Chapter 68: A Rift Piled with Corpses

The water has been drained!

Everyone check your weapons, prepare to enter.

Protect C City's reserve team, watch for the monsters' final strike so they can land the killing blow!

As Shuigu Tang's words fell, a loud and powerful shout came from below the mine pit; the players' side also became a bit chaotic, everyone gathering beside the pond.

However, due to the blockade by the Cultural Tourism Bureau Logistics Department members on the outskirts, these players all stood outside, daring not to overstep, leaving a clear line between them and the alert National Team members.

Yet, from his high vantage point, Chen Shicheng, who also possessed the true vision of the Evil Ghost Pill, noticed some players with special skills sneaking toward the pond, while the Cultural Tourism Bureau Logistics Department personnel didn't notice.

As expected, with so many people, all sorts of strange figures appear; it looks like there will be some lively action inside the Underground Palace.

The Underground Palace is about to open, so I won't disturb you while you go in for soup—I'm leaving now. Shuigu Tang turned and left without hesitation.

Watching her silhouette disappear into the lush forest, Hui Siye reappeared, looked at Chen Shicheng and gave a hehe smile: 'Kid, although I didn't quite understand what that girl just said...'

But you must really want to break through those people's blockade and enter this Underground Palace, right?

What's the use of wanting it? Haven't you seen the entrance already been surrounded by people?

Although Chen Shicheng had an Illusion Body Talisman that could make him invisible, he didn't want to gamble on whether the Cultural Tourism Bureau Logistics Department had anti-invisibility measures.

If he were discovered, whether he fought or not, he would surely be the one to suffer.

'Who told you there's only this one entrance?' Hui Siye raised his small head high, wearing a 'you beg me and I'll tell you' expression.

Chen Shicheng's heart stirred; he thought of Hui Siye's true form—a mouse good at digging holes—could it have some special sense for underground conditions?

If he could enter through another entrance, perhaps he could take advantage of the Cultural Tourism Bureau Logistics Department's land-clearing advance to sneak in and grab some good stuff amidst the chaos.

Moreover, even if discovered, he could claim he came from elsewhere; the National Team, no matter how domineering, couldn't just detain or expel him, right? Thinking this, Chen Shicheng, despite disliking Hui Siye's smug face, forced a smile: 'Not bad, Fourth Master, you actually found another entrance—can you...'

Of course I can.

Before Chen Shicheng could finish speaking, Hui Siye immediately said, 'Just give me a few more sticks of your Reverence-God Incense, and I'll tell you the entrance's location.'

Reverence-God Incense? That's the deadly weapon I used to trick Hui Siye out of his Spiritual Medicine—how could I possibly bring it out easily?

Moreover, I've already given all my Reverence-God Incense to Hui Siye; I truly don't have a single stick left.

'None, I already gave them all to you last time.' Chen Shicheng shook his head, saying with difficulty.

'No problem, you can give them to me after we come out; as long as you give me ten sticks, I'll tell you the other entrance locations.' Hui Siye rubbed his two front paws, his round little eyes looking expectantly at Chen Shicheng.

'Two sticks—one entrance isn't worth that much; worst case, I'll wait for the people below to be allowed in before I go.' Chen Shicheng started haggling without even thinking.

'Two sticks is too few; how about eight?'

'Three sticks, I can't go any higher.'

'Five sticks—I only want five Reverence-God Incense sticks; any less and I'd rather not have it!' Hui Siye said with a determined expression.

Seeing Hui Siye's unusually firm attitude, Chen Shicheng guessed that pressing the price further might make him give up entirely, so he readily agreed: 'Then... five sticks, deal.' Hui Siye, also an honest mouse, after settling the deal, immediately pointed his little paw at the opposite ridge: 'Just behind that ridge, where the earth veins connect and yin energy shoots up—there must be another entrance to the Underground Palace.'

'Are you sure?'

Chen Shicheng narrowed his eyes and looked for a long time, but saw no sign of shooting yin energy there, and asked doubtfully.

'Don't worry; if there's no entrance there, I'll sacrifice this bit of incense power and dig out an entrance on the spot.' Hui Siye patted his small chest in assurance.

With that assurance, Chen Shicheng hesitated no longer, and immediately rushed toward the opposite ridge along the edge of the mine pit.

'Seeing the mountain and running the horse to death'—though the ridge was clearly visible, even at the speed of chasing cicadas in eight steps, it still took Chen Shicheng a full five minutes to reach the destination.

He didn't stop, scrambling over the not-too-high ridge, then, following Hui Siye's guidance, ran a distance into the distant forest.

Soon, a chasm only five or six meters wide but stretching left and right for an unknown distance appeared before him.

'Is this it?'

Chen Shicheng stood at the edge, carefully peering his head downward.

This earth-splitting fissure wasn't very wide; he only needed a light leap to jump across, but its depth was somewhat staggering.

Near the ground, the cliff walls could still be seen clearly with sunlight, but a little deeper they were swallowed by darkness. A thin mist drifted at a position ten-odd meters above the ground.

At the same time, a soul-chilling yin cold made him involuntarily shiver.

'Trust me, there's no mistake—going down you'll surely find the entrance!' Hui Siye calculated with his little paw for a moment and said firmly.

Gazing at the bottomless fissure, Chen Shicheng didn't immediately descend; instead, he switched to the Evil Ghost Pill's perspective, controlling it to fly slowly downward.

As the Evil Ghost Pill broke through that thin mist and kept descending, the scene below the fissure appeared before his eyes; but once he saw the situation clearly, his pupils instantly contracted.

The fissure was convex in shape—narrow at the top, wide at the bottom; even the lowest part wasn't pitch dark as imagined, with clumps of greenish ghost fire drifting about, letting one clearly see everything down there.

Corpses!

Countless corpses! Bathed in the ghost fire's glow, innumerable corpses lay piled layer upon layer, filling the fissure's bottom and stretching to the edge of sight.

The corpses wore wildly different clothing styles; even Chen Shicheng, who hadn't studied them, could tell at a glance that they spanned vast ages, apparently formed by long-term accumulation and compression.

What's strange is that, in this dark, damp environment, all the corpses had bluish-purple faces and withered muscles, showing not a trace of rot—quite uncanny.

Moreover, above the corpses hovered semi-transparent souls, their gazes dull and vacant as they drifted aimlessly.

'Sure enough, it's not simple down there.'

Chen Shicheng controlled the Evil Ghost Pill at the fissure's bottom, found a spot where no souls drifted, then located a sufficiently long vine on the corresponding fissure edge and tied it to a tree root.

Following the vine, a person, a mouse, and a weasel slowly disappeared into the thin mist.

(End of Chapter)