Ma Xiong was almost scared to death when he saw that the long-tongued monsters were actually such enormous toads, and he quickly swam back. He didn't know if any toads were chasing him, but in any case, Ma Xiong finally made it safely back to shore. Just as he was about to catch his breath, he heard the Fatty shout towards him, "Big Brother Ma Xiong, Big Brother Zhang is still in the water!"

"What?" Upon hearing that Lu Zong was still in the water, Ma Xiong immediately bellowed and hurriedly turned back to look. No wonder he had gotten ashore without any danger earlier; perhaps all the monsters' attention had been focused on Lu Zong!

Ma Xiong frantically swept his flashlight around the water, immediately spotting dark shapes swimming back and forth, completely unaware of Lu Zong’s location. Ma Xiong hadn't expected these monsters to be in the pool; it looked as if the bones spat out by the Emperor Crocodile were from these giant toads. These toads were extremely formidable in the water, and Lu Zong's situation was likely dire.

Thinking this, Ma Xiong immediately turned back and shouted to the Company Commander, "Company Commander, come down with me to find him!"

Who knew that upon hearing Ma Xiong, the Company Commander's face changed drastically. He looked at the dark shapes in the water, suddenly panicked, and kept shaking his head at Ma Xiong.

The situation was critical, and Ma Xiong couldn't afford to delay any longer. He inwardly cursed the coward. Then, Ma Xiong tucked the flashlight under his left armpit, drew his dagger, placed it between his teeth, and leaped back into the water! The Fatty anxiously yelled towards Ma Xiong, "Big Brother Ma Xiong, don't go!"

Ma Xiong paid no further attention to the others, took a breath, and submerged himself. Ma Xiong's body was already feeling sore, and with the flashlight wedged under his left arm and having sustained an injury, he could only paddle with his right hand. Before long, his arm was utterly exhausted. At this moment, Ma Xiong suddenly felt the current behind him part to either side. Before he could react, something slammed into him from behind. The impact nearly scattered Ma Xiong's bones. His mouth flew open, and he swallowed a good two mouthfuls of water, his dagger sinking to the bottom.

Just as Ma Xiong was about to kick towards the surface, he suddenly felt a tightening around his waist—the monster's tongue had coiled there. Ma Xiong grimly thought, Not good, and quickly tried to grab it with his fingers. Unfortunately, Ma Xiong had no fingernails, and the tongue completely ignored his frantic clawing. Instead, it constricted and began pulling Ma Xiong toward the bottom.

His chest felt unbearably tight, yet he couldn't shake off the tongue wrapped around his waist. Seeing his predicament, Ma Xiong couldn't help but lament inwardly: Was fate finally coming to claim him today?

Unexpectedly, the tongue wrapped around his waist suddenly slackened. Seeing this, Ma Xiong quickly swam to the surface to gasp for air. Upon breaking the surface, Ma Xiong was desperately short of breath and quickly let out a massive gasp. He was wondering why the monster had suddenly let go when he suddenly heard a few whooshing sounds nearby. Ma Xiong instinctively brought the flashlight from under his arm to illuminate the area.

With that beam of light, Ma Xiong immediately discovered that many of the dark shapes in the water were rapidly retreating, as if something major had just occurred below the surface. Just as he was about to use the light to scan the surface, a head suddenly broke the water not far away with a splash. When Ma Xiong saw the figure clearly, he instantly shouted with excitement, "Lu Zong!"

Lu Zong turned his head, saw Ma Xiong in the water as well, and immediately shouted towards Ma Xiong, "Ma Xiong, something's wrong here, all the monsters have fled! Ma Xiong suspects the crocodile has arrived!"

Hearing Lu Zong's words, Ma Xiong was startled and hurriedly urged Lu Zong to swim quickly toward the shore!

At this moment, a massive, loud whoosh of water erupted behind Ma Xiong on the surface. Ma Xiong turned to look and immediately saw a huge body rising above the water not far behind him—and it was none other than that Emperor Crocodile?

The Emperor Crocodile vaulted half its body out of the water, its mouth clamped around half a large toad. The half-toad was bloody and looked utterly grotesque. The Emperor Crocodile then opened its jaws, and the toad was swallowed whole. The crocodile’s body then dropped back into the water with a tremendous thud, sending waves splashing all the way to where Ma Xiong was.

Just as Ma Xiong was about to swim back urgently, Lu Zong suddenly shouted to him, "Ma Xiong, look, this monster is completely absorbed in eating! We might as well use this moment to swim to the opposite bank!"

Ma Xiong replied, "That sounds good. Staying here is too dangerous anyway."

With that, Ma Xiong quickly shouted toward the group on the bank, "Quick! The crocodile is eating! We should swim over now!" Those standing on the shore paused upon hearing Ma Xiong's cry.

Ma Xiong was anxious, so Lu Zong shouted to the group again, "Hurry up! If we don't cross this pool now, we're screwed!"

The Fatty trembled, his voice laced with tears, "Ma Xiong scared!"

Ma Xiong yelled, "Don't be afraid! This crocodile is busy eating; it won't pay attention to us!"

At the same time, Ma Xiong glanced back at the Emperor Crocodile. The crocodile was currently having a grand time chasing the large toads in the water, paying absolutely no mind to them. Just then, there was a plop. Ma Xiong turned to see that the Old Man had already jumped into the water. Seeing this, Lu Zong said to Ma Xiong, "Ma Xiong, this old man has trouble swimming; I'll go help him."

