Chapter 109: Lost in the Snow Mountain 12

Chapter 109: Lost in the Snow Mountain 12

The eerie sound of static echoed within the wooden cabin.

No one could answer Kong Siming; everyone else was equally curious about the answer to his question.

Kong Siming had just gotten up from the floor when he immediately collapsed back down. "Whose corpses were those? We're clearly still alive, we... we..."

He looked around at everyone in the room with a lost expression, asking in a trembling voice, "We're still alive, right?"

Qin Fei silently observed Kong Siming's ashen face and feigned concern as he furrowed his brows. "What kind of question is that? Of course we're still alive. Well, it might not be what you think. Perhaps the radio broadcast was contaminated, which is why the content was wrong..."

His voice grew softer, and he appeared to be trying to save face.

The other players: "…"

Please, please shut up!

Kong Siming didn't understand what "contaminated" meant.

As an ordinary NPC, whenever he heard players discuss anything beyond his comprehension, the system would forcibly flatten his consciousness, preventing him from pondering philosophical questions like "Who am I, where am I, what's happening to this world?"

Kong Siming sat there in a daze, no one knew what he was thinking.

However, Qin Fei's words had significantly swayed the players' thoughts.

It would have been better if Qin Fei hadn't mentioned contamination.

But since he brought it up so seriously, everyone had to face a harsh reality.

The radio wasn't contaminated!

This was something the players had already confirmed before entering the cabin. After all, they had wandered around the Ostadia snow mountain for a day and night, yet their compasses and phones hadn't malfunctioned once.

The contamination in the snow mountain didn't affect electronic devices.

"The radio wasn't contaminated," Cen San Ya said, closing his eyes, his voice tinged with fatigue. "Apart from the compass and phone, in the post that Kong Siming read, the surveyor's camera also functioned normally in the snow mountain."

There was nothing wrong with the radio.

Nor was there anything wrong with the content of the broadcast.

The problem lay with them.

As a well-known mystic from the first guild, although Cen San Ya didn't speak much, no one dared to underestimate his occasional comments.

The air in the cabin seemed to solidify as the players silently looked at each other, their minds in turmoil—everyone except Qin Fei.

The despicable instigator stood in the corner, observing the floating progress bars in the air without showing any emotion.

Qin Fei now desperately wanted to grab Cen San Ya's hand and shout three thank-yous.

With Cen San Ya's unintentional assistance, including Ding Li, Duan Nan, and all members of Dawn Squad except Wu Meng, their taming values had skyrocketed to 20%.

The progress was unbelievably smooth. Qin Fei hadn't done anything, yet victory was in sight.

A small dimple filled with joy appeared on the young man's lips. His eyebrows slightly curved, and his beautiful almond eyes seemed to contain honey, instantly captivating a large number of viewers in the live stream chat.

"The streamer looks so mischievous."

"So mischievous but so charming, my wife is so sweet 5555—"

The audience licked their screens from behind the light barrier.

The players, however, weren't in such high spirits.

That radio broadcast hung over everyone's heads like a dark cloud.

The seven members of Dawn Squad huddled together, whispering in a secluded spot.

Wu Meng sat cross-legged on the ground, wiping his knife while asking in confusion, "Why did they suddenly start speaking in riddles? I can't understand what they're saying."

Qin Fei, who was eavesdropping behind Wu Meng: "…"

That explained why only Wu Meng from Dawn Squad remained so resolute, completely unaffected by him—it was because he had no idea what was going on!

Ying Huo looked at Wu Meng with a disappointed expression. "Are you stupid?"

Wu Meng felt indignant at being scolded, but seeing the others in the team looking at him with disdain, he could only ask Ying Huo pitifully, "What's going on?"

Ying Huo patiently instructed him. "Did you hear that radio broadcast from the radio?"

"Yeah, I heard it." Wu Meng nodded.

Ying Huo: "And you don't have any thoughts about it?"

Wu Meng: "Should I have some thoughts?"

Ying Huo slapped his thigh. "We might all be dead!"

He spoke a little too loudly, causing the nearby players to turn their heads to look at him.

Ying Huo quickly lowered his voice. "Think about whether that's what it means."

"But didn't the system announcement at the beginning of the instance say that there's only one dead player among us?" Wu Meng asked naively.

His thick head only had one thought, and once he latched onto something, it was hard for him to change his mind. He was also considerably slower than the others in reacting.

"The system said 'there is one,' but it didn't say 'only one,'" Ying Huo replied. "Otherwise, how do you explain those corpses?"

Wu Meng: "There are so many monsters in the snow mountain. If people can enter Ostadia Hill from Mount Toromond, then the monsters can also come out from here to Mount Toromond."

Perhaps those few corpses were conjured by the snow mountain, just to confuse the players and the ordinary people outside.

