I felt as though I had been violently jolted awake from a dream as a sudden burst of light flared before my eyes.

I saw that it was Boss Wu, holding the mining lamp, looking at me with a gaze laced with confusion.

I blinked, surprised. "What's going on?"

Boss Wu narrowed his eyes and replied, "What's going on? I was about to ask you the same thing. I was keeping watch in front of the tent, felt a bit cold, and went looking nearby for anything to start a fire. That's when I saw you walk out of the tent, staring blankly."

"I called out loudly to ask where you were going, but you acted as if you couldn't see me at all. You just stared at the empty cans I’d eaten near the ground, and then you started walking deeper into the cave."

"I shouted a few more times, but you didn't react in the slightest. I had no choice but to follow you the whole way."

"At first, I thought you were sleepwalking, but your eyes were wide open, and you moved as if you were tailing someone—pausing frequently, sometimes ducking behind rocks. Considering how many loose stones are on this ground, you navigated them all without tripping, which suggests you were perfectly conscious. That’s when I began to suspect you were possessed."

"So, I kept my distance, moving just beside you while shining the light, yet you never acknowledged my presence."

"Finally, I saw you reach the wall and start touching this corpse, and I couldn't stand it any longer. I rushed over and woke you up. Tell me, what on earth were you doing?"

Hearing Boss Wu’s words, a sudden, cold sweat broke out over my body.

Recalling the events, it had clearly been me tracking Boss Wu, and every detail of that memory felt utterly real.

Was it possible that I had actually been following a ghost? Or was I hallucinating?

Was this because I hadn't slept properly in so long, or perhaps the dark, oppressive air of this place was causing a mental breakdown?

I vigorously rubbed my eyes, trying desperately to regain clarity.

Then, I turned to look at the corpse Boss Wu had mentioned, and my bewilderment deepened tenfold.

What I had been touching moments ago was indeed a corpse. This body had also clearly died from fire, but it hadn't been completely carbonized; the skeleton was intact. Half of the face was stripped bare of flesh, while the other half was blackened.

On the side without skin, the bone was scorched yellow, the eyes and tongue long melted away, leaving only a row of stark white teeth exposed to the air, creating a truly horrifying sight.

I looked down at my own hands, which were covered in black carbon soot, confirming that I had genuinely touched that thing.

A muscle in my eye started to twitch involuntarily. I wondered, how could I have been fondling the head of such a thing?

After calming myself, I quickly noticed something unusual about the body.

Despite the fiery death, the hair remained—thick, dense, and fine—suggesting the person was not elderly.

I looked at Boss Wu and asked, "Why does this person still have hair?"

Boss Wu was also puzzled, but he was focused on something else. "Having hair isn't unusual. This person probably wasn't killed by spectral fire; maybe they were electrocuted, which would leave the hair intact. But we've circled this labyrinthine cave system dozens of times and never seen this body before."

Boss Wu then studied the surrounding terrain again, saying with a touch of excitement, "Also, I don't recall ever being in this specific spot. Look over there."

I followed the direction of his pointing finger and saw a massive stalactite on the cave ceiling, nearly as thick as a water bucket, hanging down almost to the floor.

In the world of stalactite formations, this is known as the 'Kiss of Heaven and Earth'—a truly singular feature.

We definitely had not seen this before; if we had, we certainly would have remembered it.

At that moment, Boss Wu laughed, clapped me on the shoulder, and said, "Who would have thought? We just stumbled our way out."

I was equally surprised. I looked around and then said to him, "Do you think that when I was hallucinating, maybe some good friends were secretly helping us?"

Boss Wu paused, absorbing the meaning, before he understood what 'good friends' referred to in my context.

He then gestured toward the corpse on the floor and replied, "If there were any good friends involved, I’d wager it was this one, since he’s the one who led you here."

I looked at the ghastly body, but the feeling of revulsion gradually faded, replaced by an odd sense of kinship with the deceased. Perhaps it was because I knew firsthand how terrible it was to be trapped in utter darkness.

"I suspect he brought us here because he had some unfinished business," Boss Wu suggested to me.

I nodded. "Is this someone you brought into the cave?"

Boss Wu swept the beam of his mining lamp up and down the corpse before shaking his head. "None of the people I brought wore clothes like this."

I held the light closer and observed that Boss Wu was correct; the person was likely electrocuted. Not only did they have hair, but their clothes weren't even singed. Instead, the cotton coat and trousers had burst open from the current, the inner stuffing exploding out like popcorn.

We then examined the wall behind the body, where we found scorch marks consistent with electrical discharge. It was quite clear this was the probable crime scene.

However, there were no high-voltage lines installed here, nor was it outdoors, so lightning seemed impossible. Being electrocuted to death in this sealed environment was a distinctly bizarre scenario.

Suddenly, I remembered the stone hand that had appeared in the rattan vine when Long Jia was electrocuted.

Had it been here too?

After a look, Boss Wu stroked his chin. "That’s strange. How could this be?"

"What is it?" I asked.

Unfazed by the corpse's gruesome appearance, Boss Wu crouched down and gently felt the fabric of the clothes. "Look at this batting; it hasn't yellowed much, nor is it infested with bugs. Given how muggy and damp the air in this cave is, if this person had died here over a year ago, the cotton would have been entirely eaten by insects. So, this person must have died recently."

I nodded. "That’s true. But judging by the attire, they must have come here in winter. Yet, it’s still early in the season; there’s no reason to wear this much heavy clothing. The most logical explanation is that they arrived last winter, but that contradicts what you just said, as last winter was at least half a year ago."

Boss Wu nodded slowly. "Perhaps this person was carrying something that repelled insects."

With that, Boss Wu began to move the dead body.