I am a full-level celestial master, you let me enter the strange talk of rules?

Just as Zhang Yangqing turned sideways through a particularly narrow corner, the old miner followed closely behind.

An indescribable feeling, like a thorn in his back, suddenly struck Zhang Yangqing's heart!

It is not hearing, not sight, not even a clear warning of danger, but a higher level of almost instinctive spiritual perception.

They're being watched!

The feeling came from behind, from the shadows of the collapsed support structure they had just passed, from behind the surging black mist.

Cold, greedy, and cruel, with a hunter's patience and playfulness, it spread silently like a spider web, enveloping the two of them without a sound.

Zhang Yangqing's steps did not falter at all, and even his breathing rate did not change, but all the muscles in his body had instantly adjusted to the most perfect, offensive and defensive micro-adjustment state.

He didn't turn around, nor did he make any move that might alert those lurking in the shadows. His gaze simply deepened, and a faint golden glint seemed to flash in the depths of his pupils.

"As expected, this No. 7 mining area is not as simple as it seems." He realized this to himself.

The previous mutant mice were perhaps just an appetizer.

The real danger lurking deep within has begun to bare its fangs.

The owner of those eyes lurking in the shadows didn't seem to be in a hurry to launch an attack.

It simply lingered patiently from afar, like the most experienced hunter, waiting for its prey to reveal its weakness, or rather, waiting for Zhang Yangqing and the old miner to break some rule.

These rules may have been mentioned before, or they may not have been mentioned at all.

The halo of the miner's lamp struggled to carve out a small, moving patch of light in the thick black smoke, illuminating the uneven road beneath their feet, marked by the traces of those who had come before.

Further ahead lay endless darkness and the unknown.

Behind him, a chilling killing intent followed like a shadow.

Zhang Yangqing glanced at the countdown on his hand, and the corners of his mouth curved upwards almost imperceptibly.

It seems this exploration will have to end here. Let's solve this problem first.

The surrounding scene grew increasingly horrific, like a silent slaughterhouse. More and more skeletons began to appear on the ground, scattered haphazardly among the craters and beneath the rock walls.

Some were human, with dried and blackened bones, and some still had remnants of tattered miner's clothes.

Some were rats, but they had abnormal body shapes and twisted bones.

More often, however, are the skeletons of strangely shaped and unidentifiable unknown creatures, some with wing bones and others with multi-segmented limbs.

What is shocking is that many skeletons, especially human ones, show an extremely bizarre death: they were cut in half at the waist.

The upper and lower body were separated and scattered several meters or even tens of meters away. The bones at the fracture point were smooth, as if they had been cut open instantly by something extremely sharp and swift.

Some of the fingers on the upper body were still deeply digging into the rubble on the ground, maintaining the posture of a last struggle before death, with empty eye sockets staring into the darkness, telling a story of silent fear.

Besides the black smoke and stench, there seemed to be a faint, rusty smell of blood in the air, as well as an even colder, murderous intent.

Even though the old miner was a beat slower than Zhang Yangqing in his reaction, he gradually realized that something was wrong.

My back always feels cold, like something is staring at me intently.

But whenever he turned around abruptly, or glanced quickly behind him out of the corner of his eye, he saw nothing but churning black smoke and abandoned mine tunnels. A chill ran down his spine, and he couldn't help but lean closer to Zhang Yangqing, asking in an almost inaudible whisper, "Boss, I have a feeling something's following us?"

Zhang Yangqing didn't stop walking, his gaze still calmly observing the distribution of corpses around him, and began to point out in the same soft but clear voice:
“Often, we can’t just look at the surface when thinking about problems. For example, right now, the things that are with us are invisible to the naked eye, and may not even be in the ‘space’ that we usually perceive.”

The old miner was taken aback.

Zhang Yangqing continued, "It's more like a hunter that exists in dependence on certain 'rules' or 'conditions.' As long as we violate certain rules and meet the conditions for its appearance, it can cross the boundary, appear in front of us, and launch an attack. It's just waiting for us to violate the rules."

The old miner nodded as if he understood, but his worry deepened: "So that's how it is. But, boss, where can I find the 'rules' for its appearance? There's nothing around here except rocks and bones, and there's nothing written on the walls."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yangqing suddenly stopped in his tracks.

The dim yellow halo of the mining lamp overhead then froze, illuminating an area in front of them.

He tilted his head slightly, looked at the old miner, and said in a calm tone that carried an air of knowing everything: "Who said there isn't?"

He raised his hand, his fingertips casually tracing the gruesome remains within the light's illumination. "Isn't this place 'written' with words?"

The old miner followed his finger and saw the same chilling broken bones. He said blankly, "Isn't this just a common corpse? It's just that the way they died here is particularly gruesome. They were all cut in half at the waist."

Corpses were all too common in the old miner's decades-long mining career. Not to mention him, other miners wouldn't be surprised to see a corpse.

“These very corpses are the very rules themselves,” Zhang Yangqing said softly, then crouched down, focusing the light on the hands of a human upper body skeleton.

The knuckles were spread out menacingly, and the nail crevices were empty except for blackish-gray grime.

“Look at these corpses cut in half at the waist. Is there anything under their fingernails?” Zhang Yangqing asked.

The old miner looked at it carefully and nodded: "Yes, what does this mean?"

Zhang Yangqing did not answer directly, but instead moved the light to illuminate a relatively "complete" human corpse not far away, which had not been cut in half at the waist, but had also died from other injuries.

The body lay dead beside the rock wall, one hand still tightly clutching a dull piece of ore.

“Look at this one, the more complete one. Is there something under his fingernails?” Zhang Yangqing gestured.

The old miner squinted and leaned closer to look.

Sure enough, under the fingernails of the intact corpse, one could vaguely see some tiny, dark green fragments, like powder from some kind of mineral.

The old miner confirmed, then frowned: "That's right! There is! It's green debris! Ugh, I feel like something's growing in my brain, it's itchy, but something's missing, it just won't connect!"

Zhang Yangqing stood up, dusted off his hands, and a faint, almost imperceptible smile appeared on his face: "What you lack is the 'skill' to connect all the key information and deduce it in reverse."

Upon hearing this, the old miner's eyes blazed with intense thirst for knowledge, like a primary school student encountering a learned mentor. His attitude was respectful, even pleading: "Boss! Please enlighten me! I... I really want to know!"

Zhang Yangqing pointed to the surrounding corpses and began his "dumbest" but extremely effective teaching method: "Answer me a question first: How did those miners who 'cleared' this area and left alive manage to do it?"

The old miner looked bewildered: "Huh? Those people aren't here, how am I supposed to know? I can't possibly see the past and the future."

He felt the question was a bit beyond his scope.

"I'll teach you the simplest method: the process of elimination." Zhang Yangqing's tone remained calm, yet carried a calm, analytical quality. (End of Chapter)