Being overtaken by this pretty boy would be too humiliating! Ge Mei, you bastard, hurry up!"

Ge Mei looked puzzled. "I don’t think I’m digging slowly. How could a mere kid catch up to me today? Ah, it must be the effect of that Soul-Returning Pill he took."

Ma Xiong quickly agreed, "Yes! I feel full of inexhaustible energy. Let’s make this a real race!"

Lu Zong frantically dug while saying, "Damn it, I refuse to believe you can out-dig Old Qian! If I lose to you today, I’ll become your apprentice!"

Ma Xiong declared, "Deal. It’s settled. Ge Mei, bear witness."

And so, their competition began. Though Ma Xiong felt a slight pang of guilt, it passed quickly. He reasoned they shouldn't have looked back.

They dug for about three hundred meters until everyone was utterly exhausted, and their pace slowed noticeably. Their anxiety mounted: When would they finally break through to the outside?

Joy often appears when despair sets in. Just as they were starting to doubt the correctness of their route, a chorus of birdsong drifted from ahead.