GAMMT - Chapter 63
Chapter 63: Gnomes
The poisonous fog had not yet dissipated when the parents' hearts sank, for they heard a great commotion coming from the direction of the prison.
It sounded like a series of loud, booming impacts.
The screen's view pulled back.
They saw the prison's main gate trembling violently.
"Have other candidates come out?"
"Considering the time, it should be the candidates from cells 005 and 006 undergoing their assessment. There must be a powerhouse among them to attack so fiercely."
"It's very strong, but it could also be…"
Bang!
The entire gate was smashed to pieces, and behind it, a tall, burly shadow emerged.
It was the Coffin Carrier. They were out.
And there were three of them.
"How can this be! If the Coffin Carriers are out, doesn't that mean the candidates inside…"
The scene shifted. Inside the prison, it was dead silent, but there were strange gasping sounds. A closer look revealed that the gate of cell 006 was tightly locked. The candidates from cell 007 had chosen to lock their own gate, wrapping it with chains to keep the Coffin Carriers out. However, their cell was a bit crowded, with more than fifty people, as many had fled from other cells.
As for those who hadn't escaped, there was only one outcome: either death or forfeiture.
By a rough count, at least eighty candidates from these three cells had forfeited, a staggering elimination rate.
In any case, those who forfeited were gone. The quick and clever ones were hiding in their cells. The rest… were lying outside.
The poisonous fog began to thin, and the three terrifying Coffin Carriers had already walked over to the group of prone bodies. A large crowd of candidates, unconscious from the poison, including formidable ones like Lin Chengxiu, were completely oblivious.
The parents feared the Coffin Carriers would simply beat these poisoned candidates to death. Fortunately, the Coffin Carriers merely bent down, scooped up the bodies, opened their coffin lids, and tossed the people inside.
It was just like collecting scrap.
As the bodies were being collected, someone suddenly felt that something was amiss.
"Wait, it seems like someone is missing."
"Who?"
"Xie Keli. Wasn't he there when the poison fog appeared? How come he's gone now?"
"That's right, where is he? It looks like he wasn't picked up. Did he escape?"
That couldn't be right. The Big Goose plus the poison fog—who could possibly escape?
"I'd believe it if you told me the Big Goose escaped, but he definitely couldn't have."
As everyone discussed this, they carefully scanned the remaining "corpses" for any sign of Xie Keli. Meanwhile, the Coffin Carriers diligently continued their work, eventually reaching the edge of a pile of overgrown weeds.
Inside the invisible coffin, after a series of maneuvers and before the Coffin Carriers arrived, Fu Chuan had grabbed the big white goose and hidden inside. Then, just before it could peck anyone, she quickly pinned it down with her body, one hand covering its beak and neck.
The goose: "!!!"
Mmph… mmph…
"Be quiet. I saw you got poisoned too. It's obvious you're just part of this dungeon's setup and not on the same side as Little Skinner, otherwise you'd be immune to the poison. That being the case, we're on the same side now. If you keep making noise and break this coffin, you'll either be poisoned to death or get captured and plucked by that Little Skinner!"
The goose, realizing Fu Chuan had hit the nail on the head, immediately fell silent, though its beady green eyes glared at her furiously.
Fu Chuan ignored it and continued to hold the goose down while listening to the commotion outside.
The fog was too thick, and those scarecrows were still around. She wasn't confident she could escape, so her only option was to hide. She didn't know if the scarecrows would come over.
If they did, would they see through the coffin's disguise?
Logically, they shouldn't. She was using the invisibility from her gene talent's pupil technique.
This coffin was truly useful; no wonder the dungeon rewarded it to her for being the first to kill a Coffin Carrier.
After a while, Fu Chuan didn't see Little Skinner, but she did see the Coffin Carriers. She held the goose even tighter, controlling her breathing.
She wasn't afraid of these Coffin Carriers, but she was afraid that fighting them would attract Little Skinner.
