"Among this group of people, it seems I have the lowest level..."
Li Ang thought to himself, If players indeed cannot harm each other in cooperative tasks, then meeting veterans is actually a good thing. At least I can get a lot of information.
Xing Hechou, relieved to see that everyone had shared their personal player information, smiled and said, "Good, mutual trust among team members is a fine start to completing the mission. Let me introduce myself first: I've executed four standard missions and two script missions, specializing in close-range fighting and emergency medical treatment. Just call me Old Xing."
With this leading example, Wanli Fengdao introduced himself, "I use a Longsword and have some knowledge of Martial Arts, specializing in assassinations. You can call me Little Brother Dao."
Little Brother Dao... Li Ang glanced at Wanli Fengdao's greasy middle-aged face with its sleazy beard and said nothing.
As if sensing Li Ang's peculiar gaze, Wanli Fengdao's mouth twitched, and he glared, saying, "What are you looking at? Got a problem calling me brother? I'm also a post-90s."
What?
Xing Hechou couldn't help but give Wanli Fengdao a double take. The Monk widened his eyes in disbelief, and even the silent, poker-faced woman cast a glance his way.
"I really am a post-90s," Wanli Fengdao reiterated hastily and anxiously, "It's just that my appearance is slightly more mature."
Slightly? Isn't that an overshoot by about twenty years? People would believe you if you said you were forty-two or three.
Setting aside Wanli Fengdao, who was distressed about his appearance, the young Monk put his palms together and said, "I am Hui Bin, with a bit of strength."
Stewed pancake? And I'm still soaking flatbread.
Wanli Fengdao made a mental retort. Looking at Hui Bin, whose face was gentle, with red lips and white teeth, his heart skipped a beat. He coughed and said, "So it turns out you're really a Monk?"
"Genuine as they come," Hui Bin said with a smile. That perfectly timed smile and slightly upturned eyes made Wanli Fengdao feel a shiver down his spine, and he subconsciously turned his face away to look elsewhere.
This Monk is toxic.
The poker-faced woman in Night Clothes said, "Liu Wu Dai. I use a bow."
Her voice was very pleasant, her tone very steady—straightforward, crisp, cold, and emotionless.
When it was Li Ang's turn, he pushed the Face-Changing Mask he was wearing and said, "Hello, everyone. I'm a freelance mercenary known as the Monkey King, practicing for two and a half years. I enjoy singing, dancing, and rap. Speaking of the Monkey King, in the second half of this year, a blockbuster movie about an African Warlord's conflict will begin filming, and I'll continue to play Sun Wukong, the Monkey King. I'll strive to use the Monkey King's artistic image to create a positive impression, achieving success in both entertainment and cultural spheres, thereby promoting Chinese culture..."
Li Ang's words flowed like a torrent; he talked on and on until Xing Hechou hurriedly interrupted, saying awkwardly, "Err... Brother Li, you don't need to say so much. Just introduce your specialties."
Although no one would share all their true information, he's the first I've seen to brag so blatantly.
Goddamn Monkey King.
"Oh, I see." Li Ang had prepared a lot of material for his self-introduction and was quite disappointed not to use it. He pouted and said, "My little finger is particularly long."
Having said that, Li Ang held out his hand, clenched his four fingers, and revealed his little finger.
Xing Hechou's eye twitched. "It's not that."
"My fourth toe on my left foot is particularly long." Li Ang prepared to take off his boots to prove his point.
Are you kidding me, kid?
Xing Hechou took a deep breath, stopping Li Ang from taking off his boots, and felt his blood pressure soar. "It's not that either."
"Oh, my BEEP is particularly long."
"Please do not be vulgar, thank you. And why did you provide your own censor beep?"
If it weren't for the Special Affairs Bureau's requirement that field personnel recruit civilian players whenever possible, Xing Hechou would probably have already used force to subdue this "companion," whom he suspected of being mentally ill.
Li Ang's act of playing the fool wasn't just due to personal bad taste; he also suspected that Xing Hechou—a veteran player whose actions resembled those of a military man and who could produce professional-level drone reconnaissance reports in minutes—had official backing. By clowning around, Li Ang took the opportunity to analyze Xing Hechou's behavior and gather intelligence.
"Hmm..." Li Ang frowned and pondered for a moment. "I can activate my Spiritual Sense to discern Spiritual Bodies. Does that count as a special skill?"
"Oh?" Xing Hechou's eyes lit up. The special ability to activate Spiritual Energy vision was highly valued, both in the real world and in scripted missions.
"Yes, yes, yes," Xing Hechou said with a beaming smile. "With this ability, we could foresee supernatural elements in advance and avoid danger to a great extent."
As a professional soldier and an external agent of the Special Affairs Bureau, Xing Hechou indeed had the responsibility to recruit civilian players he encountered during cooperative missions. He had originally thought Li Ang was just a Lv 3 newbie without much to contribute, but now it seemed he had to change his strategy...
[Main mission has been updated: Proceed to within the Solitary Cold Temple within ten minutes.]
