CH 72.2

In the live broadcast room

[I seem to have seen the reality version of *Shennong tasting hundred herbs.] 】

[The forest princess is stunning. She resembles the fairy princess from the cartoons I watched as a child. 】

[I’ve watched the livestream of this copy before, but the players had never gotten it to this point.]

[So, what exactly happened?]

[They met the elf princess but didn’t see through her disguise and died at the hands of the Elf king’s. ]

[Isn’t attempting to obtain the secret elf treasure a death sentence? How does one even begin?】

[I remember some players directly stole it, and it worked. The system congratulated them on their success at that time.]

[However, stealing is not as good as earning high points for completing the task. 】

[It used to be easy to steal it, but after a few rounds, it was no longer so.After that, no one else was able to steal it even once.】

[So isn’t that just waiting for death? 】

[Actually, this copy’s tasks have changed. In the beginning,The task was to survive for four days and four nights at first, when it was a trial copy. The task of collecting the four tribes’ secret treasures was only recently begun, but since then, the survival rate has dropped to zero.]

[So discovering hidden treasures is a bug? Garbage system, don’t you know how to fix things, letting players play in such broken copies. Isn’t this the same as forcing people to ride a faulty roller coaster?]

[Don’t be afraid. Wait for God Xin to clear it.]

————————————

The water came from deep within the forest. Bai Lixin walked along the river bank, the terrain getting steeper and more rugged. The sun was no longer blazing, the leaves were rustling, and the sun appeared to be setting.

Bai Lixin walked for half an hour before discovering the source of the river.

The river disappeared into a cave, and by sunset, he could faintly see the entrance of the cave.

He took the flashlight from his backpack, turned it on, and walked into the cave.

His sixth sense told him that there had to be some connection between the strange and poisonous river and the slumbering forest princess.

The cave was large and slightly damp. An odd whistling sound was heard as the wind blew inside the cave.

Despite the flashlight, it was still dim. The sun disappeared quickly, and the setting sun, which was emitting a warm golden light, had now vanished completely from the horizon.

Because the moon had not yet risen, the surroundings had become much darker.

The wind blowing into the cave entrance whistled into his ears, and there were many pebbles underfoot. Bai Lixin moved carefully, shining the flashlight at his feet as he followed the water step by step.

A drop of cold water fell low on the back of Bai Lixin’s neck as he moved forward, before continuing down and into his robe.

Bai Lixin rubbed his neck and kept walking.

The sound of dripping water could be heard every now and then.

As Bai Lixin moved forward, he heard a rustling sound in front of him and the “crunch” sound of a dead branch being stepped on behind him.

Bai Lixin abruptly came to a halt.

He pointed the flashlight ahead of him. Except for the damp stalactite walls, there was nothing.

Bai Lixin then shone the flashlight behind him.

Bai Lixin only saw a broken branch where he heard the “crunch,” and there was nothing else.

Then he heard the rustling sound of a moving body for the second time.

The flashlight chased that sound but came up empty-handed.

Just as Bai Lixin was about to retract the flashlight and continue walking, he discovered the scene in front of him, and his breath became caught in his throat.

For a brief moment, there was nothing in front of him, but then there was a swarm of strange monsters.

They had no hair on their bodies, their skin appeared human-like, but these monsters walked on all fours.

The heads also resembled human heads, except their pupils were a silvery gray, and their teeth were jagged.

These monsters had long limbs; some crawled on the ground, while others hung crookedly on the walls. They were moving quickly, their limbs gripping the walls and the ground, and they made no sound.

They huddled in the shadows, their beastly eyes fixed on Bai Lixin.

The flashlight in Bai Lixin’s hand shifted a few times, and the beasts backed up a few steps.

The monsters seemed to be afraid of light. Because they were hiding from the light, the flashlight couldn’t catch them.

Bai Lixin dared not let down his guard. He blocked them with the flashlight and used the faint light it produced to look at the other end of the stream.

He was shocked.

At the end of the river was a huge spring, and in the middle of it were densely packed monsters.

Bai Lixin: “……”

Blergh!

I drank a little of this water. Help! Is the spring these monsters’ bathwater?

In any case, he had to find out what was in the spring.

Bai Lixin moved the flashlight in his hand, shining it in the spring

The monsters that were happily pouncing in the water quickly dispersed like bees covering a bear and blended into the darkness.

Bai Lixin couldn’t see them in the darkness, but he knew that they could see him and were intently staring.

Bai Lixin walked towards the spring, and as he moved, he noticed something floating above it.