Soon, the Coffin Carriers had filled their coffins. They were so full that no more could fit. So, right in front of the parents, they began to cram the bodies into the remaining space with the same method used for making Sichuan-style pickled vegetables…
One father saw his own daughter's face get squished out of shape. His mind exploded, and he furiously crushed the soda can in his hand.
This damned Education Ministry!
My little fairy, it's daddy's fault for not giving you stronger genes, for letting you be bullied like this, sob sob sob…
Finally, the bodies were all packed in. The three Coffin Carriers hoisted their coffins and headed left.
Clearly, they hadn't discovered Fu Chuan and her coffin.
A while after they left, the poison fog completely dissipated, the storm passed, and the scarecrows returned to the ground.
The screen split into several parts: one followed the three Coffin Carriers, one remained at the prison, another scattered to other areas, and one stayed focused on the pile of weeds.
Zhou Linlang crossed her legs, contacting her subordinates to handle affairs while watching the screen.
Soon, the coffin became visible. The lid suddenly opened, and Xie Keli jumped out, holding the big goose.
"Let me be clear. No matter what, I just saved you. You have your duties, and I have my exam. We have no grudge, and I can't beat you anyway. But whether you're a person or a goose, you have to have some moral integrity. So, I'll let you go, and you don't peck me."
Fu Chuan was afraid of this goose. Not only did its pecking trigger Dragon Armor Stripping, but more importantly, it would cost her points!
Fu Chuan made sure to secure an agreement before she was willing to let it go.
The goose probably understood the situation. After a moment of contemplation, it nodded.
"Let's swear on our next generation. If either of us breaks the promise, we'll never be able to become a father."
"Deal."
The human and the goose swore a solemn oath.
Fu Chuan released it… The goose jumped to the ground, then suddenly recoiled and lunged at her…
Swish!
Fu Chuan dodged swiftly, but three afterimages attacked, pecking her on both arms and her abdomen.
Splatter!
Bleeding from three holes, Fu Chuan scrambled back into the coffin and slammed the lid shut.
The goose, now unusually furious, hopped onto the coffin lid and pecked at it angrily.
Fu Chuan was furious too. "You broke your promise!"
But the goose suddenly spoke, "I'm not afraid. I can't be a father anyway. You idiot, I'm a mother goose! You didn't expect that, did you! Heh!"
Fu Chuan: "…"
"Why did you have to do that? I said we have no grudge."
"Who says? You pinned me down in there for so long! I'm not pure anymore! Sob sob sob!! You dead duck!"
"?"
Fu Chuan fell silent. The waiting area fell silent as well.
Zhang Ruo pressed her temples, feeling her head buzz.
Fu Chuan finally found her voice. "I don't believe you can guard me forever. According to the setup, you should be attracted to other high-point candidates soon, right? Like those from other cities."
It was frustrating. After being pecked three times, her score had dropped by half, yet she was still in first place.
But if other cities could produce a tank like that, it was impossible they didn't have other powerful candidates.
Sure enough, not long after Fu Chuan spoke, the goose stomped its webbed feet irritably and said angrily, "You just wait! Don't let me run into you again!"
The goose jumped off the coffin and waddled away quickly.
Inside the coffin, Fu Chuan quickly treated her wounds with potions from her backpack.
It really hurt. This goose's combat power was off the charts, but it seemed to be afraid of poison… was its poison resistance very low?
Fu Chuan was lost in thought. Once she confirmed the goose was gone, she observed her surroundings and noticed that the scarecrows seemed to have wilted after releasing the poison fog. Upon inspection, they appeared to be in a dormant state.
"Looks like they're useless after firing off their big move."
Fu Chuan then killed a scarecrow and found its point value had dropped to 1.
They were completely spent.
Fu Chuan pondered this but still followed the Coffin Carriers' footprints on the ground, heading deeper into the core of the mass grave while killing some intact scarecrows along the way.
Passing by the previous spot, she noticed that the tank was gone.
