Chapter 115: Lost in the Snow Mountain 18

Chapter 115: Lost in the Snow Mountain 18

Darkness and silence surrounded them.

Despite being at the heart of the snow mountain, this dense forest seemed to exist independently from it. Not a single snowflake landed on the players standing within its bounds.

Qin Fei lifted his head. Beyond the forest, the blizzard continued unabated.

The swirling snowflakes, carried by the fierce wind into vortex-like formations, touched an invisible barrier when they approached the bare tree trunks. Not a single flake managed to penetrate into the forest.

Mi Yang and Wen Ren walked together towards the temple's entrance.

There was no lock on the door, but the panels were tightly closed, with red halos seeping out from between the two halves of the door and the gaps in the bricks that made up the walls.

Mi Yang didn't dare to reach out rashly.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that the photos Kong Siming had saved couldn't capture even a tenth of the strangeness of the temple's door.

The material of the wing pattern on the door couldn't be discerned by the naked eye. It had a flowing luster as if it were alive.

Mi Yang's eyes flickered; he thought he saw the eyes on the wings blink.

But when he looked closely again, everything was as it had been before.

"…I always feel like these eyes are watching me," Mi Yang's arm hairs stood on end.

No matter which direction he went, whenever he turned around, he could always meet the gaze of those eyes.

What kind of entity could have built such a temple in this desolate, uninhabited snow mountain?

Wen Ren felt uneasy looking at the door, so after a few glances, he left and led the rest of the Dawn Squad around the temple for inspection.

The temple was constructed from massive blocks, each more than half a person tall. The overall height was about five or six meters, with a neat layout and not a particularly large footprint.

After circling the temple once, Wen Ren returned to his original spot. "I didn't find any rules."

Apart from the door, there were neither words nor patterns on the other parts of the temple's exterior walls.

"Should we go in first?" Mi Yang suggested.

Since the rules confined them to spend a night in the temple, it was unlikely that they would be killed upon entering.

Wen Ren subconsciously turned to look at Qin Fei, only to see him looking down, his fist half-closed, staring at his bent knuckles, lost in thought.

Wen Ren's gaze briefly passed over the black crystal ring on his hand without lingering.

In the game world, players who reached high levels usually had a few handy items in their possession.

The mall wouldn't have anything good, even the A-level mall was the same.

Good items were all brought out by the players themselves from the instances.

Wen Ren couldn't tell what use this ring had, but it must be something extraordinary.

Qin Fei noticed Wen Ren's gaze, but he didn't look back.

The black crystal ring was heating up intermittently between his fingers.

Qin Fei tried to communicate with the source of pollution, calling out in his mind or gently tapping the ring.

But he received no response.

Qin Fei didn't dare to do more, as the live broadcast was ongoing.

On the other side of the light screen, in addition to tens of thousands of viewers, the system might also be closely monitoring everything within the instance world.

In the instance world, the system was omnipresent like air. The black crystal ring could isolate the source of pollution's aura, preventing it from being detected by the system.

Using the ring to secretly transmit some information might already be the extent of what it could do.

So, what did it want to tell him?

Qin Fei's expression was inscrutable.

With no clear understanding of the situation inside the temple, Wu Meng drew his long knife and slowly pushed open the temple's door with the handle.

The players extinguished their headlamps and flashlights, cautiously crossing the threshold and entering the temple's interior.

Fine dust particles floated in the air, untouched by human presence for a long time. Several players couldn't help sneezing, hastily covering their mouths and noses.

Inside, there was no movement, only the sounds of the players' clothes rustling and their breathing as they shifted their feet.

After a minute, Wen Ren adjusted his flashlight to the lowest brightness and pressed the switch.

In the dim beam of light and the snowlight refracting from outside, the players finally got a clear view of the temple's interior.

Like the exterior walls, the temple's interior was extremely simple. The square space was spacious, undecorated, with the floor paved with large stone slabs.

Facing the entrance was a stone platform, above which the statue of a giant red-eyed moth stood silently in the darkness.

"Puff—"

A brief and faint burning sound came from below the platform.

It was a candle that suddenly lit up, emitting a not-so-intense red glow.

Wu Meng, who was closest, took a sudden step back.

But nothing happened. The candle burned for a while and then went out.

It reignited after a moment.

This seemed to be the red glow that the players had seen outside the temple earlier.

But why, from such close proximity, was this faint light able to reach so far?

The compound-eyed moth on the high altar looked down at those who had intruded into the temple.

With the help of the flashlight and candlelight, Ding Li's sharp eyes made a new discovery. "There seems to be a line of text under that stone sculpture!"

"Bloodstains must not be seen in the presence of the divine."

He squinted slightly as he read out these words softly.

These words sounded familiar; there was a similar rule in Snow Village's overnight stay rules.

