68: Chapter 68 You can always trust the ruthlessness of the Chinese people!

"Boom!"

The helmet of the last Yin Soldier flew high, dissipating into a wisp of black smoke in mid-air.

Mateo, covered in blood, looked like a completely unhinged war behemoth. He brutally smashed through the flying corn stalks, charging out with a skin-crawling sense of oppression.

"Run! Keep running!"

Mateo let out a cruel, maniacal laugh. With a casual wave of his mutated obsidian giant hand, he pulverized a boulder as tall as a man beside him into dust.

Lin Sa bit her pale lips tightly. The piercing wound on her left shoulder continuously bled as she ran, soaking half her body through.

Her vision began to blur, her lungs felt like they were burning with two fires, and every breath carried the taste of rust.

There was no road ahead.

The Styx River, wide enough to induce despair, lay across their path. The pitch-black water churned with viscous waves of corpse oil, emitting a nauseating stench.

Death water in front, pursuers behind.

Lin Sa's steps faltered, and she stopped abruptly. The gravel kicked up by her heels fell into the black water without even causing a ripple.

"No way out now, is there?" Mateo slowed his pace, savoring the prey's death throes.

The bone spike in his hand was still dripping blood, and his face wore a look of cat-and-mouse amusement.

Lin Sa leaned back against the cold river wind, gripping her dagger in her right hand. Though her hand trembled violently, the instinct etched into her bones made her look like a lone wolf cornered against a wall, baring its final fangs.

Pei Duo, who was invisible nearby, quickly reached into her qiankun bag and threw something out.

"Splash—!"

The originally raging Styx River suddenly paused.

Amidst the swirling mist, the black-canopied boat with two eerie green lanterns—the boat of oblivion—which had appeared on the eighth level, emerged through the waves like a phantom. With a 'thud,' it docked steadily on the riverbank near Lin Sa's feet.

A wooden gangplank automatically extended, landing right in front of Lin Sa's toes.

Lin Sa's pupils constricted sharply. Although she didn't know where the boat came from,

she didn't hesitate for a second. She retracted her dagger, used the last bit of strength she had, and scrambled onto the gangplank, rolling into the cabin.

"Trying to run?!"

Mateo was furious.

This Dragon Country rat had slipped through his fingers repeatedly right under his nose. This was practically rubbing his face into the dirt!

He roared, his leg muscles bulging. His entire body shot forward like a black cannonball straight toward the boat of oblivion that was already pushing off from the shore.

"Get off for me!!"

Mateo stepped into the shallow part of the Styx River and reached out to grab the stern of the boat.

However—

"Sizzle—!!"

The instant his foot touched the black river water, an excruciating pain capable of melting the soul instantly struck him.

Aztec Styx River Rule: Non-undead creatures dissolve immediately upon entering the water!

"Ah!!!"

Mateo let out a shrill scream. The foot that had stepped into the water instantly emitted thick black smoke, and his obsidian skin, hard as iron, began to melt like wax.

He was forced to retreat wildly, falling backward into the silt on the bank, clutching his scorched foot, his face twisted in pain.

The boat of oblivion moved without wind, its hull gliding across the black water, leaving a faint trail. Under Mateo's murderous gaze, it shot away like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, quickly gliding toward the center of the river.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!"

Mateo raged impotently, stabbing the bone spike in his hand fiercely into the ground, only able to watch as the boat drifted further and further away.

...

In the middle of the river, the wind was fierce and the waves high.

Lin Sa collapsed in the cabin, gasping heavily. She suppressed the intense pain and anxiously searched the murky river water.

According to Xiuolotl's guidance, the second token—the Axolotl, representing the 'Eternal Soul'—was in this body of water.

"Splash!"

The calm water surface suddenly exploded. Several giant water snakes as thick as barrels, covered in festering sores, along with two prehistoric giant crocodiles clad in bone armor, were drawn by the alluring scent of Lin Sa's fresh blood. They opened their gaping maws and surrounded her from all directions.

The foul, fishy odor instantly filled the entire cabin.

Lin Sa desperately gripped the now-dull dagger in her hand.

She didn't even have the strength to stand up; how could she fight these water monsters?

"Sigh, what a nuisance."

Pei Duo sat on top of the boat's canopy, dangling her legs, tossing the yellow springs gourd in her hand.

