The sign's item description clearly showed it had been erected by someone from the Lost City. Why didn't this middle-aged man know about it?
Was it put up by another team? Teammates he had been separated from?
*Right, the sign itself was strange to begin with.* It was already in the outer reaches of the virgin forest, which meant whoever erected it had been right on the verge of making it out of the mountains.
That didn't fit the dungeon's premise.
The Spirit Realm briefing explicitly stated that the people in the city were trapped, and those who ventured into the mountains to explore encountered a terrifying crisis. Theoretically, no one should have reached the exit so quickly; otherwise, that premise would be utterly pointless.
Zhang Yuanqing pondered this while keeping the conversation going. "You said a human face grew on a tree, and it was your missing teammate. What happened after that?"
The middle-aged man answered, "We were terrified. None of us had ever encountered anything like that before. In the end, our team leader suggested chopping the tree down to see what was really going on."
*Weren't you just courting death?* Zhang Yuanqing muttered inwardly. Sure enough, the man continued with a terrified look on his face:
"And that was when disaster struck. The leader had barely landed a single axe blow when the trunk started bleeding—bleeding just like a human! That face suddenly snapped its eyes open, crying and screaming in agony. The sound was so wretched and horrific that I still can't get it out of my head.
"The leader was scared out of his wits, too, and didn't dare swing again. Just as we stood there at a total loss, the teammate inside the trunk suddenly glared at us with pure malice. He kept ranting, 'I'll eat you all... I'll eat you all...'
"Then, all at once, the surrounding trees seemed to come alive. Even though there wasn't a breath of wind, the branches started moving like arms. We were scared out of our minds and ran for our lives."
Zhang Yuanqing asked, "So that's how you got separated?"
The man shook his head.
"That came later. That night, we didn't even dare set up camp and kept moving in the dark. At daybreak, we ran into a pack of monkeys."
"Monkeys?"
"Yes, man-eating monkeys." The man's voice dropped low, fear mingled with hatred. "One of our team members couldn't get away in time and was eaten alive. I saw it with my own eyes—those beasts swarmed him like jackals devouring prey. My companion and I were separated during the scramble to escape."
Zhang Yuanqing watched the dry twigs beneath the man's feet, prying for as much intelligence as possible. "Mister, what do you know about this mountain forest?"
The middle-aged man shook his head.
"These mountains and woods appeared out of nowhere. All I know is that they're dangerous. Before us, others tried to climb through this forest to escape our cage.
"None of them ever came back. I only hope they found a way out."
At that point, the man said, "Young man, I have to go. I need to find my companion and look for a way out of the mountains. I hope you can leave this place soon, too. Remember, the trees here eat people. You must be careful. They fear blades and fire, so remember to protect yourself when danger strikes.
"And one more thing—watch out for the monkeys!"
Watching the middle-aged man depart until his figure vanished into the depths of the woods, Zhang Yuanqing withdrew his gaze and summarized the dialogue in his mind.
*Known dangers in the outer zone: trees and monkeys. According to the man, that team member was lured away by the calling voices before vanishing, only to end up merged into a tree. Does that mean the voices are actually coming from the trees?*
*Conclusion: ignoring the calls lets you avoid danger. The trees fear fire and edged weapons, while encountering monkeys requires brute force.*
Zhang Yuanqing's eyes suddenly lit up.
Could he earn points by chopping down or burning the trees?
If so, given the vast expanse of this virgin forest, he could make an absolute fortune.
*Obviously not. That would be too simple. Maybe not all the trees are dangerous—the man-eating ones are probably hidden in the woods, and killing them is what grants points...*
As Zhang Yuanqing turned the thought over, his brow suddenly furrowed.
*The noticeboard was erected by people from the Lost City, and it told me not to use edged weapons or fire in the woods. Yet this middle-aged man from the Lost City told me the trees fear blades and fire, implying I should use them for self-defense if necessary. They contradict each other.*
In his experience, a contradiction pointed to hidden plotlines that required exploration.
With so few clues, overthinking was useless. Zhang Yuanqing continued deeper into the dense forest with Blood Rose leading the way. Although not being able to use blades rendered clearing a path meaningless, having Blood Rose in front still meant she could intercept attacks when danger struck.
