Chapter 311 - 76: The Mysterious Cave

When he learned that Shadow God had arrived with Qian Wulu, Eight Desolates immediately asked for Qian Wulu’s location and went over to mess with his remains.

Pointing in the direction Eight Desolates had left, Duan Fei asked, "Should we go stop him? I get the feeling he holds a strong grudge against Qian Wulu."

"No need. Eight Desolates and my cousin are old acquaintances. It’ll just be something minor, like drawing a dick on his face. It’s no big deal." Shadow God shook his head nonchalantly.

"Oh, I see. Still, I didn’t expect your cousin to be Qian Wulu. That’s a bit of a surprise."

"I was pretty surprised when I first found out, too. Who would’ve known that my cousin, who was a shut-in for three years, was actually Qian Wulu? But that guy is unconventional, so don’t bother trying to talk with him."

"What do you mean?"

Shadow God thought for a moment before finally finding a suitable example. "Let me put it this way. If someone can quickly tell you what 1111 squared is..."

"1,234,321, right? What about it?" Duan Fei asked, confused.

"Yeah, what about it?" Jinghong, who was pressed close to Duan Fei, also asked in confusion.

Shadow God looked at the two of them helplessly. "Okay, let’s try another example. If someone can tell you the 47th digit of pi without even thinking... you two, shut up! I get that you’re geniuses, just listen to my example!"

After telling Duan Fei and Jinghong to keep quiet, Shadow God finally continued, "That kind of person would usually be suspected of cheating, of just copying the answer. And my cousin is that kind of person. He can always see the answer very quickly. In his own words, he can ’quickly see where the key is’."

"But that sort of thing is too difficult to explain, so he rarely bothers. Over time, that led to rumors about Qian Wulu being arrogant and looking down on everyone. But my cousin is incredibly strong-willed; he never cared about being misunderstood."

"How strong-willed?" Duan Fei asked.

"During the Lunar New Year, all our nosy relatives combined couldn’t make him feel even the slightest urge to get married."

"That is pretty strong-willed."

Now that they understood Qian Wulu’s quirks, the group began to discuss what his so-called "key" might actually be.

Knowing that Qian Wulu’s supposed "key" was here, the players thought for a long time but hadn’t found any clues yet.

In the end, they could only agree to split up and search for clues within the settlement.

After circling about half of the village, Duan Fei discovered that while the local natives had no fixed language, their body language was extremely rich.

With a single expression or a gesture of their fingers, they could communicate and convey information to one another.

When necessary, they could also let out loud calls to alert each other, using different tones and rhythms to express different situations.

Duan Fei was livestreaming, broadcasting the situation to his audience and attracting a great deal of attention.

After all, Duan Fei’s party was one of the few groups of players to have reached the fifteenth level. Most players who could no longer advance could use his channel as an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the lower levels; it was another way to experience the game.

Tens of thousands of players gathered on his stream. Many of them even had their own specializations, and they began to analyze what they were seeing and offer their own opinions.

Duan Fei read their suggestions and constantly interacted with the viewers in his stream, hoping to gather more information this way.

Before long, he discovered a huge cavern. A breeze blew out from it from time to time, carrying hints of moisture.

When he tried to press forward, an elderly native stopped him. Using frantic gestures and an urgent tone, the native conveyed that it was very dangerous down there, and that those who go in don’t come back.

’This means the key is probably down there,’ Duan Fei thought. ’But what makes it so dangerous?’

The old native, as if dancing, used gestures to express for a long time: "Down there is the entrance to the Netherworld, where the dead slumber eternally. But every so often, undying creatures crawl over the bodies of the dead, causing them to emerge with the creatures’ traits. They will instinctively seek to slumber again and constantly try to return to the world below."

’That feels a little creepy.’

It seemed to be a tradition among the local residents not to approach the cavern, and the old native was the defender of this tradition.

Just as Duan Fei was considering whether to force his way in or sneak in for a look, a piercing sound suddenly echoed from within the dark cavern.

It was a series of deep rumbles, like the hungry roar of some colossal beast, or the warning cry of a dangerous predator.

Upon hearing this sound, the local natives immediately stopped what they were doing and began to kowtow in the direction of the cavern.

The rumbling continued for a short while before stopping, but the natives did not cease their prostrations.

A few minutes later, something appeared in the darkness and began to walk out slowly.

It was as unsteady as a newborn fawn, its body moving with a strange, octopus-like fluidity as it swaggered forward, step by step.

He wore no outer garments, only a filthy loincloth that exposed his solid muscles.

But the most terrifying thing was its head.

Its body was human-like, but its head was that of a pig. The fat pig head was utterly incongruous with the lean, muscular body, creating a heart-pounding sense of dissonance.

This pig-headed Monster ignored Duan Fei and the kowtowing natives to its side. Instead, it walked back the way it came, heading for the passage to the fourteenth level.

Only after the Monster was far away did the old native stand up and convey with his body language: "That is Soma."

"What is Soma?" Duan Fei asked, confused.

"It’s... it’s Soma."

While Duan Fei was still confused, someone in his livestream chat said, "The language of the natives here is a bit tricky, but I tried to translate it. What they call ’Soma’ probably refers to a Dungeon Warrior. They slowly gain intelligence and then fight to protect the Dungeon."

"Does one word, ’Soma,’ have such a complex meaning?"

"That’s because ’Soma’ is the only word he can make. But if you carefully observe his movements and expressions, you’ll see he’s conveying a lot of meaning."

Duan Fei thought for a moment, then said, "Everyone, don’t you think the Soma looks a lot like a boss?"

"I didn’t think about it, but now that you mention it, yeah. The rabbit, the shark, the gorilla... all those bosses seem to be half-human, half-beast. They really do look a bit like this Soma."

"Also, the old veteran’s body disappeared not long before this Soma showed up. Doesn’t anyone else get the feeling that the veteran’s body and the Soma are connected somehow?"

The stream chat went silent for a moment, followed by a flood of comments: "The more I think about it, the scarier it gets."

Seeing these comments, Duan Fei grew even more interested in what lay down in the passage.