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Translator's note: So how are they going to get money from Wei Xin now? Don't tell me that Fang Xiu's words freaked Wei Xin out and he just offered money right away.
Corpses and corpse water—the ominous Corpse Lake seemed unusually compatible with Yang Ming's Specter Gadgets.
The glow from his two gadgets intensified, growing brighter and more radiant, as if they were on the verge of evolving into something greater.
Not only that, but Yang Ming himself began to transform under the extreme pressure of the situation.
The Corpse Bead dealt with the corpses, while the Corpse Water Jar neutralized the lake water.
With the protection of these two Specter Gadgets, Yang Ming's Spiritual Energy was no longer suppressed. Instead, it started to rise, gradually nearing the peak of the third tier, ready to break into the fourth tier.
This was the defining difference between the Chosen One and an ordinary person. While an ordinary person would succumb to certain death in such dire circumstances, the Chosen One would find a way to break through against all odds.
Fang Xiu noticed the miraculous scene but didn't spare it further attention.
He already understood that Yang Ming was notoriously hard to kill, with their uncanny ability to achieve breakthroughs in even the most desperate situations. This was no surprise to him.
Fang Xiu continued sinking deeper into the lake, using Yang Ming's struggle with the corpses as a distraction to slip through the encirclement unnoticed.
The lakebed was dark and suffocating, but in the midst of the darkness, a crimson figure floated eerily.
A terrifying Specter energy emanated from the red figure, influencing the entirety of Corpse Lake.
Fang Xiu immediately realized that this was the master of Corpse Lake.
He tried to move closer, but the surrounding water began to change. It thickened into a viscous, sticky substance, no longer resembling water but more like sludge, creating immense resistance to his movements.
As he pressed forward, the sludge turned into dense, hardened soil, making it nearly impossible to proceed.
Suddenly, the crimson figure's eyes snapped open. A pair of blood-red eyes, brimming with venomous hatred, glared out from the shadows, and an ominous crimson glow spread through the water.
Fang Xiu was instantly overcome with searing pain, as if his entire body had been submerged in acid. His flesh and bones corroded rapidly, each moment more agonizing than the last.
Under the ominous glow, Fang Xiu finally saw the crimson figure clearly—a woman in a red dress, a corpse.
The moment her eyes opened, the red-dressed corpse seemed to come alive. Silent and eerie, she drifted closer to Fang Xiu, until their faces were only inches apart.
Her bloated, pale face was horrifyingly close, her crimson eyes filled with endless malice as they bore into him.
But Fang Xiu could no longer see.
His eyes had already been corroded, leaving behind only two gory, empty sockets. His skin melted away, exposing raw flesh and stark white bone.
Moments later, Fang Xiu died. He was utterly dissolved, reduced to nothing. No flesh, no bones—nothing remained, as if he had been thrown into a vat of corpse-dissolving poison straight out of a martial arts novel.
His Spiritual Energy had been completely suppressed, leaving him unable to use his ability to absorb pain.
Without that, regeneration was impossible. His death was inevitable.
However, in the moments before his demise, Fang Xiu confirmed one thing: the red-dressed corpse at the bottom of the lake was far beyond Class-S. Her terrifying strength was on a level he could not begin to fathom.
With his current power, even facing a fully-grown Class-S Specter wouldn't leave him completely defenseless. But against this Specter, the source of the Corpse Lake's terror, he was utterly helpless. Her strength was beyond comprehension.
…
Fang Xiu's death triggered Death Reset.
He returned to life. Time rewound to the moment they were first trapped by the white ribbons.
Countless white ribbons, as thick as pythons, coiled around Yang Ming and the others, sealing off every direction and cutting off all escape routes.
Everyone fought back with everything they had. Their attacks shattered the ribbons on contact, but the ribbons regenerated instantly, growing back as fast as they were destroyed.
"Damn it, this place is like a nightmare! Is it trying to exhaust us to death?" Li Xiaoru cursed angrily, just as she had before. "Luo Qingxin, you handled it last time. Let me try this time!"
"There's no need," Fang Xiu's calm voice interrupted, drawing everyone's attention.
The group turned to him, their faces lighting up with a mix of joy and anticipation.
And, as always, Fang Xiu didn't disappoint.
Under everyone's expectant gazes, he slowly opened his mouth and spoke the words that immediately lifted their spirits: "I have seen the future."
"This one's in the bag! We've got this!" Yang Ming whooped with excitement.
