In the dead of night, Night Threefold stirred his heavy head, half-sitting up.

"Coffin?"

Gazing at the decaying black wood beside him, he furrowed his brow, lifting his pale, bloodless hand.

"Am I... an undead?"

Night Threefold patted his face, the touch icy and stiff. After a deep sigh, he wrapped a tattered cloth around his waist, climbing out of the shallow pit where he had been buried.

There was no gravestone in front of the pit, and even the coffin he lay in was just a makeshift construction of several rotten boards.

The haphazardly raised small mounds around confirmed this place as a haphazard burial ground.

Feeling his stomach, a sharp hunger pang hit Night Threefold, deepening the wrinkles on his forehead. Glancing around, he spotted a peculiar plant on a mound not far away. In the moonlight, the grass-like entity emitted a faint, serene glow, accompanied by a hint of fragrance.

Driven by hunger, Night Threefold stiffly approached, plucked a few and tossed them into his mouth.

"Sweet..."

With a few thoughtful chews, a cold sensation traveled down his throat to his stomach, even alleviating the heaviness in his drowsy mind.

Eyes brightening, Night Threefold continued searching for these luminous wild plants.

Unfortunately, after a thorough search, he only found four. After consuming two, a mysterious voice echoed in his mind.

[Revival complete, system connection in progress...]

[Connection established, camouflage initiation, basic functions activated...]

[You have acquired the Undead Resurrection skill.]

[You have acquired the Item Identification skill.]

[You have acquired the Undead Mark.]

[Construction function activated.]

[Sizzle... Connection has been severed...]

"Undead Mark?"

For some reason, Night Threefold wasn't surprised by the voice. He silently recited, and blue text appeared in his mind.

[Undead Mark] As an undead, you must devour a substantial amount of life force to maintain the disguise. Holding this mark, every 10 points of life force gained can be converted into 1 point of soul energy.

Maintenance cost: 10 soul energy per day (deducted at dawn).

Looking at the shimmering hexagram symbol on his chest, Night Threefold shook his head. He naturally knew what an undead was - a nearly extinct race on the Holy Stone Continent. Discovering one would result in the inevitable outcome of scattered souls. Even the most despised pig-headed people were not as pitiful.

The disguise effect should hide his undead aura, but the cost was substantial soul energy consumption.

Soul energy, the vitality of undead creatures. By devouring the living, they could utilize converted soul energy to maintain their immortal souls. The catastrophe of undead creatures ultimately stemmed from this.

Night Threefold glanced at his own soul energy:

3/15.

The upper limit was quite low, but the unexpectedly acquired 3 points made him raise an eyebrow, especially when he looked at the Silverleaf Grass in his hand.

[Silverleaf Grass] A strange plant incubated from a corpse, containing poison. (Consuming adds 1 soul energy; can be implanted into fresh corpses for propagation.)

"This plant called Silverleaf Grass can restore soul energy?"

Having consumed three Silverleaf Grass, he now had exactly 3 soul energy. Facing such a miraculous plant, Night Threefold felt it shouldn't be wasted and casually tucked it into the tattered cloth around his waist.

"Fresh corpses..."

While plucking the Silverleaf Grass, Night Threefold noticed there was no new soil in the burial mound. Perhaps this place had long been abandoned. Just as he lamented, a rustling sound suddenly came from a distance, and upon closer inspection, someone approached holding torches.

Glancing around, he immediately hid behind a large, withered tree that could conceal his figure.

If necessary...

Night Threefold looked at a nearby mound with a smirk.

"Bro, do you really think it's here?" a hoarse voice echoed from afar.

"Of course! My grandma said she saw this kind of poisonous grass when she was digging graves here in her youth. Just a tiny bit can rot a person's whole body."

"But, what if we're found?"

"Fool! As long as we act quickly, this type of death will definitely be attributed to those evil undead. What are you afraid of?"

"Oh, hey bro, do you think there really are undead in this world? I heard the old folks say this is a cemetery from hundreds of years ago, buried with many dead. Could it be..."

"Of course not! Have you heard of the Holy Silver Church? They have a magic that can monitor the undead aura throughout the continent. As soon as there's a hint of undead aura, those silver cans will immediately appear. Where else would there be undead?"

"Oh, I see, we're here!"

Carefully peering out, Night Threefold suddenly froze.

It wasn't humans...

It was two goblins carrying shovels and hoes, holding torches.

"The Holy Silver Church? Looks like I need to maintain this disguise effect."

Night Threefold focused, as goblins were both timid and fierce, a greedy and evil existence. However, they usually appeared in groups, and now only two were present.

Combining the overheard conversation, it seemed they were here to find some Silverleaf Grass to poison someone.

Unfortunately, he had already dug up all the Silverleaf Grass.

"Hey, how come there's none?"

As expected, the goblin's complaining voice reached his ears again.

"Impossible, as long as no one picks it, it will keep growing. Could it be my grandma was mistaken?"

The goblin with a half-worn scarf scratched its head, suddenly thrusting the torch into the ground, shouting loudly:

"No! Look at the traces of the soil being disturbed here, and footprints... Someone!"

With a quick motion, it drew a small dagger from its waist, while the other, a small and thin figure, raised an iron shovel.

Not every goblin had a decent weapon.

"Bro, wha-what do we do?" the timid goblin asked shakily.

If it had ten brothers, it would dare to charge at the tall human's knees. If it had a hundred brothers, it might even raid a village together. But now, there were only the two of them...

Timid instincts began to occupy its mind.

"Don't panic! I just learned a set of knife techniques. Even if I were a farmer, I could still split him in half!"

The goblin with the scarf swung the small dagger fiercely, the rustling sound of the breaking wind satisfying its ego.

If it didn't poison that guy to death today, it might be killed by the other party. It had to obtain this poisonous grass!

It was just that the little partner it brought was not useful at all. Just hearing someone, it got scared and even wet its pants?

"Giggle, yo-you, your back... behind you..."

"What behind?"

The goblin with the scarf turned around in confusion...