Chapter 161 Side Mission Triggered

Atobe, who was listening to Murong Ying explain the affairs of the martial world one by one, and Xiao Tan and Bei Ling, who were underground, also heard the main quest update prompt. Although the information they obtained from this mission prompt was limited, the keywords "Ling Zhong Jing" and "soul" were enough to make them understand that this script was not just a martial arts world.

"This 'Ling Zhong Jing'..." Xiao Tan said as he walked, "Could it be a setting similar to the 'Hu Zhong Jing' and 'Heavenly Book World' in the *Xuan Yuan Sword* series?"

"If so, this script will feel like a mix of wuxia, xianxia, and the supernatural," Bei Ling replied. "But the giant crocodile monster we encountered before was already a supernatural setting, so there's nothing strange about it."

"Well... in any case, the main quest now has some clues. Maybe before we can get out of here, Brother Jue and Sister Yu will have already cleared the game," Xiao Tan said.

"Don't dream..." Bei Ling immediately poured cold water on him. "From the initial introduction, we can see that no matter what kind of setting this script implies, the plot will ultimately be inseparable from the duel between those two great swordsmen, but we haven't discovered the connection yet. But as the script's exploration increases, there will eventually be clues leading us to that duel."

"Well... behind every duel of peerless masters, there is a huge conspiracy..." Xiao Tan continued.

"What did you think?" Bei Ling replied. "If it's a duel, two people can just make an appointment, find an open space, and decide the winner. Why bother running to this ghostly town, and even picking a full moon night? It would be strange if there wasn't a conspiracy."

As they spoke, the tunnel in front of them came to an end. Ahead was actually a dead end, with a rock wall blocking the path tightly.

"No way..." Bei Ling muttered. "I thought your luck had been pretty good."

"Ah?" Xiao Tan was stunned. "So, that's why you let me guess before?"

"What did you think?" Bei Ling said weakly. She was quite discouraged, because the road from the crossroads to this end was quite long, and it took them more than half an hour to get here. Hitting a wall here meant that they had wasted a lot of time and energy again.

From falling into the pool, Xiao Tan and Bei Ling swam ashore, explored, encountered monsters, turned back, fought, and then advanced, and explored again... By the time they arrived here, both of their stamina values were already more than halfway gone. Although they could stop and recover in place at any time, and rest for as long as they wanted, Bei Ling knew very well that wasting time here would be a potential threat to the team. By sunset, if they did not return to the inn room as planned, it would definitely affect their teammates' next actions, which could lead to a series of unpredictable changes and risks.

Therefore, leaving this underground cave as quickly and safely as possible was their main goal.

"Well..." Xiao Tan seemed to be infected by Bei Ling's frowning expression, and also frowned and pondered. "Hey? Maybe this wall, like the metal body before, can be unlocked or something?" As he said this, he stepped forward and touched the rock wall, wanting to see if a system menu would pop up in his field of vision.

Bei Ling sighed, "System creations that can be unlocked are very obvious, but this kind of thing looks like a set piece used to block the road..." Who knew that before she could finish her words, the rock wall underwent an unexpected change.

This was indeed not the kind of system-set object that would provide players with menu prompts, but after Xiao Tan touched the rock body, a layer of rock debris on the surface of the rock wall instantly fell off, and a circular recessed area was revealed in the center of the rock wall. The diameter of this groove was about fifty centimeters, and the inside was flat and smooth. Under the light, a Taiji symbol could be seen printed in the groove.

[Side Quest Triggered]

[Find the Yin and Yang stone slabs to open the stone gate]

"This works too?" Bei Ling was dumbfounded. As soon as this quest was triggered, she understood... They probably had to walk every road at the previous crossroads. There was a stone slab on each of the left and right sides, and the middle here was where the stone gate was located.

"So, if you approach everything with a 'might as well give it a try' attitude, maybe something good will happen," Xiao Tan said with a smile.

"Are you Mr. Nice Guy?" Bei Ling replied with narrowed eyes. "Don't be smug, we still have to go back and find the stone slabs. Objectively speaking, taking the middle road first still wasted an hour of time and energy."

Xiao Tan adjusted his miner's helmet, bypassed Bei Ling, and walked in the opposite direction, "Objectively speaking, you were the one who asked me to guess at the beginning, and as a result... Oops... Okay, okay, my bad!"

The two of them turned back again and came to the crossroads, this time choosing the road on the left.

Fortunately, the tunnel on this side did not extend very far. They only walked for five or six minutes before arriving at another relatively open cave.

In fact, at the crossroads, Bei Ling had also considered acting separately. Each of them taking a stone slab could save a lot of time. But she quickly dismissed this idea... mainly because she was not very confident in Xiao Tan's ability to handle problems on his own, fearing that this kid would not return.

"Be careful and pay attention to your surroundings," Bei Ling reminded softly behind Xiao Tan. After entering the cave, she became noticeably more alert.