Such a rule restrained infighting among the players, but similarly, if monsters attacked, the players who couldn't retaliate would become very passive.

Everyone became tense.

The players began patrolling inside the temple, but after a full circle, they still found nothing.

The sentence under the statue became the only known rule for tonight.

Wen Ren Dawn closed the temple gates, and everyone sat quietly in a row along the wall.

Tonight's task was to spend the night in the temple, and no matter what happened next, they could not leave this temple.

Qin Fei hung his head low, sitting in the corner.

The ring was heating up again, burning the skin on his finger, yet leaving no trace behind.

Would the fragment of the Contaminant Source be hidden in this temple?

Or was there some crucial clue here?

Qin Fei suddenly stood up.

"Eh, where are you going?" Mi Yang reached out to grab Qin Fei, but the young man had already walked a few steps away as his clothes slipped through her hands.

He turned around, looking at Mi Yang expressionlessly. "To pee. Do you want to come with me?"

Mi Yang: "…"

Mi Yang said sullenly, "No, go by yourself."

No one believed he wanted to pee, but since Qin Fei clearly didn't want to deal with her, Mi Yang didn't force herself to follow him.

It was still early, and they had just taken a nap in the afternoon. Everyone wasn't sleepy now, nor did they dare sleep in an unfamiliar map. The players dispersed in twos and threes after a few minutes.

Cen San Ya and Jack the Ripper leaned against the corner of the wall, closing their eyes to rest.

A few members of the Dawn Squad went to the most conspicuous place inside the temple, under the dusty moth sculpture, to see if there were any clues.

Wu Meng, Ying Huo, and Wen Ren Dawn gathered on the other side, chatting quietly about something.

Qin Fei walked along the wall alone, his pace slow, stopping every now and then.

The other players didn't understand what he was doing.

It didn't seem like he was looking for clues; his eyes stared blankly into space, not looking like he was observing carefully at all.

Ding Li looked at Qin Fei, then at the Dawn Squad near the moth sculpture, and ultimately chose to continue sitting where he was.

His heart pounded in his chest, beating too fast. Ding Li had to admit that he was nervous.

Although this temple was small enough to see through at a glance, in fact, everyone present knew:

Tonight was destined not to be a peaceful night.

There were too few rules, and the players couldn't deduce any clues from them.

The unknown was always more unsettling than a set fear.

Ding Li felt like he was sitting in his seat before the college entrance exam, waiting for the papers to be distributed. He was so nervous that he wanted to vomit.

Were there any clues they hadn't found yet?

What did the red candlelight symbolize?

Where had those moths that flew in gone?

Ding Li knew he should stand up and join the team exploring the temple, but his legs were a bit weak, and his stomach was very uncomfortable.

He admitted it; he was scared.

Players in the instances would always be like this, the longer they stayed, the tighter their emotions would become, like frightened birds, terrified every second.

Ding Li breathed quietly.

Suddenly, a hand patted his shoulder from behind. "Hey!"

Ding Li was startled, almost screaming!

Fortunately, his hands covered his mouth quickly enough. His whole body shuddered, nearly shaking his glasses off his nose.

Who was it!?

Ding Li turned around with dissatisfaction.

The person who appeared behind them was Guliang.

Guliang was a tall and skinny young man, thin and not much of a talker. For the past two days, he had been following Ding Li and Ah Hui obediently.

When Ding Li saw that it was him, he was taken aback for a moment before asking, "What's up?"

He had formed an impression of Guliang as introverted and refined, and he assumed that if there wasn't anything important, Guliang wouldn't approach him.

However, Guliang didn't answer immediately. He tilted his chin slightly, looking somewhat mysterious, and pulled Ding Li to sit beside Duan Nan and Ah Hui, who were nearby.

"Don't you guys think there's something off about Xiao Qin?"

His first words were startling.

The other three hadn't expected Guliang to bring this up, and they couldn't help but frown upon hearing his words.

"What's wrong with him?" Ah Hui, straightforward and quick to speak, asked directly.

Guliang replied, "There's a big problem! Have you ever wondered why all of us were confused by the dense forest, yet only he could remain clear-headed?"

Ah Hui blinked her eyes. "Because his mental immunity is high."

Guliang countered, "After being in a high-level instance for so long, don't you realize that no matter how high one's mental immunity is, it can only go so far? Players can't possibly shield themselves from all the mental pollution in the instance!"

Players are human, not gods.

"Even A-grade or S-grade players can't reach such a level."

Moreover, everyone knew that Xiao Qin had only been a D-grade player not long ago.

"And there's more."

Under the red candlelight, Guliang's facial skin reflected a faint glow.

The shadow of the gray moth sculpture fell on him, dividing light and darkness. Even his voice became unusually solemn.

