The cave entrance was not small, but it was still somewhat cramped for the Black Bear Spirit. Black qi flickered around him as he slightly shrank his body before entering.
Upon entering the cave, he found a winding stone passage. Torches that had just been lit hung from the stone walls on both sides. The passage looked entirely different from outside—enormous, several zhang wide, and seemingly so long that it had bored straight through the entire mountain ridge.
"Second Boss is back~" A less than enthusiastic voice came from above the Black Bear Spirit's head. He raised his head slightly and saw a black bat several feet long hanging upside down overhead, baring its fangs as it greeted him.
"Mm!" The Black Bear Spirit answered casually and lifted a leg to step onto the stone passage, but the bat called out again, "Second Boss, don't be hasty. What is today's password?"
"Password?" The Black Bear Spirit stopped, raised his head, and said coldly, "You tell me—what's today's password?"
"Heh heh, Second Boss!" The bat laughed. "Please don't make things difficult for this little one. Today is my watch. Without the password... I wouldn't dare let any demon pass. Those are the Great King's orders! And besides—"
Unfortunately, before it could finish, the Black Bear Spirit spat with a "Peh!" and cursed, "Since you know I'm the Second Boss, you ought to know that I never remember any damn passwords! I've been busy outside all day, and I'm so hungry my belly's gone flat. Who has the patience to listen to your endless chatter here?"
With that, the Black Bear Spirit ignored the bat and turned to step onto the stone path. But he had only taken two steps when a thunderous clang rang out. A hole appeared in the stone