Chapter 156: The Undead Squad

The NPCs nowadays are truly formidable, each one more skilled at mocking players than the last!

With a single phrase of "rotten wood cannot be carved," Falcon was dealt a direct blow, satirized for possessing empty skills but no brain, failing even to find the vanished lost secret chamber...

Falcon, who was accompanying me, clearly did not expect to be ridiculed by the "spat-upon old aristocrat" here. After a moment of bewilderment, his face flushed red, and he hurriedly dropped the line, "I'm going outside to get some fresh air," before lifting the curtain and leaving the backyard.

Before I even had time to pity Falcon, the old aristocrat's turbid eyes had already shifted onto me:

His eyes lit up slightly!

"I remember you. You helped me retrieve the undead grimoire from the Forgotten Castle last time..."

"Yes."

"You've already advanced to a Tier 3 class, that is wonderful... Can you help me with one more thing? The reward this time will definitely be much more generous than the last!" The old aristocrat looked at me with full of hope, as I had come precisely for this matter.

"Of course!"

As soon as those words fell, a rare smile and surprise immediately appeared on the old man's aged face: "That's wonderful! I believe you can definitely help me accomplish this! This time, you must still head to the Forgotten Castle..."

According to the old aristocrat, the undead grimoire I retrieved for him last time recorded a "lost secret chamber." It stated that hidden within it was a squad of undead that had attacked the Forgotten Castle many years ago...

These undead creatures lingering on the territory of the Knight Empire would appear outside the Forgotten Castle every night, summoning the undead creatures near the castle and converting even more living beings into undead.

It was this very passage that stirred up the old nobleman's tragic memories of the Forgotten Castle back then, making him feel that the undead creatures lingering near the castle were plotting something.

The old nobleman wanted to tell the lord of Frostfall City about the undead grimoire and his suspicions. However, given his status, let alone seeing the lord, he would be cursed to death by countless citizens the moment he stepped outside...

Moreover, such one-sided words spoken from his mouth might not be believed by anyone... Therefore, the old nobleman hoped an adventurer could help him—help him find the "lost secret chamber" recorded in the undead grimoire!

However, during this period, the adventurers hired by the old nobleman to investigate this secret chamber either mysteriously disappeared or came away completely clueless. By now, the lost secret chamber had acquired a new name—the Vanished Lost Secret Chamber!

And what I had to do was continue the unfinished quest of countless adventurers, searching for this legendary vanished lost secret chamber...

After taking my leave of the old aristocrat, Falcon and I both departed from the dilapidated small courtyard.

"Are you sure you want to head out of the city this late at night?" Falcon looked at me, pointing to the sky overhead, which had grown completely dark.

"What? Are you scared?"

"Nonsense, how many people do you see heading out of the city at night? And do you have any idea how dangerous it is to go to the Forgotten Castle at this hour? If we run into a pack of magic wolves, we won't even know how we died..."

Falcon showed no shame about this whatsoever. Knowing the dangers of venturing out at night, he immediately continued, "Even a full team wouldn't dare easily leave the city at night, let alone just the two of us... That Maple Leaf Forest alone is enough to give us a hard time."

"Damn it, what ancient history are you pulling from? What's so terrifying about a pack of wolves? With our speed, isn't it easy to shake them off? Besides, your gear is pretty good too. What's your magic resistance at? ...With 20 magic resistance, what are you afraid of? Magic beasts below Tier 3 no longer pose much of a threat to you. Besides... aren't there player teams leveling up in the Maple Leaf Forest every day?!"

My words finally caused the expression of the indecisive Falcon to loosen up.

In truth, Falcon himself deeply regretted not being able to venture out of the city to level up at night. It was only because he was alone, combined with the deeply ingrained fears and ferocious legends of the night, that he had never dared to leave the city after dark...

If his fear of the dark could not be dispelled, it would probably be very difficult to persuade him to leave the city.

So I continued to persuade him:

"You want to do that secret chamber quest too, right?"

"Of course I want to do it, but I've searched the entire castle up and down these past two days... I just can't find it. If you hadn't said you wanted to take a look, I would have been ready to give up..."

