My Years in the Folklore World

Chapter 403 The Corpse of the Taoist Priest
Jiang Xinghuo equipped himself with a water ghost mask and controlled the game character to move in the lake, which soon triggered a new interactive plot.

"You found an abandoned wooden bridge ahead, but it has been submerged by the lake for the most part. It is shaky in the water and looks like it will collapse at any time. Do you want to step onto this wooden bridge?"

Seeing the description of the game text, Jiang Xinghuo thought for a moment and then chose "Yes".

Judging from the information currently given in the game text, Jiang Xinghuo also has a rough impression of the distribution of this Ghost Lake map.

Ghost Lake Village, lake, wooden bridge, Ghost Lake.

If nothing unexpected happens, this should be the structure.

If players want to explore this map, they must first find the whereabouts of Ghost Lake Village and crack the abnormal environment inside Ghost Lake Village, otherwise they will be trapped here and die repeatedly.

After deciphering the abnormal environment in the village, move deeper into the lake. As long as you don't drown in the lake, you will soon find the wooden bridge.

This is the end.

The Ghost Lake map is the one that is truly exposed to the players. The previous plots are just appetizers, or it can be said that it is a test of the game for the players.

If the player cannot find the reason for his repeated death, then the subsequent plot will naturally not be triggered.

"You stand on the edge of the shaky wooden bridge, looking at the vast lake in front of you, and suddenly you feel an inexplicable fear in your heart."

"No one knows where this lake leads to, or if it has an end. There is only a small wooden boat parked at the edge of a wooden bridge."

"I wonder what you are going to do next?"

"Will you choose to drive this boat and explore deeper into the Ghost Lake? Or will you choose to return to the village and pretend that you have never been here?"

"If you choose to explore this ghost lake, you will most likely get lost in the lake and never find a place to dock, so you'd better think twice."

Looking at the two options given by the game, Jiang Xinghuo narrowed his eyes, tapped the screen lightly with his fingertips, and chose to explore this ghost lake by boat.

He is an exile cursed by the secular world. Not only is he hated by those monsters and demons, but even the world of death rejects their arrival.

Therefore, Jiang Xinghuo didn't need to worry about those things. Just one word: be reckless!

In this way, even if there is some danger in the Ghost Lake, he can use the countless opportunities of death and resurrection to find out the real secret hidden in the Ghost Lake.

"You chose to explore Ghost Lake in this boat."

"You jumped onto the boat and untied the rope tied to the railing, but when you wanted to row the boat and control it, you found that a crucial thing was missing: the oars."

"You didn't find the oars, so you naturally can't control the boat. Perhaps this is destined to happen. Do you still insist on exploring the Ghost Lake?"

Jiang Xinghuo raised his eyebrows as he looked at the text. He found that the game text of the Ghost Lake map seemed reluctant to let him explore here.

However, the more the copywriting was like this, the more Jiang Xinghuo wanted to know, what secrets were hidden in Ghost Lake? !

"You chose to continue exploring Ghost Lake."

"But before that, you need to find a paddle. It's not complicated to make a paddle. You can go to the village and see if you can find some materials."

Jiang Xinghuo was too lazy to continue, so he simply went to the niche shop and bought a birch oar for 20 incense sticks.

"You have been given a birch paddle."

"Birchwood paddle (common item), a paddle carved from the heart of birch wood. It can be used not only for ferrying, but also as a weapon."

"Do you want to use this oar?"

Jiang Xinghuo chose yes.

"You paddle the birchwood boat in your hand, the water flows gently, the boat leaves the shore and drifts downstream, not knowing where it will eventually drift to."

"But at this moment, you suddenly feel something is wrong, and the resistance of the oars seems to be much smaller."

"You picked up the oar and looked over. The paddle board had disappeared without you noticing. Only half of the handle was left in your hand."

What is this?

Fake product?

It’s not strong enough!!
Jiang Xinghuo sucked his teeth and was about to go to the store to buy another one, but suddenly he remembered that there seemed to be a paddle in his magic bag?
Thinking of this, Jiang Xinghuo immediately opened the game backpack option, flipped down two pages, and found what he wanted.

