When I swam back to the island in the middle of the lake, there was still thick smoke rising from the hillside. I guessed that Jiang Man and the others had carried out a bombing there in order to escape.

Duan Jinyan's crazy act of blowing up the tomb caught everyone off guard, but I was most worried about Monkey and Song Laosan.

After all, both Duan Jinyan and Jiang Man had a lot of explosives and other equipment, while Monkey and Song Laosan had nothing. Most importantly, before Duan Jinyan detonated the explosives, Jiang Man and the others threw stun grenades into the side room. It is unknown whether they recovered when the water rushed in.

After I got ashore, the Underworld Palace was still brightly lit, but the palace lanterns inside were fueled by white phosphorus, so they probably wouldn't burn for long.

After the lights came on on the shore, I turned off my headlamp and prepared to enter the main hall. I then took the original path back to the back mountain to see if the monkeys had escaped along the same route.

As soon as I entered the main hall, I heard someone talking, so I immediately hid behind a pillar.

At the end of the steps, by the dragon table, Jiang Man and her group were all soaked to the bone, wiping the mud off their bodies.

A burly man in the crowd wiped his face and said to Jiang Man, "I'd heard that Duan Jinyan was a desperate criminal, but I never imagined he'd dare use explosives in such a confined space! After the explosion, I sneaked into the main burial chamber to take a look. All their men had escaped, and there was a large amount of mercury inside. I didn't dare go any further and had to retreat. During the process, I also saw one of the people from the side chamber escape, fleeing through the hole in the main burial chamber!"

Hearing this, I pursed my lips, unsure whether he saw me, the monkey, or Song Laosan.

At this moment, the young man with the Tianjin accent spoke up: "When you came to our door, didn't my master say that Duan Jinyan isn't human at all, but a half-human, half-demon madman! In the martial arts world, he's called Feng Li, and also..."

The burly man cursed impatiently, "What pineapple? I'd rather have dragon fruit!"

"It's not a pineapple like a pineapple, but a wind fox recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, also known as the wind-born beast! Legend has it that this monster is invulnerable to swords and spears, and fearless of water and fire. Even if its head is smashed, it can be resurrected as soon as a gust of wind enters its mouth!"

The Tianjin youth recounted vividly: "My master has been semi-retired since leaving Longhu Mountain. If it weren't for the huge favor he owed you, he would never have gotten involved in this mess! In fact, before he left, he told me that this search for Duan Jinyan was like going to hell, and he even gave me instructions for his funeral! Now it seems that his grandfather was right!"

"Stop talking nonsense! If Duan Jinyan could really live forever, wouldn't it be better for him to rush out and fight us to the death? Why bother with this pathetic escape?"

The burly man was still indignant: "What happened today was my fault for being careless. If I had known that Duan Jinyan could act so recklessly, I shouldn't have let the young lady negotiate with him at all. Instead, I should have just thrown in a few smoke bombs and forcibly arrested him!"

The Tianjin youth loudly protested: "How is this nonsense? Haven't you heard the legend of Duan Jinyan? Legend has it that ten years ago, he was detained by the Min family of Shanhaiguan at the ruins of the ancient Western Ye Kingdom. At that time, those people tied him up hand and foot, and then..."

"alright!"

Jiang Man impatiently interrupted their conversation: "Please, when you're arguing, take a look at your surroundings. Either think about how to find Duan Jinyan, or think about how to leave this place!"

"Duan Jinyan entered the tomb through the hole blasted open in the cave, but then created another exit underwater. He probably won't come back here! We came here with those people who were searching for Duan Jinyan. If we go back the way we came, we'll have to go back to that underground river full of monsters."

The Tianjin youth paused for a moment: "On our way here, we didn't encounter any traces of anyone else passing by until we met the people who abandoned us in the underground river. This means that Duan Jinyan didn't take the same path as us! I think if we can go back the way we came and find the path that Duan Jinyan and the others took, we should be able to leave, and we might even encounter them!"

Hearing the Tianjin youth's analysis, Jiang Man rallied: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's set off now, turn back the way we came, and find a way to capture Duan Jinyan again!"

"Wait, I need to grab something from here!"

The young man from Tianjin stopped the group: "We've come all this way, we can't just leave empty-handed, can we?"

“That’s right. We’ve come all this way to make money! This tomb is far away in a foreign land. If it ever sees the light of day again, it will just be seized by those Russians. We might as well take it with us!”

Another burly man, his eyes greedily fixed on everything around him made of gold, said to Jiang Man, "Miss, we were in such a rush underwater just now that the brothers didn't get anything. What do you think about this..."

Although Jiang Man was young, she was quite adept at managing people. She waved her hand and said, "I didn't come here to make money, but you have all worked hard. Take whatever you like. You have five minutes."

Alright!

The burly man immediately perked up, drew a grenade from his waist: "You all get out of the way, I'll blow up this table and chairs, and we'll collect some gold scraps and head out!"

"Hey! Why are you so funny?"

The young man from Tianjin immediately stopped him: "Do you know how heavy gold is? No matter how strong you are, how much can you carry out? Even if you do, how much can you sell it for? Since you're here to rob a tomb, of course you should take some things with cultural value!"

The burly man looked around and pointed to the cast-iron guard statue in the distance: "Look for yourself, besides gold, what other burial objects are there in this room? Do you expect me to carry a lump of iron out?"

"What I mean is, you can't destroy the gold here."

The Tianjin youth patted the dragon-shaped table on the table: "See these gold seals, writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones? Although they are all cast together with the table, if we can remove them separately, the price of one of them can be ten times, or even dozens of times, that of gold! And this Hu Shahu statue behind it, if we can take his head out, it can also sell for a high price! In addition, the dragon carvings on the dragon throne are also very valuable! Even just making a rubbing of it would earn more than you carrying gold!"

"Time is limited, so what are we waiting for!"

Upon hearing what the Tianjin youth said, the burly man immediately pulled out a spray gun from his bag: "Everyone, find what you want and finish this in five minutes!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the others started banging away.

At this moment, I had lost my hunting rifle and was alone. If I were exposed, I would definitely be no match for those people. Since Jiang Man had given them five minutes, I could only be patient and wait for them to leave before continuing to search for my lost teammates.

Just when I was extremely anxious, someone from that group spoke up again: "Come and see, there's something wrong with this golden statue!"