Chapter 123 Night Candle Rules 1 High-Risk Supernatural Apocalypse.
When Nanmen Jue opened his eyes, he thought he had entered the night of this world.
The sky wasn't completely black, but there was almost no light, like the calm before an impending storm. The clouds seemed to hang low, creating an oppressive atmosphere.
She quickly realized that it wasn't nighttime, but just snowing, with everything covered in a greyish-white blanket of snow.
Nanmen Jue woke up relatively early this time. She looked around and saw rows of old tenement buildings under a gloomy sky. They were all abandoned, and the doors and windows, which had lost their frames and glass, had become black holes, as if man-eating monsters might run out from them at any time.
Abandoned residential area?
On the dusty asphalt road, six people lay sprawled out. Nanmen Jue glanced at them and saw two familiar faces. Her expression immediately darkened.
Mo Gui, and Wei Chongru.
Nanmen Jue didn't know why these two people would appear here together. Although everyone entered the cycle of reincarnation at roughly the same time, which could be explained as a coincidence, he had an ominous premonition and felt that things were not so simple.
She also noticed that, just like the first time she entered the world of the Gray Dome, her clothes had changed in this world. She was wearing a black camouflage military uniform with a gun at her waist, which made her figure look even more upright and neat, while her own clothes were put into the system slot.
Of the six people lying down, three were wearing the same clothes as her. Outside the protective shield, in the still world, there were many soldiers in camouflage either standing or lying down.
Nanmen Jue glanced over and noticed that only she had two horizontal stripes on her shoulder, so it seemed that she was their leader this time.
Strangely, some of them were holding a burning candle in their arms, while others were not.
It wasn't completely dark yet, but looking into the distance, there was only pitch blackness, and nothing could be seen. It seemed that only where there was a candle could the eyes function.
Although he has only actually experienced three worlds, Nanmen Jue has simulated quite a few apocalypses. With just a glance, he can grasp the current environment. Among the people present, there is an orange-named person, but the most noteworthy is a young man.
He may have woken up at the same time as Nanmen Jue, or even earlier. When Nanmen Jue looked over, he was sitting on the roof of an abandoned vehicle not far away, with one long leg hanging down and his toes touching the ground.
He was dressed in loose-fitting hip-hop style clothes and a wide-brimmed hat. Noticing Nanmen Jue's gaze, he turned his head to look at him. The earring on his left ear flashed in the darkness. Then he curled the corners of his mouth and gave Nanmen Jue a smile.
Nanmen Jue had a bright red name on his head, but his head was empty, with nothing on it.
There are probably very few people in the entire space who can see Nanmen Jue's name and still laugh so calmly.
As the two men stared at each other, the others gradually woke up. Mo Gui and Wei Chongru saw Nanmen Jue, but in this situation, they didn't come forward to say anything. They simply moved closer and kept a close eye on the situation.
But they didn't speak; someone else wanted to speak.
"Where is this place? Who are you all? What kind of clothes are you wearing?!"
One of the three men in camouflage uniforms, and one of the only two with white names present, was a middle-aged man. He was the last to wake up, but also the boldest. As soon as he opened his eyes, he started shouting, as if whoever had the loudest voice would have more say.
Everyone looked at him strangely, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. He stood up, looked around, and raised his voice even louder.
"I'm asking you a question, are you all mute? Where are my clothes? That was a custom-made suit, how are you going to pay for it if it's ruined!"
At this moment, the crow perched on Nanmen Jue's shoulder felt the noise and moved slightly. The middle-aged man immediately widened his eyes and looked over, taking an exaggerated step back.
"What? There's a hairy beast here too?" He covered his nose with a look of disgust. "I thought it was fake just now... I'm allergic to this thing, get it out of here right now!"
"..."
Nanmen Jue was speechless for a moment.
Well, in all three worlds I've been through, I've never seen such a "perfect" newcomer.
In the first world, she was a newbie and single-handedly defeated everyone. In the second world, Ji Chengying was also a newbie and never held anyone back. Later, she even became a medic.
Everyone remained silent, even the other newcomer looked around, his face pale, and dared not utter a sound.
Seeing that the protection period was about to end, Wei Chongru couldn't bear to watch any longer and stepped forward to grab the middle-aged man's arm.
"What are you doing?" the middle-aged man asked loudly in response.
"Stop arguing and use your brain." Wei Chongru lowered his head and said quickly and softly, "Everything about this space should already be in your mind."
