The team leader, Nigati, was a local from Bottle City and a seasoned veteran of traversing this desert. The reason they were able to reach the Ancient Rock so smoothly was largely due to the route he led. For such an experienced veteran to issue a retreat order was certainly not an ordinary situation.

Xu Qian had initially followed the crowd back, but after taking two steps back, he suddenly stopped against the stone wall. Yan Jiudu's bounty icon had unexpectedly appeared on the minimap, meaning that Yan Jiudu was not far from him. Xu Qian was both excited and a little disappointed. If only he had a plugin, he could connect and catch the person immediately.

Of course, he was just thinking about it.

"What are you standing there for?" It was Meng Ziqiu.

"You go up first," Xu Qian said softly.

"Where are you going? Is he here?" Meng Ziqiu grabbed his arm.

Xu Qian didn't give him a definite answer, but instead said, "You'll know if you look for it."

Meng Ziqiu glanced at him and finally said only, "Then be careful."

Xu Qian raised his chin at him, took the sword wrapped in black cloth, cast a meditation buff on himself, and prepared to leave in the chaos.

At that moment, someone behind them suddenly shouted, "Oh no, it's cracked again!" The stone path beneath their feet began to crack one after another, from the stone gate all the way to the beginning of the path. Before anyone could even react, in just a few seconds, everyone inside fell down like dumplings being dropped into a pot, without exception.

Oh, no, there are a few exceptions.

Xu Qian gripped the edge of the stone wall with one hand, while holding Meng Ziqiu's backpack in the other. Meng Ziqiu clung tightly to the backpack like a little quail; thankfully, the bag was sturdy enough, or it would have tipped over. Opposite them stood the disguised older brother—Bai Chuan.

"What a coincidence, my friend." Xu Qian even greeted him with a smile, as if he were carrying not a 140-pound adult, but a 'quail'.

Meng Quail from Autumn: This is so hard for me...

Shirakawa's lips twitched, but he didn't respond. He heard a few "ouch" sounds from below, then looked down to check the situation, took out a climbing rope from his waist, fixed one end to a hook on the rock face, and jumped down the rope in a few swift movements.

Xu Qian, having been rebuffed, wasn't angry. He simply glanced at Meng Ziqiu in his hand and sighed, "Eat less next time, okay?"

"..." Meng Ziqiu couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Come on, let's see what's down there." With that, Xu Qian picked up 'Little Quail' and jumped down. Just before landing, he used a move called "Soaring Over the Sky" to stand up steadily.

However, Meng Ziqiu had no light-footed skills left to use, and he ended up with a face full of sand.

Xu Qian shone his flashlight back at the spot where he had just come down; it was about two stories high. He looked away, grabbed Meng Ziqiu who was standing at his feet, and patted him on the back.

After getting up, Meng Ziqiu coughed several times, waving the dust in front of his nose, and said with great disgust, "What's that smell? It smells like chives. Who ate chives...?"

"Still using chives?" Xu Qian let go of him once he had regained his footing.

But the other "dumplings" that fell weren't so lucky. They were all groaning and complaining. If the overall height of the place wasn't too high, they would have definitely suffered head injuries. After looking around, the most serious injury was only a broken leg, and they were walking with a limp.

"Old Guan, you're still got it! You're still got it." The speaker was one of the 'dumplings'.

Old Guan turned his gaze and pulled the person who had just spoken up to his feet. "Are you alright?"

"I'm getting old, but it's not a big problem."

Taking advantage of the break, Xu Qian held up his flashlight and looked around. The temperature was now dozens of degrees lower than on the stone path, almost like an air-conditioned room.

His gaze traveled from the top to the wall and then to the floor, finally settling on the 'ceiling' they had just fallen from. The 'ceiling' had been torn open, and the temperature difference between the two places, separated by just one 'ceiling', was like night and day.

The space below the 'ceiling' was obviously much larger, about seven or eight meters in diameter. The surrounding walls were also very regular, appearing perfectly square to the naked eye, without any patterns or special text, making them seem somewhat out of place in their simplicity.

...Wait a minute, what is this?

Xu Qian squatted down and picked up the pebbles on the stone slab. He vaguely saw a pattern that looked like an arc. He took a closer look with his flashlight and was stunned by what he saw.

It has... an ear carved on it?

"Sangzi! Is everything alright down there? How are the brothers?" It was Fifth Master speaking from upstairs.

Sang Ge stood up, rubbing his forehead. He looked around before replying to his superiors that everything was fine.

Soon, a rope was lowered down from above, and Fifth Master led several people down. First, they checked the condition of the injured people and hoisted up the one who had injured his foot earlier, because life was the most important thing.

"Hey! Fifth Master, come quick!"

Xu Qian went over when he heard the sound, only to see two corpses back to back in the corner.

“There’s no rigor mortis, the body is still relatively ‘fresh,’ but here…” the middle-aged man with glasses said, “the temperature is so low, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact time.”

