Chapter 713 [(*^▽^*)]
The flashlight beam illuminated part of the area below, allowing the player to roughly determine the height.
"This is probably five or six meters deep, right?"
"It certainly looks that deep, but did you see that dark shadow that flashed past the edge just now? Was I mistaken?"
"You saw a shadowy figure? I didn't."
"I saw it, but it was just a fleeting glimpse, very inconspicuous. It's normal that some people didn't see it."
They discussed it with each other, and eight people saw it, but the rest did not.
"What on earth is locked up down there? What kind of ghost is this...?"
"We need to finish this tonight, otherwise if the NPCs come out at dawn, we'll definitely be surrounded by them."
At this moment, whether it was the humans Lin Leyou and Xue Rui, or the ghosts, all four of them were simultaneously observing the situation through the mechanical spider's perspective.
Ghost Lin Leyou: "Do you know what's under this fountain?"
After all, Goblin Xue Rui was a statue by the fountain before. If there was something underneath, he would definitely be the first to know, right?
But Xue Rui shook his head, "I don't know, I don't feel anything at all."
Lin Leyou: "Really? The things below should be the main quest."
The system notification was definitely not part of the main quest; it was simply giving them a choice. However, Lin Leyou would never choose to kill a human.
Although he has become a resident of the Endless World, he still considers the real world as his home, especially since Xue Rui exists there.
The most important thing now is to figure out what the system notification from Xue Rui means. It definitely means he needs to kill the human Xue Rui, and if that's the case...
So, can one stay in the endless world as a resident?
Lin Leyou felt that this matter was not that simple at all, and there was definitely something fishy going on.
However, now was not a good time to discuss it. Since Xue Rui didn't bring it up, he couldn't bring it up himself either. He could only stop the other party when they were sure they were going to take action.
At that moment, there was some commotion in the square.
"I see it! I see it! It looks like a snake!"
"Was that a snake's tail that you just saw in the photo? It's all scales!"
"It should be. This snake is really big; it's as thick as a bucket."
Just then, someone else noticed, "I think I just saw a hand!"
Everyone crowded around to look down, but there was nothing in the area illuminated by the flashlights, let alone a hand. Even the snake's tail was only visible to a few people.
"How many people saw there were people there just now?"
Everyone looked at each other, and finally only one person stood up, saying, "What I saw, didn't any of you see it?"
"No, are you sure you didn't see wrong? Was the flashlight too bright and it dazzled your eyes?"
"Well..." He wasn't really sure. "As a player, I shouldn't have such bad eyesight, right?"
But he didn't deny that he might have misread it. Maybe he was wrong? Now that he thinks about it, he's a little unsure himself.
Lin Leyou, a human, wanted to send his mechanical spider down to take a look, but then he realized that all the monitoring equipment had been destroyed, his mechanical spider wasn't very resilient, and it was irreparable; once destroyed, it would be truly ruined.
As time went on, the players began to get a little impatient.
"How about we dig open the edge of this crevice and take a look? We absolutely have to see the monster inside. This limbo isn't a solution."
"This concerns our main mission, so we can't afford to delay it for too long."
"But the ghosts are very powerful at night. There are still several hours until dawn. If the ghosts are released later, even if we are not completely wiped out, many of us will definitely die."
After discussing it, everyone unanimously decided to dig open the edge of the gap an hour before dawn, which would give them more time.
"How about it? If something happens in the hour before dawn, we just need to hide for an hour and wait for dawn. If nothing happens, we also have some time to restore this place to its original state."
Of course they had no objections. Since they had to wait until dawn, they would sit down and wait nearby. It was late at night, and they were all human; only a madman would separate from the main group.
Only when there are more people will the ghosts not come here to watch them. Even the only half-player among them who has become a ghost is here. He even brought his half-human self to sit in the middle, which is safer.
As time passed, no ghosts or monsters attacked during these few hours. The whole village was quiet and peaceful, with no accidents or people appearing.
Although the players felt something was amiss, they reasoned that with so many of them around, the ghosts were afraid of their numbers and would be killed if they came, so they were trying to avoid danger.
"Has it been an hour?"
"That's about it, it'll be dawn in an hour."
