My heart cursed, thinking how the hell the fast-running Xiong was moving given the imminent danger, and scrambled to chase after him with all four limbs.

Before we had climbed far, a powerful rush of wind surged from behind, and a massive form, claws gripping the rock face, burst through the thick fog. It emerged like the Titanic breaking the surface, letting out a colossal wail as it lunged toward the sphere composed of spectral fire.

Though it was merely a fleeting glimpse, the light cast by the spectral fire allowed me to clearly make out the creature’s appearance.

It was a monster with a head shaped like a crocodile's, covered entirely in fine, smooth black scales. Unlike a true crocodile, its eyes were set directly in the front of its head, bearing a resemblance to the dragons of legend.

I noticed its two whiskers were exceedingly long, like a pair of writhing, glistening snakes, twisting ceaselessly—a truly bizarre sight.

Frankly, this thing genuinely stunned me. I never imagined such a colossal and mysterious organism truly existed in the world. If someone had a camera right then to capture it, it would certainly rock the globe.

In fact, ever since I was a child, I’d doubted the actual existence of dragons. For instance, of the twelve zodiac animals, eleven represent creatures that actually exist; why must the Dragon alone be a fabrication? I read some material suggesting the Dragon was incorporated because it symbolizes the Chinese nation.

But then I found it amusing. If the Dragon was so vital, why wasn't it given a more prominent position?

The first in the zodiac is the Rat, and the Chinese people greatly favor even numbers, adhering to the balance of Yin and Yang. Auspicious phrases often involve doubles: "a perfect pair," "wealth in all four seasons," and so on. Yet, the symbol of our entire nation—the Dragon—is ranked fifth in the zodiac. This is truly an inexplicable matter.

This led me to always believe that during the Yao and Shun eras when the zodiac was established, the Dragon might have simply been a common animal; at least the Jiao or Hui were very likely real entities.

As I thought this, in less time than it takes to say so, these chaotic notions flashed through my mind. That giant Hui had already opened its massive maw and lunged to bite down on the sphere of spectral fire.

Many of the spectral flames, unable to evade in time, were swallowed by the giant Hui.

But clearly, those spectral fires were no pushovers either. The flames that escaped viciously pounced, covering the entire head of the giant Hui like a swarm of bloodthirsty mosquitoes. The Hui let out a piercing shriek, and its entire head became a blazing ball of fire.

Awoooo—The Hui's roar dispersed the surrounding mist, causing the vapor to condense into countless droplets that hammered down on us, resulting in a torrential, violent downpour.

I never expected a single roar from the giant Hui to possess such power. This was practically artificial rain; no wonder ancient texts claimed divine dragons could summon wind and rain.

Doused by the heavy rain, the flames on the Hui's head gradually extinguished, plunging the cavern back into darkness. I knew the creature was still clinging to the rock face. Not daring to delay, and unwilling to risk my life watching this marvelous beast, I urged Xiong onward.

After crawling for a while, Xiong called out from behind me, "So, after fighting for a thousand years, the giant Hui won in the end?" I replied, "It’s not that simple. The number of spectral fires is definitely not exhausted."

As soon as I finished speaking, I heard the sound of countless wings flapping ahead. The opening of the opposite cave suddenly illuminated, and then thousands upon thousands of spectral fires rushed out, forming what looked like a dragon of flame, hissing as they charged toward the giant Hui behind us.

Since we were only a few meters from the opposite entrance, the searing hot air nearly singed off my eyebrows.

But because of this proximity, I clearly saw the true nature of those spectral fires: these things were, in fact, bats. They were entirely white, with faces resembling rats, but a pair of fangs jutted viciously from their mouths, making them look exceptionally menacing. They were enveloped in ghostly blue flames, yet they did not burn. Actually, it wasn't fire at all, but phosphorus found in human bones.

I surmised these bats must dwell within corpses, burrowing into the bones, and coating themselves with phosphorus powder as an offensive or defensive weapon.

