CH 128

"It looks like this hole is probably connected to the forest out there." Xiao Lan pointed his torch at the water again, but unfortunately nothing could be seen under the dark water, "We'll have to find a way to make a trip into the forest."

"As far as I know, there is a small gate at the back of the college that leads into the forest, because a student once snuck out and got hurt, it's locked now, but it shouldn't pose any problems for you." Luo said.

A mere lock is a mere decoration in the face of a human lock picker like Xiao Lan.

The two men left the northern tower and headed in the direction of the forest outside the college.

Xiao Lan remembered what the night watchman had said incoherently earlier, about going to the forest unless you didn't want to come back.

Add to that the glorious exploits of that iron-headed teacher.

It was clear that this trip to the forest was not going to be an easy or pleasant one.

On the way, they were lucky not to meet Mrs. Hong Yue.

However, some dripping blood was found on the ground, which appeared to have been left when running.

Looks like someone else is her target tonight too, good luck to the guy who doesn't know if he's a player or an NPC.

All the way to the little door Luo had mentioned.

The door is rusted and looks as if it has not been used for many years.

With a little effort to get the lock open, the two finally entered the forest.

Strangely enough, the other walls of the school act as if they are protected by rules that prevent players from going outside.

Yet through this small door you can walk into the forest.

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It looks like a place where players can come and hide from Mrs. Hong Yue's crisis.

But according to the urbane nature of the Advent world, how could it be so simple.

It must have allowed you to enter the forest because there is a danger here that rivals that of Mrs. Hong Yue.

It may even be more dangerous.

The trees in the forest were already very dense and the college party never seemed to prune them, the ground was covered in a layer of loose dead branches and leaves.

Every now and then the sound of insects chirps out of the forest and it doesn't appear to be dead, but that doesn't make it safe either.

The pale red moonlight is quite obscured by the forest, barely letting in one or two thin beams of light, and a little further into the forest is pitch black.

Xiao Lan had to turn on his torch again, otherwise he would have had to let Luo act as a human guide dog.

The two men moved on through the forest.

Their footsteps made a soft rustle on the thick pile of fallen leaves.

Suddenly, the sound of something heavy hitting the ground came from ahead.

Then there was the movement of some sort of creature on all fours running towards the two.

Xiao Lan stops and shines his torch ahead.

What appeared before them was something that moved like a beast, but had limbs that looked a little like a human.

It has no skin on its body, looking more like a hard shell, with an occasional glint of reflection in the light of the torch.

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In it, Xiao Lan saw something familiar -

The kind of secret writing that appears in Mrs. Weld's handwritten notes.

Similar to Mr. Weld, these secret texts are connected to the creature's entire body like threads, but are significantly rougher.

This is probably also a spell puppet.

This spell puppet was running towards them, the sharp fangs of its mouth clearly visible, with dried, blackened blood still visible on it, and it was not clear when it had been left.

Xiao Lan places the torch on the ground.

Then, he took out the [Bone of Dalet] from his storage space and rushed towards the running monster.

It was the right time to meet a spell puppet, to experiment with its strength, and to get familiar with the feeling of fighting with this fifteen-year-old body.

The creepy monster lunges straight towards Xiao Lan.

This time Xiao Lan didn't use his full strength, he wanted to test the strength of his strike with his limited physique.

"Boom".

The spell puppet's head was struck by Xiao Lan and its body flew to the side with Xiao Lan's force.

Then landed on his face and did a full dogfight.

"Hmm?" Xiao Lan was a little surprised.

The feel of the hit on the other side was unexpectedly light, not at all like something of this size should feel.

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It seems that this spell puppet is not as strong as it looks.

The knocked over spell puppet shook his head off, ignoring the black flames rising from his head, and lunged towards Xiao Lan again.

It's like a machine that has no feelings and only knows how to attack.

Xiao Lan didn't hold back in the face of another attack, and attacked the incoming monster with all his might.

This time, the pale stick smashed the monster's head straight into pieces.

Together with that intricate pattern on the top of the head.

There is no blood in the broken skull, it is just empty.

After losing its head, the creature's flailing body collapsed with a crash, as if it had lost power and stopped moving.

Xiao Lan used the [Bones of Dalet] in his hand to pick at the pieces of his head on the ground, as if he was holding a broomstick, without any respect or care for a rare prop.

