Chapter 40: The Never-Sleeping Imperial City 2

Xia Qi watched as his teammates one by one lay down in their coffins, and then he closed the lid on his own.

*Slap.*

As the coffin lid slammed shut, everything plunged into darkness. Xia Qi placed his hands on his abdomen and lay there quietly.

Being confined in a square box for the first time felt incredibly strange to him.

"The Extinguishers and the Heaven's Will factions have been assigned. Dear survivors, let's begin our delightful game!"

After the game announcement, Xia Qi felt the coffin sink slightly, followed by the sensation of it landing on water.

*Splash.*

Water sounds echoed outside the coffin, accompanied by its gentle bobbing. Xia Qi thought they must be floating down a river.

After drifting for a while, an eerie silence enveloped them again. There were no human voices or animal sounds nearby.

Xia Qi lay still, eyes closed, listening carefully to the surroundings.

After an indeterminate amount of time, a rhythmic tapping sound began on the coffin lid, like droplets falling onto the wood above him.

Just as Xia Qi's back started to feel numb, the coffin suddenly bumped into something with a *thud* and came to a stop.

Xia Qi's head jolted.

Suddenly, a vague voice came from outside the coffin. An old man croaked, "Those who know me understand my sorrow; those who don't, what do they think I seek?"

"Through the Gate of Departure, forget your sorrows, forget your joys..."

"Into the Gate of Death, Nightless City, never..."

The old man's voice drifted, filled with a faint melancholy and sorrow. Just hearing these lines made Xia Qi feel as if he had entered an unknown realm.

Suddenly, a *creak* was heard, as if someone had lifted the coffin lid. Then, a familiar female voice yelled, "Speak plainly, damn it!"

The old man choked, cleared his throat, and his voice weakened: "Welcome to Nightless City."

Xia Qi: "..."

Is this how high-level players behave?

With the red-haired woman leading the way, Xia Qi also lifted his coffin lid. With a *splash*, his lid fell into the water, creating a sparkling splash.

There seemed to be some light around, and after rubbing his eyes, Xia Qi could finally see the surroundings clearly.

All six Extinguishers' coffins had floated to a dock, but this dock wasn't built in an open area; instead, it was inside a dark cave.

Countless white lights shone in from the cave entrance, casting a white glow around the old man.

The old man sat cross-legged opposite them, wearing a tattered yellow robe. A few sparse white hairs were loosely tied up with a black wooden pin. He held a large pipe, puffing away, and if not for the red-haired woman's earlier outburst, Xia Qi might have mistaken him for a divine elder.

"You're still lying in the coffins? Get out already! If you want to sleep, stay dead in there," the red-haired woman called from the dock.

A well-groomed man with glasses, looking like a financial worker, muttered, "This woman must have eaten gunpowder in Central Space."

"I've never seen such a survivor..." another pale-faced man whispered, "She must be a tough old lady."

"Tough old ladies are exciting, but too spicy for me," a middle-aged man said lecherously, licking his cracked lips.

Feeling someone's gaze, the red-haired woman turned around and glared fiercely at the lecherous man, saying, "If you dare mess with me, I'll snap your little toothpick myself!"

Lecherous Man: "..."

Financial Man: "..."

Pale-Faced Man: "..."

Xia Qi: "..."

Are all the remaining female players this fierce?

The men silently climbed out of their coffins and lined up on the dock.

Xia Qi glanced back at the river, feeling a stinging sensation in his eyes. When he looked closer, he realized that the river wasn't filled with water but with a silvery liquid.

The water here... isn't water, but mercury?

The old man continued smoking his pipe, slowly saying, "Extinguishers, coming to Nightless City is your destiny. There's no turning back. Are you ready?"

The lecherous man chuckled, "Ha, do we have a choice?"

"Cough." The old man coughed dryly, looking helplessly at the red-haired woman. Since she had embarrassed him, the new Extinguishers no longer respected him, but he still tried to maintain his dignity. "Well... since you're ready, let's enter the city."

