The Encrypted Forum on the External Web

"Divine Talisman! Elder Gu He has arrived!"

"Great! The Thunder Talisman! Now the Ghost Spirit should be reduced to ashes. Even a Professional-level Wraith couldn't withstand a lightning attack."

Everyone was overjoyed.

Lin Yi looked over as well and saw Gu He slowly approaching from afar, his expression grave.

Honestly, this was his first time seeing Elder Gu He take action.

Usually, the old man looked amiable and smiled at everyone. Who would have thought he could be so reliable at a critical moment?

After the main body of the Ghost Spirit was destroyed, the remaining scattered shadows were no longer much of a threat and were quickly killed one after another.

By then, the shadows in the underground cellar had also been wiped out. Gu Chenghu led everyone out, and when he learned that Gu He had destroyed the main body of the Shadow Ghost, joy appeared on his face.

With the Ghost Spirit gone, they could finally sleep peacefully for the next few days.

However, when he came before Gu He, he saw the elder crouching where the main body of the Shadow Ghost had been destroyed, his expression solemn.

"Village Elder, why do you still look so worried? Even ordinary Professional-level Wraiths can't withstand your Thunder Talisman. Don't tell me you're worried this Shadow Ghost isn't dead?"

Gu Man had finished collecting the Ghost Spirit Ashes from the Ghost Spirit he had killed and came over as well. "Exactly. This Shadow Ghost fears sunlight, which means it hasn't reached the Professional level. Below the Professional level, one bolt of lightning should kill it no matter what."

Hearing them, Gu He stood and shook his head. "The main body of the Shadow Ghost did die just now, but I suspect this thing has other main bodies. Or rather, the one hiding inside Fufeng Tower may only have been one of the Shadow Ghost's main bodies."

Gu Man said in surprise, "How is that possible? No matter how powerful a Ghost Spirit is, it can't have multiple main bodies, can it?"

Gu He shook his head without saying more.

He had learned from the Village Chief that the Shadow Ghost was no ordinary ghost.

Because the seal had loosened, this ghost that had existed since ancient times had somehow come to Ancient Pool Village.

Even though Gu He had personally destroyed the Shadow Ghost, he still felt that it had a backup plan and had not truly died.

"Alright. Whether the Shadow Ghost is dead or not, the ghost troubles in Ancient Pool Village are considered over for the time being. But your Militia Team must not relax. Patrol diligently every day, and don't let Monsters or Ghost Spirits sneak into the village again."

Gu He then looked at Gu Chenghu. "Xiao Hu, you actually found the Ghost Spirit's hiding place today. Not bad. That's a major contribution."

Gu Chenghu laughed heartily. He knew they had discovered the Shadow Ghost today entirely because of Lin Yi, but in front of so many people, he would not reveal Lin Yi's ability. After all, both Gu Liehai and Gu Man lacked useful Newborns, let alone a Newborn capable of sensing Ghost Spirits.

Now that Dugu Feng from their Second Team had already gone to the Fifth Team, if Lin Yi were snatched away by someone else, it would be too late for regret.

Although Gu He was unsure whether the Shadow Ghost had truly been destroyed, he still announced to the public that the Ghost Spirit had been eliminated, putting everyone at ease.

After cleaning up the mess outside Fufeng Tower, Gu Chenghu pulled Lin Yi aside.

"Qingshan, you've rendered great service today. What do you want? Blood Food or an external martial art?"

Lin Yi had no idea that he had become a prized target in Gu Chenghu's eyes. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Captain, I saw you picked up quite a lot of Ghost Spirit Ashes. Could you give me some?"

Lin Yi still had the Blood Food he had traded from Gu Liehai. If he consumed a small piece each day, it would probably last him one or two weeks.

As for external martial arts, Lin Yi's Qi-Blood was currently limited, and all the time he had was spent practicing Starfall Archery. There was no need to learn another external martial art yet.

Besides, Gu Yongqiang still had the Blazing Sun Saber Technique waiting for him to learn.

