Chapter 49 Surprise Flash
The fire crackled, illuminating two faces that were as quiet as chickens.
Although the words were not directed at me, I still felt a stinging feeling of rejection when the call came down, especially when the person on the other end was smiling with a curved eyebrow when expressing his rejection. The elder sister's heart was throbbing. She took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off her forehead, saying, "Young friend... why do you seem to be so good at saying no?"
Lin Zhusheng continued to wave his hands wildly, his whole body expressing denial, "No, it's not happening. I just suddenly thought of these words."
His words flowed so smoothly that it didn't seem like he had come up with them suddenly. The senior sister wiped her sweat again. She couldn't say anything else for a moment. She could only nod along and said, "Yeah, so that's how it is."
There was nothing else she wanted to ask for the moment, or rather, she didn’t dare to ask anything else for the moment, for fear of digging out something incredible, so the senior sister chose to shut up immediately.
He just made a small request before shutting up, "... Could you please repeat what you said before?"
It was a very useful template, and she felt that she could use it herself by changing the words.
Lin, who was always willing to help, moved a little closer and repeated it in a low voice.
“…”
A conversation somehow ended up turning into an exchange of experiences. One person was whispering, another was taking notes, and Song Ming sat aside and eventually looked away.
The joint team of the three sects spent the first safe night, and the next day they continued their journey towards the center of the secret realm.
After two days of traveling, they had basically left the edge of the secret realm and officially entered the forest designated as the hinterland.
Very abnormal.
They encountered many monsters in the periphery, but they rarely encountered any after entering the middle section of the forest.
Logically speaking, the deeper you go, the higher the level of the monsters will be and the larger their territories will be. So the number per unit area will indeed be smaller, but not so small that you won't encounter any at all. There were a lot of dragging marks on the ground, and the marks were very fresh, so there must be some monsters active nearby.
The main reason is that they didn’t see any powerful monsters.
The monsters in the forest seemed to have disappeared out of thin air. The natural treasures hidden in the forest were still there, but there was no trace of the companion beasts, leaving a group of disciples to take advantage of the situation.
As the distance increases, the strange smell that has not dissipated becomes stronger, but nothing has happened so it can only be ignored for the time being.
Once again spending the night in the forest, a bonfire was lit, and while the disciples were resting they took the opportunity to count the rare treasures they had obtained in the past few days. Lin Zhusheng sat on the edge of the crowd and looked up at the center of the orbit that was getting closer and closer on the sky, and yawned while holding up his small broken wooden sword.
Little friend Song Ming was called by Senior Sister Hehuan to help. The kitten in his clothes was sleeping, no one was chatting with him, and the surroundings were unusually quiet.
There were footsteps in the silence, and Chen Jinghao came over, bringing some sweet fruits and sat down beside him.
Lin Zhusheng took the fruit and thanked him. After taking a bite, he found it delicious, so he gave a thumbs up.
Young Sect Leader Chen awkwardly looked away, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
"Isn't it a little empty here?" Lin Zhusheng asked, sitting cross-legged on the ground, gnawing at the fruit and looking around. "Are there still some people here?"
Chen Jinghao then said, "It is said that there is a stream nearby, so he went to wash his body."
In such a secret place, we should have been very careful and not done these things, but this time it was unexpectedly peaceful, so some people became bolder and wiped their faces, arms and legs together.
Not everyone knows how to use the Purification Technique. At times like this, this simplest method is the most effective.
The people who had wiped their faces came back one after another, and when they were ready to rest, the three sects each counted the number of people.
A few people were missing, and there was no sign of them returning after the inventory was completed.
After a brief thought, Lin Zhusheng stood up from the ground, holding up his broken wooden sword, and said, "Where is the place to wash my face? I'll go and see."
"I know."
After counting the number of people, the senior sister pulled Chen Jinghao over and said, "Let's go together. I'll lead the way."
They couldn't all leave, so just in case, Song Ming was left behind to look after the disciples present.
The leaves in the forest are so dense that the light from above cannot penetrate, making it quite dim. In the end, lights have to be lit manually. Fortunately, the disciples of the Weapon Sect have all kinds of strange things, and it is not uncommon for them to carry lights with them.
