It was truly horrifying, a different kind of horror than the supernatural.
Zhang Yuanqing looked at the skinned cat carcass hanging from the roof beam, muttering silently to himself.
Whether someone slipped in or something slipped out, neither was a good thing. Everyone exchanged silent glances, their eyes flashing with vigilance and solemnity.
Only "Li Li Yuan Shang Cao" abandoned his usual quiet melancholy and, with a face full of anger, lowered his voice and said:
"Such a cruel slaughter of animals is unacceptable. I will make her pay the price. Everyone, let's just kill Granny Wang."
Zhang Yuanqing glanced at him and said:
"Don't be impulsive. This Granny Wang clearly has a storyline. Let's wait and see and wait for a quest to trigger. Heh, based on my experience completing two S-level dungeons, thinking more and doing less is the key to survival.
"Because the margin for error in S-level dungeons is too low. A slight action can cost you your life."
"Please Call Me Queen" turned to look at the Wood Envoy youth.
"The team leader is right. The higher the level of the dungeon, the fewer the hints, and danger lurks everywhere. Unlike the C-level and D-level dungeons we encountered before, the quest requirements and rules are clearly stated to you.
"In this kind of high-difficulty dungeon, one wrong step could lead to a team wipe."
Li Chunfeng pondered for a moment and said, "Conversely, it's the same. Maybe if we kill Granny Wang now, we can successfully resolve an incident. Heh, it's like Schrödinger's cat."
Huo De Xingjun was stunned, "Who is Schrödinger? Does he also like torturing cats?"
The knowledgeable Li Chunfeng was dumbfounded. He opened his mouth with a strange expression, and after some hesitation, he gave up trying to explain, saying
"More or less."
Huo De Xingjun nodded, glanced at the room across the courtyard, and seeing that Granny Wang hadn't come out yet, whispered:
"Have you thought about why it's a cat carcass hanging there? Why not a chicken, duck, goose, sheep, or dog? If it were any of those, we might even be able to have a meal here."
What he meant by asking was that there must be a reason for hanging the cat carcass. Maybe it was a hint from the dungeon.
Zhang Yuanqing expressed his opinion from the perspective of a Night Wanderer, saying, "These cat carcasses are Yin in nature, Yin materials. Extracting Yin energy can nourish Yin spirits and can also be used to refine zombies." Li Chunfeng added:
"It can also be used to make props, hold special rituals, for witchcraft, and so on."
Just as he was speaking, the wooden door "creaked" open, and Granny Wang, leaning on her crutch and hunching her back, walked out, carrying a white porcelain teapot in her hand with vibrant glaze.
Li Xianzong led his teammates along the roadside, alongside a small river that ran through the ancient town, with a stone slab bridge built of bluestone across the river.
"What a lousy place this is. There's not a single person in sight, let alone a pretty girl," the skinny middle-aged man grumbled, looking left and right.
In the past few multi-person instances he had experienced, one scenario was a midnight hotel where a cold-blooded serial killer was hiding. The instance quest was to find and kill that powerful criminal.
Many "civilians" also lived in the hotel. These civilians were no different from people in reality. During the mission, the middle-aged man played with many women living in the hotel. 1
Without deducting any moral values.
For evil professions, the Spirit Realm instance is not only an opportunity to upgrade and grow, but also a paradise for indulging evil thoughts. They can do anything inside without paying the price.
"Yin-Yang Town is a combat instance, not an instance exclusive to our professions, so there can't be an environment where you can do whatever you want." The bald strong man sized up the skinny middle-aged man and said with a sneer:
"Before you became an Illusionist, you weren't a rapist, were you?"
The skinny middle-aged man leered, "I can only say those peacekeepers were too incompetent. What about you?"
The bald strong man said indifferently, "Murder! Li Xianzong, we've already wasted eight minutes. If we can't find the blacksmith's shop, we're done for."
Just as he was speaking, they faintly heard the sound of hammering metal.
Li Xianzong looked ahead, his lips curling up, "Isn't that it right there?"
His teammates were overjoyed, "You really guessed right. It's on this street."
"Guess?" Li Xianzong sneered:
"Use your pig brains to think. A blacksmith's shop that's open for business wouldn't be in a deep alley. High-temperature smelting requires maintaining air circulation, and large houses can also be ruled out. Quenching requires a lot of water, and the riverside is the best choice.
"Follow the main road along the river, and you'll definitely find it."
Just as he was speaking, they stopped in front of the blacksmith's shop. A burly figure two meters tall, with his head lowered, was swinging a hammer, striking the metal billet again and again.
Li Xianzong scrutinized the man and asked, "Are you the Wang Blacksmith?"
The blacksmith slowly raised his head, revealing eyes as scarlet as blood.
"Thank you, Granny."
Zhang Yuanqing held the teacup and glanced at the Wood Envoy youth.
Li Li Yuan Shang Cao took a small sip and nodded slightly. Zhang Yuanqing was immediately relieved and took a sip of the cold tea. As a restorative therapist, the Wood Envoy is very sensitive to toxins. If there was a problem with the water, it wouldn't escape him.
Guan Ya and the others either drank water to moisten their throats or cautiously avoided touching it, thinking about the next step of the plot. Then they heard the team leader, Yuan Shi Tianzun, asking very familiarly:
"Granny Wang, why is there no one in town? We didn't see anyone along the way."
