Adventurer, did you revive today by watching the ads too?

"Holy crap, Tia, you're way too tight!!"

"It's better if it's tight. Don't men all like it tight? Otherwise, you won't be happy if it's loose later."

"Then let's not tighten it so much, Karula... I'm afraid she'll cry out in pain."

"Bullshit, she should be the one holding the tightest, otherwise it'll be troublesome if she sneaks out later. You don't want to self-destruct while fighting skeleton soldiers, do you?"

late at night.

The plains are bathed in the cool moonlight, and when the night wind blows, the grassland ripples like ocean waves.

On a flat grassland, a horse is grazing with its head down.

Meanwhile, the shouting of Tia and Hua Zhen could be heard from the side.

They had now arrived outside the cemetery on the outskirts of Farlands and were tying ropes around themselves.

The reason for doing this is obvious: it's because of a "curse".

27 meters...

No, it's past midnight now, and the distance has been reduced to 24 meters.

If any one of the three of them exceeds this distance limit, they will immediately explode on the spot. Therefore, in order to ensure safety during the battle, Hua Zhen bought a rope when she went to the general store during the day.

It's important to understand that this isn't just about taking care of Karula.

When your attention is focused on the enemy during battle, it's difficult to maintain distance. Moreover, when it comes to defeating the "Undead Creator," Tia's time-stopping ability is absolutely crucial.

Therefore, tying three ropes of measured length around the waist restricts movement and can minimize the risk of tragedy.

Tia tied a tight knot around Hua Zhen and Karula's waists, checked it twice to make sure the knots wouldn't come loose, and then nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, have you brought all your equipment?" Hua Zhen asked.

"Um."

"Let's go!"

Hua Zhen and Tia Ge led Karula toward the cemetery.

A towering redwood, over twenty meters tall, stands prominently behind the cemetery, its lush foliage blocking out most of the moonlight and making the area appear dim.

Karula followed behind the two in a daze. Although her little brain didn't understand the meaning of Huazhen and Tia's actions, she knew that following these two meant delicious food. Shiva, as her mother, naturally accompanied Karula as well.

Perhaps it was psychological, but the closer Hua Zhen got to the cemetery, the colder and more gloomy the air felt.

"Speaking of which... why does it feel so eerie around here? There's not even a gravedigger in sight," Tia frowned her beautiful eyebrows. "The atmosphere here feels much stronger than I imagined, and it even carries a faint sense of foreboding."

"An ominous aura?" Hua Zhen couldn't help but become cautious.

Could it be that there are ghouls or other monsters inside that Tia has noticed?

These kinds of monsters do indeed appear in cemeteries.

That would be tricky.

"Yeah, it feels like those recording crystals sold in those mysterious little movie shops on Round Corner Street, with tags like #outdoors#, #latenights#, #multiple people# and so on..."

"No, you watch a lot of porn!"

"What the hell? Haven't you seen the 'Skull Massacre' trilogy?"

"Sorry," Hua Zhen scratched his head, "I usually only watch those movies made by succubi."

"Tsk," Tia's face showed a look of disgust, "It's a show about skeleton monsters. The skeleton soldiers in it are based on reality. They will follow the instinct of the dead to kill all living things around them, and they are very cruel. They will try to rip out people's internal organs and then crawl back into their skin..."

"This is all fake, right? It's just filmed for people's entertainment."

"It's not fake. Strictly speaking, it's a documentary," Tia said seriously. "It was filmed by a monster enthusiast who followed a small team of rookie adventurers. The characters and plot are very realistic!"

"Damn it, don't jinx it!" Hua Zhen quickly stopped him. "This is a battle for our survival. Listen carefully, here's the plan: after those skeleton soldiers show up, we'll take care of them first, lure the undead maker out, then get within 24 meters of it, and then you'll use time stop to kill it. Got it?"

"Why not just use a bouncing bomb to blast the enemy away?"

"That's the worst possible solution," Hua Zhen shook her head, "a last resort to save your life."

Why?

"So many people are buried here, are you asking me to dig up their ancestral graves?" Hua Zhen said. "If no one knew about this, it would be fine, but the key is that this was commissioned by a professor from the magic academy. If we mess it up, we might have to pay compensation later. Don't you think about how much money the two of us have combined?"