The fragments of the monster's head also contained a number of secret texts, which he unfortunately could not read.

Xiao Lan: "It seems there's no way to figure out why it's moving."

Luo picked up the torch from the floor and came over, "Does the gentleman like this kind of thing? I can try to work on it and make a more elaborate one."

Xiao Lan shook his head, "I was just thinking that it would be better to figure out how to fight. After all, this one looks like something the headmaster has come up with, and there must be more if there is one."

Luo keeps the smile on his face: "......"

Mr., ever the pragmatist then.

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Xiao Lan examined the body of the spell puppet again and found that there were fewer secret texts on the body than on the head.

"It's not quite clear how it works, but it looks like it's more important to hit the head first." Xiao Lan sums it up simply and crudely.

The two men continued on their way.

Other spell puppets of various shapes and sizes were encountered on the way.

Some are more human and some more beast-like, but they vary in their aggression and level of intelligence, some are dumber than silly roe deer, while others have learned to steal and cooperate.

It was as if the headmistress had been fumbling around in the making of them, and these would have been her experiments.

It makes you wonder what Adeline, her brainchild, will look like.

The two men advanced a little further.

Once again, a figure familiar to Xiao Lan appeared ahead -

The young Adeline.

Little Adeline is still the same as she was seen before, her figure still somewhat transparent.

She stood quietly in front of the two men and without a word raised her hand and pointed in a direction.

Xiao Lan asked, "Are you showing us the way? Adeline ."

Little Xiao's figure is silent, even as it begins to fade, as if the mere act of showing her shape is already overwhelming her.

Xiao Lan and Luo looked at each other, but decided to follow her instructions.

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It could be a trap, but as someone who has given clues before, little Adeline has a little credibility.

Following little Adeline's directions, the two men came to an open area.

This must be the rumoured lake.

The water was not crisp, looked a bit green, even had a lot of algae growing and gave off a bit of a not-so-wonderful fishy smell that had nothing to do with the clear water of the lake in the usual stories.

By this time little Adeline's figure had disappeared.

Without guidance, the two were left to search the lake on their own for clues to Adeline.

Quickly, the clues appeared on their own.

For there was a strong smell of blood ahead, the smell that only fresh blood can give off, and with such a strong smell, that bleeding object would have been fatal if it had been a human being.

Xiao Lan The two men step forward quickly.

They finally met Adeline.

It was a monster almost two people high.

Similar to the drawing seen at the headmaster's, she has two pale serpentine tails, it is impossible to tell what material they are made of, but they should be very strong and extremely well constructed to be flexible and turnable.

Her back has a pair of thin, lavender wings that shimmer with a fine shimmer under the red moon.

The upper half of the serpent's tail is a body resembling that of a young girl.

The colour is too white to be alive, there is a beautifully shaped metal disc on the chest, and the body is still covered with a thread-like pattern of secret writing, which, with the soft face of the young girl, is surprisingly beautiful in an eerie way.

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The young lady's features though look beautiful and her expression is peaceful.

But at the moment she is gnawing on a corpse.

The body was dressed in a student's uniform and matched the appearance of one of the players Xiao Lan had seen earlier.

His eyes were wide open and his expression was still stuck in disbelief at death.

The chest and abdomen, however, had been torn open and the internal organs of which were being gnawed on by the snake woman next to her.

Adeline is gnawing on the corpse while still attacking a certain direction.

Xiao Lan looked in the direction of her attack and only then did he notice that there was another person there.

It's Dai Bumao.

Being dressed all in black and having dark skin himself causes him to blend almost completely into the darkness, with only the occasional reflection from the top of his head when he is in motion to indicate his presence.

And at the moment he is doing radio gymnastics at .......

Xiao Lan is a little confused.

Is this a pre-battle warm-up, big brother?

But the snake's tail is about to be thrown in your face, so stop your stretching first?

Dai Bumao over there is also in a hurry, a little bead of sweat running down his head, making his briny brain glisten.

He strides to stretch his arms but faster.

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Finally, Dai Bumao finished his stretch before the snake's tail hit him in the face.

As his movement ended, a green shield appeared in front of him, deflecting the incoming blow.

It looks like the shield is still pretty powerful.

Dai Bumao, relieved, rushed away from the spot and picked up the pace for the next chest expansion exercise.