After trekking like this for half an hour, Zhang Yuanqing heard a dense burst of chattering shrieks from his left, accompanied by the rustle of wind shaking the treetops.
Tracing the sound with his eyes, he saw that stretch of woods shuddering relentlessly. Agile monkeys could be vaguely seen leaping and climbing through the canopy, chasing prey on the ground below.
That prey was bolting through the virgin forest of dense undergrowth and hanging vines at astonishing speed, entirely unaffected by the treacherous terrain.
The troop of monkeys was exceptionally nimble as they swung through the canopy, yet for the moment, they couldn't catch up to the runner.
*So fast and agile—a Wood Demon?* Zhang Yuanqing hadn't seen the person yet, but he had already formed a judgment.
Finally, as the rustling grew nearer, he saw a tall, attractive woman burst through the bushes to his left.
She looked around thirty, dressed in loose black trousers, a teal storm jacket, a bun atop her head, and running shoes on her feet.
She had a pretty, charming oval face, long legs, a full chest stretching the fabric of her jacket, and a slender waist.
After bursting out of the shrubs, she came face-to-face with them. Her expression instantly shifted, and she skidded to a halt, glaring warily at Blood Rose and Zhang Yuanqing in a defensive posture.
*Whoosh, whoosh—*
Right then, the monkey troop in the canopy caught up. Part of them pounced straight at the oval-faced woman, while the rest bounded through the treetops until they were directly above Zhang Yuanqing and Blood Rose, diving down aggressively.
They were a full meter long, covered in coarse black fur, with stocky builds and sinewy, muscular arms.
*Damn it, collateral damage.* Leaning sideways, Zhang Yuanqing ducked his upper body and snapped a kick straight upward.
*Bang!*
The sole of his foot struck the black-furred monkey's chest squarely. He felt only a hide as tough as leather and as heavy as a boulder, lacking any satisfying impact.
He immediately knew the kick hadn't dealt substantial damage.
Sure enough, the monkey tumbled face-first into the dirt, scrambled up immediately, and lunged forward on all fours in half-hops, half-runs.
Zhang Yuanqing calmly drew the Bloodthirsty Blade, pinched the tip, and hurled it with full force.
*Thwack!*
The Bloodthirsty Blade turned into a streak of silver light and pinned itself into the black-furred monkey's chest.
*Thud, thud, thud.* Striding forward in a sprint, Zhang Yuanqing leaped into the air and kicked the hilt, burying the entire forty-centimeter blade into the beast's chest cavity.
The black-furred monkey collapsed with a heavy thud, its legs twitching several times before its life signs completely faded.
Although the noticeboard forbade using blades, Zhang Yuanqing figured that as long as he wasn't chopping trees or vines, nothing would happen.
[Ding! You have killed a mountain monkey, earning 1 point.]
On the other side, Blood Rose clamped one hand around the throat of the monkey pouncing at her, slammed it viciously to the ground, knelt onto its chest, and raised her right fist high.
A straight punch smashed down.
*Crack!* The black-furred monkey's head burst instantly, sending brain matter and bloodstained bone fragments splattering everywhere.
[Ding! You have killed a mountain monkey, earning 1 point.]
A yin corpse's kills were credited to its master.
Crimson gleamed in Blood Rose's pupils. With a light sniff, a mist of blood rose from the dead monkey and surged into her nostrils.
The yin corpse's aura surged abruptly, as if she had grown stronger.
"Screeech—!"
The monkeys in the trees seemed terrified, shrieking incessantly. Several monkeys that had been gearing up to strike frantically grabbed onto branches, narrowly keeping themselves from falling.
Then, reaching a consensus amid their panicked screeches, they retreated in the direction they had come from, quickly vanishing into the distance.
*There go a dozen points. I still haven't figured this dungeon out yet, so no need to rush into a slaughter.* Watching the shaking treetops recede until he was sure the monkeys wouldn't return, Zhang Yuanqing finally turned his gaze toward the tall, curvaceous Wood Demon woman.
Though slightly disheveled, she hadn't suffered any actual harm.
With a Wood Demon's agility, as long as she wasn't surrounded by the troop, she faced no real danger.
"Sorry about that. I dragged you into it."
The Wood Demon woman patted the dirt off her clothes and flashed a bright smile.
"No problem!"
