Chapter 214: The Dungeon Begins

"Ah, it's nothing, Xiao Yu. I'm fine," Yan Jing said.

Looking at the screen before him, he added, "The things in here... are quite novel."

"Do you see any text on your end?"

"I do," Fei Yu said softly. "Mine says:"

"You have joined this game as part of the county magistrate's faction."

"The game is divided into three stages. If the county magistrate's faction is victorious in the final stage, you win."

"The victory conditions have now been revealed to the commander."

Hearing this, Yan Jing glanced at the right side of the map on his screen. It showed a progress bar with three segments; the first segment was currently highlighted.

He tapped it, and a line of text appeared:

[The preliminary stage of the game has begun. You are restricted from inflicting harm on other entities. You may move around, and you may use the black curtain for communication and item transfers.]

[The game will officially begin tomorrow morning at nine o'clock.]

[The First Stage is the accumulation phase.]

[The rules are as follows:]

...

It essentially reiterated the rules the players had already seen.

Only the final few lines were different:

[Notice: Because a human participant has chosen to join your faction, no others may join it.]

[Notice: Due to your dual identity, you begin with double the Regional Grids (100 grids in total). Your starting Regional Grids cannot be seized.]

[The more Regional Grids you control, the greater the assistance they will provide during the Second Stage and Third Stage.]

[Please do not neglect accumulation during the First Stage.]

Furthermore, it explained the roles that Fei Yu, Master Liu, and his other subordinates would play in this game.

They could seize Regional Grids, but their limit was only ten. If a grid was taken back from them, they would suffer a backlash.

"Xiao Yu, go call Master Liu and the others over," Yan Jing said.

He watched the points of light on the map displayed on his screen.

There were many points of light in Silent Valley, representing the eldritch creatures and silent cultivators. Bianliu County, in contrast, had far fewer. Around the Lin Estate, a scattering of red dots lay across the fields behind the compound, marking the local eldritch creatures and silent cultivators.

However, there were only three notably large red dots: Old Master Liu, Fei Yu, and Tiger.

He wondered if he would receive new tasks and a new identity if he transformed into Yi Ji.

Switching identities like this was quite inconvenient. He hoped the role-playing game would offer a solution for it later on.

"We're here, Young Master. Huzi and I are both here."

The old man spoke from beyond the black curtain. He and Tiger had hurried over as soon as they saw the text appear before them.

It blocks perception...

Yan Jing noted that down mentally. If that was the case, switching identities would be much easier.

"Alright. Master Liu, you and Huzi make a trip to South Street," Yan Jing instructed.

"Bring Old Monkey here."

"Right away."

The old man and Tiger agreed and were about to set off when Yan Jing stopped them.

"Master Liu, you've been constantly busy in your room lately. Have you made any progress?"

"..."

An awkward look crossed the old man's face. "Young Master, I might still be lacking a little..."

"Lacking what exactly?" Yan Jing asked.

"Lacking..."

The old man couldn't bring himself to say it, so Fei Yu spoke up for him.

"He's lacking physical vitality. Master Liu is getting on in years. His natural talent was quite good originally, but he's suffered two major injuries. Between his advancing age and all the hidden ailments racking his body, he'll need heavy nourishment if he wants to break through to the Fourth Tier."

"Master Liu, is Xiao Yu telling the truth?" Yan Jing asked.

"Oh, Young Master, Xiao Yu just loves to talk nonsense. Surely you know that," the old man stammered.

He waved his hands frantically at Fei Yu, gesturing wildly for her to shut up.

"Ordinary things likely won't be enough to mend him. The kind of nourishment Master Liu's body requires is usually expensive and hard to come by," Fei Yu continued softly. "You should have him stay home and watch the house more often. Don't let him keep running around outside. If he ends up collapsing out there, wouldn't you be the one shedding tears?"

"Whether he reaches the Fourth Tier or not, he's still perfectly capable of watching the house and doing the bookkeeping."

That was Fei Yu's true motive.

"No, no, Young Master, don't listen to this little maid's drivel..." the old man hurriedly protested.

"Makes sense. I think Xiao Yu makes a lot of sense!" Yan Jing decided. "Go on, old man. We'll talk about the rest later."

