It was half-rotted, a human face where the entire right side was almost skeletal, revealing charcoal-grey teeth jutting out from the lips in a terrifying grimace.

While the left side wasn't completely decayed, the purple flesh was equally ravaged, pocked with holes burrowed by insects. Its eyes were gone, and sparse, damp strands of hair clung to its face, adding to the horror.

I had assumed it was just an ancient corpse churned up by the boiling water.

But the corpse’s single remaining right eye actually rolled over and fixed its gaze on me!

Good heavens, that terrified me so badly I started having an asthma attack.

Because even a Zongzi [Jiangshi/reanimated corpse] can’t move its eyeballs!

I gasped dryly twice for air. A hissing sound came from the lower level, and the thing seemed to imitate me, letting out a strange hiss as it extended a hand—dry as kindling—from the water, reaching for my neck.

Any ordinary person seeing this would probably have died of fright right then, but having been through so much, I knew I couldn't just wait to die. Drawing on some unknown reserve of strength, I swung my right arm in a wide arc and delivered an elbow strike straight to the thing’s face.

There was a loud thwack, and the entire head of the thing flew off, smashing to pieces against the cave wall.

As its head went missing, the thing’s desiccated hands slowly dropped, submerging once more into the boiling water.

I let out a slight breath, my eyes stinging fiercely from the steam, and quickly turned my head away.

apparently heard the commotion and called down from above, "What was that? Are you alright?"

I called back that I was fine, but as soon as the words left my mouth, a dozen withered, strange hands reached out from the churning slime on all sides.

I knew it was too late to wait for anything else; I plunged my right hand into the slime as fast as I could.

By then, I couldn't even tell if it hurt or not. I grabbed the neck of the statue and ripped the cluster of light free.

Having secured it, I immediately shouted up to *’s voice, "Quick, pull me up!"

Hearing me, * used every ounce of strength he possessed to haul me upwards.

Several withered hands reached for me at that moment, but I batted them all away with my right hand.

Three minutes later, * finally managed to drag me back onto solid ground.

He pulled me up dragging me backward. All the way, I desperately pushed off the cave walls, expending immense effort, finally collapsing, utterly exhausted.

was in a worse state; he sat on the ground, his face pale, gasping for breath, tightly clutching his chest—clearly, his wound was bleeding again.

After resting for a while, I struggled to my feet and said to *, "There's a Zongzi in that hole, a freshly boiled one…"

took a few breaths and replied, "Impossible! I didn't see a single corpse when I went down earlier."

I froze, wondering what on earth was happening.

But at that moment, I couldn't worry about it anymore. I opened the object in my hand, and suddenly, a brilliant light illuminated the space before us.

I shielded my eyes with my hand and finally saw clearly: the bead was housed inside a crystal vial. The vial had string threaded through both ends, tied around the statue's neck.

Earlier, when * had been careless and pulled on the rope tied around the statue's neck, he had crushed the vial, causing the slime to seep in and boil the entire deep pit.

What I now held was a collection of crystal shards and a single, pearl-sized glowing bead.

Though small, the bead gave off a luminescence comparable to staring directly at the sun.

stared, his eyes wide, shielding them with his hand, and exclaimed, "What is that? Is it a luminous jade?"

I shook my head and replied, "A luminous jade isn't this bright. This thing might have been brought by the Wei people from the West…"

As we spoke, the dazzling light of the bead suddenly dimmed considerably.

said urgently, "Bad! Hurry and place it on the lampstand, or it will be useless soon."

So, I immediately stood up and ran swiftly toward the maiden statue, placing the bead onto the lampstand.

Then, a strange thing happened. As soon as the bead was settled in the lampstand, its light flared up instantly, brighter than before.

We stood quietly, feeling a sharp sting, and seemed to witness a pale female figure emerge from within the statue, hurrying away toward the direction directly in front of the statue.

and I were astonished. Grabbing the bead from the lampstand, we rushed to follow the silhouette of the maiden, tracking her all the way to a wall of trees directly opposite the couch, at the far end.

However, it was a dead end; there was no exit.

Yet, the maiden waved her hand, and the wall of trees slowly began to change. It morphed from the rough, ancient wood of the inner wall into black, wrinkled skin, and in the center of this leathery surface, a small hole gradually appeared.

The hole expanded slowly, finally becoming a circular opening, its edges lined with backward-pointing, needle-like white teeth, each one as long as a human finger.

Seeing this sight, * and I exchanged a look of utter bewilderment. What was going on? Had we been inside some kind of animal all along?

We didn't have time to ponder, as the maiden suddenly dashed through the opening.

We both rushed after her, one after the other, bursting through.

But when we got through, the maiden had vanished without a trace.

On either side of us stretched a tubular passageway, about three meters in diameter. The inner walls of the tunnel were composed entirely of that same black, wrinkled, skin-like structure; walking on it felt as soft as stepping on upholstery.

We looked around at both ends of the tunnels, but there was no sign of the maiden. We couldn't decide which way to chase her.

Even stranger, when I looked back, the exit had disappeared. Behind us was nothing but a solid wall.

I intended to take out the bead to illuminate the area, but when I looked at the bead in my hand, its light had become incredibly dim.

What was going on? I examined it closely and noticed tiny specks of light flickering inside the bead. Initially, there were only seven or eight dots, and then, after a while, a few more would appear.

Could it be that activating the mechanism had drained too much energy, and now it needed time to slowly recharge?

I thought it over; that seemed the only logical explanation—the bead couldn't be used carelessly.

With no way back now, * urged me to pick a direction quickly, or we would surely lose her.

So we chose the right-hand tunnel, turned on our flashlights again, and ran toward the deep, dark expanse ahead.

As we ran, I asked , ", we’ve been through thick and thin together. I have a question for you."

Although * was wearing a thick leather jacket, I could still see the white bandage peeking out from his neck. Clearly, his wound was causing him increasing pain, and the movement occasionally drew a grimace from him as he walked.

But he endured it, his eyes fixed ahead, and he replied in his usual cool tone, "What question?"

"What is your relationship with Old Wu?" I looked at *.

Hearing my question, * stopped walking, turned his head to look at me, and then looked up toward the ceiling of the tunnel.

Thinking he was deliberately stalling, I said, "It's fine if you don't want to answer, I won't force you, but…"

But * didn't seem to be listening to me at all; his gaze remained fixed somewhere overhead.

This made me feel strange, so I looked up as well.

At that moment, a scene more horrifying than anything before unfolded before me.

Sometime while we weren't looking, a huge hole had opened in the ceiling above us, and from it, a terrifying, pale face with bleached skin peered down.

I stumbled back two steps in fright, then looked closely. I actually recognized the face.

It was Feng Ze!

Feng Ze was the academy student who had come to the inn to bring us news when Grandpa and the others were in danger in the underground ruins at Black Bamboo Gully.

I hadn't seen Feng Ze since we were scattered by the massive Kulong insects in the Black Bamboo Gully maze.

I thought he had died long ago, but unexpectedly, this guy had died here.

It seemed his background was far from simple.

Thinking back now, was Feng Ze's action of leading me into the underground of Black Bamboo Gully premeditated?

And who was directing him?