Three Americans approached O'Connell and Zheng Zha with glass bottles in hand, while the old professor retreated toward his personal tent, clutching the black ancient book, already devising ways to open it.

"Hey, O'Connell, how much do you think these treasures will fetch back home? Hahaha, I heard you found a wet mummy? Haha, that's hilarious! Maybe you can dry it out and use it for firewood..." one of the Americans holding a glass bottle laughed loudly.

Seeing the three Americans lounging shamelessly before them, Zheng Zha and the others, who were familiar with the plot, remained unperturbed, but O'Connell's trio couldn't help but laugh in exasperation. Eve suddenly retrieved several hardened beetle shells from her pack, smiling slyly. "Look what I have here. Remains of scarab beetles. These are carnivorous insects we found in the wet mummy's coffin. These bugs can survive for years when they have a corpse to eat... Our mummy friend was literally eaten alive by these things. He was alive when they ate him."

The three Americans instinctively swallowed, instantly covered in goosebumps. However, since they were the ones who initiated the conversation, leaving now was impossible; they were forced to sit there and endure Eve's verbal assault.

O'Connell understood Eve's implication and deliberately asked, "Someone tossed the bugs in there to let them slowly eat him to death?" The three Americans swallowed again. Eve intentionally replied, "Very, very slowly. He could feel the bugs crawling inside his body right before he died... As far as I know, this form of torture is called 'insect devouring'—the most vicious curse in ancient Egypt, reserved only for the most heinous sinners. I've never heard of anyone in Egyptian history actually being subjected to it..." The three Americans finally snapped out of their stunned silence. One of them asked curiously, "That potent? Why didn't they use that punishment? Don't you think that punishment is... cool?" Eve rolled her eyes. "Sorry, the reason they didn't use it wasn't anything else, but because they feared the consequences it would unleash. The ancient Egyptians believed that if a sinner subjected to insect devouring were resurrected, it would bring ten plagues upon Egypt. The resurrected monster would possess infinite power and lead the entire land to ruin..." The three Americans, having made a fool of themselves and suffered another round of verbal abuse, exchanged a few more meaningless words before retreating to their respective tents. Of course, Eve’s attention remained fixed on the black ancient book in the distant professor's hand. She offered perfunctory replies, then lay down to feign sleep. The rest exchanged a few sleepy words before drifting off. Zheng Zha and the others exchanged glances; they knew what was coming next. The heroine, Eve, would steal the Book of the Dead, unintentionally utter the resurrection incantation within, and finally bring the undying priest Imhotep back to life.

Everyone felt a profound sense of contradiction. Their mission was to bury the undying priest Imhotep, which necessitated resurrecting him first so he could be properly interred. Yet, resurrecting him meant not only facing pursuit from an infinitely powerful mummy but also confronting an attack from another Death Squad. This feeling—knowing they might very well die, yet being compelled to proceed—was utterly dreadful.

Sure enough, deep in the night, Eve tiptoed toward the old professor’s tent. She gently lifted the black ancient book from his grasp, then crept quietly back.

"You know, this is called stealing," O'Connell murmured with his eyes closed.

"But... according to what you and my brother said, I call it borrowing," Eve chirped with a smile. She pulled the disc, which served as the key, from her pack and aligned it against the cover of the black book.

O'Connell slowly sat up, gazing with curiosity. "I thought the Book of Thoth was golden... I didn't expect it to be black?" Eve shook her head. "The Book of Thoth is indeed golden, but this isn't it... This is another book. I think it must be the Book of the Dead..." O'Connell studied it seriously. "The Book of the Dead? And you're playing with it?" Eve smiled. "It's just a book, and just reading it won't cause any harm..." Zheng Zha suddenly called out from not far away, "So, you understand ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs? Qi Tengyi, you understand them too, right?" Eve and O'Connell jumped in surprise, quickly gesturing for him to quiet down. Then they heard Qi Tengyi say with a hint of amusement, "If it's about reciting the script and understanding its meaning, I'd say I know it fairly well... as long as the text isn't too obscure."

Eve rolled her eyes, casually and gently opening the black ancient book. As the pages parted, a strange, chilling gust of wind swept through, causing the campfire between them to flicker erratically.

The somewhat reckless girl, Eve, paid it no mind, tracing the script on the Book of the Dead and murmuring, "Sun, Moon, Nine Hells... Rebirth, rebirth, be reborn!" As soon as she finished this passage, Zheng Zha, Ling Dian, and Zhao Yingkong shot upright. A strange premonition of danger made it impossible for them to remain still; the sense of peril was so intense that simply experiencing it filled them with tension. One source of danger emanated from beneath the ground, and another from the distant dunes to the west.

The old professor also woke suddenly, shouting, "No, you mustn't read it aloud!" Zheng Zha reacted fastest. He drew his dagger and sprinted toward a large stone pillar nearby, using the blade’s edge to easily ascend the structure. Standing atop the pillar, he gazed towards the distant western dunes, vaguely discerning a group of figures appearing there. Because of the dim light, he couldn't immediately tell how many people were present.

"Crack!" Zheng Zha instinctively raised his dagger to shield his face. A small pebble struck the flat of the blade with a sharp report. The force of the impact was enough to numb his arm, sending him tumbling down from the pillar. Fortunately, his reaction time was sharp; mid-fall, he kicked off the pillar's surface, landing diagonally on the ground. Though he rolled several times, he remained completely unharmed.

The occupants of the camp also woke up. Before they could ask what had happened, a dense, flapping sound of countless wings echoed from afar. Within seconds, everyone finally discerned the source: an immense swarm of locusts appeared in the distance, advancing like a tide toward them. The sight alone was enough to make one's skin crawl.

Eve instantly forgot the Book of the Dead. O'Connell scooped her up by the waist, and they ran with the others toward the entrance of the underground mausoleum. Zheng Zha, however, remained transfixed on the west, where a sharp murderous aura emanated, preventing him from turning away. Thankfully, Zhang Jie and Ling Dian arrived swiftly, supporting him as they hurried toward the tomb entrance.

Not far from the City of the Dead, the killing intent was rapidly receding from the group...