Bai Ru paused when she heard Gu Yi speak, unconsciously repeating the question, "The Sewer of Death?"

Gu Yi’s voice held an unusual tone. "This whole area is saturated with the pure resentment of the dead."

Bai Ru knew this must be what Gu Yi saw with his clairvoyant sight. Although she couldn't perceive the intangible resentment he spoke of, she felt an inexplicable heaviness. She couldn't determine if this feeling stemmed from the darkness within the sewer or the eerie atmosphere surrounding them.

The flashlight could only illuminate a few meters ahead; this fact alone was strange. Normally, even without any external light entering the sewer, it shouldn't be this dark—it seemed as if the darkness itself devoured the light.

Bai Ru quietly asked Gu Yi, "Can't you conjure some kind of illumination talisman?"

Gu Yi scratched his scalp, swinging the flashlight. "It won't be too late to use it when we get to the place. We can still see the red glow of the paper cranes for now."

Just as he spoke, the paper crane flickering with a faint red light not far ahead suddenly flashed and vanished from the air.

Both froze, then hurried forward. Although they walked on the platform beside the sewage channel, it too was covered in pools of effluent. Having deliberately worn rain boots before coming, their footsteps splashing on the water echoed in the circular space—the sound hollow and quite unnerving. However, neither Bai Ru nor Gu Yi was an ordinary person, so they weren't terribly frightened by it.

When they reached the spot where the red light had disappeared, they finally understood they had arrived at a junction in the sewer system. Though the flashlight beam didn't stretch far, they could discern a faint red shimmer floating in the air to the right.

Bai Ru extended her hand and retrieved the Demon-Subduing Rod from her waist. With a light flick, the two retracted sections sprang out, and the tip of the rod emitted a soft yellow luminescence.

Gu Yi grinned playfully. "Didn't expect you to be so serious, activating the talisman inside the rod this early."

Bai Ru lightly poked him with her flashlight. "Stop the nonsense; it's better to be prepared early. Let's hurry up and go."

According to Wu Zhongyou, continuing forward would lead them to the wire mesh he mentioned, and on the other side should be where he last saw Principal Hao’s grandson.

After walking only a short distance, they saw the red-glowing paper crane hovering in mid-air. Both shone their flashlights toward it. Just as expected, directly opposite the paper crane on the wall, a wire mesh, roughly the size of an adult, was plainly visible. It was heavily rusted from years of age, yet it still looked quite solid. The intersecting wires forming the mesh were as thick as a finger, secured to the wall by massive rivets along the edges. Given the long passage of time, they were likely rusted solid, making removal seem highly difficult.

However, Gu Yi was prepared. His trench coat seemed to conceal numerous tools. He reached in and pulled out a massive pair of iron tongs, preparing to snip the wires. Bai Ru reached out and grabbed him, asking, "Are you sure this is feasible? If we open this layer of mesh, might we unleash danger?"

Gu Yi paused, quickly grasping Bai Ru's meaning. He thought for a moment. "We have to open it regardless. This is the only entrance we know of right now, but I strongly suspect there are other exits inside. Think about it—Li Jin has already gone in. If he didn't come in here, he must have used another way..."

Bai Ru nodded hesitantly, releasing Gu Yi’s hand. She gripped the Demon-Subduing Rod tightly across her chest. "Go ahead and cut. Be careful."

With the flashlight held between his teeth, Gu Yi gripped the iron tongs with both hands and skillfully snipped large gaps along the edge of the mesh, making holes large enough for a person to crawl through.

By this point, neither of them had any second thoughts; they only needed to get inside and investigate thoroughly. Gu Yi led the way, with Bai Ru following closely behind, both bending low to slip through the wire mesh.

Even wearing a mask, Bai Ru felt the stench inside was stronger, now compounded by a smell akin to rotting flesh.

Bai Ru frowned and whispered, "The smell in here seems..."

Gu Yi finished her sentence, "Like decaying dead bodies."

As the words left his mouth, a gust of wind suddenly blew through the sewer for no apparent reason. This wind was abnormally cold, striking them and instantly causing a bone-chilling cold, as if they had fallen into an ice cellar. Bai Ru felt it most intensely, her teeth chattering uncontrollably.

"Damn it!" Gu Yi muttered, drawing a talisman in the empty air with the hand not holding the flashlight. Immediately, a bright yellow light flared up, even more brilliant than the flashlight beam, even warming the air around them.

The air in the sewer was damp and cold, laden with impurities that not only affected breathing but also interfered with light intensity. However, Gu Yi's spell was unaffected by this environment, so the ball of light instantly illuminated their path much further ahead.

Only then did they notice that the section of the sewer behind the mesh seemed very long and was not straight; the path ahead appeared winding, making it impossible to determine where it led by sight alone.