Wearing Wang Tai's face and putting on Fu Qingyang's cool aloofness, Zhang Yuanqing replied flatly.
"I'm from the Five Elements Alliance. My Spirit Realm ID is Peony Fairy. And you?" she introduced herself.
*Peony Fairy? That ID sounds familiar... Oh, right! The female colleague who wouldn't stop flattering me during the online meeting.* Zhang Yuanqing blinked, mildly surprised.
He hadn't expected the first Spirit Realm walker he met in this killing trial to be a colleague.
*Still, blurting out your background right away shows far too little vigilance,* Zhang Yuanqing thought, keeping his expression cold. "Wang Tai!"
"Wang Tai..." Peony Fairy mulled over the name, then smiled sweetly. "You must be a Night Wanderer from the Taiyi Sect. Wood Demons are very sensitive to life force; I can tell that's a yin corpse."
As an official member and Saint-in-training, she had plenty of knowledge and experience.
*She thought I was from the Taiyi Sect, which is why she revealed her identity? Fine, I take back what I just thought.* Zhang Yuanqing shook his head. "I'm unaffiliated."
A total of thirty-eight official members were participating in this killing trial—not a large number. Anyone paying the slightest attention would know Wang Tai wasn't on the list.
Admitting to being from the Taiyi Sect would be blowing his cover—though, of course, exposing himself wouldn't matter much either.
"Oh," Peony Fairy said, unsure whether to believe him.
After a brief hesitation, she invited him, "This trial is fraught with danger, and the orthodox faction ought to help one another. If you don't mind, would you care to travel together?"
Before Zhang Yuanqing could reply, she threw in another incentive: "I plan to seek out Yuanshi Tianzun and our other colleagues. If you stick with me, you'll be one of our companions."
*If you knew I was Yuanshi Tianzun, I wonder what face you'd make!* Zhang Yuanqing had been aiming for the same thing anyway, so he said, "Sure!"
Rallying colleagues was one of his objectives, and doing so under the guise of Wang Tai would, to some extent, help him evade the schemes of any traitors.
Once their agreement was reached, Peony Fairy urged, "We should get moving quickly. If those monkeys bring reinforcements, we'll be in trouble."
Zhang Yuanqing nodded, maintaining a safe distance from her as they moved forward together. "Those monkeys weren't particularly strong."
Peony Fairy took on a grave expression. "No, that's because you haven't seen the Monkey King."
"The Monkey King?" Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help glancing at the woman, who was nearly ten years his senior.
"Yes, it's a white monkey—or rather, more like a gorilla. It stands about three meters tall and is utterly terrifying. I suspect it has the strength of a weak Level 4." Fear lingered on Peony Fairy's face.
A weak Level 4 meant stronger than a Transcendent, but slightly weaker than a Saint.
Such vague combat ratings only ever appeared on items and dungeon bosses; the Ghost Bride, Bai Lan, was a weak Level 4.
*The first mini-boss has shown up.* Zhang Yuanqing swept aside several thick vines and said, "This dungeon is rather strange. I haven't quite pieced it together yet. How about we share information and see what we can find?"
Peony Fairy gave a slight nod. "After I entered the dungeon, my quest instructed me to start from the outer zone, use the noticeboard as a reference point, and head toward the center."
Zhang Yuanqing chimed in, "Looks like everyone's side quest is the same. What was written on your noticeboard?"
Peony Fairy recounted the precautions from memory.
The first three rules were identical to what Zhang Yuanqing had seen, but the fourth rule diverged.
"Rule four: Beware of animals, especially monkeys."
Zhang Yuanqing raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
Peony Fairy looked taken aback. "Wasn't yours the same?"
"My fourth rule was: If you see another person in the forest, do not make eye contact with him or her," Zhang Yuanqing revealed frankly.
From Peony Fairy's micro-expressions, he detected no trace of deception. She was likely telling the truth—unless she was an Oscar-worthy actress.
Peony Fairy frowned. "Why would that be?"
Zhang Yuanqing stayed alert to their surroundings as he walked. "Two possibilities. First, different zones present different dangers. Your sign warned you about monkeys, and you ran into monkeys. My sign warned me not to make eye contact, and I ran into a person belonging to this dungeon.
"Second, the precautions on every noticeboard are different. This implies that we can use these rules to trap enemies. Everyone who entered the dungeon possesses two rules for surviving in the jungle, which can serve as weapons for us to exploit.
