Regardless of how heartbroken Wu Tianzhen was by the betrayal of his brothers, the explosive package that Fatty had placed so much hope in had a very significant effect, blasting the stone gate of the exit ahead into pieces.
The group immediately abandoned their entanglement with the centipedes, grabbed the dazed Xiao Wu, and made a mad dash. Within seconds, they had rushed out of the waterway!
"Damn it, Fatty will show you little meat worms a thing or two!"
For some reason, these small centipedes stopped abruptly upon reaching the exit, not daring to cross the threshold. They could only lie by the water's edge, emitting sounds of impotent rage.
Fatty, however, was unwilling to indulge them. After cursing, he quickly threw several bundles of explosives into the water, giving the centipede swarm in the cave an unprecedented fireworks experience.
With a few booms, the rustling sounds in the cave lessened, replaced by waves of the aroma of roasted insects wafting out with the wind.
Wu Tianzhen, who had been dragged out like a kite, shook his head and felt a little better. "...Damn, that was terrifying. Those things almost wove themselves into armor on me."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Fatty chimed in. "Centipede armor! I hereby dub you the new Armor Hero. Go forth and fight for the Land of Light!"
At this moment, Xie Yuchen, who had been observing with the optical computer, raised an eyebrow and turned the screen around. "So what's going on here? Can anyone explain?"
The optical computer in his hand was emitting a familiar red light. The persistent pop-up window was still there, relentlessly making calls like a devoted lover abandoned by a fickle woman.
... A communication from a lost optical computer.
In the normal world outside, this communication would most likely be from someone who found the optical computer trying to contact the owner to claim it. But now, in the Forbidden Land, this communication inevitably made one suspect it was from something unspeakable.
However, looking at the pop-up window, Wu Tianzhen's mind suddenly flashed with an idea—
Perhaps it was Xiao Ge calling?
... Perhaps Fatty's optical computer wasn't lost, but taken by Xiao Ge, who then spent several hours studying how to make a call and finally dialed the number?
This idea, at first glance, sounded like madness, but considering that the protagonist of the event was Zhang Qiling, the idea suddenly seemed perfectly reasonable.
Clinging to this hope, Wu Tianzhen eagerly stepped forward and clicked the answer button on the pop-up window.
"Xiao Ge, you finally—"
His half-spoken words were cut off by a pitch-black human face that flashed onto the screen.
The face was deeply creased, its oily skin almost exuding a foul odor through the screen, and its scarlet eyes were wide open as if devoid of pupils.
"Holy crap! What the hell is that?!" Fatty almost threw a punch, but stopped himself at the last moment.
Xiao Hei, the owner of the optical computer, watched with a grin as his property was being damaged in public, seemingly without any objection. But Fatty knew that if he actually smashed the optical computer, this scoundrel would extort three hundred optical computers from him in compensation.
"...This is a red-eyed ape," Wu Tianzhen identified it by now, his tone gradually becoming dejected.
"Probably the optical computer got washed into some corner, and this ape found it. It accidentally touched the communication button while playing with it."
...Thinking about it carefully, if even a monkey could manage to make a phone call after several hours, Xiao Ge wouldn't have any trouble at all. It seemed he really hadn't gotten the optical computer; the person was truly lost.
The optical computer was returned to its owner. Hei Yanjing whistled a strange tune and tossed the optical computer in his hand to the side.
The optical computer wobbled and righted itself, staying close to Hei Yanjing's side.
... Honestly, he still couldn't quite understand the worry of Wu Tianzhen and Fatty.
In his opinion, that mute fellow was probably already running wild and slaughtering everyone after breaking away from the main group.
Xie Yuchen opened his mouth, offering no excessive comfort. He then looked ahead, where they were now in a square stone cave with a very low ceiling.
The space was only about three meters high, making it feel suddenly oppressive compared to the places they had walked through before.
And looking around, countless large and small white drums were distributed throughout the space. At first glance, they resembled people standing solemnly in mourning clothes.
Xie Yuchen took a step forward and gently touched the white structure on the side of a large drum.
A smooth, warm sensation met his touch, but it sent a shock through his heart.
...Human bones.
"To be able to make human bones into this shape, that's quite something?" Hei Yanjing's tone was devoid of emotion, as if he were simply judging the craftsmanship of an artisan.
Looking at the drums again with caution, the two easily discovered that the drum surfaces were all different, some even pieced together from countless broken fragments.
On the surface of a large drum just an arm's length away, the hollowed-out traces of facial features were still clearly visible.
...These were all human-skin drums with human bone frames and human skin stretched over them.
"Damn, how many people are there in this place to be able to do this?!" Fatty estimated the number and gasped, "A batch here, and a batch over at Zhang Liu Shen's place. Won't that be the end of everyone?"
"...Most of these are likely enemy women and children captured in war," Wu Tianzhen explained with low spirits. Although he had seen much, he still found it somewhat unbearable to witness such things.
"The spacing between these drums is very small. If we force our way through, we will definitely touch them," Xie Yuchen said after looking around. "I don't think these things are just decorations."
As he spoke, he fired a shot at a drum surface. The bullet flew out but was firmly caught by layers of human skin the moment it hit the surface. This human skin seemed to have undergone some special treatment, being exceptionally tough, like countless hands and feet holding the bullet fast on the outside.
During this process, the human-skin drum remained eerily silent. Perhaps the force of the bullet was too great to cause it to resonate.
"What the hell? What is this? Does this drum mean we have to hit it ourselves?"
"Maybe so~" Hei Yanjing watched the spectacle with a grin, but suddenly met Xie Yuchen's gaze as the latter turned.
The eyes of the wealthy patron were devoid of warmth, only cold professionalism.
Hei Yanjing: ...
After some exchange of glances, Hei Yanjing spread his hands, drew the dagger from his waist, and started walking.
"Alright, alright, practice makes perfect~"
Hei Yanjing wasn't usually one to obey so readily, but there was nothing he could do. Xie Yuchen paid too much.
Other bosses increased their salaries by changing the leading digit, but Xie Yuchen increased his by adding zeros after the number.
Who could resist that? No one could!
Thus, under Fatty's envious and jealous gaze, Hei Yanjing cheerfully stepped forward to tap a drum, exuding an unusually arrogant aura of showing off.
This was an irresistible temptation to Fatty, who had already been tempted. But they had agreed that this trip was about mutual help among brothers without any conflict of interest.
So, halfway through Wu Tianzhen's thoughts, he saw Fatty suddenly contort his face, beating his chest and stamping his feet, looking as if he had just missed out on a lottery win worth trillions.
Wu Tianzhen: ...What's going on? Could it be that the genes of that black-haired malevolent ghost have awakened again?
And at that moment, with a "dong," Hei Yanjing had already chosen a nearby small drum and struck it!
The sound was exceptionally mournful, like the grievances of ghosts within the human skin and bones. The sound echoed in the space and gradually subsided.
And just as the group wondered if anything had happened, a sudden response came from within the human-skin drum surface!
The drum surface instantly bulged outwards, and a dark shadow, flailing its limbs, tore through the human skin in an instant and lunged towards Hei Yanjing's face!