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

The next day, the morning mist in Taiping Old Street had not yet dissipated, and a layer of cold, damp moisture clung to the bluestone pavement.

A black heavy-duty SUV with a raised chassis and a scratch-resistant matte paint finish was parked in front of the funeral parlor.

The engine wasn't running yet, but the exhaust pipe still smelled of engine oil left from last night's test drive.

With an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth, Lin Ye used both hands to lift the last bag of aged glutinous rice, weighing a full fifty pounds, into the spacious trunk of the SUV.

The rice bag hit the floor of the carriage with a dull thud.

The trunk was already packed full.

Two sets of military-grade portable oxygen recirculators were neatly secured in their slots, with waterproof high-intensity searchlights, polymer climbing ropes, and a large bag of black donkey hooves tucked in beside them.

In the innermost corner, a square, sealed iron box was firmly secured with several paracords.

Inside was a small bronze box from the Western Zhou Dynasty, and inside the box lay that withered, severed finger.

Fatty Wang stood on the steps of the shop, holding a cup of hot soy milk in his hand, with two large dark circles under his eyes from staying up all night.

Lin Ye closed the tailgate and dusted off his hands.

"If you need anything, call my satellite phone. There's definitely no signal on a regular cell phone once you're in the mountains."

Fatty Wang nodded emphatically and took a big gulp of soy milk:

"Yezi, please be extra careful on this trip. I checked the terrain map there; there are no roads at all in the Ten Thousand Mountains. You have to walk the whole way. If you run into trouble, survival is the most important thing."

Lin Ye got into the driver's seat, inserted the car key into the lock, and turned it hard.

The engine of the heavy off-road vehicle let out a deep, beast-like roar.

The vibrations of the eight-cylinder engine are transmitted to the palms through the steering wheel.

Lin Ye stepped on the gas, and the SUV rolled over the slippery stone slabs of Taiping Old Street, entered the morning traffic of Jiangzhou, and sped towards the highway leading out of the city.

The interior of the carriage is extremely spacious, divided into three rows, front and back.

Ayougu monopolized the spacious seats in the last row all by himself.

The Miao girl was holding a bag of spicy duck necks, her mouth full of red oil, muttering complaints.

"You heartless boss. I work for your shop and you only pay me a basic salary. Now you're dragging me to go on an adventure to a place where I'm almost certain to die."

"This is a serious violation of labor law. Let me tell you, if we really get into the Ten Thousand Gu Demon Cave this time, you have to pay me ten times the danger allowance."

Ayougu spat out a bone and grabbed a tissue to wipe her mouth.

Lin Ye gripped the steering wheel with both hands, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

"We'll provide food and lodging, and even take care of your unregistered residency status. If you think the treatment is bad, get off the bus now and walk back to your Miao village along the highway."

Ayougu choked for a moment, let out a heavy snort, turned to look out the window, and stopped talking.

Froststar huddled in the corner of the second row.

This little girl seems to never get enough sleep.

She was holding a portable mini-fridge connected to the car's power supply, which was filled with various flavors of ice cream and chilled meat.

Half of his body was pressed against the cold air emanating from the refrigerator, his eyes were closed, and his head bobbed up and down with the bumps of the car, as he was comfortably dozing off.

Leng Yue sat in the passenger seat.

She adjusted the seat back slightly, resting her back against it.

His deep red eyes gazed at the city skyscrapers rushing past the window.

The dark golden morning light shone on the car window, reflecting her exquisitely beautiful and aloof facial features.

The car radio was on.

The local traffic radio station in Jiangzhou is broadcasting traffic conditions during the morning rush hour.

The female anchor's sweet voice echoed in the carriage, mixed with occasional static.

As the wheels rolled forward, the prosperity of Jiangzhou was completely left behind.

The plain began to rise.

The straight and wide highway gradually came to an end.

The asphalt road surface has been replaced by a two-lane provincial highway.

The roadside trees are becoming increasingly dense, and the distant mountain ridgeline appears a heavy bluish-black.

