After the Skyfall

The underground parking lot on the second basement level was vast.

Li Yi walked alone, his steps sinking slightly into the muddy ground. His body was tense, his eyes scanning his surroundings with caution.

“They know this place is haunted, that people have died here, yet they still insist on going solo. Looks like they’ve made up their minds to gamble their lives. That Crow sure knows how to bait people—who could resist such an offer?”

“At first, they just wanted to make a quick few thousand bucks. But now, they’ve reached the point where they’re willing to risk their lives. Even I can’t help but feel tempted to search for a relic.”

“After all, opportunities like this might only come once in a lifetime. Everyone is desperate to move forward.”

Li Yi’s thoughts wandered as he cautiously searched the area, his flashlight cutting through the darkness.

The beam of light had a limited reach, and the abandoned buildings and thick support pillars created blind spots, making the search more difficult.

But the biggest problem?

He had no idea what he was even looking for.

Because he didn’t know how to identify a relic.

“I should take advantage of the fact that nothing dangerous has shown up yet—look around a little, then head back. Can’t afford to get lost down here. This job is already paying me enough, and I won’t throw my life away over some relic that might not even exist. What the others do is their business—I won’t let myself get swept up in blind greed.”

Li Yi took a deep breath, steadying himself. He slowed his pace.

After walking a bit further, he figured he’d covered enough ground to justify turning back.

Sweeping his flashlight around, he was about to leave—

But then, from the darkness ahead, he heard Wei Li’s voice.

“I think I found something. Not sure what it is, but it seems unusual. If you’re interested, come check it out.”

“A discovery? Nice, I’m on my way,” Wang Hu responded immediately.

Zhang Kaiwen chimed in, “Wait for me, I’ll be there soon.”

Several beams of light moved through the darkness, converging toward a single direction.

“I’m not far from there. I should go take a look. If I don’t gather any intel, I probably won’t get paid in the end.” Li Yi thought for a moment, then approached with a hint of curiosity.

Soon, a few people gathered in the same area.

Although they were still spread apart, their flashlights all illuminated the same direction.

It was a slightly raised burial mound, but it seemed to have been dug up long ago. Scattered around were fragments of gravestones and remnants of ritual offerings. However, what made this damaged grave particularly strange was that it didn’t seem like something from Earth—it looked more like a newly unearthed ancient tomb.

“Is that just my imagination?”

Li Yi swung his flashlight over the mound and noticed a faint halo surrounding it. However, as soon as the flashlight beam moved away, the glow vanished into the darkness.

“It’s not an illusion. There really is something unusual about it.”

His heart, which had calmed down moments ago, suddenly pounded again.

Could that be the strange artifact they had mentioned?
He wasn’t sure.

But it wasn’t far. If he just moved a little closer, he might find out.

Of course, he wasn’t the only one with that idea.

Yet, at this moment, everyone tacitly refrained from rushing forward, because Wei Li’s flashlight wasn’t aimed at the mound itself—it was scanning the ground around it.

What they saw sent chills down their spines.

Emerging from the muddy ground surrounding the mound were twisted, decayed human arms, their surfaces caked in filth. The closer to the tomb they got, the more arms they saw. Worse yet, something seemed to be writhing beneath the mud.

“No wonder Wei Li didn’t dare move forward.”

Li Yi’s heart tightened. He had a gut feeling that stepping into that area would trigger an unimaginable and terrifying attack.

If something went wrong, their chances of survival—as mere ordinary people—were slim.

Wei Li hadn’t called them over out of kindness. He simply wasn’t confident he could make it through this place alone and needed others to test the waters first.

“The path is right there. There’s risk, but the reward is huge. The choice is yours.”

Wei Li wiped his glasses slowly as he spoke. “If you turn back now, you can still walk away with the remaining hundred thousand yuan. But think carefully before making your decision.”

A brief silence fell over the group.

They were hesitating—or perhaps, waiting for someone else to make the first move.

–

Meanwhile, on the first floor of the building…

A tall woman stood motionless in an abandoned room; her eyes closed.

She had maintained this posture for some time. Suddenly, the corners of her lips curled into a slight smile.

“They’ve safely reached the core area, just as expected. Based on the disturbances, I’ve pinpointed their location. And so far, not a single one of the five has died. This confirms our earlier hypothesis—ordinary people won’t be targeted by the vengeful spirits roaming downstairs.”

