My heavens, that man—wasn't that the very Mán Yīngyīng whom Mán Niǎoniǎo described as "a mound of cow dung crushing a blooming begonia, despised by all who see him, with a pair of lustful eyes wandering astray, renowned on Mars and famous on the Moon, disliked even by pigs"?

As I clearly saw that man's face, countless fiery thunderbolts instantly exploded above my head, and my vision swam into darkness. Before I could scream, two streams of bloody tears suddenly gushed from the man’s eyes, which were blazing with sharp light. His entire body's muscles began to rapidly wither and rot, transforming in the blink of an eye into a dazzlingly white skeleton nestled against a strange woman's alabaster body. His fleshless face retained an expression of uncertainty—was it joy or sorrow? Clumps of dark red blood began to fall like dumplings from his pitch-black eye sockets, smashing onto the stone bed to form bizarre yet splendid black-red peach blossoms.

Amidst my extreme terror and panic, I vaguely glimpsed a strange, peculiar character etched onto the man's forehead. That character quickly vanished as his scalp melted away. I could be certain it wasn't the character "" (earth) on my own forehead, because that mark had far more strokes and its lines were extraordinarily flamboyant and flowing!

The strange woman let out a series of "heh-heh" shrieks, I couldn't tell if she was crying or laughing. The sharp sound pierced directly into my core, instantly searing the softest part of my heart into a dry, hard lump of sweet potato. The scream I had been holding back finally erupted amidst the woman's eerie cackling. All thought, all emotion drained away with the outpouring scream, leaving a brief void in my mind.

With a strength that seemed to come from nowhere in my dazed state, I mechanically pushed myself up, slammed my eyes shut, and stumbled blindly, scrambling away from the stone bed, clinging only to one thought: I never wanted to see that strange woman again, never wanted to hear her voice again, and never wanted to see that bone-white skeleton or those dark red blossoms on the floor again.

Yet, the woman's sound—neither crying nor laughing—persisted, swirling around my ears like fine strands of hair, desperately strangling the heart that was trying to leap out of my mouth...

My nerves felt moments away from being sliced into countless fragments, but then the woman's voice abruptly stopped. In the lingering echo, a sigh—familiar yet strange, so mournful and resentful it could shatter the hardest heart—pierced my eardrums, finally grinding my supposedly robust nerves into dust. Countless fiery thunderbolts exploded violently above my head once more!

—Wasn't that the very same woman's sigh we heard earlier in the cavern?

As my heart and courage splintered, a welcoming sound rushing through the air saved me from the brink of collapse; it was Huā'er's cry. Huā'er's voice, angry and hoarse, sounded like the music of the heavens to me. I was ecstatic, filled with an emotion like long-awaited rain falling on parched earth.

I opened my eyes, and the scene before me hammered my already warming heart once more—Huā'er lay on her back, head struggling to lift upwards, her blood-red tongue sticking out stubbornly like a sharp dagger from her wide-open mouth. Her front paws were tightly wrapped around a big, blue-veined hand, while her hind legs kicked and thrashed like a whirlwind. A tall, powerful black shadow was pressing its knees into Huā'er’s belly, one hand clamped around her throat, the other raising a hacking blade high, poised to cleave down onto Huā'er’s head. The sharp blade radiated a pale white halo, drawing closer and closer, nearer and nearer to Huā'er's skull...

My fury surged, and a scream was cut in half by the cold glint of the blade. I snatched an object beside me and hurled it like lightning toward the black shadow. The object whistled and spun through the air, scattering chilling cold light like raindrops—it was the very hacking blade I had dropped!

The black shadow seemed momentarily stunned by the thrown blade. The one aimed at Huā'er's head suddenly curved sharply, meeting the incoming projectile. With a clang, sparks flew, and the blade I threw was knocked back, landing near me after a few spins. It stopped motionless, a notch as thick as a chopstick marring its edge.

In that split second of sparking fire, I glimpsed Mán Niǎoniǎo’s ferocious face, his eyes scarlet, his muscles severely contorted!!

Rage consumed me: why was Mán Niǎoniǎo attacking Huā'er with such vicious force?

