In the dark cave, the Undead moved as if they had returned home, strolling forward with ease and without the slightest pause. They had long since passed the 500-meter mark Liu Xingxing had previously explored, yet the Undead showed no signs of stopping, and the cave still seemed to have no end.

SNAP.

The crisp sound made Liu Xingxing’s body freeze. He slowly lowered his head and lifted his foot to look. Beneath it was a bone, snapped in two!

"Boss!" Liu Xingxing yelled, looking up from the bone.

Li Ziyu, who was walking ahead with the Undead, was startled by Liu Xingxing’s shout. He turned back irritably. "What is it? What’s all the fuss about?"

Liu Xingxing gave an awkward grin. He realized that shouting in a cave with such an inherently creepy atmosphere was bound to startle someone. Still, he pointed nearby and said, "Look over there. There’s a body."

"Tsk. Is it really that strange to find a body in a cave?" Li Ziyu muttered, then paused. Now that Liu Xingxing had pointed it out, he realized they really hadn’t seen any other bodies since entering the cave.

He walked back a few steps to Liu Xingxing’s side and looked where he was pointing. It was a skeleton, mostly buried in the ground and long since stripped of flesh. Judging by the bone structure, it didn’t seem to be Human, but probably a Beastman or a similar Race.

Li Ziyu reached out, grabbed a protruding bone, and with a slight tug, pulled it out. He called over a Skeleton Undead and had it bring its head closer, using the light of its Soul Fire to examine the bone in his hand.

"Judging by the color, it must have been dead for a long time. The bone is discolored. Plus, the piece I stepped on was brittle," Liu Xingxing said in a low voice, leaning in to take a look.

After speaking, he looked down again at the buried skeleton and paused. He brushed at the ground a couple of times, then dug a little before immediately turning his head. "An Undead, over here! Give me some light!"

And yet... not a single Undead paid him any mind.

Liu Xingxing turned to Li Ziyu, his face a blank mask. Li Ziyu, holding back a laugh, grabbed a nearby Skeleton Undead, smoothly twisted its skull off, and amiably presented it to Liu Xingxing.

"Here, use this."

Staring at the skull in Li Ziyu’s hand—its jaw clacking open and shut as if it were cursing—the corner of Liu Xingxing’s mouth twitched. After much hesitation, he carefully took it and brought it close to the ground.

"Find anything?" Li Ziyu crouched down beside him, looking over curiously.

"I think there are more bones underneath," Liu Xingxing said, holding the skull for light with one hand while he continued to brush away the dirt with the other.

He grabbed a bone that was pinned down and pulled upward with all his might. The dirt immediately gave way, and Liu Xingxing yanked a thick leg bone out of the ground. He had used so much force that he fell flat on his butt, nearly tipping over backward.

Li Ziyu leaned over the hole left by the leg bone and peered inside. His gaze instantly sharpened. Bones. There were still more bones underneath!

He straightened up, his brow furrowed. He turned to look around, and a suspicion formed in his mind. ’Could it be... that the ground beneath us is nothing but corpses?’

"Boss, this doesn’t belong to that skeleton on the surface," Liu Xingxing said, holding the large leg bone. He didn’t even need to compare them; it was obvious this bone couldn’t have come from the partially buried skeleton.

"Keep moving forward. Let’s see what’s really in here." Li Ziyu snatched the thigh bone, tossed it aside, and signaled for the Undead to continue onward.

The cave ahead began to twist and turn, sometimes sloping up, sometimes down. They had no idea how far they had walked, but they were certainly deep within the mountain’s belly. Finally, they reached the end: a vast open space, so large that even the Soul Fire of the Undead couldn’t illuminate everything around them.

It was pitch-black and silent. The path ended before them, dropping off into what seemed like a Monster’s gaping maw leading straight to an abyss. And from the depths of that abyss came the singing and cheering Li Ziyu had heard.

Not knowing where the edge was, Li Ziyu didn’t dare step forward, afraid of accidentally falling in. He commanded a Skeleton Undead to go check it out.

The utterly fearless Skeleton Undead casually walked over and then vanished from Li Ziyu’s sight with a CLATTERING CRASH.

’Where did it go?’

Li Ziyu’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly reached out with his senses for the Undead. ’Thank goodness.’ The Undead wasn’t in any danger; it was still there, just inside the abyss. In fact, it was sending back a message that all was well, and that it felt... comfortable.

’Wait, what the hell does ’comfortable’ even mean? What’s down there?’

Li Ziyu could no longer contain his curiosity. Protected by his Skeleton Warriors, he began to inch forward cautiously.

Liu Xingxing hesitated for a moment, then, quick as lightning, he snatched the skulls off several Skeleton Undead. As if he were bowling, he rolled their heads forward. In the flickering light of their Soul Fires, he got a glimpse of his surroundings and froze in place, completely stunned.

The skulls RUMBLED as they rolled forward, then WHOOSHED over the edge into the abyss. They fell and bounced, tumbling all the way down. The light of their Soul Fires flickered in and out of sight, vaguely illuminating the scene below.

"B-B-B-Boss, don’t go any further! Seriously, don’t! Look down! Look at your feet!"

Li Ziyu, who was still inching forward, heard Liu Xingxing’s voice from behind—suppressed, trembling, and filled with terror. His teeth were chattering as if he had just witnessed something utterly unbelievable.

Following his advice, Li Ziyu looked down at his feet, but it was pitch-black and he couldn’t see anything. He had no choice but to order several Skeleton Warriors to lower themselves and illuminate the ground with their Soul Fires.

He saw Skeletons. The ground was covered with Skeletons. Or, to be more precise, it was a floor paved with Corpse Remains.

What soil? There was no soil here at all. This was clearly a Corpse Mountain, piled high with Skeletons!

A thought struck him. Li Ziyu leaned forward, peering into the darkness below. He saw the specks of Soul Fire, and around the light of the skulls, he could see intermittent flashes of white—the color of bone.

Li Ziyu was dumbfounded.

’No way. It can’t be what I think it is!’

’Oh my god!’

He swallowed hard and took a step forward. He tripped on something, lost his balance, and slid down the slope.

"Boss!" Liu Xingxing cried out and lunged forward recklessly, trying to grab Li Ziyu’s hand.

But the moment he lunged, the "ground" around them collapsed. Liu Xingxing let out a terrified scream and tumbled down amidst a CLATTERING CRASH.

"OW, OW, OW..."

Crying out in pain, Liu Xingxing sat up, rubbing his head and the various places he’d been bumped. As his senses returned, a jolt of horror went through him, and he quickly looked around.

It was pitch-black, so dark he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. He subconsciously felt around on the ground next to him and touched something long and thin. He gripped it, then threw it away in an instant. He had realized what it was—a bone!

He felt around again. A round, smooth thing with holes in it. ’Uh... a skull?’

’Crap!’

He felt again. Still bones.

Liu Xingxing gave up. He silently put the bone down and screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice trembling on the verge of tears, "Boss! Where are you!"

Even though Liu Xingxing loved treasure hunting and had gotten used to dealing with the Undead since coming to the Otherworld, that didn’t mean he wasn’t terrified of falling into a mass grave.

A Human’s fear stems from the unknown.

"What are you screaming for? I’m over here!"

The voice came from not far away, and a moment later, the glow of a Soul Fire appeared, illuminating Li Ziyu’s figure.