The System notification rang in everyone's ears. Xing Hechou's expression changed slightly. "Ten minutes? Who among you is good at scouting?"
"I am." Wanli Fengdao moved unhurriedly towards a large tree by the road, looked up at its top, took a light breath, and with a gentle step on the dirt road in his flip-flops, leaped into the air. His ten fingers, like incredibly sharp ice axe picks, dug deeply into the trunk.
Wood chips flew, and Wanli Fengdao, like an agile monkey, used his hands and feet to quickly climb to the top of the tree. After looking left and right, he slid down the trunk, patted the mud from his hands, and said calmly, "Walk about seven hundred meters west along this road. There's a dilapidated temple at the foot of the mountain, which should be the mission location. Smoke is rising from behind the low hills to the east; there might be an ancient village or something."
"A village?"
Xing Hechou nodded and took out a black portable case the size of a briefcase from his backpack inventory.
He placed the case on the ground and turned the combination lock to open it. Inside were a silver-gray drone, high-capacity batteries, spare propellers, a tablet controller with a display screen, and other accessories.
Xing Hechou took out the silver-gray drone, calibrated its balance on the ground, picked up the tablet-shaped controller, and operated the drone. It took off, ascending until it disappeared into the clouds, invisible to the naked eye.
This highest-level player didn't avoid others peering at his controller screen while operating the drone, openly sharing the screen's view with everyone.
The overhead view from a high vantage point showed an ancient village on a vast plain. Buildings of blue brick and green tile, low mud-brick houses, were surrounded by curling smoke from cooking fires. The village was bisected by a ribbon-like river.
From the village center, cultivated land spread outward. Vast fertile fields stretched as far as the eye could see, reflecting the golden glow of the sunset.
An old man in a straw raincoat; a water buffalo on a narrow village path; children with runny noses in old hemp clothes, running amok; and Farmers wearing hemp tunics and trousers, futou headscarves, and straw sandals, carrying hoes...
All these elements wove together to paint a picture of an ancient Hua Country village.
And to the north, one could vaguely make out an ancient city of considerable size.
The drone slowly flew back, heading west along the path until it reached the foot of the mountain.
At the base of the mountain lay an open, flat area. A dilapidated temple stood at its center. The considerable stretch of land to both sides and the rear of the temple was overgrown with weeds, but traces of past cultivation were still discernible.
The temple wasn't large. The colorful paint on its red brick exterior walls was mottled and peeling. Green vines crept up from the base of the walls, spreading wildly.
The green-blue tiles on the roof were broken and dilapidated, covered with withered leaves.
In front of the temple, a path was paved with square bluestone slabs, flanked by two rows of stone lantern poles. However, they had long been neglected, and the lanterns were filled with dust.
On the vermilion-lacquered door panels, a wooden plaque bore the large characters "Solitary Cold Temple."
The drone flew low, circling above the Solitary Cold Temple and surveying it from on high.
In the courtyard of the Solitary Cold Temple stood a white bronze Pagoda. To its left and right were the Bell Tower and Drum Tower. The Heavenly King Hall was at the front, with the Daxiong Bao Hall and Scripture Library to the rear. Monks' quarters and dining halls were arranged symmetrically on both sides of the central path. Tucked away at the very back were the Sutra Printing Room, storage areas, and a warehouse bearing the sign "Longevity Warehouse."
The sparrow may be small, but it has all its vital organs.
Limited by the drone's reconnaissance range, Xing Hechou silently maneuvered it back and placed it into the briefcase. Only then did Wanli Fengdao, oblivious until that moment, hesitantly say, "Um, Old Xing, you have a drone, don't you? Why did you have me climb a tree to observe the surroundings just now?"
Xing Hechou didn't distrust Wanli Fengdao. He had used the drone, firstly, to confirm the surrounding terrain and features, and secondly, to ascertain the precise historical period.
The well-built, square-faced man chuckled. "It's not that I didn't want to use the drone. If the mission's background is set in the modern era, it's fine. But if it's in ancient times or an alternate world, it's very likely we'd encounter Monsters, demons, and Cultivators from classical strange tales. Using the drone rashly could draw the attention of these Supernatural Powers prematurely, or even cause the mission's plot to veer off in an unpredictable direction."
As an employee of the Special Affairs Bureau, Xing Hechou had seen plenty of records left by other players. One naive newbie, while on a team mission set in the Tang Dynasty, presented a laptop containing e-books like 'Zizhi Tongjian,' 'The Cambridge History of China, Volume 3: Sui and T'ang China, 589–906,' and 'A History of World Industrial and Agricultural Technology' to Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi.
As a result, the plot spiraled out of control. Not only was the player executed for being regarded as a demon, but it also stirred up the Transcendent Cultivators hidden within the Tang Empire. Riding on countless flying swords, they pursued the player's teammates a thousand li overnight.
For the moment, the Transcendent power of the Republic in the real world is insufficient to interact with the "scripted worlds" that serve as backdrops for these missions. Even such interaction is considered potentially dangerous by the think tanks.
