67: Chapter 67 Sneak Attack

Crossing that stone gate, which resembled water ripples, the world before her instantly collapsed, then reformed.

Mictlan, First Layer — The Realm of Dogs.

Before her, a ridiculously wide River of the Dead cut across the heavens and earth. The water was yellowed to the point of blackness, covered with a strange layer of oily sheen—that was corpse oil.

Occasionally, huge waves would churn up on the river's surface, revealing the fleeting outline of spines belonging to prehistoric giant crocodiles and vividly colored water snakes lurking in the depths, waiting for a meal.

After landing, Lin Sa instinctively reached for her forehead.

Her brain felt as if a steel needle had been jammed inside and was being frantically stirred, causing excruciating pain. She always felt like someone should be standing to her left, but that spot was empty, making her anxious.

However, whenever she tried to recall, the power of the rules acted like a cold surgical knife, cleanly slicing away that portion of memory.

"Sister Lin Sa, what are you thinking? Let's go!"

The 'Zhao Tie' beside her shouted in a gruff voice.

Lin Sa snapped back to attention, looking at 'Zhao Tie's' honest, large face, and frowned slightly.

For some reason, ever since entering this layer, the air of simple honesty around this life-saver had vanished, replaced by an impatient ferocity.

"To the riverbank," Zhao Tie pointed to the swamp-like river flats, his eyes darting around. "There must be a boat there. We need to hurry; those Mexican rats could be right on our heels."

Lin Sa didn't reply, but silently gripped the handle of her knife. She followed his direction toward the riverbank, yet her muscles were already tensed to the extreme.

The silt on the bank was as slippery as melted fat.

Lin Sa, still heavily wounded, stepped into a muddy hollow and her body suddenly swayed.

In that split second of lost balance!

"Die, you yellow-skinned monkey!"

A roar that tore through the disguise exploded by her ear.

The 'Zhao Tie' walking behind her suddenly attacked without warning.

The originally broad palm suddenly split open, and a bone spur, nearly half a meter long and gleaming with a pale, cold light, shot out with a 'thwack'.

With a piercing whistle of wind, the bone spur aimed directly for Lin Sa's heart from an extremely malicious angle!

This strike left no chance of survival.

"Uh!"

Lin Sa only had time to twist sideways to avoid the vital spot; the bone spur pierced directly through her left shoulder.

The immense impact slammed her forward, and blood instantly stained her assault jacket crimson.

The intense pain instantly cleared her muddled brain.

Lin Sa didn't even spare a glance for the wound; her body executed an unnatural twist in mid-air, and the dagger in her hand slashed backward in a streak of silver light.

Clang!

Sparks flew.

This strike felt like it had hit a steel plate.

Mateo no longer concealed himself; he slapped back, sending Lin Sa flying as if swatting a fly.

The 'Zhao Tie's' originally burly human form began to swell wildly, his skin turning from yellow to black, transforming into a keratinous hue like obsidian.

In a few seconds, the honest-looking man was gone, replaced by an Aztec god of slaughter, two and a half meters tall, with scarlet killing intent spewing from his eyes.

The Mexican Gods Chosen One, Mateo.

"Surprised?"

Mateo advanced with a sinister grin.

"The Queen of the Underworld spared no effort, using divine power to forcibly alter the spatial rules just to kill you few rats. I received a divine oracle in the labyrinth and was teleported directly into the fissure in the mountain on that layer."

He stuck out his scarlet tongue and licked the blood from the bone spur, his eyes frenzied: "I must say, that idiot named Zhao Tie had truly hard bones; they crunched satisfyingly when chewed."

"Beast..."

Lin Sa gritted her teeth, forcing herself up from the muddy pit. Blood flowed profusely from her left shoulder, and her face was deathly pale.

"What ability do you Dragon Country people have, besides relying on that ghost hiding behind you?"

Mateo snorted coldly and lunged forward like a black lightning bolt.

His heavy fist smashed down, compressing the air until it cracked.

Lin Sa raised her dagger to block.

Crack!

That was the sound of an arm bone breaking.

Lin Sa was sent flying again like a broken kite, crashing into the mire, and her vision began to blur.

