Chapter 50: A Gamble
The broken wooden sword only stabbed himself symbolically. Player Lin faced reality, put the kitten back into his clothes, and went back through the woods.
An accident happened halfway through the journey, and when he returned he just happened to catch up with the others discussing what to do next.
The direction the black shadow was retreating was exactly towards the center of the secret realm. Going further there might be dangerous, but they had to go.
The exit of the secret realm is in the center, and the only way to leave is there. Also, the physical conditions of several disciples do not seem to be very good. After losing temperature, their spiritual energy begins to be lost. If this continues, it may turn into a very bad situation. We have to find a way to solve it.
As expected, the final result of the discussion was that the original plan remained unchanged, but the pace needed to be accelerated.
As they got closer to the center, traces of dragging became more and more obvious, and the strange aura became heavier. Since entering the core area, the disciples had not seen any monsters or disciples from any other sects.
The routine head count was increased from once a day to five times a day. Only after confirming that the number of people had not decreased could everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
On the fifth day in the secret realm, they finally entered the core area.
The core area is all flat land. As the group walked across the flat wasteland, they saw the shadow of a mountain hidden in the light.
The mountain is very high and too far away, so all you can see is a black area. The top connects with the bright track on the sky, and that is where the exit is.
As long as they can wait safely until the seventh day, they will be able to go out through the exit and seek from the elders how to solve the problem of the strange black lines on the bodies of several disciples.
Lin Zhusheng did not comment on their optimism, and even wanted to laugh along.
These people have never seen or understood nightmares, but he knows a little more about them. The black lines are a sign of being parasitized by the Nightmare's clone. As long as the main Nightmare is not dead, the lines will not go away until the last bit of nutrients of the parasite is squeezed out.
What this means is that the only way is to get rid of the nightmare as Xiaomao said, relying on him and these disciples who are generally at level ten.
When he thought about having to rely on this broken sword and himself at a level of more than ten to defeat the ultimate BOSS, he wanted to laugh from the bottom of his heart.
One can guess that the scene is comparable to Lin Daiyu uprooting a weeping willow tree.
It is not necessarily possible to pull up a weeping willow, but you must first go towards it. The mountain in the distance was so high that it reached the sky and looked like it was worth climbing. After a short rest, everyone got up and set off.
The closer they got to the mountains as they crossed the wilderness, the more they realized something was wrong.
The sky and the ground were covered with black smoke.
The mountain does not appear dark because it is far away, but because it is surrounded by black fog, covering the entire mountain.
It was too late when I found out. The fact that they could clearly see the black smoke meant that they had unknowingly walked into the fog.
“…”
When he moved, his foot kicked something. Lin Zhusheng bent down and parted the grass, and saw a pocket lying on the ground. It seemed to be a storage bag, with a name embroidered on it and long drag marks on the side.
He lowered his eyes, picked up the pocket and put it into his sleeve, then straightened up again.
Standing in the grass half a person's height, tiny black particles floated past me. In just the time it took me to bend down and stand up again, the particles became denser and denser, gradually blocking my vision.
The wind blew across the wasteland, bringing with it a loud sound of rustling grass leaves, which came from far away and then went away.
The black fog spread, quickly rushing towards the distance with the wind, quickly engulfing the entire wasteland.
The expansion speed is much faster than the last time I saw it. It seems that Nightmare has absorbed a lot during this period of time.
Behind the wasteland is the forest, and behind the forest is the edge of the secret realm where they came from. It is only a matter of time before the secret realm is completely occupied. There is no way back, we can only keep moving forward.
Only other people's figures could be vaguely seen in his field of vision. Lin Zhusheng raised his hand to make sure the kitten in his arms was safe, then found the right direction and took a difficult step.
After crossing a small stretch of wasteland, he stepped onto the charred land in the gloom and took out the small broken wooden sword that served as a trekking pole.
A place that has been haunted by nightmares for too long will become like this, losing all nutrients and becoming a scorched earth that is useless.
The bad news is that there is a forbidden spell on the mountain. The moment you step on the ground, the surrounding scenery changes, and the figures of other people that you could vaguely see before all disappear.