"What?! I don't know anything!" The man became even more agitated, grabbing Wei Chongru's sleeve. "Tell me, was someone kidnapped? How much money do they want? Are you a kidnapper or a hostage? Get your boss out here and talk to me!"
Wei Chongru was speechless.
He'd seen stupid newcomers before, but this was the first time he'd ever seen one this stupid.
Just as he was at a loss, a soft laugh came from the side, attracting everyone's attention.
The hip-hop earring guy put both legs down, looked at Nanmen Jue, and had a mocking smile on his lips.
"Time is limited, should we waste it on idiots?"
Who are you calling an idiot?
Before Nanmen Jue could respond, the middle-aged man suddenly turned around, looking at the earring-wearing young man with a look of dissolute youth, his eyes flashing with anger and contempt, "Young man, when you're out and about, don't talk so arrogantly. Have some manners towards your elders. Do you know who I am?"
Nanmen Jue stood still, only slightly narrowing his eyes.
The man with the earring maintained his smile, not even glancing at the middle-aged man. He seemed to have gotten tired of sitting and lightly flicked his fingers.
Nanmen Jue suddenly moved. The others only felt a blur before their eyes, and she was gone, appearing in front of the middle-aged man.
She appeared to be motionless, yet a wave of energy rippled around her.
Seeing this scene, who wouldn't understand what prop Nanmen Jue had shielded the middle-aged man from?
"With such a good item, why not keep it to deal with monsters and waste it on newcomers?" Nanmen Jue said casually.
"Impressive skills." The man with the earring clapped his hands from afar, his expression full of admiration. "Having only experienced two worlds, you've honed yourself from an ordinary person to this level. Nanmen Jue, you are indeed a formidable opponent."
Silence.
Even the arrogant middle-aged man, after glancing up at the blood-red name above Nanmen Jue's head, sensed an ominous aura and fell silent.
Not to mention others.
Apart from the two newcomers with no prior experience, everyone else was very familiar with the name Nanmen Jue. Now that her identity was being openly brought to the forefront, everyone looked at Nanmen Jue with a mixture of fear and curiosity.
Mo Gui tried to lean forward, but Wei Chongru grabbed him.
Of the group of people, only Nanmen Jue himself remained the calmest.
"You do know quite a lot," she said calmly.
Seeing this, the man with the earring raised an eyebrow, his smile becoming even more meaningful. "It seems you've already guessed who I am?"
"What's so technical about this? You never intended to hide it; you've laid the answer right under my nose." Nanmen Jue raised his eyes. "I didn't expect even you to come. Are you here to join forces with Zhou Yiming to besiege me, Zhang Jin?"
The moment the name was uttered, the veteran reincarnators were all dumbfounded, and Wei Chongru was completely stunned.
Mo Gui's Adam's apple bobbed, and he glanced at the "Entropy Ashes" above his head.
Zhang Jin, it turns out to be Zhang Jin, the president of Entropy!
It is known that Zhou Yiming must have come to this world with Nanmen Jue, and now Zhang Jin has also come, which means that of the five existing Jinming, three have arrived.
However, for the reincarnators, the most terrifying thing is not competing with the gold-level players for resources and points, but that, according to the rules of the reincarnation space, the difficulty of the reincarnation world will change according to the average level!
In other words, the difficulty of this world will be terrifyingly extraordinary.
All the experienced reincarnators turned pale, and Wei Chongru's face was also extremely ugly. On the contrary, Mo Gui seemed quite calm, and he was just looking at Nanmen Jue.
Nanmen Jue had obviously thought of this as well. "You two just barged in like this, you didn't intend to let anyone else live."
"Whether they live or die is not up to me; it depends on their own fate," Zhang Jin said with a smile. He dangled his long legs over the ground, easily jumped off the car, put his hands in his pockets, and walked towards Nanmen Jue.
Nanmen Jue didn't move, but simply raised his eyes and watched him walk over.
Zhang Jin broke the social safety distance and stopped at a distance extremely close to Nanmen Jue, even leaning forward so that his nose was almost touching Nanmen Jue's face.
Nanmen Jue remained motionless, not even changing the frequency of his breathing.
"Just as rumored, he's as beautiful as a mannequin," Zhang Jin said. "The rumors about killing and saving people at the same time are also true. Why did you save him? You clearly thought someone like him couldn't survive, right? I'd send him to his death sooner, wouldn't that be taking care of him? Or do you prefer to kill him yourself?"
