The world has turned into Hell's Game, why should I stay human? Chapter 1399 1399: Today’s Update Will Be Posted Before 2 PM Tomorrow

The moment Liu Zheng approached the archway, a powerful premonition struck him.

He sensed that crossing this threshold meant stepping into Hell itself.

"What should I do?" he pondered rapidly.

It was undoubtedly too late to procure biochemical protective suits, and even if he did, their effectiveness was questionable.

"Forget it, if I die, I die," Liu Zheng decided, clenching his teeth.

Since Skinny Horse had been punished with the foul-smelling soup because of him, they might as well face these trials together.

Taking a deep breath, he activated his six-arm mode, intending to shield his eyes, nose, and ears.

However, the instant Liu Zheng set foot inside the cemetery, he realized his efforts were in vain.

An overwhelming stench aggressively assaulted his olfactory senses, quickly permeating every fiber of his being.

The smell was profoundly rotten, affecting his sense of sight, hearing, taste, and touch.

The stench churned and raged, and Liu Zheng could feel their intense hatred.

"Clearly, it's the same substance, yet why is one foul and the other fragrant?"

"Attack! Attack!"

"Attack everything in this world!"

"Grow wildly! Grow strongly! Double!"

"As long as it's strong enough, all tastes are just stenches."

Just as Liu Zheng was drowning in the all-encompassing stench, a fire ignited.

This fire transformed into a spectral face with eyes wide in fury, spewing air towards Liu Zheng from a gaping maw.

The smoky embers infiltrated his very soul, carrying a stench of burnt and withered decay.

Although still a stench, it possessed a distinct difference from the surrounding miasma.

This subtle distinction provided Liu Zheng a fleeting moment of clarity amidst his overwhelmed senses.

He seized this critical instant to ignite his own flame.

The golden Sun God Fire blazed fiercely, releasing the stench of charred protein.

The combination of these two distinct stenches managed to push back the invasive, indiscriminate odors from the outside.

As Liu Zheng contemplated how to break free from this oppressive situation, the sound of hoofbeats, accompanied by a sour stench, reached his ears.

Subsequently, he felt as if he was lifted from the ground and was in continuous motion.

He lost track of time, but eventually, Liu Zheng's senses began to gradually return.

He opened his eyes to find himself in the vast expanse of the Gobi Desert.

He was lying on Skinny Horse's back, while the Tomb Guardian was not far away, tending to a simple iron pot over a campfire.

"How does it taste?" the Tomb Guardian inquired, looking up.

"Too foul," Liu Zheng replied. Countless descriptors swirled in his mind, yet only these three words emerged.

"The Metropolitan Most Smelly Soup, truly lives up to its name," the Tomb Guardian acknowledged with a nod.

"Indeed, it's potent. Don't you agree, Brother Ma?" He casually patted the horse's back, but Skinny Horse remained unresponsive.

"Hmm?" The Tomb Guardian dismounted and discovered Skinny Horse's eyes were vacant.

A quick check with his finger revealed no pulse; the horse was deceased.

"Your Excellency, Tomb Guardian, may I inquire what has happened to Skinny Horse?" Liu Zheng’s tone grew serious.

Though it seemed unlikely, powerful figures were often unpredictable, and it wouldn't be entirely shocking if Skinny Horse had indeed met a fatal end.

"Dead," the Tomb Guardian stated indifferently.

"It was merely a Legendary Item, was it worth it?" he questioned.

"Whether it was worth it is my decision to make," the Tomb Guardian responded.

"May I take its body with me?" Liu Zheng asked after a brief silence.

"This is already a cemetery; where else would you take it?" the Tomb Guardian countered.

"Not only cemeteries are suitable for burials. I know of a prairie with lush, tender grass, perfect for interring a horse," Liu Zheng explained, thinking of the grasslands near the entrance of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.

Even though the grass there wasn't particularly palatable, Skinny Horse would no longer be able to eat anyway, rendering the taste irrelevant.

"I raised it from a foal, feeding it merely a handful of hay and black beans, and with a single word from you, you wish to take it away?" the Tomb Guardian questioned, his voice tinged with emotion.

"What is it you desire?" Liu Zheng inquired.

"I desire fire; Ra's fire," the Tomb Guardian stated.

He was referring not to ordinary Sun God Fire, but to the Divine Power Essence of Ra.

If this Divine Power Essence were relinquished, Liu Zheng's second life-sustaining ability, 'Ra's Grace,' would become ineffective.

In Ra's current weakened state, unless Liu Zheng accomplished another monumental feat, it would be impossible for him to be granted such a boon again.

"Yes," Liu Zheng agreed without hesitation.

"Unfortunately, it does not consent," the Tomb Guardian declared.

"Huh?" As Liu Zheng pondered his confusion, the Tomb Guardian drew a revolver.

Liu Zheng remained still, observing quietly.

Unless the Tomb Guardian had truly lost his mind, it seemed improbable that he would kill Skinny Horse only to attempt to kill him now.

"Bang!" The gun fired.

A phantom bullet erupted from the barrel, and upon closer inspection, it unmistakably resembled a galloping horse.

"Neigh~"

A bullet pierced Skinny Horse's forehead, causing the animal to snort and its eyes to gradually regain clarity.

"Brother Ma, you're still alive," Liu Zheng exclaimed with delight.

"Neigh~"

Skinny Horse lowered its head, nudging against Liu Zheng's face.

"To be exact, it was already dead. It simply chose execution over dying from the stench," the Tomb Guardian stated, holstering the revolver.

"If I were in its place, I'd have chosen execution too," Liu Zheng admitted, a tremor of fear still palpable in his voice.

"You would have, had you not completed the mission," the Tomb Guardian countered.

"What mission?"

"The stench at the entrance has severely disrupted the cemetery's normal operations. As you are the cause, you must find a way to eliminate that odor, or at least reduce it to a level acceptable for normal living beings," the Tomb Guardian explained.

"...Can't you be a little more reasonable?" Liu Zheng asked, utterly speechless.

How could he be considered the culprit? He never intended to bring the soup into the cemetery in the first place; it was the Tomb Guardian who insisted.

"I can be reasonable, and you've won that argument. Now, it's your turn to reason with the cemetery," the Tomb Guardian replied.