Land of Silent Death

"Honestly, I don't think this is a good idea."

As the carriage traveled down a desolate, remote path, the elf scout's voice was full of helplessness. They were currently crossing a wilderness where, as far as the eye could see, there was no sign of life. The distant woods had long since withered, and the land that had once been farmland was now nothing but dim, barren earth.

This was the Land of Silent Death.

Long ago, this had been the fief of a noble. At the time, the count had been facing a succession crisis. He had only one daughter and no sons, while his brother coveted his title and lands. Then, a young and handsome man approached the count, claiming to be a noble from a distant country who wished to marry the count's daughter.

Perhaps guided by the principle of giving it to a friend rather than a servant, the old count agreed to the young man's request. The man married the count's daughter and smoothly inherited the count's title, while the old count passed away shortly afterward.

But in truth, the young man was no noble. He was a Vampire. After that, the other members of the count's family either died or vanished in "accidents," or became the Vampire's servants. Before long, the Vampire had taken control of the land and become a terrifyingly powerful existence.

At the time, the Empire was in the midst of civil unrest. Put simply, history was repeating itself: the Emperor had died, and everyone was fighting to become the next Emperor. Three imperial princes even declared themselves kings—proof that history never really changed.

Seizing this opportunity, the Vampire finally bared his fangs. On a dark and stormy night, he slaughtered every subject in the territory, transforming them all into Undead under his control. He assembled an Undead Army and launched an attack against the Empire.

Faced with the Vampire legion's assault, the Empire, which had been fighting its own civil war, finally set aside its grudges and united against a common enemy. After all, they only wanted to become Emperor; they did not want to become a Vampire's slaves. Thus, under the banner of a united front, the Empire began resisting the Vampire's attacks.

But that Vampire truly was formidable. With the power of some magical ring, he feared no injury whatsoever. Whether beheaded or struck through the heart, he could revive within a short time and kill his attacker in return—basically, he had a cheat that locked his health and let him revive.

And so, the Vampire army sang victory after victory as it advanced all the way to the gates of the Emperor's capital.

Yet the heavens were unpredictable. Just as the Vampire was about to seize the Royal Capital in one stroke, his magical ring suddenly vanished "mysteriously." Having lost his health-locking resurrection cheat, the Vampire flew into a rage and attacked the Royal Capital once more. This time, however, he failed. He was utterly defeated by the Empire, and that was the end of him.

With the commander dead, the Vampire army immediately fell apart. The pursuing Imperial forces beat them so badly they could not recognize their own mothers. And after that war, the Empire's internal strife finally ended. Everyone elected the imperial prince who had contributed the most and possessed the greatest strength during the Vampire Wars as the next Emperor.

To end the Empire's internal unrest, a Vampire had traveled thousands of miles just to donate his own head. What a spirit of self-sacrifice.

After that, this territory became the cursed Land of Silent Death. At first, a few fearless nobles tried to inherit the fief, but after several of them died horribly here, everyone began keeping their distance.

From then on, this place became a realm of death. Rumors said that those killed and transformed into Undead by the Vampire still wandered these lands, slaughtering anyone who dared invade their territory.

Well... judging from what lay before them, that rumor was not entirely baseless.

It was worth noting that Necrotic Beings and Vampires were actually different races. Even in Soul Cards, Necrotic Beings and Vampires were categorized separately. The Wraiths and ghosts Duanmu Huai had summoned before were all Necrotic Beings, whereas Vampires belonged to the Undead. Put bluntly, Vampires were more like creatures that "did not die naturally." After all, they still had to feed on blood to sustain themselves. Though Vampires looked like the dead, the need to drink blood to survive and grow was itself the behavior of a living creature.

Therefore, when facing the God of Filth, Vampires were not as immune to all poisons as Necrotic Beings. They merely had relatively high resistance.

Conversely, when facing Necrotic Beings, the God of Filth's followers were somewhat helpless—viruses and diseases could not infect bones or ghosts.

Likewise, driven by their hatred of life, the dead and the Necrotic Beings would madly attack any living creature that dared set foot in their territory.

That was right. Although the God of Filth's followers were swollen all over, covered in pustules oozing thick fluid, reeking of nauseating rot, and even crawling with parasites that wriggled through their bodies as happily as mice swimming through cheese, they were still "alive," "fresh," "living creatures."

That was why Duanmu Huai had chosen this route.