He moved closer to Nanmen Jue's face from different angles, making Mo Gui's face turn extremely pale. He tried hard to move forward, but Wei Chongru pulled him back forcefully. The two of them were making quite a bit of a fuss, which quickly attracted Zhang Jin's attention.
Zhang Jin lifted his eyelids and met the gazes of the two.
Wei Chongru jolted awake and instinctively stood at attention. He glanced at Nanmen Jue and timidly greeted him as "Chairman."
Zhang Jin nodded with a smile, but his eyes were unfamiliar and devoid of warmth. He clearly did not remember Wei Chongru and did not take him to heart.
He truly didn't pay attention to anyone else, including the orange-named one; he was only staring at Nanmen Jue.
Of course, the orange-named player had no objections. These two were top-tier players, masters battling it out, and he wished neither of them would notice him, so he could cower like a quail.
Zhang Jin glanced at the others, and was about to move closer to Nanmen Jue when he suddenly stopped. He slowly lowered his head, and a clean, smooth bone knife was pressed against his waist.
Nanmen Jue's scalpel, made from her own ribs, is her signature weapon, just like the crow, and its fame has spread throughout the entire cycle of reincarnation.
It was also the weapon used to skin Cheng Xiuye alive. Many people witnessed Nanmen Jue's entire execution, and many were terrified of this knife.
Zhang Jin looked into Nanmen Jue's calm and expressionless eyes, smiled slightly, raised his hands, and took a step back.
“Don’t be nervous,” he said. “I have no ill intentions towards you; I’m just curious about what kind of person you are.”
Nanmen Jue's eyes and expression were indifferent and cold, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking. She didn't even retract the knife she was pointing at the other person.
Zhang Jin's smile remained unchanged. He rolled his eyes and said, "How about this? I'll tell you what kind of world this is, and in exchange, you tell me something I want to know, okay?"
Nanmen Jue's gaze finally shifted. "Is there anything you don't know?"
The tone was sarcastic, but Zhang Jin didn't take it to heart, waving his hand with a smile, "Of course, I'm not a god, how could I know everything?"
Nanmen Jue remained noncommittal. "What do you want to know?"
Zhang Jin's smile suddenly deepened slightly. "It's not convenient to talk here. Let's talk when we're alone. Don't point a knife at me then."
He emphasized the word "alone," clearly indicating that there was something he couldn't tell others. Nanmen Jue didn't object. She thought Zhang Jin would only talk about the world's information at that time, but unexpectedly, Zhang Jin started talking immediately.
“I’ve never been to this world before, but I can already confirm which world it is.” Zhang Jin pointed to the sky, then to the candles held by the local inhabitants. “The sky that won’t light up, and these candles, combined with the mission description, indicate that we’ve arrived in an extremely dangerous supernatural world.”
When Nanmen Jue woke up, he saw the mission description. This time there was no specific adversarial mission, but in addition to the usual three months of survival for five thousand points, there was also a description that exuded a dangerous atmosphere.
Each player must enter and survive five ghost realms, with no upper limit. Each successful survival in a ghost realm awards 1000 points. If a player fails to complete five ghost realms by the end of the time limit, 1000 points will be deducted for each realm missed.
Ying Yao had previously emphasized that the most dangerous type of apocalypse in the world of reincarnation is the supernatural apocalypse. It is usually unsolvable, and the monsters cannot be killed. One can only rely on the world's own rules to avoid it. Once one enters this type of apocalypse, even a golden name will have a slim chance of survival. No one dares to underestimate it.
Now that he saw the way to earn points in this world, Nanmen Jue had a clear idea.
It doesn't even require the reincarnator to kill anything; simply surviving will grant the same reward as killing an A-rank monster. And if you actually encounter one…
“In this world, monsters are called eeries. They cannot be killed, and can only be temporarily repelled by a kind of candle. This candle is made from the sap of a special tree and is very difficult to obtain.” Amidst the suppressed gasps of the crowd, Zhang Jin continued nonchalantly, smiling easily, “It’s the kind that some people outside are holding.”
Upon hearing this, many people turned their eager gazes toward the indigenous people outside.
This is something that could save your life, and yet none of them have it.
The other newcomer, knowing less and not feeling the fear as intensely, asked doubtfully, "What would happen if there were no candles? Would the eerie creatures kill people?"
“Killing people? Maybe you’d feel better if I killed you,” Zhang Jin said with a smile. “Once you’re entangled by the supernatural, you’ll slowly turn into a monster without humanity, only obeying the supernatural’s commands. In this world, these things are called supernatural servants, and you can get fifty points for killing one.”
The newcomer looked at his cheerful and sunny smile and inexplicably shivered, whispering, "What do you mean... inhumane?"
"You'll know when you meet him," Zhang Jin said casually, turning to wink at Nanmen Jue. "So, am I sincere enough?"
Information sharing is indeed a generous act, and Zhang Jin's actions seem like he's trying to curry favor with Nanmen Jue. Nanmen Jue strokes the crow on his shoulder and gives him a half-smile.
Everyone else's eyes were fixed on the few candles that were still burning, and just then, a "beep" sounded in everyone's mind.
The protection period has ended.
Time flowed by, and cold snowflakes fell on our faces. Crows took flight immediately, their figures disappearing into the darkness. There were many warriors around, but they made no noise. They all remained lifeless, maintaining their original postures. Those without candles huddled together, trying to get as close to the light source as possible.
A sudden roar broke the silence.
"I don't believe it—"
Everyone looked up in astonishment. The middle-aged male newcomer in military uniform had a ferocious expression and an abnormal flush on his face. He glared at the candles and then looked at the other reincarnators.
"You're all playing tricks and making a big fuss. I don't believe a single word you say! Who kidnapped me? What do you want? It's time to tell!"
Silence fell. The natives were bewildered, and the reincarnators looked at him as if he were a dead man.
Mo Gui, who had been silent until now, finally spoke, his voice a little hoarse, "Hey buddy, there's a limit to being stupid. That's enough. Shouting and yelling in this kind of world will endanger everyone."
"Yeah, you don't want to live, but others don't want to die either," a purple-named person complained softly.
His eyes were filled with disgust, even a hint of murderous intent, clearly showing that he had been holding back against this person for a long time. If it weren't for the presence of Nanmen Jue and Zhang Jin, two powerful figures, who knows what he might have done.
"I don't believe it, I don't believe it!" The middle-aged man shook his head frantically, taking steps backward.
"Hello……"
Mo Gui tried to grab him, but unexpectedly he turned around abruptly and ran into the dark depths of the street without looking back.
His actions surprised everyone. Everyone looked in the direction he left. Some soldiers stood up, but no one took the initiative to chase after him.
"He's dying." Zhang Jin tilted his head and looked at Nanmen Jue. "Aren't you going to save him?"
Nanmen Jue did not move.
A moment later, a shrill scream came from the depths of the darkness; it was the voice of the middle-aged man from before.
He seemed to be enduring immense pain, his screams growing more and more agonizing. After three high-pitched screams, the sound completely vanished. The darkness remained quiet and thick, but whether it was their imagination or not, the darkness seemed to be getting closer to them.
No, it wasn't an illusion; another candle in the soldier's hand went out, and the darkness from all sides pressed even closer to them.
This eerie and oppressive atmosphere made even experienced reincarnators tremble with fear. Everyone subconsciously moved closer to the two most powerful individuals, no longer caring that Nanmen Jue was a dangerous red-named individual.
Wei Chongru and Mo Gui also approached. Both of them were somewhat silent. Mo Gui looked at Nanmen Jue and then lowered his head.
Normally, he would have already started chattering and asking Jue Ge what to do, but now he hasn't said a word.
Zhang Jin, however, asked with interest, "What do you plan to do?"
It wasn't just the reincarnators who wanted to know what to do; one warrior even pushed his way through the crowd to stand before Nanmen Jue.
Judging from his expression, he knows Nanmen Jue.
"Major, we can't stay any longer." He leaned closer to Nanmen Jue and lowered his voice. "This is already within the Snow Maiden's domain. Her abilities are too effective against candles. If this continues, we'll all..."
Before he could finish speaking, a sharp bird cry rang out in mid-air. Nanmen Jue looked up abruptly, and the figure of a crow emerged from the darkness and fell straight down.
Nanmen Jue pushed through the crowd and rushed over to catch the crow. Her eyes swept over it, and she realized that the crow was not injured by the strange thing; there was an arrow stuck in its wing.
A faint glow emerged from the darkness, and amidst the crowd's vigilance, a young man with bright eyes and white teeth, wearing a red windbreaker, appeared, holding a crossbow in his hand.
"Ah, the army?" He looked at the crowd in surprise, then stared at the crow in Nanmen Jue's arms. "Is this crow yours?"
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Author's note: I really want to expand each post-apocalyptic setting into a full-length post-apocalyptic novel _(:з)∠)_ I omitted a lot of details when making the dungeons.
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