Above me, I have an eighty-year-old未婚妻 (fiancée), and below me, a newborn old mother...

It seems...

It doesn’t seem very dignified, does it?

"Screeeech—!!!"

A sharp, ear-piercing roar erupted from the skeletal hand. Though it had no vocal cords, the sheer fury behind it was palpable.

Disgraceful...

Utterly disgraceful...

As a sin—no, as the right-hand subordinate of the Lord of Ashes, it had actually had its fingernail clipped off by an insignificant ant?

The fish-scale-like keratin layers bristled, emitting a metallic scraping sound.

With a violent slam against the ground—

"Boom!"

The entire abandoned courtyard trembled. Cracks spiderwebbed across the earth as an even colder, more foul aura surged skyward.

The black sludge beneath the ground began to churn like boiling water, more mud-stained broken bones stretching out from it, frantically converging toward the skeletal hand.

The hand rapidly expanded, morphing into the outline of an entire arm in the blink of an eye, its form now even more grotesque and terrifying.

Black threads writhed and fused like living things, the sickening crunch of bones snapping together never ceasing.

It was clear—this wasn’t even the skeletal arm’s full power.

But it was enough.

Against such an enemy, it didn’t even deserve the right to hear those words.

"Have you ever witnessed my prime?"

The newly formed bone arm swung violently, whipping up a foul-smelling gale as it swept toward Su Muxue!

"Cough... cough..."

Su Muxue hacked violently, her vision blurring.

This is it...

Time seemed to stretch infinitely in that moment.

At the same time, beyond the tightly shut wooden door, there came another sound.

As if someone was approaching.

But she had no attention to spare for it now.

Knock knock.

"Why’s this door closed again?"

"Are we not allowed in anymore?"

Two crisp knocks rang out abruptly—Liu Yuan testing the door.

The rampaging bone arm froze mid-swing!

The black threads coiled around the bones twisted madly.

The fish-scale keratin on the arm’s surface rapidly dulled, overtaken by a sickly gray decay.

Crack... crack...

Tiny fracturing sounds spread.

Starting from the fingertips, fissures raced like spiderwebs across the entire arm.

It began to crumble—to collapse!

Crunch!

The bones composing the arm flaked away like weathered stone, disintegrating into pale powder that scattered into the air.

The once-unstoppable bone arm was vanishing before their eyes...

The suffocating, frigid aura from earlier dissipated without a trace.

The wooden door creaked open on its own.

The courtyard plunged back into deathly silence.

Only a few scattered bone fragments remained.

Su Muxue stood frozen in her defensive stance.

The middle-aged man’s talisman was still clutched in his hand.

The scene was...

Unsettling?

Just then—

The voice of the village elder shattered the silence. He had reappeared out of nowhere, now standing right before them, holding a small broom and dustpan while staring mournfully at the bone powder and fragments on the ground.

"I told you, game props need to be handled with care! Look what happened—broken! Do you know how troublesome repairs are?"

Su Muxue could feel her life force draining, weakness washing over her like a tide, making it hard to stand.

That battle had definitely not been an illusion.

The middle-aged man was equally dumbfounded, his talisman-holding hand frozen mid-air, mouth slightly agape as if he wanted to speak but didn’t know where to start.

What even was this?

Or... was there some rule at play here that they couldn’t comprehend?

"Do you know how much work goes into making one prop?"

"You two better prepare to pay for this."

"Young people these days, no sense of responsibility... Now I have to report the damages to the boss..."

The elder grumbled incessantly, his tone full of reproach—as if Su Muxue and the man weren’t survivors of a near-death experience, but just a pair of kids who’d carelessly smashed a vase.

Su Muxue and the man exchanged glances, both seeing sheer absurdity reflected in each other’s eyes.

They didn’t dare speak, afraid of triggering another ‘taboo’...

Meanwhile, Liu Yuan looked around curiously, completely unfazed. "Grandpa, are you a staff member here?"

"Uh... Yes, yes, I’m staff."

"My brother and I don’t want to play anymore. Is there a safe exit we can take?"

The elder stiffened instantly, even more nervous than Su Muxue. "Oh, my little—ahem—dear customers, is there something you’re unsatisfied with?"

Liu Yuan hesitated, sneaking a glance at Su Muxue and the man.

It didn’t feel right to complain in front of them. "It’s just... the map’s too big. We’re tired and don’t want to continue."

The elder clutched his head like it might fall off from stress. "Then... could you please not leave a bad review? Our boss will lose his temper..."

"We’ll definitely improve!"

Seemingly worried that wasn’t enough, he added, "Watch this magic trick!"

He snatched at the air—

And two slips of paper appeared in his hand.

[Jiangxia Gate Free Drink Voucher (Any Branch)]

Carefully pinching one edge, he offered the vouchers to Liu Yuan, making sure not to touch her. "Full refund on tickets, plus two free drink vouchers."

"Please, I’m begging you, no bad reviews, okay?"

"The boss will actually murder me!!!"

Watching the tearful elder, Liu Yuan whispered to Su Qi, "Bro, the grandpa’s just trying to make a living at his age..."

"Yes, yes!" The elder seized the chance to play pitiful. "I have an eighty-year-old unwed wife at home and a newborn mother to feed..."

There was just one thing Liu Yuan hadn’t noticed yet.

There were three of them—and the elder had only given out two drink vouchers.

So who’d be left without a drink in the end?