Glancing aside, I saw Tán Píng'ér held diagonally by a dark, rough hand. Her clothes were in tatters, revealing glimpses of her fair, delicate belly, her two trembling 'rabbits' threatening to spill forth from her chest. Tán Píng'ér giggled foolishly, swinging her hips, kicking her legs wildly, twisting her head to the extreme, puckering her lips to bite and suckle at the arm embracing her, occasionally emitting soft moans. Her hands roamed over her own body, her gaze infatuated, drool streaming down her chin.

That arm cinched Tán Píng'ér’s slender waist iron-tight, almost wanting to snap her body in half.

I recalled what happened the instant I was thrown toward the stone bed, and that pain that sank deep into my bones; I seemed to understand something.

My anger intensified, the muscles in my face twitching uncontrollably.

I picked up the hacking blade from the ground, crouched up, my teeth grinding audibly, and advanced with heavy, slow steps toward the face-contorted, vacant-eyed Mán Niǎoniǎo. The moment Mán Niǎoniǎo deflected my blade, Huā'er's strength surged; she broke free from his giant grip, sprang up, circled Mán Niǎoniǎo twice with hatred and caution, and limped over to my side.

By now, I had completely lost my reason, disregarding the situation with the stone statues. My heart was filled with hatred and jealousy; the most satisfying thing at that moment felt like raising my blade and cleaving this scoundrel Mán Niǎoniǎo in two, then chopping him into meat paste.

Mán Niǎoniǎo half-knelt on the ground, slowly raising his blade, his blood-red, vacant eyes staring unblinkingly at me. My entire body trembled violently. Gritting my teeth, I raised my own blade high above my head and brought it down like a mountain crushing down upon the kneeling Mán Niǎoniǎo. Just as the blade was about to touch Mán Niǎoniǎo’s head, the usually clumsy Mán Niǎoniǎo moved like a nimble cat, tilting his head aside while his held blade swung across horizontally. With a clank, another burst of sparks erupted.

Before I could react, Mán Niǎoniǎo suddenly sprang up like a maximally compressed spring. His left hand grabbed and held my blade, instantly splattering blood, while his right hand, gripping his own blade, swept in with a thrust, aiming to gut me. In the nick of time, I twisted my body skillfully, narrowly dodging Mán Niǎoniǎo's attack. Unable to stop his momentum, Mán Niǎoniǎo lunged straight into my embrace. His blade scraped past my right waist with a ding as it fell to the ground.

I was utterly terrified, my thoughts briefly stalled, leaving me even more bewildered in my actions. Mán Niǎoniǎo seized this opening, wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, and his gasping, large mouth covered mine, sucking greedily like one consuming grapes. His coarse, short stubble pricked my nose like needles. Not only that, Mán Niǎoniǎo’s blood-soaked big hand plunged down my waist and abdomen, gripping my private part and fumbling with it wildly.

This entire sequence happened in a flash—I never would have imagined Mán Niǎoniǎo would pull such a stunt. The stench of Mán Niǎoniǎo’s heavy breath made my limbs weak, my head felt enormous, and waves of indescribable, stubborn pleasure tormented the resistance in my heart. The hacking blade in my hand thudded as it fell to the ground, coincidentally smashing onto my big toe, causing me to tear up from the pain.

Mán Niǎoniǎo was still not satisfied. He hooked his foot around my calf with brute force, and I, caught completely off guard, fell straight backward onto the ground, hitting my head so hard I saw stars and felt dizzy, nearly knocking my tailbone off. I tried to scream, but my mouth was sealed tightly by Mán Niǎoniǎo’s large mouth, preventing any sound. Mán Niǎoniǎo pressed down, holding me fast, his hips jerking up and down violently, a hard rod poking and tapping my thigh and lower belly like a pecking chicken. Huā'er circled the entangled me and Mán Niǎoniǎo, barking fiercely, poised to pounce, but having suffered greatly at Mán Niǎoniǎo's hands before, awed by his raw power, dared not step forward to save me.

My last vestiges of consciousness were about to be wiped out by this "barrage," when Mán Niǎoniǎo suddenly peeled away from me like a piece of dog-skin plaster. The power of this 'plaster' was immense; it lifted me about a foot in the air before I crashed heavily back onto the ground.

I curled up on the ground, gulping down the dust-filled air. I didn't have time to consider why this sudden change had occurred, only vaguely hearing a clattering sound and smelling a suffocating stench. Silence returned, broken only by Huā'er's intermittent barks, which now lent a bone-chilling, ominous quietude to the scene.

