Dungeon 【The Tiger in the Mountains】

Ancient donkey carts were truly slow.

Still, it was far faster than traveling on two legs.

By the time Nan Zhi arrived at Wen County, it was already the dead of night. The city gates were tightly shut, with two glowing yellow lanterns hanging above.

Upon the ramparts, city guards patrolled back and forth holding torches.

Martial arts heroes in TV shows scaling city walls under the cover of night was an absolute impossibility.

Up on the walls, kerosene-soaked torches crackled fiercely, brightly illuminating the ground below the gates.

—Dare to climb, and you would instantly become target practice, riddled with arrows.

With such brightness and vigilance, even if you weren't turned into a hedgehog, you'd certainly end up wounded.

Just as Nan Zhi thought they would have to take a detour, Nan Dazhuang said he had a way.

He strode openly toward the city gate, pulled something from his chest pocket, and waved it toward the ramparts.

Moments later, a rope slowly descended from atop the wall with a small bamboo basket dangling at the end.

“See that, Sister Zhi? Rules are dead, but people are alive.

Once these city gates close, by law, they cannot be opened until dawn. That’s a rigid rule—anyone who opens them loses their head.”

Nan Dazhuang stuffed a few taels of broken silver into the basket and whispered to Nan Zhi:

“Still, every trade has its tricks. Even if the gates can’t open, there’s still a way into the city.

I didn’t know about this before, but I learned it back when I followed my master to collect live pigs.

Don’t worry. I used to buy live pigs in Wen County, so I know these guards well. If there's an emergency, you can enter early as long as you pay some silver.

Once, when I bought live pigs and had nowhere to keep them overnight, I used this very method to hoist the pigs up.”

The small bamboo basket was pulled up, and shortly after, a large bamboo basket big enough to carry a person was lowered down.

Nan Zhi looked at the wall, then at this massive basket that had once carried pigs.

So she was getting the exact same treatment as live livestock?

Saving people was of the utmost urgency, however, so she stepped directly into the basket, stopping Nan Dazhuang with a whisper:

“Dad, our belongings are still on the cart, so we can't take them inside. Someone has to stay here to keep watch and act as backup.

How about I scout ahead into the mountains first? If I find Brother Yi and the others, I'll bring them straight down and slip back to Dingyuan.

If we aren't back by noon tomorrow, go straight to the Wen County Yamen to report it.

Our Dingyuan County officers went missing within Wen County territory, so they are bound to take responsibility. As long as the magistrate isn't a complete fool, he will assemble men to search the mountains.”

“Alright, I'll wait here. Tomorrow at noon, we meet at the city gates.

If you haven't returned by then, I'll go report it to the authorities. Our Brother Yi went missing while hunting a tiger on behalf of Wen County, so they owe us an explanation and must dispatch men to find him.”

Nan Dazhuang had wanted to object at first, but realizing Nan Zhi's reasoning made sense, he hurriedly agreed.

After all, as a butcher, he was an expert at slaughtering pigs, carving meat, debussing bones, and mincing meat, but when it came to tracking people and catching ghosts, he had to rely on Sister Zhi.

With that, he shoved his money pouch into Nan Zhi's hands and reminded her:

“Sister Zhi, go and return quickly. Be careful out there. If you run into any demon you can't beat, run straight to a Land God temple or City God Temple!

You were born only after your mother and I received guidance from the City God Temple. The Star Lord in the heavens is watching over you! He will surely protect you!”

Nan Zhi felt touched, though she didn't say much. She tugged the rope on the bamboo basket, signaling the guards above to haul her up.

The large basket ascended slowly. The screen's camera shook slightly, and the fog in the top left corner of the map gradually dissipated.

【Congratulations, Player, on unlocking new maps: “Wen County” and “Wenshan”】

【Achievement “Dashing Wanderer (I)” achieved! Rewarded: Heavenly Treasure Tree Lottery Ticket ×1】

Nan Zhi only had time to glance at the achievement before following the guard's directions. Hugging the city wall and heading west along the main road for half an hour, she indeed spotted another city gate.

Leaving the city followed the exact same method as entering.

Nan Zhi did the same thing, claiming an urgent emergency, slipped silver to the gatekeeper, and rode the rickety ancient manual "elevator" out of the city.

On the map, Wenshan was close at hand.

Near the small green dot representing Nan Yi, several Level 15 chang ghosts wandered back and forth.

【Chang Ghost Mei Niang】

【Chang Ghost Ma Dalang】

【Chang Ghost Li Po】

Seeing those red dots circling relentlessly around her younger brother, Nan Zhi almost lost her composure.

“Unlucky kid. A Level 49 BOSS 【Mountain Lord】 leading a bunch of Level 15 mob 【Chang Ghosts】—I don't know whether to call your luck good or bad.”

The night was deep and damp. Looking into the distance, the ancient forest at night was pitch black, obscuring everything from sight.

