Chapter 69

Not long after they went down.

Two youths wearing identical gear descended from the sky and also arrived at the edge of the rift.

One of them still held a compass, watching the needle spin wildly on its face, and said somewhat helplessly, 'There's also an entrance here; should we send a few more people to guard it?'

'We can't hold it; someone already found this place before us, and people have likely gone down already.' The other pointed at the vines tied to the tree roots.

'We still need to rely on external help; this person isn't high level—going in would just cause trouble.'

'In the game, dying at most consumes a year of lifespan; if this low-level player could find any treasure in the Underground Palace, dying a dozen times would still be a profit.'

'That's true; let's not talk about it—hurry to the next spot, otherwise the Underground Palace will be full of lone players.'

Following the vines, they left a trail of smoke as they quickly descended, soon reaching the bottom.

After stepping onto the ground made of stiff corpses, Chen Shicheng suppressed his discomfort and used the Eye of Bai Ze to appraise a soul not far away.

【Lv. 12 wandering soul, Essence：？？, Qi：？？, Spirit：？？, Skill：？？？, ？？？，？？？。】

Great, you're high level—can't wait for me to gradually reach the max; when I return I'll appraise the color of your underwear!

Chen Shicheng complained in his heart while controlling the Evil Ghost Pill to incorporealize its body, searching the rift's edge for the entrance Hui Siye confidently said would exist.

Besides, rats really do have a say in underground matters; right where they landed, less than 100 meters away, a mouth seemingly formed by a collapse suddenly appeared, shocking him.

However, on this hundred-meter stretch, dozens of wandering souls blocked every forward path; trying to reach the mouth without alarming them was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Moreover, the Illusion Body Talisman had no effect on these souls; the Evil Ghost Pill in invisibility mode only needed to fly a bit lower to instantly draw their attention.

So Chen Shicheng thought, and the Evil Ghost Pill immediately revealed its true form, a 'Boom' as it smashed into the corpse‑strewn surface, the huge sound echoing continuously in the rift.

The wandering soul nearest the Evil Ghost Pill, like a ghost, silently extended its hands behind it and went for the throat.

But both were ghosts, so neither feared the other.

Before the wandering soul's hands could reach the Evil Ghost Pill's neck, it suddenly turned, and a pair of huge palms clenched the soul in its grip.

"Roar!!!"

Accompanied by the huge roar, the Evil Ghost Pill's mouth opened wide, it bit off half of the wandering soul's head in one fierce gulp, then kept chewing, looking very pleased.

Until the Evil Ghost Pill stubbornly endured attacks from over a dozen wandering souls, finished off the one in its hand, the Evil Ghost Mask then gave Chen Shicheng a hint of feedback.

The Evil Ghost Pill's experience seemed to increase by 0.001; Chen Shicheng quickly glanced at Hui Siye and whispered, 'Eating those souls seems to have strengthened the Evil Ghost Pill a bit—do you want to take a couple bites too?'

"Heh."

Hui Siye gave a cold laugh and refused bluntly, 'Foreign barbarian ghosts are crude; indiscriminately devouring souls will only muddle his spiritual intellect, leaving him stuck at his current realm, unable to advance even an inch in this life—even if it let me scrape by, I could never resort to such heretical ways.'

Saying that, it glanced at the mask on Chen Shicheng's face and said, 'Don't think I don't know what you're planning—that foreign ghost can maintain its state only because of this mask, heh.' Hearing this, Chen Shicheng sighed inwardly, fell silent, and continued staring as the Evil Ghost Pill lured and devoured nearby wandering souls.

Actually, after experiencing Hui Siye's Five Ghosts Moving Technique, he had an idea: could Hui Siye replace the Evil Ghost Pill and enter the mask to become a spirit?

Then, although we'd lose the Evil Ghost Pill's level‑15 combat power, we'd gain a skill equivalent to instant movement in its place.

The Five Ghosts Moving Technique, though, has a delay and conspicuous five‑colored light when activated and when it ends.

But for the Eight Steps Chasing Cicada, which currently relies only on physique and technique for speed, it would be a huge improvement; moreover, whether for breaking in, escaping, supporting, rescuing, or pursuing, the Five Ghosts Moving Technique excels in all, worthy of being called the most versatile divine skill.

It's a pity Hui Siye seems resistant to this alternative existence, so he can only abandon the idea.

'Let's go; the Evil Ghost Pill has already drawn all the monsters away.' Hui Siye spoke as if nothing had happened, calmly.

Only after regaining his senses did Chen Shicheng realize that the wandering souls on the hundred‑plus‑meter path to the mouth had all been lured away by the Evil Ghost Pill.

He quickly gathered his focus, jogged along the edge into the mouth, recalled the Evil Ghost Pill into the mask, then sent it out again to scout ahead.

There were no wandering souls inside the passage, so after Chen Shicheng moved a short distance forward, he could no longer see anything.

However, as his Divine Perception spread, the scene inside the passage was faithfully fed back to his mind, allowing him to continue forward smoothly.

As he went deeper, the edge of his Divine Perception also gradually revealed blocks of stone bricks; following the bricks forward to "look", a collapsed stone wall appeared before him, and behind the wall was a huge passage.

Surprisingly, it is unknown what special material these brown stone bricks are made of, but they actually suppress the range of Divine Perception; as he gets closer to the collapsed area, the range of his Divine Perception becomes smaller.

By the time he entered the passage, his Divine Perception had been completely suppressed within his sea of consciousness, unable to be used at all.

Fortunately, the interior of the stone wall was covered with large patches of moss emitting a faint green light, illuminating the pitch-black passage brightly.

Moreover, with the Evil Ghost Pill scouting ahead, it is acceptable that Divine Perception cannot be used.

"Siye, which way should we go now?"

It is unknown who built this underground palace, which is extraordinarily grand, almost comparable to a subway tunnel; moreover, both sides stretch out of sight, and Chen Shicheng could only ask Hui Siye, who might be able to find another entrance.

"It's not like I built this underground palace; how would I know which way to go? Just pick any direction—we're already inside." Hui Siye said indifferently.

"That makes sense."

Chen Shicheng controlled the Evil Ghost Pill to fly into the left passage, while he and Hui Siye fell far behind.

Soon, the Evil Ghost Pill detected the situation: at the turn at the end of the passage came a sound of fighting, mixed with human shouts of anger.

Chen Shicheng's heart skipped a beat; it was obvious that although he had chosen the right direction, someone had gotten there first—he didn't know whether it was other lone wanderer players who had sneaked in, or personnel from the Cultural Tourism Bureau Logistics Department.

(End of chapter)