Chapter 127: Dungeon Recognition! Real Great-Great-Grandfather Was Found on the Roadside?
At the bottom of a cold, damp cenote, Miguel and Héctor were thrown in like trash by two tall skeleton guards, splashing water everywhere.
It was like a giant sinkhole, with smooth stone walls all around, and only a faint circle of light visible from above.
"It's over... it's all over..." Héctor slumped into the water, his entire being—no, his entire skeleton—exuding an aura of despair. "I'll never see my Coco again."
Miguel looked at his dejected state, the name still echoing in his mind.
"Coco..." he murmured, an unbelievable thought striking him like lightning. "My great-grandmother... her name was also Coco."
He tremblingly pulled out a folded, somewhat tattered photograph from his pocket; he had secretly taken it from his family's ofrenda.
In the photo, a young woman held his grandmother Coco as a child, and next to the woman stood a man, but the man's face had been torn off.
"You... you are..." Miguel's voice trembled.
Héctor stared blankly at the photo, then at Miguel, and the hollow sockets of his eyes seemed to ignite with the fire of his soul.
He suddenly grabbed Miguel's shoulder: "You... you are my..."
"Great-great-grandson," Miguel said through tears, nodding vigorously.
The two embraced, a family bond nearly a century overdue finally confirmed in this cold, dark cenote.
However, warmth is fleeting, and reality is cruel.
"Sunrise... I have to go back before sunrise!" Miguel said anxiously. "Otherwise, I'll be stuck here forever! And... your photo must be put back on the ofrenda, or you'll..."
Héctor's body seemed to become even more transparent; he knew his time was running out.
Just then, a loud shout came from above, followed by a long golden bridge made of countless marigold petals, which descended from the sky.
"Miguel! Héctor!" The familiar yet angry voice of his great-great-grandmother Imelda came.
Soon, a whole family of skeletons slid down the petal bridge, surrounding the two.
Without a word, Imelda first sharply smacked Héctor's head with her shoe.
"You scoundrel who abandoned his wife and daughter! Now you decide to come back?!"
"I didn't! De la Cruz poisoned me!" Héctor yelled, clutching his head.
"Enough! This is not the time for this!" Imelda interrupted their argument. She looked at Miguel seriously. "We must get you back before sunrise, and we have to get Héctor's photo back from that fraud De la Cruz!"
She paused, her expression becoming even more grave: "And, things are more complicated than we thought; now there's another living person trying to catch you, hired by the Enchantress Dorothy.
Dorothy will be at the Día de los Muertos celebration tonight, and De la Cruz will also be performing. It's currently the most dangerous place in the entire Land of the Dead.
Miguel, you cannot go. You stay with us, and we'll figure out a way to send you back."
"No!" Miguel stubbornly shook his head. "De la Cruz stole my great-great-grandfather's songs, stole his life, and now he wants him to disappear completely! I must go! I will get the photo back with my own hands!"
Seeing Miguel's determined look, Imelda sighed and finally nodded.
The family united and quickly climbed up the petal bridge, heading straight for the brightly lit party venue.
...
Inside the VIP dressing room, Edward watched the stage projected on the wall, bored.
On stage, a skeleton band was performing some kind of death metal, and the skeleton audience below was headbanging; the atmosphere was quite lively.
"That's it?" Edward muttered. "Not exactly what I'd call entertaining."
Dorothy, who was nearby, heard his whisper and let out a soft laugh, saying nothing.
Just then, the performance on stage ended, and a skeleton host in a tuxedo walked onto the stage, shouting in an impassioned voice: "Ladies! Gentlemen! Skeletons of all kinds!
Next, let us give our warmest cheers to welcome our Diva of Hell, the Rose of the Underworld, the great Enchantress—Lady Dorothy!"
"Woo-ooh-ooh-ooh—!"
The audience instantly erupted in thunderous cheers, the sound waves rising higher and higher, shaking the entire venue.
"Quite the reception," Edward thought.
The stage lights suddenly dimmed, and only a single ethereal blue spotlight lit up.
Dorothy's figure appeared in the center of the stage. She didn't take the usual route but emerged directly from a vortex.
The music began, an otherworldly and haunting melody that echoed through the venue with supernatural power.
The moment Dorothy opened her mouth, her impossibly beautiful voice instantly filled the entire venue, driving all the skeletons wild and captivating them completely.
Just as Dorothy's performance echoed throughout the Land of the Dead, Miguel and his family successfully infiltrated the backstage of the venue.
"That's her!" Imelda pointed at the radiant figure on stage, warning Miguel in a low voice, "Stay away from her! We're going to find De la Cruz!"
The group carefully avoided the busy staff and crept towards De la Cruz's private lounge.
Meanwhile, in an even more luxurious VIP room on the other side of the venue.
A man dressed in a lavish black suit, with a handsome face but a hint of menace in his features, was gazing at Dorothy on stage with obsession.
"Dorothy... she's still so captivating." The man held a wine glass, his voice filled with possessiveness. "Listen to that voice, so mesmerizing. Tell me, why won't she just say yes to me?"
A demonic attendant beside him quickly bowed and said, "Lord Beelzebub, Lady Dorothy might just be testing you. After all, she is Hell's Rose of the Underworld; her admirers could line up from the depths of Hell to the gates of Heaven."
"Testing?" The man called Beelzebub sneered. "My patience is limited."
On stage, the song ended, its echoes lingering. The entire venue erupted in even more fervent cheers than before.
Dorothy bowed gracefully but showed no intention of leaving the stage. The skeleton host came back on stage and excitedly announced: "Ladies and gentlemen! Tonight, we have another surprise! Lady Dorothy has invited a mysterious special guest for us!"
Edward, in front of the one-way window backstage, suddenly had a bad feeling.
The next second, that familiar black vortex appeared beneath his feet again!
"Again?!"
Before he could complain, he was swallowed by the vortex. Light and shadows shifted, and when he stood firm again, he had appeared in the very center of the stage, standing shoulder to shoulder with Dorothy.
"Whoa—!"
The three million-plus skeleton audience members below instantly erupted!
"A living person!!!"
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