Did he escape?
Speaking of which, their group had been almost completely wiped out by Little Skinner, with most of the top-ranked candidates among them. So, who had lured the goose away?
"It must be candidates from other cities."
Fearing they might be nearby, Fu Chuan left immediately, continuing to cautiously farm scarecrows.
Her skills and techniques mostly required immense mental and elemental power as support, needing time to prepare. While she wasn't afraid of a sustained fight, her biggest problem was her weak defense. Even if she had impressive offensive capabilities, if she was defeated in the first round, it would all be for nothing.
Therefore, first, she couldn't face powerful candidates head-on right now, unless she was confident of a one-hit kill, like how she had instantly eliminated that tank. Second, she couldn't take on a large group of opponents.
Most importantly, Little Skinner was quite formidable, and he was only an intermediate BOSS.
She had to lie low for now.
This time, Fu Chuan didn't dare to cause such a big commotion. She only fought scarecrows in a small area, with restraint and caution.
But as she followed the trail, rain began to fall from the sky. Braving the downpour, Fu Chuan saw a village connected to the dim mass grave.
There were about a hundred houses, neither large nor small.
The surrounding farmland was abandoned and unproductive, giving it a particularly strange look.
The village appeared dilapidated, shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere. At this time of day, there should have been smoke from cooking fires, but it was quickly obscured by the rain.
Fu Chuan checked and found that the Coffin Carriers' footprints bypassed the village, leading to the entrance of a withered forest to the south. With her sharp perception, she spotted a large, solitary building there.
It was huge, and the gate to the courtyard was marked with the word: Mortuary.
There were many coffins in the yard; the Coffin Carriers had probably gone inside.
Fu Chuan thought for a moment. As the rain grew heavier, she touched her fingertips together and sniffed them under her nose along with the rainwater.
There was a faint fishy smell, and the rain was icy cold, its scent very similar to the poison fog.
This was clearly a large-scale negative buff within the dungeon. She had to find a building to take shelter from the rain—either the village or the mortuary.
"Strange, I'm still in first place? Has no one else's score shot up? Are the people from Jingyang City this useless?"
Fu Chuan was skeptical.
Knock, knock, knock.
The wooden door of a house on the south side of the village was knocked upon. Smoke had been rising from its chimney, but now it was gone. Upon hearing the knock, the voices inside suddenly stopped, as if in fear.
Then, a polite, low voice came from outside.
"Is anyone home? I'm just passing through to take shelter from the rain. A place to rest is all I need. I won't be a bother."
Someone slowly moved to the window and peered through the condensation at the person outside.
A young teenager, looking completely harmless.
After a moment, the door opened. Fu Chuan looked up to see an old man with a plain face. Inside, an old woman sat by the corner of the stove.
The couple looked very nervous and wary, but they still opened the door out of kindness.
The door was quickly shut.
Upon entering, Fu Chuan saw the couple's shoes on the shoe rack, their soles worn flat. There were also some shoes belonging to young people, but they hadn't been worn in a long time, yet they were still kept here.
"Did you not encounter those terrible coffin-carrying monsters when you came?" the old man asked seriously.
Fu Chuan nodded. "I saw them. They captured my classmates, so I followed them here, but then they disappeared. The rain was too heavy, so I had to come here for shelter. Are you afraid of them too?"
The old man and woman exchanged glances, and after a long pause, the man sighed. "How could we not be afraid? Those monsters have taken so many lives in our village. All our children and grandchildren are gone."
Hearing this, the old woman's eyes turned red. She lowered her head, turned away, and quietly wiped her tears.
Fu Chuan's gaze swept over to a memorial photo of a young person on a shelf. The photo was already somewhat blurry. She paused, then looked away and immediately apologized.
So those shoes belonged to their children, which they couldn't bear to throw away.
"It's alright, it has nothing to do with you. Child, you're still young. After resting here for the night, you should leave this terrible place tomorrow. You can't save those people."
