Zane!

"Ah ah."

Starfire Knight stared in disbelief as he watched the waterwheel crumble into ruins.

Even the Starfire Knight were like this, so the soldiers were even more caught off guard.

"Did I do something wrong?"

The soldier who had eagerly lit the campfire earlier was completely bewildered. He shakily raised the hand that had lit the fire and swallowed hard.

"Hiss"

Ta Mi gasped, suddenly feeling a weakness in her calves.

It's back! The familiar feeling is back! This is the Zane Dungeon!

Although the campfire is, as always, an absolutely safe place, it has become the trigger for the collapse of the waterwheel!

I give up.

Ta Mi let out a long sigh of relief. For some reason, it seemed that only the current Zane Dungeon gave him a sense of familiarity and security.

That's great! I thought the Zane Dungeon had changed its ways, but it seems it's still the same as before.

However, at this moment, some discordant notes appeared.

Through countless arduous battles, Ta Mi's strength is no longer what it used to be. He has made great progress and has also developed a wide range of Aura Perception abilities.

In his perception, numerous dangerous auras emanated from every corner of the Plague Village; they were all the auras of demons.

Even the upper levels of the Plague Village, which they had already cleared out once, are now showing signs of renewed life!

Originally, the upper levels of the Plague Village were occupied by ordinary infected residents whose auras were highly similar. However, now there are completely different monsters appearing, and not just one type.

Clearly, the true extent of the Plague Village has only now been revealed to the public.

What they had just experienced was merely a small taste of sweetness created by the Plague Village to lure them into a trap.

Your reward isn't that sweet at all!

"I'm speechless."

Lu Lu Wo suddenly smiled with relief. She had also sensed the newly appeared presences, many of which were familiar faces.

Poison Arrow Guy hiding in the shadows blowing poison arrows, Skinless Dog that can breathe fire and poison, and Humanoid Spider burning with chaotic flames.

They're back, they're all back.

She said that a Plague Village without these underworld creatures is incomplete; only with them can it be called authentic.

"And, very unfortunately, we happen to not have any returned bone fragments on hand right now."

The Return Bone Fragment only works within the Zane Dungeon, so even the Sparkfire Church's logistics department didn't send it over. Furthermore, Lu Lu Wo and her group didn't obtain this item on their way to Plague Village. Now that I think about it, this must have been a deliberate arrangement by the Zane Dungeon.

Without the return bone fragments, and having touched the bonfire in Plague Village, it was destined that even if they died later, they could only be resurrected at the bonfire in Plague Village.

Furthermore, the waterwheel that allowed them to return via the original route was gone, cutting off the adventurers' path home and forcing them to continue exploring the Plague Village.

No wonder the advice mentioned Sealed Prison; this is practically the same as trapping adventurers in Plague Village.

The Zane Dungeon is too insidious!

"But should I call it luck? Because I was busy reviewing the advice, I didn't touch the campfire, and that's actually a blessing in disguise."

If she commits suicide right now, she can still return to Firelink Shrine and avoid fighting monsters in Plague Village.

But

That's not like me.

Lu Lu Wo strode towards the campfire and touched the flames without hesitation. The warmth spread from her palms throughout her body, and she could no longer leave.

"Captain is wise." Ta Mi's familiar teasing voice came from the side. Lu Lu Wo just smiled slightly, turned to look at the still bewildered crowd, and raised her voice to say:

"It's clear we've fallen into the trap set by the Zane Dungeon and are now stuck."

People didn't react much when she said this, they just looked a little gloomy.

"Moreover, even more monsters have appeared, eager to invade. This is the real Plague Village now. The difficulty of our exploration will double, or even increase several times over!"

Once this statement was uttered, people experienced a much stronger emotional reaction, mostly negative.

We had just said that Plague Village was nothing special, but it immediately got serious. The previous exploration was already stressful enough, and now they're making it even harder, are they trying to kill us?!

"You're already discouraged?"

Lu Lu Wo's voice came again.

"Aren't you the Sparkfire Church, the church that prides itself on knowing the most about the Zane Dungeon? Are you going to give up after encountering such a small difficulty? What right do you have to believe in the brave and forward-moving Sun Warrior?"

