The River of Sorrow was a hundred zhang wide, and ordinary players would find no way to cross it—no bridge, no boat, and no one dared to wade through it to certain death. Fortunately, neither Gu Chao Yan nor Wang Shenmu were ordinary. Wang Shenmu had told him that within the River of Sorrow lived a BOSS named “The Lord of Regret.” He was once the ruler of Tianzang City, during whose reign the city was prosperous and renowned. However, in pursuit of immortality, he constructed the Tianzang Platform, aiming for it to reach the heavens, so he could climb up to find legendary immortals. Realizing that he could never complete the platform in his lifetime, he turned to dark arts. It was said that sacrificing a million lives could grant one the devil’s gift of eternal life.
Ignoring his wife’s pleas, he used dark arts to kill all the city’s inhabitants in one night, their blood forming the River of Sorrow outside the city. He was ultimately tricked by the devil, becoming a half-human, half-demon creature. His wife committed suicide on the unfinished Tianzang Platform, and he, filled with regret, plunged into the river, enduring daily torment. Over time, as the city eroded into ruins, he went mad in the River of Sorrow, both regretting his past and slaughtering every passing traveler. Only by defeating him could everything find release.
Wang Shenmu said, “Originally, we’d have to sacrifice a player to jump into the river to lure out the BOSS.” As Gu Chao Yan was feeling uneasy, Wang Shenmu added, “Luckily, I am a summoner.”
On one side was the bleak gray of ruins, on the other, the vivid red of the blood river. A youth stood by the shore, the scene taking on a bizarrely beautiful yet grand color. The youth held a slender bamboo flute, and through the Bodhi Flower Dye, he summoned a low-level demon god that circled above the river, causing it to churn. “The Lord of Regret” emerged from the water, covered in blood, like a demon from hell, his eyes glowing red. He immediately crushed the small scout creature on the river’s surface and, upon seeing Wang Shenmu on the shore, charged at him.
Wang Shenmu was prepared, having already summoned twelve high-level demon gods to form a shield around him. The remaining forty were directed to engage the Lord in combat. The Lord had three billion HP; Wang Shenmu checked his watch, estimating that it would take about half an hour to wear him down. Forty against one was the limit to avoid friendly fire; they had to form a circle around the BOSS. However, the current firepower was already many times that of an ordinary player. Half an hour would pass quickly; if others were to fight this Lord, it would take at least half a day. Wang Shenmu calculated that once the Lord was dead, he could head to the Sky Bridge with the Eternal Palace. In that trap-laden place, his summoner role would again prove advantageous. When the Lord’s HP dropped to 20%, he started using his death throes skill, causing stone pillars to rain down from the sky, each potentially lethal. However, for Wang Shenmu and Yi Chao Huan Yan, dodging was still quite easy. In Wang Shenmu’s estimation, after dodging these pillars, the Lord would be nearly dead.
However, what happened next was beyond Wang Shenmu’s expectations, and it could even be said to have changed his life’s trajectory.
When the lord’s health was down to 10%, Sky Burial City began to shake with an earthquake. Wang Shenmu was stunned! This was the idea he had proposed back then, later canceled due to a lack of art staff and tight schedules. How could they actually implement it in the end? Countless skeletons emerged from every ruin and corner of Sky Burial City, raising a cloud of dust and causing the earth to tremble. In Wang Shenmu’s original concept, these were the bones of the city’s inhabitants who had perished in one night, now summoned by the lord to make a last stand. The sight of the massive pile of bones stunned all the players watching the live stream, including Gu Chaoyan. What the hell is this? Wang Shenmu hadn’t mentioned this to him at all! Did he really keep this trick up his sleeve to kill him? Dying in such a chaotic battle would make people blame his lack of skill. Well done, Wang Shenmu, you really got me! Gu Chaoyan laughed to himself. He couldn’t kill Wang Shenmu, who was surrounded by the demonic group, but he could slip away. Why would he be foolish enough to die amidst a pile of skeletons?
The teleportation point was right across the river, and Wang Shenmu had said the mist over the river was poisonous, probably to deceive him. The most dangerous place is often the safest, that’s his experience from years on the road. He was going to leave—now! Wang Shenmu was busy summoning more monsters to destroy the skeletons when he suddenly saw Yichao Huanyan jump into the river. Wang Shenmu was shocked! Without time to command the skeletons, he quickly ran a few steps and jumped into the river himself, hoping to stop Yichao before he reached the toxic mist from the Palace of Eternal Life. As he jumped into the river, the skeleton army also jumped in large numbers to follow. Gu Chaoyan saw Wang Shenmu chase after him. In a hurry to escape before him, with a “Blessing of Wind” speed boost, the ranger’s running speed increased, and he was soon in the middle of the hundred-zhang-wide river. How could a summoner without speed skills catch up?
Wang Shenmu, in a panic, launched a skill, deliberately missing, just grazing Gu Chaoyan’s forehead, trying to make him stop. Gu Chaoyan stopped, turned around, smirked, and took out his longbow, nocked an arrow, aimed at Wang Shenmu’s chest, and shot. Gu Chaoyan thought Wang Shenmu would dodge. This shot was fired in haste, the simplest and most convenient basic attack, and from such a distance, even the least skilled could easily dodge, let alone Wang Shenmu, the Lord of the East. But Wang Shenmu didn’t move; he just took the arrow straight to his chest. Gu Chaoyan was momentarily dumbfounded. “Don’t go any further; there’s toxic mist ahead. You’ll die if you get poisoned.” Wang Shenmu finally managed to type out a message while catching his breath. But just as he was halfway through typing, a skeleton leader from the chasing group kicked him in the back! The kick didn’t reduce his health significantly, but he was kicked into the very patch of purple-red toxic mist he had warned about. “No…” Gu Chaoyan watched helplessly as the white-haired youth, who would rather be kicked than stop typing, fell into the deadly mist he had warned about.
The youth’s expression was still beautiful and seductive, smiling, as his health bar above his name rapidly depleted, his life slipping away, unstoppable by anyone, even by gods. Gu Chaoyan watched in disbelief as the beautiful scene of the youth wilted away, “Idiot!!!!” He wanted to roar out, to rush over and punch that man’s face, but he could only clench his teeth in silence. What rendered Gu Chaoyan speechless even more was that in his final moments, Wang Shenmu removed the flute from his body. That flute, symbolizing the Lord of the East, gently fell at the feet of the female ranger. Along with it fell Wang Shenmu’s life, and his last words typed on the screen. [Team] “Wang Shenmu”: Take it, Changshengdian, you won’t lose, you’ll make it to the end. And with that, Wang Shenmu was out of the game. He turned off the game and silently pushed open the door beside him. As he left, the remaining players were still battling fiercely, seemingly unaware of his departure. Wang Shenmu went up to the rooftop, looking at the evening glow in the sky, and started smoking. Gu Chaoyan felt an emotion welling up inside him, called sadness.