In a spacious and luxurious office, Li Dongze leaned back lazily on the sofa, legs crossed, a wine glass in his left hand, a cigar in his right, thoroughly relaxed.
Just moments ago, he had reported the recruitment of a Night Watcher to his direct superior.
Li Dongze knew that the young centurion, newly appointed, was eager to achieve results and cultivate his own faction. A Night Watcher with a clean background was like a godsend to the centurion from a prominent family, arriving at just the right time.
As expected, the young superior expressed high praise for him and promised to credit him with a significant military achievement.
In the White Tiger Corps' system, military merit outweighed everything.
"Bang!"
The office's glass door was violently pushed open, and Guan Ya, in high heels, stormed in.
Li Dongze frowned. He slowly took a sip of wine and criticized:
"Guan Ya, this is not very elegant."
"Squad Leader, the trial instance that kid entered is the Sheling Tunnel!" Guan Ya went straight to the point.
"Pfft!" Li Dongze instantly became a spraying warrior. Ignoring the wine he spilled, he propped himself up from the table and shouted in a shrill voice:
"The Sheling Tunnel?! Oh, my God, you damn fool who deserves to go to hell, look at the mess you've made."
He grabbed his cane and rushed out, running to the office area, where he saw the new Night Watcher staring blankly at the computer.
Sensing Li Dongze's arrival, Zhang Yuanqing wore a bitter face and said:
"Squad Leader, do you think there's any chance of saving me?"
He was afraid that the other party would blurt out: "No hope, just wait to die, terminate the contract!"
Li Dongze looked at him in silence, his expression like someone who had finally wooed his beloved girl, only to discover she was his long-lost sister.
Faced with the new employee's eager gaze, Li Dongze took a deep breath and said in a low voice:
"The trial instance is every The Way of the Extraordinary's first solo dungeon, and it's most troublesome for that very reason. In a solo dungeon, no one can help you. This is the trial of the spirit realm, the price you must pay to obtain supernatural power."
Zhang Yuanqing nodded heavily, his mood somber.
Li Dongze continued:
"I'll report this matter for you, hoping that the higher-level database has information and strategy suggestions about the Sheling Tunnel. Otherwise, no one can save you. Go back and wait for news. I'll notify you immediately if there's any result."
Although not a Night Watcher, as a seasoned The Way of the Extraordinary, he had heard of the Sheling Tunnel's notorious reputation.
To date, according to the official organization's records, no one has been able to clear the Sheling Tunnel. The "first kill" of this instance has never been achieved.
"Okay, thank you, Squad Leader." Zhang Yuanqing nodded stiffly.
Li Dongze added:
"Write down your experiences in the Sheling Tunnel in detail."
.........
After arranging for a special car to send Zhang Yuanqing away, Guan Ya returned to her desk, took out a memo pad printed with the Aquarius watermark from her drawer, and unscrewed the pen cap with the Virgo pattern.
Everything on the desk, including the computer, notebook, desktop, water glass... was printed with or affixed with various constellations.
It was evident that she was a seasoned astrology enthusiast.
Guan Ya wrote on the memo pad:
"Yuanshi Tianzun, Scorpio man, constellation attribute: Cunning, vengeful, high libido."
"Note: Extremely high probability of being seduced by women from other organizations."
After writing, the mixed-race beauty sighed softly, tore off the memo pad, and pasted it into the personnel file of the Second Team.
She had annotated the attributes of each team leader, making assessments, including those who had resigned and those who had died in spirit realms.
"Hey, Wang Tai, does that kid have any hope of clearing it?" Guan Ya craned her neck and called to the next cubicle.
Wang Tai, with disheveled hair, looked up and said:
"Taiyi Sect may have detailed information about the Sheling Tunnel, but it's probably useless. Otherwise, Taiyi Sect would have arranged for Night Watchers to clear that spirit realm long ago. An S-level trial mission should have good rewards."
Guan Ya frowned.
Wang Tai continued:
"If we could find him some items, he might have a chance of clearing it, but you know, the functions of items are diverse, and our understanding of the Sheling Tunnel is limited. We can't give targeted items to solve the problem, and the final result is mostly a loss of both people and resources."
"Nonsense!" Guan Ya rolled her eyes.
Items themselves are incredibly precious and rare. The Way of the Extraordinary in the Extraordinary stage are already doing well if they have one item to accompany them.
Unowned items can only be obtained through two channels: entering the spirit realm to search, or killing The Way of the Extraordinary in reality to seize their treasures. And only items that are out of the inventory can be seized.
Both of these are obviously unrealistic.
Most importantly, without knowing the specific situation of the Sheling Tunnel, who knows what type of item can help him clear it?
