This area already bordered the ancient tomb, so a pervasive sense of dread naturally permeated the atmosphere. In the entire murky space, the only sources of light were the flashlights held in our hands. The space was vast, and the beams only illuminated a tiny fraction of it; everything else, including the water, was pitch black.

In the depths, there was the shore, where Ge Mei stood with a dark shadow looming behind her. The shadow behind Ge Mei was indistinct, impossible to discern even when the flashlight beam struck it.

Conversely, the smooth ground was brightly lit by our flashlights. While this rare illumination might have offered some comfort, the very brightness of the floor created the bizarre spectacle of Ge Mei having no shadow!

Ge Mei seemed utterly vacant, showing no reaction to our shouts, merely standing there and waving us forward.

Seeing this, none of us dared to approach. Whether this was the real Ge Mei or an imitation was beyond our immediate concern; we could only remain in the water to observe.

Lu Zong stared at Ge Mei for a moment, then turned to Ma Xiong and said, "Ma Xiong, this person has no shadow. Unless she isn't physical, but we clearly saw that girl earlier, flesh and blood. How can this be so bizarre now?"

Ma Xiong’s eyes remained fixed on Ge Mei and the dark figure, replying to Lu Zong, "Looking at this, that thing is most likely an illusion meant to lure us over. Perhaps that person truly isn't Ge Mei. I think we need to go back into the water to search; Ge Mei might still be submerged."

With that, Ma Xiong clamped the snorkel between his teeth, preparing to dive again. Just then, Ma Xiong suddenly felt something attach itself to his arm.

Ma Xiong assumed it was more waterweed and reached out with his free hand to grab it.

Instantly, Ma Xiong’s hand closed around something soft and fleshy. The immediate sensation sent a jolt through him, startling him badly! It felt precisely like reaching for a leaf and suddenly grasping a fat, squirming maggot. Goosebumps erupted all over Ma Xiong’s skin; he immediately yanked his hand back, simultaneously pulling the affected arm out of the water to inspect it!

Seeing clearly what it was, Ma Xiong’s scalp tingled with horror.

Clinging to his forearm was a leech, long and thick! It was about half a foot long and as thick as an infant’s arm, its bloated body glistening under the flashlight beam.

In all his years, Ma Xiong had never encountered a leech this gigantic. He let out a loud cry, and his other hand swiftly drew the dagger from his waist, slicing through the leech in a flash! The massive leech split in two, spraying a foul, fluid, and detached itself from Ma Xiong’s arm.

Lu Zong was startled by Ma Xiong’s sudden action and turned just in time to see the leech severed. Though Lu Zong was known for his courage, even he was thoroughly shaken by the sight of such a terrifying creature. He pointed a trembling finger toward the water and exclaimed, "Damn it, how can there be something this large in here!"

Still reeling, Ma Xiong didn't waste time speaking; he quickly pulled open his shirt to inspect the wound on his arm.

Immediately, Ma Xiong saw a crescent-shaped bloody mark already imprinted on the skin beneath his clothes! His expression changed drastically; he cursed inwardly at how potent the leech was, managing to draw blood through the fabric! Worried there might be more such things in the water, Ma Xiong was about to shout for everyone to get ashore.

Suddenly, Ma Xiong felt a grip on his shoulder from Liu Quansheng behind him—a grip so tight it caused Ma Xiong pain. Turning around, Ma Xiong saw a massive leech latched horizontally across Liu Quansheng's face, looping halfway around, its thick body obscuring his nose and mouth! Only his eyes were visible, filled with boundless terror. His brow was tightly furrowed, and his throat emitted continuous sounds akin to retching.

Ma Xiong immediately yelled out, "Lao Liu, don't move!"

Next, Ma Xiong raised his dagger, gauged the position, and brought it down on the leech. With a swish, a large gash opened on the leech’s body. Concerned about injuring Liu Quansheng, Ma Xiong actually refrained from cutting it completely in half!

The leech did not fall off; instead, it convulsed violently on Liu Quansheng’s face.

Ma Xiong immediately pushed past his disgust, reaching out to rip the leech from Liu Quansheng’s face!

As the leech was torn away, Liu Quansheng let out a retch and began gasping for air. Ma Xiong moved behind him, patted his back, and began dragging him toward the shore!

"Jizi, get ashore!" Ma Xiong yelled urgently to Lu Zong while swimming.

Lu Zong, however, suddenly bent over and slipped into the water. After a moment, his head resurfaced. Then, swimming toward the shore, he shouted back, "Damn it, two of them crawled onto my legs just now! The water must be full of these things!"

Lu Zong swam over and joined Ma Xiong in dragging Liu Quansheng.

Just then, Ma Xiong felt a sudden tightening sensation on his chest skin. Since his chest was pressed against Liu Quansheng’s back, he felt another leech attach itself. Startled, Ma Xiong quickly released Liu Quansheng and used his dagger to pry it off.

After finally flicking that leech away, Ma Xiong felt his back skin tighten again. He muttered that there were truly too many of these damn things. Just as Ma Xiong was about to ask Lu Zong for help, Lu Zong spoke first: "Ma Xiong, this is bad. I’m covered in these things!"

