A bizarre and terrifying experience; I messed up the dungeon world.

Lin Yan walked on the outermost edge, silently clearing away every shadow that tried to approach. His swordsmanship was clean and swift, without any unnecessary movements; each strike landed precisely on the core of the shadow. Zhou Lang discovered that although these shadows could recombine, if the core was accurately hit—roughly above the center of the shadow's shape—they would disintegrate much more slowly.

"Lin Yan, how did you find the core location?" Zhou Lang asked as he ran.

Lin Yan didn't even turn his head: "You'll understand after observing more. When they aggregate, the core area is a bit darker in color."

Zhou Lang observed carefully, and sure enough, the core of the shadow was darker than the surrounding black, like a drop of even darker ink in a bowl of ink.

"Spread the word! Everyone attack the darkest point slightly above the center of the shadow!"

After the news spread, the cleanup speed increased significantly. Mu Chen's ghost weapon was highly accurate; after adjusting the attack position, a single strike could shatter a shadow and prevent it from reforming for a short period.

The pace of progress has accelerated.

But the good news didn't last long.

The ground cracked open less than 200 meters from the clock tower.

It wasn't an earthquake. Cracks spread along precise geometric lines, cutting the entire street into stones of varying sizes. The stones began to flip, sink, and rise, turning the ground into a moving jigsaw puzzle.

The stone beneath Chen Ke's feet suddenly sank.

He reacted with lightning speed, simultaneously flicking out three talismans that landed on three adjacent stone slabs. The talismans exploded, the impact propelling him back to stable ground. But when the fourth slab flipped over, it revealed what was hidden underneath.

One hand.

A pale, overly long hand with blackened nails emerged from under the stone slab and precisely grabbed Chen Ke's ankle.

Chen Ke glanced down, cursed, and plunged the dagger in. The hand was severed, but more hands emerged from beneath the other overturned stone slabs.

More than a dozen hands grabbed at the group at the same time.

Han Yingying maintained her unusual calm throughout. When the entire street turned into a trap, she did only one thing—she closed her eyes.

Then she opened her eyes and said, "Step on the third stone slab on the left and jump."

Zhou Lang didn't have time to think about why; he instinctively did as she said. He stepped onto the third stone slab on the left, and the force of the slab bouncing up sent him right to the edge of the clock tower ruins.

"Everyone follow her orders!" Zhou Lang shouted after landing.

Han Yingying began to give the route. Her voice was calm and unhurried, and every instruction was so precise it was unbelievable—which stone slab to step on, when to jump, and which direction to dodge. It was as if she could see the movement pattern of these stone slabs, or rather, as if she had designed this trap herself.

Mu Chen passed the test as instructed. Fang Yan also passed. Jiang Du passed.

Zhao Qiang led Lin Yan and Chen Ke to the end.

Chen Ke had already covered most of the distance; his ankle was bleeding from a scratch, but it didn't affect his movement. Lin Yan led the way, while Zhao Qiang brought up the rear.

Then Han Yingying's voice suddenly stopped.

She opened her mouth, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.

“Next step…” she frowned. “No, it’s changed. It’s changed.”

Zhou Lang's heart tightened: "What has changed?"

"The route has changed. These stone slabs... they're not moving mechanically, they're learning. They're changing their patterns according to my instructions."

Zhao Qiang and Lin Yan stood frozen in place, too afraid to move. Chen Ke was in the middle, surrounded by overturned stone slabs, the one beneath his feet beginning to tilt slowly.

"Chen Ke, don't move!" Zhou Lang shouted.

"I know not to move—but this board won't let me stay still!" Chen Ke's voice carried a desperate kind of humor.

The stone slab continued to tilt. Hands below began to climb upwards.

Han Yingying bit her lip, fine beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She was recalculating something in a very short time, her eyes darting around as if she were reading blueprints only she could see.

"Found it," she said. "Chen Ke, the stone slab under your feet will flip 90 degrees to the right in three seconds. The instant it flips, jump, jump to the left front. Lin Yan will catch him."

Chen Ke didn't waste any words, counted to three, and jumped.

The stone slab flips over.

Chen Ke jumped at a slightly off angle.

Lin Yan reached out to pull him, managing to touch his fingers. But Chen Ke's ankle injury burst open when he jumped, and the blood dripped onto the stone slab. The hands hidden underneath seemed to be stimulated by the smell of blood, and frantically lunged upwards.

One hand grabbed Chen Ke's other foot.

Chen Ke and Lin Yan exchanged a glance.

"Let go," Chen Ke said.

"Bullshit," Lin Yan replied.

He slashed at the hand with his knife, severing it. But a second hand had already climbed up Chen Ke's calf, followed by a third and a fourth.

Chen Ke looked down at his legs; those hands were pulling him under the stone slab. He then looked up at Lin Yan.

Then he laughed.

"Tell Zhou Lang for me—"

He pulled out a handful of talismans, at least twenty in total, and activated them all.

The explosion of the talisman ejected Lin Yan from the trap area. Zhao Qiang was pushed towards the clock tower by the shockwave of the explosion, tumbling to the ground.

Chen Ke and the stone slab beneath his feet shattered together.

Debris scattered. The hand vanished. The trap area returned to its normal state of shattered streets.

Fifteen people.

No, fourteen people. Fang Yan looked at her team and realized she was missing another person—her support had been dragged away silently in the trap zone, and no one noticed the empty spot until Chen Ke detonated the talisman.

Lin Yan was thrown near the clock tower, his back slamming against a broken stone pillar. He struggled to his feet, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but he didn't loosen his grip on the knife.

Zhao Qiang got up and glanced at the spot where Chen Ke had disappeared. His prosthetic fingers clenched and unclenched repeatedly.

He didn't say anything.

Zhou Lang didn't say anything either.

The group silently entered the ruins of the clock tower.

The clock tower's interior was much larger than it appeared from the outside. Such spatial distortion was not uncommon in high-level dungeons, but this degree of distortion was unprecedented. From the outside, it appeared to be just a five-story clock tower, but inside was a vast space extending downwards—a spiral staircase leading to an unfathomable depth.

The clock face hangs overhead, with the hands fixed at twelve o'clock.

"The owner of the graveyard," Jiang Du adjusted his tattered glasses, "the conditions for passing the level said to let him rest in peace. A sleeper, sealed somewhere at the moment the clock stopped. This is a grave. We stand at the entrance to the grave."

Mu Chen looked around: "Then let's go down."

"Wait a minute." Zhou Lang stopped him.

He looked at Han Yingying. Ever since entering the clock tower, Han Yingying's state had been off. She no longer possessed that detached calmness; instead, there was a kind of... struggle. It was as if two forces were vying within her, one trying to remind her of something, and the other trying to stop her.

"Han Yingying".

She looked up, her eyes red-rimmed, but without tears.

"What exactly do you remember?"

Han Yingying opened her mouth. Then closed it. Then opened her mouth again.