The dim light swayed in the wind in the woods. The three people walked along the path, identifying the direction by the sound of rustling leaves.
There is indeed a stream here, and the sound can be heard from a distance.
The stream seemed to be quite turbulent, with constant rushing sounds. It was almost time to wash their faces, and there was no sound of disciples talking amid the sound of water.
“Huahua——Pa——”
An almost inaudible unusual sound came from the water. Lin Zhusheng paused, then ran forward quickly with the wooden sword in hand.
The relaxed atmosphere disappeared in an instant. Sensing something strange in his attitude, the other two stopped walking and started running, quickly rushing out of the woods.
There were no trees blocking the view of the stream, so the light shone directly down. They could see a hand barely submerged in the water on the shore and a dark shadow quickly moving away from the woods.
There was no sound and everything was done in silence. If they had arrived a step later, the place would have returned to its original state.
"Chen Jinghao, cut down the tree!"
Without any hesitation, the senior sister followed and jumped into the stream. The white jade folding fan flew out in an instant and swept across a group of trees. When the ancient trees fell down, a black shadow was revealed across them. The wooden sword was replaced with a real sword, and Lin Zhusheng flew forward. The bright sword blade brought out a snow-white light.
Branches mixed with dead leaves brushed past his ears. He stepped over the fallen ancient trees, turned the sword in his hand, and stabbed it down into the dark shadow.
[BOSS: Nightmare (initial state)]
[Main Quest: Defeat Nightmare (0/1)]
[Task Reward: Quick-Acting Life-Saving Pills]
The moment the long sword pierced the black shadow, a long blood bar appeared above his field of vision. Below his name was the blood volume, followed by countless zeros, and at the same time, task prompts kept popping up.
After being poked, the black shadow turned into a mist-like thing. The moment of change exposed the human figure trapped inside it. After the black mist dissipated, it reorganized into thinner shapes and entangled the disciple who was dragged into the woods again.
Before the disciple's figure was completely covered again, Lin Zhusheng broke through the branches of the fallen trees, reversed his body in mid-air, and the flying sword brought out a dazzling light in the air, and the black shadow was split apart again.
Seizing the split second opportunity when the black fog was reorganizing, he landed on the ground with his sword propped up, and with a scoop of his hand, he pulled up the disciple who had fallen to the ground, while at the same time leading his men to avoid the black shadow that was following quickly.
The black shadow continued to chase, and was then cut off by the folding fan flying diagonally.
Throwing the disciple in his hand to Chen Jinghao, Lin Zhusheng went to grab another disciple who was not far away.
“Wow——”
There was a sound amidst the rushing water, and Sister Hehuan emerged from the water with a person, their long hair soaked, and they swam quickly towards the shore.
The moment the two people came ashore, a dark shadow emerged from the water and tightly wrapped around their ankles at the last moment before they emerged from the water.
Dragging a person on his back, Lin Zhusheng turned around and swung his sword to repel the pursuing black shadow. With his clothes flying, he quickly jumped to the riverside. As he put down the person in his hand, a small broken wooden sword appeared at his hand and he stabbed it accurately at the black shadow emerging from the water.
The black shadow dissipated and turned into black mist, which was carried away by the stream. He put away the small wooden sword and stretched out his hand.
Her ankle was freed, and the sister grabbed the hand that was extended to her and used the force to get out of the water.
Three disciples are missing. All three disciples are here. After being interrupted several times, the black shadow seemed to give up and quickly retreated in one direction.
Chen Jinghao put down his disciple and wanted to chase him, but Lin Zhusheng immediately stepped forward to grab him, turned his eyes to the two disciples who had fallen neatly on the ground, and said, "Don't worry about it for now, check on their situation."
He is probably the only one present who knows the strength of Nightmare best. After so many sword strikes just now, the black shadow just changed its shape, and its health bar didn't drop at all. If you chase it, you will just become a delicious snack delivered to your door.
The most important things now are these disciples who were attacked.
The lamp that had fallen to the ground was picked up again, illuminating the three disciples lying on the ground.
Including the person who fell into the water, the three people were breathing steadily and their eyes were closed. They must have been frightened unconscious by the sudden change.