The mountains stretched endlessly, layer upon layer, across the horizon, blocking the view ahead.

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

The off-road vehicle officially entered the Shiwan Mountains region bordering Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.

The road conditions deteriorated rapidly.

The smooth provincial highway disappeared, and what lay beneath the wheels became a bumpy, winding dirt road.

The gravel was crushed by the large off-road tires, making a screeching cracking sound.

The car kicked up clouds of yellow dust.

The car radio signal was completely cut off, leaving only a piercing "hissing" sound.

Lin Ye reached out and turned off the radio.

Ayougu pressed her face against the car window, looking at the increasingly familiar vegetation outside, her expression gradually becoming serious.

Occasionally, a few rusty directional signs flash by on the roadside.

The red paint on the sign had long since peeled off, and someone had used white lime to repaint some crooked characters on it.

"Slow down on that bend ahead."

Ayougu pointed to a steep slope ahead and directed the route in a heavily accented southwestern dialect.

"That's Panlong Bend. The road is very narrow, and below it is a black ditch that's a hundred meters deep."

"If someone falls in, you can't even find their bones. Every year, more than a dozen lives are lost here."

Lin Ye lightly tapped the brakes to reduce the car's speed.

The off-road vehicle slowly climbed the slope, hugging the edge of the cliff.

Outside the car window, white mist rose from the bottomless ravine, and the echoes of water crashing against rocks reverberated through the valley.

It gets dark very early in the mountains.

It was only five o'clock, and the sun was completely blocked by the towering primeval vegetation around it.

No sunlight penetrated into the woods; the light was dim and oppressive.

Thick white fog rose from the mountain stream.

The fog lingered and did not dissipate, flowing back up the mountain winds onto the winding mountain road.

The fog brushed against the windshield, condensing into large, murky water droplets.

Lin Ye turned on the windshield wipers, and the rubber blades scraped against the glass, making a dry and harsh sound.

Visibility was obstructed, with a range of less than ten meters.

Lin Ye gripped the steering wheel tightly, the off-road vehicle's engine groaning laboriously on the steep slope.

In the passenger seat, Leng Yue suddenly opened her eyes.

She didn't turn her head, her gaze sweeping straight into the dark depths of the forest outside the car window.

There wasn't a single bird chirping in the woods.

The wind howled, and the leaves rustled and spun violently in the gale.

A hint of wariness flashed deep within Leng Yue's dark golden eyes.

She could clearly sense that the malevolent energy beneath the earth's veins was churning violently.

"My lord, the energy in the mountains has changed; something underground is moving around using the mist."

Leng Yue's voice was extremely low, echoing in the somber carriage.

Lin Ye nodded, gripping the steering wheel tightly with both hands, and steered the steel behemoth forward with difficulty on the muddy dirt road.

With the mountain shrouded in thick fog, continuing to drive at night would be tantamount to suicide.

This mountain road is riddled with signs of collapses and landslides; a slight misstep could send you and your vehicle plunging into an abyss.

A muffled scratching sound suddenly came from inside the sealed iron box in the trunk.

"Snap. Snap."

The sound penetrated the soundproofing layer and entered the carriage.

The withered, severed finger sensed the call of the earth's death energy and was restlessly scraping against the bronze inner wall inside the iron box.

"We must find a place to stay; this fog carries an ominous aura, blinding the living."

Lin Ye turned on his hazard lights and, relying on his exceptional eyesight, searched for a place to rest in the thick fog.

The SUV made a sharp turn of nearly 90 degrees.

A wooden stilted house built halfway up the mountain appeared in the hazy mist ahead.

The stilted houses are built against the mountainside, supported by sturdy round logs driven into the ground.

The first floor has an open-plan structure, and it looks like a hole-in-the-wall restaurant catering to passing merchants.

Two dim red lanterns hung under the eaves, swaying in the mountain breeze and emitting a faint red glow.

Above the door panel hung a wooden sign with several large characters painted in red.

[Laoyaling Accommodation and Food]