Chapter 1 Discussion of the Poisoning Plan Temporarily Ends

The discussion about the poisoning plan came to a temporary end, and Feng Bujue and his companions immediately agreed on the action plan for the rest of the day.

Young Master Atobe's main task today was to gather information. He planned to first ask the shop assistant about the location of Murong Ying's room, and then pay a visit to see if this NPC would be willing to give him some guidance.

This seemed like a sweet deal and didn't involve any danger, but in practice, there were still difficulties. The immediate problem was how to get the information out of the inn's shop assistant.

The players didn't have any items that could serve as currency in this world. It would probably be difficult to get information without offering some "tips."

Feng Bujue didn't pay much attention to the silver issue. Actually, this matter was quite troublesome. If it weren't for the Six Swords of Huaying giving them this Premium Room C, even if there were empty rooms in the inn, Feng Bujue wouldn't be able to afford the accommodation. Of course, in Feng Bujue's initial plan, he hadn't considered how to pay the bill. Anyway, they would disappear in two days, so the innkeeper could go ask whoever he wanted for the money. The players didn't need to care about their reputation in the martial world.

Also... even if Atobe found out which room Murong Ying was staying in, the wording and attitude during the negotiation would need careful consideration.

The so-called "professional gigolo" remarks were naturally just jokes. Atobe also understood that Feng Bujue, as the leader of the group, had already established an image in the eyes of the martial arts heroes: "Anyone who dares to flirt with my wife, I will kill him with one palm." Therefore, it was impossible for Jue-ge to carry out such a task as having a private conversation with a beautiful woman. If he really went, it would either mean he was a hypocrite, or he was prepared to be hacked to death by his wife upon his return.

To put it bluntly... not only would it not help the progress of the game, but it would also have a negative impact on the negotiation with the NPC.

As for Xiao Tan, although Atobe didn't know him very well, from their interactions during this period, even if this kid couldn't be said to be innocent and kind, at least he didn't seem to have any scheming. This kind of person was extremely unsuitable for intelligence work...

Therefore, it was unavoidable that Atobe would handle the negotiation. He was, after all, running a studio. His ability to handle affairs, his gaming skills, and so on, even if they couldn't compare to industry experts like Xiao Wen Cang Tian, wouldn't be below the average level of ordinary players.

From a gaming perspective, on a data level, this was just testing the players' level of communication with the NPCs. As long as they followed the world view of the script, and engaged in polite and reasonable contact, there was no reason why they couldn't get any information. Even in television games from seventy years ago, the NPCs in the city would at least repeat the same sentence to the players. In today's era of optical brain games, there was no way they wouldn't be able to ask anything.

As for the four members of Hell's Frontline, the plan for today was to split into two groups.

Feng Bujue and Si Yu would go directly up the mountain from the north of the town to explore the "dilapidated temple in the northern mountain forest" mentioned in the plot synopsis; Xiao Tan and Bei Ling would conduct a carpet search of the uninhabited houses in the town to look for items and skills.

This grouping method was proposed by Feng Bujue. Of course, his basis wasn't the so-called "men and women work together, the work is easier," but rather the actual situation of the script, to make the safest and most efficient allocation.

Feng Bujue had noticed when listening to the plot synopsis... the synopsis didn't explicitly state whether there were ghosts in this world, but only used the word "rumor," and at the end, it added a disturbing sentence: "What will be the result of this duel? What is the truth of Ghost Town? Is there an unknown conspiracy lurking behind all this?"

This kind of synopsis seemed to provide some information, but in reality, it was more likely to be guiding, or even misleading, the players' thinking.

Reading from beginning to end, the players couldn't determine whether the town was really haunted, nor could they determine whether it was all caused by people.

Therefore, for safety's sake, Feng Bujue tentatively took everything after "rumor" as true. Even if there were fierce spirits occupying the dilapidated temple on the mountain, the combination of him and Si Yu could cope with it now. He had the Death Poker, and Si Yu's "Spirit Swordsman" title and her skills also restrained spiritual entities. The two of them had strong overall strength, courage, and wisdom. In broad daylight, they would go to the temple to explore the flag; they wouldn't just disappear, right?

On the other hand, it was obviously very inappropriate to act alone in the town. Once they encountered unexpected situations, such as the event last night, it would be very dangerous to be alone.

There were many abandoned empty houses in Cang Ling Town. Apart from the houses around the inn that had already been occupied, it was hard to say what they would encounter in other houses. In case someone hid corpses, poison, or weapons in some remote corner... and the players stumbled upon it, it might be a fierce battle.