Qin Fei felt that Wu Meng was probably onto something.

The mission Qin Fei had received could already explain everything. At least up until now, he was indeed the only one among the players who had died, while everyone else was worrying over nothing.

But Ying Huo didn't think so.

Ying Huo was convinced of his deduction: "It's definitely not that simple!"

The副本's conspiracies were endless, and it was better to believe in every trap than to doubt its existence!

"You listen to me, when have I ever lied to you?" Ying Huo said earnestly.

The live chat was in hysterics.

"Hahahahahaha, save me, I'm dying of laughter."

"Huo, listen to your brother's advice, use your fists more and your brain less!"

"A-Huo, you haven't lied to Wu Meng, you've only lied to yourself (heart-wrenching)!"

Wu Meng's expression was a kaleidoscope of emotions. He was finally convinced, and his gaze at Ying Huo was filled with admiration:

"No wonder the captain always favors A-Huo, only discussing matters with him. A-Huo's brain is indeed better than mine!"

To be able to deduce such convoluted logic!

The remaining members of the Dawn Squad nodded in agreement.

Qin Fei watched as their domestication progress bar leaped forward after they had convinced themselves. He silently turned away.

No.

He couldn't peek anymore.

If he continued watching, he feared he would burst out laughing.

"Let's leave this place first," Wen Ren Liming suggested with difficulty.

Ying Huo's passionate speech had an unprecedented effect on his dear captain.

Wen Ren Liming now felt like a living dead man with one foot in the grave.

Wen Ren Liming felt like his head was about to split open.

If they were all truly "dead," could the system's mission for the "living" allow them to pass smoothly?

Wen Ren felt doubtful.

But he didn't know whether he was really dead or alive, nor did he know what the task of the dead camp was.

They could only take it step by step.

Wen Ren thought that perhaps once they checked off more points on the map and gained a deeper understanding of the snow mountain, everything would fall into place.

Mi Yang said, "This wooden house is the starting point of the entire snow mountain on the map. We'll set out from the wooden house, climb to the summit, then descend the mountain, and finally circle back along the base. That way, we can cover all five marked points on the map."

"Should we split up?" The Ripper Jack suddenly interjected, having been silent like a ghost.

Mi Yang was very wary of Jack and retorted without hesitation: "Split up? You want to go alone?"

Anyway, don't expect Little Qin to team up with him.

The Ripper Jack shut his mouth and remained silent.

Qin Fei gave Mi Yang an approving look with a smile, and Mi Yang snorted softly, turning his face away.

Qin Fei didn't mind and reminded them, "Before we leave, we'd better check this wooden house again."

When they entered the house, they were immediately drawn to the radio broadcast and the map on the wall, so they hadn't actually explored the room much.

In the next second, as if specifically to respond to Qin Fei's words, a sudden vibration came from the bottom of the wooden house.

"Bang!"

Snow and ice chips fell from the roof, the four walls were shaking, and the whole house seemed on the verge of collapsing.

The players were startled, and Ding Li hurriedly went to investigate, exclaiming in surprise in one corner of the wooden house: "There's a cellar here!"

That corner was covered with a filthy carpet, with a jujube red base, and a pattern shaped like an eye embroidered on it with black and white silk threads.

The edges of the carpet were adorned with long tassels, knotted and entangled into strands, resembling the slender legs of an arthropod.

Ding Li flipped the carpet over, revealing a large lock underneath.

Ding Li fiddled with it a few times but couldn't open it.

"Leave it to me." Wu Meng felt it was time for him to shine again.

A player as strong as a bull stepped forward with his giant sword, aimed at the position of the cellar's wooden board lock, and swung down fiercely!

"Bang!"

Another sound.

The sound of the blade hitting the lock coincided with the impact sound coming from underground.

Wu Meng felt the impact up close and his expression turned grim. "Spread out a bit. This thing isn't easy to deal with."

The players formed a circle around the cellar, and Wu Meng landed another blow. Metal clashed, sparks flew, and the lock on the entrance of the cellar fell off with a resounding thud.

In the blink of an eye, a massive shadow shot out from below!

It was a monster that wasn't too unfamiliar to the players present. Its humanoid body was bloated, its limbs long and thin like spider legs, its neck slender, and its head inflated like a balloon, distorting its facial features beyond recognition.

Diao Ming's nightmare from last night replayed itself, and he scrambled away in a panic.

But the monster from last night had already been killed by Wu Meng. This was a new one, with a new target—it had no interest in Diao Ming.

Without any surprise, it set its sights on Qin Fei.

Its eyes on that face seemed to be embedded after the fact, with most of the eyeball protruding outside the skin, covered by a layer of fleshy film.

Qin Fei couldn't see its gaze, but the feeling of being locked onto by the monster was like a stubborn rash that wouldn't go away.

