Chapter 36

As he followed the village guide, Zong Jiu recalled the Tarot Guide in his mind.

Of the 77 big Alcanary cards, the most ominous one was the number 61 "Tower."

Compared to the destructive power of the "Tower," which destroyed everything, the Grim Reaper had a trace of life. This trace of life would be greatly enhanced when the Grim Reaper card was inverted.

The Grim Reaper's serial number was 68. As everyone knew, 68 was an ominous number in the West.

During the Last Supper, Jesus' thirteenth disciple, Judas, betrayed him for 85 silver coins, which led to Jesus' crucifixion. Therefore, the number 68 in the West had always equated to bad luck, which was also the meaning of the Grim Reaper.

The Tarot Guide explained in detail the difference between the normal and inverted Grim Reaper cards.

Normal Grim Reaper: Fail, end.

Inverted Grim Reaper: Abandon the past, rise from the ashes, rise from the ashes, rise from the ashes, miracle.

Zong Jiu's thoughts revolved around the rise from the ashes for a few seconds, then he nonchalantly put away the card.

Just then, the group stopped in their tracks.

"We're here."

The leader, Lao Qiang, stood in front of a mud hut by the road. "Those who just handed in their rations, stay here."

Then he pointed from afar. "Those who didn't hand in their rations, stay behind that tree."

There was an old locust tree at the end of the path he pointed at. Its yellowed leaves hung from the branches, swaying in the cold wind.

Behind the lush foliage of the locust tree, an old and eerie mud hut stood alone. The door was dark and creepy from afar.

The trainees were divided into two groups and brought here. Those who handed in their rations looked at those who didn't with pity and rejoiced.

Combined with the conversation between Wang Shou and Lao Qiang, anyone with a discerning eye could see that there was definitely something wrong with the rundown house behind the old locust tree.

The bullet screen was also abuzz with discussion.

[All the trainees came in together, but because there was a pack in the initial setting of the person card and no pack, there was a huge difference in the beginning. This really depends on luck.]

[It really depends on the face + 6. To be honest, I feel that there must be something wrong with that run-down house. We have to use the laws of horror movies here.]

[Come, come, come, place your bets. Let's see who among the trainees who haven't handed in their rations will be the first to offer sacrifices to heaven.]

[Firstly, Zhuge An is excluded. Secondly, Magician is excluded. The rest of you can choose from any combination.]

On the other side, the trainees were obviously feeling very unbalanced, but they did not dare to say anything in front of the villagers with hoes in their hands.

Perhaps they were really unlucky. The strength of the group that didn't hand over their rations was uneven. Most of them were newcomers. There was almost a gap between the seniors. The highest was only Zhuge An, who was ranked number three. The next was a grade C. It could be said that the rookies were pecking at each other.

In this kind of situation, everyone would subconsciously want to find a pillar of support, so everyone couldn't help but glance at Zhuge An who was in the same line.

Unfortunately, the latter remained as still as a mountain and did not comment on the current situation. Instead, he lowered his eyebrows and seemed to be thinking about something.

With the boss like this, the other D and E level rookies did not dare to disturb him.

At this time, a trainee finally said timidly, "Should, should we go over to the house to take a look?"

Although they didn't know what era this dungeon was in, it couldn't be a modern civilization if there was such a large-scale famine.

It was getting late. If they delayed any longer, it would be dark. Since there weren't any lights, it would be even scarier when it was dark.

Immediately, another trainee agreed. "Yes, let's go take a look. It won't be good if it gets dark."

Although they said that, everyone looked at each other, but no one dared to move.

At this time, the white-haired youth put down his arm and took the lead to walk towards the intersection.

The others' eyes lit up and immediately followed.

Although the seniors didn't like this grade C who was in the limelight, the newcomers were all convinced by Zong Jiu.

The seniors had items and strength, so they were used to moving in a stable group. Thriller trainees were also a competitive arena. If a newcomer went up, another senior would fall down. It was very xenophobic.

The rookies, on the other hand, were all starting from the same starting line. They struggled in the cruel and terrifying Instance Dungeons, so they knew how difficult it was for Zong Jiu to reach Level 8 in one go. Therefore, they felt even more admiration for him. In addition, Zong Jiu had been in the limelight in Las Vegas. Everyone knew that he had won a million chips, so even the seniors had to think twice.