Falcon sighed, but before he could finish, I interrupted him:

"If this really is a chained quest, it would be a terrible pity to give it up. Furthermore, the reason I said we should go at night is because you've always searched for the secret chamber in the Forgotten Castle during the daytime! Don't forget what the old nobleman said: anomalies only appear at the Forgotten Castle at night? Who knows, maybe they can't be discovered at all during the day..."

This was also what I had deduced after combining Falcon's experience with the old nobleman's words.

Sure enough!

As soon as those words left my mouth, Falcon's eyes immediately lit up: "That's right! There's that possibility! But..." At this point, his tone shifted, and he hesitantly said, "Running to the Forgotten Castle to look for the secret chamber at this hour... we won't even be able to get inside."

Indeed, the damn respawn rate at night alone made the road between Frostfall City and the Forgotten Castle full of hardships and countless positional threats... Even more terrifying was that most of the creatures inside the Forgotten Castle were Tier 3 magic beasts, and their numbers were even greater at night, making them impossible for even a Tier 3 team to handle!

Hearing this, I knew Falcon was already tempted, and immediately smiled:

"Let's go outside the Forgotten Castle and check out the situation first... If it's truly dangerous, it won't be too late to turn back. Anyway, we have nothing to do at night... and it won't waste any time... Moreover, my intuition tells me that this quest shouldn't be too difficult."

"Fine! Anyway, I just hit level 30, and I won't lose any levels if I die. I'll risk my life and gamble on this with you!" Falcon gritted his teeth and was finally persuaded by me.

"Good, buy your supplies, see you at the North Gate!"

"Right! Oh, by the way..." Just as Falcon was about to turn around, he suddenly called out to me solemnly and asked, "Is your intuition accurate?"

"..."

A few minutes later, Falcon and I left Frostfall City.

In the darkness, we vigilantly split our duties to scan our surroundings within a thirty-meter radius. Whenever we encountered magic beasts, we avoided them whenever possible; we certainly didn't want to waste arrows on these weak, low-level magic beasts. After all, just how long the road ahead would be... neither Falcon nor I knew! It was better not to waste arrows.

Advancing with cautious care, we reached the final stop before the Forgotten Castle—the Maple Leaf Forest—much more smoothly than expected.

Clusters of torches that warmed both Falcon and my heart swayed along the path in the middle of the Maple Leaf Forest—just as I had anticipated, there were indeed quite a few player teams leveling up at fixed spots here.

The glow of the magic torches extended all the way from the entrance of the Maple Leaf Forest toward the direction of the Forgotten Castle...

"It looks like your intuition was right."

Looking at the groups engaged in fierce battles along the path of the Maple Leaf Forest, Falcon grinned and laughed.

However, I did not relax. I had not forgotten that I was currently right outside Frostfall City, nor had I forgotten my own predicament. Following behind two other teams, while quickly pressing forward, I vigilantly and swiftly scanned the mercenary corps emblem on the chest of every player ahead.

I didn't need to worry about the Supreme Mercenary Corps, but the Dark Legion was something I had to guard against...

Having continuously caused five members of their corps to drop levels and drop equipment, they certainly wouldn't let the matter rest easily the way the Supreme Mercenary Corps might. Once I ran into people from the Dark Legion here, this trip to the Forgotten Castle would likely encounter complications.

Moreover, the Maple Leaf Forest was the closest mid-to-high-level leveling spot near Frostfall City, and the probability of running into mercenaries from the Dark Legion was quite high... I only remembered this after seeing the scale of the leveling teams here.

If I had known beforehand that the leveling squads here were so grand, I probably wouldn't have boldly and rashly urged Falcon to head to the Forgotten Castle with me—I would have rather found some small town and practiced my skills in peace.

But now, since I had managed to drag Falcon out with much effort, I couldn't just give up once we got here...

Amidst my vigilant scanning, I finally spotted members of the Dark Legion.

Several squads, totaling no fewer than forty people—the black suns on their chests appeared exceptionally glaring under the light of the magic torches, sending a jolt of alarm through my heart!

"Damn it..."

Cursing silently, I immediately shrank my body carefully, completely concealing myself behind Falcon, while my mind raced with a flurry of thoughts...

"Old Falcon! Dash! Charge through at maximum speed!"

"Understood!" Falcon replied quite calmly. Clearly, he too had noticed the dozens of Dark Legion members blocking the middle of the Maple Leaf Forest...

Suddenly, force erupted beneath his feet!