Chapter 66

......The Grim Reaper.

Wu Xiaode was breaking out in a cold sweat on his back.

The Book of the Dead was his awakened ability, originating from the realm of death, and was quite mysterious.

It had almost never been wrong about what it sensed.

So——

"Do I have a chance to take this guy out?" Wu Xiaode asked silently.

The Book of the Dead immediately displayed two lines of blood-red text:

"The other party is the Grim Reaper!"

"You have no chance of defeating it!"

Fine.

Alright.

It seems there's no chance.

Wu Xiaode moved his gaze from the hanging monster and pulled Xiao Baihong, jumping down from the tree. He said to the group,

"There are signs of military activity here. Should we go and join them?"

—The commander had already prepared the identity of the "Engineering Corps," and he would surely be interested in this.

The nuclear bomb is coming.

We must leave here as soon as possible!

Wu Xiaode directly ignored the Grim Reaper hanging on the opposite tree and began to focus on his own thoughts.

On the opposite side,

The Grim Reaper had already sensed the situation.

It extended several long fleshy tentacles, silently coiling around the base of the tree.

These tentacles were entirely black, with segments of bone and flesh, and their ends formed sharp, hook-like blades.

The group was completely unaware.

The commander said, "Finding the main force would be the best, but we also need to explore why this world keeps digging underground."

The group looked at their engineering corps uniforms and felt somewhat relieved.

—The commander had planned this long ago, so everyone had received the identity of the "Engineering Corps, Exploration Squad."

The tentacles hung to the ground, slowly extending toward the group.

No.

We can't run away.

Didn't they say that pretending not to see it would be fine?

Why did it still come over?

Is it testing us?

Wu Xiaode's mind raced, but his expression remained calm. He said, "I bet there are some marching paths here. Let's go!"

"Alright!" the commander nodded.

Just as they finished speaking, the team hadn't moved yet, but Wu Xiaode saw the tentacles suddenly speed up.

They were about to climb onto the group's bodies!

—This Grim Reaper is listening to us.

It doesn't want to let us go.

What should we do?

If it could directly attack, it would have already killed us, but it didn't, which proves it has other ways to put us in a deadly situation.

Wait a minute.

Did those reincarnated soldier spirits all die because of this?

The Grim Reaper...

Spreading death and harvesting souls, right?

In a flash, Wu Xiaode suddenly remembered something.

He smiled and shook his head, saying,

"The multi-eyed demon lizard and the magic bug disguised as a boulder we just killed must have killed a lot of soldiers."

"Definitely," the commander replied.

"If only these monsters are left in the world, can we eat their flesh and blood, like ancient hunting?" Wu Xiaode asked.

The commander looked at him but didn't respond.

Xiao Baihong said, "No, eating their flesh will cause mental madness and physical mutation, turning you into a monster."

"If only there was a way to eat them, maybe humans could eat all these monsters," Wu Xiaode sighed.

"Can't you think of something else besides eating?" Xiao Baihong said.

The group chatted casually.

On the tree, the hanging Grim Reaper moved.

It extended seven or eight black claws, step by step, climbing down the tree and walking in front of the group.

Wu Xiaode remained unmoved.

But a translucent light suddenly rose from the commander's body, enveloping the entire team and rising into the sky.

The Grim Reaper's large mouth on its face opened, and its fleshy tentacles slowly retracted—

It seemed to be somewhat repulsed by the light.

"Do we want to take some of the monsters' flesh and blood back for research?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Ah, that..." the marksman pondered.

"Forget it, those two monsters have been dead for a while, and their flesh and blood are not active enough to be valuable," the commander said.

"Alright, that's a real shame. We can't eat them, and they're not very useful," Wu Xiaode said.

Eat.

The Grim Reaper hesitated for a moment, slowly passing by Wu Xiaode and walking toward the path the group had come from.

It seemed very interested in those two recently deceased monsters.

The Book of the Dead opened, displaying lines of icy small text:

"Nice job."

"This 'god' is in a state of confusion."

"Your conversation successfully diverted its attention, making it seek the souls of the monsters."

—If it's a god, why is it so confused?

Wu Xiaode was puzzled but didn't show it on his face. He just smiled and said, "Since there's no value, let's continue on. Maybe we can find the army."

