Chapter 123 - 5: Sick Village

Chapter 123: Chapter 5: Sick VillageLooking at the grassland horse before him, Xiao Jie was rather surprised, thinking about capturing a horse to keep as a pet... that was quite interesting. What a pity, its combat ability was clearly not as good as a wild boar’s, which was evident just by looking at the skills. Out of three skills, two did not enhance combat ability, with only a kick having any offensive output—yet it also came with a Shrinking trait. Its Blood Volume was also lower than that of a wild boar... Fortunately, with I Want to Be Immortal, he didn’t lack this meat shield. Due to low Loyalty, he was currently unable to learn skills from it, and since the creature didn’t eat Secret Dog Food, all he could do was to slowly nurture a bond with it. "Let’s go, Cheng Xian, we continue our journey," he said. The two men and a horse thus made their way out of the mountain valley, skirting the mountain range. Following this, they did not encounter any more battles, carefully avoiding the horse bandits that roamed about, and finally emerged from the valley at ten past ten. Outside the valley, the view suddenly opened up. The narrow field of vision, once surrounded by mountains, had now become boundless. Looking around, the scenes of desolation, decay, and decline met the eye—wastelands and rubble-ruined houses everywhere, the forests and wilderness gloomy and dark, giving off a depressing, apocalyptic vibe. All that could be heard were the whistling wind and the crows’ cries. Xiao Jie felt a bit uneasy, although he quite enjoyed exploring maps in the game, this was a game where one played with their life on the line. (Surely nothing too dangerous would pop up the moment we step outside, right?) Xiao Jie reassured himself. "Cheng Xian, keep your eyes peeled and try not to stray from the main path. We’ve left Newbie Village behind, and the road ahead won’t be easy," he advised. I Want to Be Immortal also realized the gravity of the situation and promptly agreed. Luckily, perhaps because they had just left the Newbie Village, they didn’t encounter any Monsters for the first few minutes, only a few wild dogs by the roadside, which looked on fearfully from a distance, not daring to come close. Soon, they came upon a crossroads, with a fallen signpost on the ground, its markings still undecipherable. I Want to Be Immortal quickly pulled out the map to check. "Heading west leads to Ghost Mist Ridge; the recommended Level there is 17-25," he read. "Going north is Bixia Mountain, with Bixia Village below and White Cloud Temple atop the peak." "If we go east, there’s Luoyang Plain, and Luoyang Town is located in the central area of the plain. The recommended Level for Luoyang Plain is 8-22." After a moment of thought, Xiao Jie said, "Let’s head to Bixia Mountain to turn in our quest first. Remember, try not to leave the main road." This was a gaming experience Xiao Jie had summarized: In MMORPGs, when adventuring in high-Level areas, it’s best to stick to the main roads. Usually, fewer Monsters spawn on major roads, and since players typically move along these roads, higher-Level players often clear up any small Monsters they come across, further reducing the risks. Theoretically, as long as one follows the main road, it should be relatively safer. However, the road that lay north could hardly be called a main road; it began wide enough for several horses to traverse side by side but soon tapered into a narrow country lane. Fortunately, there were no Monsters along the way—perhaps they had been cleared out by some skillful individuals from White Cloud Temple? Xiao Jie speculated. Bixia Mountain could be seen in the distance, and they simply focused on heading towards the mountain while keeping an eye on their surroundings. However, the further they went, the quieter it became. The stillness soon pervaded, with even the cawing of crows fading away. This silence weighed on Xiao Jie’s mood. After skirting a small forest, a village came into view, presumably the so-called Bixia Village. But then a line of text emerged on the screen. [System Notification: New map ’Sick Village’ discovered.] Xiao Jie felt a pang of foreboding; this name instinctively brought to mind some unsettling recollections. "Stop, something isn’t right!" he exclaimed. Bixia Village turning into Sick Village definitely indicated a problem. Standing at the entrance to the village, Xiao Jie could see a street leading to Bixia Mountain, a trail of stone steps winding upwards, losing itself in the misty mountain forest and revealing an outline of a Daoist temple’s spire atop the enveloped peak. Yet to reach that destination, they had to pass through this village. Xiao Jie observed the ’Sick Village’ carefully. It was clear the village had been abandoned; the thatched cottages lay in ruins or had completely turned to rubble, with the only brick house showing signs of being scorched by fire. He took a few steps forward to get a closer look when suddenly—whoo-hoo! An eerie moan made Xiao Jie’s skin crawl. He looked intently to find a humanoid shape, covered in black pustules, slowly emerging from the ruins. It vaguely resembled a person, but the rotting clothes left the twisted, putrid body exposed, so deformed that the features were unrecognizable. Disease Zombie: Level 12, Life Value 580. Damn, with that much health? Although the Disease Zombie appeared sluggish and seemingly easy to bully, Xiao Jie didn’t