Chapter 219 Hidden Village
Chapter 219 Hidden Village
Although everything was ready, Xiao Jie was not in a hurry to leave. It was already late today, so he would have to wait until tomorrow morning to set off.
By the way, I bought the necessary supplies before it got dark.
Xiao Jie went to the auction house first and collected the income from selling monkey wine and secret dog food today. Although he participated in three activities these days and killed a lot of monsters and earned a lot of points, because he exchanged all the equipment, his income not only did not increase, but it was actually consumed.
If it weren't for the little money he could earn from his cooking major, he would have been starving. Counting the money he had saved these days, he had more than thirty taels. Xiao Jie was now accustomed to the feeling of dozens of taels coming and going. He only kept ten taels of silver for emergencies, and used the rest to purchase supplies, including food supplies, talismans, potions, and various special props.
He really gave it his all for this operation.
Then he took stock of his current equipment and skills.
He was wearing a set of luxurious equipment that mixed blue, green and purple, with three pieces of epic equipment alone. He was fully equipped with sword skills and internal strength. With his peerless sword skills and extraordinary lightness skills, he could face any challenge.
Of course, the most important thing is the life-saving artifact, the Escape Light Talisman. As long as you have it, you can stay in any dangerous place.
After taking inventory, Xiao Jie was completely relieved. If this still doesn't work, then preparation would be meaningless.
Xiao Jie went to bed early that night. The next morning, Xiao Jie logged into the game, said goodbye to everyone, and set off alone.
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"Gee! Gee! Gee!" Across the vast wasteland, a black-robed knight, riding a red warhorse, sped away in a cloud of dust. Behind him, a terrifying knight shrouded in pitch-black smoke, with a pair of green ghost eyes under his helmet, was chasing him closely.
Although the Luoyang Plain is infested with monsters and monster forces are entrenched everywhere, it can actually be considered a prosperous place in comparison.
It was not until Xiao Jie went all the way northwest, crossed the Black Wind Mountains and entered the Endless Wasteland that he realized how big the map of this game was and how fierce the monsters were.
The road was extremely desolate, with deep mountains, dangerous valleys, evil forests and dangerous places everywhere.
Monsters above level 20 are everywhere, including not only various demonized wild beasts, but also many humans who have been possessed by demons and turned into spirit creatures, and even many mountain spirits, wild monsters, demons and monsters that cannot be named.
Xiao Jie tried to hide wherever he could along the way and tried not to provoke these monsters at all.
Fortunately, this map is vast and open, and the red charging horses are fast, so as long as you are careful, you don't have to worry about being blocked.
However, he encountered bad luck again in the afternoon. He accidentally attracted a level 34 "Wandering Ghost General", which chased Xiao Jie for more than ten minutes and scared him to death.
"Gee! Gee! Gee!" Xiao Jie shouted while adjusting the angle of his camera to look behind him.
Fortunately, this ghost general was finally shaken off. This thing should be a complete ghost general, and its momentum is completely different from the one killed in the novice village.
Luckily, my horse is fast, otherwise I would be in trouble if I were caught.
Alas, I have really fought hard for this inheritance mission. Most players would never come to this dangerous map where there is no road.
"Master, you can just say run."
The red charging horse suddenly snorted and said.
"That won't do. We have to use professional terms when talking about horse riding. So where are we?" Xiao Jie asked in fear as he looked at the endless wasteland around him.
Being chased by the ghost, he had no choice but to run wildly in open areas. Now he didn't know where he was.
"You ask me, who should I ask? You are the master."
"Don't they say an old horse knows the way? You look quite an adult, can't you help me find the way?" Xiao Jie said jokingly, trying to dispel the uneasiness in his heart.
This was the second day of his journey. After crossing the Luoyang Plain and crossing the Black Mountain Range, Xiao Jie arrived at this endless wilderness located in the northwest of Fengyin State, just as the immortal had said.
[Three hundred miles north of Luoyang Plain and another three hundred miles west, there is a strange mountain called Konglao Mountain. It looks like a wild beast lying on the ground, with jagged rocks and pine trees like waves. There is a cave in the mountain. Entering it, you can see a deep valley. There are clouds and water coming from the sky, which looks like a waterfall. It is the place where ancient immortals practiced and refined their qi...]
