Twin female zombies come to the door: My lord, please have mercy!

Three options are listed on the system screen:

[Option A: Taking advantage of the situation to cut losses, capital revels—slamming the table, demanding that Jiang Ling transfer 40% of that night's livestream revenue as a "scientific guidance fee" on the spot.]

[Reward: A penny-pincher's calculation. Consequence: Although Jiang Ling pays you, she'll label you a heartless businessman in her heart; it's a one-off deal, and there will be no further contact.]

Option B: Recruit her as an external spy – Strictly refuse any monetary rewards. Let Jiang Ling utilize her massive fan base and adventure traffic to act as the surveillance radar for the funeral parlor, gathering strange clues throughout Jiangzhou for you.

[Reward: 300 Official Points, unlocks the "Paranormal Signal Radar" plugin (can be directly installed in Jiang Ling's live stream backend).]

Option C: Coldly refusing visitors – With a cold snort, "Vulgar things are beneath my notice," and directly shutting the door to refuse visitors.

[Reward: Master of Solitude Medal. Consequence: You have lost an excellent source of intelligence.]

Lin Ye's eyes flickered slightly.

Option B is worth far more than millions of dollars in cash.

In an era of spiritual revival, ancient ruins and evil spirits are emerging in large numbers.

If he wanders around aimlessly all by himself, he'll work himself to death and still not find many high-level monsters to farm points.

There's a streamer with millions of followers who's always out there recklessly exploring new routes; he's practically a free, high-level radar.

"I choose B," Lin Ye decided in his heart.

He pushed aside the calculator on the table and leaned forward slightly.

"Miss Jiang, I don't care about the live-streaming revenue sharing. The official account is enough for me to live off for several lifetimes."

Lin Ye's tone was deep and imposing, carrying a sense of pressure reminiscent of a powerful figure from the Xuanmen sect.

"If you really want to cooperate, I'll show you the way. You can continue doing your adventure live streams, and if you encounter any places with abnormal magnetic fields or events that defy common sense, send me the location and video immediately."

Lin Ye took out a yellow triangular talisman with hidden runes drawn on it from his pocket and pushed it in front of Jiang Ling.

"Keep this amulet close to your body. As long as you run errands for me and find clues, if you encounter the real deal, this amulet will keep you going until I rush off to 'educate' you."

"We each get what we need: you earn your traffic, and I'll do my academic research, how about that?"

Jiang Ling looked at the yellow talisman, held it in her hands as if it were a priceless treasure, and nodded excitedly.

"It's a deal! Don't worry, Master Lin, from now on I will be your first sentinel on the Internet."

"I will report to you immediately if there is any disturbance in Jiangzhou!"

After seeing off the profusely grateful Jiang Ling, the funeral parlor returned to tranquility.

"Ding! Optional task completed."

"Official Points +300, Current Points: 5800. The [Paranormal Signal Radar] function has been activated and bound."

Lin Ye ignored the system's announcement. He stood up and turned to look at Leng Yue, who was standing to the side.

"Let's go. Let's go down and check out that 'Underworld Express'."

The two walked side by side to the backyard and down the steps into the obsidian meditation room that was ten meters deep.

As soon as you step underground, the surrounding light suddenly dims.

The pure black obsidian walls firmly locked the yin energy surging from the depths of the earth within the room.

A tangible white mist drifted in the air, and the temperature was bone-chillingly cold.

When Leng Yue arrived here, she felt right at home.

Her aura was fully released, and her deep red eyes gleamed with a captivating dark golden light in the shadows.

On the century-old lightning-struck wooden array plate in the center of the quiet room.

The small Western Zhou bronze box that I brought out from the Jiangda laboratory was sitting alone on the futon.

Lin Ye stepped forward and sat down cross-legged.

The bronze box withstood 20,000 volts of high voltage, its surface blackened by the electric shock, and it faintly exuded an extremely dangerous aura.

"This thing cannot be opened by brute force. The inside of the lid is connected to a mechanism from the Western Zhou Dynasty. If the force is uneven, the mercury and self-destruct mechanism inside will detonate on the spot."

Lin Ye pulled out the [Dragon-Seeking Ruler] from his tactical backpack.

He placed the bronze ruler flat on top of the box lid.

The twenty-eight constellation totems on the surface of the ruler emit a faint golden light.

The pointer spun wildly, finally coming to a stop in a recessed area at the bottom left corner of the bronze box.