"I feel they are nearby. Let's go," the commander also said.

The group responded in unison.

By this time, the Grim Reaper had already passed the team and was walking toward the mountain stream.

Wu Xiaode stood at the front of the group, his expression unchanged, but his heart was almost leaping with joy.

"Go!"

He shouted and was about to run forward.

Suddenly, Falcon said, "Since these guns are left here, the army might have lost a lot of people."

The Grim Reaper abruptly stopped.

It turned to look at Falcon, and all the souls hanging on its tentacles let out a deafening wail.

No one could hear it.

But Wu Xiaode did.

He had just taken a few steps, his foot touching the ground, his muscles tensing for a moment, and then he immediately pushed off and continued running.

No hesitation!

Any reaction at this moment would let the Grim Reaper know he could see it.

Just keep running!

Wu Xiaode pretended to know nothing, leading the way forward.

The next moment,

In front of them,

A very long tentacle, full of souls, stretched from behind, wrapping around in front of the group, whistling as it turned the corner and flashed past Wu Xiaode.

What?

What... happened?

The tentacle slashed Falcon's body and quickly retracted.

The Grim Reaper took another step and walked toward the mountain stream.

—What was it doing just now?

Wu Xiaode was puzzled but didn't dare to look back.

Until they passed a hill, he turned back and said,

"Commander, I'm going to speed up. You guys follow me!"

"Alright, just speed up," the commander responded.

Wu Xiaode's gaze swept over Falcon.

He saw a hole in Falcon's chest, blood flowing out continuously.

—But no one else saw this.

Falcon himself seemed unaware.

So is this an illusion?

Wu Xiaode was puzzled but didn't have time to think more.

They had already wasted seven or eight minutes.

There were only twenty minutes left before the nuclear bomb arrived!

He was extremely anxious.

Suddenly, the commander's figure flashed, landing beside Wu Xiaode.

The two moved forward side by side.

"Did you sense something just now?" she whispered.

Wu Xiaode opened his mouth to speak—

The Book of the Dead suddenly displayed a line of icy small text:

"Someone in your group has been 'favored' by the Grim Reaper. Your words will be heard by the Grim Reaper until this person dies."

Wu Xiaode's words immediately changed: "No, I just think we need to find the main force as soon as possible for some security."

Suddenly, a road appeared beyond the forest ahead.

There was a troop transport truck by the roadside.

The commander said, "Marksman."

"Understood!"

The marksman responded and jumped onto the truck first.

A moment later,

The engine roared, and the truck, painted in dark green camouflage, started moving.

The truck drove onto the main road.

"Something doesn't feel right..." the commander whispered.

"I have the same feeling," Falcon said beside her.

Wu Xiaode didn't speak.

He saw blood continuously flowing from Falcon's chest.

Sometimes the blood would stop, but a black mark would immediately appear on Falcon's chest.

Then the wound would burst open again.

Blood continued to flow out.

—But no one else saw this.

"Who else?" the commander asked.

"Me," Xiao Baihong said solemnly.

The commander said, "It seems our powers are all inclined toward the spiritual, so we have a premonition, but generally, such premonitions only occur in a few people—"

She didn't finish her sentence.

But everyone understood her meaning.

This time, three spiritual-inclined professionals all had a bad premonition.

This was a problem in itself.

The commander thought for a moment, took out a blank yellow talisman, and quickly drew runes on it with a cinnabar pen.

She held the talisman with both hands and whispered,

"Nine Heavens' divine protection, Celestial Official!"

The talisman didn't move.

The commander waited for a few breaths, her face showing a strange expression, and she opened her hands to look at the talisman.

The runes on the talisman flowed like blood, dripping to the ground and emitting mournful cries.

Everyone was stunned.

Although Wu Xiaode didn't understand what was happening, he saw the other team members' faces change.

Eagle's face was already turning pale.

The commander put away the talisman and shouted, "Evil things are rampant, the heaven and earth's spirits are dying. This place is about to be completely destroyed—speed up! We must leave here immediately!"

"Commander, people are coming!" Xiao Baihong shouted.

The group looked up the mountain road.

The end of the winding mountain road was filled with the roar of car engines.

Two military trucks were speeding toward them.