The experience in Heizhugou is nearing its end; the next adventure site is Lop Nur in Xinjiang, where all the mysteries will finally come to light. Don't forget to bookmark this, my friends. ———————————————————————————————— I was astonished to find a multitude of people kneeling before me, each with their heads bowed. Their attire varied wildly, some dressed in modern fashion, others in ancient garb.

My grandfather coughed twice behind me and said, "None of these are truly people, do not touch them. Keep moving forward to the Ghost Eye..."

I looked at these men and women—some white-haired and ancient, others quite young, even wearing primary school uniforms. Each had their wrists bound by iron chains, silently holding their heads down, never uttering a sound.

After observing them for a long time, I noticed their complexions were ashen, their eyes vacant; they certainly did not appear to be normal human beings. But if they weren't human, what were they? Ghosts? Yet, in my eyes, they possessed flesh and blood; some with scraped limbs were even bleeding.

But then I remembered that my grandfather would never lie to me, so I had no choice but to walk through the crowd. I couldn't tell how many people there were; I only knew that with every layer of mist I passed through, a dense cluster of heads appeared ahead.

Witnessing such a terrifying sight made my breathing exceedingly difficult, and my steps grew heavy. Even the most hard-nerved individual would likely be paralyzed with fear seeing this scene.

I don't know how long I walked, but soon the massive arm of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, hanging down from the cavern ceiling, was right before my eyes. I realized that the giant Diting itself was over twenty meters tall, staring with menacing intensity, making me feel utterly insignificant as an invisible pressure welled up within me.

My grandfather coughed twice on my back and said, "Xiao Chuan, look, that is the Ghost Eye." I followed his pointing finger and saw, beneath the giant palm of Ksitigarbha, a natural well roughly five or six meters in diameter, emanating chilling vapor.

The natural well was perfectly round, yet it lacked any surrounding wall. In the four cardinal directions—front, back, left, and right—stood four resplendent, glittering Vajras, clearly objects of extraordinary nature.

I also saw that the raised hand of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva nearly pressed against the mouth of the well, its palm covered in various inscribed talismans. The eyes of the Diting were fixed fiercely upon the well opening, shimmering with a deep blue light, like twin flames.

I stared for less than a minute when a sudden ringing filled my ears. Faintly, I heard countless Buddhist chants sounding all around me, and my chest grew so tight I felt I might vomit.

I shook my slightly dizzy head and continued forward, but after only two or three steps, I froze.

Because standing next to the Ghost Eye were four extraordinarily tall figures. Each was clad in golden armor, holding massive axes dripping with blood. Their excessively long necks hung down to their chests, and their faces were frighteningly white. Their huge eyes were pure black, staring at the ground without any expression whatsoever.

I recognized these creatures as the same monsters I had seen outside, and my legs instantly felt weak.

My grandfather pinched me from behind and said, "Don't be afraid, they are already dead."

Upon closer inspection, I indeed noticed that each of the four monsters had several bloody holes in their chests, looking as if they were caused by firearms.

Frankly, I never expected these things could die. Previously, I had assumed they might be animated corpses or something similar, but if they could be killed by severe trauma, it suggested they were some form of biological entity.

I had never encountered such strange creatures in any books before. I mused that if I could extract some muscle tissue from them for analysis, it might lead to astonishing discoveries.

Hesitating for a long time, I finally mustered the courage, raised my flashlight, and slowly walked toward them.

Seeing me approach the monsters, my grandfather asked with suspicion, "What are you doing?"

I replied, "I want to see what those things actually are."

My grandfather paused, seeming as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately remained silent.

So I slowly approached the four bizarre beings and discovered they were about forty to fifty centimeters taller than average people. Even with their necks now drooping to their waists, their shoulders were still higher than mine.

Their faces were extremely grotesque. I bowed my head to examine them closely and realized they didn't actually resemble humans.

Their eyes were situated toward the sides of their heads, and their noses and mouths protruded. Their entire faces looked remarkably like a certain type of fish.

