“Plan remains unchanged,” David calmly said to Fatso. Hearing this, Fatso hesitated for a moment but didn’t say anything further. He understood David’s character after spending these two days with him. Whatever decision David made, he would follow through without question.
Taking a deep breath, the two of them opened the car doors and got out. As soon as their feet touched the ground, a thick, viscous blood emerged from the soil. The blood was extremely foul-smelling, as if it had been fermenting here for many years. They cautiously walked towards the Abyss Cemetery, while the rest of the team stood at a distance, watching their fading figures.
“I hope there won’t be anything terrifying inside,” Sally said, looking worried.
“We shouldn’t stand idle either. Two people in each group, explore the area nearby to see if you can find anything. Sophie and Arnold, you go together, Duke and Sally, I’ll go with Little Black and Cola,” Charles said, looking at David’s figure and addressing the others. He felt they shouldn’t just wait here; perhaps taking action could help David.
They nodded and began to explore the surroundings. Fortunately, they were outside the range of the extreme cold, so their movements were not hindered. Soon, David and Fatso arrived at the entrance of the Abyss Cemetery.
“The wind inside the cemetery, under the enveloping miasma, sounds like the wailing of ghosts. Just the sound makes your hair stand on end,” Fatso said.
“This is the Abyss Cemetery,” Fatso pointed to the countless graves that had long been deserted and dilapidated. David looked up and saw collapsed graves and tombstones cracked in several places.
It all looked like a desolate wasteland, with graves of all sizes appearing like mounds dug up by underground creatures. Desolate, cold, eerie, and sinister.
Without hesitation, David lifted his foot and walked into the cemetery, with Fatso immediately following. They arrived at the entrance of a tomb, and David squatted down to examine it. The tombstone in front of the grave had been split into two like it was struck by lightning. The red characters on it were faintly visible.
David stared at it for a while, realizing it was a man’s tomb, and the information recorded on it was only a rough outline. They continued to walk further inside.
However, David noticed that the deeper they went, the thicker the miasma became, and the more dilapidated the graves were. Some of them had inexplicably opened holes, as if something had crawled out from inside. Fatso looked at these holes with a serious expression.
“This is the Abyss Blood that has soaked into the soil. The corpses turned into zombies and crawled out from inside. Abyss Blood?” David asked casually, then looked at the hole.
“That’s right, you’re correct,” Fatso nodded.
“It’s the black blood that oozed out of the soil all the way here. No one knows where it comes from because it only appears near the Abyss Cemetery, so it’s called the Abyss Blood. This blood has a powerful function – it can grant consciousness to the dead bodies, turning them into high-level zombies,” Fatso continued explaining to David.
Having said that, Fatso looked around and noticed that there were more and more holes, and some graves had even collapsed, revealing holes the same size as the graves. Inside, there were only broken coffins, and nothing else. Compared to his last visit, everything had completely changed. Not only were there more holes, but even the mist of miasma floating in the air had become denser.
This made Fatso cautiously survey the surroundings, holding his large cleaver in his hand. Invisibly, he felt as if there were pairs of eyes watching him and David.
David felt the strangeness as well and stood up. He looked up towards the deeper part of the graveyard, where there were numerous holes and depressions, indicating that more high-level zombies might emerge from there.
After contemplating for a moment, David realized that this place held many mysteries. He had now reached level ten and could ignore the surrounding miasma and the wandering zombies. However, Fatso sensed an intimidating presence in the darkness, which made him nervous. He believed that the danger here surpassed any other place he had been to.
David noticed a small incense burner placed in front of a tombstone. The burner was golden and looked pristine despite the dust covering everything else. The bottom of the burner was shaped like four peculiarly postured little people. David had never seen such a design before, but it reminded him of some treasures Duane had in his treasure chest. He thought there might be some connection between this incense burner and those treasures and decided to keep it by storing it in the system warehouse.
Fatso, feeling the increasing density of miasma, urged David to leave immediately. They turned to go but noticed a small wooden house near the entrance of the graveyard that had not been there before. The house emitted a dim yellow light, and the wind blew through its broken windows, making the light bulb sway precariously.
“Was this house here when we entered?” David grew cautious. He was certain it hadn’t been there before they ventured into the graveyard.
Fatso shook his head, indicating that the house had indeed appeared after their arrival.
“Quick, let’s go!” Fatso felt something was amiss and pulled David towards the exit. As they ran, they approached the wooden house’s entrance. More of the abyssal blood was oozing from the ground. David instinctively glanced inside the house.
There, an old man was resting on a bamboo chair with his eyes closed. His withered arms resembled winter firewood, completely devoid of color. As David observed him, the old man suddenly opened his murky eyes, fixed them on David, and displayed a eerie smile.
Upon meeting the old man’s gaze, David felt a sense of confusion. The man’s eyes seemed exceptionally profound, unlike any other zombies they had encountered before.
The man emitted a human aura, but Fatso was startled when he saw the old man’s eyes. To him, those eyes seemed capable of crushing anything in the apocalypse.
“Leave this place quickly!” Fatso instructed David, and they hurriedly exited the abyssal graveyard. As they left, David cast one last puzzled glance at the old man. Then, with an air of calmness, he departed. Watching the two leave, the old man closed his eyes once more.
“Young man, it’s better not to be like me, an old and obsolete graveyard keeper.”.