Today, quite a few militia members had used the Blazing Sun Saber Technique against the Shadow Ghost's clones. The technique seemed quite powerful and also had considerable killing power against Ghost Spirits.

He had Starfall Archery for ranged attacks and the Blazing Sun Saber Technique for close combat. Once he learned an external movement technique in the future, he would have a decent amount of fighting power.

So Lin Yi was not in urgent need of either Blood Food or external martial arts.

What he wanted was some Ghost Spirit Ashes to test the growth limit of the Strange Stone Soul Artifact.

"Ghost Spirit Ashes?"

Gu Chenghu was somewhat surprised to hear that Lin Yi wanted Ghost Spirit Ashes, but without a second thought, he handed over the small bag of ashes he had collected in the cellar earlier.

"Sure, take all of this. And keep the Protective Talisman I gave you before for self-defense."

The bag of Ghost Spirit Ashes in Gu Chenghu's hand weighed about ten grams. At fifty Contribution Points per gram, this small bag was worth five hundred Contribution Points.

Lin Yi hurriedly thanked him with delight. "Thank you, Captain!"

Gu Chenghu gave Lin Yi's shoulder a heavy pat. "Protect yourself well. Your ability to sense Ghost Spirits is far too important. Don't let anything happen to you."

Ever since the Shadow Ghost had been dealt with, patrols throughout Ancient Pool Village had become much less frequent and were no longer as intense as before.

One day while on duty atop the city wall, Gu Chenghu spotted several Shocking Pigs wandering through the Wilderness outside. He took Lin Yi and the others out to kill them.

There were three Shocking Pigs in total: an adult female Shocking Pig with two young ones.

The female Shocking Pig stood two meters tall and was Level 6. The young Shocking Pigs seemed only a few months old, half a meter tall and merely Level 3.

The three Shocking Pigs posed virtually no threat. Gu Chenghu stepped forward alone, and with a few swift strikes, crippled all three, leaving them with only their final breaths for Lin Yi to finish off.

Then Gu Chenghu narrowed his eyes and waved Lin Yi over. "Qingshan, I heard you've been practicing the bow for quite a while. Come, stand farther away and give it a try with your bow."

"Alright."

Lin Yi stood at a distance, drew his bow, nocked an arrow, infused it with a small amount of Qi-Blood, and fired.

The arrow shot through the air and struck the female Shocking Pig squarely in the forehead.

Unfortunately, the Shocking Pig's hide was too thick and tough. Lin Yi's arrow was actually bounced straight away.

Seeing this, the Second Team members all burst into laughter.

"Qingshan, you don't have enough strength."

"You should aim for the neck. A Shocking Pig's head is extremely hard."

"Yeah, Qingshan, shoot its neck or heart..."

Lin Yi took a deep breath. In reality, an arrow fired at full force with his 14 points of Strength should have been able to easily pierce through a human body.

He had not expected that against a Shocking Pig Monster, it would barely even penetrate its hide.

Thinking of the Shocking Pigs that had appeared in reality a few days ago, without firearms, probably no one could have killed such a ferocious beast.

Lin Yi did not lose heart. He continued using Starfall Archery, and on the seventh arrow, as the damage stacked up, he finally shot an arrow into the wound on the female Shocking Pig's neck.

Ding! You killed a Level 6 Shocking Pig and gained 30 Experience Points!

Unfortunately, it only gave him 30 Experience Points.

Lin Yi shook his head regretfully at how much the Experience Points had decreased, then used the same method to kill the two young Shocking Pigs.

Ding! You killed a Level 3 Shocking Pig and gained 10 Experience Points!

Ding! You killed a Level 3 Shocking Pig and gained 10 Experience Points!

The three Shocking Pigs, one large and two small, were not high-level and dropped only four items in total.

Shocking Pig Compendium · White: A compendium recording the Shocking Pig race, habits, and weaknesses. A Newborn-exclusive item. After use, it permanently allows the user to view the Shocking Pig's status, Qi-Blood, and other attributes.

Shocking Pig Meat · White: Monster flesh containing demonic power. Those with strong Constitutions can consume it to gain a slight increase in attributes, but excessive consumption will lead to demonization.

