His flashlight beam caught something near the edge of the cliff, and the sight sent a jolt through me. There stood a woman, clad in a semi-sheer, dark crimson silk robe, embroidered with flamboyant golden blossoms.

Most astonishingly, she appeared to be draped in this ethereal silk, barely concealing her form. She stood with her back to us, her hair so long it pooled on the ground, merging seamlessly with the layer of tresses spread beneath her.

Gazing upon the tantalizing outlines hinted beneath the sheer fabric of her robe, the slender curves were enough to make one blush. I swallowed hard, a flush creeping up my cheeks, and I found myself unexpectedly eager for the woman to turn around.

I was staring, lost in the moment, when the ground suddenly vibrated violently again. Daixiong and I lost our footing simultaneously and slipped off the cliff edge.

I heard the rush of wind past my ears, followed by a searing pain in my backside as I crashed onto a stone slab from a height of about five or six meters. If not for the thick mat of hair below, I might have been crippled.

But that wasn't the most terrifying part; I sprang up from the ground instantly, my flashlight beam frantically sweeping back toward the cliff edge. Gone.

The woman in red had vanished. My first thought was: did she lose her balance too and take a spectacular face-plant off the precipice?

I swept the light across every corner, but the woman was truly gone. Daixiong had somehow managed to stand up as well, staring blankly at the open-lidded coffin.

After confirming the woman's total absence, I walked over to Daixiong and clapped him on the shoulder, asking, "What's wrong? Any artifact?" Daixiong pointed at the coffin and said, "Look, this coffin is bizarre; it's actually connected to the pillar." I looked and saw it was true.

The coffin had no bottom; its entire cavity was hollow, leading directly into the pillar, and from there, a hole tunneled deeper into the earth below. Daixiong nudged me and said, "Well?

Want to take a look inside? Might be an exit." I leaned my ear close to the coffin opening and listened intently.

From the hole leading to the ground below, I detected faint, rustling sounds of chains, which made the hair on my scalp prickle. It reminded me of the sound those people made when they walked, the ones kneeling before the Ghost Eye.

Without hesitation, I told Daixiong, "If you want to go down, you go. I’m staying right here.

This place feels deeply wrong." Seeing him still wavering, I added, "This stone platform is suspended in mid-air. This hole might be a trap; you step in and get dropped straight down.

Ancient tomb robbers used mechanisms just like this." His expression shifted. "Damn it, so that's the trick.

Trying to set a trap for Xiong-ye? You're still too green." We both turned back to the cliff edge and were overjoyed to see the bridge of hair was still intact.

Just as we were about to step onto it, a faint cry drifted from behind us: "Help... save me..." I spun around and confirmed the sound came from a pile of hair.

I glanced at Daixiong. Daixiong hesitated, then said, "Didn't you just say the people trapped here were those international thieves?

We don't need to bother with those bloodthirsty bandits." I frowned. "Those scoundrels are despicable, but they are still human lives.

We should go see." Daixiong, perhaps intimidated by my sharp tone earlier, didn't argue and followed me back onto the stone platform. I tracked the sound to a mound of hair, wrapped my sleeve around my hand, and pushed aside the tangled strands to reveal a familiar face.

It was the Little Beard. His face was deathly pale, his eyes haggard, and his eye bags were immense, as if he hadn't slept in days.

Just then, Daixiong shouted from beside me, "*! Isn't that *?

What are you doing here?" The Little Beard glanced at me first, gave a wry smile, then looked at Daixiong and said, "It's a long story. We'll talk when we get out.

That Blood Lotus Corpse is too powerful; all our men are dead." Honestly, seeing the Little Beard trapped gave me a secret sense of satisfaction, but since he seemed to know Daixiong, we worked together to pull him free. Throughout the rescue, I kept an eye on our surroundings, but the woman in red never reappeared.

Daixiong hoisted the weakened Little Beard onto his back, and we both stepped onto the hair bridge. Fearing a sudden tremor might fling us into the abyss, we trod with extreme caution, making our progress agonizingly slow.

I walked ahead, sweeping the path with my flashlight, while Daixiong followed behind, carrying the Little Beard. The bridge made of hair stretched like a black dragon weaving through the misty void between the colossal depths, making us feel as if we were walking on clouds.

Normally, I would have considered this an exquisite scene—a potential tourist attraction that could earn enough entry fees to last a lifetime. But now, clad in a moth-eaten greatcoat, disheveled, covered in cuts and bruises, and emitting an indescribable odor from my collar, I felt no such joy.

The wind howled around us like a ghostly lament, and the biting gusts scraped against my face like knives. I had no appetite for sightseeing; I felt as though my entire body was coming apart, my nerves stretched to the breaking point.

All I wanted was to find the exit, get a bowl of hot porridge, and sleep for several days. Lost in these thoughts, Daixiong suddenly exclaimed, "Huh?" from behind me, calling out, "Comrade Xiaochuan, look quickly, there seems to be light in the abyss!" I walked to the edge of the bridge and peered down diagonally.

Sure enough, through the dense fog, I saw a cluster of light points flickering erratically. At first, I thought someone in the chasm was signaling us with a flashlight, but soon another light cluster ignited, then another, and another, until the entire abyss was aglow—countless points of light forming a massive, luminous river.

I stared, dumbfounded, recalling the parasitic creatures I’d learned about from the Wei Kingdom warriors, and a chill ran down my spine. My deepest fears seemed to be materializing, for I saw those light clusters growing larger, apparently heading toward us.

Daixiong jostled me from behind, his voice tight with tension. "Hurry, hurry!

It’s the Will-o'-the-Wisps!" Will-o'-the-Wisps? The same flames that reportedly annihilated the entire Wei nation?

I had suspected these were the entities described in the Wei King's scrolls, but I never truly believed such things could still exist after a thousand years. I remembered how nearly fatal it was just to look up at them before; the memory made my blood run cold, and I scrambled forward as if my life depended on it.

After running only a few steps, I heard the frantic flapping of countless wings nearby. In moments, thousands of light clusters rose up, illuminating the entire cavern.

The swarm of Will-o'-the-Wisps coalesced into one immense ball of fire hovering above us, radiating palpable heat even from a distance. I realized their ascent from the chasm might not have been for us; they seemed agitated, darting about while emitting a noisy, bat-like squeaking.

Before we could process what was happening, a deafening cry echoed from the very bottom of the abyss. "Jiuu..." The sound was pure and clear, yet intensely penetrating, as if right beside my ear.

Then the ground began to heave violently, and the entire hair bridge started swinging like a pendulum between the cliff walls. The three of us threw ourselves flat, listening to the groan and crack of the surrounding rock.

Boulders the size of water vats plummeted from both sides of the hair bridge, smashing against the mountain face with a thunderous roar. The world spun around me, and I clung desperately to the bridge structure.

Enduring the violent rocking and the deafening noise, feeling as if my insides were being tossed around, I then noticed something far more terrifying. The hair bridge was not densely woven; numerous gaps allowed me to see what lay beneath.

I saw a pair of preposterously large, triangular eyes reflecting a faint, eerie blue light, surging upwards with palpable killing intent! My God, that sight nearly made me wet myself; my thighs instantly began to cramp up from fear.

Ignoring the swaying bridge, I yelled back to Daixiong, "Crawl forward, fast!" As soon as I shouted, I saw Daixiong, still carrying the Little Beard, already scrambling ahead of me. He turned back and yelled, "Holy hell, the Old Dragon is coming out!

We're done for!"