Nick led them through the quicksand trap.

First, they had to pass through a narrow, pitch-dark corridor.

The passage was tight — two people walking side by side would be cramped — so they moved through single file, following Nick’s guidance to step around the patterned bricks.

At the end of the corridor was a square open space, surrounded by totems and strangely shaped sculptures.

But Nick didn’t let them examine any of it. Instead, he picked up a shard of rubble from the ground, stood at the corridor entrance, and said: “Everyone watch carefully.”

The beam of his flashlight fell on a half-carved brick etched with a lotus totem.

Nick gave a light toss. The pebble traced a parabola through the air, clattered down onto the brick surface, then bounced off with another clatter into the unseen darkness —

Three seconds of silence.

Then the walls on both sides of the corridor suddenly slid back — and the floor rapidly sank! Within moments, a pit at least ten meters deep opened up before them!

Everyone was startled. If Nick hadn’t told them to avoid those bricks, they’d already be at the bottom of it!

But that wasn’t all. The walls let out a series of grinding clanks, and then eight round openings — each the size of a manhole cover — appeared, pouring out massive quantities of yellow sand!

In just six or seven seconds, the pit was completely filled.

Ada’s jaw dropped so far it nearly hit the floor. “I… holy crap! This trap is absolutely brutal!”

A normal person falling into that pit would definitely be knocked down by the fall — and before they could even stand back up, the rushing sand would knock them over again. At that depth, climbing out was already nearly impossible, and with the sand slamming and burying you on top of that…

Just thinking about it drained all the color from his face.

Being buried alive in sand — honestly, he’d rather take a clean bite from one of the queen’s nest mutations.

Nick said flatly, “As long as you avoid the traps, it’s really nothing.”

He turned and walked deeper into the temple, raising a hand to point upward. “Let’s go. There’s a vortex trap on the next level.”

“One trap per floor?” Bai Youwei asked.

“Mm.” Nick spoke as he walked. “Quicksand, vortex, sea beast, falling rocks, iron arrows… you don’t face the demon god until the sacrificial altar on the tenth floor.”

Ada got goosebumps all over. “What kind of sick place is this! I’d rather just fight things head-on — I can’t stand this ‘gotcha out of nowhere’ garbage!”

Bai Youwei didn’t like it either.

But she thought the audience would love it.

It was like watching that Final Destination movie — everyone knows the characters are going to die, they just don’t know how.

She looked up at the ceiling above her.

Even inside the pitch-dark temple interior, the lively stream of viewer comments scrolled past in full view.

【Haha floor two is \\\\ don’t know who’s dying first in \\\\\\】

【They’ll be fine, Nick’s the captain this time, he’s cleared it before, he knows what’s up on the next floors \\\\\\ and also \\\\\\\\】

【He’s the sneakiest one honestly, he might \\\\\\ and then \\\\ anyway it’s not his first time \\\\\\\】

【I don’t think he’ll \\\\\\ this time】

【Nooo Cabbage is so cute, how could he bear to \\\\ I don’t want him to \\\\ ahh!】

……

Bai Youwei: “……”

What on earth is any of that supposed to mean?

The censorship is thorough, I’ll give it that.

“Weiwei.”

Shen Mo called her in a low voice.

Bai Youwei snapped back to attention and realized she’d fallen behind. She hurried forward to catch up with the group, then asked Nick, “What do the traps look like up above?”

“The passage on the second floor is safe — the trap is in the open space in the middle,” Nick explained calmly. “Once triggered, the floor collapses, and water jets surge in from every direction. The rapid currents create vortexes. No matter how strong a swimmer you are, you’ll get sucked in and drown.”

Ada couldn’t help but say, “But the staircase to the third floor goes right through the middle of that open space, doesn’t it?”

Nick glanced at him, and the corner of his mouth curved slightly. “That’s why you need to stick close to me. I know exactly which spots are completely safe from flooding.”

—