Xiao Tan replied, "Ah... got it." He also knew that, according to the game's consistent habit, there must be some kind of flag here to test the players, whether it was a monster or a puzzle.

Sure enough, the two had only walked in less than ten meters when they saw a flash of firelight in the depths of the cave, and a strange shadow burning with flames darted out.

The shadow's movements were unbelievably swift, and it darted to not far in front of the players in a few movements. Then it jumped high from the ground, as if completely unaffected by gravity, directly leaping onto the roof of the cave, hugging a stalactite hanging upside down from the roof, and looking down at the two players from above, uttering a strange cry.

"Is this guy a *Digimon*..." Xiao Tan said as he looked at the monster. At the same time, he had already taken out his shotgun.

"Shoot cautiously, and don't let the opponent get close when you're reloading," Bei Ling gave a serious instruction at this moment, ignoring Xiao Tan's吐槽 (tu cao, to roast/comment).

Xiao Tan stopped joking and focused his attention on the battle in front of him.

The monster in front of them was about 1.6 meters tall, shaped like an ape, with a face like a ruby, seemingly made of crystal; its entire body was golden-red in color, and its surface was actually burning with a layer of flames; it also had a whip-like long tail curled behind its buttocks, and the tip of its tail was also a rhombus-shaped red crystal.

This Fire Ape's appearance was also quite sharp, and with its unique shape, it was basically a mini-boss level monster without a doubt.

Another ape cry came, and the Fire Ape flashed down and moved sideways, hiding behind a rock. From this moment on, the battle officially began.

…………

Let's talk about Feng Bujue and Si Yu, each holding a bell, jumping into the crack in the ground. They didn't know how long it had been, but the dark velvet-like darkness in front of their eyes finally faded away.

When they came back to their senses, they were standing side by side on a beautiful plain. The sun hung high in the sky, with wisps of white clouds. Under their feet was a stretch of green grass. In the far distance that their eyes could reach, amidst the misty clouds, they could see a range of mountains standing tall, with layers of cliffs piercing the sky, like a row of screens.

Turning back, just dozens of zhang (丈, a unit of length) behind them, was another scene, like the end of the world. They saw long slopes and steep hills, boundless and desolate, overlooking deep ravines, with clouds and mist sealing the valleys, unfathomable.

About ten meters to their side, there was also a stone tablet, towering like a small mountain, engraved with three large characters - Ling Zhong Jing.

"This is interesting," Feng Bujue said with a smile, looking at the stone tablet from afar. "The handwriting seems familiar."

"Cang Ling Town?" Si Yu continued. She didn't study handwriting, but she could guess what Feng Bujue was referring to.

"That's right, it seems that 'Zang Ling' (藏铃, hidden bell) will become 'Cang Ling' (苍灵, verdant spirit), as expected, there is some kind of re..." Feng Bujue was saying, facing Si Yu, when suddenly his eyes changed and a smile appeared on his lips. "Yo, there's a beauty."

Si Yu casually avoided his gaze. "What's this... Do you think I'll be happy if you suddenly praise me for no reason during a conversation?"

"Well... I'm talking about her..." Feng Bujue turned his head slightly, his gaze passing over Si Yu's shoulder, and raised a hand, pointing in the direction behind Si Yu.

Si Yu turned her head and saw a woman walking towards them unhurriedly on the plain.

The woman was wearing a green robe, with a long sword at her waist, with a graceful figure and lithe gait. Although she was still some distance away from them, her appearance was already visible, and she was definitely a beauty.

"Hmph..." Si Yu snorted coldly, turned around to face the newcomer, and looked in the direction of the figure with Feng Bujue.

"Although you put on a 'I won't be happy even if you praise me' look, you seem a little unhappy when you realize I didn't praise you," Feng Bujue said with a smile.

"Do I look like such a childish person?" Si Yu replied coldly.

"It's not a question of being childish or not..." Feng Bujue said, "You should have read a sentence like this in *Second-Rate Detective and the Cat*..." He paused. "Women need food, water, flattery, and a pair of shoes that go with everything."

"I've read it, but I don't agree," Si Yu replied. "This kind of deeply sexist and one-sided subjective argument has no logic at all."

"Ah... so I wrote in this month's manuscript..." Feng Bujue said, "And men only need the approval of a certain woman to survive."

While they were chatting, the woman had already walked up to them. She looked at Feng Bujue and Si Yu's faces, and then cupped her fists and said, "I am Luo Mei Jian (Fallen Plum Sword) Lu Qingning, I strayed into this place, I wonder if you two know where this is? How can I get back to Cang Ling Town?"

"Luo Mei Jian (Fallen Plum Sword)..." Si Yu muttered softly, and quickly realized that this person should also be one of the Flower Shadow Six Swords.

Feng Bujue said directly, "Oh? Are you Lin Chang's junior sister?"

Who knew that when Lu Qingning heard the name Lin Chang, she immediately put on a hostile expression, and held up her long sword horizontally, saying, "Could it be that you are people sent by Lin Chang?"