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

"laugh--"

The dilapidated No. 404 ghost bus emitted a muffled hydraulic exhaust sound.

The car body came to a slow, violent stop.

The car doors fold open to both sides.

A strong smell of blood, mixed with the stench of fermenting old algae, poured into the carriage.

The wind was so cold it was piercing to the bone, penetrating straight into one's bone marrow through the pores.

Wang Pangzi's entire body of fat shuddered suddenly, and his teeth chattered, making a "crunching" sound.

He covered his mouth tightly, barely daring to breathe through his fingers.

Inside the carriage, the group of "passengers" who had been sitting still like dead trees stood up in unison the moment the doors opened.

There was no verbal communication.

The stiff joints made a series of grinding noises, like rusty gears being forced to turn.

These water ghosts, dressed in yellowed raincoats and blue overalls, formed an eerie long line and staggered toward the front door.

Water droplets dripped down their swollen bodies onto the rusty, non-slip aluminum plate, making a monotonous "drip-drip" sound.

Lin Ye sat in the corner of the last row, holding his breath.

He held Leng Yue's icy jade hand tightly, and with his other hand pressed down on Shuang Xing, who was sitting on his lap, for fear that the girl would be provoked into a ferocious outburst by the dense yin energy in the carriage.

Five minutes passed before the last water ghost, dragging its broken steps, disappeared into the swirling, dark red fog outside the car door.

The bus was completely empty.

A deathly silence, enough to drive a person mad, enveloped everything around.

The bulky driver in the driver's seat still had his back to everyone, his head hanging low, like a wax figure that had lost its power.

Lin Ye slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, and his tense back relaxed slightly.

He turned his gaze to the outside of the car window.

Through the murky water droplets condensed on the glass, a majestic black city gate stood prominently in the depths of the thick fog ahead.

The city wall was made of some unknown material.

It was pitch black, with huge, shocking cracks covering its surface.

Deep within the cracks, faint green phosphorescent flames flickered and danced.

Above the city gate hangs a broken stone plaque.

The three ancient seal script characters seemed to be cast from semi-congealed black blood, exuding a terrifying and malevolent aura that made people tremble with fear.

The City of the Unjustly Dead

"Gulp."

Fatty Wang swallowed hard, his voice barely audible, tinged with a sob:

"Ye Zi... this... this place, could it be the underworld? Are we already dead?"

"Shut your mouth."

Lin Ye lowered his voice, his gaze fixed on the city gate that exuded endless deathly aura.

The secrets of feng shui and Taoist classics were rapidly swirling in his mind.

"This city gate is no illusion. It is a relic of the ancient underworld that was broken off from the depths of the netherworld after the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was restored."

Lin Ye's tone was unusually solemn.

"This is definitely not the work of those evil cultivators from the Yinshan Sect. At most, the Yinshan Sect can only imprison a few vengeful ghosts or set up a soul-locking array. This city before us is a collection of countless karmic burdens from those who died unjustly and could not be reborn since ancient times. It is the purest embodiment of the bizarre in the world."

Leng Yue sat upright beside Lin Ye, her deep red eyes coldly watching the flickering phosphorescent lights on the city wall through the edge of her sunglasses.

As a half-step drought demon, her perception of danger far surpasses that of the living.

"What you say is absolutely right, sir."

Leng Yue's voice was extremely low, revealing a hint of apprehension.

"Behind that city gate lies an ancient will that even I find unsettling. If we were to force our way in, with only 20% of my original essence restored, I fear I would be unable to protect you."

Hearing such an evaluation from someone as powerful as Leng Yue, who stood at the pinnacle of the zombie world, Lin Ye's last shred of hope vanished completely.

Our current strength is simply insufficient to explore such mythical relics.

Forget about going in to slay demons and monsters; even stepping over that threshold would instantly turn you into a skeleton by the extremely dense death energy inside.

Just as Lin Ye was deciding whether to stay in the car or get out to check the situation, a faint light flashed on his retina.

The system's metallic, tingling notification sound rang crisply in my mind.

"Ding! My Lord, please exercise self-restraint. System notification: The system has detected that the host has arrived at the high-risk hidden map, [Outer Ruins of the City of the Wrongfully Dead]. Danger and unparalleled opportunity coexist. Please determine your exploration strategy within three minutes and break the deadlock!"

Three options appeared on the screen:

[Option A: Bravely Venture into the Gates of Hell—With a wave of his hand, he shouts, "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?" and leads his two wives directly into the City of the Wrongfully Dead.]

[Reward: Obtain the exclusive title "Emperor of Death-Seeking." Consequence: Your entire family of three, along with the fat man, will be crushed into dust by ancient death energy within ten seconds. The End.]

Option B: Stay as steady as a rock – hold on tightly to the bus seat, refuse to get off, and quietly wait for the ghost bus to return.

[Reward: Obtain the "Coward" achievement. Consequence: You will gain nothing and miss out on this extraordinary opportunity; you will regret it for the rest of your life.]

Option C: Edge Scavengers – Proceed with caution. Avoid the city gates and lead the group deeper into the ruins of the abandoned ghost market surrounding the bus. Search for eerie items buried in the gloomy atmosphere.

