Chapter 96
Chapter 96
East of the forest, over the snowy ground, three people were trudging forward with difficulty. With every step, the piled snow swallowed them past the knees.
“Damn, this stupid mountain is endless. We’ve been walking this way for an hour, right? Haven’t seen jack.” Huang Xinze walked at the very front, cursing as he complained.
Lin Xiaoxue walked in the middle. She sniffled and wrapped her scarf tighter around herself. “Good thing we have Sister Lan’s Anomalous Artifact. Otherwise, if it were just us, forget seven days-even seventy days might not be enough to find this place.”
At the very back, Guo Lan held a Red Candle in her hand. It was an Anomalous Artifact she had obtained in her last Instance World. Once the candle was lit, the direction its white smoke drifted in was guaranteed to lead to clues related to clearing the Instance.
Unfortunately, she had already used the candle once in the previous Instance, and now only the last half was left. After burning for more than an hour, it was nearly at the end.
“Pick up the pace. The candle’s about to go out,” Guo Lan said.
“Roger that!” Huang Xinze strode forward on his long, six-foot legs, practically hopping through the snow. His movements looked uncannily like Sun Wukong bouncing around by the seaside.
Behind him, Lin Xiaoxue couldn’t help laughing. Her bright laughter rang out clearly in the silent forest.
Guo Lan frowned slightly.
What kind of job had she taken, exactly? She had actually entered an S-Rank Instance with a group like this?
Aside from that one called Wei Sen, every single person in this group was more carefree than the last. The fact that they had survived this long was practically a miracle.
But she had already accepted the job. In line with her customer-first philosophy, she could only worry a little more on their behalf.
The three of them continued forward for a while longer before Huang Xinze suddenly stopped.
“Footprints. They came from the south. Four people, two men and two women.” Huang Xinze carefully examined the footprints in the snow, which had not yet been completely covered. “They shouldn’t have passed by long ago.”
Guo Lan sounded somewhat skeptical. “You can tell whether they’re men or women just from the footprints?”
Huang Xinze grinned. “Look, these footprints are all different. They’re easy to distinguish.”
Guo Lan said nothing, but her opinion of Huang Xinze quietly improved a little.
Though the man looked sloppy and unserious, that flash of professionalism just now could not be faked. And being able to determine gender from footprints at a glance was not something just anyone could do.
Unless he was showing off.
Guo Lan still reserved one last trace of doubt toward Huang Xinze.
“If it really is two men and two women, then there’s no need to worry,” Guo Lan said. “Of the teams left now, Red Team has five girls, so they’re ruled out. Blue Team only had three men, and one of them is dead. The remaining one is your friend. So whether these four are from Blue Team or Xia Susu’s group, they’re safe.”
Huang Xinze nodded. “Makes sense!”
He looked at the footprints again and already had an answer in his heart, but he said nothing more.
This woman was somewhat clever. He did not want to reveal too much in front of an outsider.
The three quickened their steps. Before long, they saw the other four people not far ahead of them.
“Just my luck.” When Lin Xiaoxue saw Xia Susu’s back, she could not stop herself from rolling her eyes.
Xia Susu and the others also heard the sound behind them. They all stopped and turned back warily, only relaxing when they saw that the newcomers were teammates.
Guo Lan stepped forward. “Didn’t you go to the village?”
He Xu took out an envelope that had already been opened. “We did. We found this letter at Meiya’s house.”
Guo Lan took the envelope and checked it. “Head east of the forest to find a way out.”
“This isn’t Meiya’s handwriting,” Guo Lan said.
When they had registered for their rooms on the first day, she had seen Meiya write. Her handwriting had not been this sloppy.
“We guessed it was a clue left behind by a previous Order Keeper,” He Xu said.
Guo Lan gave a cold laugh. “If an Instance achieves Perfect Clearance, then the Instance ceases to exist. So you still believe what’s written in this letter?”
“You know very well how hard it is to achieve Perfect Clearance in an S-Rank. Even if what’s written in the letter only helps us find the conditions for the Red Door’s arrival ahead of time, that’s still good enough. After all, the sooner we leave, the safer we’ll be.”
As soon as He Xu finished speaking, Xia Susu picked up the conversation. “We came this way because we had a clue. What about you? Did you find some clue too?”
Guo Lan said, “No.”
Xia Susu let out a soft laugh. “So you really did make it this far on nothing but luck.”
As she spoke, she cast Lin Xiaoxue a provocative look. “This just proves how important it is to cling to the right thigh!”