"The attitude of the NPCs towards him is also strange."

Guliang suppressed his tone, but the excitement in his eyes couldn't be concealed.

Anyone facing a life-or-death situation would find it hard to calm their emotions.

"That NPC, Kong Siming, ignored all of us but placed special trust in him. Don't you find that odd?"

Unlike Dawn Squad, who found Kong Siming later, Guliang and the others had seen Kong Siming at the same time as Qin Fei.

Over the past two days, Guliang had replayed the scene countless times in his mind, only to repeatedly come to the same conclusion:

Qin Fei hadn't deliberately done anything to curry favor with the NPC.

He just stood there, spoke, and the NPC treated him completely differently than the rest of them.

"Isn't this enough to prove that there's something wrong with his identity?" Guliang questioned.

"Uh..." This time, even Ah Hui didn't know what to say.

Within the instance, NPCs and players were natural enemies, a fact known to all.

Thinking about it, Xiao Qin did seem suspicious.

"I think he's the hidden dead among us."

Guliang said this with unusual seriousness.

In the live streams of several players, a row of "..." scrolled across the screen.

Although it was true, brother, you're overthinking it. Xiao Qin hadn't lied; he just had high mental immunity and was favored by the NPCs.

It wasn't like he could pretend to be stupid!

"It's quite impressive, arriving at the correct answer through a completely flawed reasoning process."

"But isn't it a bit too late to reveal this now? The advantage has already been seized by the other side. I think the living faction doesn't have much hope anymore."

"Might as well just lie down and join the dead faction."

"In fact, Guliang is still perceptive. It's just a matter of how the other players will react."

Ah Hui's eyebrows rose slightly. "So, what do you plan to do?"

Guliang bit his lip. "I've been observing, and since this morning, his communication frequency with Dawn Squad has significantly increased."

Guliang suspected that Dawn Squad had already been swayed by Xiao Qin.

"And that Mi Yang, they must have known each other before entering the instance."

This was easy to see.

Mi Yang was also untrustworthy.

This was why Guliang had approached Ding Li and the others. As for the remaining players, he either didn't trust them or wasn't confident he could persuade them.

Guliang didn't know what he should do.

If Dawn Squad had indeed sided with Xiao Qin, as he suspected, then adding Mi Yang to the mix, their combat power would be overwhelmingly dominant.

How could he, a C-grade player, possibly compete?

Guliang hesitated before suggesting, "Why don't we see what Xiao Qin plans to do for now?"

Qin Fei circled the temple stealthily by himself, and Guliang felt that he had ill intentions.

"We don't know what missions the Deceased faction has."

Guliang was worried. "Places like temples are very sinister. What if he plans to use us for sacrificial rituals or something like that..."

This was why Guliang took the risk of revealing everything to the three people; he feared it would be too late if he didn't speak up now.

There were four of them, and one Qin Fei.

Guliang believed that as long as they all worked together, there was nothing to fear.

"If he really intends to do something, we'll find a way to restrain him first."

Once they dealt with him, the others on his side would definitely be wary. There would still be room for negotiation.

Guliang thought his plan was very meticulous.

More importantly, they had no other choice.

But what he didn't expect was that after Ding Li and the other two heard him out, they all remained silent, merely looking at him.

In the dimly lit room, their faces were half-hidden in the shadows.

The distant light projected their silhouettes onto the wall behind them, making them appear huge and menacing.

Guliang suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

"You guys..."

He took a step back, gritted his teeth, and said, "Forget it, if you're not going, I'll go myself!"

He was sure he could find evidence that Xiao Qin was from the Deceased faction.

And there was also Cen San Ya and Jack the Ripper.

Both were A-level players.

But when facing these two, he couldn't just blurt out his suspicions like he did with Ding Li and the others.

Guliang left quickly, his steps unsteady, heading towards where Qin Fei had been. He bent down and carefully examined the traces on the floor inch by inch.

Duan Nan watched Guliang's back and lowered his voice. "What do you think about what he just said?"

Ding Li remained silent.

Ah Hui frowned. "Actually, it makes sense, but..."

But these things weren't hard to see.

Why did Guliang feel that only he had noticed something was off?

Ah Hui believed she wasn't alone.

Ding Li, Duan Nan, and many other players had already discovered what made Xiao Qin special.

But they had no choice.

Ding Li nodded. "Actually, I also felt that something was wrong with him, but besides getting along with him, we have no other options."

Xiao Qin was the only lifeline they had to escape the pursuit of the dense forest.

If it weren't for him, the entire player team would have been wiped out last night.

What bargaining chips did they have against him?

Guliang's suspicion wasn't unique to him, but everyone else hadn't dared to voice it either, only harboring their thoughts silently.

