After careful consideration, Zhang Shi did not immediately take action against Master An, because the strange and mysterious spirit still possessed Zhao Feng and Ge Dalong, and he could not allow any accidents to happen to them during their evacuation.
So he started talking to Grandpa An with great interest.
"We are just outsiders who stumbled upon this place by chance, and we have nothing to do with the grudges and grievances that have occurred in this village. Why are these people you're talking about targeting me?"
"Hehehe, figure it out yourself!"
The light from the Soul-Binding Bell faded, and Master An seemed to have absolute confidence. He didn't intend to say anything more and retreated back into the bell, pretending to be dead.
Adhering to the principle of caution, Zhang Shi decided not to take action yet, but to deal with it at the moment of evacuation.
Without the light from Master An, the surroundings became incredibly eerie and terrifying. A cold wind swept in, and Zhang Shi knew that someone had come looking for him, so he decisively started shaking the Soul-Relieving Bell.
Sure enough, the bell responded this time, its clear sound creating ripples in the space around it. Two figures appeared before them as the ripples spread.
Huo Xiuxiu appeared before the four with a smile, not at all like a ghost. Huo Linjian was still chuckling sinisterly, his eyes fixed on the Soul-Binding Bell in Zhang Shi's hand.
Zhang Shi and the others had no intention of causing any more trouble, so they tried to communicate with Huo Xiuxiu.
"Gentlemen, we only stumbled into the village by chance and had no intention of getting involved in your dispute. Our previous foray into the tomb was also unintentional. Please forgive us if we have offended you."
Huo Linjian whispered in Huo Xiuxiu's ear.
"That kid's knife is strange; we need to be careful if we start fighting."
Huo Xiuxiu maintained a smiling expression, seemingly ignoring their conversation.
Seeing this, Zhang Shi took out the Soul-Binding Bell to express his sincerity first.
"We obtained this by chance. If you want it, you can have it."
After that, Huo Xiuxiu finally spoke.
"I can sense that the aura of the Soul-Binding Bell has split into two streams, one with you and one in the ancestral hall. How did you manage to do that?"
Zhang Shi had no intention of hiding the fact that he had doubled his privileges ever since he openly took out and used the bell.
Therefore, he calmly put forward his conditions.
“My friend is possessed by a spirit and needs to borrow the Soul-Binding Bell. Afterwards, I will present the Soul-Binding Bell and its hidden hands to you.”
Huo Linjian sneered and mocked.
“You ants dare to negotiate? We’ll kill you all, and the bell will still be ours.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Feng raised the flint giant axe and glared angrily at Huo Linjian.
Unexpectedly, Huo Xiuxiu waved her slender hand and threw the Soul-Relieving Bell over.
Zhang Shi caught the bell. The moment the bell touched his hand, a system notification appeared in the minds of all four of them.
Ding! Hidden quest complete. Congratulations to the team for obtaining:
[Challenge Letter of the Village of Doubt (Purple) x1: Rare item. Use to save your current progress, automatically leave the dungeon, and gain an extra dungeon challenge attempt.]
[Black Mist Guardian Summoning Scroll (Green) x1: Summons a refined-level Black Mist Guardian monster, transforming it into a minion stationed in the sanctuary to protect its safety. PS: It becomes more powerful in areas without light.]
Experience points: 3000.
The four of them each leveled up. Zhang Shi exchanged a glance with them and then carefully put away the challenge letters. He would absolutely not use this lightly until their strength had improved further.
Zhang Shi beckoned Zhao Feng and Ge Dalong over and gently shook the Soul-Releasing Bell in his hand. As the bell rang, a black mist suddenly rose from the two men's bodies, gradually condensing into a human shape, which screamed and flew back into Huo Linjian's body.
Huo Linjian also had a pained expression on his face, and it took him a lot of effort to suppress his discomfort.
Zhang Shi noticed its situation and guessed that this soul possession was not Huo Linjian's magic. It was likely that it only had a superficial understanding of it and was using the characteristics of soul possession to harm people.
With the problem of the possessed soul resolved, all four felt much lighter. Seeing that everyone was alright, Zhang Shi tossed both bells to Huo Xiuxiu.
When the bell flew into the air, Grandpa An finally couldn't sit still any longer. He transformed into human form and stretched out his big hand, trying to pull the Soul-Relieving Bell into his arms as well.
Just as he was about to succeed, Huo Xiuxiu pointed her finger, and the Soul-Relieving Bell emitted a blazing golden light, scorching An Ye's figure until it almost melted away.
Zhang Shi used the challenge letter as soon as he threw the bell. The system interfaces of all four players simultaneously displayed evacuation prompts, and joy appeared on their faces.
Seeing that the other party was fighting like dogs and had no time to deal with the four of them, Zhang Shi felt relieved. A white light appeared under his feet, and he was about to teleport them away.
Seeing this, Master An was quite surprised. Seeing that Zhang Shi and the others were about to leave ahead of time, his original plans were disrupted. He immediately rushed towards Zhang Shi without any regard for the consequences.
However, Huo Xiuxiu clung to him tightly.
"Want to leave? Pay back the blood debts you've accumulated first."
Huo Linjian wanted to spare some time to stop Zhang Shi and the other three, but Huo Xiuxiu stopped him.
"Ignore them. I've already seen his future. He will come back, destined to turn into a skeleton in the well."
A moment later, Zhang Shi and the other three were successfully teleported back to the shelter by the flowing light.
Zhang Shi buried his head in the bed, feeling the familiar warmth, and finally relaxed completely.
Nearby, Pipi was lying on the edge of the bed, munching on a meat chop. Startled by Zhang Shi's sudden return, she quickly pounced on him, licking his cheek.
In the team chat, everyone reported that they were safe. Ge Dalong felt a wave of fear and apologized to everyone again.
"This operation was my oversight. I didn't expect the dungeon to be so difficult. It caused everyone to waste time and gain nothing, and we almost had an accident."
Zhang Shi quickly offered words of comfort.
"Old Ge, don't say that. Who would have thought this dungeon would be so weird? Besides, we didn't come away empty-handed. We all leveled up and got a [Mist Guardian]."
Wu Qing and Zhao Feng also offered words of comfort.
"Let's give this to Stone. He contributed the most in this dungeon and even saved our lives."
In the end, the three of them unanimously decided to give the Mist Guardian to Zhang Shi.
Zhang Shi didn't hold back and immediately used the Mist Guardian. A humanoid figure formed from black mist suddenly appeared beside the bed, startling Pipi, who barked at it.
Zhang Shi stroked Pipi to soothe it before carefully examining this exquisite creature.
The Black Mist Guardian is somewhat similar to the possessed spirit; it has no physical form and is entirely composed of mist. It wears a suit of jet-black armor and holds a long spear, its rank unclear.
Zhang Shi glanced at its attributes and was shocked.
Name: Black Mist Guardian
Race: Soul
Experience points: Level 50
Grade: Exquisite
Strength: 60
Agility: 60
Physical condition: 15
Magic: 25
Ability value: 40
Zhang Shi shared the attributes of the Black Mist Guardian in the team chat.
Zhao Feng exclaimed in surprise.
"My God, are these the specific attributes of a refined-level monster? With such high attributes, how did we manage to kill those monsters?"
Wu Qing also spoke up.
"So it turns out we've been fighting monsters with this kind of attribute all along. Looking at it this way, we're pretty strong too."
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