CREAK... CREAK—

It sounded as if rusted joints were grinding and colliding.

The noise was exceedingly clear in the deserted Corpse Square.

All five members of the squad noticed it, their bodies involuntarily stiffening.

They watched as a bizarre Crowman statue—humanoid, with arms so long they reached past its knees, and hands resembling bird claws—slowly came to life on the five stone pillars.

Originally facing the central pillar in a posture of worship, it gradually lowered its body, its head twisting with a GRIND! GRIND! sound.

Its eyes were wide open, the tiny scarlet pupils within spinning rapidly as they fixed upon the five-person squad.

From every pore on the bizarre Crowman's body, great torrents of black Death Qi erupted, spreading an evil, decaying, and frigid aura.

It flowed down the pitch-black stone pillars like a tide, instantly engulfing all five of them.

Evil Energy Fluctuation...

Almost all of them had activated their Evil Energy Fluctuation monitoring.

At this moment, the data readings in their vision plummeted like a waterfall, an estimated value fluctuating wildly.

Target Evil Energy Fluctuation Level: B...A...A+...S...S+...

Finally. Only when the letters jumped to SS-rank... did it completely stop.

Instantly, an unprecedented terror enveloped the five of them.

Every one of them had their hair standing on end, their scalps going numb!

SWOOSH—

A gust of black wind swept past, and the Crowman atop the stone pillars vanished from their sight.

The piles of corpses beneath the five stone pillars began to part to either side.

The black wind seemed to conceal an invisible, enormous, and terrifyingly sharp sickle.

Wherever it passed, all the corpses were silently bisected.

Xie Jun stared intently as the black wind approached. On the white, rocky ground of the square, deep, shocking gouges began to appear.

His mind finally broke free from the immense terror and shock, spurred by his duty as captain. He roared, "Run!"

Instantly, the five figures broke free from their frozen states, turning and fleeing in a desperate scramble.

ZZZT—

A blue electric light erupted from Xie Jun's body, and he shot forward.

The other four also burst forth with powerful energy auras, scrambling to escape.

Xie Jun was the fastest, his body propelled forward like a cannonball by the Electric Magnetic Energy Field within him.

But no matter how fast he ran, the oppressive fear weighing on his nerves showed no sign of lessening; instead, it grew heavier and heavier...

A dense shadow of death shrouded him.

SWOOSH—

A faint sound, like a sharp blade slicing swiftly through the air, whispered past the back of Xie Jun's head.

Xie Jun subconsciously tilted his head for a glance.

The sight that met his eyes was—

A Gold Bear team member, who had fallen to the rear of the fleeing group, was overtaken by the invisible black wind...

He showed no sign of struggle or pain.

He was still in a running posture when his entire body, from head to toe, was silently sliced into pieces. Bright red blood gushed out...

BOOM!

A loud explosion erupted, the heatwave propelling the remaining survivors even further forward.

Xie Jun had no idea how long he'd been running; he just kept pushing forward blindly.

He only stopped when a massive black Death Qi Crystal Wall completely blocked his path.

HUFF— HUFF—

Xie Jun panted heavily. It wasn't so much from physical exhaustion as it was a way to calm his frayed nerves.

Once he had calmed down slightly, he lifted his head to search for his teammates.

Not too far away, two equally bedraggled figures met his gaze.

"Xu and Ouyang..."

"They didn't make it."

The woman, who now only had half her hair, was enveloped in a faint red glow. Her expression was grim as she said, "I watched as Xu was sliced to pieces by that Crowman, and then it tore off Ouyang's head..."

Xie Jun was speechless. The other survivor's face turned pale, their lips pressed tightly together.

Their team was considered one of the top configurations among the Yellow Bear Gold Bear Level. Each member possessed S-rank strength or higher, and all were somewhat renowned within the Secret God Group. Their exploration of this Secret Realm, the Lament Ruins, had been smooth sailing until now. Who could have imagined that just minutes after entering this so-called 'forbidden zone,' they would lose two members.

"No wonder even the Flying Bear General fell here. SS-rank Crow God Walkers, and more than one of them..." Xie Jun's face had contorted so badly he could barely speak.

SHHH—

A faint rustling sound, like a gentle breeze.

Xie Jun and his two companions, who were just beginning to feel a pang of grief, tensed up like startled birds.

Their gazes snapped towards the source of the sound, and they saw—

In the distance, a tall, slender figure—not quite human, not quite crow—a Crowman monster was slowly walking towards them.

Its pitch-black, sickle-like claws dragged on the ground, making a SCRAPE! SCRAPE! sound.

An exaggerated, grotesque smile stretched across its face, the corners of its mouth, almost reaching its earlobes, were stained with fresh blood.

Its cheeks bulged and twitched, as if it were chewing something.

The appearance of the Crowman's figure sent a bone-chilling cold striking the hearts of the three survivors once more.

Their faces turned deathly pale, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

The Crowman, awakened from its slumber, seemed to want to play a little game after its meal.

Instead of charging directly at them, it approached step-by-step, slowly, that grotesque smile fixed on its face.

This behavior, however, induced even greater fear in Xie Jun and his two companions.

The approaching Crowman, growing larger with each step, seemed to symbolize the encroaching shadow of death.

CLANG!

The two Thunder Magnetic Flying Swords at Xie Jun's back abruptly unsheathed, circling aimlessly in mid-air.

There must be a way, there must be a way...

Xie Jun forced himself to calm down, large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Just then.

BOOM! A loud noise erupted beside his ear.

He turned his head abruptly.

