After mounting the Undead Stone, Ling Chen’s HP loss completely stopped in the Ghastly Grounds, but it also made him afraid. It made him focus more on the dangers of what he might discover. The blurry image in front of him told him that he was entering the Silent Soul Ridge. He was less than 100m away. Just then, even though the 3 Lords were strong, they weren’t the real danger. There are countless experts on Forgotten Continent so why wouldn’t they be able to deal with 3 level 15 lords.
Silent Soul Ridge, what could it be hiding?
Tap…
Ling Chen completely filled his HP and MP, then he finally started heading forwards. With every step, he was closer to the place where everything would die.
tap…tap…tap…tap…tap…
In the whole world, only the sound of Ling Chen’s footsteps and his heartbeat could be heard. In his line of sight, the image of the Silent Soul Ridge became clearer little by little. Ling Chen looked ahead, and made discovery. From this position, looking at the image of the Silent Soul Ridge, it looked like a fierce skull. Upon moving closer, it really was a skull with a dark mouth for an entry.
10 steps…20 steps…50steps…
“Ahwoooo!!”
Behind him, Xiao Hui let out a sound. It wasn’t loud, but in this gloomy silence it made Ling Chen jump. He suddenly stopped moving and immediately tried respond, but that didn’t seem like a warning sound from Xiao Hui. When it senses danger, the sound it makes is much sharper.
“Ahwoooo!”
Xiao Hui rubbed its gray paw against Ling Chen’s trousers, then started running left. Ling Chen was stunned for a moment then quickly ran after it. After a dozen steps, Xiao Hui stopped and faced the front, making another noise. Ling Chen looking at what Xiao Hui was facing. He could only see the gray air and the smooth dark ground which was nothing strange. However, Ling Chen had seen Xiao Hui’s strong abilities. If it stopped here, then there was definitely a reason. After pondering for a moment, he tried to step forward. Then he crouched down and tentatively reached out. He touched the ground that Xiao Hui was still facing. And in the moment that he touched it, a magical sight unfolded before his eyes… The smooth ground, with the touch of his hand, had started to “melt away”, leaving a dark hole clearly in the ground.
The hole was 1m long. At a glance, he could see that there was a ladder leading to the bottom.
“ding… You’ve found a hidden map “Dark Passages”. Prestige +50.”
Xiao Hui’s Holy Spirit Eye could find hidden maps. He used this power/ability to discover his first hidden map, even though it appeared in these Ghastly Grounds!
Hidden maps are extremely difficult to find in general as they are usually hidden in places which people don’t come across. This was an eerie place where no one dared to enter all year round. It was a place where the only things happening were the undead moving around. Its exactly this kind of place that would be a hidden map, especially because of how close it is to the Silent Soul Ridge.
Dark passage… passage… Is it a path to somewhere!?
While hidden maps are hard to find they may also have great dangers hidden within them. It was just like when Ling Chen was in the novice village and he fell into the cave. That was also a hidden map and the degree of risk was far greater than any general map in the novice towns. Ling Chen stared at the dark hole, not knowing where it led. Then he slowly walked over to it, then lifting his right foot and putting it on the first step leading down. He was getting ready to follow the steps going down to the hidden passage, not knowing where it would lead.
At this time, Ling Chen suddenly heard the sound of a faint step within the cave. He stopped moving and stopped breathing. He was quietly staying still. The footsteps were growing increasingly clear. It seems to be from the inside coming out!!
Ling Chen quickly retreated. He stood 3 metres outside the cave. He furrowed his brow. His left hand was holding the Soaring Cloud and his right hand holding the Zephyr blade with his eyes firmly fixed on the hidden entrance.
The footsteps got closer and closer and heavier and heavier. It gradually drew closer to his ears. Finally, a person’s silhouette came out from the inside. When Ling Chen saw him and he saw Ling Chen, they were both stunned.
This is a person and not an undead! Ling Chen knew from the first sight, because even though his complexion was dark and faint blue back, his eyes were bright. It seemed to have a normal temperament. It didn’t have eyes that appeared to be undead. His body was lean and… it was actually as thin as a stick. He had a long monkey-like face that was mostly bald. There were only a few strands of hair on the crown of his head. He was wearing a ragged blue suit, with a short bamboo stick. If Ling Chen saw him on the streets, he would think that he was a beggar and not a very good one at that.
After the stick man saw him for half a second, he suddenly began to shout: “Where did you come from you ghost? Who asked you to come here! Are you a low level undead who are the only ones eligible to enter into the Gates of Hades? hrm? Wait, how do you have the living spirit…” The monkey man finally discovered what was wrong. He quickly looked up and down Ling Chen. Suddenly his eyes stared and he gave a dramatic cry: “Holy Shit!! You’re a living person!!”