dare to attack. A Disease Zombie—with potentially some sort of poison Skill. And on closer inspection, there seemed to be quite a few Disease Zombies; earlier the distance had prevented discovery, but now, with the emergence of the first Zombie, more began to crawl out of the ruins and the streets. Their movements were exceptionally slow as they edged closer to the two, giving off a spine-chilling sensation. Their decayed faces, their pus-filled bodies, and the guttural sounds they made were enough to strike terror in anyone’s heart. "Retreat, retreat, retreat," Xiao Jie’s scalp tingled as he decisively backed away. "Aren’t we fighting?" "Fight my ass, that thing is clearly problematic." Generally speaking, a monster’s level is linked to its strength. If a monster is particularly weak in one aspect, it means that in some other aspect, it must be incredibly strong. Of course, if it were some illogical, unbalanced crap game, I wouldn’t mention it, but clearly, this isn’t one of those games. A Level 12 monster definitely has Level 12 strength. So, no matter how slow these Disease Zombies move, they’re definitely not creatures you’d want to mess with. Although Xiao Jie didn’t know exactly what made them so menacing, he had no intention of testing it with his life on the line. "Let’s go around." On either side of Sick Village were deserted farmlands overgrown with withered yellow weeds, which also didn’t seem very safe. But at least it was a lot more open compared to the congested atmosphere in the village. "Luobo, scout ahead." Xiao Jie couldn’t care less about loyalty or happiness value at this point. When facing death, all else took a backseat. At his command, Luobo reluctantly snorted and moved forward through the knee-high overgrown grass, with two people following behind, ready to strike at any moment. Suddenly, Luobo let out a shrill neigh and retreated in panic. True to its Shrinking trait. Xiao Jie observed carefully and saw a dark shape quickly burrowing out of the overgrown grass. It was a giant rat! Seeing this furry critter, Xiao Jie actually felt a sense of familiarity. He finally encountered a monster he was familiar with. However, he quickly realized something was wrong. Like the zombies, the giant rat was also covered in boils. Although it was not as terrifying as the Disease Zombies, it was equally horrifying with two black, hollowed-out pits for eyes that were just creepy to look at. Disease Rat: Level 9, Life Value 340. "Damn, retreat!" But the giant rat had already spotted them and was undeterred by the numerical disparity, scurrying towards them. This made Xiao Jie even more anxious. "Retreat, retreat, retreat!" he shouted while desperately shooting arrows. Xiao Jie had a feeling that if that giant rat got close, nothing good would come of it. Maybe he would even catch the disease. The memory of the Corpse Poison incident was still vivid in his mind. The two of them, along with the horse, retreated rapidly in the direction they came, shooting arrows as they fled and somehow managed to kill the Disease Rat halfway through. They didn’t even dare to touch the corpse but kept running until they stopped at the crossroads they’d passed earlier. "Let’s give it up, Feng. We should head to Luoyang Town first. Fengyin State isn’t just home to this Daoist temple." "Sounds good. We’ll learn Martial Arts first and then look to settle scores afterward." He wondered why, if the Bixia Mountain Baiyun Temple was home to a great master, nobody cared about what happened to the village at the foot of the mountain? He was thankful that he hadn’t accepted the quest to seek out the master before. Otherwise, it might have been even more dangerous. As they headed east, they discussed where to deliver the Demon Talisman. The description of this Demon Talisman read, "Perhaps some Taoists from certain Dao Palaces would be interested in it," but it didn’t specify which Daoist Temple or Dao Palace to go to. This indicated that they should be free to choose. According to the map in "I Want to Be Immortal," there are four Daoist Temples and one Dao Palace within Fengyin State. Hearing this, Xiao Jie quickly said, "Tell me more about this Dao Palace." "This Dao Palace is called Xuanxu Palace, located to the north of the state mansion in Xiaofeng City within Fengyin State. To get there, we must first go to Luoyang Town, then keep heading east toward the main city, and after that, climb a mountain to the north," explained Feng. Xiao Jie’s eyes lit up, "Since delivering the Demon Talisman is about gaining reputation, let’s go to Xuanxu Palace. Just by the sound of it, a Dao Palace feels a lot more prestigious than a Daoist temple, and if it’s closer to the main city, it should be less dangerous." Since the game runs on realistic logic, the monsters near the main city must be relatively sparse, which might actually make it easier than going to Baiyun Temple. I Want to Be Immortal pondered, "That makes sense, but what if Xuanxu Palace turns out to be too pretentious? The bigger the sect, the more difficult it might be to get in, right?" Xiao Jie thought that was a good point, "Shouldn’t be a big issue. If we’re going in, we’ll aim for Good Tao Palace. If worst comes to worst, we can just slowly build up reputation by doing quests. With the Demon Talisman as a stepping stone, we should at least be able to start gaining reputation. Naturally, we should take a gamble on this." "Alright, Feng. I’ll follow your lead."