If these two were to fight, it would be like gods battling, judging from the descriptions of the magical artifacts' power on the murals. If the three artifacts collided, the entire underground city might be destroyed.

In a very low voice, Fatty said to Rou Yi, "How about I shoot these two lunatics dead? Maybe we'll have a chance to survive."

Rou Yi had no other choice and thought it was worth a try.

Just as the two were whispering, the person wearing the iron mask seemed to think of something. He walked up to Fatty and said softly in Mandarin, "If you shoot, we're all done for..."

Fatty was shocked. "How did you know..."

The person wearing the iron mask interrupted Fatty. "There's a mechanism under the stone platform in the temple, a square incense burner. Turn it clockwise once, then counterclockwise twice, and a tunnel will appear. Take Professor Chen and get out of here. Wait for me in that room."

Fatty seemed like he wanted to ask something, but the person wearing the iron mask immediately added, "Leave if you don't want to die."

Fatty pulled Rou Yi and Professor Chen, and they ran quickly to the stone platform in the main hall of the temple. They found an incense burner behind the stone platform as expected. Following the instructions of the person wearing the iron mask, Fatty turned the incense burner. As the stone slabs on the ground moved, the entrance to an underground passage appeared below the stone platform. Fatty and Professor Chen entered one after another.

After descending two flights of stone steps, the group arrived in a secret chamber. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the secret chamber were made of completely transparent material, like a glass room. They could see the rolling quicksand all around, a very dreamlike scene.

Liu Xiaojuan discovered a person squatting in the corner. Judging from the clothing, this person should be Liu Kailin.

"Liu Kailin?"

Professor Chen, Duan Pengfei, Wang Tienan, and Liu Xiaojuan walked over to Liu Kailin. Liu Kailin didn't say a word, looking down at his feet. He only had one shoe on, and he didn't know where he'd lost the other one.

"Liu Kailin?" Liu Xiaojuan shook Liu Kailin's arm and called his name again, but Liu Kailin remained unmoved, like a log.

Wang Tienan shook his head. "It's over. He's completely lost it, gone mad."

Just as the four members of the archaeological team were lamenting for Liu Kailin, Fatty and Rou Yi heard what sounded like a violent explosion outside the secret chamber, along with endless shouts.

A terrible battle must have occurred outside. Fatty knew that if they were outside the secret chamber now, they would surely be dead.

The sounds outside the secret chamber didn't last long, and soon disappeared, followed by complete silence, becoming unusually quiet.

"Pat," "pat," the sound of footsteps came from outside, feeling closer and closer. Fatty and Rou Yi's hearts beat wildly, extremely nervous. They didn't know if the person wearing the iron mask had won or if Fu Xiumo had won, nor did they know what would happen next.

The person wearing the iron mask slowly walked down the stone steps and appeared before the group.

Fu Xiumo had been defeated. The victor was the person wearing the iron mask, as evidenced by the glowing skull he held in his hand.

Although this person wearing the iron mask had spared their lives, they remained wary of him.

The masked man first said to Professor Chen and the other three, "I will open a path to the outside world for you. You can leave this underground city through this path."

"What about us?"

Fatty pulled Rou Yi and asked the person wearing the iron mask.

The masked man ignored them and continued to say to Professor Chen and the other three, "This road is very difficult. A moment of carelessness will result in being buried under the yellow sand. You must remember my words: don't think, don't look, don't listen, don't touch. No matter what you encounter on the road, do not pay attention to it."

Fatty thought to himself, this is so weird, what's the difference between this and sending us to our deaths? Fatty once again questioned the masked man, "What about us? Are you leaving us here to die?"

Fatty didn't know where he got the courage to question this person who possessed three magical artifacts and had just slaughtered the old remnants of the ancient city.

The person wearing the iron mask said to Fatty, "You cannot leave yet."

The person wearing the iron mask gently tapped the transparent wall with the handle of his slingshot. The flow of the yellow sand behind the wall changed, transforming from its previous irregular flow into a vortex of yellow sand, constantly swirling and gushing outwards.

The person wearing the iron mask said to Professor Chen and the others, "Please."

"Remember, don't think, don't look, don't listen, don't touch." The person wearing the iron mask reminded the archaeological team once more before their departure.

The archaeological team had no choice. So, Duan Pengfei and Wang Tienan supported Liu Kailin, and led by Professor Chen, they walked towards the yellow sand vortex.

Before entering the vortex, Professor Chen said to Fatty and Rou Yi, "Take care, my friends. We'll meet again someday."

"We'll meet again someday." Fatty and Rou Yi replied.

After saying goodbye, Professor Chen led the other four into the vortex. Soon, the five members of the archaeological team disappeared into the sand vortex. The vortex swirled for a while before finally reverting to the irregularly moving quicksand.

After Professor Chen and his group left, Fatty said to the person wearing the iron mask, "Okay, tell us, why are you keeping us here?"

The person wearing the iron mask said to Fatty and Rou Yi, "Follow me."

The person wearing the iron mask led Fatty and Rou Yi out of the secret chamber.

From the main hall of the temple all the way to the riverbank outside the residential houses, the corpses and limbs of the old country's citizens were scattered everywhere. Blood flowed into the underground river, showing how fierce the battle had been.

The person wearing the iron mask walked up to the dying Fu Xiumo and said, "Loulan has become history, and the Han Dynasty has also been buried in the dust. You have lived long enough. Leave without any worries."

After hearing these words, Fu Xiumo died on the spot. His corpse quickly dried up and became a mummy, then withered, like a falling autumn leaf, turning into a pile of dust. The mummified corpse in the lotus position also rapidly weathered and decayed into dust, scattering with the wind.

All the corpses in the underground city changed like Fu Xiumo's corpse. Everyone turned into flying ashes. The citizens of the old country finally turned into the dust of history.

The underground river water began to flow backward, surging with waves, but the water level began to drop, showing a trend of drying up. The walls of the underground city slowly cracked, and large pieces of plaster fell from the walls.

The entire underground city seemed to be permeated with the bleakness of the late autumn wind, losing all its vitality. Everything withered, and all that could be seen was a sign of decline.

The light of unknown origin in the underground city gradually dimmed as well. Specks of light appeared from every corner of the ancient city, gathered together, and finally merged into the glowing skull in the hand of the person wearing the iron mask. The eerie green light of the glowing skull grew brighter and brighter.

Fatty and Rou Yi followed behind the person wearing the iron mask, staring blankly at the scene before them.