In the dim light, Lin Zhusheng half-knelt down and took a closer look at the person lying on the ground. His eyes fell on the faint black lines under the skin. His eyebrows moved slightly, and then he looked up at his sister who was soaked and the faint black lines on her ankles. Finally, he said, "Go back first."
The three men, each taking a disciple, returned along the original route. On their way back, they received shocked looks from the disciples.
Before they could ask what had happened, a group of disciples stepped forward and took the three unconscious people from them.
The space in the storage bag was limited, so most of the space had to be reserved for rare treasures. All the disciples did not pack anything except the necessary items, including clothes and food. With such a large group of people, they could only scrape together a set of simple clothes for the disciple who fell into the water to change into.
But there was another senior sister here who also went for a swim in the water. The senior sister sat by the campfire in her wet pink and white clothes, waving her hands and saying that everything was fine.
Just dry your clothes by drying them a little more. The bodies of those who practice Taoism are not that weak and they can still endure a little cold.
——Originally it was bearable.
Waves of cold air continued to rise from the ankles, mixed with wet clothes and spread throughout the body. Even the campfire could not dispel the chill. The hands around her arms slowly tightened and she leaned forward slightly, closer to the campfire.
Realizing that the clothes on the disciple on the ground were all that anyone could give, Lin Zhusheng quietly squatted down beside his senior sister and took out the clothes that had been in his backpack but had not been used.
It was the reward set given when Wuqi completed the task of recognizing him as his master. Everyone in the sect wore Taoist uniforms, so he had few opportunities to wear them and had forgotten about it. He finally remembered it at this time.
The clothes are primrose color, which is somewhat similar to the color of Wuqi's pupils. The material is very smooth, and the whole set has a 5% protection bonus. He touched the blue disciple's Taoist uniform and then his clothes. He squinted his eyes and felt it carefully for a while. Then he opened his eyes and chose to take off the disciple's Taoist uniform.
After putting on his primrose-colored robes in two or three casual moves, he handed the clean suit lining and disciple robes to his senior sister and said, "Put on this."
In order to avoid misunderstandings about not giving people clean clothes to wear, he pointed to his disciples' uniforms and explained: "This one is thicker and seems to be warmer."
The question of whether it is clean or not is secondary. The most important thing now is to keep warm.
The senior sister was stunned at first, then she smiled and said thank you.
The helpful citizen Lin said you're welcome, stood up with the help of his small broken wooden sword, said hello, and strolled away to check on the disciples who had woken up. Halfway through, he remembered something, scratched his head, and called out to a few disciples of the Hehuan Sect to go to the campfire to help his senior sister who was changing clothes.
No need to wear wet clothes anymore, just put on clean inner lining, and then put on the outer robe which still has some residual warmth, and the coldness is instantly dispelled by half.
After putting the clothes by the campfire to dry, the elder sister did not stay there any longer. She stood up, having regained her strength, and went to check on the three disciples.
The three disciples have just narrated the entire incident. To put it simply, they didn't know what happened and they just washed their arms and legs for a while longer. When they came to their senses, the others had already left. When they were about to leave as well, something held back their hands and feet, and when they came to their senses again, they were in the current situation.
Black lines spread under the skin where the black shadow touched. They didn't know what it was, but they knew that the lines seemed to be constantly absorbing the body's temperature. Even though they were sitting by the campfire, they didn't feel the slightest warmth.
There was something wrong with this secret realm, including the dragging marks they had seen before, and the fact that they had never encountered any disciples from other sects in all this time.
After understanding the situation, the others had left and began to be on guard in the surroundings, leaving only Chen Jinghao to stay with the three disciples in case any strange things appeared again, and to be able to detect as soon as possible if there was any problem with their bodies.
When the senior sister came over, he glanced at her out of habit. After looking away, he realized something was wrong a little late and raised his eyes again, "Hmm?"
"This is Lin Xiaoyou's clothes."
The senior sister sat down at one side and said, "It smells quite good, but it's a pity that you can't smell it even if you want to."
It turns out that the clothes were given to her. No wonder she changed her clothes for no reason... That's not right.
Chen Jinghao's ears quickly turned red, and he opened his eyes, "I didn't think about it..."
