Chapter 557 - Chapter 557: Chapter 557: Treasure Map

Chapter 557: Chapter 557: Treasure Map

The warden of the underground dungeon was a level 30 Elite Level BOSS named Longya Suoli.

However, Song Jian was not interested in that. What he cared about was the virtual map that had just been revealed to him and the map that Qi Yun had given him, which had a significant discrepancy.

The main difference was that the location of the treasure room, which Song Jian had originally thought, was not necessarily through the underground dungeon but in another place.

In fact, the room accessed through the underground dungeon was a hatchery containing a Shadow Giant Dragon egg.

Perhaps knowing that it was severely injured, the Shadow Giant Dragon had laid down an egg with all its essence a long time ago.

The reason it needed a large number of Shadow Crystals was for both its own healing and the hatching of the dragon egg, which required a large number of Shadow Crystals.

One could imagine that where the Shadow Dragon egg was stored would definitely be the most heavily guarded place in the entire Dark Castle. Song Jian would likely trigger an alarm the moment he stepped into the room, and then he would have to face the wrath of the Shadow Giant Dragon.

Qi Yun probably had calculated this in advance, and his goal was for Song Jian to confront the Shadow Giant Dragon head-on.

However, Qi Yun could not have anticipated that Song Jian’s luck would be so good, completing a quest and obtaining a 5-second glimpse of the Dark Castle’s map.

Song Jian took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart. He figured Qi Yun’s target must be the treasure room, and stealing Shadow Crystals was merely a bonus.

“Finish this quest first, then go to the treasure room,” Song Jian thought to himself.

He approached the first prison cell, carefully examined the lock on the door, and pulled out an item like half a piece of wire from his inventory.

This was a Master Key that Song Jian had obtained from a previous quest. It could open any locked treasure chest of Epic Level or lower.

If it could open Epic Level treasure chests, the prison cells in front of Song Jian should pose no problem.

Song Jian inserted the Master Key into the keyhole, and moments later, with a gentle twist and a click, the lock was indeed opened.

The person imprisoned in the cell was a human commoner NPC. Seeing that Song Jian didn’t hunt down the warden but took out a piece of wire instead, the NPC let out a long sigh.

He didn’t think Song Jian could open the lock with a half piece of wire, as he seemed to be a Swordsman rather than a Thief.

But as the “click” sound was heard and the lock opened, an incredulous look of ecstasy appeared on the human NPC’s face.

“Opened?!” He rushed to the cell door, trembling as he opened the door and walked out.

“I’m saved!” The human NPC cried tears of joy, covering his mouth as he sobbed quietly. Soon, he took out a silver coin from his pocket and handed it to Song Jian.

“Thank you, blessed one, this is my gratitude, please accept it,” the human NPC said in a low voice, pushing the silver coin into Song Jian’s hand, and then turned around to run towards the stairs.

Song Jian didn’t know how he would escape the Dark Castle, but as soon as he released the man, his quest showed that he had rescued a prisoner.

Song Jian looked at the silver coin in his hand, only to realize it was actually a valuable item, which could be exchanged for 200 Doomsday Coins. He smiled bitterly and put the silver coin away in his inventory.

So, Song Jian proceeded to save the prisoners one by one, receiving their gratitude and various small gifts, such as precious little mirrors, delicious pastries, exquisite harmonicas, and so on.

These items could be sold for 300 to 500 Doomsday Coins each, and if all were sold, he would earn a few thousand Doomsday Coins. It would be considered a sizable fortune to ordinary players, but it wasn’t particularly exciting for Song Jian.

“Hmm, what’s this, a treasure map?”

Song Jian received another small gift – an old piece of parchment that looked like it had been stored for several decades.

“This is a treasure map that has been in my family’s possession. As a token of my gratitude, I’ll give it to you!” The human NPC, who seemed to be a noble, gave Song Jian a bow before walking calmly towards the stairs, in contrast to the panicked escape of the others.

Song Jian examined the map carefully and found that the location marked was in the Shadowfang Mountain Range. It seemed that this person had also been captured because of the treasure map.

“It would be nice to check it out after completing this quest,” Song Jian thought to himself.

By now, Song Jian had rescued nine prisoners, leaving only one last one – the bull-headed Beastman.

“Human, have you come here for the Shadow Giant Dragon?” The bull-headed Beastman stared at Song Jian as he picked the lock, showing no urgency on his face, as if Song Jian wasn’t there to rescue him.

“Shadow Giant Dragon?” Song Jian opened the cell door, looked at the bull-headed Beastman and laughed, “Do you think I can defeat it? It’s an adult dragon, after all!”

“Not an adult dragon, but a dragon that has weakened to the point of near death!” The bull-headed Beastman slowly stood up and said.

“Still a dragon!” Song Jian shrugged.

The bull-headed Beastman laughed and said, “I have nothing to give you, but if you want to deal with the Shadow Giant Dragon, I can help you!”

“Help me, are you serious?” Song Jian asked in surprise.

“Of course, a Beastman always keeps his word!” The bull-headed Beastman nodded, turned around, pulled a huge wooden hammer from the hay, carried it on his shoulder, and walked out of the cell.

Song Jian stared at the mighty bull-headed Beastman, then at the wooden hammer on his shoulder, and asked curiously, “How did you manage to carry this big thing with you all the time? Didn’t the people who imprisoned you confiscate your weapon?”

The bull-headed Beastman looked at Song Jian and said solemnly, “This is a soul weapon; no one can separate it from me. You should know this better than anyone since I can sense the existence of soul weapons on you.”

Song Jian wondered if he was talking about the Crimson Fire Heart Ape Sword and the Golden Demonslaying Sword.

At the moment the bull-headed Beastman stepped out of the cell, Song Jian received a quest completion notification.

System: You have completed the regional quest, The Imprisoned. Your City of Sin reputation increases by 1000 points, and you are now Friendly to the City of Sin.

Song Jian checked his reputation in the City of Sin and saw that it had jumped from Indifferent to Friendly, relatively high within the Friendly range, only a step away from Revered.

“If it wasn’t for Solando, I might be Revered by now,” Song Jian thought to himself.

Looking at the bull-headed Beastman standing like a guard next to him, Song Jian nodded and said, “Let’s go, let’s meet the real owner of this Dark Castle!”

…