It was a circular opening, with faint traces of digging visible around it, about the width of a person. Zhang Junjie slid down, leaving a long trail that led into the dark distance.

The opening is slightly tilted, but not by much; anything placed on it will simply roll off.

It's hard to imagine that in a passage where everything is square, there would be a circular opening—either a tomb raider's tunnel or an escape route. Xiang Wan has read quite a few tomb raiding novels, so she can guess a thing or two. Liu Zijue, however, seemed to have known this path all along; his assertion that there was a path made it seem highly suspicious.

Without time to think further, Xiang Wan tied the rope around her waist, took out her axe, and slowly retreated into the cave. The other end of the rope was held by the group of people, with Liu Zijue directing.

The spotlight above Xiang Wan's head was one she'd gotten from Liu Zijue before she left. Even if a flashlight was useful, she didn't have her hands to hold it at that moment. So later, when Guo Ziqi tried to cause trouble again, Xiang Wan retorted.

As she descended step by step, Xiang Wan sensed that the passage was turning a corner. Unable to find any other exit, she continued to fall down the opening.

The rope was about a hundred meters long. Xiang Wan slid down until it couldn't be let down any further, and finally saw a square tomb chamber. She untied the rope and walked inside. Apart from the murals covering the walls and two stone figures holding weapons, she didn't find Zhang Junjie.

The murals depict ancient Egyptian men and women, some clothed, some naked, all kneeling in one direction. There are also guards wearing snake-head masks, which look rather eerie.

In the place of worship, there is a painting of a coffin, with a human-shaped sculpture of the pharaoh on the surface. Above it, there is something that looks like a book, gleaming with golden light.

Xiang Wan stared at the thing for a while, and the more she looked at it, the more magical it seemed. Her mind was completely drawn to it, as if she would lose something very important if she didn't see it clearly.

"Wake up, don't be fooled."

007's voice suddenly rang in her mind, and Xiang Wan was startled. She realized what was happening and immediately looked away.

"It's fortunate that your soul is strong, otherwise it would have been sucked away."

007's words left Xiang Wan with lingering fear.

"You mean, Zhang Junjie was sucked away by this thing?"

"Well, it's not entirely wrong to say he was sucked away. To be more specific, he was bewitched, and you would never imagine where he is."

"Besides the paintings on the walls, there are only these two statues in this place. If there isn't a hidden door, he should be inside the statues."

"You, you, you, you, how did you think of that?"

“You said you couldn’t think of anything, so just guess whichever one is impossible. It’s obvious.”

"Oh." The system sounded somewhat defeated, its voice weakening. "Then guess how he got in."

Xiang Wan examined the two stone sculptures. There wasn't a single crack on them. They were gripping their weapons tightly. There was some dust on their heads, but she couldn't see any signs of them being touched.

After much thought, Xiang Wan couldn't find a solution. Just then, she heard voices coming from inside the cave. They were far away, but the sound was still very penetrating. It was Liu Zijue asking loudly; he had already pulled the rope back in.

Xiang Wan didn't answer; she was somewhat reluctant to travel with these people. Looking around and tapping at various spots, she found a slightly loose brick. She pressed it down hard, and a square stone step appeared beneath the base of the sculpture. Looking inside, it seemed to lead to the back of the sculpture.

The urging from the cave entrance grew urgent. Xiang Wan thought for a moment, then went to the cave entrance, mimicking Guo Ziqi's frightened tone, and shouted a few times before erasing her own traces and entering the passage beneath the stone carving.

There was a step on the downward staircase. When Xiang Wan stepped on it, she felt it sink downwards, and then the cave entrance behind her disappeared.

"Just as I thought!"

The system had muted the sound. Xiang Wan looked up towards the stone sculpture and saw a pair of feet twisted and wedged in a gap in an unbelievable way. Xiang Wan recognized the shoes; they were the ones Zhang Junjie always wore. He had shown them off before, saying they were rare, discontinued pieces from a major brand.

Xiang Wan raised her hand and touched his foot; it was ice-cold, clearly dead beyond any doubt. But, being crammed into that statue so suspended in mid-air, it was impossible for him to have climbed in himself.

Thinking of this, Xiang Wan felt a tightness in her chest and a sense of foreboding.

"Heh, now you're scared? Where were you before!"

The system seemed to be gloating. Xiang Wan calmed herself and glanced around without showing any emotion. A black backpack was dragged to the side, its bottom somewhat worn.

Following the principle of "if you don't take it, you might as well take it," Xiang Wan put the food, water, and other useful items into her bag, then dragged the not-so-light bag and continued walking deeper into the area.

She could faintly hear voices behind her. It must be Liu Zijue and the others coming down and arguing because they didn't see her.

Xiang Wan didn't care about any of that. If she could find that cave entrance, Liu Zijue and the others would definitely find it too. She couldn't let them catch up with her.

She walked briskly along the path, the only sounds in the passage being her own breathing and footsteps. Xiang Wan didn't dare stop for a moment, and after walking for a while, drenched in sweat, she saw a skeleton lying across the roadside. She stepped on it, and the skeleton crumbled into dust.

"Hey, why aren't you scared?"

Why be afraid of a handful of yellow earth left over from a thousand years ago?

At this moment, Xiang Wan was incredibly calm. Since the skeleton showed no signs of being moved or disturbed, it meant there were no people or other animals here. If she had to encounter something, she didn't want it to be a person. Sometimes, people could be far more terrifying than anything else.

Upon seeing several more skeletons, Xiang Wan carefully moved away. She didn't know when these people had entered; even their bones were weathered, indicating they were quite old.

The straight path turned a corner, and ahead lay a fork in the road. Directly opposite was a stone staircase; going up it led to a stone gate, inscribed with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. The passageways on either side were identical, their destinations unknown.

To mislead the people, Xiang Wan dragged her backpack up the stone steps. Reaching the stone gate, she tucked the backpack straps into the gap. Then, tiptoeing carefully, she erased her footprints as she descended, heading towards the passage on the left. She hadn't been inside long when she heard footsteps behind her.

Xiang Wan quickened her pace, walking close to the wall. After turning a few corners, she saw a stone gate, similar to the ones she had seen before, but much smaller.

She doesn't understand the bird script in ancient Egyptian, but that doesn't mean there's no way to understand it.

The system, which had been silently watching the show, suddenly felt a chill.