Everyone was dispersed, and he was the only one left in the empty world.
The good news in the bad news is that the trees on the mountain and the ground have also turned black and will fall down at the touch of a button. They are very fragile and do not block the road at all.
The silver-white track on the sky moved slowly, and the faint light was mostly blocked by the black fog, so only the road could be seen vaguely.
If nothing unexpected happens, the nightmare's real body should be on the top of the mountain.
The strange smell became stronger as he went higher, to the point where it could no longer be ignored, and it even made him feel slightly dizzy.
When he reached the halfway point of the mountain, climber Lin finally saw the first monster since entering the core area.
Then came the second, third, and fourth... all of them, turning into a pile of bones under his feet, which were easily crushed when touched.
There was a sound of something passing quickly in the darkness, and then it disappeared in a flash. It must be that Nightmare had caught some prey again.
Instead of touching the snack that was delivered to your door, you try hard to catch prey that is farther away.
Noticing the movement, he felt a slight strange sensation on his wrist. Lin Zhusheng lowered his head, lifted his sleeve, squinted his eyes and got closer to take a closer look.
Okay, it’s not like I don’t want some snacks.
Probably affected by the fog, black lines appeared on the wrist at some point, winding and spreading upwards along the arm.
We have to speed up.
Without a moment's rest, he rolled down his sleeves, supported himself with the small broken wooden sword and continued to move forward.
There is no sun rising and setting in the secret realm, only a silver-white track constantly rotating, and time seems to never change. According to the outside time, from afternoon to early morning, Lin Zhusheng finally stepped onto the gray brick and stone ground before most of his physical strength was exhausted.
Reached the top of the mountain.
There were no plants and the wind seemed to have stopped. All that was left in sight was the quiet gray building standing in the center of the mountain top and the sky above it that seemed within reach.
Only when you stand here can you truly realize what the constantly moving trajectory is.
They were strings of bright words, simple and plain but meaningless, with a sense of antiquity. Some of the words had been infected by darkness and turned dull and gray.
The door of the building was closed and not locked, but it could not be pushed open. Lin Zhusheng walked around outside for a while and finally climbed in through the window.
I climbed through the window into a corridor. The black fog in the corridor was more than twice as thick as that outside. I took a deep breath and my mind became foggy for a moment.
The thick fog did not dissipate, and with the help of a little light coming in from the window, he could see the situation in the corridor more clearly.
All people. A group of people were densely gathered against the walls on both sides. The reason why the door could not be opened just now was because there was a mountain-like monster and a lot of people piled up at the door.
These are disciples from other sects who entered the secret realm. We haven’t met them along the way, and they are all gathered here. A large group of people were standing there without any movement. Lin Zhusheng randomly selected a few disciples with the most obvious black lines on their bodies, which had spread to their faces, and checked their breath and pulse. He found that they were all still alive, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
There is a black line on everyone's body, moving slowly as if it has life, extending deep into the corridor. He swung his sword tentatively to cut the black line, and the next moment the surrounding black mist quickly condensed and formed, filling in the severed black line fragments.
There is no way to save him for the time being.
Standing up and putting away his sword, he followed the black line in the black fog into the depths of the corridor and pushed open the heavy door.
"boom--"
The stone door rubbed against the ground, making a dull sound, and a cold white light shone through the gap in the door. Squeezing through the crack in the door, Lin Zhusheng replaced the wooden sword with a real sword and looked towards the direction where the light came from.
This is the entire building and also the center of the entire secret realm. A few huge stone pillars are hollow domes, facing the trajectory of slowly flowing words on the sky. The light falls directly down without any obstruction.
The cast light illuminated the cracks and damage on the teleportation stone pillar, as well as the black unidentified objects that twisted and squirmed in the stone formation and constantly emitted black mist, with black lines extending in all directions and connecting to them below.
The black unidentified object seemed to be highly condensed, and when the light reached the surface, it seemed to be directly absorbed without reflecting anything.
Looking down at the basic longsword in his hand, then looking up at the long health bar above, Player Lin silently calculated the possibility of winning and couldn't help laughing at himself.