These words made everyone raise their heads.

"The captain's here again." Ta Mi shook his head helplessly. He knew that Lu Lu Wo was here to cheer everyone on.

The problem is that Lu Lu Wo's encouragement always ends up making the atmosphere feel really weird.

Sure enough, a series of inspiring words, full of noble ideals and righteous principles, poured out of her mouth. Seeing people's confidence gradually return, she uttered her final words.

"Anyone who gives up at this point is such a coward, Trash Fish Trash Fish!"

"Um!?"

"Well"

The Starfire Knight raised questions, while Ta Mi sighed and rubbed his forehead.

The next moment, the Starfire Knight all turned red, a physical red-hot color, and an intense heat burst forth from their bodies.

"Brothers, we have to take down this Plague Village and show her!"

"Damn it, we've never suffered such humiliation before!"

"Let him see what we're made of!"

The Starfire Knight and soldiers became increasingly excited.

"That's right, that's it! Get your spirits up!" Lu Lu Wo her fist to cheer people on, completely unaware of how "encouraging" her words had been.

"That's fine, it looks like it's working quite well."

Ta Mi, an observer with a clearer perspective, shook her head.

The exhilarated Starfire Knight rested briefly by the campfire before charging forward without hesitation.

Now that the large waterwheel that led back to the upper level has collapsed, their only remaining option is to continue exploring downwards. Since they are currently in the middle level, their goal for exploration will be to find the path to the lower level.

The interior of the Plague Village, located in the middle level, is even more intricate and complex, practically a natural maze. Just walking around is enough to make you wander around, and yet, there's still a bit of Gong Qiying's cleverness involved.

"Aaaaaah!"

A soldier screamed as he fell. Whether he fell to the lower level or landed directly in the cesspool at the bottom, it was no good. Just thinking about the filthy, overflowing cesspool...

The soldier actually overcame his fear of falling from a great height and shut his mouth, appearing like a tough, iron-willed man.

Just then, two cold chains wrapped around her ankles, finally stopping her fall.

The soldier hung upside down in mid-air, face to face with the monsters who had rushed over after hearing her screams, ready to Drop Off.

The scene was exceptionally eerie.

"Aww!"

The fire-breathing dog, looking as if its skin had been peeled off, looked up and breathed a mouthful of poisonous fire at her. Fortunately, at the same time, Lu Lu Wo the chain and quickly dragged it back.

"Thank you, thank you."

The soldier sat slumped on the ground, still shaken, her chest heaving with each breath. But even as she was in this state of panic, a question mark slowly appeared above her head:

How did I fall?

Looking in the direction she had originally walked, the soldier immediately turned red.

The path she had just walked on looked like it was made of ordinary logs.

However, it is actually a hidden door that can be moved!

The entire wooden plank is supported by the central cylindrical pillar. If anyone steps on either side, it will immediately trigger a trap and cause them to fall!

The board seemed to be under magical influence, automatically opening and closing even after someone fell on it. In addition, the board itself blended perfectly with the surrounding environment, and people's vision was limited in the dark, making it easy for someone to fall into its trap.

In any case, upon closer inspection, the entire Plague Village was constructed from almost identical pieces of wood, making it a life-or-death situation for any adventurer to casually set a trap there.

This kind of environment is incredibly appealing to designers.

"You bastard, Sion!"

The appearance of this hidden door seemed like an omen, for in the journey ahead, people would encounter various surprising scenes from time to time.

For example, the wooden planks were so old and dilapidated that they would collapse with a single step, and one could easily fall straight down. Fortunately, Lu Lu Wo reacted quickly and was able to use chains to catch the person who fell; otherwise, there would have been casualties just from scouting the way.

Despite the treacherous terrain, the monsters' strength did not diminish; just as expected, their strength began to rise steadily.

The thin, undead wielding Living Dead will thrust them out from under the floor, aiming straight at passersby.

The Giant Corpse fell from the sky and crashed into the water, breaking the bridge.

Where there are oil drums, there will inevitably be a few flammable and explosive fire-breathing dogs jumping out.