Granny Wang's old voice slowly said:
"The town used to be very lively. A few years ago, something happened, and everyone gradually moved away from Yin-Yang Town."
"Oh? What happened?" Zhang Yuanqing asked quickly.
Triggered the plot. Everyone immediately perked up.
"This..." Granny Wang seemed a little apprehensive. She paused for a moment and said:
"Many years ago, suddenly one day, people in the town began to die one after another. Their hearts and livers were dug out. Everyone was very scared and said that there were evil things in the town. Zhao Yuanwai, the richest man in the town, invited a sorcerer from outside.
"After the sorcerer came to the town, it didn't take long for him to find the culprit. It turned out to be a descendant of Yin-Yang Sanren, secretly harming the people in the town and using their hearts and livers to refine pills. Everyone worked together with the sorcerer to eliminate that enchantress. 3
"Before she died, she cursed the people in the town, cursing everyone to turn into cats."
"A descendant of Yin-Yang Sanren..." Zhang Yuanqing and his teammates exchanged glances and asked, "And then?"
Granny Wang sighed, "At first, everyone didn't care, but gradually, more and more people disappeared, and there were more and more cats in the town. Everyone was afraid and didn't dare to continue living in the town, so they moved away one after another."
"This guy is good at chatting," Queen looked at Zhang Yuanqing with a smile and continued, "Then why didn't Granny leave?"
Granny Wang shook her head, "I'm old and don't want to leave my hometown. I'm already with one foot in the grave, so I'm not afraid of these things."
The Wood Envoy youth looked up at the skinned cat carcass hanging from the roof beam and said in a deep voice:
"Then why are you hanging these cats here?"
Granny Wang said unhurriedly, "This is the method left by that sorcerer. He said that hanging cat carcasses in the house, skinned, can prevent the curse."
The Wood Envoy youth sneered.
She just said she wasn't afraid of the curse.
Zhang Yuanqing asked again, "Granny, who is this Yin-Yang Sanren? And why did his descendant dig out people's hearts and livers to refine pills?"
Granny Wang said with emotion, "Yin-Yang Sanren was a highly skilled person, said to be a god-like figure. He ascended to become a god not long after establishing this town. That's what the old folks told me since I was a child, but I don't know if it's true or not. 2
"His descendant stayed in this town. Because of Yin-Yang Sanren, everyone respected her, but who would have thought she would do such a thing."
Zhang Yuanqing lowered his eyebrows and pondered, "Why are the cultivators of the Ming Dynasty so evil? The temple priests of the Three Dao Mountains killed their disciples, and the descendants of Yin-Yang Sanren took people's hearts and livers to refine pills."
156n.
"Did Yin-Yang Sanren only have one descendant?" Zhang Yuanqing took a sip of the cold tea. 3
"Yes, most of Yin-Yang Sanren's descendants died young, said to be because one person's ascension used up the family's luck," Granny Wang said.
But in fact, Yin-Yang Sanren did not ascend. His goal of achieving longevity failed. His descendants dug out hearts and livers to refine pills. Could it be related to longevity? Zhang Yuanqing was thinking when he suddenly heard Guan Ya ask:
"Granny, besides us, have any other outsiders come to the town before?"
Granny Wang glanced at her and said faintly, "Yes." "Then what did they do here?" Guan Ya asked with a smile.
Granny Wang hesitated and said, "This old woman doesn't remember..."
The others didn't know why Guan Ya was asking this, but Zhang Yuanqing and Queen were stunned and then fell into deep thought.
They had read several walkthroughs, and none of those walkthroughs mentioned the curse. Moreover, according to the walkthroughs, Yin-Yang Town wasn't empty. Otherwise, how could they solve the case in the inn?
Is it because the instance is constantly changing, and each batch of Spirit Realm Walkers has different side quests?
If that's the case, can I still encounter the hidden quest that the Devil Lord mentioned? The side quests he experienced must be different from mine...
If the hidden quest is only triggered by a fixed side quest, then it's too unfair.
Forget it, let's ignore the hidden quest for now. What is the side quest that we triggered with Granny Wang? To break the curse?
Thinking of this, Zhang Yuanqing tentatively said, "Granny, is there anything you need our help with?"
Granny Wang shook her head.
At this time, Li Chunfeng tentatively said:
"Granny, besides you, are there any other people in the town?"
Granny Wang thought for a while and said in her old voice:
"Besides this old woman, there are six other people. One is Xu, the widow from the west side of town. One is Zhao Yuanwai, who lives in the center of town. The biggest house is his. One is the Wang Blacksmith.
"And then there's the sorcerer that Zhao Yuanwai invited. I'm not sure where he lives."
The round-faced youth, Chi Ou, was stunned, "That's only five. Who's the last one?"
Granny Wang glanced at him and said:
"The last one is this old woman's son..." Chi Ou was surprised, "Your son? Where is he?"
Granny Wang looked back at the room she had just come out of and said faintly, "He's inside..."
As she spoke, she turned her head to look at everyone, her wrinkled old face revealing a strange smile:
"You'll see him soon."
For some reason, Zhang Yuanqing felt a primal sinking in his heart.
Immediately, he saw a terrifying scene. Huo De Xingjun, who was sitting across from him, had his pupils contract into slits, turning into emerald green cat eyes. Thick, jet-black fur grew on his cheeks, neck, and the back of his hands.