The old Daoist had fought against ghosts for many years, so he knew their habits.
They loved to trap people trying to escape within a certain area, making them run around in circles until they gave up on leaving.
Then, they would kill them off one by one.
The situation they were in now felt very similar.
But even if he knew this, he couldn't just give up without trying, could he?
The two ran along the path, making several sharp turns. After running for hours, they were panting and exhausted, but they still didn't see any road leading to the outside.
And yet, they hadn't run into a ghost wall either.
Instead, they were stopped by an actual wall.
A wall made of white mist.
Lin Xiaolei stared dumbfounded at the thick wall of white mist before them. Whether he looked to the left, the right, or up into the sky, there was nothing but white mist.
They hadn't seen it from a distance earlier, or rather... they could only see the white mist once they got close.
“Grandpa, the white mist has completely surrounded this place. If we want to leave, it looks like we have to go through it.”
The old Daoist frowned deeply.
The white mist in front of them looked ordinary enough. He had reached out to touch it just now, and there was no danger.
Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that entering the white mist would lead to something terrifying.
Perhaps... some foul entity was hiding inside, or maybe there were traps of some kind.
Therefore, if they wanted to enter the white mist and find a way out, they had to be fully prepared.
“Wait a moment.”
The old Daoist tore off another piece of fabric from his special inner robe and carefully cut the paper into eight pieces of equal size.
Then, he lightly pricked his fingertip and began drawing strange, intricate patterns on the talismans.
“Here, take these.”
There were eight talismans in total.
Two Calamity-Avoiding Talismans, two Evil-Expelling Talismans, two Heavenly Thunder Talismans, and two Peace Talismans.
They each took one of each type.
Lin Xiaolei solemnly tucked the talismans away.
“Grandpa, shall we go?”
The old Daoist took a deep breath and grabbed his wrist.
“Let's go.”
Soon, their figures vanished into the white mist.
Meanwhile, Zuo Lin'an, standing on the distant mountaintop, watched them from afar and caught this exact scene.
Feng Xingyun stood beside him, holding a paper puppet in his hand.
The tiny paper puppet had suddenly gone completely still when the old Daoist reached the foot of the mountain, likely because it had gone out of control range.
“Taoist spells are fascinating. I wonder if I can learn them.”
Zuo Lin'an shook his head.
“A player's state is frozen forever at the exact moment they fail to clear a dungeon.”
“You're already very lucky.”
“You get to remain a handsome, dashing, and incredibly powerful Xiantian Rank martial artist in your twenties forever. Aren't you satisfied?”
Feng Xingyun casually tossed the paper puppet aside.
“Of course I am.”
“But when faced with unknown, powerful, and mysterious forces, one can't help but harbor certain desires. That is human greed.”
“It is... an unsolvable problem.”
Zuo Lin'an didn't argue.
Because Feng Xingyun was right. Back then, he had also signed up for Sin Hunter City's assessment just to obtain mysterious specter energy.
That was how he had managed to become a dungeon boss.
And even now, he was still constantly striving to grow stronger.
Feng Xingyun shifted his gaze toward the distant white mist.
“Will they come back?”
Zuo Lin'an shook his head. “I don't know.”
Feng Xingyun looked at him. “I recall that when players enter the white mist, they feel a sense of crisis. The deeper they go, the stronger that feeling gets. They'll probably come back, right?”
Zuo Lin'an raised an eyebrow. “In the past, there were some stubborn fools who ignored that overwhelming sense of crisis and kept pushing forward, only to drop dead inside the white mist.”
Feng Xingyun fell silent.
That was true. When he was still a player, he seemed to have heard similar rumors.
He hadn't paid much attention to it back then, only remembering it now.
Meanwhile, the old Daoist and his grandson had already stepped into the white mist.
The moment they entered, a faint sense of crisis welled up in their hearts, as if something were watching them from the shadows, ready to strike at any second.
Without a word, they both took out their Calamity-Avoiding and Peace Talismans and stuck them onto their bodies. Then, clutching their Heavenly Thunder and Evil-Expelling Talismans, they warily scanned their surroundings.
After all, visibility in the white mist was incredibly low. If something launched a sneak attack, they might not be able to react in time.
However, they stood in place for a while, and nothing happened.
The old Daoist cautiously looked around.
“Let's keep moving. Stay alert. The deeper we go, the thicker the mist will get, and the lower our visibility will be.”
“Understood, Grandpa.”
The two continued forward, venturing deeper into the white mist. However, the sense of crisis looming over them only grew heavier.
In less than half a minute.
“Grandpa, we can't go any further.”
Lin Xiaolei was trembling all over, his eyes filled with fear as he constantly looked around.
He had reached his limit.
This invisible dread made him feel as though... if he took even one more step, he would spontaneously explode.
Hearing this, the old Daoist stopped as well.
He, too, was drenched in a cold sweat.
“Is this... the rule of the specter dungeon you mentioned?”
They hadn't faced any attacks, and no ghosts had appeared.
After all, the Evil-Expelling Talismans in their hands hadn't reacted at all.
Yet, the deeper they walked into the white mist, the more they felt an impending doom hanging over them.
Lin Xiaolei panted heavily and even took a step back, which finally allowed him to catch his breath.
He reached up to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.
“Yes.”
“Many novels say that you can never leave a dungeon without completing the quest.”
“Anyone who tries to leave without authorization will die on the spot.”
“And it's an instant death. They just collapse and die without warning, not because they were killed by a ghost. That's why... the talismans in our hands are completely useless against this.”
The old Daoist let out a sigh.
“In that case, let's head back first.”
The moment they stepped out of the white mist, the sense of impending doom instantly vanished.
They exchanged a glance, breathed a collective sigh of relief, and slumped onto the ground. They sat there, staring at the mountain in the distance and the old residence barely visible at the peak.
Under the gloomy sky, the old residence looked like a fierce beast crouching at the summit, waiting for its prey to deliver themselves to its door.
After resting for a while, the old Daoist recovered, stood up, and prepared to head back.
But Lin Xiaolei called out to stop him.
“Grandpa, wait. I have an idea.”
The old Daoist turned to look at him, carefully putting away the talismans. These were high-quality talismans; he couldn't let them get ruined.
“What idea?”
Lin Xiaolei didn't answer right away. Instead, he took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Path of survival, appear!”
There was absolutely no response.
He began waving his hands and dancing around like a shaman.
“Path of survival?”
“Path of survival, open?”
“Path of survival, confirmed?”
“Confirm path of survival?”
“Waaaaah... Path of survival, open up!”
Still, nothing happened.
“Sigh...”
Lin Xiaolei walked back, looking utterly dejected.
“I thought we'd find the path of survival mentioned in the main quest at the end of the road out of this place.”
“I knew it wouldn't be that easy.”
Rate on N.U.
