That plot… let’s not talk about it.” Qin Chuan closed his eyes as if to escape from a memory he didn’t want to recall, “I doubt you’d like it.” He said, “Look, your husband is about to set off, let’s get moving. If something happens later, just follow my lead.” As the afternoon passed, Cang Hai and Liuli, leading the expedition, had crossed several snow mountains, arriving at some desolate, remote place. The large group finally stopped in front of a flat snowy plain, with some peculiar stones standing in the middle, tall and piercing the sky. “Ten stones,” Qin Chuan murmured. “Yes, two short ones, eight long ones,” Su Yao analyzed, “Qin, come here and look from this angle, don’t you think they look like something…” “Ten fingers,” Qin Chuan said almost without thinking. “Ten fingers seemingly struggling in their last moments to grasp something,” Su Yao said. At that moment, she felt as if she had returned to her childhood, training with her teammates. Back then, they had to train for a long time to achieve perfect coordination, but now, Qin Chuan seemed like an old teammate she had fought alongside numerous times, understanding each other with just a glance, knowing what the other was thinking or wanted.
Their thoughts were eerily similar, even their perspectives on things were alike, and Qin Chuan even had a hint of a mentor’s vibe, guiding her in which direction to think. Yet, she had only met him yesterday. “Su Yao, did you learn Divine Guard?” Qin Chuan suddenly asked. “No, I came in too much of a hurry, all my skill points went into Holy Light Ball for monster-slaying,” Su Yao replied, understanding Qin Chuan’s intention, “I’ll drink the foot-washing water now.” At level fifteen, a priest could learn their first major skill, “Divine Guard,” a purely defensive move, not for attacking monsters. Its only advantage was that when used for defense, it could reflect up to 50% of the enemy’s damage back at them. However, it was notoriously tricky to execute.
One wrong key press could affect the success rate, and in failure, it might even reflect damage back onto oneself, leading most priests to abandon it.
The “Feet-Washing Water,” as veteran players affectionately call the “Reset Potion,” allows one to reset their skill points. Su Yao drank it without hesitation, washing away her original skills and focusing all points into “Divine Protection.” She understood Qin Chuan’s intention; she was only level 15, and in a fight, this was the only skill that could save her or even turn the tables. She left the rest to Qin Chuan, whose level 50 assassin could beat her. At that moment, a white pillar of light suddenly shot up from the center of the map where everyone was, with a scroll faintly floating in the middle of the light. It was triggered! The quest for the divine artifact! Su Yao’s heart almost leaped out of her chest. Divine artifacts, legendary divine artifacts that drove people mad; how many years had it been since she was this unsettled?
It turned out that the plot of this northern divine artifact required twenty players under level 60 to stand in specific positions at this particular location, and then the treasure hunter would input those chaotic text commands to trigger the plot. “Memory of the Snow Maiden!” If sound could travel, Han Yingying and Ji Canghai would now be screaming and rushing towards the center of the light pillar, each trying to get the scroll before the other!
Chapter 21: Ancient
The radiant light in the center of the pillar burned the hearts of everyone present. No one in this grand expedition expected the King of Xia to pull such a stunt for a “beautiful promotional video.” While most were still stunned, Ji Canghai and Han Yingying were already rushing towards the very center of the light pillar with abandon. “In the depths of the Millennial Snow Mountain, there is the tomb of the Snow Maiden. Underneath her hands that reached out when she was buried alive, there are twenty places where she shed her blood, forever existing there, like an otherworldly curse. The sunlight can no longer penetrate the gloom of the earth, and millennia of snow cover the unseen past…” According to the text and map descriptions provided by Han Yingying, they finally found this place.
They used the twenty people of the expedition as sacrifices to activate the secret of a thousand years—yes, all who became sacrifices would be endlessly frozen here, no matter how good your gear was, how much money you spent on this game, or how long it took you to reach your current level. Sorry, you were just a pawn, a sacrifice. If you want to hate someone, hate the one who used you, hate your own stupidity…
The scroll was thrown high into the air by the force of the light pillar. It fell very slowly, with Ji Canghai’s Silver Moon Warrior and Han Yingying’s Holy Priest pushing each other below, each wishing they could fly up to grab it. Unfortunately, they couldn’t fly; in this critical moment, there wasn’t even time for mutual insults. All talk of marriage, love, and affection was nonsense.
Liuli leaped, using her pick-up skill to grab the scroll—Ji Canghai’s eyes reddened, and he raised his Silver Moon Greatsword high, swinging at his lover whom he had sworn to grow old with just the day before—he didn’t believe his high-attack warrior class couldn’t kill a thin-blooded priest like Han Yingying, who had no real skill—oh, while overestimating his own intelligence, he also underestimated Han Yingying’s cunning—just as his sword was about to hit his wife’s head, Liuli vanished with a “whoosh.” Ji Canghai was dumbfounded! Was this an outright log-off? A literal “shit escape”? How did he not anticipate this move? He checked his friend list in disbelief; she was still online, meaning she had teleported back to a city! Damn it!!!! With so many cities in this world, how could he know which return scroll she used, or where she was hiding now? Ji Canghai stood on the vast snowfield, howling in despair. He, the mighty King of Xia, had been defeated by a woman who had cuckolded him. How could he ever face his citizens again? He absolutely couldn’t stand the sight of Liuli standing before him, proudly holding the divine artifact.
Ji Canghai stared blankly at the white screen, struck dumb as if by lightning, his mind a blank. He did not even notice that the scroll, which had just been taken, had reappeared in the snowy light pillar behind him. In the blink of an eye, as the scroll reappeared, “Go!” Su Yao roared, her claws hitting the direction and jump keys. Xiao Mary and Santu Chuan, who had just eaten snow frost candy, stood still, now shot out like arrows from a bow. “You take it!” Qin Chuan growled, his voice gentle yet authoritative. Su Yao, seeing Qin Chuan intentionally slow down to take the hit for her, grabbed the scroll, opened her inventory, double-clicked to use—[System: Are you sure you want to read “Memory of the Snow Maiden”?]—Confirm—Boom! A burst of bright light descended from the sky, illuminating the two of them, and a massive rift in time and space opened up. Santu Chuan and Xiao Mary disappeared from the map in an instant. Qin Chuan and Su Yao worked together, their actions taking less than a second, pushing the limits of what humans could achieve.