Absolute Death Game-Chapter 353 - 7: Ming Mountain Ghost Town

Xiao Buli led the way, and Gu Yuexuan displayed his power. Xiao Buli felt as if he had momentarily returned to his early days of playing online games when he used to follow high-level teammates to leech experience.

Throughout the day, Xiao Buli and Gu Yuexuan had fought three major wild bosses and five minor bosses. They also killed countless normal and rare elites, incidentally saving a group of villagers who had been captured, thus earning a considerable amount of Merit Points.

The only regret was that although there were many loot drops, the categories were very singular – either materials or inner cores. Even the bosses with prestigious names dropped the same. On the rare occasions that a piece of equipment did drop, the quality was so poor that it was worse than the gear Xiao Buli had swapped out and didn’t plan to use, which left Xiao Buli rather speechless.

It seemed necessary to find a blueprint; otherwise, all these materials would be of no use. Xiao Buli finally had a moment to open his inventory screen and organize it. As he looked at the bag stuffed with various materials, he felt a headache coming on. Suddenly, he noticed something very familiar in the bag—something that resembled a backpack. He clicked it with his mouse and the display read — "Mysterious Weapon Assembly Set." After recalling carefully, he remembered that it should be the weapon bag that Lu Xinying had, which he had hastily packed with a selection of weapons at that time. Subsequent twists and rebirth had left him no time to cash in these weapons in the game, and he had almost forgotten about them. He’d have to go back and ask Gao Bainame to appraise them and see how powerful they were.

"Junior Brother, we’ve circled enough; we should be able to proceed with the final task now, right?" Gu Yuexuan also took a short break to recover his strength.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Buli quickly closed his inventory and glanced at the map. Wangliang Mountain’s map was neither too large nor too small. The two of them had ravaged it all day, and they had explored every slightly conspicuous place on the map. Now, aside from the town nestled in the mountain basin, there seemed to be nothing else worth plundering, so Xiao Buli said to Gu Yuexuan, contently, "Hehe, of course. You’ve worked hard, Senior Brother. Since we haven’t found anything else, it looks like we can only go explore that central area." Although he had gained advantages, Xiao Buli still spoke with rhetorical politeness, as if all the trouble had been a reluctant necessity.

Being just an NPC and constrained by rules, Gu Yuexuan had no objections. The two men proceeded towards the Ghost Town, one following the other.

The monsters they had fought along the way were all somewhat related to the Undead, but they were not aligned with the forces of the Taiyin Sect. As the two made their way through the killing spree, there had been no system prompts about decreasing Prestige with the Taiyin Sect, which indicated that these were probably just wild monsters influenced by the unique environment, dark in nature, but fundamentally not much related to the Taiyin Sect.

With this in mind, Xiao Buli lowered his expectations for the difficulty of the mission. Since the Taiyin Sect had established a stronghold here, logically, Wangliang Mountain’s territory should be heavily guarded, with sentries every ten steps and watch posts every five. Yet, the two had caused a commotion all day without alerting anyone, suggesting that these sect members were not formidable opponents. It seemed he was going to earn that thousand points of Contribution Value quite effortlessly.

However, when they finally arrived at the town’s periphery, Xiao Buli’s heart missed a beat—his earlier conjectures had been too rash. The sight before him instantly skyrocketed his expectations for the difficulty of the mission.

The reason was simple. In Wangliang Mountain, where the skies were already dark due to the enveloping mist, they seemed here like a pool of inky water. The haze that had been faintly visible in the air now felt tangible, shrouding the Ghost Town within it. Although it was only two or three in the afternoon, the area within the Ghost Town was pitch black, and from a distance, it looked like a lifeless black hole.

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As they drew closer, peering through the fog into the Ghost Town, they could faintly make out the outlines of the buildings hidden within. Standing at the very edge of the town was a dilapidated archway. Even with his exceptional eyesight, Xiao Buli could only hazily discern three characters. After straining to identify them, they seemed to spell out — "Jingshan Town." Whether it was due to his thoughts or the haze, Xiao Buli felt a profound sense of foreboding welling up inside him.

Jingshan Town? The name sounded normal enough. It seemed that this town used to be inhabited before it was taken over. As he looked at the vast wasteland before him, he wondered what had become of the original residents—whether they had fled this place or had all become sacrifices to the Taiyin Sect.

Xiao Buli composed himself, no longer dwelling on idle thoughts. Turning to see Gu Yuexuan right behind him gave him a sense of reliance. Standing outside the town, sword in hand, he then proceeded into the town. Gu Yuexuan had no need for such cautions, carrying his treasured sword on his back, his white garments still immaculately detached from the world, and followed Xiao Buli into the town, one after the other.

No monsters existed outside the town, but as the screen showed the fog thickening, Xiao Buli felt a chill run through his body. Facing this horror movie-like scene, he dared not be the slightest bit careless.