At this point, Xiao Lan realised that this was supposed to be Dai Bumao's skill, and that he apparently had to perform the specified action to activate the effect.

Xiao Lan: "......"

Why his eyes were full of sympathy.

Seeing that Dai Bumao alone could not withstand Adeline's attack, Xiao Lan also brought up the Bone of Dalet and joined Luo in the fight.

Seeing the support coming, Dai Bumao's eyes filled with hot tears of emotion: "Brother Xiao Lan!"

Watery big eyes, with a black leather bald strong face, really a bit ...... uncomplimentary.

Adeline has also found an additional rival.

She dropped the uneaten entrails in her hand and attacked towards the two.

Even so, her expression is still gentle and peaceful at the moment, but the blood around her mouth reveals her bloodlust and cruelty.

Xiao Lan steps to the side and dodges the snake's tail as it swings towards him.

The power of the snake's tail was evident as it landed with a blow that cut off the tree directly next to it.

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By this time Luo's attack had arrived, the blackened blade flashing through the air and heading for Adeline's head.

Adeline raised her hand to block, but the blade left deep marks on her arm.

As with the other spell puppets, there was no blood coming from Adeline's wound.

Xiao Lan also seized the moment and clubbed Adeline in the back.

The blow was solid, and deep purple flames burst into flame on her back.

Realising the difficulty of the flames, Adeline turned quickly and swung her snake's tail to force Xiao Lan back, while reaching out and tearing the skin off her back.

As with Mrs. Hong Yue, her skin was torn off, but underneath it was still intact and healing fast.

But, at the moment, she was in the crosshairs of three people, and even if one wound would heal, a new one was immediately added.

By this time, Dai Bumao has finished his chest expansion exercise.

A red flash appeared on his fist, and with a single whack, he was able to leave a deep mark on Adeline's snake tail.

It seems that this skill, although shameful, can help players to go to the intermediate level, so naturally it is not bad in terms of power, and even this is a skill that can be attacked and defended.

Apart from the shame and the slightly longer preparation time, it was actually quite good.

Adeline's attacks became more and more frenzied, and the movements of the snake's tail were almost reduced to mere strokes.

Xiao Lan dodges the attacks of the snake's tail and waits for an opportunity to find a break in his opponent's game.

Finally, he spotted an intricate pattern on Adeline's back, hidden by her hair, a pattern far more esoteric than he had ever seen on any of the spell dolls before.

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Could this be Adeline's weakness?

Xiao Lan tried to attack in the direction of the pattern on her back, but Adeline looked alert and tried to stop Xiao Lan from getting at the pattern on her back even if she had to fight off the other two.

After several unsuccessful attacks, Xiao Lan is almost certain of his suspicions.

Xiao Lan called out softly, "Luo."

As Luo's eyes turn towards him, Xiao Lan gestures for him to hold Adeline's movements for a moment, if only for a moment.

Luo nods his head.

Then, silently, the dark shadows merged into Adeline's shadow and slowly spread out without her being aware of it.

The battle between the three men and the monster continues.

Xiao Lan once again finds an opportunity to get close to Adeline's back.

Luo had been watching Xiao Lan's movements and when he saw his chance, the dark shadow's power snapped into action.

Adeline's attacking movements instantly stalled as if pulled by a huge force.

Xiao Lan seized the opportunity and switched to his sharpest blade form as he jumped up and swung his blade into the pattern on Adeline's back.

This time there was no more obstruction and the sharp blade was driven hard into Adeline's vest.

Adeline's body instantly collapsed like a puppet that had lost its grip.

But she was not incapacitated by this, her arms still supporting the ground as she tried to stand up once more.

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Xiao Lan could also feel an extremely strong repulsive force coming from his hand, as if it was trying to push out the blade that had been stabbed into his body.

Adeline's ability to recover is surprisingly impressive!

Once again, the faces of the three men tensed up.

Just then, a somewhat disembodied Little Xiao figure arrived in the middle of the battle circle.

It's little Adeline.

Her shadow was now much thinner than before, blurring around the edges as if it would dissipate in a few more moments.

Little Adeline stood in front of the snake woman with her eerie beauty and reached out and tapped her finger on her forehead.

In the next instant, the shadow of little Adeline disappeared.

The seraphim's face, which had never changed in peace, was suddenly vivid.

She stopped trying to struggle and just lay quietly where she was, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes.

