From the Deadmines to the Howling Shadows, even with Jiang Hao's summoned army's average movement speed of 100, it still took him nearly half an hour. Because he was traversing an area filled with level 10+ monsters, Jiang Hao didn't see any other players.
Items in the auction house were sold one after another, and the system notified the auction prices several times. Jiang Hao became more and more excited as he listened, and only at the very end did he open the portable auction house to check the details. The equipment dropped in the Nightmare Mode of the Death Mine sold for a total of 285,000, averaging a little over 20,000 per piece. Other items that he replaced or could no longer use were also bought, a total of 9 items, which sold for 32,000. The [Bloodlust Ring] was auctioned off to "Born to Be Rich" for a high price of 350,000. What surprised Jiang Hao was that the other three top-quality equipment items were all bought by the Ice Queen. The [Scepter of Resentment], [Undead Robe], and [Skull Staff of Od'Dell] were auctioned off to her for 480,000, 350,000, and 280,000 respectively.
"The Skull Staff of Odair is only for summoners. Why would a mage like her want to get her hands on this thing?"
Jiang Hao rubbed his chin, puzzled.
Could it be...?
"Could it be that she has money to burn?"
Out of curiosity, Jiang Hao opened the Ice Queen's private message box. He found that she had sent him a message an hour earlier.
"If you have any equipment you want to sell, you can contact me first. I guarantee I'll offer a higher price than the market rate."
"Furthermore, since we're doing this in person, we won't have to pay the auction house their 10% commission. What do you think?"
Jiang Hao glanced at the total auction amount for today, which was a staggering 1.777 million. The auction house's commission alone amounted to over 170,000! He hadn't paid attention to this commission before, but after her reminder, Jiang Hao realized just how outrageous a 10% commission was.
So I replied immediately.
"Okay, next time I have some equipment, I'll show it to you first. If you don't want it, I'll put it on the auction house."
To my surprise, the other party replied instantly.
"Okay, okay, I guarantee the price will satisfy you."
Jiang Hao was wondering what to reply when another message came in.
Where are you now?
"I am in the Shadow of Wailing."
"?"
Jiang Hao was too lazy to explain, so he closed the dialog box.
Standing before the dungeon, Jiang Hao realized that the Howling Shadow was actually a castle, with the vortex at the entrance right at the castle gate. Next to the vortex was a large rock, the same one as the one at the entrance to the Deadmines dungeon. The name of the dungeon and a few lines of descriptive text were written on the rock.
"Ever since Viscount Prin married his new wife, the air here has been thick with the scent of sin and blood. Rumors circulate that the Viscountess is an omen of misfortune, while others say wolves attacked the castle. Adventurers have tried to enter to investigate, but all have been driven away by Viscount Prin's men. And tonight, it's the night of the full moon..."
"You are about to enter the Shadow of Wailing. Please select the instance mode."
There are still three choices: normal, difficult, and nightmare.
Jiang Hao hesitated for a moment, then chose Nightmare.
"This Nightmare Mode instance perfectly recreates the true appearance and history of the Wailing Shadows. It is extremely difficult with a very high death rate. Players are advised to exercise extreme caution. If you find the difficulty too high after entering the instance, you can return the way you came to exit. This difficulty level refreshes every 72 hours and is currently preparing to enter..."
Then everything in front of him began to darken until he could see nothing at all. When Jiang Hao opened his eyes again, he found himself still standing in the same spot, but the vortex at the dungeon entrance was gone.
It was already dark, and the stars overhead were few and far between. From the overgrown weeds at the castle gate came the incessant chirping of insects. Through the crack in the gate, Jiang Hao smelled a strong odor of blood.
Just as he was about to push open the door, his hand touched it, when a hoarse voice suddenly rang in his ears. The voice was like a broken bell stuffed with mud, being rubbed on a rough stone, making the hairs on his body stand on end.
"Have you noticed the moon overhead? If it's round, you'd better get out of here right away."
Jiang Hao hadn't noticed before, so he quickly looked up to check. Suddenly, everything in front of him turned crimson, as if he were in a pool of blood, and he couldn't see anything clearly.
Jiang Hao was startled.
The crimson color gradually faded, and everything returned to normal.
"It's just a dungeon, is there any need to create this atmosphere?"
Jiang Hao grumbled, reaching out to push the door shut, when he suddenly noticed something amiss. Rows of horizontal wooden planks had appeared on the door, making it appear as if someone had completely sealed it shut. Upon closer inspection, Jiang Hao realized the planks were nailed to the door, somewhat like… the other side of the door!
Jiang Hao sensed something was off and quickly withdrew his hand.
The silence behind me was eerily profound; there was no chirping of insects, nor the rustling of wild grass. A strong, pungent stench of blood and rotting flesh filled my nostrils.
Jiang Hao instantly realized that he was now inside the castle, standing behind the castle gate!
Cold sweat immediately poured down my back.
Just as he was about to reach for the door, he caught a glimpse of his own reflection on it out of the corner of his eye, and it was taller than he actually was.
There's something behind me!
Jiang Hao quickly turned his head, his nose touching something sharp. He jerked his head back and saw a pale, white skull hanging upside down, staring at him. The messy long hair, as if haphazardly glued to the skull by a barber's apprentice, the empty eyes, and the clearly visible molars startled Jiang Hao, causing him to take another large step back.
"WC scared me to death."
"Damn it, why is this dungeon designed to scare people?"
Just as Jiang Hao was about to throw a punch, he noticed that behind the skeleton stood more than a dozen guards dressed in white armor. The guards held gleaming broadswords, and their empty eyes were staring intently at him.
Jiang Hao then noticed that none of his summoned creatures were there. In a panic, he quickly tried to sense their locations.
At the door!
Jiang Hao breathed a sigh of relief and immediately ordered them to break down the door.
The door shattered with a loud crash, and when the nine summoned skeletons stood behind him again, Jiang Hao looked at the group of guards once more.
【Castle Guardian Heroes】
Iron-level elite
Level: 18
life:
Physical attack: 1215
Physical defense: 220
Speed: 92
Skill: Slash - Swings a large sword forward, dealing physical damage equal to 120% of attack power to enemies.
Seeing the strange names, Jiang Hao looked at the guards in front of him again. He then noticed that the bodies of the dozen or so guards were somewhat illusory, and through their bodies, he could vaguely see the white wall hidden in the darkness behind them.
Jiang Hao had initially thought these guards were corpses, but they turned out to be just spirits. However, as long as he had health, his talent would take effect.
They were just some ordinary dungeon mobs. Jiang Hao was more curious about who the person hanging upside down at the entrance of the Viscount's mansion was. So he used his detection skill on the skeleton hanging upside down.
The Viscountess's Remains
A pitiful woman from Jinling City who suffered a terrible fate because of her beautiful appearance.
There was only a brief introduction, nothing else.
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