Of course, it doesn't mean you really have to walk 600 miles to get to the place that's 300 miles to the north and 300 miles to the west. Although the map of this game is huge, it is still incomparable to the real world.
According to the setting, the size of Kyushu is about the same as the territory of China. The Sunset Plain must be at least tens of thousands of square kilometers, but in reality it would be good if it could be one-tenth of it.
Based on the scale Xiao Jie converted and the information provided by the Longxiang Knights, Xiao Jie judged that Konglao Mountain should be located in the Kunwu Mountains in the north. Now that they have been running for so long, they should be almost there.
He opened the map and took a look. It was completely dark and the map was entirely unexplored.
Alas, I can only explore the way slowly.
The road ahead gradually became more rugged, the wasteland was gradually replaced by mountainous terrain, and the road became even more difficult to travel on.
Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any particularly scary monsters in this desolate mountain range, which made Xiao Jie breathe a sigh of relief. However, running around in the empty map was really boring. Fortunately, he had the art of animal language, so he could chat with his mount to pass the time.
Rugged rocks, endless pine trees...there is none of that.
Not to mention the pine waves like the sea, there are not even a few trees.
Hey, there seems to be a pine tree ahead.
After passing a dangerous peak ahead, a pine forest appeared. It was sparse at first, but soon became dense and endless. Steep mountains could be seen deep in the pine forest.
Xiao Jie rushed to the top of a mountain and looked into the distance. The continuous mountains stretched for hundreds of miles, each one more dangerous than the other. Among those mountains, there was a strange mountain with a peculiar shape, like a prehistoric beast lying among the mountains.
"Found it! It's right here!" Xiao Jie was pleasantly surprised. He didn't expect to find it so easily. You know, there are no coordinate guides for the tasks in this game. It all depends on the understanding of the task text. In addition, the map is so huge that it is extremely difficult to find the exact location.
Previously, he knew about this mountain range in the northwest through the intelligence department of the Dragon Knights.
But I didn't expect to find it so quickly.
Is this the so-called chance of immortality?
He looked toward the sea of pine trees at the foot of the mountain, trying to find an easy way to reach Konglao Mountain, but all he saw was an endless pine forest. It was fine from the mountain, but once he entered the forest, there were pine trees everywhere, and not even much sunlight could be seen. It would be very easy to get lost.
So you have to decide on the route first.
But after searching for a while, they faintly saw a wisp of green smoke rising from the pine forest.
Hey, that is - Xiao Jie looked closely close to the screen and could vaguely see the roofs of some thatched huts in the pine forest. It actually looked like a small village.
Xiao Jie suddenly felt happy. The most frightening thing when traversing a map is that there are no landmark buildings to serve as anchor points. In that case, it is easy to lose track of your location.
It will be easier with this village, and maybe I can even find some information from the NPCs in the village.
It would be better to go and ask for some information first, and then he sped down the hillside.
Not long after running, the surroundings gradually became dark. Xiao Jie was not sure if he was heading in the right direction, so he just ran all the way to the northwest. Since the terrain was not flat, he had to go around from time to time. He thought he might go off the track, but after running for more than ten minutes, the pine forest in front of him suddenly opened up, revealing a large open space.
In the pine forest, there is a small village.
The village is very small, with only a dozen simple wooden houses.
Xiao Jie didn't dare to rush over rashly. Most of the villages in this game were inhabited by monsters. The closer he got, the more uneasy Xiao Jie became.
Fortunately, when we got closer, we found that there was no trace of the monster.
However, this small village is obviously not a novice village with system protection, but a dilapidated village commonly seen in games, just like many villages in this game.
Most of the buildings were ruined and collapsed, only a thatched cottage in the center of the village was still intact. An old man was drying mushrooms and pine nuts at the door, and he seemed to be completely unaware of the sound of horse hooves.
Xiao Jie looked over the old man's head.
Mysterious Old Man (Chief of Hidden Village), Level 28. HP: 1200.
Damn, it really is a high-level map, even the level of the village chief is so high.
When Xiao Jie saw the old man's name, he immediately perked up and jumped off his horse from a distance.
"Excuse me, old man, is the mountain in front of us Konglao Mountain?"
