"If I'm not mistaken, you guys should have triggered your own side quests, right?" Long Ruiquan's gaze swept over everyone present. Everyone nodded, giving an affirmative answer. "I took a quick look. If we can complete the side quests, they should provide us with some help within the instance. But once someone else finds out, the side quest will directly fail," Long Ruiquan began to analyze calmly. "So, I don't plan to ask about your side quests, nor do I plan to share my own. Can you understand that?" Although they didn't know what the others' side quests were or what effects they would have upon completion, everyone still agreed to this. "The main thing is the main quest," Jiang Yi said. "The main quest requires us to find items worth a total of one million game currency within the castle. Where are we supposed to find these items?" At this moment, Liang Fang suddenly reached out and pointed to the front of the hall. After they triggered the main quest, a floating "?" had appeared in front of the life-size portrait. The question mark was red overall, making it quite eye-catching amidst the luxurious scene. The group walked forward, and Long Ruiquan reached out to touch the "?" floating in mid-air. «This “?” can only be triggered once. Please choose one treasure from the following items to take with you»
As soon as this line of text appeared, three identical paintings were presented in front of them. All three paintings depicted the same landscape, and whether it was the overall composition, the details within the painting, or the delicacy of the brushstrokes, it was almost impossible to find any differences. Long Ruiquan narrowed his eyes, looked at the three paintings in front of him, and turned back to the others, asking, "Are we supposed to pick the real painting?" Xu Tong stroked his chin. "It feels like some kind of treasure appraisal show. The remaining paintings are fake. Fake paintings aren't worth much, and even if we get them, it'll be difficult to fill the one million gap. Only by getting the real painting will it have value." "Moreover, it says that this question mark can only be triggered once, which means that the total value that can be obtained in this instance is limited. If we can't find enough genuine items, we won't be able to complete the main quest." His analysis was indeed very reasonable, but unfortunately, no one cared about the opinion of this level 13 newbie player. Jiang Yi and the others' attention was always focused on Long Ruiquan. "Brother Long, can you tell which painting is real?" Long Ruiquan's expression was somewhat solemn. "I've never been to an art museum, how would I understand these things... What about you guys?" Liang Fang shook her head. "I'm not interested in art." Pei Wenyu also shook her head repeatedly. "I don't know much about painting." Xu Tong replied, "My understanding of art is seven apertures open, but only six are working." Jiang Yi was stunned. "What do you mean?" Xu Tong: "I don't understand anything." Jiang Yi: "Idiot." The group looked at the three paintings in front of them for a long time, and Xu Tong, being bored, reached out and touched the three paintings. Then, a bizarre thing happened. [Your right-hand fingers have felt the paper of the three paintings respectively, and deduced from the roughness of the paper that the middle painting is the real painting, and the other two are fakes made by modern craftsmanship] Huh? Xu Tong was also stunned. He reached out and felt the paper of the middle painting carefully. To be honest, it was no different from the other two.
He didn't know how sensitive his fingers were, that he could even feel such subtle differences. Xu Tong himself didn't feel anything at all. "I feel like the middle painting is a bit real," Xu Tong copied his right-hand fingers' feelings verbatim. "It feels like the carbon-14 content of the middle painting's paper is significantly lower than the other two paintings." Hearing Xu Tong's words, everyone present was stunned. Carbon-14 dating is indeed a very scientific method that can effectively identify the year of an item, but the premise of their measurement is to use sophisticated scientific instruments for testing. Carbon-14 is not a visible particle dotted on the paper. Xu Tong actually said that he touched it with his hand and felt that the carbon-14 content of the middle painting was lower than the other paintings? Brother, are you here to be funny? Long Ruiquan held back for a long time, considering Xu Tong's level, and said euphemistically, "I will try to refer to your opinion." Even Jiang Yi couldn't help it, "If you don't speak, no one will treat you as a mute. Next time, please say something normal, I'm going to be embarrassed with you." Xu Tong didn't care. If this incident hadn't happened to him, he probably wouldn't have believed it. After all, using your hand to measure the carbon-14 content sounds very heaven-defying. "I think it's the painting on the left," Long Ruiquan looked at it for a long time and gave his answer. "It feels like the color of the painting on the left is slightly dimmer, like it has been through a lot." The remaining people didn't have any particularly good ideas, so they let Long Ruiquan choose the painting on the left. Soon, the painting on the left slowly fell, and the remaining two paintings disappeared in the light, and even the question mark completely disappeared. Falling into Long Ruiquan's hands, the detailed information of the painting also emerged. [Name: Painting · Gleaners in the Field (Replica)] [Type: Story Item (Cannot be taken out of the instance)] [Quality: Ordinary] [Carrying Requirements: None] [Effect: None] [Evaluation: A beautiful replica, but unfortunately, it can't be sold for any price] "It's actually a fake painting?" Long Ruiquan was already a little sweaty. "This is not going to be easy. This instance is not my area of expertise." Liang Fang on the side was still analyzing to herself, "Could it be the painting on the right?" Among the crowd, only Pei Wenyu took out her pocket watch and glanced at it, her delicate eyebrows furrowed, and said in a distant tone, "Time is passing quickly." Xu Tong also took out his pocket watch and glanced at it, and found that the time they had spent entangled in this painting was equivalent to several hours passing in the instance. "In this way, this instance is encouraging us to act separately. If everyone goes together, there definitely won't be enough time." Jiang Yi's face was a little ugly. He looked around at the people present, "But there is a lurking guardian among us, who definitely hopes that we can act separately." When Xu Tong heard this, he immediately became energetic and gave his suggestion, "Why don't we act in groups? If someone dies, it means that there is a problem with that person's teammate. In this way, we can directly determine who the guardian is, right?" Listening to Xu Tong's proposal, Long Ruiquan asked the remaining people, "What do you think?" Liang Fang was a little timid, "I... I think it's okay... But there are five of us... How many groups should we divide into?" Pei Wenyu said coldly, "Let's divide into groups of two, two, and one. The progress of the three teams will be faster."
This proposal is indeed good. The only problem is, who will be the one acting alone. In fact, as long as they can be separated, Xu Tong doesn't care about the rest. He only needs to find the guardian and let himself be killed. Normally speaking, the person who is alone is generally a sacrifice, and should be the fastest to die. In that case, there should only be one choice for Long Ruiquan. "Xu Tong, can you act alone?" Xu Tong was originally brought by him to lower the average level of the instance. It doesn't matter if he dies, as long as the remaining people can clear the instance. And Xu Tong has a side quest, and said it doesn't matter. But, one person has an opinion. "Xu Tong will go with me. If possible, I need someone to assist me." No one thought that the person who said this would be Pei Wenyu, the highest-level player in the entire team. Long Ruiquan didn't even understand the reason, "If you need help, wouldn't it be better to have level 20 players like me and Liang Fang? Or even Jiang Yi, who is level 19, is better. Isn't it the best option for Xu Tong, who is level 13, to act alone and help us attract the guardian?" Pei Wenyu's eyes were slightly cold, her backpack flashed, and a thin sword was pinned to her waist. "I don't want to say it a second time. "Xu Tong, come with me, understand?"
