“God damn it, Xiao Ji, get out here! You call this a mutt?”

Qiao Yu’s furious roar echoed, making even the Mechanical Empress’s head spin.

Half an hour ago, after witnessing Yang Xiangdi get a thorough beating from Zuo Cheng, Qiao Yu had brought Zuo You to the foot of the tower.

Guided by the Mechanical Empress, he had successfully found a pale blue sphere of light.

This meant it was a D-grade instance.

The last D-grade instance Qiao Yu had experienced was Soul Cleansing Lake, where he had almost lost his life.

He had returned alive in the end, but Tang Lan had planted a wood seed in him, which he still couldn't get rid of.

Compared to the sphere of light at Soul Cleansing Lake, this one was much paler.

“Qiao Yu, are you sure you want to go in? This is a D-grade instance,” Zuo You asked worriedly.

“Don’t worry, I’m here,” Qiao Yu said.

“That’s exactly why I’m afraid! I’m afraid I’ll be a burden to you.” Zuo You bit her lower lip.

Without her shield, her combat power had plummeted, and she was now only at the level of an ordinary beginner.

“Relax!”

Qiao Yu gripped Zuo You’s hand tightly and reached out with his other hand into the sphere of light.

“Instance Name: Pseudo-Underworld. Difficulty: D-grade.”

“The Underworld refers to the world created by Hades, the King of the Underworld, the place where all life goes after death. The Pseudo-Underworld is created to imitate the real Underworld…”

Accompanied by a dizzying sensation, Qiao Yu and Zuo You lost consciousness.

“Wake up, Qiao Yu, wake up! Are you alright?”

Qiao Yu was awakened by Zuo You’s voice.

Black earth with jagged rocks, a scarlet sky that seemed to be stained with blood.

When Qiao Yu opened his eyes, he found himself in such a space.

“This is the Underworld? The world ruled by the legendary King of the Underworld, a world for the dead,” Qiao Yu murmured to himself.

“Maybe. Does that mean we’re dead now? Like in the Spirit Burial Mountain instance?” Zuo You looked at her hands with some curiosity.

Qiao Yu glanced at his attribute panel and shook his head.

“Name: Qiao Yu

Class: Necromancer

Realm: Beginner (Lv14)

Strength: 369 (Superhuman)

Defense: 500

Agility: 9

Intelligence: 0

Spirit: 0

…”

“It shouldn’t be. If it were, it should remind us that we’re in a special state,” Qiao Yu said.

“So, we entered the Underworld as living people?”

After Zuo You finished speaking, she realized that Qiao Yu was ignoring her and was staring straight at her chest.

“What are you looking at?” Zuo You was a little shy.

“Don’t move!”

Qiao Yu stretched out his lushan claw towards Zuo You’s chest.

Zuo You wanted to dodge, but after thinking about it, she closed her eyes and stood still.

After a while, she felt something rough and hard slide across her chest.

However, that thing wasn't as hot as she had imagined; instead, it felt very cold.

“Huh? Didn’t you not have this thing on before you came in?”

Qiao Yu’s confused voice made Zuo You couldn’t help but open her eyes.

She realized that Qiao Yu’s hand wasn’t reaching for her, but for the necklace on her chest.

A dark red cross was hanging at the end of the necklace.

Zuo You then realized why Qiao Yu was staring at her, and her face flushed involuntarily.

Then her gaze was also drawn to the cross.

The cross was exquisitely crafted, inlaid with dark red gems, and the main body of the cross was made entirely of gold.

“I only got this after entering the instance. I didn’t wear a necklace before,” Zuo You said with certainty.

Qiao Yu reached into his chest as well and quickly pulled out an identical cross.

The only difference was that the gem inlaid on this cross was pure black.

“Hiss! Why do I have one of these things too? I, who tells hell jokes every day, wearing a cross is basically turning myself in!”

Qiao Yu said in surprise.

“Then this should be a quest item.”

As soon as Zuo You finished speaking, the system notification of the Reverse World sounded.

[Congratulations to player for arriving in the Underworld. This instance is a phased quest. You can only get rewards after completing all phases.]

[Quest 1: Pass through the Gates of Hell, reach the Acheron River, and protect the cross from being lost; Quest 2 will be issued after completing Quest 1.]

[Friendly reminder: Please trust your teammates 100%.]

“Gates of Hell? Acheron River? What tongue-twisting names,” Qiao Yu said with some confusion.

“I’ve heard of them,”

Zuo You explained.

“The Gates of Hell are the entrance to the Underworld. Legend has it that once the dead pass through the Gates of Hell, they can reach the real Underworld, but they can never leave Hell again.”

Qiao Yu nodded. “Let’s go. There’s no point in dawdling here.”

“Huh? Do you know which way to go?” Zuo You asked with some doubt.

Qiao Yu pointed to a figure in the distance.

“Of course, I don’t know. We’ll know by following him.”

Zuo You looked in the direction of the voice and found that the figure was different from them because they were moving on two legs.

That figure was floating silently with its head down in one direction.

“That’s… a soul of the dead?” Zuo You asked in surprise.

“Probably.” Qiao Yu grabbed Zuo You and followed.

He was quite curious about what would happen if he, a necromancer, summoned undead in the Underworld.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have the Qiongqi pendant that Ji Pingyang gave him this time he entered the D-grade instance.

As the two moved forward, more and more figures appeared on the road.

Looking at these figures, Zuo You leaned closer to Qiao Yu in fear.

“Pa ta!”

Qiao Yu reached out, grabbed the head of one of the figures, and crushed it into powder with a snap.

Zuo You: “…”

Zuo You moved a little further away from Qiao Yu silently. She suddenly felt that Qiao Yu seemed more dangerous than those floating figures.

Qiao Yu was a little disappointed because killing these figures not only didn’t give him attribute points but didn’t even give him experience points.

More and more figures converged into a torrent of the dead, heading in one direction.

At the end of that direction stood a tall stone gate made of white stone pillars.

“Is this the legendary Gates of Hell?”

Qiao Yu couldn’t help but smack his lips.

Suddenly, a monster nearly ten meters tall with three heads rushed out from the side of the Gates of Hell.

It opened its three stinking mouths and swallowed a large number of the dead in one gulp, then began to chew.

The dead who were bitten by the monster let out miserable wails, but they were quickly chewed up and swallowed.

Those of the dead who were not bitten continued to walk towards the Gates of Hell blankly, as if that scene had never happened.

Looking at the pitch-black monster, Qiao Yu couldn’t help but swallow.

[Epic Wild Monster: Hellhound Cerberus]

[Level: Lv29]

[Health: 6000/6000]

[Strength: 379]

[Defense: 288]

[Agility: 233]

[Skills: Devour, Venom Spit, Regeneration.]

[Friendly reminder: The three-headed guard dog of hell, likes to devour passing the dead. Anyone who forcibly breaks into the Gates of Hell will be swallowed by Cerberus.]

“God damn it, Xiao Ji, get out here! You call this a mutt?”