It was only when he was a few steps away from the spring that he could also see what was inside.

It was a pile of rotting flesh.

The rotting hearts, lungs, liver skin and other organs were just floating in there like seaweed in Seaweed Egg drop soup.

Bai Lixin: “……”

Sorry for insulting Seaweed Egg drop soup.

In the dark cave, Dijia’s voice was abrupt and loud. “Look at these monsters, don’t they look like Night Elves?”

Bai Lixin shone the flashlight on the monsters. With Dijia’s help, he noticed that these monsters possessed Night Elf characteristics.

Long limbs, pointed ears, and tall, slender bodies.

Dijia’s voice was heavy. “When the disease appears, the creatures of heaven and earth bear the brunt of its effects first. They will gradually fade away, along with sanity and civilization.”

Bai Lixin: “What are you talking about?”

Dijia: “A bard’s prophecy. The bard’s prophecy never ends, and some of it is only remembered when it happens.”

“”I always assumed the prophecy was about humans and that the plague occurred a long time ago.Now that I see this, it seems that I have misunderstood it.”

“The creatures of Heaven and Earth: The Night Elves have always boasted that they are the beings most capable of perceiving the power of heaven and earth, and they have always lived in the forest, coexisting with heaven and earth.Besides them, who else can claim to be beings of heaven and earth?”

“Not only has sanity vanished, but so has civilization. This statement only has relevance if the prophecy corresponds to the Night Elves. The human plague was brutal at the time, but it only destroyed human life; their civilization remained intact.”

“Now things are different. The Night Elves have become these walking corpses, and the Forest Princess is fast asleep. If the Forest Princess never wakes up, the Night Elves will really become extinct.”

Bai Lixin: “Did the prophecy mention any solution?”

Dijia: “The bard only said one sentence: *draw wages from the bottom of the cauldron.”

*A metaphor for taking drastic measures to deal with a situation.

Draw wages from the bottom of the cauldron?

What does that mean? To cut off the root cause?

But what was the root cause?

There was a saying that because prophecies are forecasts of the future, they would be expressed in ambiguous terms in order to not be condemned by God.

They would not be as simple to comprehend, nor would they be as clear and explicit.

It was easy to make mistakes in the process of interpreting the prophecy.

Because of misinterpretation, the prophecy may sometimes occur in reverse.

The existence of prophecies is not always a good thing.

Because of its mystery and the unknown, the future inspires longing and curiosity. You are likely to become a slave to the future once you know what might happen in the future.

Bai Lixin didn’t like the prophecies that kept appearing, but it was clear that these prophecies played a role in the creation of this copy.

From the first day they descended into this copy, there was already a prophecy present.

The existence of the prophecy was also the reason why he was labelled as a “queen.”

According to the prophecy, “drawing wages from the bottom of the cauldron” could solve everything.

What is the “cauldron”?

———————————

In the live broadcast room

[ These monsters are actually Night Elves? I’m numb. Is this to contrast the beautiful faces and the ugly faces?]

[I want spoilers. What does “draw from the bottom of the cauldron” mean? Have any angels seen this copy?]

[Didn’t I just tell you that no one triggered the task of the forest princess? Everyone fell for the fake princess ploy. Who knows what that line means.]

[This copy contains many prophecies; the bard who wrote all these prophecies is extremely powerful, but unfortunately powerful people can only exist in the legend.]

[Both prophecies and curses. The three elements of this magical world all lead to death. Magic, prophecies, curses— there is too much flavor.]

[You guys analyze by yourselves; I’m going to vomit for a while. Trypophobia has completely left me numb.]

[You still dare to have phobia after entering this game? 】

——————————–

The ugly Night Elves stood there staring at Bai Lixin with no intention of coming closer.

Their gray eyes were empty and dull, reminding Bai Lixin, Zhou Guang, and the others in the Immortal King’s tunnel.

Although the manifestation was not the same, haven’t Zhou Guang and the others also become thoughtless puppets?

Was it a coincidence that this situation has appeared in two races?

If it was, then it was far too coincidental.

But if it wasn’t a coincidence, then what was the connection?

Bai Lixin caressed the black pearl in his hand before picking a Night Elf monster at random.

As the white light lit up around the monster, the system prompt rang out.

[Ding! The target is completely diseased and cannot be cured temporarily. Please upgrade the prop proficiency as soon as possible.]

Bai Lixin was stunned by this prompt, then he asked the escape system: [So once my prop proficiency is raised, I can cure these diseased Night Elves?]

Escape System: [The s-grade healing prop —– Mermaid’s Heart, when upgraded to full level, can not only cure terminal illness, but also perform resurrection. Player Bai Lixin should complete the level-up of the prop as soon as possible.]

Bai Lixin remembered the crystal ball that Dijia forcibly upgraded to full level in the last copy. Should he follow his example and upgrade it in that way as well?

Dijia once told him that there were two ways to upgrade props.

One was to improve proficiency through continuous use. These quantitative changes reach a critical point and bring about qualitative changes.

The other was to inject energy directly, forcing the prop to undergo a qualitative change.

The two methods were different, but the first method was obviously more appropriate for the masses because most players simply don’t have that much energy to complete the upgrade.

Bai Lixin’s flashlight shone on these Night Elves, and between the illumination of the flashlight, he saw a figure.

It was not like the other Night Elves.The body was slightly taller, the limbs were longer, and the chest was wider than that of the other elves.

Feeling the bright light, the elf immediately dodged.

Bai Lixin stared at the elf in contemplation. The sky was getting darker, and this was not a suitable place to stay for a long time.

These elves appear to be harmless, but who knows what will happen when time passes? If they were truly harmless, what about the rotting flesh soaked in water?

Bai Lixin could find nothing else, and he soon exited the cave.

Toxins, a sleeping forest princess, diseased Night Elves ……

The clues were getting more and more interesting.

The moon had gradually risen overhead. Bai Lixin used the moon’s position to quickly identify the correct direction, and it didn’t take long for him to find his way back.

As night creatures, the Night Elves were clearly more active at night.

When he returned to the Night Elves’ territory, he saw the Night Elves dancing around the bonfire.

He hadn’t seen this many Night Elves during the day.

All of them had smiles on their faces as they danced enthusiastically with each other, expressing the sentiments of their hearts through dancing.

The elven king had changed into a formal attire. He sat alone on the throne, leaning back and sipping a glass of fruit wine while watching the Night Elves sing and dance on stage.

Bai Lixin stood beside the group of laughing Night Elves, and his previously expressionless eyes darkened.

The campfire swayed, and the moonlight shone brightly.

Bai Lixin didn’t see any shadows in the midst of the raging fire.

All the Night Elves had bodies, but no shadows.

Those shadows should have been elongated with the bonfire swaying around.

Bai Lixin looked at the Elf King on the throne with a complicated gaze and saw that the Elf King was staring back intently.

They looked at each other, and each seemed to have noticed something.

The Elf King’s originally sloppy posture vanished. His hunched body sat upright, and the Elf King gave Bai Lixin a complicated look.

Bai Lixin was the first to move his gaze, and it was down to the grass.

He was right. That tall figure in the cave and the elf king in front of him resembled each other.

Despite the fact that the body had thinned and the features had changed, the frame remained the same.

As he pondered, an extra pair of pitch-black boots appeared before his eyes.

He raised his head to see the Elf King, who was sitting on the throne, approaching him.

The Elf King had put away his usual indifference, and his expression was unusually solemn: “May I have a word?”

Bai Lixin: “Okay.”

The two walked into a dark place, one after the other. The sounds of the swaying bonfire and dancing could still be heard behind them.

Elf King: “You seem to have found something interesting. You found our cave.”

Bai Lixin did not deny it, “Can you tell me what happened?”

The Elf King sighed: “…… I found out about the disaster too late, and the disease had already infected the majority of the Night Elves. To keep my subjects from suffering too much, I used the last of my power to drive the Night Elves’ bodies into the caves, trapping their memories and souls in a happy endless cycle.”

“From then on, they only wake up in the dark. With songs and dances, they forget the pain and only remain with the memory of that day.”

Bai Lixin: “What about those Night Elves during the day? They were severely injured, and I healed them.”

Elf King: “A few Night Elves were not tainted with the disease. I put the healthy Night Elves in charge of patrolling during the day to protect them and keep these subjects from discovering the truth. When night falls, I cast a sleeping spell on them, allowing them to sleep all night and only wake up the next day.”

“This way they would not discover that the Night Elves have no shadows at night. While these subjects remain happy and are unaware of reality.”

“I just didn’t expect for the forest princess to fall into slumber. I had almost depleted all of my power and was unable to save the Forest Princess, so I began to hope for others. I used the elven secret treasure as a bargaining chip to attract rescuers, but I didn’t expect them to try to steal it. That was why I came up with the contract.”