Qin Fei had long come to terms with his ability to attract monsters. The moment the cellar door was breached, he dodged to the side.

The monster before him was large in stature, but not lacking in agility. Wu Meng threw a knife at the opportune moment, but it missed. The blade embedded itself deeply into the wooden wall of the cabin.

Mi Yang wanted to help, but she was pushed back by a crowd of people. All the players stood behind the monster, leaving Qin Fei alone to face its wrath.

Qin Fei's advantage lay in his quick reflexes and speed, but this situation wasn't conducive to running. It was clear that he couldn't outrun this thing.

Direct combat was also difficult.

The young man took out a bone whistle from his personal space and blew a sharp, clear note.

"Teacher An An's Bone Whistle: Digging in the little garden, digging, digging, digging, digging out little bones to make little flowers bloom! This is the favorite teaching tool of kindergarten teachers. Just blow this whistle, and even the most disobedient child will listen to you."

This was a prop Qin Fei obtained from the previous scenario. More accurately, it was something the Contaminant helped smuggle out for him.

At the time, the Contaminant told Qin Fei that this whistle was suitable for training ghost infants, as they fell under the category of "children."

The ghost infant usually listened to Qin Fei when outside the scenarios, but once inside, it was suppressed by the system's power, making it hard to utilize its full potential. It could only work intermittently, serving more as a mascot kept by Qin Fei's side.

With this whistle, everything changed.

The ghost infant could act like a true ghost bound by a master-servant contract, obeying Qin Fei's every command.

As the whistle sounded, the ghost infant was pulled out of its domain by an unknown force. Qin Fei gave it a look, signaling that the time for battle had arrived.

The ghost infant looked confused.

It was a dead child ghost, adept at dealing with malevolent spirits that existed in the form of yin souls. It was helpless against the snow mountain mutant monster standing before them, which was entirely corporeal.

Fortunately, the ghost infant was quite clever. After a moment's hesitation, it climbed onto the monster's neck, placing its tiny hands over the monster's eyes and pressing down forcefully without reservation!

The monster suddenly felt pain, its vision obstructed, and it let out a crazed scream.

Qin Fei seized the opportunity, grabbing the knife that Wu Meng had left stuck in the wall, pulling it out with force, and deftly slicing the monster's throat as he turned around.

Mucus mixed with blood splattered everywhere as the monster gasped and fell to the ground.

All this happened within mere seconds.

Wen Ren Liming's innate weapon was a bow and crossbow. He wanted to help earlier, but the narrow terrain made it difficult to do so, causing him to jump anxiously in the back.

Wu Meng was in a similar predicament. His attack missed, and before he could attempt another, the battle had already ended.

A group of people stood dumbfounded behind the monster. As the massive creature collapsed, the young man holding the long knife came into view.

Qin Fei's expression was calm as he stepped forward and returned the knife to Wu Meng. "Thank you for your knife."

If not for the sharpness of this knife, Qin Fei would have never been able to kill the monster with the small dagger from the System Store.

Wu Meng was stunned, still processing what had just happened.

When reality hit him, his eyes widened dramatically. "Y-you-you-you-you..."

How could you use my innate weapon??

A player's innate weapon was different from those found in the System Store; it was a derivative of their soul. Other players would be mentally suppressed by the weapon's owner if they touched it.

In other words, only the owner could use an innate weapon.

Unless there was a significant disparity in strength between the wielder and the taker, akin to an A-level player attempting to snatch an F-level player's innate weapon, success would be unlikely.

Wu Meng stared at his long sword, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

Qin Fei lifted his eyelids calmly and looked at him. "Ah, didn't I say that my mental immunity is quite high?"

Wu Meng: ?????

That couldn't possibly be THAT high, could it? This was already defying the heavens!

Moreover, having high mental immunity was one thing, but wielding a knife to slay monsters with such proficiency suggested that his combat skills were also considerable.

Was there any room left for others to live??

When Wu Meng first met Qin Fei, he saw him as thin and frail, assuming he was nothing more than a pretty vase. Now, realizing that the person opposite him was an all-around powerhouse who could outshine him in every aspect, it was hard for him to accept the truth. With a wail, he covered his face and retreated to a corner, sulking.

Qin Fei: "…"

I'm really not as powerful as you think. Don't overthink it!!

In any case, the monster was dead.

The players huddled around, still shaken from their experiences.

Last night, when Wu Meng killed the monster, it was chaos. With Diao Ming fleeing and the dense forest in pursuit, no one had time to pay attention to the corpse in the snow.

This time, however, things were different.

Wu Meng reached out to turn the creature over and over, examining it closely.

A foul-smelling liquid oozed from the creature's split mouth, which seemed to have a slight corrosive effect, sizzling as it hit the floor.

The creature before them resembled a human but was vastly different. Naked, it lacked any discernible sexual organs.

