I saw that the arrows had almost all penetrated my body, and suddenly I felt a tremendous pain in my chest. My heart was in a state of panic, unable to believe that I was so young, having never even touched a woman’s hand, and was I really going to die in an unknown grave? If I died here, it seemed no one would collect my body even hundreds of years later. Such an ending was too tragic.

The arrows rained down like a storm, and I had no idea what was launching them; they were too fast to dodge. The fat guy used his backpack as a shield and rushed in front of us, blocking a few arrows. I gasped as I saw his back, which was already pierced by more than a dozen arrows, looking like an incense burner filled with sticks. It seemed he was definitely going to die, but for some reason, he appeared to feel no pain at all.

I remembered reading in novels about people being shot full of arrows like hedgehogs but had never seen it in real life until now, and in such a situation. I couldn’t help but curse inwardly. Suddenly, someone grabbed my clothes and pulled me forward. I was startled and turned to see it was that girl, An Ning. Her eyes were cold and terrifying, and I felt something was wrong. I quickly tried to shake her off, but she showed no mercy, driving her knee into my lower back. This hurt more than the two arrows in my chest. My body went weak from the pain, and I softened. She dragged me without saying a word toward the large jade gate in the center. I was used as a human shield, and once again, arrows struck my shoulder, stomach, and chest, causing me to nearly faint from the pain.

They say a woman’s heart is the most poisonous, and I never believed it until now. I didn’t expect a woman to be so ruthless. Just a moment ago, she had seemed like a frightened little woman, but in the blink of an eye, she was using me as a meat shield to block the rain of arrows.

Of course, I wouldn’t be so noble. I used all my strength to twist away; she wasn’t very strong, and I broke free from her grip, stumbling into the light channel. Seeing that she had lost her cover, she immediately rolled away in a swift motion, dodging a dozen arrows and glaring at me fiercely. I thought, “Damn it, how can you still have the face to glare at me?” I shouted and lunged to grab her, but she sneered at me, rolled over to the wall, and then jumped high, pushing off the wall to swiftly flip into a safe area. The entire movement was completed in the blink of an eye, clean and efficient.

I saw that she hadn’t been hit by a single arrow, and I was so angry I slammed my hand on the ground. She turned to look at me, suddenly blew me a kiss mockingly, then turned on her flashlight and sashayed into the jade gate in the center.

I was so furious I nearly spat blood, but there was nothing I could do. I had to crawl into that light channel, listening as arrows whizzed past my head and struck the walls of the corridor with metallic clangs. The rain of arrows continued for over five minutes before finally stopping. I turned to look at the fat guy, who had been shot into a ball of arrows, swaying as if he were about to fall. I hurried over to help him, but he waved his hand, signaling that he was okay, and asked me, “Little Wu, I think these arrows are a bit strange. Why does it hurt so little even though they’ve gone in so deep? Can you pull a few out for me to see?”

I also felt something was off. Why did this arrow wound not seem as serious as I had imagined? My breathing was still smooth, but I had never died before, so I didn’t know what it felt like to be shot by an arrow. The fat guy called for me to pull out a few arrows, but I really didn’t have the courage to do it. I hesitated for a long time in front of him and couldn’t bring myself to act. At that moment, Zhang Tu stood up, gritting his teeth. He had been standing behind the fat guy and hadn’t been hit by any arrows. Seeing the fat guy in such a state, he suddenly said, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing.”

Both the fat guy and I were taken aback. Why had Zhang Tu’s voice changed, and why did it sound so familiar? Suddenly, he straightened his body, and with a crack, he seemed to grow several centimeters taller. Then, he reached out his hand, exerted some force, and with another crack, his hand suddenly extended a few inches.

I was so shocked that my jaw nearly dropped. I thought to myself, isn’t this the art of bone contraction? I had only read about it in my grandfather’s notes; it was one of the basic skills for tomb raiders in ancient times. It was used to squeeze through very narrow gaps, like the beams of a ghost palace or underground voids. I had never understood the principle behind it, so I always considered it a joke. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I really wouldn’t have believed such a miraculous skill existed.

(In recent years, I heard that some people in the tomb-raiding village in Luoyang were still using this skill. They made their tunnels very small and contracted their bones to get inside. When the police passed by, they thought it was a weasel hole. Later, when they realized it was a tomb raiding tunnel, they couldn’t go down to catch anyone because by the time they dug through, the people inside had already escaped through another route. Unfortunately, this skill is very difficult to master; even if you practice it from a young age, it’s hard to achieve unless all the bones in your body work in harmony.)

He let out a breath, pulled at the back of his ear, and tore off a human skin mask, revealing his original face. I was stunned. Inside that mask was actually the Muffled Oil Bottle! I was momentarily dazed, and then I felt a surge of unnameable anger. This was too much; he could practically win an Oscar for acting! I hadn’t noticed a thing.

The Muffled Oil Bottle shook his arms, as if he hadn’t moved them in a long time. The fat guy was also speechless, and after a long while, he finally grabbed him and said, “Hey, what do you mean by this? Are you deliberately making fun of us?”

The Muffled Oil Bottle didn’t speak; he patted the fat guy and motioned for him to sit down. He grabbed the arrowhead part of the arrow stuck in the fat guy’s back, twisted it with force, and easily pulled it out. I leaned over to take a look; the fat guy only had a shallow red mark on his body and wasn’t injured at all.

While I was surprised, I was also overjoyed, vaguely feeling that I might not have to die after all. I hurriedly imitated the Muffled Oil Bottle’s actions and pulled out the arrow from my own body. It wasn’t difficult at all; I pulled one out myself in one go. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the arrowhead was designed very cleverly. As soon as it hit something, the sharp tip would retract, and several claw-like iron hooks would flip out from the arrowhead, gripping your flesh tightly.

The Muffled Oil Bottle looked at the arrows scattered on the ground and said softly, “That kick just now was intentional; that woman not only has confidence in her skills but also wants to take us all out.”

I recalled the flying kiss she just gave me, which was clearly mocking me. I was so angry that I nearly bit my tongue. It turns out that beautiful women are not to be trusted; I definitely won’t fall for this again in the future!

The fat guy had almost all of his back scraped up. He grinned and said, “Thank goodness the arrows here have lotus heads; otherwise, she would have really succeeded. Imagine if I, the great Fat Master, died with arrows sticking out of me like a porcupine—people would laugh me to death.”

I looked at the strange arrows and asked them, “Why are all the arrows here made with this type of arrowhead? Is there a reason for it?”

The Silent Oil Bottle replied, “I don’t know either, but as soon as you got hit, I recognized it as a lotus arrow. I can’t think of any other reason; maybe the owner of this tomb wanted to give us a break and let us retreat.”

I found it strange; it didn’t make much sense. However, this wasn’t the time to discuss it. That woman had already entered the main tomb chamber, and I couldn’t let her escape with the treasure so easily. I was about to rush in when the Silent Oil Bottle grabbed me and shook his head, saying, “That ghost just told us to go into the left tomb chamber for a reason. We should follow the steps. We’re on their turf now; don’t run around randomly.”

I panicked. If that woman came out and ran away, I wouldn’t know where to chase her. The fat guy said, “Don’t worry. Let’s go back and hide our diving gear. Damn it, let’s see if she can hold her breath all the way outside!”

At this critical moment, the fat guy was quick-witted. I thought to myself, how come I didn’t think of that? I nodded immediately, and the three of us hurried back to the ear chamber. When I shone my flashlight on the spot where we had left our things, I was stunned—there was nothing there—our oxygen tanks had disappeared!