I felt like crying but had no tears; I was utterly nauseated. I spat repeatedly, wildly wiping my mouth with my ragged sleeve. The bitter bile I vomited tasted awful, yet I wasn't finished; I puckered my mouth and churned my face in the dust like a pig rooting for food. In moments, my lips were covered in mud mixed with saliva, making my mouth seem suddenly larger.

Only now did I understand the meaning of extreme joy turning to sorrow, or reaching rock bottom leading to a turnaround. Back when I held Tán Píng'ér and explored her body—yes, I was now mostly sure those two 'rabbits' were indeed Tán Píng'ér’s—Tán Píng'ér moaned softly in my arms. That ineffable pleasure had intoxicated me; how I wished she could conduct further in-depth research on my body! Who knew I would be violently torn away from her by Mán Niǎoniǎo—only he had that kind of strength—and flung onto the stone bed like a wad of used toilet paper, only to witness the man who looked exactly like me instantly turn into a skeleton, coupled with the strange expression and mournful shriek of the strange woman, extinguishing my raging lust entirely. What caused me even greater agony was that the dignified Mán Yīngyīng had been forcibly 'abused' and completely taken advantage of by that bastard Mán Niǎoniǎo. My mouth was numb from the sucking, and even now, my thighs and lower belly still throbbed painfully. Although my body suffered no physical damage, my emotions and psyche were utterly defiled.

—What profound humiliation this was!!

I lay on the ground for a long time, forcing myself not to think about the scene that had just passed. I got up with dry heaves and discovered that the beam of light illuminating the center of the area had vanished. The space was so dark I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

I stood there, shaking my head violently, spitting out the bitter bile. I crouched down, feeling around the floor—after being thrown so hard by Niǎo Niǎo, I vaguely recalled the only flashlight rolling onto the ground. After much effort, I couldn't find the flashlight. I searched my clothes, trousers, and satchel for a while longer, finally finding a life-saving lighter. The lighter wouldn't spark, but luckily, it used electronic ignition. With a flashing and extinguishing light, I finally located the flashlight and the hacking blade that had caused me such heart-wrenching pain.

Suppressing my racing heart, I switched on the flashlight. A dazzling beam of light speared the deep darkness like a sharp knife. After wildly sweeping it around, I found Tán Píng'ér lying quietly on Jì Yé, her snow-white, bountiful skin partially concealed, captivating and criminally tempting. Jì Yé’s hand was still firmly wrapped around her waist.

Seeing this scene, my heart felt overgrown with reeds, scratching me painfully. This damned Mán Niǎoniǎo had not only stolen half my virtue, but Tán Píng'ér had likely not escaped the wolf's maw either... I felt a metallic sweetness surge up from my stomach!!

My teeth were clenched so tightly they nearly fused together. I imagined the flashlight as a sharp sword and searched everywhere for Mán Niǎoniǎo's 'assassination' target, but found he was nowhere to be seen. Many of the stone statues nearby had fallen over, lying haphazardly, revealing a path that could barely be called one.

I gave up searching. With a heavy heart, I limped over to Tán Píng'ér and Jì Yé. I stared blankly at Tán Píng'ér for a moment, then forcefully pried Jì Yé’s hand away, holding Tán Píng'ér in my arms. I dropped the hacking blade, tore off a piece of my tattered clothing with my free hand, and roughly wrapped it around Tán Píng'ér's exposed skin, sweating profusely from the effort!

Jì Yé sat up from the ground, his face ashen, veins bulging. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, but he couldn't speak. He gestured for me to hand him the overturned liquor flask nearby, then, his hands trembling, he took several large gulps of corn liquor. He blew out a few breaths before stammering, "Th-th-that damned old skeleton... s-s-skeletons were too... t-t-too... too damn... d-d-vicious, nearly caused m-m-me to... to... to lose my integrity!"

Skeletons? I was greatly alarmed. Had the stone statues transformed into skeletons at this moment? I rapidly raised the flashlight. What met my eyes were still those stone statues striking provocative poses, their fleshy buttocks on display! How could they be skeletons? Was Jì Yé’s vision...?

"J-Jì Yé, are your... eyes having trouble? These stones... are clearly... scantily clad... young women, how are they... are they skeletons?" Having been stifled by complex emotions for a long time, my voice was stiff and sluggish when I finally spoke.

