As soon as Lin Xiaolei got the Withered Leaf, he received a dungeon notification.
“Wow, a specter item!”
“I didn't expect there to be specter items in a specter dungeon.”
“This is a consumable specter item, so does that mean there are other types?”
The old Daoist nodded. “There definitely are, we just don't know where they are.”
Lin Xiaolei looked very excited.
“Since the leaf was found in the younger brother's room, it means the specter item must be related to him.”
“And since the younger brother turned into a specter, the specter item must have been something he owned when he was alive.”
“No wonder such a withered branch was kept in the room. It must have held a special meaning for him.”
“By the way, should we sneak back into his room to take another look?”
“Maybe we can find other specter items!”
Although this Withered Leaf had severe side effects, it could at least save one from a lethal attack and provide a three-day buffer.
The old Daoist shook his head. “The Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth technique cannot be used frequently; it drains one's own luck. We can only sneak in quietly later or send a paper puppet inside to search.”
Once Lin Xiaolei was done playing with it, he handed the Withered Leaf back to the old Daoist.
“Here.”
The old Daoist waved his hand. “You keep it.”
Lin Xiaolei said, “But...”
The old Daoist said, “No need to be polite with me. I already have one foot in the grave. No matter what, I will make sure you leave here alive.”
“By the way, didn't you always complain that I never taught you any powerful Daoist spells?”
“Once you return, remember to go back to our hometown. In the innermost corner of the woodshed, dig down, and you'll find a box.”
“I used special methods to seal it. You must use your own aura and blood to open it.”
“Inside the box are all the skills I've accumulated over the years, and even other inheritances I exchanged using Contribution points from the officials back then. There are some that even I couldn't master.”
“How much you can learn depends entirely on you.”
Lin Xiaolei immediately grew upset.
“What are you talking about, old man?”
He was already leaving his final instructions!
He forcefully shoved the Withered Leaf back, but his little movement couldn't escape the old Daoist's eyes.
The old Daoist raised his hand and smacked him.
Lin Xiaolei took another hit.
Only then did he reluctantly pocket the Withered Leaf.
The old Daoist's expression turned serious.
“The most important thing right now is to complete the main quest.”
Lin Xiaolei was still a bit defiant, but he didn't forget about their main objective.
“The key is still the truth.”
“As for the path of survival... although it failed just now, I still feel that the path of survival should be in that place.”
The old Daoist thought of the white mist trapping them here.
“You mean at the end of that small path?”
Lin Xiaolei nodded repeatedly.
“Yes, right there. I don't think I guessed wrong. The reason we couldn't open it earlier is probably because we haven't completed the other main quests.”
Hearing his words, Zuo Lin'an shook his head inwardly.
Actually, that wasn't quite correct.
If it were a survival quest, then indeed, they would need to complete the survival quest first to open the path of survival.
But right now, the other quest was 【Investigate the Truth】, so they could open it even without completing it.
It was just that in most cases, while players were confirming the correct location of the path of survival, they would usually uncover most of the truth anyway.
That was why it gave off the illusion that they had to complete other main quests to open the path of survival.
Excellent players were indeed more likely to complete main quests and find the path of survival faster.
And when they found the path of survival and left, other players with mediocre abilities could only watch helplessly.
They could clearly see the path of survival, and its appearance meant that the quest to find the path of survival was complete, yet their other main quests remained unfinished.
In that case, they could only watch the path of survival vanish, utterly powerless.
Lin Xiaolei frowned. “So what do we do now?”
The old Daoist chuckled.
“It's time to bring out the real deal.”
Lin Xiaolei frowned.
“What are we going to do? Don't tell me...”
The old Daoist quickly tore off the inner layer of his paper talisman clothing.
“Wait a moment, I'll be ready soon.”
He spent over ten minutes using up all the paper talismans.
“Let's go, time to act.”
Lin Xiaolei was dazzled by the sight earlier because there were many talismans he didn't recognize.
“Hey, Grandpa, wait for me! Where are we going now?”
“Also, what are all those talismans for?”
“Aside from that Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth Talisman, I've barely seen any of the others. Tell me about them!”
The old Daoist kept him in suspense.
“You'll find out in a bit.”
They walked around the old residence for a while, stopping only when they reached a corner.
A small paper puppet appeared at his feet.
The old Daoist crumpled two of the talismans into small squares, handed them to the small paper puppet, and sent it back into the old residence.
Zuo Lin'an observed the direction the small paper puppet was heading.
This direction was...
He immediately took out his phone and sent a message to Feng Xingyun.
【Zuo Lin'an: The old Daoist is making a move on you. Be careful.】
【Zuo Lin'an: Never mind, just come over to my place first.】
Feng Xingyun wasn't resting at the moment. Noticing the message notification on his phone, he immediately pulled it out to check.
Hm?
After reading it, as if nothing had happened, he quickly tidied himself up and walked toward Zuo Lin'an's room.
However, he didn't know that there were small paper puppets hiding in the dark along the way, spying on his movements.
Paper puppets were cut from paper talismans and animated using the old Daoist's Paper Puppet Technique.
But to put it plainly, it was a dead object.
Feng Xingyun would only notice it when it was being actively controlled by the old Daoist.
Since it was currently just sitting motionless in a corner, he naturally had no way of detecting it.
As for Zuo Lin'an.
He had been too focused on monitoring the old Daoist duo just now to pay attention to these scattered paper puppets. After all, these little things always hid in random spots and remained completely still.
Furthermore, although his God's-eye view allowed him to monitor the entire dungeon, he wasn't omniscient; he could only see the areas he chose to focus on.
There would always be times when he missed something.
Just then, Feng Xingyun suddenly felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, and his consciousness grew hazy.
He knew he had been targeted, and he circulated his true qi in an attempt to resist.
However, although his true qi could circulate, he still couldn't control his body.
Sure enough, a martial artist's strength was always lacking when faced with this mysterious, unknown power.
Next, he felt a small object crawl onto his shoulder.
Was it a paper puppet?
It felt like something had been pasted onto his face. Judging by the texture, it was likely paper.
Was it a talisman?
Then, the old Daoist's voice rang in his ears.
“Tell me, did you kill Yao Wenle?”
Feng Xingyun knew that there had never been a Yao Wenle, and no one had killed any Yao Wenle.
But the answer that came out of his mouth was...
“I didn't kill him.”
Then came the next question.
“Did Yao Wenli kill him?”
Feng Xingyun replied, “I don't know.”
He was currently answering entirely based on what he knew under his identity as the butler, so there were no flaws in his responses.
After all, he was speaking the truth.
As the butler, although he had intended to help the young master kill his younger brother, the target had gone missing before he could make a move.
“Did Yao Wenli want to kill his younger brother?”
Feng Xingyun replied, “Yes.”
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