"Rotten Paddle (Special Item), a rotten wooden paddle that the Great Dragon King picked up from the shore of Ghost Lake Ferry. Although it looks inconspicuous, it is extremely hard and difficult to destroy by external force. Its specific usage is still unclear."

This prop was also given by the Dragon King, but since he didn't know its purpose at the time, Jiang Xinghuo didn't take it too seriously and simply threw it into the magic bag to collect dust.

Now, it comes in handy.

Maybe this oar was originally from this small boat, but was picked up by the Dragon King at that time.

"Do you want to use this oar?"

Jiang Xinghuo clicked on the text to select use, and the new game text popped up.

"You row this rotten oar, ferrying the boat slowly toward the depths of the ghost lake."

"But you soon found yourself lost. When you looked back, the wooden bridge was gone. You were lost in the ghost lake."

"You are dead."

"You woke up next to the shrine in Ghost Lake Village."

Hmm? Jiang Xinghuo frowned slightly, and used the dog food to explore again, but he died on the ghost lake several times in a row.

The game text did not indicate that he was attacked, nor were there any signs or precursors of death. It was just a simple sentence: You are dead, and there was nothing else after that.

"This is weird..."

Jiang Xinghuo tried several times, but there was no change in the result. He no longer insisted on exploring Ghost Lake, but walked around the village, hoping to find some relevant clues.

really.

Huang Tian deserves a caring person.

After Jiang Xinghuo wandered aimlessly in the village for more than two hours, he finally triggered a new game interaction option.

"You explored and wandered around the village repeatedly, visiting every corner of the village, and finally found a prophecy carved on the beam of a long-abandoned and deserted ancestral hall."

"Prophecy: Humans and ghosts have different paths, with dusk as the boundary, and the souls of the living and the dead each follow their own path."

Looking at the prophecy on the screen, Jiang Xinghuo was thoughtful. He might have found a way to enter the Ghost Lake.

But whether it will work or not will have to wait until tonight to verify.

…………dusk.

sunset.

The golden-red sunset light shines through the window and falls into the living room of the shop.

Jiang Xinghuo saw off the last wave of customers, cleaned up the store, locked the door, and returned to the bedroom on the second floor.

"You woke up next to the shrine in Ghost Lake Village."

"At this time, the earthly world also ushered in the end of the day, and the night gradually fell around this desolate village."

"Do you want to continue exploring deeper into the village?"

Two options, yes or no.

Jiang Xinghuo did not hesitate at all and chose yes without hesitation, then controlled the character to walk into the village.

"You walked into Ghost Lake Village again, although it seemed that there was nothing unusual compared to the daytime."

"But you have keenly noticed that the houses and roads in the village have undergone some unexplained changes. They are no longer as desolate and dilapidated as they were during the day."

"Do you want to keep going?"

Unexplained changes occurred in Guihu Village, which was somewhat different from during the day.

Jiang Xinghuo pretended not to see the texts and continued to explore.

“You choose to keep going.”

"On the way..."

"You have come to the end of the village. The lake water that was deposited here has disappeared, replaced by a clean stone road. You can vaguely see an old, mottled wooden bridge standing in the darkness ahead."

"You walked up the wooden bridge and saw the inconspicuous black-awned boat. However, inside the awning, there was a fortune teller whose life or death was unknown. Do you want to go over and take a look?"

Here it comes, this should be the chance to break the deadlock!
Jiang Xinghuo pursed his lips, silently chose yes, and walked forward to check whether the man was alive or dead.

"You walked over to the fortune teller and carefully examined his injuries. You found a transparent hole in his chest, and you could see the remains of his shattered heart and flesh."

"If an ordinary person were to suffer this kind of injury, he would definitely be dead, but this fortune teller actually still has a glimmer of hope."

"Moreover, after you wiped the blood off his face, you discovered that this fortune teller was an old acquaintance. It was the fortune teller you met when you were exploring Longmen."

Seeing this, Jiang Xinghuoli quickly recalled that it was when he first arrived in Longmen that he happened to meet this fortune teller on the street and took a task from him.