If the Corrupted Cultists truly intended to continue tracking them with human-wave tactics, then they could only risk entering this territory and fighting the Undead here. After all, they were not skilled at stealth, and if their numbers were not large enough, they could not threaten Duanmu Huai and the others.

By comparison, Duanmu Huai's group was small and inconspicuous. If they were lucky enough and cautious enough, they might be able to slip through unnoticed instead.

With the satellite scans in the Strategic Command Room, Duanmu Huai was effectively playing with the entire map revealed. He could clearly see which areas were dangerous and which were safe. Under his guidance, the group's journey had gone fairly smoothly.

Except...

"I really can't get used to this place."

Sitting on the carriage and staring at their surroundings, the elf scout complained unhappily. Everything here carried an air of deathly silence. Even the air they breathed seemed mixed with piercing ice crystals; a single breath made it feel as if their whole bodies were trembling. Even the two horses pulling the carriage were listless. They could barely find decent fodder and could only gnaw on the withered weeds by the roadside...

"All right. Instead of complaining, we should think about how to get out of here as quickly as possible."

Duanmu Huai did not pay it much mind. This place was simply like that. He opened the map and glanced over it, while Knight Kado and the elf scout leaned in as well.

Honestly, the outside world was already a complete mess.

The three imperial princes had all declared themselves kings and begun civil war 2.0 within the Empire. Unfortunately, this time there was no Vampire who had come from afar to donate his head and unite them again. Silver City had ultimately fallen, and the entire territory had become a playground for viruses, plagues, and Corrupted Cultists, all of which were spreading outward. Large numbers of refugees had flooded into nearby territories, which were themselves being battered by the civil war.

The route proposed by the elf scout was to pass through Weissen Land, which had already become a dead wasteland, then find a way across the southern Gray Mountain Range to reach Bartonia—a country that was not very large, but was relatively peaceful. At the very least, people could live peaceful lives there.

Well, provided they were not farmers.

Of course, no country in the world was perfect. Bartonia had its own problems, but compared with the current civil war 2.0 in the Empire, where people were beating each other's brains into pulp, and the brutal Corrupted Cultists rampaging across Imperial territory, Bartonia was already a pretty good choice.

Or rather, there was no better option. If they did not go to Bartonia, then they could either cross the Ogre Kingdoms and travel far away to Zhendan, or head south across the desert to Araby...

By comparison, getting to Bartonia only required crossing the Gray Mountain Range. As long as they did not come into conflict with the Dwarfs, there should not be much trouble.

At least it was better than crossing the Ogre Kingdoms or going to die in the desert.

"Let's keep moving. At least for now, it looks like there aren't any settlements ahead."

In this Land of Silent Death, the most dangerous places were not the wilderness, but villages, towns, and even Rooks. Because of the Vampire lord's brutal oppression back then, nearly every inhabitant of this territory—from peasants to nobles—had been killed and transformed into Undead. Thus, there was a high chance that the places where they had lived in life were now occupied by hordes of Undead.

Therefore, throughout this journey, everyone had remained in the wilderness and detoured around every human settlement they encountered.

Otherwise, it might turn into Silent Hill + Resident Evil + some other horror game dungeon set.

Duanmu Huai himself did not particularly care. After all, the Sleeping Maiden mission he had accepted earlier required him to visit five Undead Fragment dungeons. But considering that he had a whole group of old and weak people with him, Duanmu Huai did not intend to take risks. If something happened, it would only be troublesome. It was better to finish the main mission first, then come back and deal with these Undead Fragments.

After grumbling for a while, everyone continued onward. The elf scout drove the carriage, while the Old Knight sat at the front. Duanmu Huai followed behind with his warhammer in hand. At first, the elf scout had deliberately slowed down so Duanmu Huai could keep up. Later, she discovered that although the big man looked like he was wearing heavy armor, he was not slow at all. Even on foot, he could keep pace with the carriage...

The weather in the Land of Silent Death was forever gloomy and dim. Dark clouds blanketed the sky, leaving almost no sunlight visible. Icy winds howled over the wilderness, carrying low moans like the wailing of Wraiths.

The horses pulling the carriage did not last much longer. In the end, they whinnied and died. With no other option, Duanmu Huai volunteered to pull the carriage himself, while the elf scout and the Old Knight butchered and processed the two horses into rations—after all, there was no food to be found in this land, and the provisions they had brought while fleeing the Rook were nearly gone.

