“…Big brother, why does Grandma Gu want to kill Manager Wu?”
In the dark ancestral temple, Little Wild Grass clung tightly to Li Muyang’s hand, asking in a very soft voice.
At that moment, the two had already seen the temple’s exit, glimpsing the light seeping through the gap in the large doors.
Faced with the elder’s bizarre request, Li Muyang could only choose to accept.
Because he had tried refusing.
And after he refused the elder’s request, the mysterious elder on the candle stand would let out a soft, cold laugh.
Then, all the light in the darkness would extinguish instantly, and Li Muyang felt a wet, sticky substance moving in the dark, touching him.
Then…
[You have died, game over]
After refusing the elder’s request, Jiang Xiaoyu, the game character, would die instantly.
So Li Muyang actually had only one choice: he reloaded the save and went through the process again, this time accepting the mysterious elder Grandma Gu’s mission.
At that moment, Little Wild Grass’s question was also Li Muyang’s.
He and Little Wild Grass were mere nobodies in the fort, without any status.
Asking the two of them to kill Manager Wu… wasn’t that a sure failure?
If Grandma Gu had an issue with those foreign Demon Cultivators, she could have dealt with it herself. Why did she need Li Muyang, a nobody, to do it?
Li Muyang was completely confused, but he could only obediently comply.
“Grandma Gu must have her own reasons…” Li Muyang murmured noncommittally.
This old woman was somewhat terrifying.
She appeared kind and friendly, but once you refused her, you would instantly die without a chance for regret.
Her ruthless decisiveness gave Li Muyang a deeper understanding of Black Cloud Fort.
Initially, he thought that amongst the fort’s two forces, Grandma Gu’s side was at least the friendly one.
Now, he realized that neither side was good.
One side was evil and brutal, and the other side was eerie and sinister, with only him and Little Wild Grass caught in the middle.
This later phase of the game seemed like it would be quite difficult…
Li Muyang and Little Wild Grass approached the temple’s entrance just as the tightly closed door happened to open, with the kindly smiling Grandma Gu standing at the doorway.
“You can go now, Xiaoyu,” she said. “Remember what you promised this old woman.”
The elder in the sunlight, smiling kindly.
But Little Wild Grass shrank back in fear behind Li Muyang.
Clearly, there was a Grandma Gu inside the ancestral temple, yet there was another one outside… Could there be two Grandma Gus?
Li Muyang didn’t say much, simply taking Little Wild Grass and leaving.
After they left the ancestral temple, a dialog box popped up in front of Li Muyang.
[Black Cloud Fort is too terrifying; perhaps I should run away with Little Wild Grass…]
[Can’t run, there’s no escaping. I have to find a way to kill Manager Wu. By killing him, Little Wild Grass and I can survive.]
[There are two Grandma Gus in the ancestral temple; if I tell Manager Wu… will Manager Wu protect me?]
Three dialog boxes appeared in front of Li Muyang; it was his first time seeing this.
Previously, system options were always limited to two.
Clearly, the three choices corresponded to three different paths.
Li Muyang hesitated for a moment, ruling out the first option to run as obviously unreliable.
During the Second Phase’s nurturing period, Li Muyang had also tried taking Little Wild Grass and fleeing from Black Cloud Fort, seeking excitement in mundane daily life.
However, no matter how far they ran, they would inevitably be captured by the Demon Cultivators of Black Cloud Fort.
The farthest they managed was thousands of miles away, where they lived a normal civilian life in anonymity for half a month before being caught by the Demon Cultivators of Black Cloud Fort breaking into their home and taking them away one night.
The Demon Cultivators of Black Cloud Fort clearly had some method of tracking Little Wild Grass.
Looking at the three options before him, Li Muyang followed the old rule and saved the game first.
After saving, he chose the second option.
From what he could tell, killing Manager Wu probably aligned with the main storyline.
If he were to align with Manager Wu’s side, Little Wild Grass’s nurturing path would tend towards that of a witch.
And the game called “Fairy” … wasn’t that hint obvious enough!
One must definitely raise Little Wild Grass into a high and transcendent fairy.
Although Li Muyang found it hard to imagine what Little Wild Grass, a shrewd, cunning girl full of sneaky tricks, would look like if she became a fairy …
In any case, he would stick to the main storyline first.
Li Muyang chose the second option and left Black Cloud Fort with Little Wild Grass.
The development in the third phase clearly became much more challenging.
The previous phase was just about doing daily tasks, but this phase suddenly required killing Manager Wu.
It was like having just gotten used to the newbie tutorial and game controls, only to have the boss thrown right at the player’s face.
The difficulty spike was just too huge… ghost-like, right!
Walking in Black Cloud Fort, Li Muyang took a deep breath, yet his eyes sparkled with excitement.
Although the difficulty had increased, he was not discouraged; rather, he was very happy.
Because his previous experiences had shown that in this game system, the higher the difficulty, the richer the rewards.
After exhausting all his effort in the newbie tutorial and achieving a perfect ending, Li Muyang directly received a top-notch artifact like the Endless Spirit Rice Jar.
However, the challenges of the first two phases of this cultivation game were too easy, so the completion rewards were mediocre.
Now, with the sudden increase in difficulty in the third phase, Li Muyang couldn’t wait to find out what the completion rewards would be.
After all, the one thing he was not short of right now was time, though he had no guide and could only rely on himself to explore.
But as long as the game was here, he would eventually get through it.
Walking out of Black Cloud Fort with Little Wild Grass, Li Muyang reached the mountain range behind the fort.
Inside the mountain was almost hollow, a series of connected caves forming a world of their own.
Manager Wu and his group of demon cultivators usually hid and cultivated inside these caves, turning them into their lairs.
Previously, Manager Wu lived inside the fort, but the demon cultivators residing there had changed two years ago.
It seemed they took turns living in the fort.
Li Muyang, accompanied by Little Wild Grass, entered the chilly caves, walking on the damp ground, and found the waiting Manager Wu.
Dressed in a blood-red robe, Manager Wu looked impatient.
“Where have you been, kid? Why are you so late today?”
Manager Wu’s gaze was hostile.
In Li Muyang’s view, a system dialogue box popped up.
[(Apologize to Manager Wu and make up a lie to explain why you are late)]
[(Tell the truth, tell Manager Wu that Granny Gu called you over for help)]
These two options …
Li Muyang didn’t hesitate to choose the first one.
The second one looked like a death sentence no matter how you looked at it.
Telling Manager Wu that you went to Granny Gu, and Granny Gu sent you to kill him… wasn’t that plainly suicidal?
Li Muyang made up a lie, explaining why he was late.
But after listening to his explanation, Manager Wu’s expression darkened.
“You clearly went to see Granny Gu, yet you dare not tell me… What bad deeds did that old woman ask you to do?!”
The next second, Manager Wu’s robe swung fiercely, and blood splattered.
[You died, the game has failed]
…
Sitting up suddenly in the paddy field, Li Muyang was somewhat stunned.
“Dang! Died so casually?”
This third phase indeed had a significant increase in difficulty; you could die at any turn, with a death rate even higher than at the beginning of the first phase, almost everywhere was a trap.
Manager Wu, who had been rather reasonable in the past two phases, was now quick to kill at a disagreement. Read exclusive content at мѵʟ
It felt like after entering the third phase, all the NPCs in Black Cloud Fort had become more murderous.
Could it be that the conflict between the foreign demon cultivators and the local villagers in the fort had intensified?
Curious, Li Muyang closed his eyes and entered the game again.