Chapter 578: It Has Been A While

Chapter 578 It Has Been A While

“Boss?”

“Let us go!” 

War Tiger did not turn back as he led Wang Sheng with him up to the second floor. After identifying the three figures at the castle gate, his eyes, which were hidden behind his iron mask, revealed complexity.

…

Searching through the first floor again, they found nothing new. Chen Xiaolian and Phoenix had reaffirmed this. Thus, the three of them decided to move to the second floor of the castle.

The stairs were wide. Despite his small stature, Chen Xiaolian did not hesitate to take the lead.

There at the stairway point on the second floor, two groups of people met.

A sharp ray of light descended from the ceiling and fell upon Chen Xiaolian’s face.

The sword in Chen Xiaolian’s hand was only partially raised when he quickly took a step back, allowing the blade to reach his forehead. There was less than 10 centimetres between the tip of the blade and Chen Xiaolian’s forehead. 

A warm smile could be seen on Chen Xiaolian’s face. “It has been a while… … Komi-chan.”

Nagase Komi had the near bald head and her neck sported a few more tattoos. Despite her tender face, there was a minor look of defiance on her face.

“Guild Leader?”

Nagase Komi blurted out and she put down the blade in her hand.

“Err… … actually, I have not been your Guild Leader for a long time now.” Chen Xiaolian scratched his head awkwardly. Next, his gaze diverted away from Nagase Komi to rest upon an old man who appeared weary and lazy.

“Sir Generalissimo, it has been a while.” 

Sawakita Mitsuo raised his folding fan in a greeting gesture and said, “Chen-san, you still have that same air about you. However, it seems every time I meet you, there are always beautiful girls around you.”

“Sir Generalissimo, well met.” Phoenix said coolly.

“Aha ha ha, Guild Leader Phoenix.”

Sawakita Mitsuo greeted Phoenix and crouched down to look at Soo Soo. “What a good little one.”

There was a hint of seriousness in his tone.

Soo Soo winked at the Shogunate Generalissimo.

After looking at the little girl for a moment, Sawakita Mitsuo raised his head to look at Chen Xiaolian. There was a lamenting air in his expression. “You… … sigh, you have had it rough.”

Chen Xiaolian furrowed his brows, but was quick to smile and said, “I am still doing all right. I can still hold on.”

“Men of ability would strive for the extraordinary oh.” Sawakita Mitsuo then fumbled about through his clothes. After feeling about, he pulled something out from a certain pocket. It was something small and he held it in his gripped palm, which he brought before Soo Soo. Then, he spread open his palm.

“Meeting a junior for the first time, it won’t do for an old man like me to not give something. Come, this is a little something to show my sincerity… … mm, although it is not something great, perhaps… … it may prove useful.”

Resting on his palm was a jade fragment.

It was slightly yellowed. It was not whole and appeared as though someone had forcefully knocked this small fragment out of something made of jade.

Soo Soo stared with widened eyes at Chen Xiaolian, seemingly to see what Chen Xiaolian thought of this: Should she accept or not.

Nagase Komi’s face, however, underwent a large change.

“Great, Great Teacher! You… … that is…”

“Sigh, it is just an item. Let the little child take it to play with.”

…

A few minutes later, they had finished their greetings and exchange of information.

Phoenix was puzzled to see that Chen Xiaolian did not bring up the matter about the list with Sawakita Mitsuo – perhaps it is not yet time, the young woman thought to herself.

After the two groups came together, they exchanged information. Although they had no way of completely figuring out the exact details of this instance dungeon, they were able to come up with a near thorough understanding of their situation.

“This instance dungeon is divided into six areas. The outside of this castle is one such area. As for the interior of this castle, the basement is one such area while there are four floors above the basement – in total, there are six areas. However, there are only five quest items. This is the first point. Logically speaking, this is not normal. As there are six areas, there should have been six quest items. Why are there only five? If so, wouldn’t that mean one of the areas would have nothing at all? The system would not have set up an instance dungeon in such a way.” Chen Xiaolian spoke slowly as he pondered through what they have learnt. The others were seated beside him.

“Secondly, we all know by now that this instance dungeon has a BUG, time.” Chen Xiaolian rubbed his nose and smiled wryly before continuing, “I have no answer for that issue. It would appear that no one here could figure out anything as well. We can only take this one step at a time.”

Nagase Komi said, “In the beginning, we were originally on the third floor. As we were unable to make our way to the fourth floor, we moved down. On the third floor, we also found the quest item… … however, it gave no benefits. Those Bloodclan nails you picked up have rewards. You can use it as a one-time consumable. However, the item we found gave us no such prompt.”

“Mm, the metal fragment we found in the barracks outside did not give any such prompts either.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “It seems only the nails I found in the basement gave rewards.”

“It is also something to consider. Put it aside for now and continue.” Phoenix narrowed her eyes.

“We made discoveries in the barracks outside the castle and the castle basement. Sir Generalissimo and Komi made a discovery on the third floor. Only the first floor was without a discovery… … maybe Phoenix and I missed something. We can go down and search again later. However, I think the possibility of that is low,” said Chen Xiaolian.

Sawakita Mitsuo, too, nodded his head. “Chen-san is a meticulous man. I believe you would not miss anything. Since you have already searched the place before, no discovery means no discovery.”

“Thirdly… … the BOSS carrying the items had been killed off before this instance dungeon even began. This is very suspicious,” said Chen Xiaolian with a wry smile.

“Could it be something the previous participants did when they went through this instance dungeon last time?”

“Impossible. Instance dungeons will be refreshed. Could it be that this instance dungeon was not refreshed before it was started up?”

“Or did someone enter this instance dungeon before us?”

“How could that be…”

The girls there discussed in hushed tones. However, despite her tender look, Nagase Komi had an impatient character. She quickly stood up and said, “Discussing more is pointless. We should just continue with our search. Everything about this instance dungeon is just odd. The sooner we complete the quest, the sooner we get to leave!”

“No hurry.” Sawakita Mitsuo fanned himself and said with a smile, “Komi-chan, sit down first.”

“… … teacher.”

“Just sit down.” Sawakita Mitsuo then ignored this student of his and turned to face Chen Xiaolian. “According to the system, it is (4/5). Four quest items have been found. Chen-san, your side has two, my side has one… … if so, who has the fourth?”

They all raised their heads in unison and looked up at the ceiling.

“We got to the second floor and found no one else here. We had been in the third floor before this. In other words… … there is another group of people in the fourth floor. They found the fourth quest item,” said Sawakita Mitsuo with a smile.

“Then… … what about the second floor?” Phoenix spoke up. “After entering this instance dungeon, I was in the barracks area outside this castle, Chen Xiaolian was on the first floor and was able to enter the basement. You two came down from the third floor… … if so, what about the second floor? Was it originally empty?”

“There is nothing strange about this,” replied Sawakita Mitsuo with a smile. “Didn’t Chen Xiaolian move around the first floor and the basement? He was on the first floor right from the start and there was no one in the basement.”

Phoenix shut her mouth.

Chen Xiaolian gave her a glance. It was a tangled look. However, he quickly spoke up, “All right, since that is the case, let us now search the second floor. Then… … we will go up and check who is on the fourth floor.”

…