Absolute Death Game

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Contrary to what he had thought, the dwelling place of the Tengu Spiders wasn’t on the mountain ridges but inside a cave at the end of a swamp. Watching those strange creatures burrow into the cave, Xiao Buli stopped in his tracks and began to observe his surroundings.

The entrance of the cave was covered in a sticky layer of decomposing clay soil, coated with a layer of slimy mucus that was rather unpleasant to look at. However, this was good news for him, as if he encountered danger inside the cave and his invisibility spell failed, he could still rely on his Earth Escape Skills to make a getaway.

Thus, after a moment of hesitation, he still crawled in.

Although he could escape through the earth, Xiao Buli remained extremely alert, ready to make a quick exit at the first sign of trouble.

The depth and length of the hole were unknown; he walked for quite some time without seeing the end but eventually came across a fork in the path.

There were three passages at the fork. The first was extremely narrow, only as wide as a bucket, and with his size, he simply could not squeeze through. The second was a flat passageway over two meters high, located right in the middle of the fork, with traces of fresh blood dragged across the ground.

It was clear that this was the Tengu Spiders’ chosen path where they brought their food, either to store for later consumption or to feed their young or leader. Xiao Buli had no interest in either possibility.

However, the third passageway was a round tunnel over a meter high, inconspicuous and located at the edge of the cavern, which could hardly be noticed unless looked at closely. Moreover, it was sealed by a layer of green mucous membrane.

Instinctively, Xiao Buli felt that this might lead to the Tengu Spiders’ egg-laying chamber, so he burrowed into the ground and moved forward a short distance before surfacing once again.

The further he ventured into the tunnel, the more bizarre the surroundings became. From time to time, he could see the veins of tree roots faintly beneath the layer of mucus on the walls. The deep black color resembled the blood vessels of a creature, and walking down such a passage felt like traversing the intestines of some colossal beast. @@novelbin@@

This sinister feeling grew stronger until, after a few minutes’ walk, the path suddenly opened up into a vast chamber. The floor of the chamber was covered with pools of green mucus; inside, there was a strange object, which was a massive tumor-like growth on a huge crystal stone jutting down from the roof of the chamber.

The crystal stone had an odd color, emitting a faint, reddish halo, seemingly a peculiar type of gemstone. Its glazed surface suggested that it might have fallen from the sky.

The massive tumor-like growth hung above it, numerous tentacles stretching out from the tumor to cling to the crystal, while half of the tumor itself was buried in the muddy earth at the top of the cavern, seemingly fused with the stone.

The more he looked at it, the stranger he felt, with an urge to blow it up. However, he did not act on it. The pools of mucus confirmed his guess; this place indeed seemed to be the egg-laying chamber, and tonight was the night of the full moon. He decided to wait for a while.

After looking around for a bit, he noticed many cocoon-like objects around the tumor. When he hovered the mouse over them, they displayed an option to open.

Xiao Buli thought to himself, could these be the eggs of the Tengu Spiders? But the size of the eggs seemed too large, and besides, it had just gotten dark, not even night yet. While thinking this over, he clicked to open one, and the moment the cocoon cracked, a torrent of mucus burst forth. Even through the screen, Xiao Buli felt disgusted as a human corpse was revealed within the mucus.

He clicked to search and obtained 26 copper coins and a pair of damaged leather boots.

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(Heh, still able to pick stuff up!) Xiao Buli immediately became interested. He wasn’t too keen on those ragged equipments, but he felt it was very likely he could find quest items, like an unsent letter or something of the sort. Opening another cocoon, he found another corpse inside. This time he came upon a rusty iron sword and 17 copper coins.

The third corpse yielded a large gold ring, with attributes of charm +1. This little trinket was worth some money, but Xiao Buli didn’t see even a shadow of the quest items he wanted. After opening a few more cocoons, some contained human corpses, while others held monkey corpses. It seemed that although these Tengu Spiders would eat anything, they had a preference for primates.

There was only one cocoon left. Xiao Buli thought he wouldn’t mind another bump on his head and opened it without much hope, but this time he found something beyond his expectations.

Refined Iron Chainmail: Armor +24, reduces piercing damage by 30%, Strength +3, Stamina +4.

Equipment Description: Made from premium refined iron, this armor offers exceptional defense. The multiple layers of added armor pieces provide improved resistance against piercing damage.

Xiao Buli was delighted. This piece was a deep blue equipment, far better than what he was currently wearing. His luck was incredibly good. Although chainmail was quite heavy and could slightly affect speed and agility if one didn’t have enough strength, his strength was now over twenty, so the weight didn’t bother him much. But wait, why did this equipment look so familiar?

As he pondered, he stored the equipment in his bag and took another look at the corpse. It was clearly a male corpse, different from the others with its short hair, no longer than a finger. This was strange because, given that the game was set in a background akin to ancient China, both men and women typically had long hair. Could it be a player?

Hesitating, he decided to take a risk to get a clearer look. He equipped the Patrol Lantern and under the faint light, he finally saw the face of the corpse. His face immediately stiffened, and any joy from finding the equipment vanished—it was Zhao Yunlong!?

Xiao Buli stood there in shock, his mind a jumble. For a brief moment, he thought he might have seen wrong, but after reexamining the corpse in the light of the lantern, he was certain it was Zhao Yunlong. The skin had turned blue-black, indicating he had been dead for a long time. The mucus not only preserved his corpse but also the expression of fear he bore at the moment of death.

It looked like he had died a long while back, but how could that be possible? What were Zhang Yaoyang and the others doing in the Desolate Mountains, a place where not even birds would relieve themselves? Where were the others? Could it be that all these corpses were left by them?

Startled by his own conjecture, Xiao Buli hurriedly checked and found another corpse that appeared to be a player, though he didn’t recognize the person. It could be a member of the White Tiger group or perhaps some other player. Relieved that it wasn’t someone he knew, Xiao Buli finally relaxed a little.

Xiao Buli suddenly remembered he was carrying the Soul Absorption Pearl. He took it out and pointed it at the corpse with no reaction. Clearly, Zhao Yunlong’s soul had long since dissipated.

"Rest in peace, buddy," Xiao Buli muttered to the corpse, a sense of sorrow for a fellow creature rising unbidden within him. He had to get to the bottom of what had happened, he thought to himself.

After a short while, the tumor suddenly began to move, like a beating heart, making huffing and puffing noises that caught Xiao Buli’s attention. His spirits raised; he still had unfinished tasks to attend to and tried to push the heaviness in his heart to the back of his mind.

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A huge flesh canal extruded from the end of the tumor, and a crystal-clear, football-sized white worm egg was forcefully squeezed out from it. It plopped onto the mucus-covered ground. Xiao Buli instantly understood; it seemed that the corpses wrapped in the cocoons were meant to be meals for these larvae.(To be continued.

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