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

The next morning, the thin mist over Laoyaling slowly dissipated in the golden morning light.

Sunlight streamed through the dilapidated wooden lattice windows of the stilted house, casting dappled patterns of light on the greasy cement floor.

The sounds of spatulas clattering could be heard early in the morning from the kitchen on the first floor.

A strong aroma of lard mixed with chili oil wafted through the crack in the door into the second-floor guest room, tempting one's appetite.

Lin Ye pushed open the wooden door and stepped downstairs.

The old, dilapidated wooden staircase creaked dryly under his feet.

He was wearing a black tactical work shirt and loose-fitting multi-pocket work pants.

His military boots clicked on the steps, his steps steady and powerful.

On the wooden table in front of the hall, there were three large bowls of steaming hot rice noodles with minced pork and chili oil.

A thick layer of bright green scallions and cilantro floats on top of the bright red broth.

Ayougu was slurping rice noodles with her head down, completely oblivious to her appearance.

She was sweating from the spiciness, muttering incoherently that the pickled vegetables here weren't spicy enough, and were nowhere near as good as the top-quality pickled bamboo shoots made in the mountains of Miao territory.

The silver choker around her neck jingled as she chewed, exuding an undisguised wildness.

Froststar occupied another large armchair.

The little girl was holding a stainless steel spoon and was forcibly pressing a whole tub of vanilla ice cream into the boiling red oil soup.

The red oil and white cream mixed together, turning into a sticky, strange paste.

She opened her little mouth, revealing two sharp little tiger teeth, and ate bite after bite until her face was covered in red oil.

She has a particular fondness for this unusual way of eating, which combines the sensations of ice and fire.

Lin Ye pulled out a chair and sat down, his gaze sweeping towards the corner of the wooden staircase leading to the second floor.

The wooden door to room 204 next door was half-open.

The place was empty, with only a lingering stench of yellow mud and preservatives in the air.

The four mud-brick diggers had already checked out before dawn and sneaked into the deep mountains ahead of time.

Lin Ye picked up the large, rough porcelain bowl, took a sip of the spicy red soup, and remained expressionless.

"These four mice are up pretty early."

Ayougu wiped the red oil from the corner of her mouth and slammed the bamboo chopsticks in her hand onto the table.

"Manager, I just checked at the entrance. The mud those four tomb raiders were kicking up was all soil from deep within the Western Hills."

"I could smell the earthy odor on them from three streets away. They were taking the ridgeline, which is the shortest route to the Ten Thousand Gu Demon Cave. If we don't leave soon, we won't even get a sip of soup."

Lin Ye took a bite of the salty, crisp cabbage, his expression calm.

"What's the rush? The mountain road is winding and full of poisonous insects and traps. Wouldn't it be better to let them lead the way and scout for potential hazards?"

"Our G-Class has a high chassis and plenty of horsepower. Even if four groundhogs that run on two legs get their feet blistered, they still can't escape my grasp."

Leng Yue sat beside Lin Ye, her long hair tied up high with a dark wooden hairpin.

With her delicate hands, she held the teapot and filled Lin Ye's cup with warm ginseng tea.

In the sunlight reflecting off the window, the sharpness in his dark golden eyes was replaced by gentleness.

After breakfast, the black heavy-duty SUV started up again.

The large off-road tires crushed the gravel on the road, kicking up clouds of yellow dust.

The steel behemoth let out a deep roar and plunged headlong into the even deeper and wilder Hundred Thousand Mountains.

At 10 a.m., the sunlight was completely blocked by the dense, ancient tree canopy.

On both sides of the car window, large swathes of oddly shaped bushes rushed past.

The leaves of these shrubs have turned a sickly dark black, and their branches are covered with sharp, backward-pointing thorns.

A strong, sour, rotten smell permeated the air.

That was the musty, lifeless smell emanating from the decaying leaves that had never seen the sun for years.

Mobile phone navigation and satellite positioning systems are completely useless here.

Only a large red cross indicating no signal remains on the central control screen.

This is a forbidden zone for the living, a primitive dead land completely abandoned by modern civilization.

Half an hour later, the SUV came to an abrupt stop in front of a cliff.

Lin Ye pulled the handbrake, opened the car door, and got out.

In the valley ahead, an endless black swamp stretched out.

This mud pit was as sticky as boiling asphalt.

Dark red mud bubbles, each the size of a washbasin, kept rising from the surface of the muddy water.

After the bubble expanded to its limit, it burst with a loud bang, releasing a ghastly green, highly toxic mist.

The fog swirled above the mud pit, completely obscuring the view ahead.

Hundreds of animal and human skeletons floated haphazardly in the mud.

These bones, blackened and greenened by the muddy water, were stuck tightly between the dead tree trunks.

Some skulls still retain the twisted shapes of painful struggle.

You can't hear a sound of wind here.

That silent stillness was as heavy as a piece of cast iron, pressing down on one's chest, making it hard to breathe.

Ayougu pointed a withered tree branch at the black mud pit in front of him, his face pale.

She swallowed hard, her voice filled with obvious apprehension:

"The black mud underneath is made from the compost of dead human flesh and bone fragments, mixed with highly toxic miasma and vengeful spirits that have lingered for thousands of years."

"Any living thing that falls in will be completely turned into a puddle of yellow water in three seconds. There is no solid foothold here. Unless you can fly, you simply can't get across."

Lin Ye stood on the edge of the cliff and took out the Three Elements Feng Shui Compass from his tactical backpack.

The compass needle was spinning wildly, making it impossible to pinpoint the correct direction.

The earth's magnetic field here has been completely distorted by this massive Yin Sha swamp.

At that moment, the translucent light screen in front of the retina trembled again.

"Ding! My Lord, please be mindful of your conduct. System notification: The host has been detected to have encountered a major calamity in the earth's veins [Ten Thousand People's Swamp]. Four scout gray rats are hiding in the thick fog ahead."

"Host, please finalize your river-crossing plan within three minutes, demonstrating the dual style of a capitalist and a master of metaphysics!"

The light screen popped open, revealing three highly satirical options:

[Option A: Human Floating Bridge – Grab Froststar, who is sleeping in the back seat, throw her into the mud pit, and order her to use her Netherworld Corpse Qi to freeze the entire 30-meter-wide mud pit into solid ice. Then you walk across the ice.]

[Reward: Obtain the title "Heartless Brother-in-Law"]

Consequences: The Extreme Yin Mud Demon will severely pollute Froststar's Corpse King essence, causing the little girl to immediately go on strike and rip your underwear apart with a bone knife.

Option B: Remain calm and follow the clues – don't rush to cross the river. Set up deck chairs by the mudflats, bring out chilled watermelon, and enjoy a pleasant picnic while quietly waiting for the four mud-digging experts who have been following behind to show up and seek reconciliation.

[Reward: 300 Official Points, one "Golden Silkworm Poison-Avoiding Armor" magical artifact, and double the opponent's respect level.]

[Option C: Physically Braving the Trap—Biting one's finger, shouting "What can mere mud and sand do to me?", smearing pure Yang blood on one's legs, and forcibly wading through the river.]

[Reward: Constitution attribute +5. Consequence: Your pure Yang blood will be instantly drained by the countless vengeful spirits at the bottom of the swamp, turning you into a withered clay sculpture, forever trapped here.]