After all, no one wants to see a Tang Empire that has sprinted into the industrial age, sending out tens of thousands of steampunk-styled Mechanical Sword Immortal Cultivators to make contact with the Republic in the real world...
Therefore, field agents of the Special Affairs Bureau must still prioritize their own safety; exploration and interaction are secondary.
In missions set in ancient times, demons and Monsters could appear at any moment. One must use modern technology with caution, minimizing its use as much as possible.
No one dared to test the System's ten-minute limit. Xing Hechou swiftly stowed away the drone and took the lead. The group followed the path west, quickly arriving at the Solitary Cold Temple at the foot of the mountain.
Although the drone had already scouted the area once, it was only when they drew closer that everyone could more clearly perceive the temple's desolation, decay, and profound, eerie quietness.
"This damned place could easily be used as a set for 'A Chinese Ghost Story.'"
Wanli Fengdao stood on the bluestone path, swiped away the accumulated dust inside a stone lantern column, and sneered, "Who's going first?"
Xing Hechou glanced at the rest of the group. Liu Wu Dai, the icy beauty, hadn't said a word since they arrived. The young Monk, Hui Bin, appeared timid and easily frightened. The young man wearing the Monkey King Mask was too low-level and didn't seem reliable, no matter how one looked at him.
Hmph...
Xing Hechou glanced at Li Ang. "Can you tell if there's something wrong inside?"
Li Ang activated Cat's Eye, swept the area with his Spiritual Sense a couple of times, and shook his head. "I didn't detect anything wrong, but I can't be sure there's no danger."
Xing Hechou nodded.
As everyone watched Old Xing step onto the bluestone slabs and slowly make his way to the temple steps, they heard Li Ang exclaim, "Wait a minute!"
Li Ang spoke quickly and urgently, his voice deep and serious. Startled, Wanli Fengdao drew his Longsword, Liu Wu Dai nocked an arrow to her composite Longbow, and Xing Hechou leaped back to his teammates like a startled rabbit, tightly gripping his long halberd and positioning himself in front of Hui Bin.
The group held their weapons, standing back-to-back, surveying their surroundings, fearing an enemy might leap out from any corner.
They still remembered that Li Ang possessed Spiritual Sense and was the team's first line of defense against supernatural phenomena.
"Don't be so tense, guys." Li Ang, surrounded at the center, scratched his head. "I just saw Old Xing's shoelace was undone and wanted to remind him, that's all."
Couldn't you have said it a little more quietly?!
After the false alarm, everyone silently sheathed their weapons. No longer in the mood for a slow search, they simply followed Old Xing straight to the temple door.
In fact, Li Ang had clearly seen that as Xing Hechou approached, a bloodless, slender, pale arm slowly stretched out from the "Solitary Cold Temple" plaque. It hung down naturally, as if to grab Xing Hechou's hair and lift him, yet no one else reacted at all.
After Li Ang called out, the arm retracted back into the plaque and disappeared. Even when Li Ang used his Cat's Eye to activate his Spiritual Sense, he could no longer see any trace of the Spiritual Body.
The group reached the area beneath the plaque. Just as Xing Hechou was about to push open the vermilion doors and enter the temple, an extremely mournful and sorrowful woman's cry emanated from within.
The woman's cry was sharp and clear, as if right by one's ear. It conveyed an injustice like snow in June, a grievance as vast as heaven and earth—so tragically woeful it sent shivers down the spine and made one's whole body tremble.
The foliage in the nearby woods rustled sharply. A sinister wind blew, sweeping all the fallen leaves from the bluestone slabs outside the temple. The rusted door hinges emitted a grating "CREAK" as the untouched vermilion doors slowly swung open.
Though the doors were wide open, the five people beneath the Solitary Cold Temple plaque did not move.
The temple's interior structures had long been neglected; they were dilapidated, Broken, and eerily silent—so quiet you could hear a pin drop. There wasn't a hint of human presence, nor any sign of the source of the chilling cry from earlier.
In the Asian supernatural system, a formless Fierce Ghost is always more terrifying than a zombie with shape and substance.
No matter how formidable a zombie, it's usually nothing a round of artillery fire can't handle. But Fierce Ghosts like Kayako from Ju-On, Sadako from The Ring, Red Aunt, and Chu Renmei from Old Corpse in the Mountain Village—they can create illusions, pass through walls, Teleport, distort and tamper with time and space. Their myriad attack methods are incredibly difficult to prevent, let alone eliminate.
"Should we use the drone to search again?" the Monk Hui Bin said softly.
"The ten-minute deadline is almost up," Li Ang said, "and the System said to 'proceed to within the Solitary Cold Temple.'"
Li Ang shook his head, let out a strange laugh, pushed the door open, and entered. The others, weapons still drawn, followed closely behind.
[Main Quest updated: Survive for seven days Within the Solitary Cold Temple. During this period, you may not leave a 500-meter radius of the Solitary Cold Temple.]