I smiled wryly. "With the help of the Iron Mask, I foresaw this. If you shoot and kill me and Vesuvius, I'll die, but Vesuvius will continuously revive thanks to the Skull. You'll run out of bullets, and after that, you, Zoey, and the archaeological team will be torn to shreds by the people in the ancient city. Eventually, Vesuvius will revive the Iron Mask according to the agreement from a thousand years ago."

"As for what happens after that, I have no idea. The ancient city was moved under the yellow sand, which is related to the power of the Nine-Section Staff. Without Zhang Jiao's Nine-Section Staff, they will be trapped in this underground ancient city until the power of the Skull is exhausted."

They seemed to have many more questions to ask me, and I was prepared to answer them.

The Fatty followed up on my words, asking, "Didn't you bring fragments of the Nine-Section Staff? Isn't this what the Iron Mask anticipated?"

I waved my hand. "No, I am a variable. The specific situation is very complicated. The Nine-Section Staff was not within the Iron Mask's predictions."

The Fatty immediately asked another question: "Why did the Queen Mother of the West die? Why did the Immortal Mountain fall?"

I glanced at Zoey, who was deep in thought, thinking she might already know the answer. I nodded at her, giving her a look to encourage her to share her thoughts.

Zoey said, "I suspect that the Queen Mother of the West and the power of the Immortal Mountain may have come from a meteorite. Something might have happened to the meteorite, leading to the Queen Mother of the West's death and the fall of the Immortal Mountain."

I nodded at Zoey and said, "That's right, what you said is basically close to the truth."

The Fatty seemed determined to get to the bottom of things, asking, "Then how did you know about the existence of the underground ancient city? And what are you going to do after you get the Iron Mask, the Skull, and the Nine-Section Staff?"

I explained, "The process of my learning about the existence of the ancient city is very complicated, and it can't be explained in a few words. The reason why I came to the underground ancient city is to find this Iron Mask and the Skull. The Iron Mask can help me find Kunlun's Divine Void, allowing me to find the Immortal Mountain. Everything the Iron Mask experienced and saw when worn by the Iron Mask can be replayed before my eyes. The Skull is the key to opening the Divine Mountain, but its power is slowly drying up and needs to absorb the vitality of the ancient city to replenish itself."

The Fatty's eyes darted around, and he suddenly became very interested in the Iron Mask in my hand. He said to me with a cheeky smile, "Young Master, could you lend the Iron Mask to your Little Fatty for a while? Your brother wants to see if he can become rich and successful in the future, and also if he can happily marry Little Yu..."

Speaking of Han Yu, the Fatty was even a little embarrassed.

I smiled and said to the Fatty, "Fatty, it's not that I won't let you. Look at the first user of the Iron Mask, the Queen Mother of the West, who ended up betrayed by her servant and dying alone. The second user, the Queen Mother of the West's servant, also didn't have a good end. This thing is very evil. Peeking into the secrets of heaven will bring down lightning. Are you sure you want to try it?"

I bet that after hearing my words, the Fatty would definitely not dare to have any more thoughts about the Iron Mask.

The Fatty really chickened out. He waved his hand and said to me, "No, no, fate is predestined by heaven. We won't peek into the secrets of heaven."

But Zoey's expression became very worried. "Since the mask is so evil, then you..."

I brushed it off, saying, "Don't worry, I'm fine. Like I said, I am a 'variable.'"

When I said the word "variable," I deliberately raised my voice to emphasize the importance of these two words.

Just as the Fatty was about to ask another question, a lot of sand leaked from the top of the ancient city with a crashing sound, and cracks began to appear on the surrounding rock walls. Yellow sand poured in from the cracks, and the power maintaining the underground space was on the verge of collapse.

I quickly took out an old small medicine bottle from my pocket, opened the stopper, took out two pills, and while the Fatty and Zoey weren't paying attention, I very quickly flicked one pill into each of their mouths, then raised their chins, and they swallowed them.

After swallowing the pill, the Fatty bent over, patted his chest, and tried to spit the pill out. "What did you feed me?"

I said, "Don't spit it out. This is the Queen Mother of the West's 'immortal pill'. Although it can't increase your lifespan, it can make you immune to all poisons and save your life at a critical moment."

As soon as the Fatty heard that it was an immortal pill, he asked, "Can it stop bullets?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "You can try it."

After that, I threw the old small medicine bottle to Zoey and said, "There's one more pill inside. This is the last immortal pill left in the world. You can use it as you wish."

When the Fatty heard about the rarity of the immortal pill, he immediately looked at me with gratitude in his eyes.

"Okay, enough said. Han Yu still needs your help. I'll send you out now..."

When Zoey heard that I didn't seem to be planning to leave with them, she grabbed my arm tightly and asked, "Young Master, are you—are you not leaving with us?"

I said to Zoey, "This underground ancient city is in the quicksand and will continue to wander inside the desert with the quicksand. I saw what's going to happen through the Iron Mask. If I go out with you, it will cause you to encounter a deadly disaster."

"So, I can't leave with you." I said apologetically.

A look of disappointment appeared on Zoey's face, and she was about to cry.

I felt like I was a man who didn't go home, and Zoey was like a woman waiting for me at home. I was like Yu the Great, who passed his home three times without entering, and could never accompany Zoey "back home."

I said to the Fatty, "Take care of her."

The Fatty pounded his chest with his fist, giving me a firm look to reassure me.

"Are you going to Kunlun Mountain?" Zoey asked me, crying.

I nodded. "Yes, I have a reason to go."

"Then we'll meet at Kunlun Mountain!" Zoey said to me in an unquestionable tone.

I hesitated. Although I didn't want Zoey to take risks again, I didn't want to disappoint her expectations right now.

"Okay..."

After getting my affirmative answer, a trace of comfort finally squeezed out of Zoey's tearful face.

The yellow sand, like a river bursting its banks, poured into the underground ancient city. Seeing that it was about to sweep to the three of us, I used the slingshot made from the Nine-Section Staff fragment to forcibly open an upward vortex channel for the two of them and pushed them into it. As I watched them disappear into the vortex, a tear also fell from the corner of my eye, not knowing if it was because of reluctance.

Under the action of the vortex, the quicksand swirled upwards, carrying them away from the ancient city.

Overuse caused the slingshot to shatter, and the power of the Nine-Section Staff fragment was lost. After all, it was just a fragment, and I didn't have much expectation for it.

"Sigh—"

With a sigh, I was submerged by the yellow sand.

The underground ancient city of Loulan also disappeared into the rolling yellow sand.