“It’s because they haven’t awakened their mediumship. They can’t see the ghosts, so they won’t be attacked. People like us, who have stepped into cultivation, can see things that ordinary people can’t. The moment we enter the first basement level; we’d be swarmed by countless spirits. And the second basement level is even worse—ghosts packed so densely that trying to force our way through would be a death sentence,” Crow said in a low voice.

“Just imagining those five walking among countless deadly ghosts gives me chills. But in a way, I envy them. If you can’t see something, it’s as if it doesn’t exist. And if it doesn’t exist, there’s nothing to fear. That’s the only reason they made it to the core area so easily—otherwise, they’d have been scared out of their minds.”

The tall woman continued, “Avoiding the unseen ghosts is only the first step. But the things in that place aren’t simple. They’ve already formed a bound spirit. Anyone who gets too close will meet a terrible fate.”

“These guys are sharp and cautious. They won’t recklessly approach. Most likely, they’ll just take a look from afar, snap a photo, and leave,” Crow speculated.

“That works too. As long as I get a single photo, I can pinpoint the exact location. Then, I’ll gather a few friends and make another attempt. If we act fast enough, retrieving the object won’t be difficult.” The woman spoke confidently but suddenly let out a sharp ‘Hmm?’

“What’s wrong?”

She abruptly opened her eyes, her expression changing.

“Damn it! Wang Hu is trying to snatch the object from the bound spirit! His actions have triggered a mass upheaval of the dead in that entire area. We can’t stay here—we have to evacuate the building immediately, or we’ll get caught in it too!”

“Then those five are as good as dead.” Crow’s face darkened.

Without hesitation, the two quickly withdrew from the danger zone, issuing orders for their subordinates to retreat as well.

At that moment, in the second basement level of the parking garage…

Wang Hu charged forward. With a powerful leap, his feet landed precisely on a specific spot. Under normal circumstances, he should have sunk into the muddy ground immediately. But he didn’t—because he had landed on top of a car buried beneath the sludge.

The vehicle acted as his stepping stone, allowing him to close in on the lone grave at great speed.

But even though he had thought of this clever strategy, his actions had already set off a terrifying chain reaction.

“Ah! Ah!”

Agonized wails began to echo through the darkness. From the soft, muddy ground, numerous twisted and grotesque corpses writhed, their mouths agape in silent torment as they crawled toward Wang Hu. The dirt-covered arms, swaying like wild grass in the wind, twitched and reached out, desperate to snatch anything within their grasp.

“What the hell are these goddamn things?!”

The sight was enough to make anyone’s blood run cold.

Wang Hu leaped forward once more, narrowly dodging a horrific arm emerging from the mud. But this time, his luck seemed to run out. The parking space ahead of him was empty—no buried car beneath the sludge to support him.

At that moment, his massive body plunged nearly halfway into the sinking mire.

As his movements slowed, the corpses hidden in the mud squirmed and thrashed, swarming toward him. In mere seconds, they had gathered all around him, ready to drag him under and consume him whole.

“Move, you bastard body, MOVE!”

He roared, every muscle in his body tensing. Fueled by an overwhelming will to survive, he erupted with unimaginable strength.

With a burst of raw power, Wang Hu wrenched himself free from the mire’s grip, scrambling onto the roof of a nearby car.

But the danger wasn’t over. Even more corpses were closing in.

At that moment, Wei Li moved. Stepping swiftly over the soft, treacherous mud, he advanced toward the lone grave at the fastest speed he could manage.

The corpses in the sludge were all drawn to Wang Hu—it was an opportunity.

“I only have one life. If I don’t risk it now, when will I?” Zhang Kaiwen gritted his teeth, yanked off his shoes, and attempted to cross the deadly terrain as well.

Now, three people were gambling with their lives.

“To go… or not to go?”

Li Yi’s mind raced. He was tempted.

His path ahead had enough cars as stepping stones, and most of the corpses in the mud were already distracted.

He was confident he could cross the danger zone and reach the lone grave.

But that was it.

Whether there were more dangers within the grave, whether the artifact truly existed, and whether he could make it back alive—Li Yi had no answers. And he wasn’t about to waste time thinking about them.

Because in the very next moment—

He charged forward.

“I want to become stronger, too!”