The undead were back soon.
The undead man turned and pointed at a spot on the steep wall opposite, saying, "Based on the route they took, they should be coming through passage 17 and will take about 9 minutes."
"Didn't they use any instant movement abilities to come directly here?" Wu Xiaode asked.
"The guy using the green fire said that this underground shelter is crisscrossed with passages everywhere, and with monsters attacking, one cannot move around at will," the undead man explained.
Wu Xiaode's gaze searched the walls around him, and he quickly spotted that particular passage.
Indeed, there was a passage entrance at intervals along the wall.
The place was crisscrossed with passages, but it was also easy to lose your way.
And even easier to encounter monsters.
So even the guessing magic group had to carefully make their way over.
Just as Wu Xiaode was about to make some preparations, the undead man spoke again:
"Be careful, another monster is coming through passage 13, you must kill them, they are good at finding caves and will definitely find our secret passage number five."
Passage 17.
Passage 13.
Two issues.
"We need to hurry."
As Wu Xiaode spoke, he gestured behind him and called out, "Xia Ni, plant a Thermal Bomb in the passage where I'm pointing."
Xia Ni took out square blocks from the Void and smiled, "I'll go set it up, ensuring the trap is flawless."
"Be careful, the bodies will see your tracks," Wu Xiaode reminded.
"If it's just relying on the eyes of the dead, that's not really a formidable surveillance ability."
After Xia Ni spoke, her form gradually became transparent and vanished from in front of Wu Xiaode.
A while later.
Her voice echoed again from the Void:
"All set up. The trigger mechanism is a phrase. Once someone utters this phrase, the device will receive the sound wave pattern of the phrase, and upon verifying a match, it will immediately explode."
"Pick a phrase, Wu Xiaode," Xia Huilan said.
"Can I say it now?" Wu Xiaode asked.
"Yes, say it now and I'll set the detonation program," Xia Ni said.
Wu Xiaode thought for a moment and then stated, "The phrase is 'Congratulations on finding it.' I would like the explosion to be delayed by 2 seconds, to go off just as the other party starts to respond."
"'Congratulations on finding it'? What does that mean?" Xia Huilan asked, puzzled.
"It's just to distract them. Generally, when people hear such congratulations, they tend to want to respond," Wu Xiaode explained.
"Setup complete," Xia Ni said with a smile.
One problem solved.
Now onto the second one.
"Xia Ni, hide above passage 13, and I'll stay put here. As soon as a monster appears, it will likely notice me first, and we continue with the ambush," Wu Xiaode instructed.
Xia Ni flew to the passage entrance across from them and pressed tightly against the wall, stilling all the Soul Power fluctuations within her, remaining motionless.
Wu Xiaode then arranged for Xia Huilan to hide in a concealed spot within the secret passage before he comfortably returned to his original spot.
Everything was ready.
The undead suddenly appeared, exclaiming, "They're here!"
"How many?" Wu Xiaode asked.
"One," the undead replied.
As soon as the voice fell,
a woman covered in tentacles appeared at the mouth of passage 13.
"Hey, there's a handsome guy here, Miss, do you want to play?" Wu Xiaode waved to her.
"Supporter... your only fate is death!" the woman snarled viciously.
Swoosh—
The Light Saber swept from top to bottom.
The woman's hands and feet were chopped off, and she was flung away with one strike.
"Master! Save me!"
The woman howled while looking back.
She saw a young girl hanging from above the passage entrance, just retracting the sharp Light Saber into her arm.
A shadow flashed.
A sharp pain erupted on the woman's head, sending her into Eternal slumber.
Wu Xiaode retracted his hand, transformed into a raven, and flew back to sit at the entrance, taking out some tissue to slowly wipe his hands, continuing to wait.
The raven flew out for a round.
Soul Power replenished.
— Soul Power limit unchanged.
"How many minutes are left on the commission?" he asked.
"Four minutes," the undead man replied.
"When can those two arrive?"
"7 minutes," answered the undead man.
Wu Xiaode glanced at the Book of the Dead, thought for a moment, and ordered, "Timer."
Immediately, a line of numbers appeared on the Book of the Dead, continually changing.
"6:59;"
"6:58;"
"6:57;"
"…"
— This book's functionality is quite comprehensive.
"So, what exactly is attacking you? Is it a Demon?" Wu Xiaode took the time to gather information.
"A horde of monsters," the undead replied.
"Where did they come from?" Wu Xiaode asked.
"Most were originally humans, who later formed a secretive unknown Church under the influence of the monsters, gradually morphing and seeking to replace the original human civilization," the undead explained.
"What about your strong ones? Haven't they tried to deal with them?" Wu Xiaode asked.
"The strong ones..." the undead sighed, not elaborating further.
"Time's almost up, go make another round and see if there are any monsters," Wu Xiaode instructed.
"Okay."
The undead vanished.
Not long after, it appeared again, hurriedly exclaiming, "Passage 13, a leader among the monsters has arrived, it's extremely formidable!"
Though now an undead, fear was still evident on his face.
This was going to be troublesome.
Wu Xiaode also felt an ominous premonition, and he immediately asked,
"How much longer do I need to hold out?"
"Time's up! The companions below in secret passage number five have already successfully evacuated, you guys should hurry and escape too!" the undead man exclaimed.