Dai Bumao raised his fist, "What's going on here ......? She, she, she's crying ......"

Feeling the repulsive force under the knife disappear, Xiao Lan tried to communicate with Adeline: " Adeline?"

The originally silent snake woman spoke up, "...... Hello guys."

Her voice was soft and delicate, the voice of a little girl, and did not match the appearance of a young girl.

It gave the trio a sudden feeling of bullying children.

Sensing that the other man had no intention of attacking, Xiao Lan put away his knife and he asked, "Was it you who left me a clue earlier?"

Adeline: "Yes."

Xiao Lan: "Can you tell us exactly what happened?"

Adeline begins to tell them about what happened to her and how everything before that was pretty much as Xiao Lan had presumed.

Mrs Weld became obsessed with the spell making method and used it to entertain Adeline by making little things like running bears and flying Little Mu people.

As she studied the spell puppet more and more, she began to have new ideas.

Is it possible to transform human beings?

But Mrs Weld was a good natured person who did not want to lay a hand on anyone, so she chose to do it herself.

It started with a little experimentation to make her younger and more flexible.

Later on, however, she grew addicted to it and often even locked herself in her room and did not come out.

It was not until one of the nights of the red moon that Mrs. Hong Yue made her first appearance.

Mrs. Hong Yue's character and behaviour were completely different from Mrs. Weld's, she was cruel and bloodthirsty and often killed in the neighbourhood.

One day later, Mr Weld noticed something unusual about his wife and tried to stop it.

But Mrs. Weld, who has taken on the form of Mrs. Hong Yue, does not see him at all. She cuts open her husband's heart and walks away under the red moon.

All this was seen by Adeline, who had sneaked out to play with her dad.

She feels very frightened that her mother has turned into a monster and that her father has been killed by her mother.

She was crying over her father's body when she suddenly heard familiar footsteps -

It was originally her favourite, the sound of her mother's footsteps.

Now it makes Adeline feel terrified.

Frightened, she tried to escape by climbing through a window but lost her footing and fell.

Adeline sat up and said softly to the three, "During the soul calling ritual, I was forced to leave part of my soul behind by my mother's ritual because I wouldn't respond out of fear, so I became a monster."

"The remnants of my soul kept trying to stop her, but I was too weak to even speak or manifest, and there was no way to get close to this body."

"Mum never knew she was Mrs. Hong Yue, she was always trying all sorts of ways to bring me back, and perhaps it was this thought that influenced her to collect human skin as material when she took on the guise of Mrs. Hong Yue."

Adeline reached up and covered her face, "I killed a lot of people when I turned into a monster too, I'm a bad boy now."

The three men looked at her, not knowing for a moment what to say to comfort her.

All words pale in the face of the hard truth, even if Adeline doesn't want them to, but she is the one who is hurt.

Fortunately, Adeline cried for a while and then wiped away her tears: "Mum is mad and I want to take her away, we should all go to hell. Can you help me?"

At this point, a system prompt appeared in front of Xiao Lan.

[Mum, let's leave ......]

[Triggered by: Adeline's Wish]

[Mission Statement: Free Adeline and destroy Cliff College]

[Mission Reward: Random Rare Item*1]

【Hint: Plot tasks cannot be abandoned, they are crucial to the progress of the game, so please treat them with care】.

Having accepted the task, Xiao Lan asks, "What should we do?"

Adeline said, "Tomorrow is the last day of the Night of the Red Moon and also the day when my mother's power is at its weakest, there are four seals in the four corner towers of the Academy and on that day breaking them my power will be freed."

"Please note that the commotion after breaking the seal may be very loud, so it is best to keep it at the same time or you will alert your mother."

After explaining the situation to the three men, Adeline turned and jumped into the lake, disappearing, presumably back into the dark basement of the northern tower.

Xiao Lan's heart is a bit hard, for Adeline and for the tragedy of the Weld's.

However, if they need to break the seal at the same time, the three of them are obviously three short of one, so it seems that they need to find another player to join forces.

He was about to say something to Dai Bumao when he saw a briny face in tears.

Dai Bumao cried tears and even sat on her butt: "Wow woop woop woop ...... Adeline is so pathetic ...... I even hit her... ...woop woop woop ......"

The rhythm of the cries is like that of Tie Hanhan.

Xiao Lan: "......"

The faint melancholy that had been in his heart was shattered by this spectacle.