Ethereal Life, Chapter 60: The Trio's Adventure, The Dark Grass

"The proof? How would I know?" Argar asked dazedly; he seemed to have something in mind.

The man suddenly pointed at the legion behind him as he spoke with a voice that wanted to show off. "How about we look for it?"

Bador shook his head immediately and said, "That's not good."

"Come on, man, they've already been dead for many days. They still haven't regained clarity after waiting for so long. They're no longer people but real monsters instead."

The third man said something rather persuasive in tone.

Argar was silent; he didn't want to participate in such a thing. He knows Bador really well. And he knew he didn't like things like disrespecting a corpse.

Even the animals they hunted in the past, he would always be respectful of them for giving them meat to prolong his life in this world. Although it might seem hypocritical, it's Bador's mindset.

Argar respects those kinks, as that is what made them who they are and not some mindless beast.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that." Bador wasn't willing to back down. The man finally relented; it's not like he wants to force his idea for this. So he immediately retreated.

"Alright, man. It's your call, not mine. I'm just giving out ideas."

Bador nodded, then turned silent. He put his focus more on the unpaved road.

"Can we still consider people? I doubt that." Argar chuckled at that thought. "So? Should we postpone searching for the acceptance proof? Or should we name what we are first?"

"I think we can just wait for now for the acceptance proof. In any case, our skinless body is already dead. "Sooner or later, we'll be like the others behind us." Argar said calmly.

"Rotting and becoming a living skeleton?" The man spoke softly; his tone was casual with a little bit of disgust. "Ugh~" 

Argar waved his hand as he suddenly spoke out with more volume in his voice this time. "Since we consider ourselves to be dead already but still live in another form of life,"

"This is another form of acceptance phenomenon, I mean. There can't be only this kind of thing that can exist in this place, right?"

"What do you want to say?" The man asked clearly, unsure of what Argar meant in his words.

"Let me say it then. We don't know, nor does Garut, what the acceptance phenomenon looked like. Now then, what if this is one of the many acceptance phenomena among the many ones?"

"You mean that there are other kinds of acceptance phenomena and not just one?" The man said clearly that he was surprised.

Argar nodded. "I saw Nai; that young man has a different kind of acceptance proof. It looked shiny and out of place. Although I only caught a glimpse of it. I did see it as clearly different from Garut's."

"Say, what if Nai did have a different acceptance proof?" Does it mean he had a different acceptance phenomenon?" The man said.

"Obviously. This new life of ours must have been because we had passed the acceptance phenomenon. However, we didn't get the kind of thing on their neck." Argar pointed at his head as he spoke.

"I'm guessing that our proof must be here." He said.

"So should we call ourselves accepter too? No changing names anymore?" The man said he was following the lead.

"Yes." 

"But we were dead while they are alive." The man said.

"We're alive; it's just that we died once." Argar chuckled. 

"We're not humans anymore. Instead, we should call ourselves "the Living Dead Accepter."

"Did you just come up with that?"

"Yes, why? Got a problem with that?" 

"No, of course not."

"Bador?"

Bador shook his head. "No problem." 

Of course, it would be no problem. How does it interest you anyway? Argar grinned as he thought. "Alright, we are the Living Dead Accepter, that's all."

"Living Dead Accepter." The man nodded as he changed topics. "So, where are we going now?"

"Anywhere." Bador answered this time. That's because Argar and the other man had already said that they would follow him.

With no information about this place, he can't use it. Bador just chose direction according to his gut before leading his legions and friends forward.

They trekked the rocky terrain and avoided the gaseous springs that can corrode anything. They can only avoid such danger afterwards after a few sacrifices by someone's hand.

Bador sighed, looking at the missing hand of a skinless, rotting living dead. "I'm sorry, but such sacrifices are necessary."

"Let's go." The environment in the Dead Land was very quiet and eerie. Argar and the others would always feel a pair of eyes looking at them in the dark fog of the night.

It made them feel a little jittery in their already dead hearts. "Hey, can you still..."

Bador tried to feel it, but no, so he shook his head in response. The other one said, "We're dead, so why ask that?"

Argar casually responded, "I feel like making jokes right now because I've got a feeling my fear is getting the best of me."

"Bro, don't scare me like that. I don't want to die again." The man immediately said as he gestured for the hulk like the living dead he was riding to go nearer with Argar and Bador.

The legion under him moved and covered his surroundings like an all-directional barrier. "It's true, I did feel a presence looking at me. I'm sure Bador can feel it too."

Argar didn't seem to mind if his voice were open enough to let those who were hidden hear him. It was also a show of his own that he wasn't scared at all.

Instead, he is telling himself lies about how he was powerful and brave enough to face any kind of threat around him.

"Indeed." Bador had just confirmed it. And the man immediately leaned forward more with his head down. Argar suddenly had an urge to slapped this man directly.

"A living dead person is actually scared. Bro! You've died already! Why are you scared instead?" Argar laughed.

The man looked around vigilantly, but he dared not look too deeply into the fog for fear of meeting the gaze of someone unknown.

"I don't want to die again. I doubt if we can still survive after being killed again."

"Alright, you win."

...

"Hmm? What's this?" Bador suddenly leaned down as he observed something in front of him.

Argar immediately noticed that, so he stopped the march and neared Bador's side. "Did you find something?"

"What? You found something?" The man immediately urged his rider to turn around and walked forward near where Bador was.

Then the two immediately saw what Bador was busily observing. It's grass.

"A grass? In this desolate place? More than that, it's dark all over." The man commented clearly, in disbelief.

"A grass indeed. This should be the grass that is unique to this place." Argar said as he continued. "I'll go and look elsewhere; there might be many of them here."

"I'll go in this direction then." The man said this as he turned his ride around.

Bador glanced at them as he said, "Don't go too far."

"Yeah."

"Yes."

Just as Bador was about to return his attention to the grass, he suddenly felt something move under his feet. Hmm? Did the ground just move?

No! There's something underground!

Bador didn't even think further as he exerted what strength he could muster on his legs as he jumped back with his tense mind. "EVERYONE CAREFUL! There's something underground!"

Argar and the man immediately have a change of expression as they become much more vigilant. "What?!" They hurriedly turned around and saw Bador jumping back three meters away from the dark grass.

When they neared him, they immediately asked seriously, "What's going on?"

Bador pointed at the ground where he jumped away just now as he said with a serious voice.

"The ground just moved like there's something underground moving just now. I felt a deadly threat, so I instinctively jumped away."

"That jump was quite far."

Argar glared at the man as he sternly said, "That's your focus? We're in danger right now. Be serious." 

The man laughed wryly as he nodded. "Sorry about that."

"Shh." Bador motioned for them to quiet down as they listened to the movements around them in silence. 

It was quiet. There's no movement at all. "Say, did you really feel it? Did you see it with your own eyes?"

Looking at their current appearance, he continued, "Once our eyes rot too. Can we still see afterwards?" The man asked.

Argar fell silent. "That might not be the case."

Bador shook his head and said, "I did only feel it with my feet."

"Man! You scared the hell out of me. I thought it was some local monsters underground that ate people. But it might be just your imagination?"

The man clearly relaxed after that.

He stepped near the grass and observed it for a while before he gripped it and pulled. "Hahaha, this might have something to do with how you feel."

Bador thought, and he said unsurely, "An illusion? There are indeed some plants like that. It made you see things that doesn't exist."