“True. I’m nowhere near as good at it as you. You managed to cling to three at once.” Lin Xiaoxue rolled her eyes.
The two of them were at each other’s throats. Huang Xinze chose the wise path of self-preservation, while the big shots all looked faintly awkward.
Liu Shuang was the first to speak up. “Let’s hurry. Finding the Clearance Condition is what matters!”
Guo Lan also said to Lin Xiaoxue, “We should pick up the pace too. The candle’s about to go out.”
Lin Xiaoxue and Xia Susu glared at each other, but both swallowed their tempers and stopped arguing.
Guo Lan’s group of three overtook the others and walked ahead, while Xia Susu and the rest followed behind.
“Sister Xu, is that candle in her hand an Anomalous Artifact?” Xia Susu moved closer to He Xu and asked in a low voice.
“It should be. The more dangerous an Instance World is, the more useful the Anomalous Artifacts you can obtain there tend to be. From the looks of it, they didn’t find this place by luck. They relied on the Anomalous Artifact in Guo Lan’s hand.”
Xia Susu fell into thought. If only she could get one or two Anomalous Artifacts that powerful in this Instance too.
“There’s a cave up ahead!” Before long, Huang Xinze, who was walking at the very front, was the first to stop.
Guo Lan’s candle burned out at that exact moment.
In the dense forest before them was a triangular cave entrance. For a normal person to get inside, they would have to bend at the waist.
Clusters of Snow Lotus grew around the cave mouth, blooming beautifully in the cold wind.
“Wow, they’re so pretty.” Lin Xiaoxue stepped forward, wanting to pluck one and take it back.
“Idiot!” Xia Susu strode forward to stop her. “Keep your hands to yourself! Don’t drag all of us down with you!”
Lin Xiaoxue’s hand froze in midair. She looked at Xia Susu with resentment.
She only wanted to pick a flower. Was that really necessary?
Guo Lan looked solemnly toward the cave and said, “This is where the candle was pointing.”
At that, Lin Xiaoxue stopped thinking about picking flowers. Business came first!
“There must be a clue inside this cave!” He Xu looked at the snow that had been cleared from the cave entrance. “Maybe someone lives in there.”
“Then someone should go in first and take a look. The entrance is so small, we can’t all fit in.” As Huang Xinze spoke, his gaze shifted to Zhou Jie.
Zhou Jie’s eyes went cold, and his fists clenched instantly.
He Xu smiled at Liu Shuang. “Then of course Brother Shuang should go! Brother Shuang has the most experience clearing Instances out of all of us. He’s the best fit, right, Susu?”
Xia Susu immediately expressed firm agreement. “Sister Xu is right. Brother Shuang is a man, and he’s also the most experienced!”
Liu Shuang’s smile stiffened on his face. He glanced at the cave entrance. “That opening is a little small. With my build, I’m afraid I won’t be able to get in.”
Zhou Jie said coldly, “Then crawl. The Clearance Condition is probably inside. Stop whining. If you’re a man, hurry up and go!”
“I…”
“You what? Don’t tell me you’re a fraud.” Zhou Jie cut off Liu Shuang’s retreat completely.
“Heh, Brother Jie, why put it like that? Fine, I’ll go, I’ll go… When I get the Clearance Condition, all of you better thank me.”
As Liu Shuang spoke, he turned and strode toward the cave entrance. The instant he turned around, however, he looked like he wanted to cry.
“You sure know how to arrange things.” Huang Xinze gave Zhou Jie a thumbs-up with a hint of sarcasm.
Zhou Jie’s face was dark as he visibly struggled to suppress his anger.
Only one person could pass through the cave entrance at a time. Since Liu Shuang had gone, everyone else could only stand outside and watch.
Liu Shuang arrived at the cave entrance. Staring into the pitch-black interior, he swallowed. One hand took his phone out of his pocket while the other touched the cross pendant around his neck.
“Jesus, protect me, Jesus, protect me. Please don’t let there be anything unclean in there. Bless me, bless me, bless me…”
Liu Shuang muttered under his breath. He took a deep breath and mustered his courage. Just as he was about to turn on the light, something suddenly grabbed his ankle.
“Fuck!” Liu Shuang had no time to react. Whatever had seized his ankle was shockingly strong. It yanked him straight off his feet and dragged him into the cave.
“Brother Shuang!” Xia Susu screamed, covering her mouth.
Everyone saw Liu Shuang’s body suddenly topple backward. In the next instant, something dragged him into the cave, and he vanished from sight.