Up ahead, a battle seemed to be underway!
Zong Shen narrowed his eyes, quickly piecing together what had happened.
No wonder he'd thought something was off about the dungeon on the left.
The broken iron bars in nearly all the cells there had been cleared away and piled beside the cell doors.
That meant someone had already explored those cells.
With that in mind, Zong Shen asked the Strategy Guide,
"Is there anything worth collecting in this row of cells?"
(There was, up until 37 minutes and 42 seconds ago. Unfortunately, you're too late. This dungeon has more than one entrance besides the one in the Temple. The third cell on the right, just ahead of you, contains an upward Prison Break Passage leading to some Architectural Ruins above.)
(That's also why I recommended exploring the dungeon on the right first.)
"Damn, someone beat me to it. Looks like another lord found this place."
Zong Shen sighed softly.
But that was inevitable.
There were so many lords in one region. After each of them got over their initial panic, they would venture out to explore and gather resources.
Gradually, they would spread out into the surrounding area.
It was only a matter of time before they crossed paths.
Still, Zong Shen hadn't expected to find traces of another lord in a dungeon this gloomy.
It seemed the other lord was in the middle of a fierce battle.
There was no need to guess. They were probably fighting some powerful monster guarding another part of Altland Whisperwind's body, something like the Blood-Burning Demon Skeleton.
But elite monsters like that weren't easy to take down.
Zong Shen decided to go and take a look, in case there was an opportunity to reap the benefits.
As for playing the good Samaritan and helping them fight the monster, he hadn't even considered it.
In theory, lords were competitors.
If he went to help, the other lord might not even appreciate it.
Zong Shen never got involved in thankless tasks like that.
Other loot didn't matter to him, though.
What he cared about was Altland Whisperwind's body. It was a quest item he needed.
While Zong Shen considered what to do,
the battle around the corner seemed to have reached its climax.
He'd already heard several roars.
"They're really going at it."
He'd said it with a sigh.
When he'd fought the Blood-Burning Demon Skeleton earlier, he hadn't thought the battle had been all that intense.
But he'd forgotten something.
Not everyone had a powerful squad of fighters like his, on only their second day in this world.
"Rumble!"
A deafening crash rang out. The whole dungeon trembled slightly.
Dust rained down in thick sheets from overhead.
Zong Shen was left covered in it from head to toe.
"Damn, are they tearing the place down?"
He grumbled as he brushed the dust from his head.
After the crash, everything fell silent.
No more roars, explosions, or flashes of fire—just silence.
"Is the fight over?"
Zong Shen was puzzled.
Then he turned to Tie Zhu and ordered,
"Tie Zhu, use Shadow Incarnation and sneak over there to take a look."
The Nord Shadow Scout skill Shadow Incarnation had a five-minute cooldown and lasted for three minutes. It could be used frequently.
Tie Zhu nodded.
The next moment, he turned into a shadow and stealthily raced along one side of the corridor.
He went straight around the far end.
And began scouting the area.
About two minutes later,
Tie Zhu returned.
"Lord, the battle's over. An unknown lord is dead."
"There's also a huge Ghoul, but it's been badly wounded, too."
That lord hadn't been much good.
He hadn't even managed to beat an elite monster.
So much for an easy opportunity. Not everyone could take advantage of one.
"Did you see any soldiers' remains?"
Zong Shen asked.
The other lord couldn't have come down alone without any soldiers.
That deafening explosion,
and the intense flashes of fire—
Those weren't the sort of effects a low-level lord could cause.
Zong Shen was sure of that.
But Tie Zhu shook his head.
"Reporting to you, Lord, I didn't find any soldiers' remains."
That left Zong Shen puzzled.
"Did they escape?"
"Let's go take a look."
Zong Shen decided to investigate.
So he led the main force to the end of the dungeon on the left.
Turning left here brought them to a large hall.
It looked like a Prayer Room, filled with broken tables and chairs.
But this still wasn't the end.
A thick, intact iron door engraved with Runes blocked the far end of the Prayer Room.
Inside, a gigantic one-armed Ghoul was eating the poor lord's corpse.
Its belly bulged as though something were inside it.
Behind the Ghoul stood the Prayer Altar. Zong Shen could already see the quest item he needed lying on top.
Zong Shen focused his gaze.
The attributes of the Ghoul, which was over four meters long and had a gaping maw as wide as a washbasin, immediately appeared before him.
[Mutated Ghoul lv16 (Green)] [Race: Undead] [Bite Damage: 58–61] [Health: 268/655] [Armor: 10] [Skills: Tongue Spike (The Mutated Ghoul has a chain-like, barbed tongue that it can suddenly lash out, piercing a target within ten meters in a single strike and dragging it in front of itself) Frenzy lv10 (Increases the Ghoul's attack speed by 25% and movement speed by 25% for 90 seconds; cooldown: 1 hour) Corpse Eating (Consumes a corpse to restore health) Devour (The Ghoul opens its mouth wide and swallows a target directly, provided the target is no higher than lv12, no longer than 2 meters, and has less than 300 health; currently unavailable)] (What are you waiting for? Beat it! Avenge the fallen lord!)
This Mutated Ghoul had four skills and was already badly wounded.
High attack, high health, average defense.
As it ate the lord's corpse, its health was gradually recovering.
"Attack! Kill it!"
Zong Shen swept his hand forward!
Tasia began chanting Double Necrotic Arrow without waiting to be told.
The three Wolf Cavalry let out battle cries and charged.
Tie Zhu vanished into the shadows once more.
Even Zong Shen raised his Kite Shield, which was on the verge of breaking, and charged.
The Mutated Ghoul stopped feeding.
Its blood-red eyes fixed on the group.
Especially on the charging Wolf Cavalry.
It suddenly opened its huge mouth.
A bright red tongue shot out like a flash of red light, hurtling toward Bjorn.
Bits of flesh and blood flew from its slimy surface.
But the Wolf Cavalry weren't easy prey.
Bjorn reacted quickly. As soon as he saw the Mutated Ghoul lash out with its tongue, he raised his battle blade.
Then, just as the barbed tongue was about to reach him, he brought the blade down!
"Shrrk!"
The tip of the Mutated Ghoul's tongue was sliced off, as if a piece of tough leather had been cut through.
"Roar!"
The Mutated Ghoul pulled its tongue back and roared in fury!
Before you continue