However, their skin, white as paper, seemed devoid of scales.

These entities wore extremely ancient-style bronze armor, composed of thousands of meticulously crafted copper plates, though they were now heavily rusted.

I noticed a strange bronze plaque on their belts, similar in appearance to the one King Wei wore, though the engravings on it were now illegible.

I examined the monsters from top to bottom again and found nothing else noteworthy, so I moved on to inspect their wounds.

The wounds appeared to be inflicted by large-caliber firearms, large enough to fit a fist through the entire chest, with very ragged edges.

So, I took a sterilization pouch from my backpack and tore off a piece of flesh. I discovered that this creature's flesh was black.

After bagging the tissue, my grandfather urged me from behind, "Hurry up! We don't have much time..."

I nodded and walked toward the well opening, soon spotting several prone figures whose breathing was shallow and expressions pained.

Judging by their clothing, these were the missing members of the exploration team. I quickened my pace, reaching the well's edge, intending to rescue them.

"Stop right there, don't move!" A crisp female voice suddenly rang out.

I flinched, looked up, and saw a woman standing on the back of the Buddha's palm not far away—it was Liang Qian. Her expression was utterly cold as she aimed a gun at me.

My grandfather coughed twice on my back and said, "Young lady, it's you again. Do you know what you are doing?"

Liang Qian gave a cold laugh and replied, "Professor Nie, that is a question I should be asking you. I never thought you would use even your own grandson to get what you desire."

My grandfather coughed violently several times and spoke sharply, "Shut your mouth, stop spreading slander."

Liang Qian fell silent for a moment, then her eyes suddenly fixed on me, and her voice softened, "Nie Chuan, I thought you were an honest person along the way. Let go of this old man quickly; he has gone mad and doesn't treat you like his grandson at all."

Before my grandfather could retort, Liang Qian waved the two yellowed, old pieces of paper in her hand and declared, "Professor Nie, I already have what you are looking for. I will absolutely not hand it over to you."

"You!" My grandfather's eyes bulged, and his breathing became somewhat labored.

Looking at my grandfather's state, that familiar look in his eyes, and knowing every word and action of his was genuine, out of familial affection, I absolutely could not abandon him.

As I was contemplating this, several gunshots suddenly echoed from the distance, and a cursing man burst through the mist.

I turned back, and my heart leaped with joy. A dark, stout man, nearly six-foot-three, was charging toward me—it was Da Xiong.

A wave of heat rushed through my chest, and I cursed, "Go to hell, you fat slob! Where have you been running off to!"

Da Xiong arrived, breathless, waving his hand. "Forget that for now! Damn it, don't listen to this shrew; she's the weird one. Let me tell you something, don't be scared—that giant Flood Dragon is still alive, and it's about to break out. We need to scram!"

My brain could not process any more information, but before I could recover, a streak of blue light flashed in the darkness, and a figure shot up like a bolt of lightning, landing on the suspended back of the Ksitigarbha statue.

When I clearly saw that it was Xie Yuting, he had already swung a blade toward Liang Qian.

Liang Qian reacted quickly enough, dodging the vertical chop. Just as she prepared to defend, Xie Yuting swept a leg out horizontally, kicking the gun out of her hand.

Then, Xie Yuting grabbed the old papers in Liang Qian's hand and pulled; with a sharp ssstt, one of the papers was ripped halfway through.

Liang Qian became furious, shouted, and drew a dagger from her waist, slashing toward Xie Yuting's neck.

Xie Yuting’s stance was wide open after his previous attack, and he couldn't shift his center of gravity in time. Just as he was about to have his neck severed, a gunshot rang out beside me.

Pa! The shot struck the dagger in Liang Qian's hand, kicking up a shower of sparks. Liang Qian flinched, likely jolted by the impact on her hand, and had no choice but to perform a backward somersault, landing like a swift swallow.

Da Xiong, next to me, was somehow armed with an old Model 28 bolt-action rifle; you had to work the bolt after every shot. By the time he managed to chamber another round, Liang Qian had already vanished back into the mist.