It would be much safer for Xiao Tan and Bei Ling to search together, after all, they were both players with guns. In the face of humanoid NPCs, they could fire in self-defense as a last resort. Moreover, their combination complemented each other perfectly. If they encountered puzzle elements, Bei Ling would take care of it, and Xiao Tan would do the dirty and heavy work of moving things.

Even if their sneaky actions of entering and leaving people's houses were noticed by outsiders, it wouldn't matter. At most, people would suspect that these two were looking for a place to do something indecent; they wouldn't know that they were searching for game items.

In short, the plan for this day was roughly divided into three routes: one route to collect intelligence, one route to explore items, and the other route to pursue the only clue provided by the system at present. The five agreed to meet in the inn room before sunset. If someone didn't show up by then, the remaining people would discuss countermeasures...

…………

A morning passed quickly, and the lobby of Cang Ling Inn was even more crowded.

The big shots of the first-rate sects usually only came downstairs in the morning for morning tea or something; the other two meals were settled in the guest rooms.

The people who were sitting in the inn lobby drinking tea and eating were basically martial arts people living outside the inn. The number of these people was much larger than those living in the inn, so the inn lobby was a bit more lively than it was in the morning.

Because of the limited seats, these martial arts people were also very sensible. Those who came to eat would leave after eating; those who came to drink tea would leave after drinking a cup of tea. During this period, many people came in and out.

The rumors about the Broken Sword Tea House had naturally spread, but most of the people sitting on the first floor of the inn at this moment weren't present in the morning, so they didn't know what Feng Bujue and his companions looked like. In addition, the lobby was very noisy at this time, and there were many people moving around, so when the four players walked downstairs one after another and left the inn in pairs, it didn't attract much attention. Only a few people recognized them, but these people would at most pull the people next to them to point and whisper.

After Feng Bujue and Si Yu walked out of the inn, they went straight north along the main road at the entrance.

It was almost noon at this time, and the sun was high in the sky. The two of them felt a little hot after walking quickly for a while. This kind of physical sensation had an impact on stamina, but it wasn't obvious.

They walked quickly for about twenty minutes and came to the northernmost edge of the village. There were hardly any houses in this area, and the line of sight was getting wider and wider. In the distance, they could see a few abandoned farmland, and the original farmhouses on the edge of the field had already collapsed, leaving only a pile of black rotten wood and grass.

Continuing north, the high mountains that could originally be vaguely seen were now close at hand. The undulation of the terrain became more and more obvious, and there was an upward sloping trend. The road under their feet was the only one left, and the further they went, the narrower the path became until it disappeared completely.

At noon, the two of them unknowingly entered the mountains. Under their feet was dry, hard soil and weeds, and the surrounding mountain forest gradually became denser. Feng Bujue originally thought that entering the dense forest would make him feel more and more sultry, but the actual situation was... the surrounding temperature was getting lower and lower.

"Strange... the slope of the mountain in this area is quite steep; it doesn't look like there would be any buildings." Feng Bujue said, seeing that the situation seemed a bit off.

"Let's walk a little further and see," Si Yu quickly replied.

"Yeah..." Feng Bujue nodded and continued to lead the way. Although this situation was a bit "strange," there was no reason to stop exploring now. Both stamina and time were abundant. Not to mention walking a little further, walking for two or three more hours wouldn't be a problem.

They walked for about ten more minutes, when Feng Bujue suddenly stopped, turned his head, and asked, "Hey... did you notice?"

Si Yu said, "What?"

"Since entering the mountain, I haven't seen any animal footprints or droppings along the way. I haven't even seen a bird or a flying insect," Feng Bujue said. "In fact... there isn't even the sound of birds or cicadas. This forest is eerily quiet." He paused, frowning, and said, "And don't you feel like it's getting cooler and cooler?"

Si Yu heard this, thought for a few seconds, and replied, "Supernatural setting?"

"Anyway, it's definitely not a phenomenon that should exist in a pure martial arts world view," Feng Bujue replied. "It could be supernatural, fantasy, or science fiction. In short... this forest is obviously abnormal." While looking left and right, he said, "No living things... and the closer we get to the center, the colder we feel..."

"Because this is 'No Return Forest'," suddenly, a ghostly female voice sounded.

This sudden, bizarre remark made Si Yu couldn't help but shudder slightly, and her shock value fluctuated slightly.

Feng Bujue didn't feel anything. He just quickly turned his head in the direction of the voice and looked with Si Yu at a large tree in the left front.

The trunk of that tree was very thick, and the speaker was completely hidden behind the tree, not showing any trace.

However, when Feng Bujue and Si Yu's gaze moved towards there, half of a waxy yellow face slowly moved out from behind the trunk...