"Still not dead?"

Chen Shouyi was surprised and instinctively looked at the corpse's eyes.

His eyes were half-open, half-closed. Through his eyelids, perhaps due to the lighting, Chen Shouyi vaguely felt as though the eyes of the corpse were emitting a faint, eerie glow.

He watched for a while, then retreated back into the courtyard.

It wasn't out of fear, but rather because the smell was too unbearable.

As Chen Shouyi sat down, Chen Xingyue leaned close, whispering, "Did you find anything?"

"It's right there, can't you go and see for yourself?" Chen Shouyi glanced at her and said.

"Don't be so stingy, just tell me already."

"Don't talk about death, be careful or it may come true!"

Chen Xingyue was a bit startled:

"Brother, if you keep doing this, I won't talk to you anymore."

"I'm not teasing you anymore," Chen Shouyi said earnestly in a low voice, "The hand is still moving, but it's tied up. I doubt there's anything for you to worry about today."

Chen Xingyue immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

...

Time slowly passed, and the moonlight seemed to grow ever colder.

During this period, the old man couldn't hold up any longer and was persuaded to go to sleep.

Around one in the morning, a thumping sound came from the mourning hall as the corpse began to struggle.

Everyone immediately halted, looking at each other in bewilderment, faces filled with uncertainty.

After a long pause, Uncle Wang's second son, Wang Dewen, summoned his courage, went to peek into the mourning hall, and came back pale: "It's... it's fine, dad tied it up well."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

Chen Shouyi keenly noticed that his sister, who had been tightly clutching at her pants, also relaxed her little hand.

He couldn't help but find it amusing; if she was so scared, why come out in the first place?

...

The thumping and banging continued, growing more intense.

Accompanied by the corpse's efforts causing deep "mmh mmh" sounds from its throat, it was quite spine-chilling in the still and quiet midnight.

But Chen Shouyi only felt bored.

Yet he could only continue to endure it.

He even somewhat hoped that Uncle Wang might break loose, to liven things up a bit.

Unfortunately, in such a low-magic environment, Uncle Wang was powerless even though he had the will.

...

It's unsure how long they endured it, but dawn finally broke, and the corpse's movements gradually calmed down.

On the way back, Chen Xingyue yawned and cheerfully skipped, saying:

"And just like that, five thousand bucks are earned, didn't think it would be this easy."

"You only get two thousand; the other three thousand is mine." Chen Shouyi mercilessly burst her bubble.

"No need for your reminder, you money-grubber!" Chen Xingyue snorted coldly, "Had I known it was this simple, I would have come alone."

Instead of snagging the five thousand herself, now she couldn't even keep half.

"Without me, would you have dared to come?" Chen Shouyi shot his sister a sidelong glance and said.

He had long since seen through his sister's tough exterior but weak heart.

"Oh, what wouldn't I dare, can't be bothered to argue with you."

"Ah, easily made three thousand; wonder how I should spend it?" Chen Shouyi posed in contemplation, looking punchable.

"Brother, you're really annoying, you know that?" Chen Xingyue gritted out through clenched teeth behind him, glaring at his backside, itching to kick him.

"Calling your brother annoying, I was almost considering not taking it."

"Brother, you are my dear brother, you are the best." Chen Xingyue instantly changed her tune, shamelessly said.

...

Being a 'rich man' with over two hundred thousand in his fortune, how could he genuinely feel right about taking the hard-earned money from his sister? He was merely teasing her earlier.

When they arrived home, they found their parents were already up.

Seeing the traces of sleepiness on their faces, it was clear that they too had spent a worrisome sleepless night.

"Don't come in yet, jump over the fire basin to get rid of bad luck." Mrs. Chen, superstitiously, lit a bunch of dried mugwort in a broken pot.

...

After napping a few hours in the morning, Chen Shouyi woke up feeling refreshed.

After lunch, he grabbed his briefcase and headed back to the abandoned building.

Military and police were still patrolling nearby, but this time Chen Shouyi couldn't hold back.

Having not been to the deserted island for the past few days made him a bit worried about the Barbarian's movements.

Taking advantage of the police's moment of inattention, his figure flashed as he dashed towards the abandoned building.

The journey was surprisingly safe, until he reached the underground parking lot.

His expression turned slightly unsure.

The ground of the parking lot was covered in a thick layer of dust, stepping on it leaving clear footprints. Previously, only his footprints were there. But now there was an additional pair.

His expression became grave as he followed the footprints step by step forward.

The person's intent was clear, following his footprints until they disappeared at the end of the passage.

"Has someone finally found this passage?"

Though surprised, Chen Shouyi wasn't really caught off guard by all this. The abandoned building wasn't in some secluded, deserted location but near a street, and anyone observant could easily spot his unusual movements.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down.

Quickly, he noticed some strange things.

The other's footprints led only in one direction, implying the person was still inside, yet dust had already accumulated on them, having about the same thickness as his most recent footprints.

When was the last time he went to the alternate world?

It's been over four days already.

Faint suspicions arose in his heart.

The person probably was already dead.

But thinking any further would be pointless; it was better to go in and see for himself first.

Chen Shouyi stepped into the passage, and as the scene changed.

He immediately saw a corpse before his eyes.

The corpse lay face down, wearing a suit, looking like a white-collar worker.

At first glance, Chen Shouyi looked at the shoes the corpse was wearing. The pattern on the shoes was identical to the footprints; obviously, this was the person who discovered the passage.

He had been dead for some time, the body somewhat bloated and decaying, his feet twisted at an unnatural angle, clearly unable to withstand the gravity here, collapsing suddenly to his knees.

Chen Shouyi instinctively noted the distance of the corpse from the passage, a good twenty meters.

He couldn't figure out how this person managed to get so far.

With thrice the gravity, it was quite hazardous for ordinary people. Tripping on Earth might just scrape some skin, but here, at a minimum it would result in fractures, at worst, it could be fatal.

It wasn't until Chen Shouyi noticed a pile of golden sand glistening a little ahead in the sunlight that he understood.

"Men die for money as birds die for food" indeed holds true.

It's likely the person risked going further upon seeing his pile of golden sand.

Yet this golden sand weighed less than half a kilo, worth perhaps forty or fifty thousand at most, but it cost him his life.

However, for Chen Shouyi, it was a fortunate thing.

...

The corpse, though somewhat rotting, had to be dealt with.

Having witnessed Uncle Wang's strange transformation, Chen Shouyi had become quite sensitive to corpses. Even in Earth's environment, bizarre changes occurred, let alone in this alternate world with higher mysterious power.

He held his breath and grabbed one of the corpse's legs, dragging it down the mountain.

After about ten minutes, he threw the corpse into the sea and then carefully washed his hands.

On the way back, he spotted a wallet, presumably dropped during the corpse's dragging process.

The wallet lay open, revealing the photo inside.

He initially had no intention of bothering with it. Even if there was money, he wasn't interested but seeing the photo in the wallet, he couldn't help but crouch to take it out.

It was a photo of a family of three.

The picture showed a lovely little girl sitting on her father's shoulders, smiling happily.

Suddenly, Chen Shouyi crumpled the photo into a ball and threw it forcefully into the distance.

"I didn't kill the person!"

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