The next day, Liu Quansheng retrieved the firearms from his contacts, and only after we ate lunch did we set off toward Tianchi.

The group endured the winding mountain road once more, and it was only after Lu Zong had vomited bile that we finally reached Tianchi.

The moment he stepped out of the car, Lu Zong frantically sought a place to sit, patting his forehead as he gasped, "Yi Shengun, if you keep torturing us like this, Zhi Xiong is going to become the first person in history to die of car sickness."

Zhi Xiong shook his head with a wry smile, walked over, and patted his back, saying, "Why are you so weak? Everyone else is fine; you're the only one who gets carsick."

Lu Zong rubbed his chest, looked up at Zhi Xiong, and retorted, "Got a problem with that?" Hearing this, Zhi Xiong quickly shook his head, afraid his eardrums might burst, daring not to provoke him further.

Liu Quansheng had brought the compass this time, but since it was still daytime, there wasn't much he could do.

Liu Quansheng had never been to Tianchi before, and upon seeing the picturesque scenery, he couldn't help but marvel. We walked to the viewing platform, where Liu Quansheng leaned against the railing, gazing out at Tianchi. His eyes slowly swept across the surface of the lake, then he suddenly sighed, "Alas, such an excellent spot for geomancy, why would they deliberately go against the natural flow to create such a perilous tomb?"

Zhi Xiong walked up beside Liu Quansheng, shrugged, and said, "The purpose of creating the Four Great Forbidden Zones is precisely to ensure that those who enter cannot leave."

After hearing Zhi Xiong, Liu Quansheng shook his head. Then, he pointed in a distant direction and said to Zhi Xiong, "Look there. It backs against the Dragon Vein of Bogda Peak, with water in front. The surrounding mountains act as the Azure Dragon and White Tiger—the mountains embrace the area, which is considered 'having sentiment' (you qing)."

"When the Feng Shui has sentiment, that spot is the most superb location for a tomb! Conversely, if one goes against the current, placing the entrance in the water, with the dragon head of the vein facing away from the water, the ancient tomb submerged means the vital energy is severed. The Azure Dragon and White Tiger turn their backs on each other—the Black Dragon is trapping the corpse!" Hearing Liu Quansheng discuss Feng Shui, Zhi Xiong immediately thought of the celestial signs. Based on the observations from the day before yesterday, yesterday should have been the best day for tomb raiding, whereas today, though not overtly ill-fated, offered no luck either.

The four of us sat on the viewing platform chatting, waiting until the moon rose before preparing to make our move.

We returned to the car to gather our gear, then quietly circled around to the spot Liu Quansheng had indicated earlier.

Once there, we checked our surroundings and, finding no one else, we bent low and tiptoed down to the lakeside.

Liu Quansheng took out the compass, observing both the terrain and the stars.

After a moment, he pointed toward the sky and told us, "The Feng Shui here points directly to the Big Dipper. Given the ominous arrangement of this ancient tomb, it is mostly governed by the Army Breaker Star (Po Jun)."

With that, Liu Quansheng walked to a specific spot, checked the compass again, and continued, "The tomb door should be in this direction. However, tomb entrances underwater often have traps designed to ensnare people; everyone needs to be careful."

Zhi Xiong nodded and replied, "Leave the mechanisms to me; you all just watch yourselves."

Having confirmed the location, we put on our diving gear and entered the water one by one.

Although Liu Quansheng feared deep water, he could manage movement underwater thanks to the diving equipment.

The water near the shore wasn't deep; we submerged about six or seven meters before reaching the bottom.

Zhi Xiong shone the specialized underwater flashlight around, then used hand signals to urge Liu Quansheng to find the entrance quickly.

Liu Quansheng understood, used his hands to grip the underwater rocks to move forward, while the other three followed closely behind him.

After a while, Liu Quansheng turned back and pointed to two rocks leaning against each other, using gestures to indicate this was the entrance.

The four of us swam over, and as Zhi Xiong illuminated the spot with his flashlight, he immediately spotted a dark, gaping hole in the crevice between the two large stones.

Zhi Xiong signaled caution to everyone behind him, then was the first to slip inside.

The water inside the opening was murky, filled with plankton and small fish and shrimp.

Zhi Xiong cautiously burrowed deeper, shining his flashlight ahead.

Wherever the beam landed, there was only the blue-green water, nothing else.

Worrying about running out of air, Zhi Xiong sped up.

After swimming forward about thirty meters, the tunnel's trajectory began to ascend, and the space gradually widened.

After swimming a bit further, Zhi Xiong suddenly felt the surrounding space open up dramatically. Looking up, he realized there was space above him.

Seeing this, Zhi Xiong quickly turned back, signaling everyone to hurry up. Once everyone caught up, Zhi Xiong led them upward.

After ascending about six or seven meters, Zhi Xiong's head broke the surface with a splash. The others surfaced one after another.

At this point, Zhi Xiong raised his flashlight to survey the surroundings.

This was an enclosed space, appearing to be a karst cave.

Ahead of us, there was a bank we could climb onto, with an area of about twenty square meters.

Zhi Xiong pulled Liu Quansheng up, leading the group toward that area.

While swimming, Zhi Xiong suddenly felt something slick glide beneath his feet. Startled, he quickly asked Liu Quansheng, "Old Liu, there seemed to be something under the water?" Liu Quansheng replied, "I think I felt it too. Let's get ashore quickly!" The water was turbid, and this was an ancient tomb; Zhi Xiong truly couldn't tell what strange thing might be lurking beneath. Based on past experience, any place connected to the Four Great Forbidden Zones was never a good sign.