"Elder, what should we do once we're inside?" the financial man asked politely.

"Didn't you new Extinguishers receive any training?" The old man gave them a strange look, then raised his right hand and made a heart gesture. "Are you failing students? I don't offer make-up exams, but if you insist on paying, I'll reluctantly accept."

Seeing this unreliable NPC, everyone fell into an awkward silence.

"Fine, this game is always like this. Let's go in," the red-haired woman said, flipping her curly hair and walking towards the light in her red heels.

"What? Is the newbie guide over just like that?" the financial man wanted to ask more but was pulled away by the pale-faced man.

Confused, they walked into the light. Once outside the cave, the world opened up before them.

They stood on a wide dirt road, with a grand city gate in the distance. The gate was a three-story structure, with a gatehouse, a single-eaved roofed arrow tower, and a triple-eaved main building. The arched entrance was about 20 meters high and 6 meters wide.

Above the gate hung a golden plaque inscribed with the words "Nightless City" in bold, flowing script.

"This is what kind of place? Nightless City?" The sinister man sneered, clearly despising the peculiar architecture.

After Xia Qi finished surveying the city, he looked up at the sky. Seeing the excessively bright sun and the white sky, he couldn't help but frown.

"This... something's not right with the sky," Xia Qi warned.

With his words, everyone also looked up at the sky.

"Although the sky is vast, it gives me a sense of oppression for some reason."

"Yeah, and the sky is unnaturally white, without any moving clouds."

The teammates echoed in agreement. Xia Qi remained silent for a moment before expressing his doubts: "Perhaps... this isn't even outdoors."

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly understood, all agreeing that they had felt the same way.

"It seems we're still indoors, and this sky is an artificial landscape," Xia Qi calmly stated.

Everyone nodded. Since they were indoors, they needed to be cautious. If they encountered something eerie, there would be no escape.

Reaching a consensus, the six continued toward the city gate.

At the city gate, two squads of anciently dressed armored guards stood watch. From a distance, these people looked ashen-faced, as if they had just been dug out from a loess plateau.

Xia Qi followed the group closer. When they reached the guards, the pale-faced man drew a sharp breath and exclaimed, "Oh my god, these aren't even alive!"

Hearing this, Xia Qi frowned and looked closely.

He saw that the guards all had faces devoid of color; some were blue-black, others purple-red. Some had gray, lifeless eyes, while others' eyes were so decayed that they had fallen out of their sockets.

One of the guards had already spotted them and walked over stiffly, pointing a sword at them: "Who are you?"

"Don't answer rashly!" the red-haired woman sensed danger and whispered sharply.

The pale-faced man, who had been complaining, quickly shut his mouth.

No one dared to speak further. The guard approached again, his blue-black lips opening and closing, revealing rotten teeth and a black tongue: "Are you new arrivals to the city?"

Everyone exchanged glances. The red-haired woman nudged Xia Qi's arm and whispered, "You answer."

Xia Qi looked at her in confusion, wondering why she wanted him to speak.

However, everyone was looking at him. Xia Qi paused, thinking that apart from the red-haired woman, the others weren't reliable. It would be safer for him to respond.

Xia Qi steeled himself and said, "Yes."

After his response, the guard easily sheathed his sword and grinned at Xia Qi: "Then enter the city. Recently, there have been troublemakers sneaking in, so we've been checking more strictly."

Seeing the guard let them pass, everyone gave Xia Qi strange looks, thinking, "Just by saying 'yes,' we got through? Is this guy cheating?"

Noticing the guard's willingness to talk, Xia Qi raised an eyebrow and continued, "What happened?"

"Sigh, it's those outsiders causing trouble," the guard sighed, striking up a conversation with Xia Qi.

"Oh... have there been any other newcomers besides us recently?" Xia Qi asked, seeing no hostility from the guard.