What people commonly refer to as 'will-o'-the-wisps' are largely composed of white phosphorus. Because white phosphorus ignites upon contact with air and burns at an extremely high temperature—once it lands on a person it is almost impossible to extinguish and can instantly reduce them to ash—the ancients mistook it for fire from the netherworld.

I believe this must be the origin of the name 'spectral fire'! Having lived in dead bodies for extended periods and feeding on carrion, these bats are highly aggressive toward humans. The Wei State was annihilated back then because they opened the 'Ghost Eye' and summoned these things.

In ancient times, over a thousand years ago, this truly was an irresistible natural catastrophe.

That being the case, the 'Ghost Eye' must have contained a vast number of corpses to house such a massive population of spectral fires. Bats are indeed extremely sensitive to sound and nearly blind; the approach taken by Little Beard and the others was completely correct.

We now followed suit, lying motionless on the ground. Sure enough, the spectral fires did not notice us, flying right over our heads after a short while.

Xiong and I remained prone for a while longer before standing up and running toward the opposite cave entrance. The moment my feet touched solid ground, I couldn't help but let out a deep sigh of relief. The feeling of being firmly planted on the earth was profoundly reassuring.

Then I pulled Xiong up, and we entered the cavern together.

Before leaving, we couldn't resist looking back. The swarm of spectral fires was locked in a ferocious battle with the giant Hui, a spectacle so magnificent it felt like witnessing the legendary clash between a Fire Dragon and a Water Dragon. I never imagined I would see such a marvel in my lifetime.

But the Hui's body was so enormous that a single sweep of its tail sent the entire cavern shaking violently.

I watched countless spectral fires knocked down by the Hui, falling onto the hair bridge where they instantly ignited. The stench of burning hair assailed us.

I felt overwhelmingly fortunate; had we lingered even a moment longer, we would certainly have been consumed by the blaze. But I still hadn't seen Xie Yuting or the others, and I worried whether they had crossed the bridge or were trapped on the other side.

Xiong tugged my arm when he saw me staring into space.

I looked at the entire precarious cavern, snapped back to reality, and ran out with him.

Passing through the cavern brought us to the place where Little Beard and his group had kidnapped me earlier. We scrambled forward, shining our flashlights wildly. The ice-encased Wei State warriors were all there, their mouths wide open, utterly black inside—all scorched by the spectral fires.

Seeing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of ancient corpses staring with their mouths agape is a scene that will haunt me forever.

Fortunately, these were just inert things. We skirted around these bizarre corpses and glaciers. We endured several severe tremors on the way; icicles and rocks rained down from above, and the sound of cracking ice echoed all around us—utter chaos reigned.

We were lucky enough to only sustain a few scrapes, managing to sprint with extreme speed to the far end of this hall.

The instant I saw it, I understood. This hall was also connected to an outer passage by a stone door; meaning this area, like the Wei King's burial chamber, was just one room in the labyrinth.

If we pushed open this stone door now, we would return to that bizarre corridor, perhaps trapped within forever.

So, I stopped, leaning my back against the stone door to avoid being crushed by falling debris from above.

Amidst the crackling noise all around us, which sounded like firecrackers, I shouted loudly to Xiong, "How did you find this hall? Do you already have a way out of this maze?"

Xiong leaned against the wall like me, frowning as he replied, "Xie Yuting and I just stumbled through doors randomly; we happened upon this place by chance."

I thought, This is it; we are most likely not escaping.

Seeing my dejection, Xiong said loudly, "But rather than being buried here keeping company with these thousand-year-old ghosts, we might as well go out and try our luck!"

At that moment, Little Beard, resting on Xiong’s back, interjected, "Your grandfather must know the secret of this corridor, or he wouldn't have found this place with such precision. Didn't he tell you anything?"

"Grandfather!" I flinched, recalling the shadow that looked like my grandfather in the mist when I was kidnapped by Little Beard’s group. He had made several