Chapter 146 The Sound of the Suona Speaks Beyond the Mountains "Your keeper of secrets... I..."
Xue Chao thought that when consciousness dissipates, it will return to the body like starlight that suddenly scatters; that's how it's portrayed on TV.
But it's actually more like a feather falling into the water, getting closer and closer to its reflection until it sinks into the water, at which point the reflection disappears.
Xue Chao opened his hand and gave it a loose clench. He had just killed someone, but he was calmer than expected.
He thought that taking this step would be like being exiled to another terrifying world, but to him it was more like walking in an empty valley and hearing an echo.
He threw Marco Polo's body into the car, and Rison sat in the passenger seat, pale-faced, having overused his powers. He glanced at him furtively, seemingly a little afraid of him.
To clear a dungeon, two dungeons need to be linked. Once the howling snow mist passes through the fault zone and spreads to Nightingale Mountain, the totem will no longer be needed.
Xue Chao drove along the cliff all the way to the Black Church, dragged the corpse, and threw it into the Western-style coffin in front of the black cross.
The church was dimly lit, the stained-glass windows standing ready, but a certain accompanying dark cloud did not give the moonlight a chance to render its ethereal beauty; everything was dark, making Xue Chao suspect that he was still under the manipulation of the colors, and had been shaken for a moment.
A cold, eerie hand supported him, and a sacred, ghostly aura enveloped half of Xue Chao's body, bringing him back to his senses.
"Are you alright?" the evil god asked softly.
"...That's how it is." Xue Chao wanted to be stubborn, but considering that he had already fought Marco Polo twice, which had taken a lot of effort, he was too lazy to show off and leaned against the evil god.
Jiang Ming slowly tidied his stray hairs: "That rat talked a lot of nonsense, but he did make one good point. You really are... quick to understand. I only mentioned some key points of illusion magic, and you were able to turn his dream into your toy..."
Xue Chao placed his palm on the evil god's pulseless neck and gave it a light slap: "The other rat is going to break the hole, get out of the way."
Jiang Ming let out an exaggerated "Ouch!" and smoothly pushed the window open, a strange smile on his face. He watched as Xue Chao smashed the window open, and a flock of birds poured into the church, their feathers raining down on him like rain from heaven.
The nightingales all fell into the coffin, burying the body. When the midnight bells rang again, sacred prayers echoed in the church, like countless spirits singing softly.
A cold wind gently caressed the church pews, whistling and rippling like waves, blowing across the invisible skirts and trouser legs.
Xue Chao stood in front of the coffin, looking down at it one last time, and then snapped the coffin shut. The nightingales' bright red eyes seemed like a sliver of ghostly light as they passed by.
He stepped down the steps, where the coffin lid was covered with a mirror, reflecting a giant, inverted black cross.
In the eerie silence, a pair of thorny, grayish-brown wings suddenly burst open the coffin, followed by a second pair, and then a third pair.
Emerging from the coffin, its six wings fluttered, and it slowly took flight. The coffin was not tightly closed, and a crack opened, from which came a beautiful, mournful song.
This monster is like a flying, grotesque music box.
Risen was resting on the last bench when he received the system notification. He jumped up and wondered if he should run away.
[Ding dong! Hidden BOSS battle has been triggered!]
[Dungeon Boss: Rosedale]
[Defeat the BOSS to win the hidden BOSS battle! Clear the dungeon!]
Let your passion and youthful vigor flow, and slay the gods of war!
Xue Chao landed behind Jiang Ming: "Your turn."
With its six wings fully extended, blotting out the sky, the evil god in its red and white robes merely raised its eyes.
The "music box" monster swooped down, and the white mist seemed to accelerate, instantly engulfing the church. The cross on the church roof collapsed, and the battle between the two bosses was about to begin.
Xue Chao and Ruisen fled the church, drove to the edge of the town, and stopped at another exit of the dense forest. Ruisen got out of the car without saying a word.
Just as Xue Chao had promised him, he felt his brother Ruiwen approaching him.
Xue Chao rolled down the car window, tossed Marco Polo's jeweled chain to him, and drove off.
Raven was carried over by two paper figures. Rasen took him, pried open his eyelids to check, and only after confirming that he was alright did he slowly wrap his arms around his brother's neck, like two little animals snuggling together.
The paper figure deflated, and with quick reflexes, Risen slipped the gemstone chain onto the tail of the emerging silver centipede, which vanished in an instant.
Naga was the first to realize that they had left the Mountain of Joy and Sorrow. Her inspiration was the highest among all of them, only five points lower than that of the twins when their souls were swapped.
Xue Chao asked her to take Raven to Nightingale Mountain, and the prop from Marco Polo was a thank-you gift.
She did not personally escort them; at this time, the Five Poisons group also joined the players' struggle.
Naturally, everyone formed a faction with other players in the same instance, resulting in an equal number of players.
While there are many activities to enjoy at Xibei Mountain, Nightingale Mountain boasts strong teamwork, local advantages, and access to more intelligence, offering more opportunities to exploit and set traps.
Thus, the two sides went back and forth, in a grand and thrilling manner, seemingly leaving a sliver of hope.
But Nightingale Mountain didn't stop. They had never seen such a large-scale raid before. They knew that the dungeon could only accommodate one group of players. Driving away or killing outsiders would be the safest option, but they gradually lost ground.
...The group from Xibei Mountain were slower than them in the verification process, but their success rate was higher, and they had the most subtle interactions before and after the verification.
Zhu Wenping appeared behind the woman with the buzz cut, dodging the collapsing balcony: "Their compass."
She had already noticed it and said unhappily, "They're all investigation dungeons, so why do their dice have skins!"