However, what Jiang Xinghuo remembered most was the identity of this fortune teller and the words he left before he left.

…………

"The Tathagata's relics are treacherous, so don't trust them completely. Use them with caution! Use them with caution! Use them with caution!"

…………

At that time, this text flashed by, appeared for only a moment, and then disappeared without a trace, as if it had never appeared, as if it was worried about being discovered.

Jiang Xinghuo didn't understand what this sentence meant at that time, so he could only put the matter aside for the time being.

I never thought that I would meet you here again.

"You used the method of bringing dead wood back to life to awaken the vitality in the fortune teller's body. The heart that was shattered by external forces also began to slowly repair itself."

"Not long after, the fortune teller's injuries had recovered. He opened his eyes and saw that it was you who woke him up. He was quite surprised. This time, you saved his life again."

"You asked the other party why he was here, and the fortune teller did not hide anything from you and told you the cause and effect of the matter."

"It turned out that he met the long-reclusive Great Dragon King in the mining city in the northwest of the secular world, and learned about the Ghost Lake from him."

"It is said that there is a secret hidden deep in the Ghost Lake, and this secret seems to be related to the Land of Exile. So he came to the Ghost Lake to explore out of curiosity."

"But what he didn't expect was that instead of discovering the secret related to the exile area, he discovered a more shocking secret, which led to him being killed by others."

"If he had not learned the Nine Deaths Cicada from the Martial Lord in his early years, he would have been reduced to ashes long ago. But even so, he was seriously injured and dying. If you had not awakened the Nine Deaths Cicada's vitality, he would not have woken up so quickly."

After reading the description of the game text, Jiang Xinghuo became more and more interested in the identity of this fortune teller.

He is not only a good friend of the medical immortal Huangqi, but also has learned the "Nine Deaths Cicada" from the Lord of War, and has a close relationship with the Dragon King.

If you say that he is just an ordinary fortune teller, I am afraid no one will believe it.

But none of this matters. What matters is, what secret did the fortune teller discover that caused him to be beaten like this?

Jiang Xinghuo was thinking about this in his mind when he saw new game text pop up on the screen.

"You continue to ask the fortune teller what he found in the Ghost Lake."

"The fortune teller thought for a moment, and hesitated to speak, but finally told you the secret."

"He found the body of a dead Taoist master in the ancient city deep in the Ghost Lake!!"

“Although he didn’t know which Dao Master the corpse belonged to, he was very familiar with the aura on the other party. It was definitely the corpse of one of the thirteen ancient Dao Masters who had fallen.”

The corpse of the Taoist master! ?
Jiang Xinghuo was also confused when he saw this. The Master of Dao is the most powerful being in this secular world today. Apart from the Lord of the Secular World who had fallen long ago, is there any other being that can threaten the Master of Dao?

At this moment, Jiang Xinghuo remembered the words of the old man in the ancestral hall in Taiping Ancient Town, and couldn't help feeling a chill on his back.

Could it be that those old creatures from ancient times have awakened from their slumber after the demise of the last civilization?
Jiang Xinghuo continued to look down, and the new game text was also advancing.

"You have obtained the map of the Ghost Lake area."

"The fortune teller gave you the map of the deep waters of Ghost Lake. If anyone can find the secret of the deep waters of Ghost Lake, it must be the exile rejected by death."

"However, the space where the ghost lake is located is very special. The real ghost lake will only appear after dusk."

"The ghost lake in the daytime is just a blurred projection. Anyone who appears on the lake will have all the vitality in their body devoured."

Jiang Xinghuo then understood why he died. It turned out that it was not the real Ghost Lake, but just an illusory projection.

"The fortune teller also said that if you want to go to the depths of Ghost Lake, it would be best to find a way to anchor the route the boat has taken."

"This way, when you come back, you won't have to worry about getting lost in the ghost lake, and it can also save you a lot of unnecessary trouble."

"After giving instructions on all matters, the fortune teller left. He had to find a place to heal his wounds, and then find out which unlucky person died here."

(End of this chapter)