Old Kalama stood there stunned as Fan Debiao spoke, seemingly not understanding what Fan meant. Liu Dashao, seeing that Kalama didn’t get it, shouted loudly, “Your old master Hu is angry! Run!”
Upon hearing that Old Master Hu was furious, Kalama’s face changed instantly. He immediately took off running behind Fan Debiao.
Liu Dashao and Sun Li were bringing up the rear, moving slower than even the pampered Wang Zhicai, which made Liu feel a bit self-conscious. But this wasn’t the time for that—mercury was quickly catching up to them.
As they ran, they came upon a stone altar, not very tall—only about three or four meters high—but quite large, easily capable of holding ten people. It seemed safe from the rising mercury. Seeing the altar, Wang Feifei urged everyone to run up.
Others, seeing salvation, sprinted even harder. Fan Debiao was the first to reach it, followed by the rest. Only Liu Dashao and Sun Li remained. As they neared the altar, Sun Li suddenly stumbled and fell heavily to the ground. Instinctively, Liu Dashao stopped to help him up. But as he reached out, a wave of heat surged over his hand—mercury had already reached him.
Sun Li was submerged, screaming in pain as the mercury burned him. Liu Dashao realized immediately that he was next. His legs began to tremble uncontrollably.
Suddenly, something wrapped around Liu Dashao from behind, yanking him backward just in time to avoid the mercury. But the chase wasn’t over. Liu was dragged backward, his back scraping against the sand, burning hot. He suddenly felt his head hit a rock, leaving him dizzy. Then came a chain reaction—he was being pulled up a flight of steps.
Just as the mercury nearly reached Liu’s feet, a sudden force yanked him back, letting the mercury narrowly miss the soles of his shoes—dangerously close.
Liu stood up and looked at himself. Wrapped around him was a whip—the same one Old Kalama used to drive his camels. Behind him, Wang Feifei was panting heavily, holding the whip. She had saved him.
Liu looked around. Everyone was surrounded by mercury. Tiaozi stared silently into the mercury, tears streaming down his face. It was clear he was grieving for Sun Li.
Liu patted Tiaozi on the shoulder and said, “I’m sorry. You saw it yourself—I tried my best to save him.”
Tiaozi didn’t respond, just kept staring into the mercury. The depth of their friendship was evident. Seeing this, Liu felt a pang of sadness in his chest.
“This isn’t mercury,” Jackson said, picking up a black mass.
Liu touched it cautiously—it felt hard, like asphalt. He even tapped the mercury with his foot, and it felt solid too. He asked Jackson what was going on.
Jackson analyzed that it couldn’t be asphalt, but might be a substance similar to mercury. The real question wasn’t what it was, but how it had suddenly appeared.
“I know,” Fan Debiao interrupted. “It must’ve been when I took the box—I triggered a mechanism, so…”
Before he could finish, a cracking sound echoed. Liu turned to the source and saw the spot where Sun Li had been consumed beginning to split open. Suddenly, a figure leapt out from the hardened black mass.
Everyone was stunned, mouths agape, eyes wide. Liu thought, *Could it be Sun Li is still alive? Then this substance must not be dangerous. But why was such a massive mechanism placed here in the statue?*
Before Liu could finish thinking, Fan Debiao shattered his thoughts: “Damn it, Sun Li must’ve turned into a ghost.”
Hearing Fan, Liu snapped back and saw a blood-soaked figure standing before them, blood pooling on the ground, dripping from his body. This wasn’t a ghost—it was a blood-soaked corpse.
The corpse slowly moved toward them, making a cracking sound with every step, causing everyone to gasp in horror.
Wang Zhicai, with decades of experience in antiques, had seen many strange things, but now he was so terrified his legs gave way and he collapsed. Lin Miaoke and Wu Bai, lacking experience, were equally terrified—especially Wu Bai, who fainted on the spot.
Tiaozi stared at the corpse, unable to accept it. He shouted, “Sun Li, are you still alive? Say something!” The corpse ignored him, continuing its eerie creaking. Seeing no response, Tiaozi tried to rush forward.
Fan Debiao grabbed him tightly, shouting, “You wanna die?! Your brother’s a monster now!”
Hearing that, Tiaozi’s body went limp, and he slumped to the ground.
Suddenly, the blood-soaked corpse screamed, “Help me!” and charged toward them, wailing.
Two gunshots rang out—bullets tore into the corpse, splattering blood everywhere. It twitched once and collapsed.
Liu turned around. Fan Debiao and Jackson each held a double-barreled rifle, still in aiming position. These were the same rifles Jackson had used five years ago, a model Liu had only recently come to understand.
Tiaozi, seeing Sun fall, jumped up and ran toward him. This time, Fan didn’t stop him—he was confident in his shot.
Tiaozi dropped to his knees beside the corpse, crying uncontrollably in his native dialect, which no one could understand. Seeing Tiaozi like this, everyone felt a pang of sorrow deep inside. After all, Sun Li had been their teammate. Lin Miaoke burst into tears.
Fan whispered to Liu, “Dashao, don’t you think this corpse looks kinda familiar?”
Liu replied, “It does. Kinda looks like a tomato about to burst.”
Fan, serious this time, said, “Cut the crap. Think hard—have you seen this before?”
Liu, seeing Fan unusually serious, tried to joke, “Aren’t all flayed corpses the same?”
At the word “flayed,” something clicked in Liu’s mind. “Holy crap! This is the same flayed corpse from the Yin Mountains, the one in the bronze warrior’s jar!”
Fan nodded, “Exactly that. I think this black stuff is the same as the white liquid in the bronze jar.”
Liu thought for a moment and said, “But that liquid was white, and this is black. Seems a stretch to say it’s the same.”
Fan replied, “Didn’t you smell mercury? I think this is a mix of that white liquid and mercury—probably to enhance its effect. Think about it: the corpse in the bronze jar took two thousand years to become that way, but this stuff flayed Sun Li in minutes.”
Liu nodded, “That’s a solid theory. But…”
Before Liu could finish, Tiaozi screamed again. At the same time, Sun Li’s body began to crack loudly—much louder than before.
Liu was shocked. From what he knew, flayed corpses couldn’t come back to life. So why was it making noise now? Could it be reanimation?
Fan and Liu exchanged glances, equally disbelieving. Fan shouted, “Tiaozi, you idiot! Run over here!” As he spoke, he hurled a black donkey hoof toward him—looks like he’d come prepared for grave robbing.
Tiaozi heard Fan and tried to stand, but as soon as he straightened up, he collapsed again, making the same cracking sounds.
Fan wiped sweat from his brow and cursed, “What the hell is going on now?”
Liu stared intently at Tiaozi’s body. He spotted a white wormlike thing wriggling on it and immediately understood. “The same thing from the Bodhisattva Mountains.” That white thing was a touch.
As Liu spoke, Fan and Jackson understood too. Their faces turned pale, and they raised their rifles, ready for whatever came next.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage