111: Chapter 111 The Cave of Ten Thousand Gu

Three options were listed on the system's light screen:

[Option A: Seize the opportunity to fleece, a capitalist carnival—slap the table and demand that Ms. Jiang transfer forty percent of that night's live broadcast revenue on the spot as a "scientific guidance fee".]

[Reward: One stingy miser's abacus. Consequence: Although Ms. Jiang will pay, deep down she will label you a black-hearted merchant, making it a one-off deal with no subsequent interaction.]

[Option B: Recruit as a peripheral scout—sternly refuse the financial dividend. Let Ms. Jiang use her massive fan base and adventure traffic to act as a monitoring radar for the Funeral Shop, collecting bizarre clues from all over Jiangzhou for you.]

[Reward: Husband points + 300, unlock the [Supernatural Signal Radar] plugin function (which can be directly mounted on Ms. Jiang's live broadcast backend).]

[Option C: Cold and aloof rejection—let out a cold hum of "vulgar things do not catch my eye", and directly close the door to guests.]

[Reward: Aloof Master Medal. Consequence: You lose an excellent source of intelligence.]

Lin Ye's eyes flickered slightly.

The value of Option B far exceeded millions in cash.

In the era of spiritual qi recovery, various ancient ruins and evil spirits emerged endlessly.

Relying solely on himself to wander around the streets blindly, he wouldn't find a few high-tier monsters to farm points even if he worked himself to death.

Having a streamer with tens of millions of fans courting death and scouting outside every day was simply a free high-grade radar.

"I choose B." Lin Ye decided in his heart.

He pushed aside the calculator on the table and leaned forward slightly.

"Ms. Jiang, I don't care about live broadcast dividends; the official accounts are enough for me to live off for several lifetimes."

Lin Ye's tone was deep, carrying a bit of the oppressive aura of a profound sect master.

"If you truly want to cooperate, I'll point out a clear path for you. In the future, continue doing your adventure live streams, and whenever you encounter places with chaotic magnetic fields or events defying common sense, send me the location and video at the first moment."

Lin Ye pulled out a yellow triangular talisman inscribed with secretive runes from his pocket and pushed it in front of Ms. Jiang.

"Keep this protective talisman close to your body. As long as you run errands for me to find clues and encounter the real deal, this talisman can keep you going until I rush over for "popular science"."

"We each take what we need; you earn your traffic, and I do my academic research. How about it?"

Ms. Jiang looked at the yellow talisman, held it up with both hands as if she had obtained a priceless treasure, and nodded repeatedly in excitement.

"It's a deal! Rest assured, Master Lin, from now on I will be your number one sentinel on the internet."

"Wherever there is the slightest disturbance in Jiangzhou, I will definitely report to you at the very first moment!"

Having dismissed Ms. Jiang, who was full of thousand-fold gratitude, the Funeral Shop restored its tranquility.

"Ding! Option task completed."

"Husband points + 300, current points: 5800. [Supernatural Signal Radar] function has been activated and bound."

Lin Ye ignored the system's broadcast. He stood up and turned to look at Leng Yue, who was standing to the side.

"Let's go. Go down and take a look at that Yellow Springs express delivery."

The two walked side by side toward the backyard, descending the steps into the ten-meter-deep obsidian quiet room.

Once stepping underground, the surrounding light suddenly dimmed.

The pitch-black obsidian walls firmly locked the surging yin qi from the depths of the earth veins inside the room.

Floating in the air was materialized white mist, and the temperature was bone-chillingly cold.

Upon arriving here, Leng Yue was like a fish in water.

The aura around her completely opened up, and her deep red pupils flashed with captivating dark golden light in the dark.

On the hundred-year-old lightning-struck wood array disk in the center of the quiet room,

That small Western Zhou bronze box brought out from the Jiangda laboratory was quietly placed alone on the futon.

Lin Ye walked forward and sat cross-legged.

This bronze box had survived twenty thousand volts of high-voltage electricity; its surface was blackened by the electric shock, faintly exuding an extremely dangerous baleful qi.

"This thing cannot be opened with brute force. The inside of the box lid is connected to a mechanical lock from the Western Zhou period. Once the force is uneven, the mercury and self-destruction mechanism inside will detonate on the spot."

Lin Ye pulled the dragon seeking ruler out from his tactical backpack.

He placed the bronze ruler flat above the box lid.

The twenty-eight lunar mansions totems on the surface of the ruler emitted a faint golden light.

The needle spun wildly, finally stopping dead at a depression in the lower left corner of the bronze box.

"The gravity imbalance point is right here."

Lin Ye put away the dragon seeking ruler.

He bit his left index finger, and a drop of scalding Pure Yang True Blood oozed out.

He pressed his fingertips precisely onto that depression.

Encountering the extremely yin bronze buried deep for two thousand years, the Pure Yang True Blood instantly burst forth with astonishing heat.

The physical rule of thermal expansion and contraction combined with the erosion of Daoist true blood caused the rusted spring inside the box lid to emit a muffled snapping sound.

"Click."

The tightly sealed bronze box lid popped open a narrow crack.

At the very instant the crack opened, what came from the box was not the sound of gold and silver treasures colliding, but instead a faint, ethereal, and crisp sound of a copper bell shaking.

"Tinkle... tinkle..."

This bell sound carried a soul-piercing chill, echoing within the obsidian quiet room, making one's scalp tingle.

Lin Ye's eyes turned sharp, and he used the tip of a sword to pry open the box lid.

A strong smell of antiseptic spices mixed with aged corpse stench rushed toward them.

Inside the bronze box, there were no jewels, no gold or jade.

Quietly lying at the bottom was a shriveled "severed finger" wrapped layer upon layer in yellowing gold foil.

The skin of the severed finger had completely withered.

Moreover, the color of the severed finger was a bizarre cyan-black.

Beside the severed finger, there was also a tattered, square-folded map tanned from human skin pressing down.

Leng Yue stood aside, looking at that severed finger, a rare trace of dread flashing in her dark golden pupils.

"Husband, be careful. The residual death qi on this severed finger is of an extremely high grade. Its master in life was definitely no ordinary mortal."

Lin Ye did not reach out to touch it.

At the very fifth second after the bronze box was completely exposed to the air.

That shriveled severed finger wrapped in gold foil suddenly twitched at the bottom of the box.

Immediately following, the blackened fingernail at the front of the severed finger began to grow frantically at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The fingernails scraped against the bronze base, emitting a teeth-aching "clack clack" sound.

Within just a few breaths, that black fingernail stubbornly grew three centimeters forward, bending into a bizarre hook shape and pointing rigidly toward the southwest.

Lin Ye stared at the fingernail pointing southwest, his expression turning exceptionally solemn.

He pulled out the tattered human-skin map and carefully spread it out on the ground.

On the drawing, rolling mountains and river systems were drawn with cinnabar, and several ancient seal-script characters were marked deep within the mountains.

"Yellow Springs Underground Palace, Undying Divine Bone."

Lin Ye softly recited the characters on the map.

"Buzz buzz buzz—"

Just at this moment, the mobile phone in Lin Ye's pocket vibrated abruptly, breaking the dead silence inside the quiet room.

Lin Ye answered the call, and Bai Yu's trembling voice of excitement immediately came through.

"Mr. Lin! I found it! I searched through the most confidential oracle bone script rubbings in Jiangda Library and finally confirmed the origin of that bronze tripod!"

Bai Yu gasped heavily on the other end of the phone.

"According to records, when King Zhou was on a southern inspection tour, he mobilized an army of one hundred thousand to suppress an ancient ruin. Ancient texts record that an "Unfading Bone" that cannot be killed is buried there!"

Lin Ye held the phone, his gaze falling on the map and severed finger on the ground.

"Where is the location?"

"Southwestern border, the hinterland of Ten Thousand Mountains."

Bai Yu's speaking speed was extremely fast.

"Combined with county chronicles and topographic trends, that place's current name is... the Ten Thousand Gu Demon Cave of Miaojiang."

Lin Ye hung up the phone and turned to look at Ayugu, who was peeking around at the top of the stairs.

Ayugu had clearly heard snippets of the conversation on the phone.

Her face, which was originally smiling cheekily, instantly turned ashen white, and she waved her hands repeatedly, making the silver ring around her neck jingle wildly.

"Ten Thousand Gu Demon Cave?! The Big Boss Lin, I won't take this job! That is the burial ground of our Miaojiang's successive Gu Kings; living people who go in won't even have bone dregs left! I want to resign! I want a raise!"

Lin Ye snapped the bronze box shut with a "clack" and put it into his tactical backpack.

He walked up the stone steps step by step, looking at the trembling Miaojiang girl, a malicious smile curving at the corners of his mouth:

"There is no raise; if you don't honestly lead the way, I'll pour those two jars of your precious poisonous insects into a wok of oil right now and add a dish of stir-fried protein for everyone tonight."

Ayugu covered her face in despair, let out a wail, and collapsed onto the ground.