Die, Replay, Repeat

Chapter 319 - The Power of God's Plan

Frustration boiling over, Yang Ming shoved the Ferryman in a fit of anger.

To everyone's shock, the terrifying figure that had exuded such menace moments ago crumbled instantly. The skeletal Ferryman collapsed into a brittle pile of bones, scattering across the boat's deck.

With the Ferryman gone, the boat abruptly stopped moving.

Yang Ming stared in disbelief. "What the... That's it? That scary-looking Ferryman fell apart like some cheap Halloween prop?"

Shaking off his surprise, he grabbed the oar, determined to take matters into his own hands. Planting his feet firmly, he paddled with all his might, but no matter how hard he rowed, the boat didn't move an inch.

Xiao Chuxia's eyes lit up with a desperate idea. "Xiu, you can fly! Why don't you just fly us out of here?"

Fang Xiu's expression remained calm. He shook his head. "That won't work. Haven't you noticed? The moment we boarded this boat, we were bound to it. None of us can leave."

"Bound?" Xiao Chuxia frowned, unwilling to believe him. Stretching her arm toward the edge of the boat, she tried to reach beyond it.

The moment her hand crossed the edge, an invisible force shoved it back with overwhelming pressure, as though the very air itself refused to let her go further.

Her face turned pale. "What is this? Are we trapped?"

Fang Xiu's tone was steady, almost indifferent. "It's simple. Just wait for death."

"Xiu!" Xiao Chuxia's voice cracked with panic. "Now is not the time for jokes! What do we do?"

Yang Ming, meanwhile, sighed dramatically and plopped onto the wet deck. "Well, if Xiu says to wait for death, might as well relax. No use fighting destiny. Let me take a drag first."

He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and leaned back, blowing smoke into the damp air as though he didn't have a care in the world.

The others, seeing his nonchalance, began to settle in as well.

Xiong Tianguang crossed his arms and leaned against the boat's edge, while Li Xiaoru stared thoughtfully at the rising water, calm and unbothered.

Xiao Chuxia, however, was incredulous. "What's wrong with all of you?! Why are you just giving up?"

Yang Ming smirked, puffing on his cigarette. "Oh, Big Black, you've forgotten already? Xiu's seen the future. Sure, this place is dangerous, but we'll survive. If he says to wait, it's because he knows what's coming. Maybe the way out is actually at the bottom of the lake."

"What doesn't kill us will make us stronger,'" Li Xiaoru added, finishing his thought with a faint smile.@@@@

Xiao Chuxia looked at their composed expressions and felt like she was losing her mind.

But before he could finish his lament, his body slipped beneath the surface, his voice turning into muffled gurgles.

Swimming wasn't the problem. The real terror came the moment they hit the water.

The countless corpses floating in the lake suddenly came to life.

Bloated, pale bodies surged toward them, their decayed hands clawing and dragging with relentless force. The group struggled desperately, but without Spiritual Energy, they were defenseless.

One by one, they were dragged under.

Underwater, chaos erupted.

Li Xiaoru fought back with everything she had, but the corpses overwhelmed her. She screamed as her scalp was ripped clean off, her limbs torn from her body, and her intestines pulled out in a grotesque display.

Luo Qingxin and Xiao Chuxia fared no better. Their bodies were shredded, their heads scalped, and their flesh torn apart as blood painted the lake in crimson clouds. Their screams echoed briefly before fading into silence.

The deaths were brutal, a macabre reminder of the lake's horrific power.

Only two people remained: Fang Xiu and Yang Ming.

Fang Xiu survived because his body, enhanced by the energy of countless Specters, far exceeded human limits. Even without Spiritual Energy, his physical resilience allowed him to resist the corpses' grasp.

But Fang Xiu didn't fight them off. Instead, he allowed the hands to drag him deeper, their combined strength pulling him toward the lake's depths.

He wasn't interested in survival. He sought the source of the Corpse Lake's power. If he was going to die, it would be at the very bottom, where the core of its energy lay.

Only then could he ensure that the Corpse Lake Projection he later manifested would be complete.

Yang Ming's survival, however, was an entirely different matter.

It wasn't skill, strength, or strategy that kept him alive—it was God's Plan.

Whenever Yang Ming faced mortal danger, God's Plan would activate, warping reality itself to protect him.

As the undead hands reached for him, his Specter Gadgets—the Corpse Bead and the Corpse Water Jar—activated in tandem.

The Corpse Bead emitted an aura that subdued the surrounding corpses. The moment their hands came close, they disintegrated into streams of Specter energy, which the bead absorbed effortlessly.

At the same time, the Corpse Water Jar began pulling in the lake water.