[Reward: Official Points +300, all characters' Luck temporarily increased by 200%. Note: Please pay close attention to the countdown and do not be greedy with your attacks!]

Lin Ye looked at the options clearly and made a decision in his mind.

I choose C.

Fortune favors the bold.

Having come this far from the edge of these ancient ruins, returning empty-handed is definitely not his style.

The city is off-limits, but this vast, foggy area outside the city must hold many rare treasures imbued with the aura of the underworld.

"Get ready to get off the bus."

Lin Ye stood up and held the lightning-struck peach wood sword on his back in his palm.

The fat man grabbed Lin Ye's trouser leg, his face turning deathly pale:

"Yoko, have you gone mad? The fog outside is as red as blood, who knows what monster is hiding there!"

"It's more dangerous to stay in the car."

Lin Ye pointed to the bulky figure in the driver's seat who remained motionless.

"The driver is currently asleep. When it wakes up and finds there are still people in the car, what do you think it will do?"

The fat man followed Lin Ye's finger and saw that black viscous fluid was slowly seeping from the edge of the flesh on the driver's neck.

He gasped in shock and jumped up from his seat in a panic.

"Let's go! Let's get off!"

Lin Ye picked up Shuangxing, who was sitting on his lap, and gently placed her on the aisle.

Then, he winked at Leng Yue.

Leng Yue understood immediately.

She took the lead, her long legs sliding out of the car like a black ghost.

After confirming that the surroundings were safe, she nodded slightly towards the inside of the car.

Lin Ye followed closely behind, while the fat man trailed behind, trembling.

The moment Lin Ye stepped onto this land, he immediately sensed something was amiss.

The surface felt soft and springy underfoot.

Looking down, the ground was not ordinary soil or asphalt, but covered with a thick layer of strange grayish-white powder.

Stepping on it produces a sticky, squeaking sound.

"This is a sedimentary layer formed by ashes mixed with adipocere," Lin Ye explained, frowning and lowering his voice.

Upon hearing this, Fatty Wang instinctively swallowed and looked down at the spot where he had just stepped.

Upon seeing this, he felt as if his scalp had instantly exploded.

In the pockmark he left with his foot, the grayish-white powder did not collapse and scatter naturally, but instead slowly wriggled like a living thing.

Amidst the intermingling powder, tiny, contorted faces of pain briefly rose into view.

Those people, their mouths agape, were silently screaming at the fat man's shoe soles.

Then, like melting wax, it shattered with a "pop," spreading out again into a deathly still pile of ashes.

The fat man covered his mouth tightly, swallowing back his scream. When he stepped down, he felt as if he had stepped on a dense swamp of flesh and blood.

Moreover, the dark red fog swirled all around, reducing visibility to less than five meters.

An indescribable sense of desolation and deathly silence filled the air.

The atmosphere was oppressive; time seemed to have stopped flowing in this ruin.

They avoided the direction of the city gate where the water ghosts were heading, and carefully groped their way into the depths of the thick fog along the outer edge of the city wall.

Not far ahead, a patch of dilapidated building ruins appeared on the gray-white ground.

Most of these buildings are now just half-built stone pillars or collapsed wooden frames.

Scattered among the ruins are stone platforms resembling ancient stalls.

The surface of the stone platform was covered with mottled green rust and dried black bloodstains.

"The ruins of the ghost market."

A glint of light flashed in Lin Ye's eyes.

In ancient metaphysical legends, wandering ghosts often gather and trade on the edge of the underworld, forming a ghost market.

Since this city of the unjustly dead is a fragment of the underworld, there must be remnants of the ghost market from back then remaining outside the city.

"Split up and search to see if there's anything useful. Remember, don't make too much noise. If you encounter anything you're unsure about, call me immediately."

Lin Ye gave the instructions in a low voice.

The four of them split up and carefully searched among the stone platforms.

Leng Yue was in charge of guarding the area.

She stood silently atop a broken stone pillar, like a perfect black sculpture.

Deep red eyes scanned the surroundings warily through the mist.

A cold draft blew through the room, lifting the hem of her trench coat.

Lin Ye was bending down to look for a broken pottery jar when he suddenly felt a slightly cool touch on his wrist.

He straightened up and found that Leng Yue had come to his side at some point.

She didn't speak, but simply extended her two slender fingers and gently placed them on Lin Ye's wrist pulse point.

A wisp of warm, yin energy flowed silently into Lin Ye's meridians along the skin where they were touching.

This yin energy was like a clear spring, instantly dispelling the slight dizziness in Lin Ye's brain caused by inhaling too much red mist.

"This fog contains illusions that confuse people's minds."

Leng Yue whispered in Lin Ye's ear, her breath sweet as orchids.

The cool fragrance of the red spider lily enveloped Lin Ye, isolating him from the stench of the outside world.

"My lord, please do not take a deep breath. This wisp of my primordial power can keep your mind clear."

The two were very close together.

As Leng Yue spoke, a warm breeze brushed against Lin Ye's ear.

Her deep red eyes reflected Lin Ye's face, and hidden in her eyes was a tenderness that belonged only to him.

Lin Ye reached out and grasped her slightly cool fingertips, gently squeezing them.

"Thank you for your hard work, my wife."

Without many words, this tacit understanding flowed through the silent ruins, bringing a comforting warmth.