Golden Legend

After downing a bottle of Sanity Recovery Elixir, Zhang Zhen took out a sheet of paper and a pencil and began sketching on it.

Very soon, a crude yet exceptionally clear map appeared before everyone (map range: 4 kilometers):

Because Wang Ziyi's shelter was located within a primeval forest, there were no buildings marked on it. Naturally, the trees had been omitted as well.

Only the shelter's location and the surrounding scattered "dots" were marked, with the cardinal directions indicated in the upper-right corner of the map.

As he passed the map around for everyone to inspect, Zhang Zhen explained, "What I scouted was a two-dimensional plane, so I couldn't determine the elevation.

"In my perception, there were four colors of dots. The colors are noted beside the dots on the map: red represents living creatures, green represents equipment or special items, and yellow represents resources.

"Gold is a newly added color. I believe it represents treasure chests, and the shades of these dots vary from light to dark, possibly indicating different qualities."

Following Zhang Zhen's explanation, Bai Yi looked over the map. There were five dots marked in gold.

The dot farthest from the shelter had been labeled "Dazzling Gold" by Zhang Zhen, while the others consisted of one "Bright Gold" and three "Dark Gold."

After everyone had understood, Zhang Zhen added, "In the black fog, red dots can only be fiends. During the few seconds I was sensing them, the number of red dots kept increasing."

"So there are more and more fiends outside?"

Li Zihua looked out through the window, but the black fog shrouded everything, leaving nothing visible.

Bai Yi, however, could vaguely sense some bizarre rhythms—completely distorted pulsations without any pattern whatsoever.

"We already expected this, didn't we? Let's go. Hiding in the shelter is the real way to wait for death."

Xie Xu said this in a deliberately relaxed tone.

Wang Ziyi walked to the door, took down the bow hanging on the wall, and slung the quiver across her back, securing it in place.

[Forest's Whisper

Quality: Fine

Durability: 99/100

Description: The power of arrows you fire increases by 200%. At the same time, you may consume one point of durability to fire a powerful energy arrow (equivalent in power to a small-caliber sniper rifle). Listen, the forest's whisper!]

"Rare for Dog Xie to say something human. Let's go. We're setting out."

Bai Yi was somewhat curious. "You know archery?"

"Yeah, I've practiced since I was little. I'm really good!"

"You really are."

As they spoke, everyone had already formed up:

Bai Yi was at the front, responsible for clearing the way and providing warnings. Behind him came Zhang Zhen, Wei Fen, Li Zihua, Wang Ziyi, and Tang Zheng in that order. Xie Xu took the rear, where he could foresee any danger in advance.

As Faint Candlelight was lit, everyone stepped into the black fog. Their target was the nearest treasure chest marked "Dark Gold" from the shelter.

Because Wang Ziyi had cleared the paths around the shelter during practical combat training a few days earlier, the beginning of the journey went fairly smoothly.

After taking only a couple of steps, Bai Yi sensed two decayed rhythms ahead. Rotting Corpses!

He did not attack directly, instead signaling for the people behind him to step up. Bai Yi remembered the purpose of this trip: to give the others more practical combat experience.

Wang Ziyi volunteered. After confirming the positions with Bai Yi, she drew her bow, took aim, and made a quick calculation.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two arrows flew into the fog.

After sensing a change in the rhythms, Bai Yi gave Wang Ziyi a thumbs-up.

The group then moved forward and saw two Rotting Corpses lying on the ground with their heads pierced through by arrows.

Bai Yi noticed that the bodies of these Rotting Corpses were covered in black blotches resembling livor mortis, while their skin was as decayed as that of the elderly.

Is this the effect of the black fog...?

As he stored away the corpses, he quietly speculated.

The group did not linger and continued onward.

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They encountered three more groups of Rotting Corpses along the way, totaling around a dozen. All of them were slain one by one.

Bai Yi watched silently from the side, summarizing the combat traits of the team members:

Zhang Zhen's fighting style was bold and forceful. When facing Rotting Corpses, he fought like a warrior, withstanding their attacks head-on before killing them.

Li Zihua's fighting style was more conservative and meticulous. He would not attack first, instead waiting for a Rotting Corpse to approach, dodging its clumsy pounce, then killing it as it turned around.

Wei Fen's fighting style was even more fluid. She nimbly weaved between four Rotting Corpses. They could not hit her, but she could hit them.

Finally, Wang Ziyi had the typical mindset of a ranged fighter. After Xie Xu forbade her from using her bow, she wielded a bone blade and relied on her superior attributes to kite the Rotting Corpses to death.

During this time, Bai Yi also discovered that their clothes were extremely durable. Even when attacked or torn at by Rotting Corpses, they remained completely undamaged.

These clothes should have been made by Wei Fen.

Bai Yi analyzed this to himself. He had been too busy before, so he had never found the time to ask Wei Fen to make clothes for him. He decided that once they returned, he would have a set made for himself as well.

Xie Xu and Tang Zheng did not make a move. The former kept watch over their surroundings, while the latter occasionally pointed out the others' mistakes and taught them how to improve.

They secured the first treasure chest without incident. Just as Zhang Zhen had sensed, it emitted a faint golden glow.

"Wow, a golden legend!" Wang Ziyi exclaimed.

The others nodded in agreement.

Only Bai Yi scratched his head awkwardly and muttered under his breath, "What kind of meme is that?"

Xie Xu opened the chest. He had drawn a top-tier piece of equipment from the Wishing Well, so he was undeniably blessed by luck!

As the chest opened, two ancient kerosene lamps fell out:

[Fog Lamp

Quality: Fine

Durability: 100/100. Description: Automatically lights up in dark environments and disperses black fog within a 10-meter radius.]

The effect was simple and straightforward, yet it was exactly what they needed!

The black fog had rendered everyone on the team except Bai Yi practically blind. They could only spot the aberrations once they lunged into the candlelight's range.

Ranged weapons were completely useless!

"It seems these treasure chests can yield items that counter the black fog. That will undoubtedly greatly improve players' chances of survival," Zhang Zhen said.

However, Bai Yi's expression was grave.

"If the difficulty were only at its current level, equipment like this would be completely unnecessary. Since it has appeared now, it means the system believes players will need this equipment to survive later on."

Xie Xu agreed. "So, we have to obtain these treasure chests—and the more, the better!"

As they spoke, the two Fog Lamps were activated.

A glow identical to candlelight rose up, dispersing the black fog around them.

Their surroundings came into view as well. The nearby trees had grown together in twisted shapes.

Dark holes indented the middles of their trunks, their edges lined with jagged splinters like wounds left by a beast's bite.

The eerie atmosphere did not fade with the black fog. Instead, it grew even stronger.

Fortunately, everyone present had seen things far more horrifying and twisted. None of them were particularly afraid of the scene before them, not even Wang Ziyi, the most timid among them.

After a short rest, they set off again. Bai Yi and Xie Xu each carried a Fog Lamp, while their formation remained unchanged.

Their target was another treasure chest about 1.5 kilometers from the shelter, glowing bright gold.

Along the way, Bai Yi constantly sensed the rhythms around them. Whenever he detected a powerful rhythm, he led the team on a wide detour.

When they encountered weaker rhythms, such as rotting corpses, he left them to the others for practice.

After winding around and changing direction several times, Bai Yi stopped.

He had discovered that no matter how they went around, a powerful rhythm always lay ahead—and the treasure chest was surrounded by those powerful aberrations.

In other words, if they wanted that treasure chest, they would have to kill at least one aberration ahead of them!