A Strange Scene

I agree.

"Let's go now."

"Let's go, let's go."

Zhao Heng had barely finished speaking.

The other three players immediately nodded frantically, like chickens pecking at rice.

no way.

Everyone present had encountered the Wolf Played by the Constructor.

And no one fought—

Wild Wind instinctively nodded, but at the last moment he realized something and looked at his four teammates. "Wait a minute—we're not here to clear a dungeon! This dungeon is just a setting; our skills and attributes are still there! Why are we so worried? We couldn't even beat the wolves Roleplay Instance protagonists, so surely we can beat them ourselves?"

--

Zhao Heng and the other three were taken aback upon hearing this, and exchanged glances for a moment.

Next.

Zhao Heng also realized: "It seems that it really is—"

"Since that's the case—"

Wild Wind tentatively asked, "Should we try going to the Heavenly Watchtower?"

"No."

Zhao Heng glanced at the figure riding a black horse in the distance, recalling his experience of clearing the dungeon, and felt a chill run down his spine. "Even without restrictions, we'd need to defeat a bunch of bosses to get to the Heavenly Watchtower. And we don't even know where the players in Prison Rock are. What if we get ambushed?"

Moreover, I always felt something was off. The Gyoubu Oniwa was too quiet, as if it were waiting for something—very suspicious. I suspect that the scene in Lu Xiu's copy has also changed. You should know what that means.

Most importantly, isn't the Divine Child supposed to be immortal? Although the system didn't mention the Mortal Blade, killing him requires it, right?

Wild Wind paused, then fell silent.

That's true.

This is the home advantage.

In the landscape of Architect in Nine Provinces, Lu Xiu is absolutely unparalleled.

Therefore, almost all players are familiar with Lu Xiu's dungeon.

"Therefore, it's best to avoid the Heavenly Watchtower for now and play it safe."

Zhao Heng took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "The most important thing now is to find those players in Prison Rock."

He had barely finished speaking.

A system notification sound appeared, and a window popped up.

[Battlefield Coordinates Report]

[To encourage active confrontation between the warring parties, the system will report the enemy's location coordinates every fifteen minutes.]

[Current player coordinates in Prison Rock have been updated: Map]

I saw the unexpected system notification.

Zhao Heng and the others were stunned for a moment, then immediately began to examine the map.

There are two points on the map.

"Dilapidated Temple?"

Wild Wind was somewhat surprised after seeing the location of the Prison Rock players. "They actually landed at the very beginning!"

Zhao Heng quickly reviewed the terrain and monster distribution of Sekiro in his mind, and instantly realized what was going on. He analyzed, "Although that side is farther from the Heavenly Watchtower, the monsters there are relatively fewer and weaker. While we are closer from here, we not only face Gyoubu Oniwa from here, but also a bunch of powerful enemies behind us."

Based on the characteristics of the Prison Rock Prison Rock released by the Coordination Bureau, they are definitely not weak—although they don't understand the dungeon situation, their speed in getting from the starting point to our backs will definitely be much faster than our speed in getting from here to the Heavenly Watchtower!

"Then what do we do?" A Sequence 9 player gripped his weapon tightly.

"Let's turn back and find them!"

Zhao Heng said directly, "Even if they're not weak, it will take them some time to figure out the dungeon's situation and adapt to facing the enemy—we'll turn around and attack back, and while they're adapting, we'll sneak up on them!"

"Done!"

Wild Wind paused for a moment, then realized it was actually feasible.

The other three nodded immediately.

It's definitely more cost-effective to go back than to fight your way up to the Heavenly Watchtower.

"Walk!"

The group exchanged glances, then without hesitation, they moved with perfect understanding, hugging the shadows of the city wall, and like five ghosts, swiftly disappeared from the battlefield at the city gate, running away towards the back.

They worked together seamlessly and skillfully, consciously avoiding powerful enemies along the way.

As for why they are so in sync and skilled, don't ask.

In the early stages of Sekiro, you can't say you've cleared the game if you haven't died dozens of times.

