Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God

Chapter 667: Destination and Curse

"So... this is the 'escort item'?"Hearing Lin Yu's words, Snowy Owl, Seagull, and High Mountain all looked incredulous, expressions of shock spreading across their faces.

"This escort team's cargo is actually a corpse... no, it's not even a full one, just a mutilated piece of a body," High Mountain said, astonished. "Why would that be?"

But after scrutinizing it more closely, Seagull was the first to notice something extraordinary about the thing behind Lin Yu.

"How bizarre... could this thing be alive?"

Having studied under the great shaman of the Black Marsh world, Seagull did have some skill.

Lin Yu nodded. "Yes, this thing is alive."

"Even if it's alive, even if there's something strange about it," Snowy Owl said, still confused, "how does it connect to Willow Town and the spider demon?"

"That I don't know," Lin Yu shook his head. "But I did learn a bit about this thing's origin from some NPCs."

As he spoke, Lin Yu unfastened the Mutilated Body from his back, holding it by an arm and presenting it to the three of them. "This mutilated remains belonged to a martial arts expert nicknamed 'Blade Demon' named Xie Chong..."

Then, Lin Yu briefly recounted Xie Chong's story, which he had heard from Chen Yuanye, to the trio.

Hearing Lin Yu's retelling, all three understood.

"What a twisted tale," Seagull sighed. "Though Xie Chong was a demon, he was still quite a figure."

"Who asked you to listen to stories?" Snowy Owl gave Seagull a helpless look. "Focus—think about how Xie Chong is connected to Willow Town and the spider demon."

"How the hell would I figure that out?"

Seagull pursed his lips. "This story just sounds like a martial arts master's love and hatred, nothing about Willow Town or demons."

Li Nian also let out a sigh. "Looks like the three of you don't have deep roots or much activity in Prison Mountain. You're not very familiar with the Prison Mountain Realm's various situations either..."

While experienced players generally have a basic understanding of each world and the dungeons within the Ten Realms, they usually only have deep knowledge of one or two worlds where they've established the most presence.

Among the six known realms, having one realm of deep involvement and two of moderate familiarity was typical for most players.

Few players could recount every world's details like a treasure trove—figures like Xie Chong, though relatively famous in the Prison Mountain Realm, were active twenty years ago, only resurfaced two years ago to die soon after, and were known only in specific circles and regions. Ordinary people were unlikely to know about them.

It was like Alt Mercury of the Wasteland Realm—a big shot in Sleepless City, but if someone posted on the forum asking who he really was, there wouldn't be many who could answer.

"If only Old Zhou were here,"

Li Nian couldn't help but lament.

Someone familiar with the Prison Mountain Realm might know more about Xie Chong and the martial world here, maybe even deduce useful information from what they already had.

But... obviously, none of the six present had that ability.

Even with the new three joining, their knowledge of the Prison Mountain Realm was still limited.

"With just this information, I'm afraid we can't sort out any useful clues," High Mountain said calmly, displaying the excellent professionalism of a frontline officer. "We need to gather more information and conduct more investigations."

Lin Yu nodded. "Exactly, that's why we were heading in this direction—even without seeing the commotion you caused, we were still moving this way."

"Because based on the information we gathered... this Mutilated Body probably has something else somewhere northwest of Twin Saw Mountain, likely in a building resembling a Taoist temple."

Hearing Lin Yu's words, Seagull and the others exchanged glances.

"A Taoist temple? We actually saw one!"

"It's not far from the mountain stronghold where we started."

Seagull said this, and Lin Yu spoke with some surprise. "There really is one? Do you still remember where?"

After all, Lin Yu could only be certain of the general direction, and the map was a hundred years old—whether it was reliable was anyone's guess.

If someone could directly guide them, the efficiency would increase significantly.

Seagull shook his head.

Snowy Owl looked at the surrounding spider silk and spiders, her face troubled.

"Without these damn things, I might be able to navigate... but now, I have no idea."

However, High Mountain gave a definitive answer.

"I should still remember the way, but the journey is quite far. To get there..."

He looked at Li Nian, hesitated for a moment, then spoke normally. "Uh, Master Thief ma'am, how much longer can your Mermaid's Lament last?"

This time, Li Nian glanced at the sculpture in her hand and gave a direct answer.

"Oh... this? Not much longer."

"Not much longer means how long?"

Snowy Owl frowned and asked.

"It means... five, four, three, two, one..."

Li Nian suddenly counted down, and then—

The sculpture's light abruptly dimmed, and the singing cut off.

The invisible barrier vanished, and Flying Knife cried out in alarm.

"How did it suddenly stop!"

The spiders that had been constantly battering against the barrier, blocked outside, suddenly lost their obstacle, surging in with the pale spider silk toward the six within the barrier.

"Damn it!"

Snowy Owl cursed under her breath, then drew her long blade and swung it.

"Shhh—!"

The blade sliced through the air, biting cold condensing into a near-physical blade glow that instantly cut through most of the spiders and silk.

This cold blade glow was significantly less effective in the Fire Hell, but even so, it managed to drive back most of the demons.

But Snowy Owl seemed worse for wear—after striking, dense black thorny patterns emerged on her arm, and fine beads of blood seeped from the patterns.

Lin Yu watched this, and Old Zheng spoke.

"Whoa... she's got a high-tier curse on her. No wonder you got matched with this seemingly not-so-simple Third Tier. It's because her strength is handicapped."

"Considering this girl's from the Night Watchmen, that curse was probably inflicted by that Adler guy."

"Anyway, the good news is that in this Competition dungeon, she can probably only use at most half her power now."

"The bad news is, you don't have to compete with her anymore—you've become teammates."

Old Zheng said quickly, and Lin Yu sighed.

"True. If she were a fully capable, powerful Third Tier, she wouldn't be so messed up by these spiders and silk."

"As things stand, I'll have to step in."

Lin Yu turned to Li Nian and extended his hand.

"Give me that sculpture in your hand."