Hearing the black-robed skeleton say he would sink Song Ran into the Black Swamp, Gu Lin immediately hugged Song Ran, not letting the skeletons drag him away.

Gu Lin’s little voice was anxious: “Don’t sink Song Ran-shushu, don’t sink Song Ran-shushu.”

Song Ran hadn’t expected this little cub to protect him so much at a critical moment. He was incredibly moved, and immediately picked up the little cub from the ground.

Gu Lin hugged Song Ran with his short little arms, hmphing: “Don’t sink Song Ran-shushu!”

Gu Lin was wearing a hat, and still carrying his Ultraman backpack, the whole person was incredibly small.

Song Ran’s heart stirred.

He had always thought that his position in this little cub’s heart was far inferior to Lin Xingchi and Su Qiao, and even less than the Double-Cap Big Shot.

He hadn’t expected Gu Lin to protect him so much!

Song Ran’s gaze touched Gu Lin’s Ultraman backpack. Suddenly, he remembered that he had previously wanted to throw away his Ultraman backpack and had also wanted to let the skeletons carry him away.

He had spoken carelessly at the time, completely without considering the young heart of a cub less than two years old. Now, thinking back, he felt very guilty.

This little backpack had been bought for the little cub by his gege, carrying great significance. How could he throw it away?

Moved and guilty, Song Ran almost performed a manly tear-jerking scene on the spot. Fortunately, he held back at the critical moment, not letting his image collapse.

Gu Lin’s protection worked. The black-robed skeleton was silent for a moment, and didn’t let the skeletons come over to drag Song Ran away.

Song Ran held Gu Lin, feeling moved. He lifted the little cub high in the air.

Gu Lin clapped his little hands on his face: “Again, again, Song Ran-shushu, again!”

Song Ran threw him up in the air a few more times. At this moment, even if he had to lift him until the game ended, he would.

Song Ran, thanks to the little cub, wasn’t sunk into the Black Swamp, but those six players weren’t so lucky. They were still dragged away by the skeletons.

The other players didn’t dare to say anything more.

NPCs weren’t kindhearted. Did they need a reason to kill people? How many players had feuds with NPCs? They just killed them as they pleased.

After those six players were dragged away, the black-robed skeleton began to select the sacrificial offerings.

Skeletons valued beauty, so naturally, they had to choose those with good bone structure for sacrifice.

The black-robed skeleton pointed at the Double-Cap Big Shot first.

The Double-Cap Big Shot was clearly the one with the most outstanding bone structure among this group of new skeletons. Except for that little cub, everyone else had to take a backseat.

Black Robe had a discerning eye and quickly selected the offerings.

The Double-Cap Big Shot, Song Ran, Su Qiao, Ling Xing, Zhou Lu, and Wu Lan.

Ling Xing and Ling Yue were twins. Ling Yue was not selected because her head was not as round as Ling Xing’s. Skeletons had a round-head aesthetic, for example, Gu Lin’s round head and round brain were the best.

The selected ones were sacrificed to the Skeleton King, and the unselected ones would be sunk into the Black Swamp tomorrow.

The black-robed skeleton said: “The unselected ones will be sunk into the Black Swamp fifteen minutes before the end of tomorrow. If the offerings can satisfy the Skeleton King and lift the curse, you can also be spared.”

That is to say, they still had a glimmer of hope. Whether they could survive depended on whether the curse could be lifted.

The black-robed skeleton quickly left, and the air was filled with a depressing stillness.

Back at the skeleton house, Song Ran said, “The key to lifting the curse is the Skeleton King. The three of us were indeed chosen as we wished, but what about the little gui? We can’t leave him alone on Skeleton Island.”

The Double-Cap Big Shot looked at Gu Lin and said, “Smuggle him.”

Song Ran: “Smuggle him?”

The Skeleton King was in the depths of the Black Swamp. To sacrifice the offerings to the Skeleton King, they had to go to the depths of the Black Swamp.

Skeletons would be sanded upon contact with the Black Swamp. So how would they reach the depths of the Black Swamp?

Could a boat float on the swamp?

–

The next day soon arrived.

The sixth day was Skeleton Island’s day of rest, and the seventh day was their sacrifice day.

All the players gathered at the Black Swamp. All the skeletons on the island who could attend were there.

Along the rose coastline, there were many skull heads piled up.

The skull heads only had heads, no bodies, they were too short, and their vision was very limited.

They squeezed and jostled to the front, almost crossing the rose coastline and rolling into the Black Swamp.

The Skeleton Elder was also there. He hadn’t completely sanded yet, but only two legs and half a head remained. His arms and upper body were all sanded.

His legs and head had moved, and the middle was empty. It was also amazing that he could survive, his head floating steadily above his two legs.

Seeing the Skeleton Elder’s state after such a short time, everyone couldn’t help but sigh.

The Skeleton Maiden was covered in small flowers, set against the blood-red roses behind her, beautiful like an oil painting.

She looked at the little skeleton baby and poked his little forehead: “Little cutie, after turning into a little skeleton, how did you shrink?”

Gu Lin said, “Cub’s flesh is gone.”

The Skeleton Maiden laughed. How could this be so sad?

Before, Gu Lin was chubby, and the flesh on his body was indeed more than his bones.

On the shore of the Black Swamp, a boat was parked. This boat looked like it was built from dead wood, not very sturdy, and wood chips were falling off.

Song Ran doubted: “Can this boat of yours carry people?”

Black Robe sneered: “What do you know? Anything will sink into the Black Swamp. Only the boats made of undead wood from Skeleton Valley can float on the Black Swamp.”

Song Ran: “The dead trees in Skeleton Valley are called undead wood?”

The black-robed skeleton glanced at him coldly, not wanting to waste words with him.

It had to personally take the boat to send the offerings to the depths of the Black Swamp, then leave the offerings and return by boat.

The Double-Cap Big Shot said lazily: “Since you’re coming back, why not bring this little skeleton baby along, and bring him back when you return?”

Gu Lin immediately deng deng deng ran to the black-robed skeleton, looked up at him with his little face, and pleaded in a childish voice: “Cub wants to go too, Skull-bobo, cub also wants to ride the boat!”

The black-robed skeleton looked at Gu Lin. He was originally hesitant, but at this moment, he immediately bent down and picked up the little skeleton baby.

The black-robed skeleton said heroically, “Bobo will take you to see the big whirlpool in the depths of the Black Swamp.”

Gu Lin obediently let Skull-bobo hold him, clapping his little hands, making a crisp sound of bones colliding: “See the big whirlpool.”

Big whirlpool?

The others thought for a moment.

The Skeleton Maiden said, “Since that’s the case, why don’t I go along too?”

Black-robed Skeleton: “…”

He shouldn’t have set this precedent.

The players selected as offerings followed the black-robed skeleton onto the boat.

The Skeleton Maiden also boarded the boat.

As soon as Gu Lin got on the boat, he clung onto the side of the boat, waving his little hand to the skeletons and players on the shore: “Goodbye, Elder-yeye.”

The Skeleton Elder reacted slowly. By the time the boat had left the shore, he reacted, but his arms were already sanded and he couldn’t wave, his voice old and hoarse: “Goodbye, little doll.”

–

The sky was dark, and the boat slowly sailed on the Black Swamp.

The Black Swamp was viscous, without a ripple, but this boat made of undead wood could not only float on it, but also sail like it was on the sea, which was also amazing.

Gu Lin sat on the deck, still carrying his Ultraman backpack. After becoming a little skeleton, he was no longer hungry, unable to eat. His mind was on playing.

At this time, he was playing with the toy kitten Zhou Lu had given him.

The Skeleton Maiden leaned against the railing beside him, quietly watching this little cub play.

Zhou Lu walked over, looked at the Skeleton Maiden, and his expression hesitated.

The Skeleton Maiden held out her hand, indicating for him to speak freely, without needing to worry about her.

Zhou Lu breathed a sigh of relief and sat down next to Gu Lin, taking the initiative to speak: “Little player, can you recognize me?”

Gu Lin looked at him, holding the kitten, and said, “Passerby-gege, gave cub kitten.”

Zhou Lu smiled.

He had burned the player who turned into a skeleton in the last instance, and he had been worried that Gu Lin would have an opinion about him because of that.

Seeing that Gu Lin still called him Passerby-gege, Zhou Lu breathed a sigh of relief and told him about the origin of the kitten: “This kitten is a prop I got in an apocalypse instance. It’s a mutated cat.”

“Don’t look at it now, just a toy kitten not much bigger than your hand. Under certain conditions, it can become real, about the size of a tiger, and you can even ride it.”

Apocalypse instance? Prop?

The Skeleton Maiden, hearing the two’s conversation, moved her finger bones, the small flowers on her fingertips withering and blooming, on and off.

[Standing next to an NPC, he dared to reveal this information. Doesn’t he know that talking too much leads to mistakes?]

[Those NPCs with awakened consciousness all learned that they were NPCs from the players, reference Zhuang Mu. ]

[So, being stupid like this, it’s only natural that they were robbed of their player identities.]

Gu Lin was surprised: “This is a little naofu^[1]T/N: Gu Lin is mispronouncing “tiger” (老虎 – laohu) as “naofu” (脑斧 – naofu), a childish and incorrect pronunciation.!”