"The point of gravitational imbalance is here."

Lin Ye put away the Dragon-Seeking Ruler.

He bit his left index finger, and a drop of scalding hot, pure Yang blood seeped out.

He pressed his fingertips precisely into the indentation.

When the pure Yang blood encountered the extremely Yin bronze buried for two thousand years, it instantly erupted with astonishing heat.

Due to the physical laws of thermal expansion and contraction, coupled with the corrosive effect of the Taoist blood, the rusty spring inside the box lid emitted a dull snapping sound.

"Click".

The perfectly sealed bronze box lid popped open a tiny crack.

The moment the crack opened, the sound that came from inside the box was not the clinking of gold and silver treasures, but rather a faint, ethereal, and clear ringing of a copper bell.

"Ring... Ring..."

The ringing carried a chilling, soul-piercing sound that echoed through the obsidian-encrusted room, sending shivers down one's spine.

Lin Ye's eyes sharpened, and he used the tip of his sword to pry open the box lid.

A strong smell of preservatives mixed with the stench of old corpses hit me.

Inside the bronze box, there were no jewels, no gold or jade.

Lying quietly at the bottom is a shriveled "severed finger" wrapped in layers of gold foil.

The skin of the severed finger had completely withered.

Moreover, the severed finger was a strange bluish-black color.

Next to the severed finger lay a neatly folded, tattered map made of human skin.

Leng Yue stood aside, looking at the severed finger, a rare hint of apprehension flashing in her dark golden eyes.

"My lord, be careful. The residual death energy on this severed finger is of extremely high quality. Its former owner was no ordinary mortal."

Lin Ye did not reach out to touch it.

Just five seconds after the bronze box was fully exposed to the air.

The withered, severed finger, wrapped in gold foil, suddenly twitched at the bottom of the box.

Immediately afterwards, the blackened nail tip at the end of the severed finger began to grow wildly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The fingernails rubbed against the bronze base, making a teeth-grinding "click-click" sound.

In just a few breaths, the black fingernail grew forward by three centimeters, curving into a strange hook shape, pointing firmly to the southwest.

Lin Ye stared at the fingernail pointing southwest, his expression becoming extremely solemn.

He took out the tattered human skin image and carefully spread it out on the ground.

The drawing depicts continuous mountain ranges and waterways in vermilion, with several ancient seal script characters marked deep within the mountains.

"The Underground Palace of the Yellow Springs, the Immortal Bones of the Gods."

Lin Ye read the words on the drawing softly.

"Buzzing—"

Just then, Lin Ye's cell phone suddenly vibrated, breaking the deathly silence of the room.

As soon as Lin Ye answered the phone, Bai Yu's excited, trembling voice came through.

"Mr. Lin! I've found it! I've searched through all the most confidential oracle bone rubbings in Jiang University Library and finally confirmed the origin of that bronze tripod!"

Bai Yu was breathing heavily on the other end of the phone.

"According to records, this was an ancient site that the Zhou emperor suppressed with an army of 100,000 during his southern tour. Ancient texts state that an indestructible 'immortal bone' is buried there!"

Lin Ye held his phone, his gaze falling on the map and the severed finger on the ground.

"Where is it located?"

"In the southwestern border region, deep in the mountains of the Ten Thousand Mountains."

Bai Yu spoke very quickly.

"Based on the county annals and the terrain, that place is now called... Miao Jiang Wan Gu Mo Ku (Miao Territory of Ten Thousand Gu Demons)."

Lin Ye hung up the phone and turned to look at Ayougu, who was peeking out from the stairwell.

Ayougu had clearly overheard snippets of conversation on the phone.

Her previously playful face turned deathly pale in an instant. She waved her hands frantically, the silver ring around her neck jingling loudly.

"The Cave of Ten Thousand Gu Demons?! Boss Lin, I'm not taking this job! That's the burial ground of all the Gu Kings of our Miao region. If a living person goes in, not even a bone fragment will remain! I want to quit! I want a raise!"

Lin Ye snapped the bronze box shut and put it into his tactical backpack.

He climbed the stone steps one by one, looking at the trembling Miao girl, a wicked smile curling at the corner of his mouth:

"No raise? If you don't obediently lead the way, I'll pour your two jars of precious poisonous insects into the oil right now and make a stir-fried protein dish for everyone tonight."

Ayougu covered her face in despair, let out a wail, and collapsed to the ground.