If someone dies in the spirit realm, the item will be automatically retrieved by the spirit realm, resulting in a huge loss.
Wang Tai tapped the keyboard rapidly, pulled up a series of data, stared at it for a long time, and muttered to himself:
"Qingming has just passed, which happens to be the time period when the Sheling Tunnel opens every year. Is this guy just too unlucky?"
In the office, Li Dongze opened the chat software and typed the information:
"Centurion Fu, I have something to report, related to the newly recruited Night Watcher I mentioned earlier. His trial spirit realm is the Sheling Tunnel, known as the Night Watcher newbie bug spirit realm.
"The Sheling Tunnel first appeared during tunnel construction in the last century. A construction team accidentally entered it and died in the spirit realm. Afterwards, the authorities found a survivor. And that survivor was teleported into the spirit realm again thirty-six hours later.
"Yes, the trial mission of the Sheling Tunnel is divided into two stages, which is different from the one-time trial missions of other professions and other spirit realms.
"I'm sorry, I was overwhelmed by the surprise and misled by inertia. Seeing him return to reality from the trial spirit realm, I subconsciously assumed that he had passed the trial.
"I know that the Taiyi Sect's database has the richest and most comprehensive Night Watcher spirit realm information. The sect leader is the strongest Night Watcher of this era. Perhaps, Taiyi Sect has information related to the Sheling Tunnel.
"If it's Centurion Fu who comes forward, I believe Taiyi Sect will give some face.
"The principle of the White Tiger Corps is to not abandon or give up on comrades. Since he has already joined, I cannot easily give up. I hope Centurion Fu can help."
After editing the information, Li Dongze read it repeatedly, confirming that it was correct before clicking send.
He held the wine glass, stared at the screen, and sighed.
.........
Zhang Yuanqing returned home with a heavy heart, entered the password, and opened the security door.
In the living room, his grandmother was mopping the clean and bright floor. A middle-aged man in a black jacket was sitting at the dining table, with handsome features and black hair. The deep frown lines between his eyebrows and the fine crow's feet at the corners of his eyes together conveyed the vicissitudes of time.
In terms of appearance, there was no doubt that he was a very charming old handsome man, probably very popular with mature women, and some uncle-loving girls were infatuated with him.
But this middle-aged man was not Zhang Yuanqing's uncle, but his cousin.
The cousin swallowed the reheated porridge and looked at Zhang Yuanqing, "Grandma said you were looking for me last night?"
He looked serious, without a smile, like a younger version of his grandfather.
.....Zhang Yuanqing opened his mouth, shook his head and said:
"It's nothing."
Yesterday's problem had been solved, and his cousin couldn't help with the new difficulty, so he might as well not say it.
In addition, he had signed a confidentiality agreement.
The cousin glanced at him, and while slowly drinking porridge, said:
"It's for Lei Yibing's matter, right? I heard that Li Dongze personally visited yesterday, which means his case is unusual. Not to mention you, even I can't help."
So his cousin had already inquired beforehand! Zhang Yuanqing "hmm"ed.
Seeing that he was in a low mood, Chen Yuanjun didn't say much, only thinking that his cousin was worried about Lei Yibing.
At this time, Jiang Yuer, wearing a cute bear pajama, came out of her boudoir, holding a stack of face masks, "Here, anti-wrinkle and anti-aging, once in the morning and once in the evening, the effect should be good. Your grandma insisted on me helping to buy them."
The cousin's face darkened, frowning:
"Aunt, I don't need these."
The aunt shrugged indifferently, "Whatever."
The grandmother, mopping the floor on the side, leaned on the mop and glared at her grandson unhappily, said:
"You don't need a face mask, so that means grandma needs to use an iron to smooth out the wrinkles on your face?"
Because her son was unreliable, the grandmother had long given up on this big account and changed to cultivating the next generation's two small accounts.
Currently, her grandson had been admitted to Songhai University, and her grandson was working in the security department, both with bright futures.
But the grandmother had always had a worry, that was, her grandson was too steady and mature, 30 years old with the face of a 40-year-old.
The year before last, an old brother of her grandfather's, who had been separated for many years, came to Songhai as a guest. After seeing Chen Yuanjun, he said in surprise to the grandfather:
"I haven't heard that you have another son."
The grandfather held back for a long time, finally squeezing out a sentence: This is my grandson.
The old brother was a straightforward person, surprised and blurted out: Your grandson is growing quite wayward.....
Decades of friendship almost ruined.
Chen Yuanjun reluctantly took the mask and stuffed it into his pocket, said:
"Alright, grandma, don't nag, I still have to go to work, there's a missing person case recently, very busy."