Those two items had both dropped from the Level 6 female Shocking Pig. The two young Shocking Pigs each dropped one portion of Low-grade Demonic Blood · White.

Although there were only four White-quality items, both Lin Yi and Gu Chenghu were quite satisfied with the drops.

After learning that the Shocking Pig Meat was useful to Gu Chenghu, Lin Yi chose the Shocking Pig Compendium and one portion of Low-grade Demon Blood.

Now that he possessed the compendiums for Shocking Pigs and Heart-Devouring Wolves, he finally had the ability to inspect the attributes and status of these two types of Monsters.

Over the following several days, whenever Lin Yi was on duty at the city wall, Gu Chenghu took him into the Wilderness beneath the wall to search for isolated Monsters to kill.

Lin Yi could tell that Gu Chenghu seemed very eager to raise his level.

Once, when Lin Yi asked about it, Gu Chenghu said, "I heard the Newborns in the Fifth Team have already begun trying to go out and kill Monsters. You gave up the chance to go straight to Level 10 just to stay in our Second Team. As captain, I naturally can't let you suffer for it. No matter what, I have to get you to Level 10."

Lin Yi naturally did not believe that. He felt that Gu Chenghu was helping him so much most likely because of his ability to sense Ghost Spirits.

Of course, Lin Yi would not expose it.

After all, only an idiot would refuse a free advantage.

Having a powerful expert kill Monsters while he landed the finishing blow was simply too satisfying.

For three or four consecutive days, even when it was not the Second Team's turn for duty, Gu Chenghu would still take Lin Yi out to kill Monsters.

Unfortunately, Ancient Pool Village was protected by a Temple and was forbidden territory for most Monsters. Only a few isolated Monsters wandered nearby.

Over several days, Gu Chenghu and Lin Yi failed to find any high-level Monsters. They encountered only three Level 5 Shocking Pigs and one Level 7 Heart-Devouring Wolf.

The items dropped by these Monsters were naturally divided equally between Lin Yi and Gu Chenghu.

Lin Yi had finally accumulated more than one hundred Experience Points, but he was still far from the four hundred Experience Points needed to reach Level 4.

At this rate, it would likely take half a year or even longer for Lin Yi to reach the so-called Level 10, and that was assuming he kept his Experience Points suppressed instead of raising his level.

If only there were a place where monsters could be farmed endlessly.

Lin Yi then thought of the valley southwest of the village that Dugu Feng had mentioned. That place had once been the militia's burial ground. There were many Corpse Fiends in the Inner Valley, and their levels were not high, mostly Level 5 monsters.

The key was that Corpse Fiends had a chance to drop the external martial arts they had learned in life.

If Gu Chenghu could take him to farm monsters in that valley, it would be perfect.

But that valley was, after all, where the militia buried their dead. Perhaps the people buried there were the ancestors of Ancient Pool Village's residents.

Lin Yi felt a little embarrassed to bring it up.

But Lin Yi was thick-skinned after all. During one Duty Day, he took the initiative to mention the valley to Gu Chenghu.

Gu Chenghu was also very familiar with that valley.

It turned out the valley was called Ancient Tomb Valley, the burial ground for generations of militia warriors from Ancient Pool Village.

However, after a Ghost Spirit took residence in Ancient Tomb Valley and caused the corpses within to mutate, Ancient Pool Village stopped burying militia corpses there.

Gu Chenghu looked thoughtful. "You want to level up in Ancient Tomb Valley? It's not impossible..."

Lin Yi had only been testing the waters, but he had not expected Gu Chenghu to actually agree. He immediately asked in surprise, "Captain, really?"

Gu Chenghu nodded. "Yes. You probably heard about it from the Militia Fifth Team, right? They're leveling in Ancient Tomb Valley now."

Leveling in Ancient Tomb Valley?

Lin Yi shook his head. "Captain, I really didn't know about that. I only felt that leveling up was too slow right now..."

