Chapter 123: Lost in the Snow Mountains (Conclusion)

Chapter 123: Lost in the Snow Mountains (Conclusion)

The elongated object that drifted along with the current clearly showed no signs of life.

Qin Fei gripped Mi Yang's shoulder and reached forward, grasping the thing in his palm.

Upon seeing it, Mi Yang's expression suddenly changed dramatically.

"This... came floating up from below?" Mi Yang frowned, unwilling to believe what he was seeing.

"What is this thing?" Qin Fei slightly raised his eyebrows. Mi Yang's reaction was unexpected, and he began to carefully examine the object in his hand.

It was flesh-colored, flat, and looked somewhat like a shoelace.

When he pulled on it, it had a slight elasticity.

It was evident that not long ago, it had been a living creature, but now it was dead.

Qin Fei understood: "Is it a bug?"

Mi Yang pursed his lips: "Yes, this is the same kind of bug we saw depicted in the murals at the Jungle Temple, the larval form of the red-eyed moth before hatching."

"Hold on... you didn't encounter these bugs when you arrived?" Mi Yang couldn't resist asking.

Qin Fei shook his head honestly.

Mi Yang couldn't help but let out a soft hiss.

He had nearly died in the passage due to these bugs. Looking at Jack the Ripper, although his wounds weren't as exaggerated as Mi Yang's, it was clear he had also been attacked by the bugs.

Except for Little Qin.

Mi Yang's gaze swept over Qin Fei from top to bottom: "You walked all the way here without being attacked by any monsters?"

Qin Fei nodded: "Mm."

Mi Yang: "..."

Comparing people could truly be infuriating.

Mi Yang suddenly remembered that during their last search for the altar in the Werewolf Community, Qin Fei had acted similarly.

His luck was unbelievably good.

In the Werewolf Community, based on Mi Yang's extensive experience as an A-rank player in various instances,

players would definitely need to follow a schedule and map, searching through all the garbage stations to find the complete set of altars used to summon the evil god.

Otherwise, why would the instance have such a design?

But Little Qin—

Mi Yang still remembered that hole in the ground; they had each felt around it.

But when it was Little Qin's turn, it was like magic—he pulled out one after another of the remaining altars.

This kid sometimes really had something eerie about him.

However, the current situation didn't allow Mi Yang to dwell on it. He looked solemnly into the massive pit beneath them.

An ominous feeling rose in his heart: "Could there be a nest of bugs down there?"

Qin Fei tossed the dead bug aside.

"Don't think too much," the young man said calmly.

Regardless, they had to go down, no matter what awaited them at the bottom of the deep pit.

Mi Yang sighed softly, his expression serious.

Mi Yang's wounds still needed time to recover.

He sat beside the deep pit with Qin Fei, while Jack the Ripper was on another rock dozens of meters away from the two of them, and they were all at peace.

After an unknown amount of time, from a cave facing the side of the deep pit, the sound of chaotic footsteps and voices could be heard approaching.

Mi Yang was resting with his eyes closed, but upon hearing the sounds, he suddenly opened his eyes: "Someone's coming!"

Wen Ren Liming had already poked his head out of that cave.

At the sight of Qin Fei, joy flashed across his eyes, and he quickly walked over.

Behind Wen Ren Liming, there was a long line of people following.

Everyone from the Dawn Squad was present.

At the back of the group, Wu Meng and Ying Huo each held onto Guliang, while one carried Cen San Ya on his back. Zou Hu and the others protected Ding Li and Duan Nan.

Mi Yang's eyes widened in surprise.

These players had arrived far too completely, so much so that he even began to doubt whether they were real players or illusions conjured by the instance to confuse him.

Wen Ren Liming rubbed the back of his head and explained somewhat embarrassedly: "I used a tool that can indicate the location of other players within the instance."

Since the Dawn Squad often grouped together to tackle instances and would frequently face situations where they were forced to split up, this tool was something Wen Ren Liming always kept on hand.

However, while the tool could locate the position of players, it couldn't choose who to look for.

As Wen Ren searched for the Dawn Squad members, one by one, he unintentionally gathered all the other players.