That was a whole million survival points! Even if it was given to a pig, it could be strengthened into a steel porcupine!

Zong Jiu ignored the string of small tails behind him. He walked in front of the old locust tree and frowned.

Someone wondered, "That's strange. When we came here, the bark of the other trees were all peeled clean. Why hasn't anyone eaten the bark of this tree? "

"Because the locust tree has a yin attribute, also known as the ghost tree. No one dares to eat it," Zong Jiu said.

In folklore, the locust tree was a very ominous tree. It was full of yin energy and easily attracted unclean things. Very few people would plant it in front of a house, let alone such a big one.

"Who has exchanged for items? Get ready. We're going in to take a look."

The others trembled as they looked at the dark door behind the tree. Their legs turned to jelly.

"Hurry up, let's go in and take a look. There are so many people, what's there to be afraid of? It's going to be dark soon. Having a house to sleep in is better than not having one. "

As Zong Jiu urged them, he pretended to pull out a normal dagger from the black box.

The black box was equivalent to a portable space. It was very useful and could be used to pull out normal items at any time.

When everyone saw his actions, they thought that the dagger was a high-grade item from Las Vegas. One by one, they took out their own items as if they were facing a great enemy.

"Dong —"

The door was tattered and unlocked. It opened with a push.

The trainee who pushed the door was too flustered and accidentally pushed the other half of the door to the ground. The cold wind began to pour in.

Zong Jiu gripped the dagger in his hand. His expression darkened as he led the way into the house.

It wasn't because he was skilled and daring. It was because his other hand was still holding the bell, so he wasn't afraid.

Through the holes in the window lattice and the termites, some light shone in from the outside. The small house was dimly lit.

There weren't many things in the house. If one had to describe it, it was an empty house that had been abandoned for a long time. The floor was covered in dirt. The beams were covered in moss. The water tank in the corner was broken. One could only vaguely see the dirty water inside.

Even if one wanted to rest in a house like this, they could only lean against the wall and close their eyes. The only advantage was that they could avoid the autumn wind outside.

"Ah —"

The trainee following behind suddenly let out a short scream.

The bullet screen was filled with red exclamation marks.

[F * ck, that scream really gave me a fright.]

[Me too. I'm suddenly energized from the scream …]

The people who were investigating immediately became alert. They turned around with their props, ready for a supernatural scene.

In the corner, a fat gray shadow jumped and burrowed out of the hole in the wall.

The trainee stuttered, "It's, it's a rat."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

With such an interruption, everyone's nervousness dissipated.

For the veterans, the goal was to get a high score in the Instance Dungeon. For the newbies, it was good enough to survive.

They knew that they were divided into two camps. But since the trainees had an iron rule that they couldn't kill each other, and the random mission wasn't as compulsory as the main mission, it didn't matter if they didn't do it. So, not many people took it to heart.

The screaming trainee scratched his head in embarrassment. "My name is Xu Su. I'm sorry everyone. I've been afraid of rats since I was young. I didn't mean to scare everyone."

The others waved their hands. Someone took the opportunity to suggest, "Since we're going to be together in this Instance Dungeon, why don't we get to know each other?"

As he said that, everyone subconsciously shifted their gaze to Zong Jiu.

Although Zong Jiu didn't do anything, the group of newbies had already vaguely thought of him as their leader.

The white-haired youth raised his eyebrows.

To be honest, if he put himself in the position of the leader and showed an expression of doing everything for everyone's good, it would be difficult to arouse suspicion. It was no wonder that Messiah was so proactive in the first Instance Dungeon. She relied on the trust of the veterans and the ignorance of the newbies. She took advantage of the weakness of blind obedience in the public's psychology and finally escaped unscathed.

After getting to know each other, the atmosphere in the room improved.

Everyone casually picked a place to sit down. They looked at each other and sighed.

"We're all trainees, but we're really unlucky. Why don't we have a package?"

Xu Su looked outside with lingering fear. "We have to stay here for seven days."

"Yeah, this room is dark and cold. It's scary just looking at it."

"Don't mention it. We might have to spend the night like this. Sigh, but it's good. Look at how hungry the villagers are outside. At least we don't have to eat. "

Zong Jiu didn't participate in the discussion. He squatted in the middle of the room, leaning against the wall. As he listened to their discussion, he looked at the wall behind him.

When he glanced over, he noticed that there was something wrong with the wall.