Useless excuses. The senior sister wasn't listening at all. She just kept her head held up to look over, and the more she looked, the tighter her brows furrowed.
Chen Jinghao: "What are you looking at?"
"It's nothing," said the senior sister, "I was just wondering how you have such good taste."
A small detail can reveal a big picture. The disciples of the Hehuan Sect have seen too many people and are very good at judging people. They can easily tell whether a person is good or not.
The use of the word "actually" is very interesting, and Chen Jinghao raised his eyebrows.
"We were guessing before, guessing that you would marry one of those recognized beauties just for your face," said the senior sister, "and then after being together for a long time, you would dislike each other and become free again, and then repeat this process over and over again."
But I didn't expect that this man's vision would suddenly improve one day and not just focus on the face.
"..." Chen Jinghao said, "What kind of image do I have in your mind?"
"Try harder," Senior Sister patted his shoulder and said, "If you don't seize the opportunity this time, I'll feel sorry for you."
She glanced around a few more times and asked, "Where's your little friend?"
Chen Jinghao was thinking about something. He rubbed his face slowly, pointed in a direction, and said, "He had something to do. He said he wanted to be alone for a while, so he went over there."
It is not advisable to act alone at this time, but the other party has his own ideas and says he will be back soon, so he can't stop him.
To be precise, Lin Xiaoyou didn't want to be alone for a while. He was carrying a cat with him when he left.
He dived into the woods and made sure that there was no one nearby. Then he took the kitten out of his clothes and shook it repeatedly to wake it up artificially.
The kitten was shaken awake and opened its eyes dazedly.
It didn't wake up despite the loud noise by the river just now, which means it slept surprisingly well. Lin Zhusheng gestured to it to look at the message prompt bar.
The kitten looked at it, thought for a moment, clapped his hands, and said, "Great main quest, this reward is pretty good."
The quick-acting life-saving pill, as the name suggests, can save your life after taking it as long as you are still alive, and you will be revived to full health on the spot, which is equivalent to having a second life.
Player Lin also knew that this reward was very good, but it depended on whether he could get it. He patted the kitten's head, pointed at the health bar still floating above his field of vision, and said, "That's Nightmare, the ultimate BOSS, why is it here now!?"
The ultimate BOSS Nightmare, a being independent of humans, demons and monsters, almost destroys the world in the game. Logically speaking, this thing should only appear when the player reaches the later stages of the game and has good behavior and good equipment. But it suddenly appeared today, which looks very strange no matter how you look at it.
According to the game plot, the nightmare should now appear in a certain place, and then be discovered and eradicated by a certain powerful figure from a certain sect, but it has not been completely eradicated. It is quietly brewing and developing in a certain ravine, and eventually develops into a devastating existence. It will be truly eliminated by the players and the sect in the later stage.
Although he didn't know where this thing first appeared because he skipped the game plot by typing frantically on the keyboard, he was sure that it was not here.
This place has a cultivation suppression system, so certain powerful characters in the plot can't get in at all, and the young master of the Weapon Sect is still here. According to the current personnel configuration, they will all die here, and the Young Master of the Weapon Sect is no exception. However, there are still a lot of plots about the Young Master in the later part of the game, and the people in the plots are still alive and kicking, sending him flowers, letters, and spiritual weapons.
"Games are games, and reality is reality." Xiaomao said, "When building the game, we extract a possible development of this world. The reality is that nightmares may appear somewhere else, or they may appear here."
It stretched out its claws and patted his shoulder, "You can just take advantage of this opportunity to solve it now, so as to avoid trouble in the future."
"……?"
It sounds like it's easy to say. Lin, a player who had just entered the game for less than half a year, held a small broken wooden sword, which was still his initial weapon, in his hand. His eyes twitched, and he slowly pointed his finger at himself and his meager equipment, which was equivalent to nothing, and uttered an indescribable sound: "Solve it? Me?"
The kitten nodded as a matter of course.
“…”
The broken wooden sword in his hand turned a circle, and finally the tip of the sword stabbed at himself. Lin Zhusheng thought calmly, compared carefully, and said rationally: "I think it seems faster for me to deal with myself."
It also does not leave any source of trouble.
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