"H-h-hell with that?" Jì Yé rubbed his reddened eyes. "They are clearly... clearly... skeletons, how are they... how are they scantily clad... young women? Look... look... look..." Seeing he was speaking with difficulty, I rasped, "Are you seeing things confusingly?" Jì Yé nodded silently.

Though Jì Yé spoke incoherently, his meaning was firm. I was utterly bewildered. Could it be I was mistaken? I rubbed my dry eyes and looked again. No, they were definitely voluptuous, flesh-and-blood beauties!

By now, I knew these stones had to be peculiar. To help Jì Yé speak more smoothly, I gently laid Tán Píng'ér on the ground, took his tobacco pouch from his satchel, clumsily rolled a 'loudspeaker' for him, and used his lighter to ignite it. Jì Yé took a long, satisfied drag and handed the tobacco to me.

I hesitated briefly, rubbed my lips, and took a hard draw. The pungent spiciness filled my lungs, and I surprisingly felt an extraordinary sense of relief.

Jì Yé gulped down a couple more mouthfuls of corn liquor and let out a long breath. "Damn it. Just now..." Jì Yé glanced at the sleeping Tán Píng'ér on the ground, "...Miss Tán's appearance scared the hell out of me..."

"Ahem... ahem!" I coughed heavily twice, signaling Jì Yé to continue.

"I found it very strange," Jì Yé said. "So many skeletons, how could they make you few young folks so mesmerized, so... ugly in your conduct! Almost caused me to do something that would betray your wife and... Miss Tán!"

I grew more alarmed the more I listened. I snatched the flask and took several large swigs, then looked around at the stones again with the flashlight, turning back to ask Jì Yé with utter confusion, "To your eyes, these stones are... skeletons?"

"Yes. And to your eyes, they are... scantily clad young women?" Jì Yé was equally astonished, his eyeballs bulging like two exercise balls.

I nodded gravely. "That's right! There are only a few scantily clad young men here; when we first came in, I saw many men." (Young men: men)

Jì Yé stroked the stone statue next to him and mumbled, "This is clearly a white, gleaming skeleton, how is it a scantily clad young woman? We've hit a ghost... we've hit a ghost..." Hearing Jì Yé state so firmly that a stone statue was a skeleton, I was deeply shaken, thinking: Could these stones present different images to different people?

"Jì Yé... the scantily clad man at the entrance when we first entered the cave, what was he to your eyes?" I managed to ask, suppressing my thunderous heartbeat.

"A scantily clad man? Where was there a scantily clad man? That was a skeleton too. When I saw it, I was wondering how this person died, and why a dead person would be in that posture?"

"No way? Mán Niǎoniǎo..." At this point, I really didn't want to mention Mán Niǎoniǎo's name, nor did I care about his fate. After a long silence, I forced down my resentment and disgust to continue, "...Mán Niǎoniǎo... also smashed that guy's furniture and turned him into a eunuch, didn't you see that?"

"I saw it. Wasn't it just a bone?"

A bone??? This was too... too incredible! Whose private part was bone?

"And then? Did you see only skeletons afterward?" My heart grew colder, a chill creeping down my spine. The same object appearing differently to different people was hard to accept. What could cause this result?

"Yes. All skeletons!" Jì Yé asserted firmly. "Did you perhaps see only... scantily clad young women?"

I didn't answer him directly but nodded silently and firmly.

"The stone statue was also two scantily clad young women?"

I shook my head. "It wasn't two scantily clad young women, but one scantily clad young man and one scantily clad young woman... doing... doing that thing!"

What that thing was, Jì Yé naturally understood perfectly. He shouted, "Strange! Strange! Strange! I saw two skeletons fighting!"

"Fighting???"

"Yes! Isn't the upper skeleton gripping the lower skeleton's neck tightly?"

"Gripping the lower skeleton's neck?"

"Yes. It looked like they held a deep, irreconcilable feud."

"..." I was struck dumb, horrified, my mind a mess, cold sweat pouring down. "D-do you know who the lower skeleton was?"

"How the hell would I know who a skeleton is?" Jì Yé shot me a look. "Did you see clearly?"

I blushed slightly at Jì Yé's sharp retort, realizing how unpolished my question was. I composed myself and said seriously, "That scantily clad young man... the lower skeleton you mentioned, that was..."

"Who?" Jì Yé asked, flushed with urgency.

"Me!!!"