"Too……"

Tiague probably imagined the scene of being blocked and beaten by the deceased's family members, so she shrank her head and said "Oh," which can be taken as agreement with Huazhen's statement.

As they spoke, the three people and the dog had already arrived at the entrance of the cemetery.

The long-neglected gate was unlocked and made an unpleasant creaking sound when pushed open.

Hua Zhen walked cautiously ahead, holding the short sword.

The skeleton soldiers should be in this cemetery; we need to be careful.

According to Professor Flo, the two students saw it deep in the cemetery. To be honest, Hua Zhen had no idea why they would come to such a place looking for thrills.

They could have had a rendezvous in so many places at school—the classroom, the infirmary, the bathroom, the changing room, the swimming pool…—and even had sex under the cover of darkness. Instead, they chose to come here and deserved to be scared half to death by the skeleton soldiers!

To be honest, Hua Zhen wasn't too worried.

The Adventurers' Guild's "Monster Record Atlas" includes records of monsters like skeleton soldiers.

Their combat power is not high, and their movement is relatively slow due to the lack of a physical body. The only threat is that they can reassemble after being scattered, so it is necessary to find the source and solve the problem.

This monster only appears under two specific circumstances.

One reason is that it was affected by the mutation of the Great Source Magic and crawled out of the mound.

The second reason is that it was induced by the undead creator.

The former is unlikely to occur because many deceased people are buried in coffins nowadays. Therefore, the skeleton soldiers that appear now are basically of the second type.

Incidentally, the Necromancer is also a type of monster that can use special magical circuits to create skeleton soldiers from the bones of the dead. In a sense, it is equivalent to chain summoning; wherever there is a Necromancer, there will be skeleton soldiers.

As they got closer to their destination, Hua Zhen and his group suddenly heard a series of crisp, crackling sounds, like bones colliding with each other.

"Wow," Tia exclaimed in surprise, "Skeletons throwing parties? Those bones are making a loud banging sound!"

"Keep your voice down so we don't get caught," Hua Zhen said, covering her mouth with her hand. "We'll slowly find cover to get closer, then take them out in one fell swoop, understand?"

Tia nodded, and for some reason, Hua Zhen sensed a hint of anger in her eyes.

Sigh, we're all sleeping in the same bed, yet we still stick to that old-fashioned rule about men and women not touching each other.

Tia, you're not that kind of person either!

The moment you let go.

"Hua Zhen, did you not wash your hands after inserting the tube this afternoon?!" Tia Ge's tone was harsh and fast.

"No!" Hua Zhen exclaimed in surprise. "I swear I didn't today. I was about to self-destruct, why would I direct it myself instead of going to Round Corner Street to find the succubus lady to solve it?"

"That's true," Tiague's expression softened, "but honestly, the smell on your hands is really weird..."

Is it that smelly?

Hua Zhen was startled and subconsciously wanted to smell her left hand.

But then, as if he had just thought of something, he abruptly stopped himself from doing so, and then looked at Shiva with a sly glint in his eyes, while Shiva also turned his gaze toward him.

I don't know if it's because of psychological reasons.

Hua Zhen always felt that Shiva's eyes were a little shy.

He roughly understood where the strange smell was coming from...

Just this evening, after Tia Ge had convincing herself not to take credit for her and then went out, Hua Zhen, because of what Tia Ge had said earlier, and out of slight curiosity about "Animal World," went to flick Shiva's chicken roll.

Of course, Hua Zhen didn't actually intend to forge a golden finger on Shiva.

But... isn't it cool that a female hyena gets a chicken roll?

As a result, I forgot to wash my hands.

In this light, Tia's anger becomes understandable.

In her view, Hua Zhen's act of touching her mouth without washing her hands after pouring water was no different from smearing a mouthful of saliva on her mouth.

That's why she was so angry.

After all, she's a genuine beauty who's never even had a boyfriend.

Kehua really felt there was no need to be so angry...

Shiva is female, so there's no such thing as a hyena loli...

However, Shiva is female, and Tiague is also female.

Wouldn't that make her neodymium copper?

Of course, Hua Zhen dared not say this aloud, otherwise Tia Ge would have started a fight with him on the spot.

It seems that not only Karula, but even Shiva will need to take a bath from now on.

Otherwise, if Tia smells its scent and realizes what's happening, she'll be in trouble.