Just like Mi Yang, these players were all in a sorry state, with bruises and wounds covering their bodies.

Wen Ren Liming was covered in white threads that resembled spider silk, which stuck to him as he walked, trying to pull them off.

However, the threads had an incredibly strong adhesive quality, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break free from them.

Qin Fei stood opposite a group of people who looked as if they had just been picked out of a garbage heap, appearing almost alien in his cleanliness.

As the players emerged one by one from the cave entrance, when all of them were standing on the open ground, the system suddenly issued a new mission prompt.

"All surviving players in the current faction have assembled!"

"Congratulations to the players for successfully reaching the guiding location. Brave souls, victory lies ahead. Please quickly descend to the bottom of the deep pit!"

(P.S. Shh—keep quiet. You don't want to know the consequences of waking it up!)

A faint glow appeared in the depths of the pit, as countless fragments converged from the void, gathering together.

A silvery gray door, emitting a cold light, materialized within the pit.

This was the exit from the instance dungeon, the symbol of completion!

"The door has appeared!!" Captain Wen Ren could barely contain his excitement.

Mi Yang's expression was complicated. "Thank goodness we didn't go down earlier."

The damned instance dungeon was so cunning, arranging things this way. Shouldn't it have mentioned this beforehand?

If the two of them hadn't thought about waiting for the other players, going down early would have been futile.

They might have even encountered danger.

"Come take a look!"

Wu Meng's muffled voice called out from the edge of the pit. He still seemed unaccustomed to speaking underwater, his words punctuated by bubbling sounds.

Hastily, the group rushed over, using the faint light emanating from the exit door. Wu Meng pointed to a spot nearby:

"What do you see?"

In the pitch blackness, a flash of white flickered past.

It seemed to be moving. After a moment, it appeared again before vanishing back into the darkness.

Qin Fei narrowed his eyes slightly.

That thing looked somewhat like—

"Eyes?" Ying Huo was the first to voice the answer, his tone uncertain and surprised.

Something below the pit was watching them!

Qin Fei sat down beside the pit, staring at the spot where he had seen the eyes, his gaze unwavering.

After a long while.

The eye appeared once more.

And Qin Fei finally saw its true form clearly.

...No, it wasn't really an eye.

"That's the pattern on the wings of a compound-eyed red moth," Qin Fei said, his eyes half-closed.

Things seemed to be getting complicated.

Every compound-eyed red moth had patterns resembling eyeballs covering their wings. The one they had just seen, despite being deep within the pit, allowed the players to clearly see the pattern on its back.

How big was this moth?

Was it the size of a person?

Or even larger than a person?

Mi Yang realized something. "The 'it' mentioned in the mission prompt...?"

Was it referring to this gray moth at the bottom of the pit?

"Warning! Warning!"

The system prompt sounded again, the familiar electronic female voice accompanied by a piercing alarm, ringing in every player's ears.

"Upon detection, the exit channel has appeared. Players, please leave the instance dungeon as soon as possible! To avoid negative gaming behavior, the exit channel will permanently close in ten minutes!"

The sudden warning struck the players like a heavy hammer, leaving them stunned in place.

"Countdown: 10 min"

A massive time prompt floated in the water, distorted by the rippling waves.

"F*ck!" Wu Meng couldn't help but curse aloud.

Even as the instance was about to end, it was still finding ways to make things difficult for the players!

With a ten-minute time limit imposed by the system, the players had no choice but to race against the clock.

Wen Ren Liming made a swift decision. "Put on your rock climbing gear. We'll descend along the edge of the pit."

Everyone had already used the rock climbing equipment in the snowy canyon, and soon, everyone was geared up. They set off from the spot closest to the exit door, heading downstream into the pit.

With the ropes to assist them, everyone descended at an incredible speed. Underwater, they could even save their breath, proceeding in total silence.

Wen Ren Liming felt as if his heart were tethered by a thin thread, hanging taut in mid-air, never descending.

For some reason, he had an ominous premonition that this was far from over.

The intuition of seasoned players was never baseless, and sure enough, it wasn't until they reached the bottom of the pit that Wen Ren realized:

There was more than one compound-eyed moth waiting at the bottom of the pit.

It was a swarm!