With the light, they quickened their pace, following the paper crane still fluttering ahead in the air. Even with the illumination of the Brightness Talisman, the pervasive darkness of the sewer could not be entirely masked. The monotonous, hurried sound of their footsteps, the swinging beam of the flashlight, and a sudden wave of oppressive loneliness rapidly swept through Bai Ru’s mind.

This inexplicable sense of despair immediately caused Bai Ru's mood to plummet, as if she foresaw a miserable end for them both. At that moment, Gu Yi also shuddered, saying in a deep voice, "Something's wrong..."

Just then, deep within the still-dark sewer ahead, a white figure slowly emerged, starkly visible against the pitch-black end of the tunnel.

Bai Ru reached out and touched Gu Yi, shaking the flashlight toward the front, and whispered, "Did you... see that?" Her voice trembled slightly, and her heart rate was accelerating too. The nightmarish terror grew stronger; she realized her body's reactions were beyond her brain's control.

Bai Ru couldn't help but grip the Demon-Subduing Rod tightly, pointing it straight ahead.

The white figure did not seem to approach them, merely standing far off, as if waiting for them to deliver themselves.

Gu Yi snorted coldly. Although he still didn't know what it was, that didn't stop him from acting.

He hung the flashlight directly on his trench coat shoulder, freeing both hands. He pulled two talismans from his pocket, crossed his arms over his chest, and chanted, "The Heavenly Dao is infinite, all laws return to the origin; Heaven and Earth, Five Elements, Yin and Yang reverse; I command the Dragon God, borrowing the Fire God's power, to vanquish evil!"

As he finished the incantation, he flicked both hands forward simultaneously. The two talismans shot out like arrows, transforming mid-flight into two fireballs that whistled as they ripped through the air, heading directly toward the white figure.

Unexpectedly, the distant white figure flickered twice and vanished into thin air. The fireballs struck empty ground and extinguished themselves shortly after landing.

Gu Yi whistled, seemingly unsurprised, merely sighing. "Seems it was faster than that."

Bai Ru, knowing well he couldn't see her, glared fiercely at him. "You did that on purpose."

Gu Yi said nothing more, just chuckled, and stated, "Let's keep moving."

However, just as they prepared to proceed, they suddenly heard a noise from directly overhead, followed by a rush of cold air. Both knew something was wrong and quickly ducked to evade it. Aided by the light of the Brightness Talisman and the flashlight beam, they saw a dark shadow dangling down from the sewer ceiling. In a fleeting glimpse, the shadow seemed to possess a head and two hands, but it did not resemble a human.

Bai Ru and Gu Yi quickly converged their flashlight beams. Now they saw clearly: it wasn't a person at all, but a black cat—a black cat that should have been long dead.

It was presumed dead because the cat was almost entirely decomposed. Only parts of its hide remained on its head. Under the flashlight beam, its emerald eyes shone with a sickly green glow, looking strangely sharp, yet definitely not like those of a living cat. Its two front paws, revealing rotting flesh, were stretched forward, claws extended past the pads. It was these very claws that had just narrowly missed their heads.

Even more bizarrely, after its failed attack, the cat instantly shot back up to the ceiling. Its speed was so great that their flashlight beams couldn't track it. When they finally shone upward, the cat had vanished without a trace, leaving no clue how it appeared or disappeared.

A dead cat attacking people seemed more unbelievable than encountering a zombie. Although both Bai Ru and Gu Yi had seen zombies, this was their first time witnessing a cat turned into a zombie—though they assumed this was the case for now; the truth remained unknown.

Even though the cat was gone, the air still held a pungent, salty stench, like a pile of rotting fish and shrimp. Bai Ru let out a breath and asked, "What was that? Have you ever seen anything like it?"

Gu Yi pulled down his mask, spat, and quickly pulled it back up. "Don't worry about it now. I expect there will be more."

Bai Ru couldn't help but ask, "How do you know?"

Gu Yi didn't answer, merely pointing toward the ground ahead. Bai Ru directed her flashlight there and involuntarily gasped. From not far ahead, stretching into the dark distance, the ground was littered with animal corpses. Some were severely decomposed, while others seemed quite fresh. The variety was astonishing: from mice to various cats and dogs, even numerous thick and long snake carcasses. Among them were some animals Bai Ru didn't recognize at all.

These animal bodies lay strewn across the floor, many floating on the sewage in the drain channel. Earlier, the two had been focused on looking forward and hadn't noticed these things on the ground. Naturally, the stretch of pathway they had walked upon entering was free of these corpses.

Gu Yi suddenly stated coldly, "I finally understand why this place is filled with resentment."