Chapter 244: Prince of Huainan's Tomb |
The next day, after a good night's sleep, Bai Mu woke up feeling completely refreshed.
After waking up, he noticed a new message on his friends list. It was from Scattered Fireflies.
"Big Brother Bai, my Community Time is almost up, so I have to queue for a script soon... Are you free? Do you want to team up?" A few days ago, right after exiting Corrupted Forest Blood Hunt, Bai Mu had replied to Scattered Fireflies with a brief greeting. In hindsight, she had likely wanted to team up with him back then and had only messaged him to test the waters and see if he was online.
Bai Mu had a fairly good impression of the girl. After eating breakfast, he arranged to meet Scattered Fireflies in the Community.
Upon meeting, Bai Mu learned that her upcoming script would be her third main script since advancing to D-rank player status. Once she completed this script, she would be promoted to C-rank.
Typically, the difficulty of the third script after a promotion would sharply increase. It was akin to a promotion match in a video game, serving as a sort of stress test. In a normal game, those who couldn't handle the pressure would be demoted, but in Paradise, there was no such thing as a demotion. Failing to clear a script meant certain death. That was exactly why Scattered Fireflies sought Bai Mu out. Even though they had only queued together once, he had left a profound impression on her as a powerful carry. She was terrified of dying, so she swallowed her pride to seek out a reliable teammate, and Bai Mu was the most dependable person on her friends list. Bai Mu asked to see her career interface and discovered that she had never even queued for a single C-rank script before.
A D-rank player had never experienced a C-rank script, yet here he was, a mere E-grade player, having already survived two C-rank scripts. The hidden matchmaking mechanics of Paradise really seemed to have it out for him.
He figured that bringing along a teammate with a lower skill level might actually balance out the overall difficulty of the script, so he accepted Scattered Fireflies' invitation to team up.
"Big Brother Bai, if we manage to clear the script, you can take your pick from any of my clearance rewards," Scattered Fireflies offered. "You saved my life last time, and I still haven't had the chance to repay you."
If that happened, he would be forced to decline any future team-up requests. He had no interest in playing babysitter in Paradise, nor did he want to drag a burden around as a form of unnecessary weight training.
"I am teaming up with you because you have value as a teammate," Bai Mu stated bluntly. "I expect you to pull your own weight and perform your role properly, not to stand back and wait for me to solve every problem for you."
Hearing this, Scattered Fireflies actually felt a bit moved. "Rest assured, Big Brother Bai, I will absolutely do my part to the best of my abilities."
Bai Mu formally formed a party with Scattered Fireflies, and they took some time to familiarize themselves with each other's skills and equipment.
Afterward, they agreed to enter the script in the afternoon.
Once both of them were fully prepared, Bai Mu initiated the queue for a script.
[Players K8107 and K5312 have joined the random script queue.]
[Drawing a random script for you... Draw complete. You are now participating in: Team Mode (Normal).]
[Random team size generated: 5 Players.]
[Script Name: Prince of Huainan's Tomb.]
[Current Script Danger Rating: C-rank.]
[The script introduction will now play. Upon completion, the script will begin immediately.]
The queue time was significantly longer than usual. It took several minutes before Bai Mu finally saw the familiar flash of white light.
"A C-rank team script, huh?"
Bai Mu realized that this was also his own promotion script. According to the logic of escalating difficulty, he could have easily been thrown into a B-rank script. However, because he brought along a D-rank teammate, the danger rating was mitigated to a C-rank.
However, the team consisted of five people this time. Generally, the more players in a script, the higher the difficulty. Team scripts were inherently more dangerous than solo scripts, meaning a five-person C-rank script was likely already approaching the difficulty of a B-rank solo script.
Of course, he had never experienced a B-rank script before, so this was merely an educated guess.
Pushing those fleeting thoughts aside, he focused all of his attention on the script's introduction.
The information provided in the introduction almost always proved useful. Judging by the title, it seemed to be a tomb-exploration scenario. [Ancient texts record that during his life, the King of Huainan was obsessed with the pursuit of immortality and cultivation. He accumulated merit and virtue, performing countless good deeds and generously funding irrigation works. In the end, he and eight elders consumed an immortal elixir and ascended to the heavens. Bagong Mountain was named in honor of this event.]
The slow, resonant voice of an elderly man echoed in his ears.
A magnificent, towering mountain materialized before Bai Mu's eyes. Streams cascaded down its slopes, creating a beautiful landscape overflowing with a vibrant, natural vitality. Past the mountain, nestled at its base, lay a prosperous ancient city. The streets were packed with bustling markets and crowds of people dressed in traditional robes, their hair neatly tied up and crowned in the ancient style.
There was no trace of modern civilization anywhere. The era appeared to be set somewhere in a feudal dynasty, though noticeably more advanced than the primitive setting of Corrupted Forest Blood Hunt. It was a classic Eastern ancient historical setting, a trope he was fairly familiar with.
Within the city, he spotted young children running about, street vendors loudly hawking sticks of candied haws, and both Buddhist pagodas and Taoist temples rising above the rooftops.
Just from this single visual and the opening narration, a wealth of information had already been revealed.
'Consumed an immortal elixir and ascended... Could this script actually involve deities, ghosts, and demons? Does the path of cultivation exist here?'
Just as Bai Mu was mulling over the possibilities, the sunny, verdant mountain peak plunged into night in the blink of an eye, instantly exuding a heavy, oppressive aura of death.
[The Prince of Huainan's Tomb was constructed within Bagong Mountain. The Feng Shui here was exceptionally auspicious, warding off disasters and blessing his descendants. However, due to the incompetence of a later dynasty's county magistrate, the tomb was breached by grave robbers. This violation shattered the Feng Shui, giving rise to demons and ghosts. Over a dozen people in the city have already perished, their life essence and yang energy drained dry by Vengeful Spirits.]
As the narration faded, over a dozen desiccated corpses appeared before Bai Mu's eyes. They were carried on bamboo stretchers and unceremoniously dumped onto piles of dry firewood, cremated out in the open.
The grim scene was guarded by soldiers wielding swords and spears. Every single corpse bore a hideously contorted expression, their skin withered and coarse like dead tree bark.
[The county magistrate has offered a hefty bounty to recruit capable individuals willing to venture into the Prince of Huainan's Tomb, uncover the truth, and pacify this disaster.]
[Five such individuals have answered the call. Together, they journey toward the Prince of Huainan's Tomb, determined to rid the people of this evil.]
The scene shifted once more, returning to Bagong Mountain.
[You are one of these five capable individuals. Entering through the tunnel dug by the grave robbers, your group has breached the Prince of Huainan's Tomb. However, shortly after entering, the tunnel collapses behind you, sealing off your only means of retreat.]
[But with your skills and fearless hearts, you march deeper into the tomb, resolute in your mission to investigate the anomaly and carve out a new path to escape...]
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