The guard shook his head vigorously. Because of the force, his head fell off with a thud onto the ground.

However, he didn't seem to notice anything wrong. Instead, he picked up his head from the ground and reattached it to his neck, saying, "Besides you, I haven't seen anyone else."

Xia Qi nodded and then said with a serious expression, "Be careful. Behind us, there's a group of bad guys trying to get into the city."

"What?!" The guard was shocked, his mouth gaping wide. Just as Xia Qi thought he might tear his face, the guard hurried back to the guard group and whispered to the others.

After the discussion, a higher-ranking guard captain approached and personally invited them into the city, adding, "Thank you for your warning. We will certainly be vigilant and prevent troublemakers from entering the city."

Thus, they entered Nightless City effortlessly and inexplicably.

Once the city gates closed behind them, the teammates looked at Xia Qi with a mix of admiration and awe.

"Not bad, how did you manage that? Now none of the Seers can get in," the financial man burst out laughing.

"Tch, what are you thinking?" the red-haired woman scoffed, giving him a disdainful look, "Are they stupid? Won't they find another way in?"

"You're right. Let's hurry inside and see if we can get a quest or some guidance," Xia Qi urged, showing no pride.

Looking at the bustling streets and the lifeless men, women, and children passing by, the pale-faced man swallowed hard: "Finding clues among these zombies seems unlikely."

Indeed, the zombies walking around were all ancient-style zombies, including severed heads rolling on the ground and patrol guards with half their bodies missing and entrails trailing behind. Each one looked disgustingly grotesque.

Fortunately, these zombies completely ignored them, and no one approached them.

"It looks like we'll have to approach them ourselves," Xia Qi concluded after observing the crowded streets for a while.

Just as Xia Qi was about to ask a zombie, the red-haired woman glanced at the hesitant men and proactively stopped a bouncing little girl zombie.

The red-haired woman, now playing the role of a kindergartener's aunt, smiled and asked the little zombie, "Where are you going, little one?"

The little girl zombie, unexpectedly stopped by the red-haired woman, didn't run away. Instead, she looked up, blinked her gray eyes, and opened her mouth full of sharp teeth, calling out sweetly, "Mommy."

Xia Qi saw the red-haired woman freeze.

When the red-haired woman didn't respond, the little girl zombie tugged at her hand and cried weakly, "Mommy doesn't want me anymore? I'll be good, I promise I won't run away."

The little girl's hand, which held the red-haired woman's, was more like a bony black claw than a hand. Just as Xia Qi thought the red-haired woman would pull out a knife and chop off the little girl's hand, she actually held it back and whispered, "No, no, I don't."

Her voice sounded hoarse.

After a moment, the red-haired woman, without turning around, said to the others, "I... received an identity and a side quest. You guys handle the rest."

Just as Xia Qi was walking by, an old zombie granny with a basket on her arm and a hunched back passed in front of him. Xia Qi took a step forward, blocking the granny's path, and greeted her gently, "Granny?"

This old zombie granny wasn't very decomposed; her face was just slightly greenish-white. From a distance, she didn't look like a dead person at all, making her somewhat pleasant to look at.

Hearing Xia Qi's voice, the granny slowly lifted her head, revealing her wrinkled, pale face. She looked at Xia Qi with a smile, affectionately saying, "My granddaughter, you're back?"

"Ding! Survivor Xia Qi has accepted the Nightless City New Resident identity and side quest!"

"Identity: Grandma Meng's Granddaughter"

"Side Quest: Grandma Meng's Dream"

"Quest Description: Grandma Meng's granddaughter is already twenty-six years old this year and is now considered an old maid no one wants! However, Grandma Meng has always harbored a dream—that her granddaughter should marry the most powerful man in the world! Old granddaughter, you must try harder, or Grandma Meng will die with regret."

The twenty-six-year-old old granddaughter, Xia Qi: "..."

Is it too late to change identities now?