After the fight against the Sand King and his son, three paths opened up at the far end of Failing Valley.
To the left lay a deep earthen tunnel, with a faint, foul wind blowing from within.
In the middle stood a massive stone gate carved with intricate totems. No matter how hard the players pushed, it would not budge.
To the right, a mountain path climbed toward a towering cliff.
Xu Sanshi circled the stone gate twice. "The game says we need 'Tiger's Edge' and 'Stone's Might' to open this?"
Jiang Nannan glanced down the paths on either side. "Seems obvious. There must be bosses at the ends of those paths carrying the two keys. Beat them, and we can open the middle gate."
The players made their choices.
The cautious Bei Bei and Yuhao took the right path to explore, while the hot-blooded Wang Qiu'er strode toward the left-hand tunnel leading to Crouching Tiger Temple, staff in hand.
Meanwhile, Xiao Xiao had grown tired of playing at the Origin Internet Cafe—Tiandou Branch. She took the teleportation array back to the Origin Internet Cafe—Star Dou Main Store for a break.
She bought a cup of special milk tea from Lu Yuan, then wandered over to watch Wang Qiu'er, who had drawn the biggest crowd. She even started cheering. "Go, Qiu'er! Let's steamroll everything!"
"Monster or demon, if it gets in my way, I'm smashing it!" Wang Qiu'er sent her little monkey striding into the tunnel on the left.
After only a few steps, she reached a broad underground clearing beside a bottomless cliff.
If the Sand King had survived the earlier fight, he would have fled here.
But Wang Qiu'er had already finished off both father and son.
"There's an interaction prompt here."
Wang Qiu'er approached the cliff, and