Chapter 12: Detailed Information on the She Ling Tunnel
After his cousin finished the porridge and left for work, Zhang Yuanqing returned to his room and took a nap.
When he woke up, he heard energetic sound effects. Opening his eyes, he saw the room flickering with the glow of the TV screen, while the ceiling light was off.
He sat up and looked towards the window. His aunt was sitting cross-legged in front of the TV, playing his PS5. She had rolled up her sleeves, exposing her fair, delicate arms, and her petite body swayed left and right as she operated the controller.
Zhang Yuanqing yawned, got up to turn on the light, and walked behind his aunt to watch her play.
She was playing a horror game with an eerie art style and creepy music. The protagonist was an ugly little man wielding a bloody axe, hacking and slashing his way through levels, spilling blood and gore everywhere.
The TV's glow reflected in her clear, limpid eyes, and her oval face showed a mix of brightness and excitement.
"This game is pretty good, perfect for playing at night. It's quite therapeutic," his aunt said without turning her head.
His aunt had three main hobbies: shopping at malls, watching horror movies, and playing horror games.
More like depressing, you twisted woman. Zhang Yuanqing insincerely agreed, "Yes, it's quite interesting."
His aunt turned her head and gave him a sidelong glance. "No need to be so fake with me."
She turned back to continue playing and said:
"Actually, this is a therapeutic game. All the ghosts and monsters in the game are imagined by a little boy. He's a mental patient struggling not to be consumed by his inner demons. In the end, he fights his way out and finally sees the light. The ending is very touching."
As she spoke, Zhang Yuanqing had already poured himself a glass of water and was drinking while responding, "That's a nice concept."
His aunt made a couple of affirmative sounds and continued:
"Each boss has its own specific patterns. If you observe carefully, even a little boy can defeat terrifying demons. But the scary visuals and music often make people lose their calm judgment due to fear."
"You should try playing too."
Zhang Yuanqing wasn't in the mood to play games with his aunt. It had been almost 20 hours since he left the spirit realm, and in just over ten hours, the realm would open again. Perhaps death awaited him there.
He might as well think about what to do in the last dozen hours of his life to avoid leaving any regrets.
Call and yell at his mom? Cry his heart out while hugging his aunt? Have one last rap and dance session with his uncle?
He suddenly realized that he didn't have any particular regrets or unfulfilled wishes. As a college student from a relatively well-off family, his life hadn't been filled with too many worries.
Only those who have experienced the vicissitudes of life have many lingering regrets.
"Come on, play with me!" His aunt wiggled her waist, pleading coyly.
Looking at her lovely figure, Zhang Yuanqing's gaze softened. He sat down beside his aunt and took the controller from her hand.
If he only had a dozen hours left to live, playing one more game with her wouldn't be so bad.
Under his aunt's guidance, as she munched on chips and chattered away, Zhang Yuanqing completed the game. When he checked the time, he realized it was already 11 PM.
"Not bad, not bad. You've got talent," his aunt praised, sucking on her delicate fingers and patting her nephew's shoulder, while wiping her saliva on him.
"That's disgusting. So dirty," Zhang Yuanqing said with a look of disdain.
"Pah, this is the nectar of the gods. Don't take your blessings for granted," Jiang Yuer said shamelessly.
"Nectar of the gods? How much per pound?" Zhang Yuanqing scoffed.
"It's not for sale at any price, but I can give you a few drops for free," Jiang Yuer puckered her lips, looking as if she was about to smear her saliva on Zhang Yuanqing.
Zhang Yuanqing leaned back to dodge.
Click!
The doorknob turned, and grandmother stood in the doorway, frowning at the two of them.
Zhang Yuanqing and Jiang Yuer immediately sat up straight.
"Are you going to eat dinner or not?" Grandmother scolded. "Sleeping during the day and staying up at night, just playing games. Born human but wanting to become immortal, living on earth but wanting to ascend to heaven?"
Zhang Yuanqing put down the controller. "I know, I know. I'll eat right away."
Grandmother gave her daughter a cold sidelong glance, and the aunt slunk back to her room.
Dinner had been kept warm, and grandmother reheated the cold dishes. Zhang Yuanqing hastily filled his stomach and returned to his room. He summoned his inventory to confirm that the corpse-suppressing talisman was still there.
Then he examined his attribute panel.
After that, while praying for good news from Li Dongze's side, he reflected on the details of what happened in the Mountain God Temple.
While playing games with his aunt earlier, he had gained some new insights.
If the spirit realm was also a game, wouldn't there be patterns to follow? If he could find these patterns, even if he was just a powerless little boy, he might be able to successfully complete the challenges.
As he was lost in thought, a jarring ringtone startled him, making his heart skip a beat.
He grabbed the phone from the bedside table. The caller ID showed an unknown number. He chose to answer.
"Hello, is this Zhang Yuanqing?" A sexy voice came through the speaker.
Zhang Yuanqing's face lit up with surprise. He quickly asked, "Did you get the information about the She Ling Tunnel?"
Guan Ya made an affirmative sound:
"Section Chief Li obtained more detailed information for you. He asked me to send it to your email. I know you young people never check your emails, so I'm calling to let you know."