The others smiled as well, unable to forget the last time Fang Xiu had spoken those words. Back then, it had been during a life-or-death crisis at headquarters when all hope seemed lost.
Yet right after he spoke, the fifth-tier powerhouse, Joker, had fallen.
"Everyone, do a handstand," Fang Xiu commanded without explanation.
No one hesitated for even a second. They all immediately complied and began doing handstands.
As before, Yang Ming was the first to flip himself upside down. While hanging there, he couldn't resist sneaking a glance at Luo Qingxin, dressed in her elegant cheongsam.
Though Yang Ming lacked Zhao Hao's peculiar personality, his curious gaze spoke volumes. After all, human nature is hard to suppress.
Meanwhile, Luo Qingxin once again resembled a peeled banana, her long, fair legs exposed, along with the safety shorts she wore beneath her dress.
Nearby, a man dressed in a traditional burial shroud was also doing a handstand. His stiff, zombie-like face froze further as his gaze landed on the scene.
Fang Xiu, however, remained calm as always. With an air of quiet authority, black flame wings sprouted from his back as he ascended effortlessly into the air.
Yang Ming couldn't help but feel a surge of envy, while Luo Qingxin subconsciously tightened her legs.
It wasn't that Luo Qingxin was mesmerized by Fang Xiu's charisma—it was the sudden realization that if Fang Xiu looked down from above, her safety shorts wouldn't be very "safe" at all.
During the last death reset, no one had noticed such details because all focus had been on Wei Xin, the Zombie.
This time, however, Fang Xiu's warning had left everyone much more relaxed, allowing their minds to wander to such trivialities.
…
"Wei Xin, come out," Fang Xiu said calmly from mid-air, his gaze locking onto one of the figures doing a handstand nearby.
Wei Xin froze. Despite his stiff, expressionless face, a hint of shock managed to surface.
He had never expected these newcomers to recognize him.
The others were equally stunned. They followed Fang Xiu's gaze to the man in a handstand.
"There's someone else in this creepy place?"
"That rigid face… and he's called Wei Xin? Could he be Wei Xin, the Zombie, who disappeared six years ago?" Li Xiaoru exclaimed in surprise.
Wei Xin ignored the group, his deep, eerie eyes fixed on Fang Xiu hovering above.
"Who are you? And how do you know me?" Wei Xin asked coldly.
Fang Xiu glanced at him indifferently. "I know you, and I know that the 'you' standing here now isn't your real body—you're just a paper effigy."
"What?!" Wei Xin's composure shattered. His expression, though stiff, was now filled with astonishment. He hadn't imagined anyone could see through his disguise so easily, as if he were transparent.
"Who… who are you?!" he demanded, his voice trembling.
"You're not worthy of knowing my name," Fang Xiu replied flatly. Without waiting for a response, he flapped his black flame wings and soared toward the Corpse Lake.
The rest of the group quickly followed.
As for Wei Xin, the Zombie?
No one gave him another thought.
…
Wei Xin remained frozen in his handstand, his face darkened with uncertainty and unease.
Initially, he had been thrilled to discover newcomers in The Land Between. His plan had been simple—use his knowledge to manipulate them into making a deal. They would unwittingly become his slaves, bound to work for him in exchange for Spirit Money.
And the two beautiful women? He had planned to make them his personal playthings.
But now, all his plans were in shambles. Somehow, this Fang Xiu had seen through everything about him in an instant.
"Damn it. How much does he really know?" Wei Xin cursed.
After a moment of hesitation, Wei Xin made up his mind—he had to follow them. No matter the risk, he needed to uncover who Fang Xiu was and how he possessed such knowledge.
Wei Xin began to chase after them, scuttling along on his hands at an unnaturally fast speed. But the further he followed, the more shocked he became.
He couldn't understand how Fang Xiu seemed to know the exact route to the Corpse Lake. His movements were confident, as if he had walked this path a hundred times before. Even hidden shortcuts and obscure trails didn't escape him.
The forest they traversed was notoriously treacherous—a labyrinth of identical trees, filled with Specter energy that disoriented even the most powerful psychics.
Normally, navigating through it was nearly impossible.
"Could it be… they aren't actually newcomers?" Wei Xin muttered to himself.
What Wei Xin couldn't possibly guess, no matter how hard he tried, was that Fang Xiu's familiarity with the path came from none other than Wei Xin himself.