A rustling sound came from the surroundings again. Xiao Cheng turned his head and saw that the zombie in the stone had woken up again, reached out its hand towards them by the smell, and stiffly crawled out.

Not only them, but also the still intact little fleshy balls in the deep pit not far from them began to stir, supporting their bodies with their thin black tentacles and crawling towards them with the help of the crab-leg-like fleshy spines at the bottom.

Looking at the erect tentacles, Xiao Cheng nudged Fang He beside her and asked meaningfully, "Do those fleshy balls look like sea urchins?"

Fang He gave him a complicated look: "Your imagination is quite wild."

"So, are we going to stay here and rack up points?" Xiao Cheng started rubbing his hands together, eager to get started.

Then she watched as five armored warriors rose one after another from the pile of stones.

Xiao Cheng: "..." Are you guys trying to summon Emperor Warrior?!

Fang He reacted even faster than her. Almost the instant they appeared, he grabbed her arm and turned to run without thinking.

"Why is this happening?!" Xiao Cheng's voice trembled wildly in the wind. If she were to confront this head-on, even breaking all four of her limbs wouldn't be enough.

"Didn't you see that's the sea urchin's lair?!" Fang He kicked away a level one zombie blocking his way. Before he could even finish it off, the zombie flew far away and landed right next to the feet of one of the stone-helmeted zombies. It was crushed to pieces by the heavy stomp, its flesh and blood sticking firmly to the ground like a flattened pancake.

He had cleared most of the road, and Xiao Cheng, holding his hand, kept running forward with her head down: "So you just admitted that it looked like a sea urchin, right?"

"Yes, I admit it. It's more than just similar; it's practically the very essence of a sea urchin." Fang He said, slightly out of breath, as he walked around another rock before abruptly stopping.

Xiao Cheng didn't stop in time and almost fell headfirst onto his back.

"What's wrong? What's going on?" She belatedly looked ahead, and in that brief glance, she revealed the same strange expression as Fang He.

Before me was that strangely familiar crater, filled with fleshy lumps, with the pulverized remains of the first armored warrior lying beside it.

They went in a big circle, but ended up coming all the way back.

Five new zombies seemed to have anticipated this scene, slowly approaching with heavy steps, completely trapping them in the middle. Dozens of level one zombies gathered together, stepping on the stone fragments, spontaneously filling the gaps between them, eventually forming an impregnable encirclement.

The zombies didn't attack immediately. The five larger ones seemed to have gained intelligence, and they chuckled menacingly, their laughter mixed with the grinding of their teeth, as if they were both threatening and teasing the two of them.

Now there's no way to escape.

Xiao Cheng and Fang He exchanged a silent glance, both sighing helplessly, then stepped aside and stood back to back in perfect unison.

Xiao Cheng gripped the short knife in his hand and extended an invitation in a deliberately casual tone: "Come on, good teammate, let's rack up points together?"

The zombies were clearly ranked. The five level-two zombies didn't attack immediately, but instead raised their heads and let out a long howl. As if this sounded the horn of attack, the level-one zombies moved their stiff, twisted limbs and roared as they ran towards the two.

Xiao Cheng felt that the first thing to be attacked was her vision. She knew she couldn't expect too much from the zombies' looks, but this group was too uniquely ugly. Their messy internal organs were hanging all over the ground, and as they got closer, the air became murky.

"Heh, a mere level one, just a delivery boy!" Xiao Cheng can now completely overwhelm them in terms of level. With the help of the short sword, he can basically take down a friend in three strikes.

Level 2 zombies are difficult to deal with, but that doesn't stop her from taking advantage of the situation to easily defeat them. She took down four of the ugliest zombies in a row, then took a half step back to dodge a claw attack. She then spotted her fifth target and stabbed down hard with her blade.

The knife tip paused just as it pierced the zombie's forehead.

Xiao Cheng's eyes narrowed, and with a backhand, he dislocated the zombie's arms. Amidst its meaningless howls, he kicked it hard in the back of the knee, slamming it to the ground.

Not far away, Fang He noticed the strange situation and rushed over without hesitation. He smashed the heads of several zombies with a few blows and quickly cleared a small safe area around Xiao Cheng.

"What's wrong?" he asked hurriedly.

"Something's not right." Xiao Cheng leaned her back against him with relief and focused on crouching down to deal with the zombie she had knocked down.

Its pupils were almost invisible, its eyes were bloodshot, its facial bones were twisted, and it couldn't help but open its mouth wide, with foul-smelling saliva dripping from the corners of its rotting mouth, howling and howling.

Xiao Cheng looked at his face, then lifted his right hand, which was hanging limply at his side.

The skin and flesh had been almost completely peeled away, and faint outlines of blue numbers could be seen beneath the bloodstains.

Number 47.

The guy she had taught a lesson to once.

He's not a zombie, he's a player.

Number 47 seemed to still retain a sliver of his consciousness; his wailing roars changed slightly, and a fleeting plea appeared in his eyes.

"Kill... Ah... Kill... Me... Ahhhhhh!"

The fleshy mass on the back of his head suddenly began to grow wildly, with tentacles and barbs simultaneously lengthening and hardening, piercing deep into his skull before bursting out through his eye sockets and mouth. His original eyeballs were completely squeezed out, with the optic nerve still attached, hanging precariously beside his face.

But not a single drop of blood was shed.

The tentacles were absorbing nutrients with all their might, and their entire body turned a dark reddish-black color.

"Ah...kill...hehe...kill...please..." Number 47's groans became increasingly indistinct, each word gradually becoming weaker.

Xiao Cheng closed his eyes briefly, then composed himself and brought the knife down with a swift motion.

Three grayish-white crystals floated up from the wreckage and silently entered her body. In her mind, another being suddenly let out a satisfied sigh: "Wow, such pure energy, you killed a player?"

Xiao Cheng ignored her and turned to continue helping Fang He clear out the other zombies.

"Just kill him, that's how you clear this dungeon anyway." The voice continued its incessant urging, "Even more decisively, kill this walking energy source next to you! With that pure energy, I guarantee you'll clear this dungeon by tomorrow!"

Xiao Cheng's knife swing suddenly faltered, missing its target, but she quickly readjusted, severing a small portion of the zombie's head. The head flew into the air due to inertia before landing back on the ground with a thud.