"Fifth Master, it's that foreign archaeological team." Sang Ge pulled two black identification documents from the corpse.

“That foreign archaeological team came in at the same time as my uncle.” Boss Shen also came down.

Fifth Master covered his mouth and nose, squinted at the corpse, and then asked the middle-aged man, "Liu the Glasses, how did those two die?"

Liu, the bespectacled man, examined the body again, and finally, adjusting his glasses, came to a conclusion—

"...frozen to death."

Frozen to death?

Everyone present looked at the two corpses and couldn't help but shudder, thinking that this way of dying was quite humiliating.

"Fifth Master, there's explosives here!"

Following the direction the speaker pointed, everyone saw a crack the width of a fingertip extending from the wall all the way to the 'ceiling' above their heads. They roughly understood why they had turned into dumplings and fallen down.

"So it wasn't chives, it was explosives..." Meng Ziqiu said, looking at the wall.

Xu Qian stroked his chin, thinking: Chive-flavored explosives... This flavor is quite unique. Could it be that they thought they could 'poison' even if they didn't fry him to death?

Fifth Master said, "Check the surrounding area and see if there's anything else you can find."

Upon hearing this, the others shrank back, turned on their headlamps, and went to check the surroundings.

Xu Qian suddenly paused, noticing Yan Jiudu's bounty icon on the minimap, which almost overlapped with their current location.

"Thump—"

"Knock knock—"

Just then, a chilling sound came from all directions. The sound was deep yet clear, and the surrounding walls seemed to be hit by something heavy, causing the stone slabs under their feet to shake.

"What is that?"

"who?"

However, they were met with the chilling sound of the bells.

Xu Qian glanced around, gripping the sword hidden in the black cloth, ready to draw it at any moment. Meng Ziqiu also pulled out a dagger from his boot, his eyes warily scanning every corner.

"Thump—"

With a series of muffled groans, grayish-white dust fell from the corner between the wall and the stone slabs on the ground. The sound grew more and more urgent, as if something was about to emerge. The oppressive feeling in that instant was deeply felt by everyone.

"Fifth Master, what should we do?" Brother Sang shouted.

"Don't panic, everyone gather in the middle, and take everything you can from the bag."

Xu Qian glanced up at the exit, calculating the possibility of jumping up from there using Meng Ziqiu's ladder. Hmm... it seemed a little difficult.

Seriously, Meng Ziqiu, you should lose weight as soon as you go out! I can't carry you!

"Knock knock knock—"

The commotion on the wall grew louder and louder, as if the entire space was shaking. Just then, a beam of red light suddenly shone from the other side of the wall—

The wall is open, or is it open?

The next second, the bell sound, which was almost piercing to the ears, resounded throughout the entire underground space. Everyone involuntarily covered their ears, but the sound seemed to penetrate to the bone, and it felt as if thousands of insects were gnawing at their ears.

"Aaaaaah!" It itches, it itches so badly, I wish I could just chop my ears off right now and be done with it.

Xu Qian was probably the least affected among them. The damage from the bell didn't even break his eggshell, and the illusion within had no effect on him. But for the others, it was undoubtedly torture, including Meng Ziqiu.

"Aaaaaaah!"

When Xu Qian saw Meng Ziqiu holding a dagger as if possessed and about to strike his ear, he didn't think twice before drawing his sword, knocking the dagger out of Meng's hand, and then forcefully knocking him unconscious.

Meng Ziqiu slid down the wall.

"Holy crap, bro, can I get one too?" The guy who said that was probably a greenhorn.

"..."

Xu Qian, as he wished, gave him a club.

"Give me one too!"

"I want one too! I want one too!"

Xu Qian: "..." You guys really don't mind at all.

After Xu Qian knocked on three walnuts, the rest of the people who saw this also picked up a stone and knocked it on their own heads, knocking them unconscious.

This also includes the one named Shirakawa.

Seeing that everyone had fallen, Xu Qian quickly walked towards the hole that was growing larger and larger under the influence of the bell, carrying his sword. The red light coming from the other side of the wall had illuminated the entire wall, and the whole space had a very strange color.

Suddenly, a figure appeared on the wall.

Xu Qian cautiously drew his Jue Fuyun sword and recited a Tai Chi mantra towards the cave entrance, ready to unleash a combo of Three Rings Around the Moon, Selfless Sword, Eight Desolations Return to Origin, and Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Source. This combo would either kill the opponent or at least whittle down their health!

Then……

His daughter has appeared!

Yan Jiudu appeared before them with a magnificent "reward" on his head.

In that instant, Xu Qian's eyes lit up. He felt that everything was worth it; nothing was more adorable than his precious daughter! He stepped forward, ready to greet his little darling daughter, and then... his 'little darling' collapsed.

Xu Qian subconsciously reached out and caught him. With the help of the red light, Xu Qian finally saw Yan Jiudu's appearance clearly.

"Holy crap! He's literally bleeding from all seven orifices!"

Two ears, two eyes, two noses, and one mouth.