"Hmm, I wouldn't have guessed, a blonde beauty."
The fatty stretched languidly after crawling out of the turtle shell. He couldn't resist a jab at Nanxi once he saw her.
Nanxi gradually regained her composure, her initial panic subsiding.
"You guys were watching from the side just now? Why didn't you warn us?" Nanxi's voice held a hint of accusation.
Zhang Tian picked at his ear. Did this person still not grasp the current situation?
"Little foreigner, don't you understand? We have no obligation to warn you. Stop morally lecturing my boss. Besides, if it weren't for us, you would have died in the first chamber." The fatty pointed at Nanxi's nose and ranted.
Nanxi was momentarily speechless. She looked around at the people present, then at Zhang Tian, and found herself unable to speak.
"Alright, Fatty. We need to get to the next level quickly. Miss, if you have nothing else, you can leave now." Zhang Tian said without ceremony. He had no intention of being a lapdog. Zhang Tian was always direct with women, especially strangers like Nanxi.
"Leave?" Nanxi was bewildered. Where could she go in this cursed place, with all the doors locked shut?
"Um, William, please, can you save me? Only he can get me out." Nanxi looked at William lying on the ground, her heart filled with urgency.
Zhang Tian thought for a moment. "Um, this guy is dead. No, in other words, his body is no longer his." Zhang Tian said softly. Nanxi looked confused.
"Sir, what you're saying... How could William be dead? And he didn't fall anywhere." Nanxi was anxious and seemed on the verge of arguing with Zhang Tian.
"He's useful to us. How about this, if you're willing, you can watch from the side. We won't guarantee your safety. And we don't care who you are," Zhang Tian said calmly, then crouched down. "I know you've possessed him and taken control. Can we talk?" Zhang Tian addressed William, who was lying on the ground.
"William has fainted. Who are you talking to..." Nanxi swallowed, feeling exceptionally helpless in the face of the unknown.
Zhang Tian ignored her and produced a talisman from his hand.
"Boss, he moved." William's body twitched when Zhang Tian produced the talisman.
"Uncle, don't hurt me. I just don't want to be imprisoned here anymore." After Hu Bayi's voice, a voice came from William's mouth. This voice was not something a twenty-something could produce; it was clearly that of a child.
"Holy crap, ghost possession! Fatty knows this well. Speaking of which, this kid was hiding pretty deep. Fatty didn't even notice," Fatty mumbled from the side. Nanxi, on the ground, felt her head buzz and she was utterly stunned.
"How is this possible? William, you... What exactly is going on?" Nanxi looked terrified. The person who had just been speaking sweet nothings to her had, in the blink of an eye, transformed.
"He's possessed. A ghost possession. Once possessed, they usually don't survive. Even if they miraculously live, they become mentally incapacitated." Hu Bayi explained from the side. Nanxi slumped to the ground again. Ghosts were something she had never heard of, and she felt her own spirit weakening. As the saying goes, Western horror stories are often about perverts and gore, focusing on physical attacks. China, however, is different; it's about psychological attacks, leaving a lifelong shadow after being scared.
"Tell me, how did you escape? And why couldn't the others escape?" Zhang Tian asked William, speaking in ghost language. The child, seeing that Zhang Tian could speak ghost language, seemed to become agitated. William's body suddenly floated into the air.
"Uncle, I made a deal with the older sisters and brothers down here. They gave themselves to me, so I could break out and rescue more sisters and brothers. Because many sisters and brothers are cheering me on." The child's ethereal voice echoed. Zhang Tian and Hu Bayi exchanged glances.
"Boss, it seems this guy absorbed other souls, which is why he had the strength to break out." Hu Bayi mused, "This formation must have started to loosen up over the years." Zhang Tian understood.
"I can help you rescue your brothers and sisters, but you have to promise me one thing," Zhang Tian said with a smile.
"What thing? Uncle, as long as you can help my brothers and sisters, I will definitely help Uncle." The little fellow, possessing William's body, didn't seem at all uncomfortable.
"Tell me, is that bird's beak above our heads the tomb door leading to the next passage?" Zhang Tian pointed at the Vermilion Bird above.
"Hmm~ I don't remember clearly, but I've been here for many years, and I've seen many people come and go. That bird's beak has never opened." "No, I remember something. One day, a grandfather in a yellow robe also came here." "He gave us a yellow talisman like yours, saying he would come to help us, but that grandfather never returned either." The child's voice echoed throughout the tomb. Zhang Tian's eyes flickered. He hadn't expected his Uncle Shan He to have been here before.
"Do you know where he left from?" Zhang Tian inquired.
"It seemed to be upwards, but I'm not sure. From the moment we woke up, it was dark. Only when the sky above opened did we see light." The child said. Zhang Tian looked at the bird's beak above. As he had guessed, the bird's beak was indeed the entrance to the next tomb, and the secret passage lay below.
"Boss, it's quite pitiful. They only see a bit of light when the mechanism is triggered," Fatty remarked sympathetically. Wu Tianzhen and the others also shook their heads slightly.
"By the way, where you are, have you sensed any medicinal fragrance, or perhaps a unique barrier?" Zhang Tian asked patiently.
"We can't smell anything, but if we move around randomly, we are enveloped in flames." "My brothers and sisters told me not to move too much, but as time passed, I could feel my brothers and sisters getting more and more upset." The little fellow said. Zhang Tian nodded and slowly stood up.
"Old Hu, I have a bold guess. If nothing goes wrong, the dan chamber is right below us." Zhang Tian said grimly.
"Boss, what makes you say that? Logically, shouldn't it be above?" Hu Bayi looked at the bird's beak. Judging by the murals and the dried blood, everything indicated that the secret chamber should be above.
"This is a deliberate misdirection. Old Hu, think about it, if the Vermilion Bird wanted to be reborn, where would it do so?"
"In fire!" Hu Bayi replied. "These children are like medicinal herbs, and the mechanism below is the dan furnace. Combining these, the refined pills would most likely be found within the dan furnace." "They wouldn't be teleported into the bird's beak out of nowhere." "Moreover, considering the flames this little guy mentioned, and that Uncle came here before, I suspect there's another path below." Zhang Tian said, his gaze fixed on the tomb floor.
"Uncle, you're not going to look for my brothers and sisters, are you?" At this moment, the ghost possessing William exclaimed, clearly knowing something.