Zhou Lu: “…No, it’s a little kitten that can get bigger.”

Gu Lin said “Oh,” then asked: “Then how does it get bigger?”

Zhou Lu thought for a moment and said: “I don’t know either. The system description says to figure it out yourself. It hasn’t changed yet.”

“I guess this little cat is asleep. When it wakes up, it’ll be able to change.”

Gu Lin held up the little kitten, found its little ears, and brought it close to its little ears, saying, “Little kitty, wake up, wake up!”

Zhou Lu: “…”

Skeleton Maiden: “…”

9527: …

Livestream: …

Laughing to death, is the cub this cute!

The kitten was made of ceramic. Gu Lin called out for a while, and it was still just a toy kitten.

Gu Lin said: “Little kitty won’t wake up.”

The Skeleton Maiden chuckled.

Zhou Lu covered his forehead, also unable to help but laugh.

After a while, Ling Xing also came over. Their Deep Sea Guild still remembered to snatch the child.

Seeing the Skeleton Maiden, Ling Xing couldn’t help but say: “Wow, you’re so beautiful!”

The first time she saw this skeleton, she was amazed. It could even bloom flowers!

The Skeleton Maiden had a clear and mellow young man’s voice, still holding his arms crossed, lazy and casual, his eyes carrying a faint smile: “Thank you, you’re also beautiful.”

Ling Xing couldn’t help but look at it a few more times.

The Skeleton Maiden was used to being looked at, and didn’t have any extra reaction.

Ling Xing withdrew her gaze, sat down next to Gu Lin, and took out a large handful of colorful bubble gum, handing it to the little cub: “Little gui, my name is Ling Xing. This is jiejie‘s favorite bubble gum, I’ll give it to you.”

Gu Lin’s eyes lit up. Seeing this large handful of bubble gum, his little hands grabbed two. He thanked her sweetly, “Thank you, jiejie.”

This little cub was familiar with everyone. After taking someone’s bubble gum, he introduced himself: “Jiejie, cub is not called little gui. Cub is called Gu Lin.”

Ling Xing: “…” Heh.

Gu Lin’s two little hands only grabbed three pieces of bubble gum. Zhou Lu helped him put the bubble gum into his Ultraman backpack.

Ling Xing said: “Little gui can’t eat bubble gum, but you can occasionally sneak a piece, chew it a couple of times in your mouth and then spit it out. Don’t swallow it, understand?”

Gu Lin nodded his little head: “Mm-hmm, chew twice, spit it out.”

9527 said: [Little streamer, you’re still too young, you can’t eat this bubble gum. Just hold it and play with it.]

Gu Lin: [Cub won’t eat it, chew twice, spit it out!]

9527: …

9527 patiently advised: [Little streamer, eating this is bad for your baby teeth. Let’s not eat it. If you swallow it by accident, your tummy will hurt.]

9527 felt that Gu Lin loved to eat so much that he might sneak a bite, so he decided to secretly put it away in his system backpack when he wasn’t paying attention.

Ling Xing didn’t like children, especially crying children. But this little cub was quite special. Entering the horror game, she hadn’t seen him cry loudly.

Ling Xing grabbed his little hand to look at it, then grabbed his little foot to look at it, tsking: “How did you grow up to look like a figurine?”

Gu Lin was puzzled: “What’s a figurine?”

Ling Xing: “…”

Alright, the conversation ends here, goodbye.

[Hahahaha, it seems like no one can escape being rendered speechless by the cub? Everyone who comes gets stunned for a couple of seconds, without exception.]

[The cub turned into a little skeleton is indeed very much like a figurine. Adorable.]

[The cub is so small, he can’t eat bubble gum. Someone stop him quickly!]

[Cub, listen to auntie, let’s not eat bubble gum. Buy candy for the cub [Reward Points x100]]

Not far away, Su Qiao and the other two were looking at the little cub surrounded on the left and right, with the Skeleton Maiden standing next to him.

This atmosphere was quite harmonious. The three of them didn’t go over to disturb them.

The boat sailed on the Black Swamp for an unknown amount of time. Many butterflies appeared above the swamp.

These butterflies were very similar to the butterflies in Skeleton Valley, fluttering, light and beautiful, with a sense of fragility.

Everyone’s gazes were attracted to these butterflies.

Seeing the butterflies, Gu Lin extended his little hand: “Little butterflies.”

Some butterflies flew over and landed on Gu Lin’s fingertip, then fluttered their wings and flew away.

Many butterflies flew onto the small flowers on the Skeleton Maiden’s body.