As soon as Lu Zong finished speaking, Ma Xiong felt several leeches fasten onto his own body. Shocked, Ma Xiong realized their only option now was to escape. With that thought, Ma Xiong ignored the leeches clinging to him and, with Lu Zong, quickly dragged Liu Quansheng toward the shore.

The shore was only seven or eight meters away, but leeches kept attaching themselves along the way, making Ma Xiong feel progressively heavier. Gritting his teeth, he pushed forward with all his might. Slowly, Ma Xiong felt his limbs becoming unresponsive. The leeches, by attaching to the skin, caused a creeping numbness, which is exactly what Ma Xiong was experiencing.

Lu Zong also shouted over while swimming, "Ma Xiong, my body is getting more and more numb!"

Ma Xiong gasped for air and replied, "Don't worry about it, swim faster! We'll deal with it once we're on shore!"

At this moment, Ma Xiong suddenly felt his right foot become extremely heavy. He quickly ducked into the water to look. The sight that greeted him was enough to make him gag in utter revulsion. His entire right foot was densely covered in a layer of disgusting, fat leeches. Ma Xiong slashed violently with his dagger, chopping off quite a few before continuing his advance.

The three of us swam toward the shore, fighting off the leeches. Fortunately, we still had plenty of strength since we had only just entered the tomb. Finally, gasping for breath, we clambered onto the bank.

As soon as he hit the shore, Ma Xiong stomped hard on the ground to dislodge the leeches from the soles of his feet, then used his dagger to cut off the ones clinging to his body, one by one. Lu Zong and Liu Quansheng were also quickly dealing with the large leeches on themselves.

These leeches emitted a horrible, pungent stench, and the fluid splattered when we cut them was even more nauseating. We had no idea if it was poisonous. Each of us had no fewer than twenty leeches attached. After a huge effort, Ma Xiong finally removed all the leeches from his body and meticulously checked himself from head to toe to ensure none remained before he could finally relax.

Lu Zong finished cleaning his leeches and, finding himself unharmed, angrily started stomping on the large ones left on the ground.

After clearing himself, Liu Quansheng bent over and kept vomiting, cursing between retches, "Damn this disgusting stuff!" Still shaken, the three of us thought that the leeches we had tossed onto the ground would surely cause trouble in the water, so we immediately poured fuel over them and set them ablaze! As the fire caught, the leeches writhed their ugly bodies; the flames ignited the grease on them, producing a sizzling sound, and soon, a dreadful smell wafted out.

Ma Xiong covered his nose and suddenly remembered Ge Mei, quickly glancing back to where she had been standing.

However, Ma Xiong found that Ge Mei was gone from that spot; only the tall, dark shadow remained standing rigidly in place.

Ma Xiong called out to the others, "Ge Mei is gone!"

The other two turned and were instantly startled. Looking at the shadow, Lu Zong said, "What exactly is this thing? It hasn't moved since we arrived. Should we go take a look?"

Ma Xiong nodded, then led them forward. Only when we got close did we realize with astonishment that the shadowy figure, which had been impossible to see clearly, was actually a stone sculpture! The sculpture was entirely black, reflecting no light even under our lamps, likely due to a coating of light-absorbing pigment. Seeing that it was merely a statue, Ma Xiong paid it no more mind and began searching for Ge Mei. Ma Xiong cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone and shouted into the surroundings, "Ge Mei, where are you?"

Echoes bounced around the space, but there was no reply from Ge Mei. Ma Xiong felt a rising anxiety. If the Ge Mei from before was an illusion, where was the real one? Could she still be in the water? The water was full of horrifying giant leeches; if she were still there, could she possibly be alive?

Thinking of this, Ma Xiong began to privately regret bringing Ge Mei along. During tomb raiding, Ma Xiong constantly warned himself to be cautious, but this time, he had clearly overestimated his own prudence. After two previous expeditions that were fraught with danger, they had still emerged safely from the tomb, causing Ma Xiong to subconsciously believe the Four Great Forbidden Zones were nothing special. Now, with Ge Mei missing, Ma Xiong was filled with regret.

Lu Zong shouted a few times, and Liu Quansheng joined in, but no matter how much we called, we heard no answer from Ge Mei. Just as tension peaked, Ma Xiong suddenly heard a faint hum—though weak, Ma Xiong heard it clearly.

The sound seemed familiar, like Ge Mei. He hurriedly shone his flashlight around while shouting, "Ge Mei, is that you? Ge Mei?"

After a moment, a faint voice drifted from ahead: "O... Brother Ma Xiong..."

Hearing that it was indeed Ge Mei’s voice, Ma Xiong was overjoyed and rushed forward with the others.

After running only a few steps, Ma Xiong’s beam illuminated a figure lying on the ground—it was Ge Mei. She appeared to have just woken from a faint; bracing herself with one elbow, she raised her upper body. Seeing Ma Xiong, Ge Mei scrambled up and rushed straight into his embrace.

Ma Xiong patted her shoulder while offering comfort, all the while secretly letting out a breath of relief.

After a while, Ge Mei seemed a bit better. Ma Xiong held her shoulders and asked, "What happened? Why are you here?"