As expected of the officials. Joining them was the right choice. Zhang Yuanqing's mood instantly brightened. Resisting the urge to rush to his computer to check his email, he said sincerely:
"Please thank Section Chief Li and Sister Guan Ya for me. Once I successfully complete the trial mission, I'll treat you both to a meal."
Successfully complete the trial... Guan Ya sighed inwardly. After hesitating for a moment, her voice became unusually gentle:
"Alright, I'll look forward to it."
She had already seen the information sent by the Taiyi Sect. After reading it, she felt only despair and a chill in her heart. No wonder the Section Chief had been in a bad mood all day.
In Li Dongze's mind, this newly recruited night walker would probably perish during the trial mission.
After ending the call, Zhang Yuanqing pulled out his ergonomic chair and eagerly started up his laptop to log into his email.
He found the email sent by Guan Ya among the mess of unread messages.
He downloaded the attached document.
[She Ling Tunnel, Spirit Realm Code: 0079, Difficulty Level: S, Type: Single Player (Death Type)]
[Main Quest 1: Survive for three hours.]
[Main Quest 2: Explore Spirit Realm 0079.]
It's the same as my trial mission. Zhang Yuanqing's spirits lifted. This was a good sign; the more closely the content matched his mission, the better.
[The setting of Spirit Realm 0079 is not the She Ling Tunnel, but an ancient temple from the Ming Dynasty called the Three Paths Mountain Goddess Temple.
[I speculate that this Goddess must be a night walker of extremely high status, or perhaps she can no longer be called a night walker. It's unclear whether such a peerlessly beautiful Goddess actually existed in the Ming Dynasty; it's possible that she was fabricated by the spirit realm.]
This was followed by a long description of the Three Paths Mountain Goddess's deeds, which matched what Zhang Yuanqing had seen in the temple.
He continued reading:
[The task of surviving for three hours is relatively simple. Initially, after reading the contents of the notes, I encountered a vengeful spirit that latched onto me. Its characteristic was to continuously drain the yang energy from living beings until the target dies.
[Night walkers have an innate suppression ability against spirits. I didn't expend much effort to exorcise it, but when I tried to devour it, I encountered a huge obstacle. This might be the spirit realm's protection of the vengeful spirit.
[Everyone who reads the notes will be cursed and relentlessly pursued by the vengeful spirit. Any method of exorcism is only temporary. Exorcising the spirit once provides about 15 minutes of safety.
[It's worth mentioning that the overall layout of the Mountain God Temple consists of a main hall and two adjoining courtyards. The candles in the main hall are extremely powerful artifacts with the ability to ward off evil and purify. As long as you hide in the main hall, you're safe. The trade-off is that the candles eliminate fear from people's hearts. Prolonged exposure to the candlelight will make you fearless, which is fatal in such a dangerous spirit realm. Additionally, it cannot be moved or taken out of the spirit realm.
[After staying in the main hall for half an hour, I suddenly heard cries for help coming from the back courtyard, interspersed with bone-chilling howls that didn't sound like they came from living beings. After some hesitation, I decided to explore the back courtyard.]
The main hall is indeed a safe house. I've personally verified this, but I didn't realize the source was the candles. I thought it was that beautiful Mountain Goddess.
The cries for help came from that big banyan tree, though I didn't hear the howls. The eastern courtyard is indeed terrifying. Zhang Yuanqing's heart jolted, and he silently drew in a cold breath.
He took a deep breath and focused on reading further. The information that followed was crucial. If he could know in advance about the situation in the other courtyard, he could avoid dangers during his exploration.
[The big banyan tree is very dangerous. Don't look back, don't look back.]
[This banyan tree seems to have gained consciousness, but why would it cry for help? As for the terrifying howls, I couldn't find their source because their appearance interrupted my exploration. It was a pair of... red dancing shoes.]
[They didn't attack me immediately, but invited me to dance. Out of curiosity, I agreed to their invitation]
[I couldn't remember their dance steps at all. They were too chaotic and complex. For someone like me with no dance experience, it was an impossible request. No, even someone with dance experience probably couldn't remember those steps. I failed, and the red dancing shoes began to hunt me down.]
[I managed to escape back to the main hall, but two of my ribs were broken by their stomping. I think I've uncovered their true nature. This is an extremely terrifying artifact. Its tracking ability ignores terrain and obstacles, and it won't stop until it achieves its goal. My initial assessment is that it's a rule-based artifact.]
[It's unbelievable that there's a rule-based artifact in a trial spirit realm. I finally understand why Qian Shou died in the Mountain God Temple despite having an artifact, and why no one has ever completed this spirit realm. What a joke. Those who can enter the She Ling Tunnel are either level 1 novice night walkers or ordinary people. How could they possibly complete it?]
[I don't know the reason for the Mountain God Temple's decline yet, nor do I know what the secret concerning a thousand years of prosperity and decline is. I hope I can successfully complete the second main quest and bring back the truth for the organization.]
The information ends here, with no further continuation.
Zhang Yuanqing knew that this night walker had most likely died during the second main quest.
(End of Chapter)
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