"Be careful, Junior Brother. I sense an indescribable power," Gu Yuexuan, who had been serenely following behind, spoke up suddenly. When Xiao Buli turned around, he saw that Gu Yuexuan’s usually indifferent face was now full of solemnity.

Xiao Buli’s heart instantly tensed up, Omniscient Eye! A flash of white light, and the view before him became coated with a silver glow. Xiao Buli surveyed all the areas within his sight, yet no ghostly undead or the like appeared. This kind of eerie feeling, undetectable and indefinable, filled Xiao Buli’s heart with terror. Humans are indeed like this, tangible and corporeal entities, no matter how frightening or ugly, always have a point where one can apply force against them. What’s truly frightening is the stuff that’s completely inexplicable and unseen, untouchable. This is probably why beliefs in gods and ghosts have penetrated so deeply into people’s hearts, becoming increasingly scarier as they are passed down.

Although he couldn’t see anything, Xiao Buli did not let his guard down. Normally, even in the wilderness, one would expect to encounter a wandering soul or two, but this gloomy and eerie place had nothing, an abnormal silence all around.

The two of them remained fully alert as they continued walking toward the town. It was the same on the main street; not a single moving object, let alone a person, could be seen. The houses on both sides of the road were still in good condition. Apart from looking slightly rundown and dilapidated within the black mist, no obvious signs of destruction were evident. The entire town seemed like an abandoned city. Find more chapters on novelbuddy

Xiao Buli came to the front of a tall hall, gently pushed the door open, and inside it was pitch-dark. There was no fog like outside, but apart from that, there was nothing special. It looked just like any ordinary house.

Delving further into the town, the deeper they went, the more alarmed they became. The town gave off a feeling of absolute emptiness, an absolute sense of ’nothingness.’ But the more it felt like this, the more eerie the two of them found it, even more hair-raising than the Mass Burial Mound where the undead roamed. A sense of desolate pessimism started to rise in Xiao Buli’s heart. Suddenly, he felt tired, not physically, but emotionally, as if becoming someone who, after enduring countless upheavals, found nothing in the world could tether his spirit any longer, no longer interested in anything, even life itself.

"Don’t go any further!" While Xiao Buli was carefully pondering that sensation, the voice in his mind suddenly piped up again, jolting him back, the melancholic feeling seeming to dissipate somewhat. Not sure if it was because he had been distracted, Xiao Buli felt that the voice carried a hint of panic.

"Why can’t I go forward?" Xiao Buli asked in his mind.

"Just listen to me, and you’ll be all right. I won’t harm you," the voice asserted with serious and unquestionable tone.

Xiao Buli snorted coldly. You won’t harm me? Aren’t you just coveting the control of my body? "Fine, if you won’t say it, then I’ll just keep going."

Thinking this, Xiao Buli looked back at Gu Yuexuan. Although no one had appeared, the senior brother had been in a state of full alertness the whole time. Now, he had already drawn his sword, its white light illuminating a small area around them. This light gave Xiao Buli a sense of security. Anticipating that he might face something supernatural, he replaced his current weapon with the Soul Slayer’s Blade.

The two entered the town through an ornate archway and had been walking on the main street, which now came to an end. A large building rose up from the mist; it was peculiar, having neither beams nor eaves, square and warehouse-like in appearance—a stark contrast to the surrounding classical buildings with their carved eaves and painted architraves. This building seemed to eschew the wooden structures common in the town, appearing to be constructed of stone coated with a white cement-like substance. There were no decorations, as if it had been rapidly constructed. Huge iron-clad wooden doors were chained, giving the impression of being heavily fortified. Xiao Buli knew straightaway this was the place. "Should we open it to take a look?" he asked Gu Yuexuan.

Gu Yuexuan seemed somewhat puzzled but, after a moment’s thought, nodded. He held his sword technique ready, poised for battle at any moment.

Mysterious Ice Slash! Xiao Buli had plenty of experience dealing with chains.

With a clank, the chains broke. The wooden doors creaked open inwards. A gust of wind, carrying with it screams like those of crying ghosts and howling wolves, seemed to squeeze out from within, blurring Xiao Buli’s vision with gusts of wind and sand. Not good. Xiao Buli swung his treasured sword through the air, fearing an opportunistic attack from something, but fortunately, neither the Spiritual Energy Shield nor his treasured sword encountered any attack. After the ghostly wind had dispersed, he looked up to see only a pitch-black doorway before him, with nothing else in sight. Once again, all fell silent, except for the occasional creaking of the shop signs being blown by the wind, which stirred restlessness in one’s heart.

That’s it? Xiao Buli felt a strange sensation, then suddenly heard a loud thump behind him. He quickly turned around, and there on the street, a rotting giant hand stretched out from beneath the ground.(To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)