Qin Fei stared at the junction between the creature's neck and shoulders, where he had struck a blow. Underneath the wound, there was a dark pattern on the skin, its original design now indiscernible.

"What do you see there?" Ding Li, with his keen eyesight, probed the blood seeping from the creature's wound with a small dagger from the System Store. The tip of the blade picked up a thin, hair-like object.

"…Hair?" Mi Yang covered her nose and leaned in for a closer look, quickly refuting, "No."

It was softer and finer than hair.

Although stained by blood, it could be faintly discerned that the thread was originally grayish-white.

Ding Li bit his lower lip, suggesting, "Should we cut this open to take a look?"

There was something strange about the creature's body. How could there be threads in its blood?

Without hesitation, Wu Meng swiftly sliced the creature's body in half down the middle of its chest.

Masses of its internal tissues flowed out onto the ground, spreading out as the entire body rapidly shriveled.

The players, stepping through the filth, were too engrossed to feel disgust.

"This…" Mi Yang drew a sharp breath.

Inside the creature's body was a vast hollow cavity.

No organs, no bones—nothing that a normal living being should have.

Apart from the tissue fluid and blood, there were only large bundles of threads.

"There seems to be something wrapped inside these threads." Ding Li's face scrunched up like a bun as he stretched out his arm to pick up a bundle of threads.

Indeed, there was something inside, black and shriveled, its original shape unrecognizable.

Perhaps it had lost its life along with the creature's death.

The players, bent over, sifted through the mess on the ground, picking out those objects and placing them aside on the ground.

"I really can't tell what they are," Mi Yang observed, arms crossed after a long moment.

It would be best if they could find a way to see what they looked like alive.

Qin Fei lowered his gaze. He continued searching the ground for clues, his gloved fingers suddenly pausing upon touching something.

Wen Ren suggested, "Let's check inside the cellar."

Qin Fei withdrew his hand.

The young man's expression remained unchanged as he stood up, responding as if nothing had happened, "We should indeed go down and take a look."

The entrance to the pitch-black cellar exuded coldness. A rusty ladder clung to one side of the wall, extending downward into the darkness.

The bloodstains on the ground flowed into the cellar entrance, which was slightly sunken and completely submerged in mucus.

"We should have dragged the monster outside before cutting it open," Diao Ming complained, reluctant to touch the ladder stained with blood.

He retreated, not wanting to descend, but Wen Ren Dawn grabbed him by the collar without expression and tossed him toward the cellar entrance.

Diao Ming: "…"

Diao Ming opened his mouth to silently curse.

He didn't dare provoke the Dawn Squad too much, fearing they might abandon him. Grumbling, he followed them down into the cellar.

Upon descending, they discovered that the situation below was different from what the players had imagined.

This wasn't a sealed space; it was more like a secret passage.

Not meticulously constructed either.

No walls, no floor—dug out of the snow, uneven and rough, as if excavated directly by hand.

"This hole doesn't look like it was dug by humans," Wen Ren remarked, sniffing and detecting a familiar faint stench in the snow tunnel.

The players took out their headlamps, piercing the snow tunnel with blinding light.

Qin Fei tightened the collar of his windbreaker, lifting his eyes to observe his surroundings.

The snow tunnel was indeed extremely crude. Recalling last night, when another creature appeared in plain sight inside the tent, the identity of the snow tunnel digger was now clear.

"How did they dig here from?" Ding Li felt along the sides of the snow walls.

The width of the snow tunnel varied greatly in different sections. In some places, it was barely wide enough for a single person to crawl through. The players formed a line, advancing slowly, with Wen Ren Dawn leading the way and Wu Meng bringing up the rear.

The temperature inside the snow tunnel was astonishingly low. Mi Yang felt as if ice chips were flowing through his veins. His gloves couldn't withstand the bitter cold. With each step, he breathed warm air onto his hands, muttering, "What if another monster comes from ahead?"

Qin Fei felt a chill at his words, wishing he wouldn't jinx them.

But his gaze caught something to the side, instantly drawing his attention.

It was unclear from which point it started, but numerous scratch-like marks began to appear in the snow cave.

Thin, elongated streaks of snow covered every corner of the snow cave, sprawling in all directions. They were densely packed, dividing the complete snow surface into fine sections akin to a spider web.

Qin Fei wasn't the only one who noticed these marks.

The thickest of the snow marks were no wider than a finger, while the finer ones were merely one or two millimeters wide. Some were straight, others curved, imbued with a sense of dynamism.

Wu Meng was taken aback. "Were these drawn?"

Ying Huo frowned. "It doesn't seem so."

These marks were too coherent.

Diao Ming scoffed. "What drawing? It's clear that something crawled past here. It should be—"

The word "snake" nearly slipped out.

Qin Fei reacted swiftly, covering Diao Ming's mouth in an instant.