With a single glance from He Yang, Zhuo Yi retreated behind the red telephone booth. Naga received the signal and manipulated the centipede to crawl over his teammate's neck. The cloth-wrapped man A immediately used his strength to fail the check, but managed to play the "Red Center" card.
Should the player to the north, who discarded the "Red Dragon," be "pong" (triumphed)?
Each member of the team receives a reward die.
Originally, eating, ponging, and konging were used by the four players (East, South, West, North) to calculate their cards at the same table. Now, the situation has changed; the four players have become one, and the advantage is now directed outwards.
They cooperate with each other, calculate and feed cards, and ensure that there is a reward dice to cover key checks.
Just then, the Nightingale Hill team's assessment went unanswered again.
Previously, at least the reactions were slow. Marco Polo was also facing a crisis. The host had strong mental strength but did not respond... Either his consciousness was blocked for some reason, or he was dead.
The thought that Marco Polo's "crisis" was caused by the same person who caused this situation makes me fear that he is in grave danger.
Sure enough, the three major guilds attempted to make the check, but the pull on the other side of the die broke!
In most cases, the host poses more of a threat than a help to the players, creating a more hostile atmosphere than a "teammate" or "partner."
In some games, players are hoping the host dies first.
However, excluding the investigation team, there is no one to keep the secret, and the examination cannot be carried out.
While skilled players with special abilities aren't afraid, facing another group of skilled players with increased check success rates, even a slight disadvantage can be fatal.
The balance has been broken!
At the same time, the iconic Black Church in the distance collapsed with a deafening roar.
Without any discussion, the three major guilds almost simultaneously switched from offense to defense, seeking an opportunity to withdraw.
Xibeishan reacted quickly, and Marco Polo was gone!
Of course, we wouldn't let them go; we'd press our advantage and pursue them relentlessly.
The short-haired woman's henchman was trapped, and his superpower was cooling down. He subconsciously made an Agility check, and then frantically racked his brains for any other items he could find. However, he heard the sound of dice being rolled.
Then came a deep, cold male voice.
The Agility test result was 43/52, successful.
Zhuo Yi raised an eyebrow in surprise. No inspection was required. His reaction speed was truly impressive.
He quickly realized he had misunderstood, because regardless of the instance or guild, everyone paused for a moment and heard the same voice speaking in their ears.
"Do we need to introduce ourselves?" Xue Chao said casually as an opening remark. "Xue Chao, your guardian of secrets... I mean, everyone here."
Zhuo Yimo silently brought up the control panel, but the room remained unchanged.
The same applies to Zhu Wen's panel; apart from triggering the hidden boss battle, most of the data is still "stuck".
In other words, Xue Chao cannot be considered the host of Nightingale Yamamoto, but he successfully took over the role of the keeper of secrets from Marco Polo, so he can be considered the acting host.
It's not fully implemented yet because there are still two versions.
The boss is the anchor of the secret realm, and two tigers cannot share one mountain. Whoever survives the two bosses, that is whose territory.
When the two secret realms merge into one, Xue Chao will be the sole host, determining who wins.
The woman with the buzz cut looked at the secondary dust cloud kicked up by the collapse of the Black Church: "So it was you who released our boss."
But they weren't nervous. The battle between the bosses had just begun, and they already knew the outcome: the victor would surely be that evil god.
Those guys in Xibei Mountain who want to usurp the nest, their nest is definitely doomed—the main quest has failed, and the descending boss cannot be defeated.
If the two instances merge, they will also fall into the same predicament.
"As you all might have guessed, we have an invincible enemy, so we can't rely on defeating him to end the dungeon. Fortunately, we have an extra boss and an extra main quest."
I failed the main quest at Joyful and Sorrowful Mountain, but I still have the one at Nightingale Mountain.
As for whether Nightingale Mountain will eventually become part of Joy and Sorrow Mountain, and whether the quest from Nightingale Mountain will count in the secret realm called "Joy and Sorrow Mountain"...
"Just time it right." Xue Chao said very skillfully.
"With your abilities, even a small main quest won't be difficult for you."
Those who had the final say present were secretly pondering the matter.
That is indeed the best way.
Moreover, this madman and that evil god have joined forces, holding the lifeline of both instances in their hands, so they can only wait and see.
Main Quest 2 has been updated.
[Main Quest 2-4 (Final Quest) "Wedding March": Moonlight streamed through the stained-glass windows of the dark church, outlining her skirt; it was the nightingale singing.]
[Mission Details: Break the Nightingale's Curse]
Recently, strange things have been happening frequently in Hills, a town known as the "home of art".
First, at Mr. Porter's exhibition "Eternity and Love," some visitors claimed to hear singing in the paintings, which frightened them and greatly annoyed Mr. Porter.
Miss Molly, Mr. Bolt's fiancée, didn't believe it either, but to avoid further trouble, they went to apologize and changed their story, saying that the maid on the second floor had accidentally put the record on that night. The kind-hearted townspeople decided not to pursue the matter any further.
They thought the matter was over, but that evening, after Bolt drove Molly back to her clothing store and left, Molly heard singing.
Poignant and moving, even the most famous singers are like this.
She turned on the lights with a chill, the singing stopped, and a wedding dress was missing from the shop. She had just finished making it, at the request of the bride-to-be, with three roses gathered at the waist with silver tulle.
She immediately told Bolt, but her fiancé thought she was playing a trick on him too, angrily hung up the phone, and started a cold war.
She paid no heed to his feelings, gripped by fear, and knocked on the door of the Black Church that very night.
After the pastor understood her purpose, he performed an exorcism for the entire town on the weekend prayer day, and sure enough, the strange singing stopped.
The groom was found hanged in his home the night before the bride-to-be's wedding.
The police quickly located Molly.
Because the groom-to-be's mouth was stuffed with three silver gauze roses, as if they had been torn from a piece of clothing.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com