“Huh?” Yuan Chunhua raised an eyebrow at the sudden exclamation from Jiang Ming.

“What spooky skeletons? What are you talking about, Jiang Ming?” She asked him.

“Look over there in the darkness. Though they had concealed their presence, I could smell their rotten bones from a mile away.” Jiang Ming smirked and pointed in a direction. 

The group naturally didn’t have such a strong sense of smell as Jiang Ming given that they are not alchemists. 

For an alchemist, having a strong sense of smell is a must because they need to identify different types of herbs that have a nearly identical appearance. 

It was only until a few minutes later did the rest of the group noticed some skeletons slowly approaching them. 

Unlike normal skeletons that had their white bones revealed, they were all rotten and were brownish in color. To top things off, they were exuding a deathly aura and were causing the atmosphere to change. 

“Hurry up and cover your noses. I’m an alchemist so their rotten smell wouldn’t affect me. However, it’s different for you three who are not proficient in alchemy.” Jiang Ming turned toward them and warned. 

He felt the need to warn them kindly given how they were just staring at the spooky skeletons like some puppets. After his warning, Yuan Chunhua, Chen Yanmu, and Elder Feiling hurriedly used their hands to cover their nose.

Since they could not utilize spiritual qi, they could only resort to such a method to block their sense of smell. 

Unfortunately, though, they were still unable to block off all the smell and inhale a bit. The moment they inhaled the rotten smell from the spooky skeletons, they realized their legs were starting to become numb.

Jiang Ming sighed softly when this scene occurred. 

‘Great, now all three women have become figures for the famous damsel in distress plot.’ He exclaimed inwardly. 

Feeling frustrated at the scene, Jiang Ming wanted to kill off the spooky skeletons. However, that would essentially be cutting off his only clue to finding the next passage. 

The spooky skeletons were the key to unlocking the final stage and without them, it would be impossible to leave the puzzle domain. The reason was simple: the deathly aura they exuded is required. 

“Damn it, this is why I only do solo play.” Jiang Ming cursed aloud.

Meanwhile, the three women were completely ashamed of themselves as they lowered their heads, unwilling to make eye contact with him. 

After all, they heard Jiang Ming’s cursing loudly and it was clear that he saw them as a nuisance and burden. 

“We can’t conceal our nose from smelling it, Jiang Ming. We usually have spiritual qi to utilize so please understand our predicament,” Yuan Chunhua felt the need to justify her weakness. Her legs had turned completely numb and were unable to move another inch forward. 

Alas, little did she know, Jiang Ming was secretly laughing on the inside. As an alchemist, it was a given that he would have multiple pills in his inventory to counter any scenarios. 

Naturally, he would have a pill to counter the deathly aura from the spooky skeletons. However, he refused to give it to them so early on since that would just make his plan futile. 

To make a woman fall for you, one must make them become desperate and that their only gleam of hope would be the man in front of them. 

Although it’s a bit unethical, love was always like that- unreasonable and inexplicable. 

“The three of you stay here and don’t move,” Jiang Ming said and laughed wickedly. They were immobilized already yet he purposely instructed them not to move. 

How could the pride and arrogance of these three women be able to withstand his insult? 

Without waiting for them to retort, Jiang Ming dashed forward and made a loud ruckus, causing the spooky skeletons to turn their attention solely to him. 

Jiang Ming raised his hand and flashed a middle finger. “Fucking skeletons without any flesh, chase after me if you’re jealous of my physical appearance!” 

The spooky skeletons didn’t understand the middle finger gesture from Jiang Ming, but a surge of fury rose in their empty skulls. They could subtly understand that they were being scorned and provoked by a human. 

“GRRRRRRR”

All the spooky skeletons rumbled in unison and started chasing Jiang Ming, hoping to bash him to death.

“A bunch of idiots,” Jiang Ming clicked his tongue when he managed to capture all of the spooky skeletons’ attention away from the three women. 

It was a good thing that the system was still active after getting an upgrade. Otherwise, Jiang Ming would be like a little lost lamb in the darkness. 

Time slowly passed by, and the spooky skeletons had continued to pursue Jiang Ming without rest. Though their screaming had increased, clearly to express their fury at Jiang Ming’s remark. 

Meanwhile, Jiang Ming was purposely leaving a fake scent behind to trick the spooky skeletons. He was cleverly deceiving his enemies to follow the wrong path while he secretly headed back to meet up with the three women. 

As he spent another 10 minutes or so distracting the skeletons, Yuan Chunhua, Chen Yanmu, and Elder Feiling finally felt the despair of not being able to utilize an ounce of their spiritual qi. 

Without spiritual qi, they were no different than normal mortals- no, it should be worse than mortals. After all, mortals still managed to find a way to live carefreely and move on with their life. 

“Where has Jiang Ming gone?” Yuan Chunhua’s eyes were filled with worries as she glanced at the last spot Jiang Ming had vanished into. 

“He couldn’t possibly meet with a mishap while distracting those spooky skeletons, right?” She muttered. The more she thought about Jiang Ming succumbing to the skeletons, the more she was frightened. 

Her body started trembling and she could no longer bear the thought of Jiang Ming dying on their behalf. 

‘Stupid Jiang Ming… if you make it out alive, then I will forgive you.’ Yuan Chunhua gritted her teeth and swore to herself.