He saw the woman with half her hair, now glowing intensely red, frantically pounding the black Death Qi Crystal Wall before her.

That's it! A spark of inspiration flashed through Xie Jun's mind.

If we shatter this crystal wall, we can get out!

The distress signal has been sent. If we can just hold on a little longer, we might survive!

With this thought, Xie Jun felt a surge of excitement; his entire body blazed with electric light.

He grabbed the two Thunder Magnetic Flying Swords hovering above his head.

Electricity surged through them; the two longswords transformed into two orbs of intense white light in his grasp.

Xie Jun's arms bulged, veins prominent, his expression contorting from the extreme exertion.

"Blast it open!!"

Xie Jun channeled all his Electric Magnetic power, crossed his swords, and slashed them fiercely against the Death Qi Crystal Wall before him.

BOOM!

A large shower of electric sparks burst forth.

HUFF— HUFF—

Xie Jun, still gripping his twin swords and gasping for breath, looked expectantly at the spot he had just struck.

But the hopeful expression on his face instantly froze.

The Death Qi Crystal Wall remained pristine, as if untouched.

His full-powered strike hadn't even left a scratch, let alone a crack.

Can it be that this Death Qi Crystal Wall is so tough that even an S-rank attack can't break it?

Xie Jun felt all his strength drain away, leaving him standing there, dazed and despondent.

The Crowman's figure continued its steady approach. For a moment, an overwhelming sense of despair washed over Xie Jun.

But an impatient voice snapped him out of his despair.

"Quit standing there like an idiot, both of you!"

The woman with half her hair, still relentlessly pounding the crystal wall, turned and shouted at Xie Jun and the other survivor, a strange light dancing in her eyes.

"Xie, it's useless hitting that spot. Come help me with this spot! The Death Qi Crystal Wall is much weaker here..."

Xie Jun paused, then looked towards the woman.

And indeed, he saw a large, spiderweb-like pattern of cracks on the section of the Death Qi Crystal Wall she was attacking.

Hope flared in his heart once more.

Together with the other team member, they rushed over to the woman.

BOOM!

The woman's mechanical fist, glowing red, slammed into the Death Qi Crystal Wall. The wall itself didn't budge.

But then, a RUMBLE! echoed from within, a sound far louder than her impact.

With this 'echo,' the Death Qi Crystal Wall began to CRACK! CRACK! More and more fissures appeared, as if it might shatter at any moment.

"What's going on?" Xie Jun was both surprised and delighted.

The woman shook her head. "I don't know. I only started trying to break the Death Qi Crystal Wall when I noticed this. It feels like some kind of special mechanism."

She squinted, analyzing. "Perhaps this spot is an exit or some kind of node in the Death Qi Crystal Wall. To escape, we have to do what I'm doing. We must have stumbled upon the correct way to break through it..."

Xie Jun frowned. Although her guess sounded somewhat absurd, with death steadily approaching, they had no better options. They had to pin all their hopes on this one potential path to survival.

"Hit it! Hit it with all your might!" Xie Jun made his decision decisively.

The three of them immediately unleashed their full strength, frantically bombarding the Death Qi Crystal Wall.

It seemed the woman with half her hair was right. Once they joined her assault, the frequency of the 'echoes' from within the crystal wall noticeably increased.

The cracks on the Death Qi Crystal Wall multiplied, growing denser and more extensive.

The Crowman was now only a few dozen meters behind them. Its decaying, cold, and malevolent aura washed over them in waves, grating on their nerves.

The spirits and emotions of the three survivors surged to an unprecedented peak.

Their desperate craving for survival pushed them to unleash unprecedented potential.

"Now's the time! Together...."

Veins bulged on Xie Jun's face, and electric currents danced across his entire body. He roared, wielding his twin swords and slashing hard at the Death Qi Crystal Wall before him, "Shatter it!"

The woman with half her hair and the other team member were also in a near-frenzied state. They followed Xie Jun's lead, launching their most powerful attacks at the Death Qi Crystal Wall.

RUMBLE!

The three attacks slammed ferociously into the Death Qi Crystal Wall. With a sharp CRACK! a fissure appeared.

Then...

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK—

A series of fine shattering sounds followed as the cracks on the Death Qi Crystal Wall multiplied, growing denser and more extensive.

Xie Jun and the others' eyes shone, the anticipation on their faces growing brighter and brighter...

Then...

BOOM! An unprecedentedly loud noise.

The Death Qi Crystal Wall before them violently exploded.

But before smiles could form on their faces...

In the next second, their pupils contracted violently.

They saw a massive arm—skin flushed red, veins bulging like knotted roots, incredibly thick and radiating waves of intense heat—suddenly thrust out from behind the shattered wall.

Its momentum unchecked, a fist the size of a large cauldron rapidly filled their vision.

Finally... BAM! The fist heavily struck the woman with half her hair, who was standing closest to the wall.

She didn't even utter a sound before she was sent flying like a cannonball, disappearing into the distance.

CRASH—

A towering figure, over two meters tall with wildly flying black hair, smashed through the remaining fragments of the crystal wall and strode in.

A tidal wave of overwhelming pressure engulfed Xie Jun and his companion. A colossal shadow loomed over them.

The two stood frozen, their bodies rigid. Slowly, they raised their heads, staring blankly at the ferocious face before them—a face that still retained some traces of its original handsome features.

This newcomer leaned down slightly, gazing at them from above. Then, with a tone mixing surprise and dawning realization, he spoke in a deep, resonant voice: "So, it was you knocking on the wall from the inside... I was wondering where that woodpecker sound was coming from..."

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