I can rewind time to prevent death

Chapter 158 Tricky Silk Sub-Quest (Part 4) (3/3)

Unexpectedly, the dark space in front of me was very large, about the size of a lecture hall in a school.

But the moment Yan Junze turned on the flashlight and shone it forward, he was completely scared by the scene before him.

Within the range of the flashlight, densely packed figures stood.

All of these people were facing away from him, each wearing old, even tattered clothes, both men and women, silently standing without making a sound, as if... they were all dead.

The people standing here occupied at least one third of the entire Underground Space.

Junze's flashlight swept around and found that apart from the side near the tunnel, where no one stood, the other three sides were filled with standing figures.

So many dead bodies squeezed in here, yet they didn't emit any foul odor, suggesting they must have been dead for a long time and were mostly in a state of dried corpses.

Junze didn't dare to move rashly. After observing the surroundings, he began to ponder his next move.

His head was swelling with pain, and his breathing was murky. He had to find a way to eliminate the Ghost Silk connecting those four families as soon as possible.

Otherwise, if he delayed any longer, he would collapse here himself.

With this in mind, he slowly stood up and walked towards the closest standing corpse.

The back of this corpse suggested it was a young person. Covered with dust and severely damaged, the original design of the clothes was indecipherable.

Upon getting closer, Junze carefully leaned in from behind to see if there was anything unusual about the corpse standing here, or if there was anything acting as a support.

Otherwise, it was hard to imagine dozens of corpses standing neatly in this Underground Space.

After scrutinizing the area and seemingly finding nothing, Junze turned to look at the corpse's front, and the eerie scene that met his eyes made him shiver.

He saw that the young corpse's eye sockets were empty, just black holes, and its mouth was wide open. Not just that one—looking down the row, regardless of gender, all had the same appearance.

The chill in his heart intensifying, Junze couldn't help but touch the goosebumps on his arm, where the skin had already been scraped and bruised in the tunnel—patches of blue and purple.

Just then, his gaze fixed on the young corpse's mouth, as he directed the flashlight beam straight into it.

He saw an extremely thin thread stretching out of the mouth, turning a corner at the corner of its lips, apparently extending towards the back.

He looked at the back of the head, but there was nothing out of the ordinary to see.

The thread seemed to vanish after extending towards the back.

After some thought, Junze reached out and lightly touched the thread still outside the mouth, but possibly because it was too thin, there was almost no sensation to it—it was like trying to feel a spider's web.

If this was indeed Ghost Silk, how could he sever it? Just pull it out?

He didn't have a clear idea where the source of the Ghost Silk connected to the four families was located.

Trapped in the space filled with corpse after corpse, the bitterly cold breath was becoming more and more prominent. Moreover, Junze felt as if a layer of gauze had been wrapped around his nose and mouth, making it very difficult to breathe.

Unable to find the reason here, perhaps moving further in might reveal some clues.

As the thought emerged, Junze stopped paying attention to these corpses and instead started walking towards the deepest part of the Underground Space.

About ten steps after he set out, arriving near the center, a female corpse closer to the rock wall tunnel, its mouth thread suddenly moved.

The next second, after the thread was tugged, the female corpse slowly turned to face Junze's direction, mouth gaping open, and eye sockets dark and empty, as if staring at Junze's retreating back.

All was silent. In that moment, Junze felt somewhat dizzy and did not notice anything unusual behind him.

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In the middle of this Underground Space, Yan Junze stood for a moment before advancing further in, where two rows of standing corpses were also facing away from the outside.

After Yan Junze started moving, the woman corpse that had turned around began moving silently towards him.

Yan Junze suddenly shivered, feeling the cold intensifying as he delved deeper into this place.

Both flashlights were shining ahead; he did not notice the movement behind him, and from when the woman corpse turned until it started moving, there was no sound at all.

Soon Yan Junze stopped and looked behind the last row of corpses.

The woman corpse that was almost upon him also ceased moving at this moment, standing quietly with her mouth agape.

The corpses in this row all looked the same, strings extending from their mouths, turning at the corners of their lips before vanishing from sight.

This time, Yan Junze did not examine the corpses closely but instead looked down to see if there was anything unusual at the far end of the space.

Upon looking, indeed, a discovery was made under the light of the flashlights.

At the very end, in the corner behind the last row of corpses, there was another wall opening though much narrower.

Of course, Yan Junze could still enter, but it would take much more effort compared to the tunnel he had just passed through, and the space inside might not match what he could see from the entrance.

The current Underground Space was already fraught with danger, and the air was extremely poor; even if he could squeeze into this hole, he had no intention of proceeding.

If the key to completing this side mission lay beyond, then Yan Junze would have to give up and not risk descending further. It was very possible that the entity from the main mission was inside.

Glancing at the hole, Yan Junze suddenly made an odd expression, noticing something peculiar about its location, and immediately approached with his flashlight.

After he moved, the woman corpse not far behind started moving again, still silent, with the distance between them steadily shrinking.

Reaching the hole, Yan Junze crouched down, shone the flashlight at its edge, and observed an abundance of web-like silk, with numerous threads projecting outward. Similarly, these projecting threads vanished after a certain distance.

Just like the threads coming from the corners of the corpses' mouths.

Yan Junze became pensive.

"Could it be," he mused, "that the threads became invisible after stretching out?"

Turning his head to look at the nearest row of standing corpses, "If the threads from the corners of the corpses' mouths are connected to the threads at the entrance of this hole, then a part of them would be invisible to me."

Just then, he felt an icy chill approach rapidly.

Because he was looking sideways, he didn't turn his head, but the chilling presence drew ever closer. Instinctively, he felt as if a corpse was nearing him, very, very close.

Looking from the direction of the hole covered in silk, Yan Junze was seen with his face to the side, and to his left rear, a woman corpse with her mouth open had her head drawn near.

In this moment, both remained utterly still.

"Is there something behind me?" Yan Junze held his position, without any other movement, taking a glimpse to his side and rear with the corner of his eye, sensing a silhouette crouching there.

"What does this guy want to do?"

At the same time, he noticed that the person approaching from the side and rear ceased their movements and seemed to be staring straight at him.

If he didn't move, that person also remained motionless.

Turning his gaze back to the hole below, he noticed the silk wrapped around the entrance suddenly started to darken, as if soaked by ink, with the blackness swiftly climbing up the threads.

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