All the preparations were in place. Xiao Yang pushed open the door leading to the second floor of the dungeon, and a dark passage stretching deeper into the depths appeared before him.
Xiao Yang raised the Dark Dispelling Lantern high and stepped forward. Even though he had boosted his stats to an almost absurd level for someone at his stage, he still couldn't help feeling the faintest trace of fear in the face of that profound darkness.
It was an unavoidable fear, one born of human instinct: fear of the dark.
A dim glow appeared in the distance. He was almost at the next floor of the dungeon. Xiao Yang quickened his pace and pushed open the rusty iron door at the end of the corridor. Suddenly, amid a dull thud, a Stone Puppet swung its weapon down at him.
In that perilous moment, Xiao Yang instinctively rolled aside. His high Agility let him react in time to the ambush.
The attacker was a Stone Puppet clinging to the wall, carved in the shape of a little demon. It wasn't a monster but a triggered trap. Xiao Yang's Probe Skill yielded no response when he used it on the thing.
He'd only just reached the second floor, and the Skeleton Dungeon had already given him quite a welcome!
And that wasn't the end of it. With a creak, the rusty iron door behind him shut. Clearly, Xiao Yang wouldn't be leaving until he cleared this floor.
Dungeon Delver activated. Three blue pieces of equipment appeared before Xiao Yang, but he probably wouldn't have time to choose a reward just yet. A few pairs of crimson eyes suddenly opened in the darkness. The Vampire Bats were here. Then came a piercing shriek—the Vampire Bats had triggered a chain reaction with the dungeon's other monsters.
They flapped about wildly, the first monsters to charge at Xiao Yang. Then pairs of pale, cold flames suddenly ignited, and amid a series of clacks, Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Warriors slowly crawled up from the ground.
With one glance, Xiao Yang counted at least twenty or thirty ghostly white Soul Flames. And that wasn't all; more Soul Flames continued to appear in the darkness.
Something was wrong! This was very wrong!
Xiao Yang gripped Justice's Condolence tightly. In this situation, he had two choices. First, rely on his high stats, shout, "A Dungeon King will never be a slave!" and start a boss fight against dozens of enemies—except he'd be the boss getting mobbed.
Second, make a run for it and avoid the danger.
So, what would Xiao Yang choose?
Obviously, the second option. He'd just arrived on the unfamiliar second floor of the Skeleton Dungeon. Only an idiot would start a fight before figuring out what was going on!
Run! Run fast!
Without hesitation, Xiao Yang dashed down the passage to his right, Justice's Condolence in hand. As soon as he left the dark passage and entered the second floor of the Skeleton Dungeon, he found three routes before him: passages to the left and right, and a small open plaza straight ahead.
All the monsters in the plaza had been roused by the Bloodthirsty Bats. There was no way he was going straight ahead. That left the passages on either side.
Between the left and right passages, Xiao Yang chose the right without hesitation. He'd made the decision so quickly that he'd barely had time to glance down it. He'd spotted a soft white glow in the passage, and in a dungeon, there was usually only one kind of place that gave off such a gentle white light.
A Safe House!
Behind him, amid a jumble of noises, a great horde of Skeletons began chasing after Xiao Yang. These Skeletons were far more disciplined than their counterparts on the first floor. They looked like a well-equipped Skeleton army—no, they were a well-equipped Skeleton army!
There were no ordinary Skeletons padding out their ranks. Almost all of them wore battered armor and carried weapons. The first to rise had been Skeleton Warriors wielding long blades, and now those were the ones hot on Xiao Yang's heels. As they ran, their bones clattered, and they swung their blades wildly.
And it wasn't only the Skeleton Warriors with long blades. Some carried spears, others shields, and among them were even Skeleton Archers and Skeleton Crossbowmen.
A chaotic hail of arrows rained down around Xiao Yang. Their aim was poor, and most struck the Skeleton Warriors with long blades, but a few still hit Xiao Yang. The arrows could pierce his defense, but since his Defense was so high, even when they did, they dealt only a little damage.
How did Xiao Yang know? Because the words "Damage Immunity" kept popping up in his vision. Of course, some arrows dealt more damage, occasionally popping up as "Damage -1" or "Damage -2," along with green numbers.
The Life Recovery +1 he'd gained after the Unstable Life Entangler turned him pink last time was also taking effect.
The scene was utter chaos. For now, the Skeleton army didn't pose much of a threat to Xiao Yang, but he didn't dare look back, let alone stop. More and more Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Archers kept rising from the ground.
Suddenly, amid a sharp whine, a thicker, shorter metal bolt shot over from far away and struck Xiao Yang just as he was about to reach the corridor. A conspicuous five points of damage popped up.
Clearly, another new kind of Skeleton had risen: a Skeleton Crossbowman, kneeling with a crossbow in hand. That rattled Xiao Yang. He was already very close to the passage, so he didn't hesitate. As he drew near, he dove forward and plunged into the passage on one side.
Once inside, Xiao Yang vanished from the Skeleton Archers' and Skeleton Crossbowmen's sight, finally escaping their ranged attacks for the time being.
With a clumsy roll, Xiao Yang scrambled to his feet. As he did, arrows kept falling from his back. In that short stretch, he'd nearly been turned into a pincushion.
Thank goodness—thank goodness he hadn't been stubborn and tried to face them head-on, trusting in his stats. If they'd surrounded him, there'd have been no happy ending. He might well have been riddled with arrows from those Skeleton Crossbowmen and Archers, and died in disgrace.
Better to play it safe! Better to play it safe!
After completing that nerve-racking sprint, Xiao Yang couldn't help reflecting on how right he'd been. But he still hadn't escaped the fight. As he got up, the fastest of the long-bladed Skeleton Warriors had already caught up with him. Three of them had pursued him.
With a clatter of bones, the Skeleton Warriors surrounded him.
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