By all past experience, feral cats are naturally suspicious and rarely crawl into ancient tombs through grave robbing tunnels. "Zhegushao" looked back at the numerous large and small wildcats with a mixture of frustration and amusement. What was going on tonight? It was one setback after another. To procure a burial shroud from this tomb—a feat usually mundane—had unexpectedly become fraught with so many complications.

It seemed to be a classic case of "success and failure traced to the same source"; using his world-renowned ventriloquism to lure one cat away had only summoned a massive swarm of others.

With "Zhegushao's" marksmanship, capable of hitting a target from a hundred paces, he could easily dispatch the cats entering the chamber with rapid shots. However, any slight misstep might cause a fleeing or wounded cat to extinguish the candle.

If he couldn't secure the shroud before the "Rooster Crows and the Lamp Goes Out," he wouldn't learn the Fenjin Dingxue (Divination of Gold and Grave) technique of the Mojin Xiaowei (Grave Robbers of Gold). Recalling the agonizing deaths of his tribesmen, "Zhegushao" felt that no difficulty in the world could stop him. Gritting his teeth, he realized caution was impossible; he had to use speed to counter speed, stripping the shroud from the female corpse before those damned cats could cause real trouble.

"Zhegushao" moved like lightning, securing the female corpse's body and tearing off the fastenings of her shroud. He lifted the corpse's left arm with his foot, intending to pull the sleeve off the arm. But the moment he moved, two wildcats leaped onto the bronze-horned, gold-inlaid coffin. Why did they fear no man? It was because those who engaged in grave robbing for extended periods carried heavy yin energy and weak yang energy. Coupled with his all-black attire, light movements, and the consumption of the "Red Cinnabar Marvelous Heart Pill" (which suppressed breath and pulse and neutralized corpse poison), in the eyes of animals, such tomb raiders were akin to the dead—the cats perceived no danger from them.

One black and one calico cat, attracted by the gleaming gold of the coffin, sprang onto it. They began fighting, hissing and slashing at each other, tumbling around until they both fell into the coffin.

The cats were about to touch the ancient corpse. At this critical juncture, the female corpse, having the "Corpse-Fixing Pill" in her mouth, had lost the white fur coating her body, which had reverted to its original state. But contact with the cats would undoubtedly trigger immediate reanimation. "Zhegushao" knew perfectly well that once the corpse changed, the resulting Bai Xiong (White Fierce One) would be exceptionally savage and impossible to subdue quickly. In about the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, the rooster would crow, and while the crowing would prevent the Bai Xiong from fully manifesting, the shroud would be impossible to remove then.

It was a testament to "Zhegushao’s" agility. In the split second before the cats made contact, he yanked the corpse-binding rope, arched his back, and leaped toward the left side, pulling the Southern Song female corpse out of the bronze-horned, gold-inlaid coffin with him. Both man and corpse landed on the floor of the chamber.

Three or four cats were now inside the coffin, chasing each other playfully. "Zhegushao" inwardly sighed, "That was a near thing." Now separated from the coffin, he dared not delay further. He pushed the female corpse off himself, raising his foot to support her arm again to pull off the shroud. However, by the flickering candlelight, he saw that the corpse's mouth had opened once more, likely displaced by the abrupt, wide movement when he jumped from the coffin.

A layer of white fuzz began to reappear on the corpse, like mold growing on spoiled food, lengthening visibly. The corpse's open mouth spewed a puff of black mist toward "Zhegushao." He gasped, taking in a sharp breath—such dense qi of decay! Had he not taken the "Red Cinnabar Marvelous Heart Pill" beforehand, inhaling this mist would have instantly caused corpse poisoning and death.

Not daring to trifle with the black mist-like qi from the ancient corpse, "Zhegushao" ducked to avoid it. He saw that the deep purple "Corpse-Fixing Pill," previously in the Southern Song female corpse’s mouth, had fallen near the roof tile partially obscuring the candle. Facing an imminent transformation, if he ignored it and continued pulling the shroud, the corpse would become a Bai Xiong within a second of human contact. "Zhegushao" was forced to release his grip on the shroud. Regardless, while the reanimation was still minor, he had to return the pill to the corpse’s mouth first.

With a roll, "Zhegushao" pulled the female corpse—still tethered to him by the binding rope—across the floor toward the southeast corner of the chamber.

The southeast corner was the dead spot in the lighting of the entire chamber. The light sources were the lantern hanging on the coffin lid and the candle partially hidden by the roof tile. The shadow cast by the tile and the coffin converged precisely in that corner, and the "Corpse-Fixing Pill" lay right on the boundary between light and dark, visible one moment and swallowed by shadow the next as the candlelight swayed.