However, the lack of Shinobi Prosthetic presents significant problems, as there are some areas where it's simply unavoidable.

Some battles are indeed unavoidable.

The unavoidable battles made Zhao Heng and his group realize the problem.

Wild Wind cleaved back an ordinary Ashina Castle soldier blocking his path with a single slash. Just as he was about to pursue, he saw that the soldier did not flinch at all. Instead, he used the momentum to roll backward, dodging the fatal attack range. Then, with extreme cunning, he pulled out a handful of ash from his waist and threw it directly at Wild Wind's face!

"Holy crap?!"

Wild Wind awkwardly closed his eyes and turned his head, narrowly avoiding the subsequent thrust, and was caught by another teammate.

After the group worked together to defeat the few Ashina Troops soldiers, they were all covered in a cold sweat.

Although it's not role-playing, the difficulty isn't as exaggerated; killing the Ashina Troops soldiers isn't too hard either.

But since they aren't restricted by attributes, they still pose a danger to even low-level enemies—which is already quite exaggerated.

"The monster seems to have gotten stronger, even though I've fought it countless times—"

Wild Wind looked at the corpse on the ground with some surprise and uncertainty.

"They have indeed become more agile."

Zhao Heng's expression also turned somewhat grave. "They even know how to cooperate, how to create distance, and how to utilize the terrain—it's as if they've been infused with a true soul, possessing the instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm, and a genuine combat mindset."

In the original dungeon, although it was difficult, the ordinary enemies were noticeably rather rigid—because Lu Xiu restricted them when Constructed Instance.

However, once a dungeon is used as a scene, the enemies in that dungeon seem to no longer have such restrictions.

So far, they have only encountered ordinary soldiers at the lowest level, and have not yet encountered any elite monsters or bosses with names or identities.

But even this alone was enough to send a chill down their spines.

"So things have really changed—"

Wild Wind swallowed hard, glancing warily towards the center of Ashina Castle. "Thank goodness we didn't recklessly charge straight for the Heavenly Watchtower. If those named bosses had done the same, it would have been a real problem. Lu Xiu's dungeon is truly unpredictable in every way."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Then we continued on our way back.

However, as they continued their journey back along the same route, a new question gradually began to linger in everyone's minds.

Where are they?!

Where are the players from Prison Rock?!

Weren't they in the very first Dilapidated Temple?

Why haven't I met one yet?

Logically, those players from Prison Rock should have started advancing by now, so why isn't there even a hint of fighting?

What happened?

Wild Wind looked at Zhao Heng.

Zhao Heng shook his head. "I don't know either—just be careful."

But it wasn't until they reached the cliff edge at the very beginning of the instance that they realized what was happening.

They didn't encounter any of the players from Prison Rock —they only witnessed a baffling scene.

The dilapidated Dilapidated Temple opposite was now completely shrouded in a thick, almost tangible white mist.

"What's going on? This isn't in the dungeon. Is this a skill used by a player from Prison Rock?"

Wild Wind stared blankly at the thick fog in the distance, saying, "But I remember there weren't any enemies there, right?"

Across the falling snowflakes and the cliff.

A roar suddenly erupted from the dilapidated Dilapidated Temple shrouded in white mist!

Faintly, one could also hear the sound of heavy objects hitting the ground, as well as a rhythmic, crisp sound of metal being struck.

Zhao Heng watched this scene—it vaguely felt familiar—and was about to speak.

Boom!

With a loud bang, the white mist enveloping the Dilapidated Temple suddenly seemed to be torn apart by some violent force, violently splitting open to both sides.

Immediately afterwards.

Five tall, imposing figures emerged from the thick fog, looking as if they were being chased by some terrifying monster.

Upon seeing these five figures, Zhao Heng and the Wild Wind gasped.

It's a player from Prison Rock!

But the players from Prison Rock looked miserable at this moment. Their once proud and burly bodies were covered with countless knife wounds of varying depths.

The leader, a burly man as tall as an iron tower, wielding a massive hammer, was in the worst condition. His hand was split open, and he had a deep, bone-revealing cross-shaped wound on his chest, from which blood was still seeping.