The old man wanted to argue, but seeing Yan Jing's firm stance, he could only sigh. Displeased, he pointed at his own mouth while glaring at Fei Yu.

The gesture clearly meant: Look at that big mouth of yours.

Only then did he lead Tiger out the door.

Fei Yu offered a faint smile. She had achieved her goal; if the old man wanted to grumble a bit, she would let him grumble.

A short while later, the pair returned with Old Monkey in tow. Trailing behind them were the siblings, Dong Pingping and Dong An.

The moment he entered, Old Monkey made a beeline for the four-sided black curtain, dropped to his knees before Yan Jing, and knocked his head heavily against the floor.

"Young Master Luo, I didn't expect you to still be alive..."

Rumors had been circulating in the streets over the past few days, but Old Monkey hadn't known they were true until he saw Old Master Liu.

"There's no need for that, Old Monkey. I never saw you kneel when I was alive before. Why start now that I've died and come back?" Yan Jing said with a chuckle. "You were my father's man. I am me, and my father is my father. We're separate."

Old Monkey wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and waved a hand.

"The past is the past, and now is now. If I still couldn't figure out what's been going on lately, I'd have lived all these years in vain."

Seeing that Yan Jing was still alive, he instantly realized who had chopped off everyone's hands at Wanhua Fang, and where Heaven Stealer's severed head had come from.

"Let's not dwell on the past. You must have seen the notice for this competition, right?" Yan Jing asked.

"I saw it, I saw it." Old Monkey nodded. "Just give the order, Young Master."

"Right now, many people on South Street probably haven't decided whose side to take," Yan Jing said. "For certain reasons, I can't recruit anyone myself. But there are some who were leaning toward my side before. Go make a trip and gather them all up. You'll be in charge of managing them from now on."

On his light screen, there were still a few red dots over in South Street. It wasn't many, but it was better than nothing.

"Understood."

Old Monkey left to carry out his orders.

That evening, after delegating the rest of the tasks, Yan Jing went to "sleep" early. The others—including Yi Ji, who had returned in the afternoon—had dinner together.

Then, the next morning arrived.

Surface World.

The moment nine o'clock struck, system notifications appeared before Yan Jing's eyes.

[Stage A of the mission is about to begin.]

[The location for this mission is Minhu - Bianliu County - Surrounding Territory - Outer Region - Gamified.]

[Your landing location will automatically default to Bianliu County.]

[Your initial Mental Immunity Value has been reduced to 20 points.]

[Welcome back, player.]

Yan Jing opened his eyes to the familiar sights of East Street.

Unlike its usual bustling state, every shop along East Street currently had its doors tightly shut. Wrapping paper and rotting cabbage leaves littered the street... It looked exceptionally desolate.

In truth, ever since Wei Nantian died, East Street had been stuck in this half-dead state. The great battle had claimed too many lives in Bianliu County, and the area still hadn't recovered.

Normally, a few shops would still brave opening their doors, but today, not a single one was open.

By now, the inner world residents of Bianliu County must have received their game prompts and rushed to align themselves with various factions. Nobody had time for business.

Another stark difference was that Bianliu County now seemed to be divided into a grid of small squares. The entirety of East Street, for example, had been transformed into gray grid tiles, indicating it was unclaimed territory.

Yan Jing didn't linger. He hurried over to the Lin Estate with familiar ease.

The Regional Grid housing the Lin Estate was colored black.

Half of the Regional Grids across the entirety of North Street were black.

Along the way, he spotted several players who had spawned outside and were now searching for the paths to their respective factions.

Before long, he arrived at the Lin Estate.

The old man and the others had already gone out according to the instructions given around eight o'clock that morning. Only Fei Yu remained, standing guard at the door.

"The County Magistrate is waiting inside," Fei Yu said.

In Fei Yu's eyes, a green light shone above Yan Jing's head, marking him as an ally. This was something Luo Sheng had arranged beforehand.

Besides, she had heard of Yan Jing's reputation.

"Understood."

Yan Jing nodded and stepped inside the room.

"..."

Soon, the sound of their conversation drifted out from the room.

"..."

"Then I will leave it to you, advisor."

"It is my honor to serve County Magistrate Luo."

Yan Jing walked out and first greeted Fei Yu.