Countless gray moths densely covered the entire pit, motionless and silent, as if dead.

But the occasional flutter of their wings was enough to demonstrate their tenacity and vitality.

At the very center of this swarm, a compound-eyed moth, towering over two meters tall, hung silently in the void. Behind it was a massive web that supported its body.

Innumerable elongated flesh worms emerged from beneath the bellies of the gray moths, swimming along the water's surface toward the stone walls on either side of the pit.

The light was dim, and Wen Ren couldn't see clearly, but there seemed to be passages leading outwards on those stone walls. After the worms reached the walls, they quickly vanished into them, disappearing without a trace.

Mi Yang, holding onto the climbing rope with one hand and stepping on the stone wall with a foot, felt goosebumps crawl up his spine. He silently cursed, "F*ck!!"

Was there anything more terrifying than this scene in the world?!

"Hold steady," Qin Fei pressed his hand on Mi Yang's shoulder and whispered, "These worms have a fixed direction of movement; they won't come towards us."

That colossal worm mother seemed to have a paralyzing effect on the gray moths and flesh worms in the pit.

At the bottom of the pit, the worms maintained a fixed order, appearing calm.

Most of the players descending were wounded, with blood still seeping from their injuries.

If they had encountered these worms elsewhere, they would likely have been attacked en masse.

But here, the gray moths acted as if they were completely unaware of their presence.

Mi Yang wanted to take a deep breath, but being underwater, he could only shut his eyes tightly. "Okay."

He quickened his descent.

The worms were indeed quiet for now, but Mi Yang hadn't forgotten about the countdown floating above their heads.

Time had already passed halfway, and when the countdown reached zero, whether the worms would remain in their current state was uncertain.

The sight at the bottom of the pit had a powerful visual impact, and the players instantly accelerated like wound-up electric toys, their speed increasing threefold or more.

Wen Ren Liming was the first to touch ground, but he couldn't find a place to put his feet.

"Over there!" Ding Li keenly spotted the only path at the bottom of the pit.

Directly facing the exit gate, the dense cluster of gray moths parted to either side, revealing a narrow passage less than 20 centimeters wide in the middle.

This was clearly flat ground, yet every step the players took felt like walking a tightrope over a cliff.

It was even more nerve-wracking than a tightrope.

On a tightrope, if someone accidentally stumbled, at most, they would only fall to their own death.

But here, any mistake could lead to complete annihilation.

Wen Ren Liming raised his head.

The exit gate was set just a few meters away from the worm mother.

From this angle, the players seemed to be actively walking towards the giant web behind the worm mother.

Through the layers of rippling water, the massive gray moths sensed the gaze directed at them.

Suddenly, it opened its eyes.

They were true compound eyes, simultaneously reflecting the figures of the players in hundreds of pairs.

It was looking at them!

Extremely fine and long antennae swayed left and right in the water. In that instant, all the gray moths on the ground trembled simultaneously.

The flesh-colored worms flowing endlessly from beneath the worm mother changed direction. Wen Ren Liming's hair stood on end, and his blood rushed to his brain!

Mi Yang grabbed hold of Qin Fei's sleeve.

Ding Li swallowed hard. All the players stopped in their tracks, not daring to blink.

However, perhaps they were simply too insignificant to the worm mother, like a speck of dust floating in the vast ocean, unworthy of extra attention.

After a moment, it slowly closed its eyes again.

Three minutes remained on the countdown!

Wen Ren Liming suddenly exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Surviving a brush with death.

The cold sweat sliding down his forehead blended with the lake water beside him. He sped up once more, dashing towards the exit gate that seemed within reach yet never seemed to get any closer.

One step.

Another step.

Wen Ren Liming could almost feel sharp blades lining both sides of his path, ready to spill blood at the slightest misstep.

The distance of several dozen meters stretched into infinity.

The countdown above his head ticked away with a ruthless and almost cruel rhythm, like a devil lurking in the darkness, poised to drag all players into hell.

Wen Ren Liming walked with utmost caution. He couldn't hear his own footsteps, but he could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Thump, thump!

Each beat was like a drum being struck right next to him.

