Chapter 245: People Lost in the Mountains

Chapter 245: The Man Lost in the Mountains

"Yuanshi Tianzun, Yuanshi Tianzun..."

The voice drifted over on the wind, accompanied by the rustling "shasha" of branches and leaves, ethereal yet eerie.

In the gloomy dense forest where sunlight struggled to penetrate, suddenly hearing someone call his name was genuinely hair-raising.

How long had he walked before encountering danger? Do not respond... Zhang Yuanqing hadn't expected to run into the danger mentioned on the notice board so quickly; he maintained his forward pace, never pausing, pretending he hadn't heard the calls behind him.

But driven by curiosity, he manipulated the Blood Rose, turning his head to look back.

The scene behind him was terrifying; towering ancient trees swayed wildly in the wind with creaking groans, like giants baring fangs and brandishing claws.

Those calls echoed from between layers upon layers of foliage—only the voice was heard, no person seen.

Zhang Yuanqing manipulated the Blood Rose to turn its head back around and continued forward.

"Shasha..."

Treading on soil carpeted with rotting leaves, he walked like this for several minutes until the calls behind him finally ceased.

"It seems as long as I don't respond, there's no danger. Judging by the current situation, the precautions on the notice board are credible; in that case, the real crisis lies after reaching the central region?"

Zhang Yuanqing walked and pondered.

Based on the setting of 3 points per capita, in this killing instance, the instance's weight is still heavy; since that's the case, this instance is by no means simple.

Murderous intent inevitably lurks at every turn.

But instances where the main quest is survival all share a unified temperament—they don't give too many hints, requiring Spirit Realm Walkers to explore on their own.

[Ding! "Yu Long Nine Heavens" has died (Bewitching Demon), leaderboard reset, please check.]

[Ding! "White Elephant God" has died (Wood Demon), leaderboard reset, please check.]

[Ding! "Pile Driver" has died (Fire Master), leaderboard reset, please check.]

"Someone died this fast?"

Zhang Yuanqing hurriedly opened the leaderboard, discovering the total count had become 180; his ranking remained unchanged at 73rd, meaning the three dead Walkers were ranked below him.

Worth noting: first place shifted from Zhao Chenghuang to "Wei Wo Du Zun," with 9 points.

Second place, Zhao Chenghuang, 6 points.

Everyone else's points unchanged.

"Among the three dead Walkers, exactly one was an Evil class; if they were all killed by 'Wei Wo Du Zun,' that perfectly accounts for nine points. And if this guess is correct, then Zhao Chenghuang's point increase came from the instance."

Based on what I've observed so far, there's no source of point gain around me; no rush, the instance just started, early rankings are meaningless... Zhang Yuanqing turned his thoughts to the figure "Wei Wo Du Zun."

Killing both Lawful and Chaotic Evil alike, this guy is clearly leaning toward Chaos; the deeper he goes, the higher the probability of encountering other Spirit Realm Walkers, and among them, the chance of running into official colleagues is one in five.

Factor in that Night Rose has moles planted in the officials...

Zhang Yuanqing decided to hide himself first; he took out a rarely used artifact—a Disguise Ring.

Putting on the ring, he raised a hand to cover his face, gently kneading; his rather handsome features distorted like phantoms, then shifted into an ordinary, mediocre face.

Wang Tai!

To hide oneself well, being too handsome or too ugly simply won't do; one must admit, a face as utterly unremarkable as Wang Tai's—the kind that vanishes into a crowd as if activating a stealth mode—is perfectly suited for the task.

He had just finished disguising his features when his ear twitched, catching the heavy, crunching footsteps of someone snapping dead branches not far to his left.

He whipped his head around instantly, only to see a middle-aged man clad in a black mountaineering suit, a hiking pack on his back, leaning on a wooden staff, walking with his head bowed.

Not a Spirit Realm Walker, but a character from the instance... Zhang Yuanqing immediately recalled the precaution against making eye contact and promptly shifted his gaze away.

At the same time, he opened his mouth to probe:

"Uncle, hello. I'm a tourist from outside the mountains. I've lost my way."

"A tourist from outside the mountains?" The middle-aged man hurried over. "You're from outside the mountains? How do you get out? Tell me quickly, tell me quickly..."

Zhang Yuanqing, glancing down at a forty-five-degree angle, couldn't see the man's expression, but judging by his voice, the middle-aged man seemed excited, agitated, upon hearing he was from outside.

"I'm very sorry. I'm lost too, and looking for a way out." Zhang Yuanqing replied.

Upon hearing this, the light in the middle-aged man's eyes instantly extinguished, replaced by disappointment and dejection. He said gloomily:

"I've been trapped in these mountains for six days. My companions are all scattered. I don't know how much longer I can hold on. If we can't find a way out, everyone in the entire city will die trapped in these deep mountains."

Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing knew the plot had arrived.

"Uncle, what do you mean by that? Is there a city in the mountains?" he asked.

The middle-aged man nodded, then sighed:

"It's not that there's a city in the mountains, but that this mountain range shouldn't exist at all."

Zhang Yuanqing maintained his downward gaze and said:

"I'm an outsider. I don't understand much. Could you tell me about it?"

The middle-aged man seemed tired from walking; he leaned against a tree and sighed:

"About two months ago, a mountain range suddenly appeared outside the city where I lived. These mountains surrounded the city like an iron barrel. We couldn't find a way out, and communication devices stopped working.

"Everyone endured in the city for two months. Food and drinking water gradually ran out, and order began to collapse—looting, murder, bullying the weak...

"Seeing that no rescuers were entering the city, in order to survive, the survivors organized four teams, setting out in four different directions to find a path out of the mountains and call for help from the outside world.

"My team was responsible for exploring south. We all had rich wilderness survival experience; ordinary wilderness couldn't trap us. But who would have thought that on the very first night we entered the forest, something happened to the team..."

South? My current location is south of the Lost City... Zhang Yuanqing confirmed the direction and asked:

"What happened?"

The middle-aged man revealed a look of terror, as if dredging up a horrific memory, and said:

"That very night, a team member went missing.

"According to the person who shared a tent with him, that night, the missing member said he heard someone calling his name. The voice sounded like his mother, who had been dead for many years.

"But the tentmate heard nothing. After trekking all day, everyone was exhausted. The companion didn't think much of it and fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, we discovered the man was gone."

A mother dead for years calling out to him... This instance has supernatural elements too? Or perhaps it was an illusion. That missing man must have responded to the call, which is why he disappeared.

Zhang Yuanqing mused silently, then asked, "Did you try looking for him?"

The middle-aged man nodded.

"The next morning, the captain organized a search that lasted a long while, but we found nothing. We had a mission to carry out, and our food and water were limited, so we had no choice but to abandon him and press on.

"We got our bearings and headed due south. By the time dusk fell, we found a spot to make camp. The captain ordered everyone to gather firewood. I was picking up branches when a sudden scream pierced the air. We rushed over to investigate and found one of our men slumped at the foot of an ancient tree, trembling violently, pointing at the trunk—scared nearly witless."

As he spoke, the man's expression grew ever more horrified, his face draining of color—a pity Zhang Yuanqing could see none of it.

He said, "That tree had grown a human face. It was the comrade who vanished last night."

A comrade's face, grown into a tree? That was more sinister than any ghost story. So the true danger in this forest was the trees? A thought struck Zhang Yuanqing.

"Uncle, on my way into the mountains, I saw a notice board set up outside. Was that your doing?"

The middle-aged man froze. "What notice board?"

...Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank.