Just as Director Qiu was at a loss, suddenly a loud "crackling" sound came from above. Before Director Qiu could react, a huge fat man weighing 260 jin (about 286 pounds) suddenly fell from above, knocking Qiu Bulao unconscious.
We waited until Director Qiu regained consciousness, and then Hao Wenming finally shared our ordeal (he didn't mention how we got down here). Director Qiu was stunned. After a long pause, he said, "Isn't this the land of the Greater Yuezhi Kingdom? The tomb of the Ancient Zhi Kingdom? Impossible! I just dispelled several Nadajie formations. During the Ancient Zhi Kingdom period, there were no such formations like Nadajie."
Hao Wenming took out his phone again and showed Director Qiu the photos he took earlier, confirming what he said. Director Qiu shook his head and firmly insisted on his opinion, refusing to believe this was the Ancient Zhi Kingdom's tomb.
Sun Dasheng interrupted the two directors' argument: "Two directors, whether this is Greater Yuezhi or Ancient Zhi, we can study it after we get out. Shouldn't we focus on how to get out now?"
"Dasheng, we could escape through the main tomb…" I started to say but swallowed the rest of my words. When I looked up, the secret passage above had disappeared without anyone noticing.
I pulled Po Jun over. "Po Jun, carry me up to check."
"Save your strength, don't bother," Qiu Bulao said weakly. "We're in the center of a magical barrier. The space is chaotic. There's no other exit besides these ten paths."
Hao Wenming said nothing, seemingly agreeing with Director Qiu.
Sun Dasheng walked around the ten paths and said, "Ten paths, five of us, each takes two paths. It's not a big deal."
Po Jun shook his head with a bitter face. "Dasheng, it's not as simple as you think. This magical barrier is also called the Tenfold Maze of Nine Dead Ends. Except for one path of survival, the other nine lead to death — one way in, no way out."
"Hmph!" Sun Dasheng laughed carelessly. "Po Jun, what's that expression? Now we have two directors here; you're still worried about this barrier?"
"You're thinking too simply," Po Jun smiled bitterly at Sun Dasheng. "This magical barrier is uncontrollable and unpredictable."
"You mean… whether we get out depends entirely on luck?" Sun Dasheng started to panic and even stuttered.
Hao Wenming had been silent all along, squinting at Sun Dasheng. Suddenly he beckoned him over. "Dasheng, come here."
"Director Hao, what do you want?" Sun Dasheng hesitated but walked over.
Hao Wenming smiled oddly, circled the ten paths with his finger, and said, "Choose a path."
"You want me to pick a path out?" Sun Dasheng's eyes went wide. "Director Hao, are you joking?"
"No joke, hurry up. Not to rush you, but we're on a tight schedule." Hao Wenming's tone softened slightly as he looked at the hesitant Sun Dasheng. "Dasheng, out of the five of us, you're the most trustworthy person. You're the best fit to pick a path out."
Po Jun and Director Qiu looked puzzled, not understanding what Hao Wenming was up to.
Sun Dasheng circled the ten paths several times but still couldn't decide. Hao Wenming grew impatient. "Sun Dasheng, hurry! Everyone's waiting on you."
"This one," Sun Dasheng finally made up his mind and pointed to a path directly opposite him.
Director Qiu snorted. "Why didn't you just say so earlier? Fine, this path it is." He led Sun Dasheng toward the designated path. After hesitating a moment, Director Qiu followed.
Po Jun and I walked at the back. Po Jun whispered in my ear, "Lazi, does Dasheng have a clue?"
I replied, "More or less."
Po Jun glanced at me. "What's 'more or less'? Our lives are now in Sun Dasheng's hands. If he picks wrong, we're all done for."
I knew some background about Sun Dasheng and said, "If I give you a deck of cards, could you luck out and draw the heart ace ten times in a row?"
Po Jun replied, "You're joking, right? Whose luck is that good?"
I pointed at Sun Dasheng's back. "That guy's."
The path took more than two hours to walk, and there was still no sign of an exit. Sun Dasheng was the first to wear out. It had been five or six hours since he fell into the hole. No food or water, plus exhausting physical labor like moving petro-monuments and pushing coffins — his strength was almost gone.
"Director Hao, Director Qiu, let's take a break," Sun Dasheng said. Without waiting for their consent, he pulled off his shirt, sat down bare-chested, and started grumbling, "I think we took the wrong path. This is a dead end — a road to death from exhaustion."
Hao Wenming and Director Qiu exchanged a look. Hao said, "Rest for ten minutes, then we move on." Finally, some relief, even if only for ten minutes.
I sat cross-legged opposite Sun Dasheng. He kept grumbling, and I was getting annoyed. I nudged him with my elbow. "Dasheng, quiet down for a bit. If you talked like Brother Yixiu, I could tolerate it. But your nonsense is endless. Don't forget, you picked this path. If it's a dead end, even as ghosts, we won't let you off."
Sun Dasheng quieted down a lot but still babbled softly. "Well, maybe it's not a dead end. Hey, Lazi, your eyes are sharp. Is there any light ahead?" He pointed behind me.
"Cut that out, Sun Dasheng, don't change the subject. The five of us have ten eyes. If there were light, we'd see it…" I hadn't finished when Po Jun, Hao Wenming, and Director Qiu's eyes all suddenly fixed on the same spot behind me.
Was there really something? I looked back, but it was pitch black — no light at all.