The exit door grew closer, and Wen Ren Liming couldn't resist reaching out his hand.

Almost... almost!!

His fingertips finally touched the cold, silvery metal. A resistance met his arm, but Wen Ren Liming didn't stop. He exerted force suddenly.

With a soft creak, the gray door opened, and he dashed through it!

The pure white settlement space replaced the dark abyss of the lake bottom. In the last second before the scenario vanished completely, Wen Ren Liming heard a shout from behind him.

It was filled with panic, seemingly Mi Yang calling out, "Little Qin!!!"

Little Qin—what happened to Little Qin?

Wen Ren Liming turned around in shock, but everything had already disappeared from sight.

He stood there, stunned.

...

In the final second before the countdown ended, Qin Fei pushed Mi Yang through the exit door.

He did this not for self-sacrifice.

The width of the exit door was enough for four or five players to enter simultaneously.

Qin Fei hadn't left the scenario simply because his main mission was yet to be accomplished.

He hadn't found the source of contamination.

Qin Fei could sense that the source was close by.

Behind the giant compound-eyed moth mother, something was hidden—that was what he was looking for.

If he didn't leave now, would he still be able to when the countdown ended?

Qin Fei didn't have time to think about it anymore.

Qin Fei admitted that his actions were somewhat crazy, but the thought of "getting that thing!" multiplied countless times within that brief second, swelling like a sponge soaked in water, filling his mind.

The ring on his knuckle radiated intense heat, as if a flame was burning fiercely.

Qin Fei closed his eyes, no longer looking at anything before him.

He followed the crystal-clear instruction deep in his mind and charged forward!

In the Level A live-stream hall, the three light screens went dark simultaneously.

Only one cold, emotionless sentence remained in front of the audience's eyes.

"The live-stream you are watching has ended."

At the same time, Qin Fei's live-stream continued.

The audience watched in horror as he suddenly turned around with half his foot already in the exit passage, charging toward the boss as if possessed!

"Holy shit!!!"

The front-row viewers dropped their sunflower seeds in fright.

What kind of new suicide method was this?

The audience had seen so many live-streams and witnessed various bizarre deaths, but they had never seen a player suddenly seek death when they could have left the scenario!

"Has Little Qin gone mad???"

This was the only thought in the audience's minds at that moment.

The scattered traffic converged on Qin Fei's live-stream within seconds.

"What does he want to do?"

"He's dead for sure, right?"

The audience crowded towards the light screen, while inside it, Qin Fei continued running forward.

Water swirled around him. The closer he got to the moth mother, the more agitated the swarm of gray moths beneath his feet became.

Soon, the gray moths broke free from the ground's restraints. They swam in the water, heading towards Qin Fei.

"It's over, he's beyond saving." The audience sighed in regret.

They couldn't remember how many times they had exclaimed this about Qin Fei. Each time, they felt certain that this streamer would die in the crisis.

And yet, Qin Fei always managed to escape death's clutches.

But—

"Before, he was just lucky. This time, he's really doomed, isn't he?"

Why would he ignore the exit right in front of him and instead turn around to run toward the boss?

"I know!" A viewer raised their hand with conviction. "He must have been tainted by the instance dungeon!"

"Just now, in that passage, Jack the Ripper was so heavily tainted. How could Little Qin be completely unaffected? It doesn't make sense!"

This viewer seemed to be a fan of some faction, pushing their own agenda.

"So in my opinion, he must have been tainted as well, but his taint is even deeper than Jack's! Jack can compensate with mental potions, but he doesn't even have the chance to realize he's been tainted." The viewer spoke eloquently.

Seeing this spirit speak so confidently, the other uninformed viewers actually believed it.

"Really? I've never seen someone look so clear-headed after being tainted."

"This should definitely be recorded as a novel method of death in the instance dungeon!"

Fortunately, not all the viewers were blind.

"You're talking nonsense? It's obvious you just switched into my wife's live stream. Can't you understand the situation before speaking?"

"That's right. Have you ever seen someone with a sanity value of 100 get tainted?"

The live streaming hall was filled with clamor, and although the broadcast was nearing its end, new viewers continued to squeeze in from outside.

On the screen, the young man had already rushed to the front of the insect mother.