The old woman advised her patiently. The fire from the stove cast a warm glow on her face, filling it with kindness.
Fu Chuan: "Is that mortuary their main base? Is the leader Little Skinner?"
"Yes, many people have been taken there, and no one who goes in ever comes back. Little Skinner is terrifying."
"Can't he and the Coffin Carriers enter the village? Have you always been hiding here?" Fu Chuan asked.
"It seems so. For so many years, they've never come in. We secretly guess that there must be some treasure hidden in the village that deters him. Unfortunately, we've searched for so many years but haven't found it. Alas, we can only hide."
The couple was terrified at the mention of Little Skinner and refused to speak of him further. The rice in the pot was ready. There wasn't much, but they still specially gave a bowl to Fu Chuan.
Seeing their kind expressions, Fu Chuan declined. "Could I just have a glass of water? I'm a little thirsty."
"Yes, yes, of course. You were caught in the rain. The rain outside is quite severe; we don't dare go out on rainy days. We'll get sick, a very serious illness. You should take a hot bath quickly and then go to sleep."
After Fu Chuan drank the water, the couple let her go upstairs to the guest room to bathe.
The room was a bit old but reasonably clean. Fu Chuan waited for them to go downstairs to eat before changing into clean clothes… After she was done, she finally felt comfortable warming herself by the fireplace. She sat in an old leather chair, watching the fire in the hearth, and soon felt drowsy.
The effect of the rain was setting in, something more severe than a cold or fever.
Fu Chuan lay on the bed, covered by the quilt, her hand on her forehead as if in great discomfort… gradually drifting into a deep sleep.
Outside, the storm raged on, and the world was plunged into darkness. It was unclear if night had fallen, but it was indeed a dark world, with only a few houses in the village still showing a faint glimmer of light.
However, the lights on the upper floor of the house Fu Chuan was in had already been extinguished. The scene shifted, and everyone saw a ghostly black shadow that seemed to have just snuck in below the window at the top of the stairs. It lurked quietly, stealthily staring at the faintly lit area on the first floor.
This scene was a bit terrifying, and everyone's hearts were in their throats.
Had Little Skinner come in?
Or the Gnome Merchant?
Downstairs, the couple finished their chores and began to extinguish the lights on the first floor. Holding an oil lamp, they slowly walked towards their room on the first floor.
Just as they entered the room and closed the door, as the old man was about to pull open the wardrobe door… a black shadow pressed against the back of the door suddenly appeared behind them.
Ah!! Someone was so scared they trembled and threw their popcorn. The couple in the scene was also terrified. Before they could react, two slashes swiftly cut across their throats.
As the couple fell to the ground, their eyes wide open, did they, in their final moments of terror, discover the true face of this horrifying killer?
In the darkness, the falling oil lamp was caught by a hand.
The killer's hand. The flickering flame of the lamp slowly illuminated… a face that everyone recognized.
Xie Keli.
There was still blood on her face.
What the hell!?
While everyone was shocked, some realized—was there something wrong with the couple?
"Of course there was something wrong. The memorial photo was so dirty, the glass hadn't been wiped in years, covered in soot, yet they acted like doting parents. And on the shoe rack, their shoes were heavily worn on the soles but the surface wasn't very tattered, meaning they hadn't been worn for many years. For the soles to be that worn is not normal."
"Also, they appeared to be eating plain rice with no meat, but the area around the stove was covered in grease and meat stains, some of which were still fresh, and there were no other leftover ingredients to be seen."
"They don't farm or raise livestock, but they have a food source, and they followed Xie Keli's lead by saying they couldn't leave and could only hide in the village."
Shen Yunyi found this dungeon rather interesting. It tested the candidates' comprehensive abilities in every aspect. It was clearly designed to weed out the pampered, unqualified Arcanists.
At that moment, the bodies of the couple on the screen twitched and began to swell crazily, transforming into two ugly, tall gnomes.
Fu Chuan pulled open the wardrobe and saw what was inside.
