Chapter 139
Chapter 139
Wei Sen charged headlong into the thick fog with the Divine Statue in her arms. Fortunately, the fog only surrounded the Red Door. In less than three minutes, she left the foggy area behind and saw the Red Door again.
Aside from the Red Door, Wei Sen also saw the gruesome corpses of Zhou Jie and He Xu.
Her steps faltered for a brief moment.
If Order Keepers who died in the Eerie World turned into vicious ghosts, then… what about ghosts?
Why did they have to be summoned with Anomalous Artifacts before they could appear?
Where were those vicious ghosts when they were not being summoned?
After thinking about it briefly, Wei Sen hesitated no longer and yanked the Red Door open.
“Wei Sen! Wei Sen!”
The Faceless Woman’s shrill voice rang out from within the thick fog.
Just as Wei Sen had expected, the Faceless Woman sensed her presence the moment she entered the fog and doubled back at top speed.
What a pity…
Standing inside the Red Door, Wei Sen turned to look at the Faceless Woman flying toward her, bent low above the snowy ground, and lifted her lips in the faintest smile.
Goodbye.
Under the Faceless Woman’s unwilling stare, she slowly closed the Red Door.
///Ding~ Congratulations, Host, on achieving Perfect Clearance of the S-Rank Instance [Snowy Night Traveler]. Merit Points +5000! Current accumulated Merit Points: 12600. Remaining Merit Points: 7400! Current available Card Draws: *1!///
Wei Sen had not expected a Perfect Clearance of an S-Rank Instance to award so many Merit Points at once.
…
“Sister Sen.”
In the Origin Land, Wei Sen walked out of the Red Door. Chen Lin was standing opposite her, waving.
“Thank goodness.” Chen Lin had just breathed a sigh of relief when, in the next second, she saw the Divine Statue in Wei Sen’s arms. She was so shocked she could barely speak. “I-Isn’t that…”
Wei Sen looked down at the Divine Statue in her hands. The green light leaking from the spot where the black outer layer had peeled away was even more obvious now.
The next instant, Wei Sen raised the Divine Statue and slammed it hard into the ground.
As the Divine Statue shattered, a round sphere glowing green all over was revealed amid the black mud fragments.
This was…
Wei Sen slowly picked it up. Its shape and size were exactly the same as the mysterious object she had once taken from Li Chang’s heart. The only difference was that this sphere kept giving off green light, so bright that it was clearly visible even in daylight.
“Sister Sen, what is that?” Chen Lin asked in confusion.
“The so-called Divine Gift. The reason the Aurora appeared in the village.”
Chen Lin was still puzzled. “This thing made the Aurora appear?”
“Mm. The Aurora is closely related to solar wind, Earth’s magnetic field, and the atmosphere. I suspect this sphere affected the magnetic field within a certain range.”
“The entire forest around Aurora Village can see the Aurora. If this sphere caused it by affecting the magnetic field, then its power is… way too strong,” Chen Lin said, clicking her tongue.
“Exactly. The power inside this sphere must be far greater than we imagined. The reason those little girls fell ill was probably also because this sphere is highly radioactive.” Wei Sen’s expression turned grave.
Chen Lin suddenly thought of something and said worriedly, “Sister Lan said that all kinds of injuries we suffer in the Eerie World won’t appear in the Real World, but getting hurt here still has some effect on us in the Real World. She didn’t say exactly what kind of effect.”
“Is that so? It shouldn’t be a big problem.” As Wei Sen spoke, she put the sphere away. “Where are the Daoist and Xiaoxue?”
“Waiting for you under the Hero Ranking!”
“Let’s go.” Wei Sen glanced back at the Red Door that had vanished behind her. “The people who are still inside won’t be coming out now.”
“Mm.”
When they arrived below the Hero Ranking, Lin Xiaoxue, Xu You, and Guo Lan were already waiting there.
Guo Lan was sitting on the ground with her back propped up, looking badly injured.
Lin Xiaoxue’s eyes were full of tears, and she had been staying by her side the whole time.
When the others saw Wei Sen arrive, they were not surprised. They only quietly let out a breath of relief.
“How did it go? Did you achieve Perfect Clearance?” Guo Lan weakly lifted her head to look at Wei Sen.
Wei Sen took out the glowing sphere she had brought out through the Red Door. “Yes. This is the Divine Gift.”
Xu You stepped forward, took it, and examined it carefully. She knocked on it, then bit it, looking confused. “This thing’s pretty heavy. The surface is silver, but I can’t bite into it, like gold. What the hell is it? Where did you find it?”
“It was hidden inside the Divine Statue,” Wei Sen said. “I don’t know how the first village chief got it, but it made the Aurora appear in the village. The chief was probably worried someone would take it away, so he hid it inside the Divine Statue.”
Chen Lin said, “So the village made young girls perform the so-called Gilding the Statue ritual in order to hide the light this sphere gave off.”
“In that case, this sphere… is probably poisonous, or highly radioactive,” Guo Lan said, clutching her chest.
