After a brief exchange, everyone had a general understanding of the players participating in this dungeon. Then, they collectively turned their gazes toward Zuo Lin'an, who had been leaning against a tree in silence this entire time.
Just as they were about to speak, they suddenly detected a faint scent of blood.
They all instinctively looked toward Wang Luoshan. They assumed the scent came from Yuan Shan, whom Wang Luoshan had crippled earlier, believing the act had left him bleeding.
However, Wang Luoshan was also surprised. Although he had indeed crippled Yuan Shan just now, he shouldn't have drawn any blood.
After all, if there was bleeding, Yuan Shan might bleed to death, and his death would then be counted against Wang Luoshan.
Although he had struck in anger, he had still controlled his strength.
So... where was this scent of blood coming from?
Zhou Meng cupped his hands. “My Lord, this blood scent doesn't seem to have anything to do with Yuan Shan. It's drifting over from afar. Should I go take a look?”
“Judging by the smell, the source shouldn't be too far from us.”
Wang Luoshan gave it some thought and decided to investigate.
“Let's go!”
The two of them would definitely act together.
Although Evil Blade Wu Yuan had not seized the opportunity to attack Zhou Meng earlier, who knew if his lack of interest was genuine or feigned?
If he was lying, he would surely strike at the isolated Zhou Meng once Wang Luoshan was far enough away. After all, Zhou Meng was only at the First-Rate Rank, absolutely no match for Wu Yuan, who was at the Houtian Rank.
Moreover, their respective factions were completely hostile to each other.
However, they did not expect Wu Yuan to follow along with great interest, completely ignoring the wary glances Wang Luoshan and Zhou Meng cast his way.
Soon, the three of them witnessed an extremely gruesome scene.
Evil Blade Wu Yuan let out a low whistle.
“My, my, this is even more brutal than my own work!”
Although he bore the title of Evil Blade, the most he usually did was chop someone into a dozen pieces. A sight like the one before them was rare even for him.
He had only seen similar things a handful of times in specialized torture chambers.
And even those weren't as bloody as this.
“It seems the specter in this dungeon is exceptionally cruel. The trial has barely started, and someone is already dead.”
The deceased was wearing clothes styled after those of their real world. Thus, even though the corpse had been skinned and torn to pieces, they could still confirm that this was a player, not a deceased NPC.
Without a word, Wang Luoshan turned and led Zhou Meng back to the campfire.
Wu Yuan followed behind them in a leisurely manner.
Once everyone had returned to the campfire, Wang Luoshan immediately looked at Yao Qianhe.
“Lord Yao, do you know if there are any novice benefits?”
Novice benefits?
Yao Qianhe sighed and shook his head. “My wife and I have already cleared more than three dungeons. Novice benefits are only granted to newbies during their first three entries.”
Wang Luoshan frowned. Neither he nor Zhou Meng were newbies either. What about Evil Blade Wu Yuan?
He likely wasn't one, and even if he were, he would never tell him.
As for Yuan Shan?
There was no need to ask; like Wu Yuan, he wouldn't say a word.
That left...
Wang Luoshan turned his gaze toward the three ordinary women.
“You three...”
The three women had been trembling in fear this entire time.
Among them, one had lived her entire life in a remote village, never once stepping foot outside it.
The other two had, at most, only ever visited their local town.
How could any of them have ever witnessed such horrific sights?
The sight of Wang Luoshan casually crippling a man with a few strikes had terrified them to their core.
Even though they knew this old man was some Pacification Commissioner of the Tianlong Guard, an official of the imperial court, their only impression of the imperial court was of corrupt county magistrates who cared only for money, and arrogant, overbearing bailiffs who constantly extorted protection money and harassed women.
Most detestable of all were the tax officials. If a family couldn't pay their taxes, the men of the household, young and old alike, would be dragged away for forced labor.
Whether they would return alive was always a complete mystery.
Thus, in their eyes, Wang Luoshan was no different from a ferocious beast.
Wang Luoshan had no idea how he was perceived, so he tried his best to soften his tone.
“Do you have any novice benefits?”
Seeing Wang Luoshan question them, they naturally did not dare to hide anything.
“Yes, yes, we do.”
“Our novice benefit is two words: Time.”
Oddly enough, even though they were illiterate, they clearly understood that those two words meant "Time."
Time?
The group lowered their heads in contemplation. Unable to glean anything useful, they suddenly remembered that a native of the dungeon was standing right there!
Coming to his senses, Yao Qianhe hurriedly introduced him. “Ah, right, Lord Wang. This young brother is An Lin. I've just met him, and he is not a bad person.”
Wang Luoshan nodded slowly. “Greetings, young friend. May I ask what this place is...?”
Zuo Lin'an looked at him.
“You don't know where this is? Did you not come here of your own accord?”
Wang Luoshan paused.
He had cleared quite a few dungeons and gained plenty of experience. He knew it was best to treat the natives of a dungeon with courtesy, as this increased the chances of coaxing useful information out of them.
“Indeed, we did not come here voluntarily.”
Zuo Lin'an nodded. “That makes sense. This place isn't open to the public, so there's no way you would have come here on your own.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Zuo Lin'an began to spin a yarn. Of course, he didn't fabricate everything out of whole cloth; mixing truth with falsehood was the best way to make people believe him.
“It seems you truly know nothing of this place. Well, we have nothing better to do anyway, so there's no harm in telling you.”
“This place is called the Withered Forest and Barren Mountains.”
Yao Qianhe hurriedly pressed further. “So what exactly is...?”
Zuo Lin'an said, “This place is a designated dumping ground for garbage, established through the secret cooperation of many powerful clans.”
Garbage?
“For instance, traitors, spies, and of course, rivals who failed in their power struggles.”
“After all, the victors rule while the losers are vilified. Those sent here can only blame their own bad luck.”
“Seeing how clueless you all are, I assume you were tricked into coming here?”
Exactly.
Zuo Lin'an disguised his dungeon as a disposal ground used by the rulers of great factions to eliminate dissent.
As for his own identity, he framed himself as a loser of a power struggle, cast aside here to fend for himself.
“As you can see, this place is barren and desolate, completely devoid of life.”
“There is no water, no living creatures, and not even a single blade of green grass to be found!”
“Which means there is no food or water here. If you cannot leave, you can only wait for death.”
“Furthermore, the perimeter is heavily guarded by countless experts equipped with high-end weapons. Unarmed people like us have absolutely no hope of escaping.”
Yao Qianhe frowned, but the expressions of the others remained unchanged.
After all, as players, it was completely impossible for them to leave the boundaries of the dungeon anyway, so they didn't need to care whether there were guards surrounding them.
Besides, all they could see around them was a dense wall of white mist. They couldn't see anyone else, nor did they have any idea what these so-called high-end weapons actually were.
Rate on N.U.