Everyone got up and gathered around the crevice, still shining their flashlights on it. Some players took out shovels and began to scrape away the dirt around the crevice.
That's right, the paving stones in this square are just made of soil underneath. The whole village is like a village that was just randomly found on a flat wasteland, then bricks were laid on it, houses were built, and that's how it became a village.
As the soil was gradually dug away, part of the crack was widened to 20 centimeters. At this point, shining the flashlight further would reveal a larger area.
"I saw it! It's a snake's tail! It just passed by that corner, and it was a really thick snake!"
"Quickly dig it open and see what's inside. We can't miss it; it's definitely related to the main quest."
Everyone worked quickly and efficiently, and in just over ten minutes, they dug open the gap, revealing the space below.
"It's...it's actually..."
Under the beam of their flashlights, they could see the general outline of what lay below. It was indeed a snake's tail, but if they looked further up, they could see that what connected the snake's tail was a human torso.
They could even see that the torso was blindingly white under the flashlight beam, while the area above the shoulders remained hidden in darkness, beyond the reach of the flashlight beam.
"This..." Someone noticed something amiss, "Has this snake-man reached its maximum height?"
It was only then that everyone realized that the snake-man's shoulder was only half a meter away from the exit, meaning it could come out at any time.
"Oh no! Get out of the way!"
Everyone instinctively backed away, and luckily they dodged quickly. At the same time, the monster inside flashed out from the crack they had dug.
A dark shadow appeared near the fountain, and now everyone could finally see the monster's full appearance: a snake's tail and a human body, but instead of a human head, it had a snake's head on its neck!
The snake's head opened its blood-red maw, but what came out was not its tongue, but a small snake.
The little snake was pure black, but it could still be seen to reflect colorful light in the darkness. Of course, the little snake would come out for a while and then quickly shrink back.
"Don't be afraid, it's only this small, let's all work together..."
Before he could finish speaking, the monster, neither human nor snake, suddenly grew larger, and soon its snake head was taller than the surrounding villas. Its cold, vertical pupils stared intently at the people in the square.
Just as the players were about to attack it with their weapons, it suddenly opened its mouth and sprayed out a stream of venom, which fell like rain from the sky, landing on everyone's heads and bodies.
The quick-thinking players blocked all the attacks with defensive items, but those who were slow and didn't react in time were all hit. After the venom splattered all over them, they realized they had underestimated this monster.
The clothes were burned by the venom, turning black and weathering away before disappearing completely, leaving behind their skin, flesh, and even bones.
"Drink the potion quickly!"
Those who were still alive frantically drank the medicine, but it was no use at all. The healing medicine, which was usually invincible, had actually met its match at this moment.
No matter how much they drink, it can only slow down the rate of corrosion or allow for a very slow recovery. It would take two days to fully recover.
But can they wait two days?
"Why isn't it working? Why aren't the healing potions working...?"
Before he could finish speaking, he was unable to utter a sound due to the corrosion and damage to his mouth, tongue, and even throat. Only then did some players realize that it wasn't that the healing potions were ineffective, but rather that the air was filled with the monster's venom.
The venom didn't fall to the ground; instead, it turned into a gas and mixed in the air, causing damage as they breathed, spoke, or even continued to come into contact with their skin.
This is why no matter how many healing potions they drink, it's useless. It's not that they're useless, but rather that the venom continues to harm them, making it seem ineffective.
"Get out of the square quickly, run away!"
At this point, all the players could no longer stay with the others and only wanted to leave as quickly as possible. However, the players who were more severely corrupted could not stand up or run away!
Those who were fast and lightly injured had already run far away, leaving only the seriously injured behind, who then became food for the monsters.
The snake-headed, human-bodied, snake-tailed monster bent down and devoured all the players who had been corrupted to the point of being only a third or less and had lost their ability to resist.
It can be concluded that these venoms not only have a strong corrosive effect, but can also gradually paralyze those splashed with the venom, rendering them unable to resist or make any significant movements.
This is why these players were swallowed up but still couldn't leave. Of course, a very few of them took out teleportation items and disappeared from the square in an instant, and no one knew where they teleported to.
It's still night. If you teleport to the wrong place, you'll definitely be targeted by other ghosts and monsters, and you won't escape being eaten either.
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