The Skeleton General stood over nine feet tall. Its chainmail armor was somewhat damaged and decayed, but still imposing. With a mighty downward strike, it should have been able to cleave someone in two with ease.
But this blow was precisely deflected to the side.
"You all keep getting these kinds of opportunities, one after another. Martial artists already have such an advantage over ordinary players, and I'm here to back you up. You could all become high-tier players with ease, but every last one of you, you damn—
"Point! Circle!"
Lin Zhao abruptly interjected with a lesson in technique.
The older brother wore a bitter expression as he listened to the young lady's scolding, but instinctively reacted anyway. He flicked his wrist, tapping the blade against the Skeleton General's wrist before slicing along it.
"Crack!" The armor on the Skeleton General's arm shattered. Its unprotected wrist was severed in an instant. Though it still held the greatsword, its hand was now attached by only a little flesh and could no longer swing it.
"You didn't practice properly back then, and now you're so bad you can't even guarantee your own safety. My coworker got carried by a top player last night and might get promoted any day now.
"Every day when I turn on my computer, all I hear is 'Xiao Zhao, save me!' 'Miss, save me!' You damn well sound like Tang Sanzang, with all those calamities you keep running into."
Lin Zhao had reverted to her foul-mouthed girl persona for the first time in ages. Half exasperated, half urging them to train, she continued, "Step into the buttonhook stance, brush! Wade through the mud, lone goose leaves the flock."
The older brother took two steps forward, slipping past the Skeleton General's side as his steel blade brushed beneath its ribs. He smoothly turned and moved behind it, spinning around before thrusting straight out with his blade.
"Crack!" The steel blade plunged into a decayed spot in the armor on the Skeleton General's back.
"Step back, lean back and kick, serpent flicks its tongue."
The older brother decisively pulled out his blade. As expected, the Skeleton General turned around and swept at him with a fist like an iron hammer, but he dodged it just in time.
Instead, the older brother planted his left foot and leaned his whole body backward, lifting his right foot to kick upward.
"Crack!" His kick landed squarely on the Skeleton General's chin.
Then, as he drew his leg back, he spun around, bent backward at the waist, and thrust his long blade out unexpectedly, striking the Skeleton General just below the neck before it could lower its head.
"Cut!" Lin Zhao said, then picked up her cup and took a sip of water.
"Crack!" The older brother turned and twisted the blade. The Skeleton General's neck snapped, and its massive skull rolled to the ground.
There was no need for further instruction. The older brother decisively kicked the Skeleton General over and finished it off with a few more strikes.
"When you get back, don't slack off. This is your chance, but I've told you before: the Reflected World is really dangerous.
"Training in martial arts now isn't for the little bit of the Way my dad passed down, or for the reputation of some martial arts school. It's for your lives. I've called you all 'brother' before, so don't make me watch you die," Lin Zhao said at last.
Sitting on the Skeleton General, the older brother spat out the talisman paper he'd been holding beneath his tongue. It had already turned to ash. He let out a long breath. "Got it, Xiao Zhao."
The screen showed that the player had entered the dungeon results page.
Lin Zhao shook her head helplessly, took a half-burned ancient book from beneath her pillow, and opened the shop page.
"I have to make them another one. When we get out of here, they'd better treat me to at least eight hotpot chicken dinners."
After Zhang Anzai returned to the dormitory, he didn't do much. He just checked the Player Mall.
Having cleared the Endless Night Road dungeon, he should have unlocked some new items. But he'd been busy since noon, after feeling drained that morning, and had only now found the time. Besides, it was part of the player interface, so he'd waited until he was back here to check.
Of course, given what had happened in that dungeon, he figured there wouldn't be many good items to buy.
Sure enough, after looking around, he found that almost everything was supplies from the gas station convenience store. They cost just a few points each, which was cheap, but they weren't much use.
The Road-Blocking Demon and Chen Xing were both extremely unusual beings. Even with a decent rating, they hadn't unlocked anything particularly useful related to them.
After scanning the list, he found that the most useful item was actually:
"[Volkswagen Santana] (A rugged old-school SUV from the 2000s, with high ground clearance, standard power, and long range. Though its A-pillar lets in a draft, it's an indispensable memory of that era... With a Volkswagen Santana, you can travel the world without fear.)"
"Price: 800 Old Dust."
You had to admit, having a car in a dungeon was pretty great. Not every dungeon was as large as Endless Night Road, but quite a few featured highways or wilderness.
Even indoors, in the early stages of a dungeon, it was hard to find an ordinary tool with more killing power than a car.
Unless you ran into some particularly unusual monsters or demons, having a car during the beginner phase would let you run over pretty much anything.
The problem was that it wasn't cost-effective. Zhang Anzai had just over 800 Old Dust in total, so buying it would leave him broke. And the car was an ordinary item. In other words, it was no different from a real-world car; if it got smashed up, it wouldn't repair itself. So he couldn't buy it.
He looked around, then bought some of the Road-Blocking Demon's grave soil. "Fifty points for a handful. I can afford two or three handfuls."
He planned to feed it to his inheritance so it could devour it. He could now buy many things with Employee Points, and he had plenty of Old Dust, so spending some on a level-up was no big deal.
He still wouldn't reach 5% completion and unlock a new ability, but that was fine.
As long as his inheritance completion increased, it would help. His existing skills would grow stronger along with it.
"1.89%... Looks like leveling up really has slowed down." After absorbing the materials, Zhang Anzai closed the player shop.
With nothing else to do, he planned to go to sleep. He'd been busy all day and was genuinely tired.
But just as he returned to his phone's home screen, he noticed a new message.
"Could it be... Cheng Ye?" It was the middle of the night, but given Deputy Section Chief Cheng's work ethic, Zhang Anzai didn't think it was all that strange for him to contact him at this hour.
"I'll stay up for that skill book." Zhang Anzai sat up and opened the message.
But the contact with a new message wasn't Cheng Ye.
The message was short. It contained only one sentence: "Zhang Anzai, my friend, I've gone traveling."
A strange feeling rose in Zhang Anzai's heart, and his drowsiness vanished instantly.
He opened the contact's profile. It was a gray account with no avatar or other information. Its nickname consisted of just two simple characters:
"Chen Xing."
"Damn!" Zhang Anzai leaned against the wall, unable to make sense of what had happened. "Chen Xing!? How can he message me?"
Zhang Anzai exited Chen Xing's profile, wanting to try to contact him.
But as soon as he left, the contact and the message page from just moments ago disappeared completely.
His internal chat app looked exactly as it always did, as if what had just happened had been nothing but an illusion.
Before you continue