"You scared me…" I barely said before suddenly a bright flash appeared ahead. It lasted just an instant before the darkness returned. Was I seeing things? I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
Still pitch black. I thought it was my imagination. Just as I caught my breath, a flash of light flickered again. Not imagination — the light appeared and disappeared irregularly.
Sun Dasheng saw it clearly and turned to Hao Wenming. "Director Hao, there's light ahead."
"Thanks, I see it," Hao Wenming replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm not blind."
His eyes weren't blind, but they blinked rapidly, focusing intently on the flickering light. It was his bad habit — when confused, his eyes never stopped blinking. I worried: if a series of big troubles came, would his face muscles get messed up from so much blinking?
Pojun walked up to Director Hao and said, "Director Hao, that flickering light doesn't look like natural light."
"Mm." Director Hao responded with a grunt. "Not to be that guy, but—hey, Old Qiu, where are you going?" As he spoke, Qiu Bulao had already taken a dozen steps toward the source of the light. He only replied, "I'm going in for a closer look." Qiu Bulao was always a man of action—he'd rather move than talk.
Director Hao sighed, picked up his pace, and followed Qiu Bulao toward the flickering light. Pojun trailed behind them, raising his eyebrows at me and Sun Fatty to signal us to follow.
The two directors took the lead, and the three of us investigators followed behind, holding the rear (or, you could say, ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble). We advanced another 400 to 500 meters like this. Strangely, the flickering light ahead didn't flash again. The air was gradually becoming more humid, and after walking for a while, both the walls and floor felt damp and slippery.
After another 300 to 400 meters, that long-absent flash of light began flickering again—faster and more urgently this time. By the brief glow, the scenery ahead suddenly became clear.
Roughly 150 to 160 meters ahead, a cave entrance appeared. The light we'd seen earlier had been coming from inside it.
Qiu Bulao and Director Hao immediately became more cautious. Qiu Bulao pressed close to the wall and slowly edged toward the opening. Director Hao followed close behind, but didn't forget to turn around and gesture for us to stop and hold our position.
When the two directors reached the cave entrance, they cautiously peered inside. Apparently out of patience, Qiu Bulao gave Director Hao a hand signal. Before Director Hao could respond, he had already slipped inside.
Director Hao stared at Qiu Bulao's back, clearly frustrated but helpless. He silently mouthed a few curses, then carefully entered the cave after him.
Seeing the two directors disappear, I turned to Pojun and whispered, "So… what should we do? Go in or not?"
Pojun, being a veteran of the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation, had seen plenty of situations like this. He said, "Let's wait here for a while. If anything really happens in there, we'd just be a burden if we went in. If everything's fine, Director Hao will call us in."
"What if the two of them…" Sun Fatty was always good at throwing cold water. "Hey, don't give me that look. I said if! What then?"
I glared at him. "Then you can stay here and keep them company."
Sun Fatty put on an innocent expression. "Lazi, what's with that attitude? I said if. Life is unpredictable—who knows what'll happen a minute from now? Not to be that guy, but if everything always went smoothly, insurance companies would've gone bankrupt ages ago."
Pojun looked at him with a half-smile. "You're starting to sound a lot like Director Hao. Dasheng, you're pretty slick with your words—did you use to sell insurance or something?"
And speak of the devil—Director Hao's voice came from inside the cave before Sun Fatty could reply. "It's all clear in here. You three, come on in!"
That fast? The three of us froze for a second. We thought we'd have to wait a while, but in just a few exchanges, they'd already scoped the place out?
Whether we understood it or not, we couldn't stand still. Sun Fatty and I followed Pojun into the cave.
Wait—what? Did we come back to the surface? Overhead, countless stars dotted the sky, and opposite us stretched a clear, boundless lake. The flickering light we'd seen earlier had been starlight, reflected through the cave by ripples on the lake's surface.
I was completely confused. We had clearly been descending—how were we suddenly back on the surface? But then I noticed—something about the ground wasn't right.
Beneath our feet was sticky mud, not the loose sand you could scoop up and let flow through your fingers in the desert. And this lake—how could there be such a massive natural lake in the Badain Jaran Desert? Had we somehow been teleported to another region by the "Nine Deaths and One Life Formation"?
While I was still lost in thought, Sun Fatty let out one of his signature crude laughs beside me. "We finally popped out of the earth! Hahahaha…" I looked at his manic expression and couldn't help but chuckle. Popped out of the earth? Honestly, with his physique, he really did resemble a fat mole from Czechoslovakia.
"Not to be that guy, but who said we made it out?" Director Hao stood by the lake, staring intently at Sun Fatty.
Sun Fatty was stunned. He looked up again and said, "Director Hao, with all these stars overhead, where else could we be but on the surface?"
Director Hao's expression didn't change. "Look again, carefully."
I looked up with him at the star-filled sky. Huh? Something was missing. The moon! I suddenly realized—there were stars, but no moon!
While Sun Fatty was still gazing upward, Pojun had already figured it out. He sighed and said, "Dasheng, we're still underground. The stars above us—they're fake."
"No way." Sun Fatty looked anxious. "How can stars be fake? Look at them twinkle—how could they be fake?"
"They're glowing gemstones, probably night pearls or something like that," Pojun replied. "Do you see any moon? Any clouds?"
Sun Fatty scanned the sky again. "You're right—there really isn't a moon."
And instead of disappointment, his voice even carried a hint of excitement. I glanced sideways and noticed a strange gleam in Sun Fatty's beady little eyes.