As "Zhegushao" rolled closer to snatch the pill, a large cat darted out of the shadow in the light's dead zone—the same one that had caused trouble initially. The cat, likely starving, intended to eat anything it saw, opening its jaws to bite the pill on the ground.

"Zhegushao" felt intense hatred for the cat, but it was too late to reach the pill conventionally. In desperation, he repeated his earlier trick, imitating the squeaks of mice with his peerless ventriloquism. The motley cat fell for it again, pausing momentarily, its large eyes fixed on "Zhegushao," puzzled why this "mouse" looked so different from ordinary ones, so it didn't immediately pounce.

Seizing the cat's hesitation, "Zhegushao" snatched the pill from the ground and swiftly thrust it back into the Southern Song female corpse’s mouth. He followed up with a swift kick, sending the large cat flying like a ball. The kick was devastatingly precise and silent; the cat, caught off guard, slammed headfirst into the chamber wall, bones shattered, head split open, dying instantly without a sound.

Though he killed the cat, "Zhegushao" thought grimly, "I didn't intend to take your life, but you, you greedy creature, have thwarted me time and again. You cannot be spared; may you attain Buddhahood." (Attaining Buddhahood, among Daoist practitioners, refers to death, a sort of ascension, not the Buddha of temples, implying release.)

With the precise timing ingrained from his skill of "calculating to the precise moment" (mastering an exact biological clock), "Zhegushao" instinctively calculated that the great roosters in the nearby village would crow before the time it took to burn half a sheet of paper. He could wait no longer. He yanked the corpse-binding rope, pulling the Southern Song female corpse upright.

The outermost burial shroud was completely undone, leaving only the two sleeves. The corpse wore nine layers of shrouds, fitted tightly, but by following the natural drape of the cloth and using proper technique, they could be removed without excessive force.

"Zhegushao" righted the corpse, intending to turn her body around. This way, without lifting the arms, he could strip the remaining garments with a single pull from behind.

However, before he could turn her, a wave of foul air washed over him. The other wildcats that had entered the chamber heard the recent squeaking, realizing the sound originated from "Zhegushao." Long hungry, they swarmed toward him, looking for the phantom mouse on his person.

Over a dozen cats, large and small, lunged simultaneously. Even with three heads and six arms, he couldn't deal with them all. "Zhegushao's" heart turned ice-cold: "Forget it. This must be fate; Heaven does not permit me to learn the secret art of Fenjin Dingxue."

But this feeling of defeat vanished in an instant. As fast as the cats arrived, "Zhegushao’s" ventriloquism was faster. He had thoroughly mimicked the cats' earlier cries, and now he let out a feline sound: "MeowAow~~~MeowAow~~~"

The cats could not fathom this ability. They had just heard a mouse call from him, and now they heard cat calls—they were completely confused. Cats are naturally suspicious; they all froze, eyes fixed on "Zhegushao."

Their eyes shone like dozens of bright little lamps in the pitch-black chamber, emitting a wild yet cunning glare. Unconcerned with their intentions, "Zhegushao" immediately turned the Southern Song female corpse around, secured her with the binding rope, and began pulling at her shroud.

Almost simultaneously, the hungry cats made up their minds. As if by prearrangement, they decided that whether it was a mouse or a dead body, it was edible, and they would sink their teeth in regardless of any further noise. The cats pounced like arrows loosed from a bow.

"Zhegushao" knew this bizarre, long night had reached its final moments. Success depended entirely on these last few seconds. In this brief span, he had to achieve three things simultaneously: First, prevent the cats from touching the corpse and triggering reanimation; second, ensure no cat extinguished the chamber candle; third, strip the shroud before the rooster crowed, strictly adhering to the rule: "Do not rob the grave after the rooster crows and the lamp is out."

"Zhegushao" stepped back, his foot landing on the roof tile beneath him, which he kicked toward the foremost cat. The projectile tile struck the black cat squarely on the bridge of its nose. The cat shrieked "Aow!" and rolled aside.

At that moment, "Zhegushao" dropped to the ground while holding the corpse, avoiding two cats lunging from above. He grabbed the candle on the ground, using its flame in his right hand to burn through the corpse-binding rope on his chest, while his left hand gripped the back hem of the female corpse’s shroud. Both man and corpse were on the ground; he kicked the corpse, which had its back to him, forward, tearing the remaining shroud free.

This action was slightly too forceful. "Zhegushao" held the shroud in one hand and the candle in the other, which had extinguished. Simultaneously, the distant crowing of the village rooster drifted into the tunnel with the wind.

The sight of cats feeding on a corpse is rare, yet here were over a dozen frenzied wildcats simultaneously attacking the Southern Song female corpse, biting wildly...