He then found a quiet corner to switch identities. Taking on Luo Sheng's persona, he asked Fei Yu for a few picture books.

Only after that did he revert to his original form and head outside.

He didn't immediately go to the gray grids on North Street. Instead, he looked up. Several rows of pitch-black Little Birds stood perched on the eaves.

Soon, the Little Birds began to chirp one by one. Receiving their signal, Yan Jing immediately headed east.

This was the communication system they had established over the past few days.

Luo Sheng would release the Little Bird painting spirits. Then, their people scattered across Bianliu County would use simple hand gestures to signal the Little Birds, which would in turn relay the feedback to Yan Jing.

Once the weird energy sustaining the painting spirits was exhausted, Luo Sheng would simply draw more.

As for why the painting spirits could recognize Yan Jing, it was because he carried the Paintbrush capable of drawing the past.

Since "Luo Sheng" couldn't engage in combat over these next few days anyway, it was the perfect time to borrow it.

Yan Jing arrived at the location specified in the message: the intersection of North Street and East Street.

Right now, a purple Flag had been planted in the very center of that square Regional Grid. The once-gray grid had turned purple as well, though it was unclear which faction this color represented.

To Yan Jing, however, the answer to that question didn't matter much.

He walked over. The man who had planted the Flag hadn't left yet. He stared at Yan Jing, seemingly trying to figure out if he was a VIP from one of the major factions. Soon, as a member of the Lin Family, he recognized who Yan Jing was.

This was the man who had instantly killed Yan Lei that day.

Not someone to be trifled with.

"What do you want?" he asked, standing up with a wary expression.

"To snatch your Flag," Yan Jing said with a smile.

"There are so many empty Regional Grids out there right now, and you want to snatch mine?!" the man asked in shock.

"I like this piece of land," Yan Jing smirked.

To his surprise, however, the man didn't back down. Instead, a cruel sneer twisted his lips.

"Then don't blame me!"

He blew a sharp whistle. From the narrow alleys on both sides of the street, several mutated figures rushed out.

One was covered in bodily holes, every single one stuffed with burning incense.

One possessed exceptionally thick legs; each leg was thicker than a grown man's waist.

And the last one had absolutely no skin on his face—only raw, red muscle tissue—with a ragged, faded Human Skin Mask stuck crookedly onto it.

An aroma cultivator, a leg cultivator, and an Actor Cultivator.

Clearly, this faction was quite strategic.

Every player had been assigned a few inner world residents.

Although seizing a Flag required a one-on-one confrontation, there were zero restrictions on the fighting that took place before the snatch.

As long as they could stop a player from reaching the Flag, they could stall for time and grind down the enemy's combat strength. In fact, if the invading player's Mental Immunity Value was depleted, they could capture him outright.

This was likely the true intent of the game:

For the commanders to secure victory by deploying players with Flags and inner world residents without Flags in tandem.

"How about that? Fell right into my trap, didn't you?"

The man laughed triumphantly. "Get him! Hold him down! I'll finish him off myself!"

At that moment, he was completely oblivious to the deeply unsettled expressions on the faces of the inner world residents who had just appeared.

"You guys want to mess with me?" Yan Jing asked, looking at the residents with an amused smile.

"No, no, not at all, I didn't say that."

The aroma cultivator was the first to wave his hands in frantic denial, showering incense ash everywhere as he did so.

The player behind him stared in stunned silence. He had never expected that to be the resident's opening line.

"I didn't say it either! I didn't say it!"

The leg cultivator immediately chimed in, plastering on a sycophantic smile. "I mean, advisor, wherever you want to go, I'll give you a ride. I was just worried you might get tired walking. My cart is parked right nearby; I just unhitched it from my body."

The player behind them was utterly dumbfounded.

What the hell is going on? This has to be a joke...

Why does this feel like a fever dream?

Seeing his two companions speak up, the Actor Cultivator panicked. He was supposed to be the best at sweet-talking! How had they beaten him to the punch?

In his panic, he immediately marched toward the player behind them, shouting as he went:

"Advisor, this is the guy blocking your path, right?!"

"I've hated his guts since the moment I saw him!!!"

"This guy is clearly up to no good!"

"Motherfucker, so you're the one trying to mess with the advisor, huh?!"