“What?!” Xu You hurriedly spat several times, then rushed to return the round ball to Wei Sen. “Sister Sen, keep it safe!!!”
Her reaction made the others laugh, easing the tension left over from being hunted by the Faceless Woman.
Guo Lan looked at Wei Sen and said, “The fact that you could bring that thing out means it’s an Anomalous Artifact.”
“It isn’t.” Wei Sen had already tried using the Scan Function earlier, and it hadn’t given her a single bit of information.
Astonishment flickered unmistakably in Guo Lan’s eyes. “It was brought out of the Instance World even though it isn’t an Anomalous Artifact? That’s impossible… A lot of Order Keepers have tried to bring things out of Instance Worlds before, but the moment they pass through the Red Door, those things cease to exist.”
Looking at everyone’s clothes, Wei Sen understood as well. They were no longer dressed as they had been inside the Instance, but as they had been before entering it, when they had first arrived at the Origin Land-in other words, the way they had looked before going to sleep.
So in theory, items from an Instance World really couldn’t be brought out. This ball, however, was an exception!
“Once we get back, I’ll find someone and ask about this thing.” Wei Sen thought of CC. Back then, CC had taken Li Chang’s “heart.” Now Wei Sen had obtained something almost identical from an Instance World, and they had also cleared an S-Rank Instance, meeting the requirements to join The Organization.
This time, she should be able to get quite a few answers from CC!
Lin Xiaoxue, Xu You, and Chen Lin all understood what Wei Sen meant, so none of them said anything.
“I wonder how Brother Ze and the others are doing right now,” Lin Xiaoxue said worriedly. “They’re still inside the Instance, and the Watch can’t contact them at all.”
“Legend Lin is still there too. They should be fine,” Chen Lin said.
Wei Sen touched the round ball in her pocket. “Without this thing, the village shouldn’t produce another Aurora. They’ll have no choice but to follow the rules and wait until they can leave the Instance in four days.”
“That makes sense! Without the Aurora, the Faceless Woman can’t hunt people freely anymore, and the Skeleton Monster was badly injured, so it won’t be able to keep causing trouble. As long as they stay steady and don’t break the rules, they should be okay!” Lin Xiaoxue said excitedly.
Wei Sen looked up at the Hero Ranking. Lin Ze’s name was still in first place, followed by a long string of Merit Points that made one’s jaw drop.
At that moment, countless Red Doors appeared across Origin Land Plaza.
Wei Sen looked at the others. “Let’s go back first. Once Huang Xinze clears the Instance safely, he’ll contact us.”
Lin Xiaoxue helped Guo Lan up. “Sister Lan, I’ll take you over first.”
“Okay.”
Lin Xiaoxue helped Guo Lan into a Red Door first.
Before leaving, Guo Lan looked at everyone, her gaze finally settling on Wei Sen. “See you next time.”
Wei Sen waved. “Let’s hope there is a next time.”
Guo Lan smiled faintly, then turned and entered the Red Door.
Watching Guo Lan leave, Lin Xiaoxue sniffled and looked at Wei Sen with an aggrieved expression. “Sister Sen, I swear I’ll never spend money hiring someone to carry us through an Instance again…”
Chen Lin and Xu You first exchanged a glance. Both of them understood what Lin Xiaoxue meant.
From the moment Guo Lan had come out covered in injuries and Lin Xiaoxue had started crying, the two of them had guessed that after this incident, Lin Xiaoxue probably wouldn’t use the power of money so lightly again. After all, she felt that her money had nearly gotten Guo Lan killed.
Wei Sen more or less understood why Lin Xiaoxue was saying this too. “We’ll talk about it next time.”
“I… huh?” Lin Xiaoxue’s tears hung in her eyes, unable to fall for a moment. She had thought Sister Sen would say a few comforting words, but instead…
Talk about it next time???
Did that mean, depending on the situation, she could still activate her money power with complete disregard for other people’s lives?
Wei Sen’s tone was calm. “For highly dangerous Instances, being able to spend money to save your life is also one of your abilities. But… next time, keep your eyes open. Someone like Liu Shuang could get you killed.”
She did not think Guo Lan’s injuries or potential death had any direct connection to Lin Xiaoxue.
Guo Lan made money by taking jobs. Even if she hadn’t taken Lin Xiaoxue’s job, she would have taken someone else’s.
This was an S-Rank Instance. The odds of losing one’s life for the sake of earning money were hardly low, and Guo Lan herself knew that perfectly well.
“Oh… okay…” Lin Xiaoxue answered blankly. Seeing how calm Wei Sen was, the sadness she had been feeling was diluted quite a bit.
Xu You nodded slightly and patted Lin Xiaoxue on the shoulder. “Sister Sen is right. When it comes to taking jobs and carrying people, it’s a willing buyer and a willing seller. You don’t need to overthink it.”
“Let’s go. We’ll contact each other once we’re back. This time…” Wei Sen looked toward the Red Doors with interest. “We can finally learn The Organization’s secrets.”