Chapter 45: Falling, Trapeze Artist

With everything over, the situation suddenly calmed down, leaving Xiao Yang temporarily with nothing to do. Sometimes, grinding too hard isn't necessarily a good thing.

Clearing out that massive horde of skeleton warriors should have been a long and challenging endeavor, but Xiao Yang had relentlessly wiped them out over three days of non-stop fighting. Now, he suddenly found himself in a state of having nothing left to do.

Should he wait for the heavens' exchange system to process this massive harvest, reap the war dividends to completely max out all his stats, and then purchase a set of climbing equipment to descend from the other end of the passage to take a look?

Or should he press forward a bit further? Across that dangerous rope bridge?

In silence, Xiao Yang paced back and forth across the small square littered with bones. In terms of prudence, staying here to rest and recuperate for a few days was definitely the safer choice. However, having just gone through an intense, frenzied killing spree over the past few days, Xiao Yang now felt an inexplicable restlessness.

Looking at the taut, straight rope bridge, he hesitated and muttered to himself, "Shall I walk a bit further?"

Decided then, he would explore a little more ahead and climb across to see what the other side was like.

Thinking meant doing. Xiao Yang approached the perilous rope bridge and cautiously stepped onto it, giving it a shake. He had to admit that under these circumstances, looking down into the deep, bottomless pitch black beneath him made his heart skip a few beats. Still, it wasn't unmanageable. After adapting for a moment, Xiao Yang found that the suspension bridge was somewhat steadier and safer than he had imagined.

Calming his emotions, Xiao Yang grew a bit bolder and began to crawl toward the other end of the rope bridge.

Of course, although he had calmed down mentally, his movements right now were far from steady or poised.

Clinging to the thick ropes like a maggot, he slowly wriggled across the dilapidated wooden bridge. There was no other way; after all, Xiao Yang was no parkour expert, nor had he actually learned any lightness skills. Pouring points into agility only made his reactions and movements faster, not granting him the ability to instantly scale walls and walk on roofs.

At that moment, his desire for even a rudimentary wall-climbing technique reached its absolute peak. It wasn't about practicality; at the very least, it would spare him from having to crawl slowly like a giant maggot when facing such a situation.

Suddenly, the thick rope Xiao Yang was clinging to gave a violent shudder. Xiao Yang grabbed the rope in terror. Fortunately, the swaying did not continue and quickly subsided, sparing him the grim fate of becoming airborne debris.

Yet why had such a sway occurred? Was it wind? But could there be wind in this dungeon?

As he pondered, Xiao Yang suddenly realized something was terribly wrong. Right! Could there possibly be wind in this dungeon?! Raising his head abruptly, Xiao Yang spotted a figure draped in a black robe standing on the opposite side of the rope bridge, holding something high in the air. What was he holding? He was wielding a battle-axe!

"Wait!" Xiao Yang shouted at the top of his lungs in this critical moment, but unfortunately, his cry changed nothing. The battle-axe came crashing down. Luckily, the strike did not sever the thick rope, meaning Xiao Yang still had a chance. Disregarding everything else, humans could accomplish anything when faced with mortal peril; Xiao Yang instantly leaped from his crawling posture, preparing to charge at the black-robed figure across the way.

Yet, a dramatic twist occurred. Neither Xiao Yang's actions nor those of the black-robed figure on the opposite side managed to snap the thick rope, but the iron stake anchoring it finally gave way.

Amidst a harsh, screeching squeak, Xiao Yang successfully achieved free fall—well, he was the body doing the falling.

"Ah! Damn it!"

The despairing scream of an unfortunate soul subjected to high-altitude tossing echoed and stretched endlessly through the deep underground fissure.

Just as Xiao Yang was about to hit the ground like a cannonball, he managed to grab hold of the thick rope that was plummeting right along with him.

His adventurer's armguards included integrated gloves; otherwise, he felt he would never have managed to grip the rope. As the descent continued, the rope ran out of length, as only one end's anchoring iron stake had broken off.

Xiao Yang was whipped violently through the air. His instinctive reaction to clutch the rope tightly during the fall proved correct; though he hadn't managed to hold on all the way, it drastically reduced his impact velocity.

With a heavy plop, Xiao Yang rolled over and over like a tumbling gourd through the puddles at the very bottom of the subterranean fissure until he finally came to a halt. When he managed to crawl back up from the ground, his health bar had plummeted to a dangerously low level—fifty HP.

Struggling up from the muddy swamp, he felt a wave of relief. Thank goodness there was water at the landing spot, cushioned by a thick layer of wet silt at the bottom. Otherwise, had he crashed directly onto hard stone, not only would those fifty HP have been completely shaved off, but he likely would have suffered a broken limb status as well.

Wiping the filth off his Helmet of the Righteous Ghost, Xiao Yang shifted his gaze to his immediate surroundings. It was a wet, water-logged depression at the lowest point of the subterranean fissure. It wasn't entirely devoid of light; crystalline minerals embedded in the surrounding rock cliffs emitted a faint glow, serving as the light source for this underground world.

The commotion he had made upon falling was massive, and something was heading toward him. The numbers were not insignificant, and they were coming from the water.

He had successfully landed, but his situation was far from safe.

The water, a meter deep, only reached Xiao Yang's waist, yet it concealed several roaming silhouettes. The water around him began to ripple. Xiao Yang's current condition was poor, and he wasn't keen on fighting, but clearly, he could not outrun these aquatic monsters while wading through the water in this terrain.

He could not panic and flee blindly; he had to beat back their initial wave of attack before he could safely retreat. Xiao Yang quickly reached this conclusion.

Fortunately, thank goodness he still had that sliver of health regeneration. The green numbers suddenly popping up before his eyes provided immense comfort. The entities churning up the turbulent water were drawing closer. Amidst this brief respite before battle, Xiao Yang first chugged a health potion, then unclipped his Darkness-Repelling Lantern from his waist and held it high above the water's surface.

The flame within the lantern did not extinguish despite being submerged earlier. The light emitted by the crystal minerals on the stone walls was far too dim for him to properly adapt to low-light combat. At this moment, the flame inside the Darkness-Repelling Lantern flickered with unprecedented intensity, warning Xiao Yang that a multitude of enemies was closing in from all around.

Xiao Yang tightened his grip on the Consolation of Justice.

There was no time left for complaints or regrets; he had to prepare for battle. Of course, if he ever managed to climb back up safely, he was going to thoroughly rap that black-robed figure on the skull—using love! Striking him with pure, unadulterated love!