"Hurry up, if we don't move faster, we'll turn into popsicles," Xiao Shu blew out the candle and pulled my hand, quickening his pace.

I held up my candle, unwilling to extinguish it, so I raised my hand higher to light the way for him, stumbling along as I hurried to keep up with his rapid steps. After walking for about two or three minutes, the darkness ahead remained absolute, yet the air grew colder, our hands and feet became increasingly numb, and our bodies began to tremble uncontrollably.

He let go of my hand, swung his backpack around to his chest. Then he took the candle from my grasp and said, "You should move your backpack to the front too; it'll keep you a bit warmer."

I followed his instruction, shifting my backpack to press against my chest. I felt a slight warmth on my front, but my back remained chillingly cold.

Given the rapidly dropping temperature, I proposed, "Let's start running. Moving around should keep the cold away."

Xiao Shu wholeheartedly agreed. He grabbed my left wrist and began to trot in short steps.

In truth, we were both straightforward men, neither having any inclination toward homosexuality. In this pitch-black environment, filled with unknown dangers, him taking my hand was simply a matter of necessity. Imagine if we hadn't maintained physical contact; neither of us could see the other's condition, and if an accident befell one, the other wouldn't realize it immediately.

Running while holding the candle caused the flame to flicker violently, and drops of scorching hot wax continuously dripped onto my hand. So, I blew out my candle too, following Xiao Shu’s footsteps, pattering through the passageway. Two people, four feet, every step accompanied by countless echoes: tap-tap, tap-tap...

We ran for an indeterminate amount of time before the echoes gradually faded, and the passageway ahead visibly began to narrow. Xiao Shu stopped first, taking out another candle from his backpack and lighting it. The small flame could only illuminate a radius of about one meter. Xiao Shu and I moved forward slowly, feeling our way along the corridor walls. After perhaps another dozen meters, the corridor terminated, and the candlelight fell upon a dense, cold, black wall.

Just like the wall that had blocked the entrance when we arrived, this wall blocked the exit. Xiao Shu hesitated for a moment, nudged me with his elbow, and murmured, "I don't think he told us how to get out."

"That seems right. Let's try if 'Open Door' works," I agreed.

So, Xiao Shu took a deep breath, puffed out his cheeks, and shouted toward the wall, "Open Door..."

Open Door, Open Door, Open Door... Countless echoes resonated down the corridor.

Accompanying the echoes was a rumbling, rolling sound from the stone wall. As expected, the moment the stone wall slowly revealed a fissure, a streak of blood-red sunlight shot in from outside. First, a sliver of light, then a patch of sky, and at the instant the wall fully opened, the long-absent Sea of Undead reappeared before my eyes.

The scarlet lake surface shimmered with a rosy, dazzling reflection under the sun, while a few birds occasionally flew across the pale red sky. Stepping closer, that suffocatingly pungent scent of blood rushed towards me, a definite welcome gift for Xiao Shu. He had never smelled such a potent reek of gore; unable to help himself, he braced his palms against the stone wall and began to vomit.

At that precise moment, whether due to the smell of blood or because the Hunchbacked Granny had issued new instructions, the Gu worms churning in my gut began to stir. However, this time it didn't cause pain, just a slight wave of nausea.

Watching Xiao Shu vomit all over the ground, I touched my own distended belly, consumed by envy. How wonderful it would be to throw up thoroughly, to expel all these disgusting worms! As I thought this, a faint ache returned to my stomach, and a voice deep within my soul whispered, "Don't even think of shaking me off; hurry and find the Monkey."