She uncorked the gourd stopper and tilted it slightly toward the agitated monsters below.

"Drip."

A few drops of withered yellow, murky water, seemingly ordinary, fell due to gravity, dripping into the pitch-black Styx River.

Yellow Spring Water, originating from the deepest parts of the Eastern Underworld, capable of washing away all sins and life force.

The moment the water droplets entered the river,

there was no earth-shattering explosion, nor any dazzling light effects.

Only a suppression originating from the depths of the soul.

The giant crocodiles and water snakes that had been frantically biting the boat's hull suddenly froze, as if they had encountered the ultimate predator of their kind.

Immediately after, these monsters, devoid of any intelligence and driven only by killing intent, let out screams of extreme terror. They twisted their bodies frantically, fleeing in all directions, caring nothing for anything else.

Their appearance suggested they wished they had eight extra legs, terrified of being contaminated by even a trace of that withered yellow liquid.

In just three seconds,

the river surface, which had been fraught with danger, became cleaner than a mirror.

In this dead, silent water, a small creature, entirely pink and sporting a six-sided external gill on its head, trembled as it floated to the surface.

It radiated a pure and gentle soft glow, completely out of place in this Styx River filled with death energy.

Axolotl!

Lin Sa's eyes lit up. She forced herself to lean over the gunwale, scooped up the slippery little thing, and stuffed it into her backpack.

The second token, secured!

"Thud."

The boat of oblivion docked.

Lin Sa tumbled and scrambled onto the gravel beach on the opposite bank. Before her was a narrow, winding path ascending a cliff. At the very top of that cliff, a blood-red, alluring agave plant grew stubbornly in the cold wind.

That was the last hope.

"One last fight!"

Lin Sa gritted her teeth, squeezing out the last bit of potential in her body, and sprinted toward the mountaintop.

"Where else can you run now?!!"

That nightmarish voice actually rang out behind her again.

Lin Sa whipped her head around, her pupils shrinking violently.

Below, on the Styx River, a ghostly ferry made of countless skulls was rapidly approaching the shore.

Mateo stood at the bow, radiating visible divine power fluctuations—the Queen of the Underworld had directly bestowed upon him the ferry used by Xiuolotl to guide the dead!

"Whoosh—!"

Mateo leaped from the ghost ship. With a few bounds, he covered a hundred meters, crashing down onto Lin Sa's inevitable path with a "boom."

Gravel scattered.

Lin Sa was thrown to the ground by the blast wave.

She scrambled up in a sorry state only to find herself forced to the edge of the cliff.

Behind her was an abyss thousands of feet deep. Beneath her feet were loose gravel stones. The sound of howling, mournful wind rose from the bottom of the abyss, making one dizzy just looking down.

And ahead, Mateo was approaching step by step, his smile cruel and twisted.

"Run? Why aren't you running anymore?"

Mateo seemed to be admiring a trapped prey. The scorched foot he had moments ago was now fully restored—clearly blessed by the Queen of the Underworld's divine power.

"This is a dead end; not even a bird can fly across. Kneel down and beg me, and maybe I'll consider leaving you a complete corpse."

Lin Sa leaned against a dead tree by the cliff edge, her harsh gasps sounding like a bellows.

She glanced at the invincible Gods Chosen One blocking her path.

Then she looked back over the cliff.

That blood-red agave, representing 'Boiling Blood and Bone,' grew precariously on a protruding dangerous rock just outside the cliff face, swaying precariously.

Lin Sa suddenly laughed.

A smile of extreme, heartbreaking beauty bloomed on her blood-stained face.

She slowly raised her hand and, facing the arrogant Mateo, gave him a perfect middle finger.

"Idiot."

Two short, forceful words escaped her lips.

Under Mateo's stunned gaze, Lin Sa turned without hesitation and jumped!

She was like a moth throwing itself into a flame, resolutely leaping into the void outside the cliff.

Her body traced a tragic arc in the air.

In the instant of falling, her hand accurately grasped the blood-red agave.

"Snap."

The root snapped.

By the time Mateo reacted, Lin Sa's figure had been completely swallowed by the endless dark abyss.

Mateo rushed to the edge of the cliff, looking down into the bottomless black hole, and let out a roar of angry and absurd laughter:

"Hahahaha! Good! Very good! Then go repent in hell!"