"It's an unsolvable situation," Ding Li sighed. "I've heard before that the Snow Mountain instance is rarely opened and its difficulty is very high, but I didn't expect it to be this extreme."

A flurry of comments appeared on the live stream.

"It's not actually like that..."

"It's all because Xiao Qin has thrown everything off course. It's my first time seeing a Snow Mountain instance where no one has been devoured by the dense forest so far into the game."

A player watching the Snow Mountain live stream for the first time was confused. "What do you mean? What do you mean?"

The comments answered, "Their previous conclusions were correct. The dense forest chases them because they violated the rule of 'not being called by name in the Snow Mountain.'"

"But they got one thing wrong. The dense forest doesn't endlessly devour people."

The dense forest devours only one person per day.

As long as a player dies in the dense forest, the remaining players can escape the contaminated state.

But Qin Fei was too much of a bug. His mental immunity was so high that the instance couldn't handle him. With Qin Fei's help, the dense forest failed to devour anyone, which was why it relentlessly pursued them throughout the night.

"In the past, I've watched the Snow Mountain instances a few times. Because the rules are revealed too late, the players always expose their names. But except for the first night when they were still figuring out the rules, every subsequent night, the dense forest's pursuit turns into an internal conflict among the players."

Players would adopt various methods to internally elect the weakest "sacrifice."

They would sacrifice him to ensure peace for everyone else.

In this instance, however, due to Qin Fei's existence, everyone was still largely ignorant about the dense forest's pursuit rules.

Ding Li continued, "Actually, today's change in attitude from Dawn Squad towards Xiao Qin has somewhat relieved my worries."

The Dawn Squad was as alert and behaved exactly the same as yesterday, indicating that they were not under any control.

If they had truly been turned by Little Qin, it could only mean that they had sincerely chosen to be on the same side as him.

"No one would consult with the dead. I believe that the camp of the deceased can also clear the stage, and perhaps even offer more generous terms."

If that were the case.

Ding Li found himself somewhat envious of the Dawn Squad.

...

Unbeknownst to him, Qin Fei was at the center of a secret discussion about him.

He was fully focused on sensing the ring in his hand.

Waves of intense heat assaulted him, intensifying when he stepped in a certain direction and quickly diminishing when he turned away.

This was an interesting method of communication. Qin Fei was now certain that the source of pollution was guiding him.

He shifted to the left.

And then some more.

There seemed to be something on the wall. Qin Fei reached out to feel it, but the rapidly cooling temperature of the ring told him he was mistaken.

He continued walking forward.

Guliang treaded lightly, following silently behind Qin Fei.

Players who had reached level C all had their unique skills,

Despite being so close, Qin Fei was completely unaware that someone was trailing him.

"Come take a look, there's something here!"

Behind the gray moth statue, Zou Hu from the Dawn Squad suddenly called out.

Qin Fei, who had been squatting on the ground searching for something, immediately stood up and hurried over.

But Guliang hesitated and didn't move.

All the players in the temple had gone to the statue, much to Guliang's delight.

Little Qin had spent a long time feeling around on the floor, looking as if he had finally found his target. Before leaving, he seemed to be planning to lift the tile.

Guliang struggled to contain his excitement as he squatted down and tried to pry the tile loose.

The others' exclamations came from behind the gray moth statue. While Guliang was struggling with the tile, he strained to listen to their conversation.

They were facing away from him, so Guliang couldn't see what they were doing at all. He could only barely discern from the actions of a few people on the side that they seemed to be looking at something beneath the stone pedestal.

There appeared to be something inscribed on it.

"Is this a moth?"

"Holy sh*t, what are these moths doing??"

They seemed to have seen a horrifying scene, each person's expression indescribably complex.

"I finally know what was inside Diao Ming's stomach."

Mi Yang said in a dazed tone, his expression extremely peculiar. As he spoke, his Adam's apple moved as if he wanted to retch but forcibly suppressed the urge.

Guliang was dying with curiosity!

The stone slab beneath his hands did indeed seem loose, further confirming Guliang's earlier guess.

As he craned his neck to try and hear more from the statue, he applied more force with his hands.

Snap.

Snap.

The signs of the stone slab loosening became increasingly apparent.

"Holy sh*t, how is this bug trying to burrow into someone's eye!!"

"So disgusting..."

The players over there were still staring at the statue.

What had they found that required such extensive analysis?

Guliang grew increasingly anxious. He was just short of the final push needed to lift the stone tile, so he held his breath and exerted all his strength!

To his surprise, the hard stone shattered into several pieces in his hands.

Flying shards grazed his cheek, leaving a warm trail as they fell to the ground.

Guliang's breath caught, and his eyes widened abruptly.

An overwhelming wave of terror instantly engulfed him!