It was the same during the Three Lifetimes Blood Corpse Tomb—we ran into trouble right as we entered.

Zhi Xiong shone his flashlight into the water, but the water was too murky to tell if something was truly down there.

Zhi Xiong urged everyone to swim faster while vigorously paddling himself.

At that moment, Lu Zong shouted from behind, "Damn it, something is grabbing my foot!" Zhi Xiong was shocked and quickly said to Liu Quansheng, "Old Liu, watch yourself; I’m going down to look!" After saying this, Zhi Xiong immediately dove underwater and swam toward Lu Zong.

Truthfully, Zhi Xiong feared some kind of monster in the water, but judging by Lu Zong's relatively calm expression, it probably wasn't a major issue.

Lu Zong was ahead. Zhi Xiong shone his flashlight over and instantly spotted a dark mass beneath his feet! The mass was indistinct, and it was impossible to tell what it was. It was entirely round, and it seemed to have some kind of tentacles on top.

The upper part of the dark mass was tightly wrapped around Lu Zong's ankle.

Lu Zong kept kicking at the dark mass with his other foot, but it seemed utterly unaffected, remaining clamped around his ankle.

Zhi Xiong looked at the blob—it was dark and blurry. He thought, could this be the legendary Water Ghost? Rumor has it that Water Ghosts specialize in grabbing people's ankles and pulling them under.

But didn't Lu Zong have a protective talisman? Why would a Water Ghost be grabbing him? Could the thing at his feet be so malevolent that it ignored the charm? Despite his thoughts, Zhi Xiong still had to save Lu Zong.

Zhi Xiong raised his dagger and swam forcefully beneath the thing.

The object ignored Zhi Xiong and simply clung to Lu Zong’s leg.

As soon as Zhi Xiong got close, he swung his dagger to hack at it.

Unexpectedly, the thing was soft and yielding, offering no resistance to the blade.

Seeing that the dagger was useless, Zhi Xiong tucked it back into his waist, thinking, Damn it, chopping won't work, I’ll just yank you off! He immediately reached out to grab it. The moment he did, Zhi Xiong felt the thing was like a tangled mess of fibers.

Seeing Zhi Xiong grabbing it, the thing didn't react further.

Zhi Xiong became even more curious, so he moved closer and shone his flashlight directly on it.

Upon closer inspection, he realized the thing wasn't a monster or a Water Ghost, but a clump of dead water weeds.

The weeds were hopelessly tangled, with a portion tightly wrapped around Lu Zong's ankle.

Seeing it was a false alarm, Zhi Xiong couldn't help but smile wryly. He slowly untangled the weeds from Lu Zong's ankle, dropped them to the lakebed, and then surfaced.

The moment Lu Zong saw Zhi Xiong surface, he asked, "Zhi Xiong, Zhi Xiong, did that thing feel like water weeds, yes or no?" Zhi Xiong nodded and said, "It was just water weeds. At first, I saw a dark mass and feared it was a Water Ghost—it startled me. Alright, let's get to shore quickly."

Hearing this, Lu Zong cursed, then swam toward the shore following Zhi Xiong, conveniently pulling Liu Quansheng along as he passed him.

Once he reached Liu Quansheng, Liu Quansheng asked Zhi Xiong worriedly, "What was in the water?" Zhi Xiong shook his head, "Nothing, just a clump of water weeds."

Just as he finished speaking, Zhi Xiong suddenly felt like someone was missing and immediately asked the two of them, "Wait! Where's Ge Mei?" At Zhi Xiong's question, the two immediately looked behind them, and Zhi Xiong also looked back, but there was no one there! Zhi Xiong thought Ge Mei was still underwater and was about to dive down when he heard Lu Zong call out, "Zhi Xiong, look, Ge Mei is on shore!" Lu Zong pointed his flashlight toward the bank, and Zhi Xiong turned to look, indeed seeing Ge Mei standing on the shore waving at us.

Seeing Ge Mei was safe, Zhi Xiong let out a breath of relief, about to ask her when she got ashore, when suddenly, Zhi Xiong noticed someone behind Ge Mei.

Zhi Xiong focused his gaze and was immediately shocked! Behind Ge Mei stood a tall, dark silhouette. This shadow extended both hands around Ge Mei, yet Ge Mei seemed completely oblivious! Seeing Ge Mei in danger, Zhi Xiong rushed to shout, "Ge Mei, there's something behind you, jump back into the water!"

However, Ge Mei seemed not to hear Zhi Xiong's words, continuing to slowly wave us over.

Zhi Xiong found the atmosphere incredibly strange.

The dark shadow behind Ge Mei remained motionless, simply holding its posture with both arms around her.

Ge Mei stood there, utterly silent, just continuously waving for us to come over! Fearing Ge Mei might be harmed by that thing, Zhi Xiong was about to swim over to rescue her.

Unexpectedly, Lu Zong suddenly grabbed Zhi Xiong's arm, shone his flashlight on Ge Mei, and yelled, "Zhi Xiong, don't go! Damn it, that girl has no shadow! She might not be human!" Upon hearing this, Zhi Xiong quickly looked up! When Zhi Xiong saw clearly, his hair stood on end from fear.

Under the flashlight's beam, the Ge Mei standing there cast no shadow at all. Looking at her face, her complexion was bone-white. She stood there, repeatedly making the gesture of beckoning us forward—it was utterly bizarre.

It was just like those female ghosts who lure travelers to their doom at night!