Gu Lin: “Auntie, little butterflies.”

The Skeleton Maiden smiled at him. The next second, all the small flowers on its body withered and ceased to bloom.

Gu Lin let out an “Eh”: “The little flowers are gone.”

Skeleton Maiden: “Auntie put them away, oh.”

Gu Lin: “Oh.”

Zhou Lu was surprised: “Why are there so many butterflies here?”

The black-robed skeleton seemed accustomed to it, reacting calmly: “Of course there are butterflies. Otherwise, where do you think the butterflies in Skeleton Valley come from? This is all the Skeleton King’s grace.”

“This is the Skeleton King’s gift to us for our sacrifices. Skeleton Island can also have living creatures with flesh and blood.”

Everyone: “…”

Too much to complain about.

Song Ran said: “So, Skeleton Island didn’t have butterflies at first, they came later?”

The black-robed skeleton said: “Of course, it was our persistent sacrifice that moved the Skeleton King, and he bestowed upon us butterflies that wouldn’t be skeletonized. As long as we continue to persevere in sacrificing to the Skeleton King, we will eventually wait for the day when the Skeleton King bestows blessings upon us and breaks the skeleton curse.”

Saying this, the black-robed skeleton pointed to a spot not far ahead and said, “Look, that’s the great vortex at the deepest part of the Black Swamp.”

Hearing this, everyone followed the direction of his finger.

They saw a huge, dark, bottomless pit appearing not far ahead, similar to a black hole. It was pitch black and bottomless, and just looking at it made people feel an inexplicable fear.

At first glance, the deep hole was still, but the edges of the Black Swamp were rotating, being swallowed by the abyss-like black hole, making it look more like a large vortex.

Water is black, therefore it is an abyss. Whether it was the Black Swamp or the large vortex, they both resembled dangerous and terrifying abysses.

The Double-Cap Big Shot, looking at the black hole that seemed to be able to devour everything, casually said: “I guess those butterflies are from when you sent out the skeleton squad. None of them returned alive, and then these butterflies appeared.”

The black-robed skeleton was stunned: “…”

The Double-Cap Big Shot, observing the black-robed skeleton’s expression, said, “I’m right.”

Everyone’s attention shifted over.

Gu Lin was held in Song Ran’s arms, his little face meng, also pretending to listen carefully. As for whether he understood or not… most likely he didn’t.

The black-robed skeleton was unwilling to say more, keeping his mouth shut.

The Skeleton Maiden, however, smiled and said, “You’re right. Skeleton Island did start to have butterflies from that time.”

The black-robed skeleton glared at it fiercely.

The Skeleton Maiden ignored the black-robed skeleton’s gaze and continued, “It was also from that time that Skeleton Island deeply believed in the existence of the Skeleton King. The Skeleton King is what the skeletons call him, but in essence, he is the god of skeletons.”

“The skeleton squad was our expedition team, and also the first batch of sacrifices.”

Everyone: “…”

So, the skeleton squad that bravely stepped into the Black Swamp, seeking a way out for the skeletons, ended up becoming sacrifices?

For some reason, the Skeleton Maiden’s tone didn’t have a hint of pious reverence, unlike the tone a believer should have when mentioning a god.

Everyone remembered the previous sacrificial ceremony. The Skeleton Maiden, while dancing, didn’t forget to take a break and wave to Gu Lin. It didn’t look sincere at all.

Perhaps, not all skeletons on Skeleton Island believed in the Skeleton King.

The black-robed skeleton snorted coldly: “So what? It was unintentional, and the Skeleton King thought our skeleton squad was a sacrifice offered to Him. Afterwards, He bestowed upon us butterflies that wouldn’t be skeletonized, and so the sacrifices have continued ever since.”

[Alas, these skeletons, pitiful yet hateful. You can only say that the pitiful must have something to be hated for.]

[I have to say, Hat-gege not only has a strong aura, his intelligence is also the highest here, and his strength is also strong. As expected of a Big Shot]

[Unfortunately, this instance didn’t see the Big Shot’s white hair, wuwuwu, I still like it quite a bit]

“Is that so?”

The Double-Cap Big Shot chuckled lightly: “The Skeleton Elder said that the undead curse follows the law of ‘conservation of all things, one wanes, one waxes.’ Skeletons are ‘waning,’ then who is ‘waxing’?”

Black-robed skeleton: “…”

The others were also stunned.

Double-Cap Big Shot: “So much of the skeletons’ vitality, if it were all gathered in one person, what would happen?”

“…” The Double-Cap Big Shot: “You pray for God to bless you, but you don’t know that the one who harmed you may be your God.”

“…………” A deathly silence spread over the Black Swamp.