"Alright. The Newborns of the Militia Fifth Team can go, so taking you there isn't a problem. But Qingshan, if you reach Level 10, I need you to do me a favor."

Gu Chenghu had been sparing no effort to help him level up lately, so he definitely wanted something.

Lin Yi was not surprised and quickly said, "Captain, please tell me."

Gu Chenghu said directly, "I've been stuck at Level 10 for several years, but if I want to advance to become a martial artist, I must go to Tianshui City and find the Martial Arts Stone Tablet. Tianshui City is a long way from Ancient Pool Village, and there are not only Monsters along the way, but Ghost Spirits as well."

"Monsters have physical forms and are easier to guard against, but Ghost Spirits possess all kinds of attack methods and are difficult to defend against. I need you to join us then and travel with us to Tianshui City."

Go to Tianshui City?

Lin Yi thought about it. If Ancient Pool Village was the novice village in a game, then Tianshui City should be a map beyond the novice village.

Once he reached Level 10, even if Gu Chenghu did not mention it, Lin Yi would have found a way to go to Tianshui City.

Now, Gu Chenghu was helping him level up, and Lin Yi only needed to accompany them to Tianshui City. Naturally, he was willing to agree.

"Captain, when you say us, will there be many people?"

Gu Chenghu replied, "Of course. If nothing goes wrong, Gu Man and I will lead the group, along with some members of the Militia Fifth Team."

Lin Yi asked, "So training the Militia Fifth Team is also partly for going to find Tianshui City?"

"That's one reason."

Gu Chenghu nodded, then added, "Alright. Ancient Tomb Valley poses no danger to me, but it's extremely dangerous for you. Rest well today. Tomorrow morning, I'll take you to Ancient Tomb Valley to level up."

"Yes, Captain."

When Lin Yi returned from Apocalypse World, the sky was already nearing dusk.

Lin Yi glanced at the crimson sunset in the west and checked the weather forecast on his Phone. Linhe City would have a Level 8 Typhoon accompanied by heavy rain within the next week.

Without realizing it, Lin Yi had been involved with Apocalypse World for nearly three weeks.

Unfortunately, his level was still rising slowly, and he was only Level 3.

However, if tomorrow's trip to Ancient Tomb Valley went smoothly, he should be able to level up quickly.

Also, ever since Liu Bo had gone to the Capital City last time, he had not sent Lin Yi another message. Lin Yi had no idea what that guy was doing now.

It would be great if he could learn some Official Intelligence from him.

Standing by his apartment window, Lin Yi became absorbed in watching the sunset.

At that moment, the sound of someone dragging a suitcase came from the neighboring room, along with the voice of a girl on the phone.

"Mom, don't worry. I just arrived at the apartment. The room is pretty big, and the rent isn't expensive..."

Lin Yi found it a little strange. The room next to his seemed to have always been empty.

Had someone new moved in?

It made sense. The rent at Talent Apartment was cheap, and every graduation season or hiring season, a batch of newly graduated college students moved in.

Lin Yi did not think much of it. Just as he was about to return to his room, he saw the girl next door carrying a pile of clothes onto the balcony to hang them up.

The girl was quite tall, around one meter seventy-something. Her tight blue jeans clung to the lines of her legs, and her figure was slender and well-proportioned.

She wore a simple yet elegant white long-sleeved shirt on top, looking very clean and neat.

He glanced at her face as well. Her skin was fair, she was very pretty, and she seemed to have just graduated from college, with a youthful innocence still on her face.

Not bad. A pretty girl.

Lin Yi did not look any longer and turned around to go back inside.

"Hey, hello, I'm Liu Yuxi..."

Liu Yuxi had just wanted to greet her newly moved-in neighbor when she discovered that he had left without even looking back.

"What a strange person!"

Liu Yuxi did not dwell on it. After checking the clothes rack on the balcony, she began hanging her clothes up one by one.

It was not until seven or eight in the evening that she had roughly finished tidying up the apartment.

"Whew! That was exhausting, but I finally finished. Now it's time to eat and fill my little tummy..."

