Chapter 249: Out of the Ordinary |
This iron box was exactly the Sealing Box that Bai Mu had drawn from the Corrupted Forest Blood Hunt. This was an iron container capable of locking away even the head of a god; trapping a Red-Clad Female Ghost was naturally child's play.
Judging from the ghost's attack patterns, he concluded she lacked any strong physical attack skills. She was an entity without a tangible body. Since bullets could not hit her, she likely could not interact with objects possessing actual weight and collision volume. In other words, she could not use brute force to smash a hole through this iron box.
Therefore, he only needed to predict her flight trajectory and trap her inside. There was no need to worry about her various mechanics, such as searching for her coffin or corpse nearby to deal with her, as I Love a Sword had suggested.
Of course, there was a tiny chance this judgment was wrong. Perhaps she possessed the strength of an ox and could smash the Sealing Box to pieces with a single headbutt. However, in the early stages of a Script, one typically would not encounter such a powerful monster. Even if she really had a "second phase", Bai Mu would feel the Sealing Box shaking and open the lid in advance to avoid losing this precious item.
Judging from the completely motionless Sealing Box and the Baleful Yin Energy that had been cleared from his status bar, this creature was just like the stone monkey pinned beneath the Five Elements Mountain—completely devoid of any means to resist.
Bai Mu slowly pulled his hand away from the Sealing Box. Now that it contained the female ghost, he could no longer store it in his inventory.
Its name had changed from "Sealing Box" to "Sealing Box Containing Something". Since the female ghost was not his property, he had no choice but to leave the iron box resting on the tomb's stone slabs.
Regardless, the crisis had been resolved. In truth, if magic attacks had been effective, he would have summoned Xiao Wei right then to fight the female ghost. But according to the expert opinion of I Love a Sword, she appeared to be an invincible illusion. Her true body had to be destroyed to kill her. However, the location of the ghost's true body, and whether there were traps or other monsters nearby, remained unknown. It was far more convenient and worry-free to just use the Sealing Box to lock the entity away.
Off to the side, I Love a Sword was still somewhat shaken. The female ghost's aggro had clearly been locked onto him just moments ago. According to the Script's synopsis, the ghosts in this tomb would suck living people dry, turning them into mummified corpses. He was a C-rank player, but more importantly, he was human. It would be a lie to say he was not afraid, especially since he knew exactly how terrifying the vicious ghosts in this kind of royal tomb could be.
If vicious ghosts and Zombies appeared in such a place, it meant either the Feng Shui of the area had drastically changed, or the ghost's resentment was so immense that even a blessed land could not suppress it. Both scenarios were extremely ominous signs, virtually guaranteeing a near-certain death.
If ordinary people fell into this kind of place, calling it a near-certain death would be an understatement. It was only because the five of them were capable Paradise players that they possessed a sliver of hope and a chance to escape.
Although I Love a Sword had just been shouting for the others to go find the ghost's true body, he was actually terrified they would abandon him, leaving him to die while they fled for their own lives.
Once bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of a well rope. He had experienced such abandonment once before. Fortunately, Bai Mu had pulled out an unknown iron box and locked that female ghost away.
He wasn't stupid enough to ignore that Bai Mu had saved him. Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he stammered, "Brother Bai... thank you."
"It was nothing," Bai Mu replied with a faint smile. He pressed his ear against the box, trying to hear if there were any sounds inside, but it was completely silent. It was as if the female ghost had simply vanished.
"Big brother Bai, what kind of box is that?" Brewing Cat leaned over curiously.
Scattered Fireflies gripped her staff tightly and asked timidly, "Big brother Bai, could that female ghost suddenly break out? Shouldn't we take advantage of this time to quickly go and destroy her true body?"
"It's fine. As long as she can't bust through the iron lid with her head, she shouldn't be able to escape." Bai Mu displayed the Sealing Box's attributes to his teammates, allowing them to view the item's details.
The four of them huddled together to look and were all somewhat astonished.
"This box is amazing," Brewing Cat remarked. "No wonder the Baleful Yin Energy vanished the moment that female ghost was locked inside."
"I got lucky opening a treasure chest," Bai Mu explained. "It's rare for it to see any use. This is actually my first time using it."
"Its uses definitely aren't very broad." I Love a Sword nodded in agreement, tapping his finger against the outer shell of the Sealing Box. "But in this Script, it feels incredibly useful. With this thing around, clearing the scenario will definitely be much easier."
"However, there is a problem now. If I want to use it again, I have to kill the female ghost inside first. Otherwise, if I open the lid, she'll escape. It also weighs nearly fifty kilograms. Since I can't store it in my inventory, carrying it through the tomb is obviously unrealistic," Bai Mu said. "Therefore, we still need to go and find the ghost's true body."
"Then let's go find it together," Brewing Cat suggested.
"If we go together, no one will be watching the box," Bai Mu pointed out. "Or does one of you want to lug this massive iron box along?" "You want to split up?" I Love a Sword caught on to Bai Mu's underlying meaning.
"To be precise, I want to trouble you all to watch the box for me," Bai Mu clarified. "If we all leave and abandon the box here, we can't rule out the possibility of Zombies or something else destroying it. After all, it's just made of iron."
"I believe dealing with Zombies will definitely be easier for you all than dealing with a female ghost. Of course, if you encounter another female ghost, there's nothing to be done. If that happens, just execute a tactical retreat. If you can leave behind some markers or something, I'll do my best to find you."
"Wait... what do you mean you'll do your best to find us?" The look in I Love a Sword's eyes as he stared at Bai Mu instantly grew a little strange. "Are you planning to search for the ghost's true body all by yourself?"
There was one more sentence I Love a Sword left unspoken: 'Are you not afraid of death?'
He realized that Bai Mu's thought process differed vastly from an ordinary person's—so much so that it was entirely abnormal.
Staring at Bai Mu's placid face, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He realized that from the moment they entered the Script up until now, Bai Mu hadn't displayed a single hint of tension or fear. Even when facing that female ghost just now, he hadn't shown even a fraction of panic. This completely unconventional demeanor, combined with the dark and claustrophobic environment surrounding them, caused a lingering question to surface in his mind: 'Is the person standing before me really human?'
'Could he have been replaced by a ghost?'
The moment he considered that possibility, even the look in Bai Mu's eyes seemed a little terrifying.