"Of course, judging by the number of participants, there probably aren't that many rules; many people likely received duplicate ones. Following that logic, gathering all the rules might even be one of the main objectives of this trial."
Peony Fairy's eyes widened in sheer astonishment. She looked the young man named Wang Tai up and down, struck by a realization.
*I've struck gold.*
To deduce so much from such bare-bones information—regardless of whether he was right—showed a level of sharp analytical thinking that she simply didn't possess.
Evidently, this young man named Wang Tai was remarkably skilled at clearing dungeons.
A genuine talent.
Alongside her pleasant surprise, Peony Fairy felt a twinge of dejection. She knew top geniuses like Yuanshi Tianzun and Zhao Chenghuang were beyond her reach, but she never imagined an ordinary Night Wanderer she randomly bumped into would possess such remarkable ability.
There might be many more figures like him in this trial.
Peony Fairy felt the gloomy despondency of a small-town exam-crammer arriving at a big-city testing hall, only to discover that everyone around her was a high-IQ prodigy.
"By the way, the reason the monkeys chased me was that I eavesdropped on them. I have an item that lets me understand animal speech. Those monkeys said that more humans had entered the forest and couldn't be allowed to approach..."
"Approach what?"
"I couldn't hear clearly; the monkeys spotted me right after."
*Did she really not hear, or is she holding back? Does 'cannot approach' refer to the center of the forest?* Zhang Yuanqing didn't press the matter and instead shifted the subject: "There should be a fifth precaution, right?"
His own noticeboard had five rules.
Peony Fairy nodded. "Rule five: If you encounter mountaineers claiming to be from the Lost City, do not speak with them. Move away immediately."
The moment the words left her mouth, she saw Wang Tai, five meters away, freeze dead in his tracks, his face turning rigid.
*Do not speak with mountaineers claiming to be from the Lost City, move away immediately?* Inside Zhang Yuanqing's head, the word *fuck* echoed over and over!
In that instant, a chill ran down his spine, accompanied by an inexplicable dread.
Just moments ago, he had held an entire conversation with a middle-aged man claiming to be from the Lost City.
Peony Fairy was clearly a sharp woman. Seeing his reaction, she frowned. "Did you... run into a mountaineer?"
*And chatted with him for ten whole minutes.* With a grim expression, Zhang Yuanqing nodded and relayed the entire conversation he had had with the middle-aged man.
Peony Fairy's face changed slightly, and she quietly edged several meters further away from him.
*This woman!* The corner of Zhang Yuanqing's mouth twitched. He said flatly, "At least I'm perfectly fine right now. Nothing has happened."
He didn't believe violating one of the precautions would sink him immediately. In an environment of asymmetric information, he would make mistakes, and others would too.
Based on his understanding of dungeons, traps with such high trigger rates rarely caused direct, fatal harm.
Either the effects accumulated over time, or they required specific conditions to erupt.
If this triggered an instant lethal crisis, half the people in the trial would already be dead by now.
Thinking this, Zhang Yuanqing stopped and opened the leaderboard.
First checking the total head count, he found only 174 Spirit Realm walkers remained. Since the last check, six more had died.
*Barely an hour into the trial, and nearly ten people are dead. The mortality rate is pretty high.* Zhang Yuanqing didn't let down his guard just because his own journey had been smooth sailing.
With 174 Spirit Realm walkers wandering blindly through the virgin forest, there was no telling when paths would cross—or when someone would run headlong into a boss.
Peony Fairy suddenly froze and cocked her ear to listen. A few seconds later, she turned to him and said gravely, "About fifty meters to our left, Spirit Realm walkers are fighting."
Inside a forest, a Wood Demon's perception operated at its peak, rivaling a Scout's Insight.
"Fifty meters?" Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a moment. "I'll use stealth to check it out. You and my yin corpse stay here."
Once Peony Fairy nodded, he activated Night Walk. Carefully sidestepping bushes, dry twigs, and hanging vines, he closed in rapidly to the left.
Half a minute later, Zhang Yuanqing arrived silently at the battle site.
Before he could get a clear look at the opposing sides, a sinister chuckle reached his ears:
"Hey, a Japanese high school girl. Let's do her."
Chapter 246