She was about to take the elevator downstairs to eat when she saw that strange neighbor from earlier step out of the elevator drenched in sweat. He looked like he had just returned from working out.

Huh? This strange neighbor is actually pretty handsome.

"Hello, I'm Liu Yuxi. I live next door and just moved in today."

Lin Yi, who had just stepped out of the elevator, paused slightly before nodding. "Hello, I'm Lin Yi."

"Hello, Brother Lin. Please take care of me from now on..."

"Mm."

Lin Yi's first impression was that this female graduate named Liu Yuxi was very outgoing, talkative, and full of youthful energy.

But all his thoughts were currently on Apocalypse World, and he had little interest in girls.

After all, dating took too much energy and time.

After returning to his room, Lin Yi quickly washed up, turned on his computer, opened his VPN software, and entered a foreign gaming forum.

Ever since coming into contact with Apocalypse World, Lin Yi had never stopped searching the internet for related information. Until yesterday, he had finally found something.

The foreign gaming forum before him was a small website established not long ago. Most of the posts discussed games on Steam, but Lin Yi discovered that those posts were merely some sort of cover.

There were quite a few deeply hidden Dark Web game threads on the small website, and everything discussed in them was related to Apocalypse World.

As for the Dark Web password, it was the English translation of Apocalypse World.

After entering the hidden Dark Web thread page, Lin Yi spotted a post written in bold red text.

#Tokyo Anomaly: Around several hundred people have died, yet the government still chooses to conceal the news!

There were many comments below the post, already numbering in the hundreds.

"Another case of Ghost Spirits invading reality has appeared. I remember the last one seemed to have happened in North America, where more than a dozen people died."

"Upstairs, this time is different. I heard the Ghost Spirit this time is a Professional-level Wraith. Even the local government has no way to deal with it, and the matter is still dragging on."

"I'm in Tokyo. I went to take a look from afar. That place has become a dead zone—anyone who enters dies. The government has already sealed off the area."

"I keep feeling like the end of the world is coming. The appearance of the Apocalypse Game was an omen!"

"Develop yourselves in the game as soon as possible. Let me borrow this thread for an ad: buying Apocalypse World resources at high prices, BT Coin transactions, guaranteed safety, DM me..."

"Good thing I'm in China. China is a beautiful country, and it's very safe for now."

"I'm in France. I just finished attending the Olympics, and it's very safe here too!"

On the Dark Web, this post had the most views. Its comments covered all kinds of topics, and many were nonsense. The commenters seemed to come from all over the world, but Lin Yi always felt that most of them were Chinese.

Besides the most popular #Tokyo Anomaly thread, Lin Yi began searching through older posts and gradually discovered some important information.

Someone speculated that whether Ghost Spirits or Monsters invaded reality, it might be because players had died in the game, briefly opening a passage between reality and Apocalypse World.

Lin Yi pondered this. If that was true, then Shocking Pig appearing in the village town outside Linhe City meant that a player had died in the game that day, bringing Shocking Pig into reality.

Thinking of this, Lin Yi sent Boss Zhu from the slaughterhouse a message, asking whether anyone else had died in the small village town.

Boss Zhu replied quickly, saying that a young man from the village had gone missing.

The young man's parents had gone elsewhere for work. He loved staying home and playing games. It was only when the Police conducted a census in the village after the Shocking Pig incident that they discovered he was missing.

Lin Yi sighed inwardly. Sure enough.

If that was the case, then there were clues to follow when monsters from Apocalypse World invaded.

Lin Yi then thought of the Activation Code dropped when that young man died. But given the Official's speed, that Activation Code had probably been taken by them long ago.

After browsing the Dark Web for a long time without finding any more worthwhile threads, Lin Yi shut down the computer and prepared to rest.

After all, he was going to Ancient Tomb Valley tomorrow to farm Corpse Fiends, so he needed to conserve his energy.

At that moment, the sound of running water came from the neighboring dorm room. It seemed that Liu Yuxi was taking a shower.

The apartment's soundproofing was poor, and the water ran for more than half an hour.

Only after that did Lin Yi gradually fall asleep.