After hearing this, the old man turned around suddenly and looked at Xiao Jie in surprise.
“You—you—you!”
"What's wrong with me?"
"Where did you come from? Did you run in from outside the woods?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Xiao Jie wondered why this NPC seemed crazy.
"Hahahaha, wuwuwuwu, hehehe." The old man laughed for a while, and then cried for a while.
Then he laughed again, but that laughter was a bitter one, which made Xiao Jie confused.
"Konglao Mountain? That's right, the mountain in front is Konglao Mountain, and this is the Mysterious Forest. If you want to go to Konglao Mountain, you must pass through the Mysterious Forest. You must have come here for the treasure left by the immortals, haha, haha, I didn't expect that after all these decades, there are still people who can find this place."
Xiao Jie became slightly excited after hearing this. He had indeed found the right place. However, there was something else the old man said.
"Is the old man the only one in this village?"
"Hahahaha, I'm not the only one here. It's been decades, and the others are long gone. I haven't spoken to anyone in years. Fortunately, now that you're here, I can finally find someone to talk to."
Xiao Jie was stunned when he heard this, and felt that there was something wrong here.
The old man just kept talking to himself.
"It is said that in ancient times there were immortals living on that mountain. In my opinion, that is all nonsense. There is no such thing as an immortal. Even if there is, it must be a monster."
"Why did you say that, old man?"
"There's something strange in that mountain, little brother. I advise you not to go in there rashly."
Xiao Jie became more and more certain that was the place the immortal had mentioned. It was three o'clock in the afternoon. Xiao Jie thought about it and decided to listen to the advice and eat a full meal. If it was too late, something bad might happen.
"I wonder if I could stay here for a night, old man. A small amount of money is not a token of respect."
"What's the use of money in this remote place? It would be nice to have food and drinks."
Xiao Jie didn't have much, but he had a lot of supplies. He was well prepared for this operation, with all kinds of food, drinks, potions and talismans. He had spent all his money.
Xiao Jie wanted to trick the person, so he just started giving gifts to increase his favorability.
First, he gave ten steamed buns, followed by two roast chickens, a piece of bacon, and a pot of fine wine.
Xiao Jie kept checking the favorability while giving gifts, until the favorability reached 80 and stopped increasing, then he stopped.
He had a feeling that this mysterious old man was definitely a key NPC.
"Oh my, you gave me so many things, all for me? I feel embarrassed." He said embarrassedly, but picked up the wine jug and drank it all in one gulp.
"Hahaha, good wine, good wine, woooo, I finally get to taste this long-missed flavor again." The old man cried very sadly, as if he had suffered a great grievance.
Xiao Jie looked puzzled, "Old man, do you have anything to say to me?"
"Yes, there are many things to talk about. But don't worry, we will have plenty of time to talk slowly later. Oh, it's getting dark. Come on, let's go inside and talk."
As the sky gradually darkened, Xiao Jie did not log off. Some plots might only be triggered at night.
What's more, he is not afraid of night ghosts now. He has the ghost eyes of Shura Ghost Mask to see ghosts, and the Xuanming Sword to kill spirits. Now when he encounters a night ghost again, he doesn't have to be afraid, and he can also kill it to level up.
As he followed the old man into a hut, he secretly felt that something was wrong.
This forest is very unusual in that there are no monsters.
This is of course no problem in reality, but in the game, the absence of monsters is abnormal.
The old man’s performance is even more problematic. Could it be that he has already entered the mission map?
When designing a game, game designers often design the task map to be very "clean", with only elements related to the task, in order to prevent different tasks from interfering with each other.
But this place is still more than ten miles away from the mountain? Is the mission map so huge?
As they were talking, the two of them had already entered the hut.
The old man took out a pine oil lamp and lit it. Xiao Jie looked at the furnishings in the room around him and felt more and more that something was wrong. Everything was extremely simple. The tables, chairs and benches were all made of logs. There was not even a pot or pan to be seen, only wooden bowls and basins.
"Old man, your life seems to be very hard. Why don't you leave?"
"Haha, leave? If I could leave, do you think I wouldn't leave? Once you enter this forest, you can never leave again. Look carefully. After I die, all these things will be yours."
Xiao Jie was startled at once, but heard the old man tell an amazing story.
(End of this chapter)