Hua Zhen let the matter slide, and fortunately, Tia Ge didn't think much of it either.

The three people and the dog moved along the shadows of the cemetery, using the tombstones for cover. Karula and Shiva remained quiet throughout; the former was relatively obedient, neither crying nor making a fuss, while the latter, perhaps possessing some intelligence…

Finally, they hid behind the thick redwood tree.

The crackling sound grew louder and louder, indicating that they were not far from their target.

Hua Zhen and Tia Ge peeked out from behind the tree trunk, looking nervously in that direction.

Thirty meters ahead, in an open space deep within the cemetery, there was a stone table. Several skeletons were sitting there, playing mahjong around the table, making a loud clattering sound. The moonlight, shining through the gaps in the treetops, shone on them, casting a chilling white glow.

"If I'm not mistaken... those skeletons are playing mahjong?" Tia asked, her face full of suspicion.

"It seems so. Did your movie 'Skeleton' have a scene where skeleton soldiers are playing cards in a circle?" Hua Zhen asked.

"No, honestly, is this for real?"

Although these skeleton soldiers were playing mahjong, they were nothing but skeletons, their pale, eerie color shining in the cold moonlight, clearly devoid of any signs of life.

Since they had never seen anything like this before, Hua Zhen and Tia Ge decided to hold back for the time being.

Skeleton soldiers belong to low-level monsters and only act on instinct; playing mahjong is far too advanced for them.

To be honest, the skeleton soldiers weren't too bad.

But where did mahjong come from?

Could it be that someone brought a mahjong set to the gambling addict's family when they went to the grave?

Just as Hua Zhen was pondering this question, Tia Ge suddenly poked the back of Hua Zhen's neck.

"what?"

"I have a little question," Tia whispered. "These skeletons are really dead, right? But to play mahjong, they'd at least need to be intelligent, wouldn't they?"

"That's true..."

"But if a person is already dead and can still think and play mahjong, can they still be considered dead? Or are these still skeleton soldiers?"

What are you trying to say?

"What I'm trying to say is... could these skeleton soldiers be mutants?" Tia asked.

Mutant species.

This inevitably brought back Hua Zhen's memories of the Muscle Goblin.

Strong, muscular, and attracted to males.

If Akuri hadn't stepped forward back then, given their habits, it would have been me who was tormented, right?

Can skeleton soldiers also have mutated forms?

I've never heard of that!

"So," Tia's eyes turned sinister, looking somewhat eager, "while they haven't spotted us, we can charge in and wipe these things out in one fell swoop!"

"Hiss, I don't think ordinary skeleton soldiers are intelligent enough to play mahjong. Anyway, the other side hasn't spotted us yet, so let's calm down and observe further... Hmm?"

Before she could finish speaking, Hua Zhen's voice was interrupted.

"A perfect hand!" A skeleton at the stone table excitedly raised its hands. "I won! Hurry up and give me the lace panties! Hahahaha!"

The skeleton soldier... spoke?!

Hua Zhen and Tia Ge exchanged a glance, both seeing terror in each other's eyes.

Although it was more than 30 meters away and I couldn't hear it clearly, the skeleton did speak!

"A bet's a bet! And the bottle cap! That bottle cap is mine too, give it all to me!"

Skull Number 1, sitting on the left side of the table, gathered all the chips on the stone table in front of him.

"That's enough, that's enough, halftime!" The other skeletons waved their hands.

"No way! We've only just begun! Fourth brother, you haven't even brought out your dairy cow tribe photo album yet, have you? I even took out my treasured collection of female adventurer socks yesterday!"

"Can't you guys stop for a minute after fighting for two hours?" There seemed to be a skeleton squatting nearby. "We don't have any guys to use, so why would we need a photo album? Let's just wait patiently for Jinjin to come back; she should be here soon."

"It's hard to say. Her procrastination is an old habit of hers. We've been watching the formations she set up in this cemetery for days, but we still haven't gotten any results."

"Those of you who want to rest, go and rest. I'll take a walk around the neighborhood for a bit. A few days ago, I saw a young couple kissing nearby, so I grabbed something and jumped out to scare them, haha! They came all this way to show off their affection!"

"I'll stay here too. This formation is very important to Jinjin; we can't afford any mistakes. Our success hinges on this!"