There is no need to calculate, the possibility can only be zero.
Nightmare tampered with, or directly absorbed, the rules of the secret realm, and became the only existence here that was far above level 20. With the help of the monsters in the secret realm and the energy of the secret realm itself, his level has reached the popular level 88.
Even if it makes you laugh, you still have to do it. The secret realm is isolated from the outside world and you can’t contact anyone. If you want to get out, you can only rely on yourself. He turned the sword in his hand and slowly walked towards the black unidentified object.
“Click—”
At the moment the hilt of the sword turned, a slight sound was heard from the other side of the hall. The long sword that was almost extended stopped. Lin Zhusheng looked sideways instantly, and the tip of the sword turned at the same time. After seeing the source of the sound clearly, he paused.
The person who made the noise was a person, someone who looked quite familiar. The noise was made because his foot accidentally hit the gap between the stone bricks beneath his feet, causing him to stumble forward.
It’s Chen Jinghao, but a different version. A person walked in from the open door on the other side, his steps were slow, his eyes were dull, and his originally clean whites of his eyes were covered with black things like red blood vessels. He walked towards the black unidentified object in the center, step by step.
The black unidentified object slowly condensed into sharp strips, seemingly slowly but actually approaching the people at an extremely fast speed.
"Chen Jinghao!"
Calling the name didn't work, so Lin Zhusheng quickly took a few steps forward, bent down, lifted the hem of his clothes, and slid under the long sharp object that extended from the unknown object. The tip of his sword rubbed against the ground, causing a series of sparks and harsh sounds.
He grabbed the people one by one, and the sword in his other hand swept across the unknown object that was sticking out.
This time, what was hit was not the clone condensed by the black fog, but the real body. The blood bar that had been motionless finally moved.
With this sword, he cut off one ten-thousandth of the blood bar, and then the black line under his feet accelerated, and the one ten-thousandth of the blood that was lost was instantly restored.
Well, one in ten thousand. Lin Daiyu's uprooting of a weeping willow tree turned into Lin Daiyu's angrily pulling out the willow leaves, but before they were all plucked out, new leaves even grew out.
Correspondingly, Nightmare, who had previously viewed him as a harmless walking snack, seemed to be enraged. The black mist condensed into an attacking form and split into more black shadows, attacking from all directions.
The speed is so fast that the eyes can't keep up, and you can only avoid it by feeling.
He rolled Young Sect Master Chen on the ground for a circle and looked at the disciples lying in the corridor outside the door. He slapped Young Sect Master's face to wake him up and ran towards the window leading to the outside.
“Crash——”
Chen Jinghao was slapped mercilessly and woke up for a moment. As soon as he woke up, he heard the sound of a glass window breaking. The sharp sound filled his eardrums, and then he rolled violently on the ground for several times.
The wall of the building was knocked open by the black shadow following behind, and the bricks and stones made a series of loud noises when they fell to the ground.
When he woke up, Lin Zhusheng next to him was the first to notice. He slashed the attacking shadow with a sword and asked, "Why are you here?"
"I'm coming to see you."
Covering his dizzy head, Chen Jinghao stood up from the ground, waved his fan to clear away the black fog, and said, "They have all gone down the mountain."
After entering the mountain and separating, he met Song Ming, Senior Sister Hehuan and some other disciples on the way up the mountain. The black fog on the mountain has an effect on the mind, and the effect becomes more severe the higher you go. If the other disciples continue to stay there, they will become unconscious, so they have to go down the mountain.
The senior sister's spiritual power was basically unusable, and Song Ming was the most capable person left. He took on the responsibility of leading the others down the mountain. He thought that the people around him would definitely come here to investigate, so he came here too, as he was worried.
He just didn't expect the fog on the top of the mountain to be so thick, so thick that he couldn't resist it. He was controlled without knowing it, and he didn't even know what he was doing.
After taking a few breaths of the mist, the heavy feeling of stinging and dizziness came over him uncontrollably again. He barely stood up to avoid the attacking black shadow and said from his throat, "There's something wrong with this mist. Hurry... go."