Yet just as night fell, something strange appeared before them.

"If my eyes aren't playing tricks on me, that looks like an inn?"

Looking at the building by the roadside, Duanmu Huai voiced a sarcastic remark, and the elf scout nodded.

"And its door is open."

Indeed, just as the elf scout said, not only was the inn's door open, but it was brightly lit as well. It looked like a lively roadside inn... well, if it had not appeared in this uninhabited Land of Silent Death, it would have seemed perfectly normal.

"Let's go."

Naturally, Duanmu Huai was not stupid enough to fall for it. He had heard who knew how many ghost stories like this in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. So he grabbed the carriage and continued forward. At the same time, Duanmu Huai glanced at the mission before him.

Triggered mission: "Midnight Inn"

Mission Objective: Escape the predicament

Why did an unmanned inn appear in the midnight wilderness?

If Duanmu Huai had been alone, he would definitely have gone inside. But considering that he had a group of elderly and weak people behind him, he decided to ignore it for now.

Then they walked and walked, and walked...

"Honestly, I'm not surprised at all."

Looking at the inn that had appeared before him once again, Duanmu Huai felt absolutely nothing.

"What do we do now?"

The elf scout was speechless as well. Elisa and the others were even curiously looking out the windows. It was no wonder they were so calm. Since entering the Land of Silent Death, they had encountered ghosts, specters, screams, weeping... They had seen so much that they had become numb to it.

"We don't have a priest or bishop to Exorcise Evil."

Old Knight Kado stroked his beard and spoke with a bitter smile, while Duanmu Huai waved his hand.

"Let me try."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai turned toward the inn and took a deep breath.

Then...

"I'LL FUCK YOUR MOTHER, YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU PIECE OF SHIT...!!!"

After unleashing a stream of abuse at the inn, Duanmu Huai pulled the carriage onward once more.

The others were all stunned by Duanmu Huai's vulgar language.

"What was that supposed to mean?"

The elf scout looked at Duanmu Huai in confusion and asked.

"Oh, it's a custom from my hometown. When you encounter ghosts, you curse at them, because ghosts fear evil people. So as long as you act vicious and terrifying, the ghosts will run away on their own..."

"There's such a saying?"

Hearing Duanmu Huai's answer, everyone was left speechless. However... superstition was still superstition.

"Looks like it didn't work."

The same road, the same inn, appearing in the same place.

"I don't believe this crap. You want to die, is that it?"

Now Duanmu Huai's anger rose from his heart and evil sprang from his courage. He pulled off his helmet and strode toward the inn.

"I want to see what kind of ghost this piece of junk is pulling!"

However, just as Duanmu Huai reached out to pull open the inn's door, something suddenly changed.

The inn before him abruptly began to twist and distort. Then, accompanied by a heart-rending scream, the building transformed into countless snow-white lost souls that flew into the night and vanished without a trace.

"..."

"..."

The cold wind howled.

Everyone stared at one another, looking at the now-empty wilderness without the slightest idea what had happened.

Only Duanmu Huai looked at the System Prompt before him with a speechless expression.

You used Intimidation on the Ghost Inn

Ghost Inn attempted to resist... Resistance failed

Ghost Inn entered a state of panic

Ghost Inn dissipated

Mission "Midnight Inn" completed

Mission Rating: Unbelievable

The greatest victory is to subdue the enemy without fighting

Gained 1000 experience, bonus 700 experience, advanced to Level 21, bonus Soul Cards +2

Intimidation increased to LV3. "Sleeping Maiden" progress +1

Inn's Ghost Hound (Bronze)

Cost: 1

Attack: 1

Defense: 1

Certain Kill (Fanfare): If Funeral has been activated, draw one card

Poltergeist Phenomenon (Silver)

Cost: 3

Summon 2 Wraiths onto the field (Spirit Burst Enhancement: 4). Give all your cards the effect: 'When this follower disappears, transform into Destroyed.'

Fuck, was this thing messing with him?

Duanmu Huai was utterly speechless. He turned around, put his helmet back on, and returned to the carriage. At that moment, the elf scout looked at him with a grin.

"I say, why don't you just stop wearing your helmet? That way, no ghosts will dare come near us."

"..."

Hearing that, Duanmu Huai silently raised his middle finger at the elf scout.

Other than fuck this shit, he had nothing else to say.