Missing person case? Zhang Yuanqing immediately became sensitive and asked:
"What's the situation."
Chen Yuanjun took a bite of pickles, "Two people disappeared in the Sheling Tunnel, and haven't been found until now. The monitoring was retrieved, the monitoring outside the tunnel showed that they entered the tunnel, but the monitoring inside the tunnel didn't show them entering the tunnel at all......."
The cousin suddenly stopped and warned: "Don't spread it outside."
He had signed a confidentiality agreement.
The grandmother heard this and immediately ignited her gossip, mysteriously said:
"Is it haunted again? Hey, why isn't this place blocked yet, every year there are people who disappear in the tunnel."
The aunt also perked up her ears, with the same gossipy expression as her mother.
"Grandma, don't ask."
Could it be that they also accidentally entered the mountain god temple like me, damn, these two unlucky guys, I wonder if he can survive for three hours......Zhang Yuanqing was both sympathetic and pitiful, and had a sense of comfort that "it's not just me who's unlucky".
He had a deeper understanding of spirit realms. Li Dongze said that spirit realms had always existed, and perhaps some of the missing people every year disappeared into spirit realms.
.........
Beijing, courtyard house.
The locust tree in the yard has lush foliage, like a large green umbrella.
A white-haired old man was lying on the rocking chair under the umbrella, wearing a white undershirt and big shorts, holding a cattail leaf fan, leisurely taking a nap.
The old man's face was thin, with a mole between his eyebrows, and an indescribable air of nobility.
A breeze blew, the leaves trembled, scattering spots of light on the ground.
Faint laughter of children came from the locust tree.
"Elder Sun, the Fu family's kid sent you an email." A middle-aged man in black crossed the threshold and came to the yard.
Whether it's the Five Elements Alliance or the Taiyi Sect, those who can become elders are well-known The Way of the Extraordinary.
"Fu Qingyang?" The old man chuckled, without opening his eyes, patted the cattail leaf fan a few times, "What's the matter."
"His subordinates in Songhai City recruited a Night Watcher, whose trial spirit realm is the Sheling Tunnel. He wants to ask you for information related to the tunnel. Also, he hopes you can give some advice." The middle-aged man relayed the content of the email.
The old man's hand shaking the cattail leaf fan paused. After a few seconds, he suddenly realized:
"Qingming has just passed, counting the time, it's exactly the time period when the Sheling Tunnel opens. Recently, many people will be lucky enough to get the Night Watcher role card, but unfortunately, no one can clear the Sheling Tunnel."
"You can give him the information, anyway, the sect has given up on clearing the Sheling Tunnel, and the confidentiality level of the relevant information has decreased. By the way, tell kid Fu, that place itself is an S-level trial spirit realm, and some problems have occurred in the middle, making it even more difficult, long out of the category of trial spirit realms.
"My advice is, give up on that Night Watcher, there is no need to invest in someone who is bound to die."
The middle-aged man nodded lightly. As a deacon in the Taiyi Sect, the middle-aged man knew the weirdness and ominousness of the Songhai Sheling Tunnel.
S-level trial spirit realms are already the most difficult spirit realms for newcomers, and the Sheling Tunnel is even more bizarre than ordinary S-level spirit realms.
Every S-level trial spirit realm must contain some unusual things, such as rare items or some important information, which are of great value.
In order to crack the Sheling Tunnel spirit realm, the Taiyi Sect specifically sent two level 1 Night Watchers to be stationed in Songhai for a long time, because S-level newbie trial spirit realms are also occasionally open to level 1 The Way of the Extraordinary of that profession.
After waiting for several months, two level 1 Night Watchers successfully received the Sheling Tunnel mission.
But the result was that one Night Watcher disappeared after entering the spirit realm, and the other Night Watcher successfully completed the first mission, and then died in the second mission.
And both of these Night Watchers had items with them.
Since then, the Taiyi Sect's elder council has re-evaluated the Sheling Tunnel and completely given up on clearing the spirit realm.
"If someone really can clear the Sheling Tunnel and obtain the information inside, it can be considered to solve our Taiyi Sect's knot."
The middle-aged man said with a smile.
The old man didn't comment, slowly said:
"In a few days, the sect leader will summon all Night Watchers to Beijing for a meeting, there is a major event to announce. You prepare, and call back all the kids under your command."
After speaking, he waved the cattail leaf fan to drive people away.
The middle-aged man bowed and retreated.
.....
ps: The public period is updated by seven or eight thousand words a day, and some people still say that the update is less? Doesn't your conscience hurt, sob sob.