The black bloodshot things in his eyes began to move. He paused as he stood up straight and stopped talking.
So the reason he walked straight towards it just now was not because his brain suddenly went crazy, but because he was affected by the fog.
Lin Zhusheng scratched his head, feeling that although he felt depressed, it didn't seem that serious.
But I really don't have any special skills or special equipment... That's not right.
——This is a gift. Carrying it with you can refresh your mind and improve your eyesight.
After the sect competition, in the outer sect’s hut, the eldest senior brother who had just returned from an outing gave him something.
The red polar ice cloud ribbon has the effect of clearing the mind and improving eyesight. Several scenes flashed through his mind, and he raised his eyes and looked at Chen Jinghao, whose eyes were almost filled with black bloodshot. Without any hesitation, he took off the hairpin on his head along with the hairband.
So Yan didn't let him walk around freely because he didn't take him seriously, but was trying to control him like he controlled the young sect leader, but his move was blocked by the headband.
The nightmare no longer attacked again and again, and there was a brief silence. In the silence, the whole body overflowed from the hole in the wall, slowly rising into the air, bringing up a black cyclone, brewing an even more massive attack.
Taking advantage of the brief moment to put the hairpin in the person's hand, Lin Zhusheng pulled off the ice-blue hairband, lowered his head, wrapped it around the person's wrist two or three times and tied a knot. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the black lines in the person's eyes slowly fade away.
The moment the headband leaves my hand, I can feel something trying to invade my brain. My nerves keep sending dull pains, as if a layer of pepper was sprinkled on my cerebral cortex, rubbed repeatedly and hit hard with a hammer. It is difficult to have the energy to think independently.
It was difficult for him to think independently, but he still remembered to say, "This is a gift from my senior brother. Don't lose it or damage it. You must return it to me when the time comes."
The cyclone brought by the nightmare was still expanding. Strong winds arose out of nowhere, blowing across the wasteland and mountains. The charred soil and corpse fragments on the mountain began to move, and the air was filled with the smell of death.
Not daring to stop for even a second, Chen Jinghao regained his sanity and pulled the people around him to run down the mountain, saying as he ran: "In just one more day, the gate to the secret realm will open, and then we can get out. The elders will find a way to deal with this thing."
The only thing left now was to find a way to survive this thing and find a place to hide... No way.
His heart suddenly started to panic. He turned his head in the wind and met a pair of eyes mostly covered by long hair and a sword in the man's hand.
"The exit of the secret realm will not open tomorrow. The teleportation stone formation has been destroyed, and the exit will never appear again."
The hilt of the sword turned in a circle in his hand, making the unique sound of a rotating weapon. Lin Zhusheng said, "We can't let this thing go either."
It seems that some disciples cannot wait until tomorrow. Therefore, the only way is to completely solve the nightmare here and find another way out.
Although it was a bit bold, he already had a vague idea in his mind, and there was only one way left.
The sharp pain continued in his head, but he ignored it artificially, raised his hand to cover the mouth of the person in front of him, leaned in close and said eye to eye: "No matter what you see from now on, you are not allowed to tell anyone."
If I can get out alive.
He also had a number-cutting card that he had gotten from Xiaomao, which was valid for one hour. But he had never used it before, and he didn't know the strength of the other account, or how much he could bring out of it. There was a certain element of gambling when using it.
Chen Jinghao didn't know what he meant, but he felt something was wrong. He reached out to hold the hand that was covering his mouth, but the other person withdrew his hand first. He just brushed past the person's fingers and held onto air.
“Huahua——”
A rapidly gathering black fog took shape and suddenly swooped down from the sky, arriving before the sound. The overwhelming black shadow suddenly descended, blocking out all light and blurring all vision.
Being swept away from the spot, he opened his eyes wide and watched the hand that was right in front of him disappear into the inky black mist. He stretched out his hand in vain to grab it, but got nothing.
The vast black fog continued to flow down the mountain, blowing up broken pieces of dead trees and gathering up the people who were resting at the foot of the mountain.
When the thick fog swept to the middle of the mountain, a faint sword light appeared.
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