This room was close to the mountain, and the roof was leaky. No one had lived here for many years. Even the walls were covered in dense, dark green moss. However, if one looked closely, they would notice that there were slight differences in the height of their growth, resulting in uneven cross-sections.

The white-haired youth casually picked up a branch from the ground and scraped the moss off the wall bit by bit.

As he moved, the dirt behind the covered wall was also exposed.

On those sturdy earthen walls, a series of ghastly white marks suddenly appeared.

"F * ck, what is this?!"

Zong Jiu's actions didn't hide from the others. When the people in the room realized that something was wrong, they all joined in the scratching project.

They had almost completely removed the moss from the entire wall. When they saw the scene in front of them, they all gasped.

[Oh my God, these marks look like …]

[It can't be what I guessed, trembling.jpg]

[Upstairs, it's what you guessed. (Loud)]

The trainee's face was pale. "It looks like someone scratched it with their fingernails?"

"Look, the height is just right …" He gestured. "Half the wall. There's no place higher than that. You can't reach your hand up."

The room was eerily quiet.

The walls of the dirt house in the countryside had always been tightly packed, not to mention this densely packed. Each mark was one or two centimeters deep.

If it was caused by a person, their fingers would probably be rubbed off. If it wasn't caused by a person … then it was even scarier.

Fear and coldness rushed from the soles of everyone's feet to the top of their heads.

Although they had guessed that there was something wrong with this house, everyone still held on to their wishful thinking. Now, they quivered.

Xu Su wanted to cry but had no tears. "Why, why don't we sleep out in the open."

The others didn't say anything.

To be honest, under the premise that they were told that this was a terrifying instance, the entire village wouldn't be safe. Even if they slept outside, it would still be dangerous, or even more dangerous.

Just then, a creaking sound came from the wooden planks.

Everyone turned around.

The man at the door retracted his hand and coldly glanced at everyone in the house. "Come out."

For a moment, the rookies standing in front of the wall looked at each other.

Seeing that they didn't react, Zhuge An's tone became impatient. "If you don't come out to collect firewood, do you want to sleep here for the night? Aren't you afraid of freezing to death? "

The trainees only reacted after he said that.

It was already the turn of autumn and winter. The broken mud house could only block the wind at most. Moreover, the temperature difference between day and night in the deep mountains was huge. The clothes on everyone's body weren't thick. If they slept like this for the night, their bodies would probably be stiff when they woke up.

So, more than ten people swarmed out. No one dared to stay in the house.

They split into two teams in front of the house. One team followed Zhuge An to collect firewood, and the other team followed Zong Jiu to look for the villagers.

Fortunately, although the famine in the village was serious, there was still enough firewood.

Strolling around the hillside not far away, they could pick up quite a lot under the trees. In the end, everyone had a large pile of dried branches in their arms.

When the team that collected firewood returned, the team that borrowed flint from the villagers also returned.

The white-haired youth shook his head. "No, they didn't want to lend it."

Although he already knew what kind of people the villagers were, it really pissed him off that they weren't even willing to lend the cheapest flint.

The rookies suddenly became angry and cursed. "Damn, these bastards. Who would want to protect them!"

"That's right. People who engage in human trafficking deserve to die. And they only sell women. A bunch of cowards."

"Damn it. I'm so pissed."

Zong Jiu's eyes flashed.

He guessed right. The main mission of the normal card was to protect the villagers.

"But, what do we do now?"

Zhuge An frowned. "I can start a fire. Let's go."

What did he mean by he could start a fire?

The others looked at their boss holding a bundle of firewood and didn't dare to ask more. The dozen or so people returned to the wooden house at the end of the path, some with firewood, some with nothing in their hands.

After all this, the sky almost turned from gloomy to dark blue.

Night was coming.

When they reached the intersection, Xu Su suddenly let out an "ah" again.

The trainee walking in front of him was startled again, and said in an irritable tone, "Why are you screaming again? Are there rats again? "

"No … no."

Xu Su's voice trembled, and he pointed. "There, there, there, there seems to be a person."

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing.

In front of the gloomy mud house, the lush crown of the locust tree was dyed scarlet.

Accompanied by gravity, a long tongue reached out to the chest, an arm hung over the knee, and the cloth clothes on the body swayed in the cold wind like a broken sack.

A person who died with his eyes open hung there.