And the most disgusting thing is that blowgun guy who hides in the shadows and sneaks around blowing poison arrows at people!

"Thanks to my foresight, I made sure everyone wore sufficiently thick armor."

When Lu Lu Wo first spotted Dart Guy sneaking around in a dark, cramped spot, she gave him a disdainful smile and showed him her heavily armed gear.

"Ding-dong!"

Then she heard the poisoned arrow strike her armor and break with a horrible sound, which made her feel quite pleased.

She had suffered terribly from that bastard's poisoned arrows back in the Painting World, and now it was finally her turn to take revenge!

Just as this thought crossed her mind, she saw a light shining from the blowgun of the blowgunman. Although she didn't know what effect it had, it was undoubtedly the light of magic being activated.

"Pfft!"

A flash of green light appeared from the blowpipe, and Lu Lu Wo immediately felt something wet on her calves. She looked down.

Those grooves are from a magical poison arrow capable of piercing armor.

Even though the arrow's lethality had almost disappeared after being weakened by layers of armor, leaving only venom that couldn't maintain its arrow shape, it still managed to get onto her leg.

"Damn it!"

She was so frightened that she immediately took a big bite of the purple poisonous Moss Ball!

After all, the poison arrows blown by the blowgun guy aren't just ordinary toxins; they're deadly poisons that make people tremble at the mere mention of them! They wipe out life force faster than Fudolin can eat!

Why has the blowgun guy been upgraded too!?

Not only have their strength been upgraded, but their numbers have also increased to keep pace with the new era of adventurers, and some even possess the ability to track independently.

If they provoke a blowgun wielder and fail to kill it, they might run a short distance and rest in place, only to be caught up by the wielder, and then naturally, be pierced through the heart by a poisoned arrow shot from an unexpected angle.

The only saving grace was that a single poisoned arrow wouldn't be enough to directly inflict severe poisoning; at least three or four would be needed. This was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

At this very moment, Lu Lu Wo and her group were running at a speed that appeared fast but wasn't actually that fast, through the complex and winding roads of Plague Village.

They ran wildly to make Dartman lose sight of them and give up the chase, while not running too fast was to avoid unexpected traps on the ground.

"Click--"

Just as she thought this, the formwork beneath someone's feet cracked, and they fell instantly. Lu Lu Wo raised her hand to try and save them, but three green lights suddenly flashed from the darkness beside her. Three poisoned arrows were shot at her at the same time, forcing her to lower her hand to defend herself.

The soldier fell heavily to the bottom with a thud, followed by his panicked voice and the howl of the monster.

Staff reduction X1.

Even so, they could not stop, because the number of poison arrows they had just seen meant that at least three blowgun dart users were chasing their prey at considerable distance.

There are at least three, but the exact number is still unknown.

Lu Lu Wo swung her chains and lashed out wildly at the source of the poisoned arrows, causing the rock strata to shake. When she finished attacking, she found that her souls had only increased by the equivalent of one blowgun.

"Damn it, were these guys ever this fast before?"

There's no way to fight these monsters in the dark, and unfortunately, illumination spells are much less effective here because...

A soldier launched an illumination spell into a dark corner, creating a continuously glowing sphere. However, the sphere rapidly shrank and disappeared the moment it touched the darkness.

The darkness here has a neutralizing effect on illumination spells!

"Tsk."

Just as Lu Lu Wo was growing impatient with the sinister nature of the Plague Village, the person in front of her suddenly stopped.

Why did it stop?

The Starfire Knight at the very front frowned and said uncertainly, "It seems we've already taken this path before."

"What?"

The roads in the Plague Village are winding and meandering, but this is the first time they've gotten lost since they arrived!

Besides getting lost, something else made Starfire Knight stop in his tracks.

"A monster has appeared."

Monster?

Ta Mi peeked over and immediately had a look on his face that said, "What did I just see?"

A new monster has blocked the path that everyone must take, and the appearance of the monster is truly unprecedented, if one had to describe it...

It looks a bit like an orange-red sea squirt with several tentacled limbs.

It looks like it's dropped a bit.