Lu Zong then quickly swam towards the Old Man.

The Company Commander stood on the shore, his expression uncertain and hesitant. However, he was ultimately quite astute and naturally recognized this as a rare opportunity worth taking. So, after seeing the Old Man jump in, he gritted his teeth, suppressed the fear in his heart, and jumped in as well.

Seeing the Fatty still hesitating at the water's edge, Ma Xiong roared, "Fatty, hurry up!"

The Fatty hesitated for a moment longer before following the Company Commander into the water. Once everyone else was in the water, Ma Xiong finally turned and swam hard toward the opposite bank! Ma Xiong urged everyone to follow, then chose a route further away from the crocodile and swam forward with all his might. The Emperor Crocodile was busy hunting the toads in the water; occasionally, one that couldn't escape in time would be snatched and devoured. The sounds of splashing in that area were chaotic, the crocodile’s massive body churning the surface, its thick tail occasionally whipping out, sending spray everywhere. Seeing that the crocodile genuinely ignored them, Ma Xiong and the others sped up. Soon, Ma Xiong reached the opposite bank.

As soon as Ma Xiong scrambled onto the shore, he immediately looked back and was relieved to see the crocodile still pursuing the toads. Once everyone else was ashore, Ma Xiong urged them to run quickly. Their group truly ran until they were breathless. Only after managing to escape the city gate did they slow to a walk.

The situation had been too urgent earlier, and the Company Commander hadn't had time to pack the inflatable boat back into its bag. Now, they still needed to swim across the moat. Fortunately, no more of those large toads appeared in the moat. After everyone swam across the moat, shaken but unharmed, their energy was almost entirely depleted.

As soon as Lu Zong reached the shore, he collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily and muttering, "Damn it, Ma Xiong now understands: the first thing tomb raiders need is stamina training."

The Fatty, being physically weaker, was already completely drained and lay on the ground dry-heaving. Ma Xiong supported his shoulder, patted his back, and said to the group, "Let everyone rest for a bit. Once we've recovered, we'll figure out how to get out."

Ma Xiong then helped the Fatty and led the group to a relatively flat spot.

Ma Xiong took off his outer shirt and spread it on the ground, telling the Fatty, "Fatty, you sleep for a bit; I'll wake you up later." "Mhm," the Fatty nodded, lay down, and within moments, fell into a deep sleep.

Seeing that the others were also exhausted, Ma Xiong said, "You all should sleep too; I'll keep watch here."

Lu Zong said, "Ma Xiong, you guys sleep. I'm not tired; I'll stand guard."

Ma Xiong knew Lu Zong had the best physical condition among them, and Ma Xiong himself was extremely fatigued. Hearing Lu Zong’s words, he nodded and lay down. The moment he touched the ground, an intense wave of drowsiness washed over his mind. In a daze, Ma Xiong slowly drifted off to sleep as well.

Ma Xiong didn't know how long he slept before slowly waking up. The moment he regained consciousness, he felt half his body pressing down on him. He lowered his head to see it was the Fatty. The Fatty was still sleeping soundly, having unconsciously leaned against him. Her head was resting on Ma Xiong’s shoulder, her delicate nostrils rising and falling slightly with her even, slow breaths.

One of Ma Xiong's arms had gone numb from being pinned, but seeing how soundly she slept, he didn't want to wake her.

Suddenly, Ma Xiong felt her body stir, her slender fingers clutching tightly onto his collar. Ma Xiong looked down and saw her brow furrowed, as if having a nightmare. Ma Xiong quickly patted her back gently. After a while, she slowly relaxed.

Lu Zong was sitting quietly to the side, his back to Ma Xiong, seemingly staring blankly at the water.

Ma Xiong knew this was his time for contemplation. Lu Zong usually acted without thinking, and Ma Xiong knew this trait could cause trouble in ancient tombs. Therefore, whenever he was alone, he would quietly reflect on his actions, sensing the situation from his past moves, thus learning from experience.

It was rare for him to enter this state, and Ma Xiong didn't want to disturb him. Just as he was about to lie back down, Ma Xiong suddenly spotted something emerging near the edge of the moat and quickly focused his gaze.

There, a figure was slowly climbing out of the water!

Soon, a second, then a third figure also slowly crawled ashore. These figures looked human, but how could there be any people here? If these things were crawling out of the water, they were either Water Ghosts or, more likely, Jiangshi (zombies). Ma Xiong immediately ignored the fact that everyone else was soundly asleep, quickly shook the Fatty awake, and shouted to Lu Zong, "Lu Zong, something is coming up from the water! Wake everyone up!"

Lu Zong was startled by Ma Xiong's sudden shout and quickly stood up to look toward the bank. The moment he clearly saw the figures slowly climbing onto the bank, he gasped in shock, "What are these things?"

Soon, Lu Zong rushed to wake up the Company Commander and the Old Man.

Everyone woke up. Ma Xiong gestured for them to look at the bank, and they instantly saw over a dozen figures standing there. These figures had their heads bowed, looking listless, yet they were slowly walking toward Ma Xiong and the others, step by step!

Ma Xiong immediately decided not to waste time figuring out what these entities were; he simply grabbed the Fatty and told the others, "Run!"

So, the group began fleeing again. As Ma Xiong ran, he kept looking back. He saw that dozens of figures had already appeared on the bank, and in the water...