With a startle, Chen Ran raised his left arm as he stared at Jiang Cheng. He asked exaggeratedly, “Brother Hao is not talking about this, right?” There was a neat cut around Chen Ran’s left arm. It was not serious. It was around 5 centimetres long. Some blood oozed out of it. The red formed a great contrast to Chen Ran’s pale skin. The blood pooled and dripped to the ground.
However… the man before him was incapacitated, and he just happened to be cut once. Why would the man say that he had won?
Suddenly, Chen Ran’s pupils shrunk. He looked at the flame in the middle of the room. The flame danced. A light and strange fragrance filled the air.
“Hah.” Chen Ran slowly put down his arm. He narrowed his eyes and sighed as he looked at Jiang Cheng, who grinned wickedly at him. “The dagger… is poisoned.”
“Yes.” Jiang Cheng laughed maniacally at Chen Ran, “That is true, but I didn’t do anything to it.”
“Right again.” Jiang Cheng shrugged. “She didn’t think you were so dumb. She had also seen through the secrets of the flame. The fuel contains hallucinogenic elements. Her only mistake was that she was too weak. Plus, she was too distracted by her little brother. If she could cut you once with her dagger, then you’d be the one who was left on the stone plate.” Jiang Cheng smiled, “Brother Chen, do you know how dangerous that would be?”
Something had to be wrong with the flame in the lighthouse, or else the things from the Black Stone Town wouldn’t stress it so much. After Liang Long disappeared, Jiang Cheng understood its secrets. Jiang Cheng captured a familiar scent at the spot where Liang Long disappeared. It was the fragrance that was emitted after the milky-white substance inside the firepot had burned.
They knew that this fragrance could greatly slow down one’s brain and silence one’s emotions. If his guess was not wrong, Liang Long dug out some of the fuel to study it in private. However, it was too dark on the first floor at night. She lit up a pinch of the fuel. The fuel provided a lot of heat and could burn for a long time.
Chen Ran, with his superhuman physique, started to feel dizzy. He was unwilling to collapse. The strange things in the nightmare sure were…
Chen Ran stumbled backwards and bumped into the wall. He leaned against it. His body slowly slid down. He still wanted to struggle, but his body didn’t allow him anymore.
A strange voice came from the corner. Chen Ran tried his best to turn his head. He saw a twisted and excited face. The old woman poked her head out of the gap. She stared at the immobile Chen Ran happily. She was waiting and gathering her strength, like a spider waiting for her prey to weaken.
The aged woman opened her mouth. A long and red tongue licked around her lips. The strange voice came from inside her throat. She sounded like an old woman hacking up her lungs before she died. With that sound and her expression, it was clear that she was the ghost of this mission.
Jiang Cheng agreed with Chen Ran’s hypothesis. Chen Ran was clever and was a very good fighter. However, he was too arrogant. If he didn’t hold back in their fight, Jiang Cheng would have died already.
Just like he suspected, this aged woman wasn’t a player but a very special NPC.
The dangers of this mission came from two sides.
One was external, or the things from Black Stone Town. Based on Jiang Cheng’s observation, those things couldn’t enter the cathedral… or once they did, they’d be turned into stone. That was the origin of the statues in the lobby.
The other was internal, or this old lady who first appeared as their teammate. Based on what Fatty said, they encountered this old lady by the sea.
Therefore, if the seaside cathedral was a safehouse from the things from Black Stone Town, the aged woman was the threat inside the sanctuary. She was there to punish the players who were too cowardly. Therefore…
Chen Ran’s sudden voice grabbed Jiang Cheng’s attention. “Brother Hao,” His voice was weak, but the ease of his tone was still there. Chen Ran narrowed his eyes. Due to the drug, he could only barely lift his chin. He chuckled, “How… do you plan to use me?”
For the others, this might be the rumblings of a madman, but Jiang Cheng didn’t think so. He knew Chen Ran was not a simple character. At least, their mental frequencies aligned to a certain degree.
Other players like Liang Long would have stressed how he’d be punished if he harmed his teammates in the nightmare realm.
“Do… you wish to borrow my hands to kill this blasted woman?” Chen Ran asked.
Jiang Cheng scratched his chin. Even though the wounds on him were not lethal, every small movement he made was extremely painful.
“Nah. I won’t trouble you to do something so easy. What if that is the way to leave the nightmare?” Jiang Cheng said, “Then, wouldn’t that just help Brother Chen escape? I plan to leave you here.” He added, “I need you to verify something for me.”
Jiang Cheng had been observing the aged woman. She was very interested in the helpless Chen Ran. Her tongue was almost touching his face. However, she didn’t make a move. Instead, she kept glancing at Jiang Cheng impatiently.