“Aren’t you alive too.” Ling Chen expressionlessly asked.
“Hey, you and I aren’t the same. I’m a living person that can open the underworld. I cant be compared to normal people… Hah! How can I have a conversation with you? What kind of person like you is doing here? Don’t you know that this is the entrance to the underworld? Wrong!! With that scary bastard around, its more like nothing living can even come here, so how did you get here? “ The stickman immediately twisted his head to look in the direction of the Silent Soul Ridge. Then after half a second, he said to himself: “This boy is not weak at all, but still, he cant oppose that bastard… Looks like that bastard wasn’t home today.”
“Entrance to the underworld?” Ling Chen glanced at the “Dark Passage”, and said in the low voice: “What kind of a place is the underworld?”
The stickman that was holding onto the short bamboo stick, impatiently said: “Obviously its the place where dead people go. Why do you ask so many questions. Ha, little one, you’re lucky that that scary bastard wasn’t home today, otherwise you would have never lived to make it to this place. Alright alright, quickly go away, I’ve got business to attend to.”
After speaking, he didn’t bother with Ling Chen. His body was swaying as he walked towards the west.
“I said, what kind of place is the underworld, tell me. And the scary bastard you were talking about, who’s that?” Ling Chen called out from behind him. He had no idea that he would find a person living here. At first he thought there was some kind of hidden boss, but turns out it was just a living person. A non-dangerous living person.
Qian Gun Gun:????
Xiao Hui’s Holy Spirit’s Eye provided information that was being sent to Ling Chen that caused his lip to twitch. Holy Spirit’s Eye can only detect things that are lower than its own level + 10. Being unable to identify the details of this stickman was not too surprising, but the key information was that name…
Qian Gun Gun kept walking, then he stood still for three seconds. He seemed to be considering something. Then only did he come back, saying something that puzzled Ling Chen: “Yo! Cant you see that you’re so young but you’re still a rich person. I Qian Gun Gun almost missed it. Hai, there nothing that happens on this earth that I Qian Gun Gun don’t know about. I would be the right person to ask these questions, but, I Qian Gun Gun didn’t make money by making a loss. If you want me to answer, you’re going to have to come up with enough money. Want to know what kind of place the underworld is? I’ll only charge you 10,000 gold coins for this. I, Qian Gun Gun have always made deals fairly, so money first!
One question costs 10,000 gold!? Thats a robbery!!
“Young master, give him the money now!! Give him as much as possible to stall him!! If you can make him willing to trade with you, it would be a great thing!!”
Ling Chen was about to swear at the stickman when the voice of Qi Yue, who had to go bed rang out in his mind. Ling Chen noted, and quickly responded: “Who is he?”
Qi Yue carefully explained: “Underworld businessman, Qian Gun Gun. He is a human that can freely travel between the underworld and the real world. Don’t think that his appearance is ugly, but he has existed for 10,000 years already. He is addicted to money and good at collecting all kinds of strange and eccentric things then selling them to the rich. What he sells, even though they are expensive, they are mostly things that are hard to come by. At the same time, hes been around on the Forgotten Continent and the underworld for countless years. He knows things that other people don’t know, but if you want to know something from him, it would also be a substantial cost. His fame was known throughout 10,000 years ago. Countless people were eager to meet him and then heavily spend gold on buying what he has or finding out what information he knows. However, he and the Lucky Cat are equally as elusive. Most people wont meet him. For young master to be able to meet him, it is already extremely lucky!”
Underworld businessman… Qian Gun Gun?
Someone so important to Qi Yue was looking at him. He just looks like an unremarkable beggar. His heart immediately had a measurement… but the question is…
“I don’t have that much gold. Can it be cheaper?” Ling Chen said helplessly. One question for 10,000 gold… This was daylight robbery, what player can afford this!
Stickman jumped: “Holy Shit!! You can’t fool me. You dare lie to I, Qian Gun Gun old man! With a sniff, I can more or less know how much money you’re carrying on you! If you aren’t carrying 10,000, I’ll walk backwards from now on!”
“But I really don’t have that much gold.” Ling Chen curled his lip. Before leaving Azure Dragon City, he basically had to spend all his gold. After thinking of Qi Yue’s words, he felt as though he couldn’t offend this incredible person. So he brought up his backpack, preparing to show how much gold he had to show that he wasn’t lying… He casually glanced at the digital value of his own money. He was stunned.
Gold: 427583gold coins!
Ling Chen was dumbfounded. On his body, he was carrying over 400,000 gold coins! An astronomical amount at this stage!!
Whats this? Where did this gold come from? When did I get this much gold!