Fortunately, Nan Zhi had come well prepared. Lighting her lantern, she followed the navigation on the map and began to scale the mountain.

—The mountain path was rugged and steep in places, hanging two zhang above the ground and concealed amidst winding thickets and tangled vines.

Let alone at night, even experienced hunters wouldn't dare take this path in broad daylight.

Yet Nan Zhi moved as if on flat ground. Holding a lantern in one hand and a saber in the other, she hacked away at vines and climbed over trees whenever they blocked her way.

Vaulting onto branches and scaling boulders, she was as agile as an ape.

During this period of cultivating the 《Moon-Worshiping Breathing Method》, Nan Zhi’s various stats had improved.

Although it wasn’t visible on her attribute panel, the tangible changes reflected in both the game and reality were immense.

Deep in the dense forest, driven by her urgency to save lives, Nan Zhi turned into an emotionless bulldozer, blazing a straight path across the map.

She chopped down trees across ridges and hacked through vines along slopes.

Flocks of birds were startled awake, flapping their wings into the sky and circling above her head, squawking incessantly.

She didn’t need to guess to know they were cursing her out in bird language.

“When other people cultivate immortality, Qi Refinement cultivators can tank RPGs with their bare bodies, fly on swords through the skies, and tame spirit beasts on the ground.”

Nan Zhi turned her tablet screen brightness to maximum. In the moonlight, she looked back at the devastation she left behind, looking like a swarm of locusts had passed through:

“I can tolerate unexpected events not triggering automatic quests, but having no teleportation at all and forcing cultivators to run across the map on foot?”

Who would believe that the greatest hurdle in her rescue mission wasn’t fighting higher-level monsters, but clearing a path through the mountains?

Did this lousy game really need to be this realistic in certain aspects?

Wouldn't a couple of teleportation talismans or teleportation arrays make life so much easier?

Nan Zhi glanced at her character's HP and MP bars, consumed another bottle of Qi-Supplementing Pills, and continued forging ahead.

To her surprise, just as her complaints ceased, the game panel that had been playing dead suddenly reacted.

【Detected that the cultivator has approached the Level 40 Dungeon “The Tiger in the Mountains.” Enter now?】

【The Tiger in the Mountains: Wenshan possesses spiritual energy. A tigress once stumbled upon great fortune, consuming a spirit herb and giving birth to a white-browed cub.

Later, the tigress was slain by hunters. Having witnessed its mother being skinned and disemboweled, the cub attained sudden enlightenment and harbored deep hatred toward humanity.

When the cub matured, it began blocking roads to devour humans and raised chang ghosts to lure passing travelers for its meals, continuing for over a decade.

Within Wenshan lie countless bleached bones and hundreds of deceased souls, alongside eight chang ghosts bound for all eternity, unable to attain release.】

【Recommended Cultivator Realm: Foundation Establishment Level 1 to Foundation Establishment Level 5】

【Dungeon Completion Rewards: White Tiger Demon Core (blue quality), Azure Sea Sky Boots (blue quality), Azure Sea Sky Garment, Dream Soul Flower (Foundation Establishment Pill material), Tiger Saliva Grass (Foundation Establishment Pill material)】

【Friendly Reminder: Current dungeon level is too high. Does the cultivator wish to challenge a higher-level dungeon?】

“Isn’t it a bit late for this prompt?”

Nan Zhi couldn't help but sigh:

“If only it had popped up two days earlier, I would have kept a close eye on that kid Nan Yi and forbidden him from entering the mountain.

Now the mission rewards are practically shoved in my face, and the arrow is on the bowstring—there's no backing down.

Enter, enter, enter. Let's get in there and see what’s going on.”

Although her current cultivation was only at Qi Refinement level 5, and going in was almost certainly offering herself on a silver platter, she had to rescue the people first.

Otherwise, by the time she ground enough levels to challenge it properly, Nan Yi and the others would already be thoroughly digested by the tiger, returned to the mountain as fertilizer.

“Wait a minute, I almost forgot this.”

Before clicking confirm, Nan Zhi suddenly remembered something.

Opening her inventory, she equipped the 【Paper Skin Garment】.

Soon, a plump, radiant female ghost radiating ghostly energy was lounging on the bed, playing the game with her legs crossed.

—Nan Zhi had tested this before: unlike system items, system equipment could be stored into the inventory at any time.

Furthermore, equipment like the 【Paper Skin Garment】 had limited cross-compatibility between reality and the game.

When used in reality, the equipment’s 【Appearance Transformation】 effect only applied to her real-world body; the in-game character’s appearance remained unchanged, though attributes still increased.

Likewise, if the in-game character equipped the 【Paper Skin Garment】, her real-world body would also gain attributes, but without the 【Appearance Transformation】 effect.

The game 《Path to Immortality》 was truly getting more fascinating the deeper she explored.