"Look what you've done!"

A relatively thin player from Prison Rock, dressed in a dark robe, gripped a long spear and roared at the burly leader with a contorted expression, "We didn't even see the Wolf Played by the Constructor or the Nine Provinces players! We almost used up all our trump cards just to fight some insignificant scene monster! Everyone got injured!"

Gran's face was ashen, and the cross-shaped wound made him look extremely ferocious.

He gripped the heavy hammer and roared in rebuttal, "How the hell was I supposed to know that woman was such a monster! Every attack she throws bounces off! No matter how hard you hit her, it just bounces back. This is completely illogical!"

Upon hearing this...

Zane trembled with rage. "Didn't I warn you?! Didn't I tell you that the Architect named Lu Xiu also uses this damn fighting style?! Now who's the trash?! You can't even beat the dungeon monsters created by the Architect!!! You trash!!! Are you satisfied now?!

"Shut up!!"

Gran was hit where it hurt, and his face, marked with bloodstains, blazed with rage.

He shoved Zane away roughly, and was about to continue his outburst when he suddenly stopped.

He looked up.

The other side of the cliff.

Zhao Heng and his group of five, who were just about to clean up the mess, stared at each other in disbelief at the five players who had just escaped from the Prison Rock.

An eerie, deathly silence fell over the scene.

But upon seeing the information above the player's head in Prison Rock...

Wild Wind's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints.

[Sequence 10], [Sequence 11], [Sequence 11] ---- The two leaders even reached [Sequence 17]! Two of them! Everyone is at or above Sequence 10!

They have two High Sequence players! But Nine Provinces only has one!

at the same time.

Zhao Heng also remembered! During that special event, Jiang Qiu had mentioned the situation on Maple Leaf Avenue!

A thick fog descends!

A player who plays Prison Rock once used this skill!

Innate skill!

The opponent has Chosen Player!

Swish!

Just then, the thick fog that shrouded the Dilapidated Temple was once again parted.

A petite figure dressed in an elegant kimono, holding a tsuba (handguardless halberd) with a white sheath, rushed out of the thick fog. She was also injured, with wounds all over her body, but her eyes still held a chilling killing intent.

Emma!

Why?

Why did Emma immediately start killing?

Something's not right!

Zhao Heng suddenly realized what was happening, and he no longer cared about his plan to clean up someone's butt; he just felt the hairs on his body stand on end.

"Run! Stop standing still! Run!"

Zhao Heng immediately roared and turned to lead the charge, shouting, "There are Chosen Player on the other side! And Emma is chasing them for some reason! Let them fight first! We'll get out of here!"

When Gran, who was on the other side of the cliff, saw this scene, he was first stunned, and then he suddenly realized what was happening.

He heard footsteps behind him and knew that the terrifying woman was catching up again.

"The players from Nine Provinces are there! Chase them!"

Gran didn't care about Emma behind him at all, and he didn't want to fight her anymore!

He roared and, relying on his powerful attributes, reached the edge of the cliff and leaped up.

"Holy crap! That Sequence 17 Prison Rock player jumped over here!"

Wild Wind caught a glimpse of Gran soaring into the air on the opposite side of the cliff out of the corner of his eye, and his scalp tingled.

Its 2.2-meter-tall body stretched out in the air, and together with the giant hammer, it was like a small, moving mountain, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression.

After leaping over, Gran began striding forward in pursuit, shouting, "Forget about that crazy woman! Kill the Nine Provinces players first! Complete victory condition one!"

Damn it!

Zane gritted his teeth, glanced back at Emma charging towards him, and despite his displeasure, followed her.

Behind them, the petite figure in a light-colored kimono quickened her pace and caught up.

And so, in Ashina Outskirts, a bizarre and absurd scene unfolded.

At the forefront were five Nine Provinces players, sprinting desperately forward.

In the middle were five towering Prison Rock, cursing and running away from Emma while frantically chasing after him.

At the very back, a petite and frail woman was supporting everyone, carrying a white sheath.