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    Shen Yue''s gaze fell on the area behind the female ghost as she walked forward with an unchanged expression. But others didn''t know that just a second ago, her heart had nearly jumped out of her throat.


    However, something even more terrifying lay ahead. As they ventured deeper into the cave, Shen Yue encountered more and more spirits.


    At a fork in the path, Shen Yue followed Kun Yao in choosing the left route. After a few steps, Shen Yue noticed that the female ghost was no longer following them.


    But before she could breathe a sigh of relief, the scene before her eyes scared her half to death.


    The cavern they had entered was filled with human figures! To be precise, it was full of ghosts. In front of them was a wall covered in vines, but these vines were fixed to the wall. Because hanging from the vines were sheets of human skin.


    There were a full fifty or sixty skins here. Shen Yue even recognized Ding Jiajia''s skin - that guest who had been hanged from the ceiling by vines in her room, her flesh and blood consumed before being dragged away.


    The blood on the skins had congealed. Each piece of skin was stretched out and hung up by the vines. From a distance, one might think actual people were hanging on the wall. Only upon closer inspection could one see this horrifying sight clearly.


    But what Shen Yue saw was even more than this. To her eyes, beside each piece of human skin stood a ghostly spirit.


    A whole room full of ghosts!


    These spirits stood motionless, but that was enough to scare Shen Yue to death. Her legs went weak again. Her body stumbled towards Kun Yao.


    Seeing all this, Kun Yao''s expression remained unchanged as she pulled Shen Yue quickly through this area to the next cave opening.


    Shen Yue was still in shock. Kun Yao took her hand and wrote in her palm:


    "It''s there."


    Kun Yao pointed in a direction.


    Shen Yue nodded in understanding.


    Outside earlier, Kun Yao had told her: "We''ll go in, pass through the skin cave, and enter the innermost area. The root of the vines is in there. I''ll be responsible for burning it. You stay here and keep watch. When the root burns, the three main derivative vines will come. You need to hold them off for a bit."


    But now, Shen Yue couldn''t help asking: "Shouldn''t we rescue the people first?"


    She really wanted to leave this godforsaken place.


    Shen Yue''s finger wanted to write something back on Kun Yao''s palm, but the latter clearly didn''t want too much contact and withdrew her hand, shaking her head.


    Shen Yue was a bit surprised internally. Did this mean she was unwilling to rescue the people first, or unwilling to rescue them at all?


    Shen Yue suddenly recalled what Number 98 had said about Kun Yao hunting him down. Although she felt it shouldn''t be her, Kun Yao''s answer now...


    This Kun Yao might have a bit of kindness, but not much? Well, she did look quite cold and aloof.


    So Shen Yue decisively... nodded.


    Having confirmed, the two of them entered the cave ahead together. As soon as they went in, it felt very cold. Turning a corner, they saw several huge cocoons appear before them.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Beside her, Kun Yao''s movements paused for a moment. Shen Yue noticed Kun Yao seemed very surprised, as if... these cocoons shouldn''t be here.


    The people wrapped up like cocoons by the vines were all here. Shen Yue could even vaguely see Xue Yangyang''s eyes inside the cocoon.


    Shen Yue even stepped forward to look more closely. A cold sweat broke out - her feeling was correct. Xue Yangyang''s eyes inside the cocoon were still open, staring straight at her.


    "Don''t touch," Kun Yao warned in a low voice.


    Shen Yue noticed something odd about the three cocoons. The cocoons containing Xue Yangyang and Old Mr. Lin were very thin, but Qi Zeming''s cocoon was thick. Moreover, his cocoon was placed in the center, but at some distance from the other two. Most notably, the vines wrapping Qi Zeming had turned red in color.


    It looked as if blood was flowing inside.


    "There''s no time left. Let''s go. The cocoons are here, so the three main derivative vines must be nearby."


    Shen Yue was led away by Kun Yao, following behind her. They returned to the skin cave. Shen Yue was about to ask something when suddenly there was a noise from behind.


    Shen Yue''s heart tightened. Kun Yao pulled her to run, but it was already too late.


    This time, it was Shen Yue who pulled Kun Yao, hiding them in the cave - the skin cave. Shen Yue quickly grabbed a large, relatively fresh piece of skin, ignoring Kun Yao''s expression as she pushed her behind it.


    She then lifted another piece of skin and ducked behind it herself.


    The disgusting and ice-cold skin covering her face made Shen Yue instantly regret hiding here.


    Moreover, as soon as she opened her eyes she could see the owner of this skin floating right beside her.


    That ghostly face was only ten centimeters from her own. Shen Yue''s breath caught in her throat.


    Just a second after they had hidden, three vines crawled in through the cave entrance. The three vines were intertwined, holding up a platform as they slowly moved in.


    Shen Yue saw it - a green humanoid creature with limbs and a head. On its head was only a mouth, no other facial features.


    Her gaze suddenly noticed Kun Yao. Kun Yao indicated to her that this was the root of the vines - the root vine.


    Shen Yue marveled at what kind of world she had stumbled into. Not only were there ghosts, but monsters too! Had these vines gained sentience? They had even taken on human form!


    After the vines passed by, Shen Yue and Kun Yao followed behind, still hidden behind the skins. They saw the three vines place the platform in front of the middle cocoon - Qi Zeming''s.


    Then they pulled out a vine branch from behind the cocoon and inserted it directly into the belly of the creature on the platform.


    The three vines then stood guard nearby, starting to extend branches into the remaining two cocoons.


    "Get out!"


    They couldn''t wait any longer!


    The two of them leapt out from behind. Shen Yue wielded a long knife, slashing directly at the three vines. But the vines reacted quickly, immediately separating.


    The three vines wrapped around Shen Yue separately, one of them aiming straight for her neck.


    On the other side, Kun Yao had rushed directly in front of the humanoid creature, pouring something over its head. She pulled out a... lighter? From somewhere.


    Just as she was about to light it, the humanoid creature suddenly disconnected from the cocoon. Its entire form began changing rapidly. Soon it had transformed into a thin vine, quickly sliding down to the ground.


    Shen Yue had just cut off the vine wrapped around her neck when she saw this scene.


    That root vine didn''t go after Kun Yao, but came straight for her instead. It charged right up to her face, then its entire body swelled up. A huge mouth appeared at the end of the vine, large enough to swallow Shen Yue''s head whole.


    Shen Yue''s inner thoughts: What the fuck!


    She just wanted to ask - why her?!


    At this point, the three vines that had been attacking Shen Yue earlier had already shrunk back to the side, fearing they might be devoured too.


    Shen Yue watched helplessly as that gaping maw descended towards her head. Just as she was about to dodge, the root vine was suddenly kicked aside by Kun Yao.


    "You''re somewhat reliable after all!" Shen Yue praised, immediately raising her knife to slash at that vine, with a bit of personal grudge!


    The root vine ignored Kun Yao again, wrapping itself around Shen Yue. Shen Yue brought her knife down in an overhead chop, instantly splitting the vine in two. But the split vine immediately fused back together, wrapping around Shen Yue once more.


    Shen Yue instantly felt the unfairness of it all - why was it only chasing her? She was being frantically pursued and attacked by the vines, while Kun Yao had it much easier.


    Although Kun Yao was dealing with three vines at once, the intensity of the attacks on the two sides was incomparable. Here, the root vine was being wounded by Shen Yue''s knife, with Shen Yue''s blade moving so fast it left afterimages. But over there, Kun Yao was merely untangling vines wrapped around herself.


    Seizing an opportunity, Shen Yue slashed through the vines entangling Kun Yao.


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