Everyone else also saw the Coffin Carriers' clothes and gear.
Whoa!
An endless stream of candidates required an endless stream of Coffin Carriers. The so-called surviving villagers in this village were probably all backup Coffin Carriers.
No wonder Xie Keli hadn't chosen to wait for death but had struck first, finishing them off before they could assassinate him.
He left no one alive.
Next, Fu Chuan began to search the house. The house and its history were real, and the family of four had also truly existed. Unfortunately, they had likely been killed by the gnomes or Little Skinner long ago, perhaps even turned into food.
After searching for half an hour, Fu Chuan found a diary in the younger daughter's room.
"That day, the sky was so dark. It rained, and the lively village grew quiet. Everyone went home to bring in the laundry and cook. I was leaning on the windowsill and saw a very fragile, pale boy with a wound on his face, holding a little green gnome, come to the village entrance. He stood there, not coming in, as if he was hesitating, or politely asking for our permission. He looked so pitiful. The villagers welcomed him in and gave him good food."
"The village is isolated from the world, and we rarely have guests, so everyone was very curious. Dad took me over, and I peeked through the gaps in the crowd to watch him eat. He ate so elegantly, much better than the rough boys in the village. Then he seemed to think the food was delicious and smiled as he praised the plump auntie next door, saying, 'Auntie, your cooking is so good. The skin on this pork jelly is peeled so well.'"
"Although his compliment was strange, I still thought he was the most polite person."
"Then, he gave the plump auntie a pair of beautiful red high heels. The auntie was overjoyed and twirled around on the spot. Everyone was saying how beautiful they were, and they all liked him."
"Those shoes are so pretty, I want a pair too…"
"But the next day, the plump auntie was dead. Her skin was gone, and the bloody high heels were on her chubby feet."
"On the same night, the village chief also died."
"…"
The diary ended there, because she died before she could finish writing.
There were bloodstains on both sides of the pages.
The diary had been stuffed under the bed.
She could almost imagine this girl being murdered by the bed, secretly stuffing the diary underneath it before she died.
Fu Chuan sat on the edge of the bed, flipping through the thin diary, lost in thought, until she extracted the information within: this village did indeed have something that could restrain Little Skinner.
"He killed the village chief because the chief is usually the one who knows and controls the village's secrets. This village has been hidden from the world for many years and could avoid evil invasions, so it naturally might have a way to protect itself. Perhaps it's some kind of formation, or some powerful method. But that day, the villagers themselves welcomed an outsider, possibly ignoring this protection, allowing Little Skinner to sneak into the village. And on his first day in the village, he decisively killed the village chief, eliminating this method and allowing himself to successfully stay in the village."
Considering that Little Skinner had been loitering outside, unable to enter, and had to be invited in by the villagers… she felt it was a protective formation passed down through generations.
So, had the secret held by the village chief already been destroyed or taken by Little Skinner, or was it still in his residence?
Fu Chuan closed the diary, knowing she had to pay a visit to the village chief's house.
Where was the village chief's house?
Fu Chuan looked directly at the calendar on the wall.
Calendars were usually given out by the village chief every year. It was a gesture of goodwill and emotional connection from the village leader to the villagers, typically distributed before the New Year. She flipped through it and saw the village chief's name and address recorded at the bottom.
If you had a problem, you went to the village chief, so of course his address would be noted.
Fu Chuan observed the situation outside, then quietly turned invisible and went to the simple hut on the north side of the village.
As she left, the screen shifted, panning to the outside of the village. Someone had arrived.
The small house had been abandoned for many years and looked very poor; even the gnomes couldn't be bothered to occupy it. After entering, Fu Chuan found that things had been turned upside down. Even the tables and chairs were smashed to pieces, and cobwebs were everywhere.
It had clearly been thoroughly ransacked back then.
"It seems they were also looking for the item that controls the village's formation."
"I wonder if they found it."
Since it had been searched so thoroughly, it must have been found, right?
