"That's right, this is the Spirit Pearl." Yue Qi examined it for a while before making a careful judgment. However, despite having such a precious Spirit Pearl in front of him, he still had no urge to dig it up.

Yan Qing didn't know why. Logically, she should have been tempted by something so precious. But in fact, she couldn't muster the slightest interest.

Besides, this is a replica of one of the Nine Hells—the Cold Nether Hell. Would such a place offer any free benefits?

She doesn't believe it!

The two of them arrived rather late. She had already seen Monk Yuanhui and the others digging and absorbing the spirit pearls, and their faces showed great joy.

Even Mu Xiao, who arrived last, was now enjoying absorbing the spirit pearl he had just dug up.

Yan Qing looked at the huge frozen lake. The white water was bottomless, yet it gave her a very strange feeling that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"It's too quiet here."

Yue Qi pointed out incisively, "Besides, the Netherworld has guardians, but here, there are none. This is abnormal."

"Guardians? What are those?"

Yue Qi's gaze fell upon the frozen lake, which remained an impenetrable expanse of white snow.

"The Tianqi Snow Serpent is over five zhang long, pure white, and adept at hiding. It often attacks when people are least expecting it. Its entire body is highly venomous, and any part that comes into contact with it will immediately ulcerate. Those bitten will suffer from severe ulceration all over their bodies and eventually freeze to death."

Yue Qi sighed, "There's such a huge ice lake here, it's obvious there's something fishy going on. Logically, the Sun family should know about it."

This is what he doesn't understand. The Sun family's records clearly contain explanations of the Heavenly Snow Serpent, so how could they naively believe that there really is a Spirit Pearl here?

Yan Qing also thought of this, and her eyes widened immediately. "No way, you mean the spirit pearls here are fake too?"

Yue Qi didn't speak, but his eyes clearly conveyed that meaning.

So when Yan Qing looked at the "spiritual pearls" buried in the lake again, she couldn't help but feel wary. She secretly leaned closer to Yue Qi and asked uncertainly,

"Yue Qi, do you think this spirit pearl might have been deliberately spat out by that Heavenly Snow Serpent to lure everyone into a trap?"

Yue Qi laughed, "Why don't you give it a try?"

"No!" She wasn't stupid.

The two stood by the lake for a while, watching everyone divide up the last dozen or so spirit orbs in one go. Then they all ran to a corner away from the lake to rest.

Sun Qiang came over specifically to explain to them, "Actually, we all noticed as soon as we came in that the curse formation here had already been destroyed by someone. So for now, we should be safe."

Yan Qing didn't believe him and retorted directly, "Then have you found what you're looking for?"

Sun Qiang was caught off guard by her and almost choked on his own saliva.

"Well, the item is definitely still here. We plan to search for it step by step. We came here today to discuss with you whether you could give it to us directly once we find it."

Yan Qing raised an eyebrow. It seemed that this young master Sun had been driven to desperation! He was about to resort to a self-inflicted injury ploy, but she wasn't going to be kind to him; this man was wicked.

Yue Qi also told him frankly, "Actually, that thing is of no use to us. We don't plan to fight you for the next few. As for these two, they're just for insurance purposes. After all, in this instance, all we want to do is survive."

Seeing that neither of them would budge, Sun Qiang didn't say anything more. Since Yue Qi had agreed not to interfere, at least his goal had been achieved, so he exchanged a few pleasantries and left.

Yan Qing watched Sun Qiang's retreating figure, wishing she could spit in his face. This man truly deserved to be the second richest person in the world; he was incredibly adaptable and resilient.

She was absolutely certain that if given the chance to kill them both, Sun Qiang would not hesitate. Right now, he was simply asking them for a favor.

"You despicable person!"

"Alright, instead of arguing with him, you should take some time to rest," Yue Qi reminded her. "I have a feeling that tonight won't be very peaceful."

Yan Qing was shocked. After all, nothing had happened the previous few nights, and she simply couldn't believe that something was wrong tonight.

That night.

Yan Qing was wrapped in her sleeping bag, having a wonderful time with Morpheus, when she suddenly felt someone gently shaking her body.

She instinctively sat up, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was Yue Qi.

"Shh—don't speak, come with me."

Yue Qi quietly helped her pack her things, then took her hand and climbed onto a path close to the mountainside. He pressed one ear against the wall.

Listen—

Confused, Yan Qing pressed her ear against the mountain wall and heard a "thump-thump-thump" heartbeat.

"What is this?!?!" Yan Qing immediately covered her mouth, afraid that she would make any more noise.

"Shh—" Yue Qi gestured for her to quiet down, then he pointed to the spot on the ground where the Sun family had been resting. It was completely empty, with nothing there.

"What about the Sun family? Where did they go?"

Yue Qi shook his head. "I don't know either. When I woke up, they were gone."

Yan Qing looked at the place where they were resting. Apart from the two of them, Monk Yuanhui, Wen Jiajia, and Mu Xiao were all sleeping soundly.

So she suggested to Yue Qi, "Why don't we wake them up too? It's too unsafe here."

After saying that, she turned around and was about to go downstairs, but Yue Qi grabbed her hand.

“It’s no use. I’ve already tried calling them, but they’re completely unresponsive.” Yue Qi’s face darkened. “I suspect it’s related to the spiritual pearl they absorbed. They’re in a state where they seem to be paralyzed and can’t be woken up at all.”

"Oh my god! What do we do? Could this be the work of the Sun family again?"

There's no doubt about it. The Sun family has all run away, leaving only the five of them here. If it wasn't them, who else could it be?

Yan Qing felt a chill run down her spine; their current situation was extremely unfavorable.

Also, "What exactly is that thumping heartbeat sound?"

Upon hearing this, Yue Qi fell silent.

The two exchanged a glance and simultaneously thought of the same thing—the Heavenly Snow Serpent!

Could this legendary tomb guardian beast really be real?

Just as the two were filled with fear, a soft cracking sound suddenly came from the frozen lake.

"Slap—slap—slap—"