Mateo approached step by step, raising the bone spur stained with countless drops of blood high above, aiming for Lin Sa's neck.

"It's over."

Pei Duo, who had just caught up, saw the scene and thrust her hand fiercely into that purple qiankun bag.

She pulled out a long banner, entirely black, with dark gold dragon patterns embroidered on its surface.

"Nine Nether Command Flag."

Pei Duo shouted low, putting all her strength into hurling the command flag violently toward the mud in front of Lin Sa!

Bang!

The flagpole sank three-tenths of a meter into the earth.

The previously dim Realm of Dogs instantly turned as black as ink.

A gust of Yin wind, so dense it was almost tangible, erupted violently from the center of the flag.

"What is that?!"

Mateo stopped his movement in terror; that intense chill caused his divine power to momentarily stagnate.

"Decree: Netherworld open, Yin soldiers rise!"

Pei Duo's voice echoed in the void, majestic and cold.

Rumble—!

The silt on the riverbank boiled like molten magma, churning violently.

Figures clad in heavy, pitch-black Xuan armor, holding two-meter-long Zhanmadao sabers, emerged from the ground accompanied by overwhelming baleful energy.

They had no facial features; only two clusters of faint green ghost fire flickered beneath their helmets.

A full hundred elite Yin soldiers from the Underworld instantly formed a stern formation in front of Lin Sa.

That pitch-black heavy armor carried an iron-blooded scent spanning a thousand years, forcefully suppressing Mateo's arrogant divine might!

"Kill!"

Pei Duo pointed a finger.

The hundred Yin soldiers transformed into a black torrent, crashing into Mateo with the will to annihilate everything.

Taking advantage of the battlefield ahead descending into complete chaos, Lin Sa completely ignored the Yin soldiers currently being torn apart by Mateo.

"Must... rescue that important person!"

A sense of mission exploded in her chest, becoming her only beacon at that moment.

Lin Sa endured the pain that threatened to make her faint at any moment, dragging her blood-soaked leg, and plunged headlong into that field of golden corn.

After running for an unknown time, the sounds of the fierce battle behind her gradually faded.

Lin Sa finally collapsed from exhaustion in front of a giant plant emitting a strange, faint golden glow.

"Hiss... Hah..."

She gasped for breath, sweat and blood mixing together, blinding her eyes.

"You are lost, brave soul."

A husky voice, filled with divinity and extreme laziness, drifted faintly from the golden corn stalks.

Lin Sa's heart jolted. She forced herself to raise her head, clutching her knife tightly.

The grass parted.

A Mexican hairless dog, completely bare, its skin covered in ancient wrinkles like tanned leather, slowly walked out.

Its eyes, deep as black holes, gazed at Lin Sa without malice, only with a weariness that seemed to see through the ages.

"Incarnation of Xiuolotl."

Lin Sa murmured.

She watched the dog walk to the golden corn, gently nudging it with its paw.

"You want to find back the person who was erased, correct?"

Lin Sa instinctively nodded.

"Corn cob, the unyielding flesh."

"Agave, the boiling bone and blood."

"Axolotl, the eternal soul."

"Only by gathering these three incarnations can you possess the power to pierce the fog of rules and reawaken the truth forgotten by the world."

The old dog lowered its head, picked up the golden corn cob, and gently placed it in Lin Sa's trembling palm.

"Take it. This is only the beginning."

Lin Sa gripped the corn cob tightly, the confusion in her eyes replaced by a burning resolve at this moment.

Although she still couldn't recall who Xu Mo was, she knew this corn was the first puzzle piece to trade for that life.

"The Agave is on the other shore; the Axolotl is at the bottom of the abyss."

Not far away, Mateo's roars and the chopping sounds of the Yin soldiers still echoed.

Lin Sa carefully put the corn cob into her backpack.

She stood up. Although her wounds were still bleeding, and the road ahead was still a field of slaughter promising certain death, the seed called 'Hope' had already sprouted on the scorched earth of the Aztecs.

She glanced at the ceaselessly flowing River of the Dead, her gaze as cold as a blade.

"Wait for me."