Fu Chuan was a little worried, but then she remembered this was a dungeon, an artificial one created by the Education Ministry. There must be a glimmer of hope left.
She searched patiently, quietly releasing her spider silk, which slipped into the cracks beneath the floorboards, searching inch by inch, but found nothing.
Strange.
Fu Chuan fell into deep thought: If I were the first village chief who invented this method, I would have designed it to be convenient and quick to activate in case of an enemy invasion, but also not easily found—it had to be hidden and unexpected.
So, what would be a suitable hiding place?
First, she had to determine where the village chief had died.
Fu Chuan used her spider silk to climb, and soon found the location of old, residual bloodstains on the floor.
The bloodstains were very old, but Fu Chuan used her spider silk to trace and form them, quickly creating a human-shaped imprint on the floor.
The village chief was murdered right here.
Lying face down.
He was facing one direction, and the bloody handprint faintly revealed the direction of his fingers. His index finger was pointing forward.
Fu Chuan suddenly looked towards a specific spot.
It was a load-bearing pillar inside the house.
If this pillar were destroyed, the entire house would collapse.
So, when those gnomes were searching chaotically, they didn't smash this pillar.
And this location… if the village chief had noticed something wrong outside the village and rushed out, he would have passed by it one hundred percent of the time, able to grab something to activate the formation with a simple reach.
Unfortunately, he was killed before he had the chance.
Fu Chuan stood in front of the pillar. Instead of touching it, she extravagantly activated her pupil technique, which consumed a large amount of mental power… The first scan revealed nothing; it seemed to be just wood inside.
But that wasn't right. The wood was too stable. Fu Chuan continued to expend her mental power, deepening her investigation.
Suddenly, she saw a faint blue light.
Hidden in the core of the wood was a layer of sealing.
On the seal were ancient characters and a totem.
The totem looked like a hand gesture…
Fu Chuan didn't recognize the characters for now, but she knew it was a type of arcane script that would be taught in the academies. She couldn't read it, but she knew what it meant—because she'd seen a pig run before.
"It's a guide seal, telling me to make this gesture."
Fu Chuan placed her palm against the location of the totem, her hand gesture exactly matching the one on the seal's totem, while channeling her mental and elemental power…
Buzz. In an instant, the blue light from within drilled into Fu Chuan's hand.
It was a shield-shaped key with an icy-blue metallic texture.
"Hint: You have obtained the most important key item of this dungeon: Village Protection Formation Key. Do you wish to bind it? Binding requires 10,000 mental power points, but it can be dropped upon death."
Of course I'll bind it.
Fu Chuan decisively chose to bind it. Just as she finished, she suddenly looked outside—damn it, there was a commotion nearby.
Someone had come!
And there were quite a few of them. There were sounds of fighting; they were probably clashing with those villager gnomes.
There was no noise when they arrived, which meant they had just gotten here. To have seen through the gnomes' trick so soon after arriving, they were clearly no pushovers. And judging by the frequency of the fighting, there was more than one person.
If they knew she was here, they would definitely assume she had taken the key. Wouldn't they come after her?
Of course they would.
She had just expended a large amount of mental power… she probably couldn't win.
Fu Chuan's mind raced. She immediately took something out of her backpack, had her spider silk carry it to a corner of the house, then quietly left the building and went to the old house next door, mimicking an ant.
From this angle, she could see the distant slaughter perfectly.
More than twenty gnomes were being utterly crushed—and their opponents were just a small team of four.
They were quite strong, at least stronger than Lan Chenshuang and his group.
Fu Chuan watched quietly, noticing that they all specialized in fire arcane arts.
The levels of their fire-type arcane skills were very high, which was because the region they came from was prone to producing such arcane arts.
"Fire-type? Could it be Gao Yang City? They're the crouching dragon and phoenix chick rivals of Jingyang City."
Unfortunately, the talents from their region were clearly more ferocious than Jingyang's.
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