Countless secondary eyes of red moths surrounded him, as if he was enveloped in a whirlwind made of gray wings, standing at the center of the storm.

Suddenly, the insect mother flapped her wings.

All the gray moths around Qin Fei were scattered by the water current, and he regained his freedom.

He didn't stop moving and continued forward.

A moment later, in a dark corner that the live stream camera hadn't noticed.

Qin Fei finally found his target:

Right beneath the insect mother.

A black crystal floated in the water:

It hovered a few centimeters above the ground, swaying constantly but never being swept away by the water current.

Qin Fei reached out and firmly grasped the stone in his palm.

"Hum—"

He suddenly heard a humming sound.

The scene before his eyes shattered like a puzzle, breaking into pieces. The world became chaotic, then vanished, leaving only an impenetrable darkness as deep as ink.

As far as the eye could see, the edges of the pit disappeared, as did the stone dome covering the pit.

The ground beneath his feet also vanished.

The soft, silk-like darkness enveloped Qin Fei, and he opened his palm, revealing the crystal resting quietly in his hand.

Qin Fei's vision flashed, and the stone dispersed into grayish-black mist. The mist solidified, converging in the chaos to form a human figure.

It was the face of the taint source, one he was very familiar with.

"...Who are you?"

A clear, low male voice sounded, accompanied by a hint of hoarseness and weariness.

His voice was pleasant, but it seemed as if he hadn't used his vocal cords for years, bringing about an old echo when he spoke.

In the taint source's sea-blue pupils, Qin Fei's face silently reflected, and his emotionless eyes were filled with unfamiliarity.

—This was a fragment of the taint source.

—He didn't remember who he was now.

Qin Fei quickly assessed the situation.

This wasn't the first time Qin Fei had encountered this situation. Last time in the werewolf community, when the instance dungeon was about to end, he was dragged into the Sea of Seals and saw the taint source in the same state as the one before him.

"I—" Qin Fei wanted to speak, but the person opposite suddenly extended a hand and grabbed his neck.

Qin Fei abruptly fell silent.

He didn't use much force; at least, Qin Fei didn't feel any pain.

But the neck was a vulnerable spot related to human survival, and being threatened in such a position made Qin Fei feel extremely uncomfortable.

The young man closed his eyes and opened them again, his brows involuntarily furrowing.

The taint source looked at the crease between his brows, stunned. He released his grip on the youth's neck but didn't completely remove his hand. Instead, he slowly moved up along the skin of his neck, higher and higher.

He pinched Qin Fei's chin, his eyes fixed intently on the youth's lips.

The full lips appeared slightly pale due to the loss of color, but they were very lustrous after being soaked in the lake water within the instance dungeon.

His fingers moved up another inch, pressing against Qin Fei's lips.

Applying force, neither too light nor too heavy, he pressed and kneaded his lips to one side.

The color of His eyes seemed to darken slightly as He leaned closer to the young man, the chill from His body suddenly enveloping Qin Fei.

Qin Fei felt a bit at a loss.

He couldn't figure out what the person in front of him wanted to do.

This was an extremely rare experience for Qin Fei. He could always glean people's innermost thoughts from their various subtle reactions.

But the Source of Corruption was different.

Compared to a "person," at this moment, He seemed more like an "animal." His every move was unthinking, with no connection between one action and the next. Whatever He thought of, He did.

They were too close now; He was about to touch Qin Fei's face.

Qin Fei extended one hand, placing it between them.

Qin Fei had beautiful hands, with slender joints, but there was a red scab on his pale, soft palm, which stood out starkly.

This was from when he had used a dagger to cut himself while conducting experiments on the gray moths under the ice lake.

This hand did not hinder the Source of Corruption's actions. He stared unreservedly at the person in front of him, pressing His cool cheek against the young man's palm.

The skin around the scar was rougher than the rest, providing a new sensation. The Source of Corruption looked at it curiously for a moment.

A warmth accompanied by a fine, prickling pain came from Qin Fei's palm. The newly formed scab was being gently nibbled on, the sensation fleeting.

In the next instant, the black crystal ring on his knuckle suddenly burst with intense heat!