My Years in the Folklore World

Chapter 583 Who is lying?

"You chose to inquire about the information on the third floor of Yinshan Ancient Tower."

Jiang Xinghuo did not choose to leave immediately, but went to the cemetery on the other side to look for the key.

He planned to stay here for a while, hoping to find out more information, which would be of great benefit to his future exploration.

Especially in a strange place like the Yinshan Ancient Tower, there are dangers at every step, and if you are not careful, you will die without a burial place.

The gravekeeper has been sleeping here for so many years, he must know more than me. It would be a pity to miss this opportunity.

"You asked the gravekeeper how to get to the third floor of the Yinshan Ancient Tower."

"After hearing your question, the gravekeeper pointed to the fog at the end of the cemetery and asked what you saw there."

"You looked up in the direction the gravekeeper pointed, and saw a thick white fog over there. It seemed that something flashed in it, but when you looked closely, there was nothing there, only a vast expanse of white nothingness."

"You told the gravekeeper what you saw truthfully, and you also learned from the gravekeeper that the path leading to the third floor of the Yinshan Ancient Tower is hidden behind the diffuse fog."

"But only those who can see that road can pass through. Otherwise, even if you go through, you won't be able to enter the third floor. You can try again after your cultivation level has improved. Going through now is nothing but a waste of time."

Tsk, I didn't expect there was such a condition.

The Yinshan Ancient Tower has a total of nine floors. If that’s the case, if you want to enter the ninth floor, you’ll probably have to reach the level of a Taoist master, or even a higher level.

Jiang Xinghuo did not feel discouraged. After all, he had already gained enough. There would be no pity even if he was kicked out of the Yinshan Ancient Tower now.

However, this idea is just a good wish.

If he wanted to leave the Yinshan Ancient Tower, he had to go to the cemetery above the Taoist temple on the right and find the golden coffin that contained the key to the ancient tower.

"What will you choose next?"

"Will you continue to wander around in the cemetery, or leave it immediately and explore other places?"

Jiang Xinghuo thought about it, and in order to maximize his gains, he controlled the game character to walk around the cemetery twice.

I don’t know if it was those questions that consumed the gravekeeper’s favor.

During his subsequent exploration, he did not trigger any related interactions, as if the gravekeeper did not exist.

Finally, after paying the price of death, Jiang Xinghuo picked up an identity card of a ghost from the Mortar Hell from a collapsed grave.

"The Ghost Messenger of the Mortar Hell Token (Ordinary Item), a symbol of identity in the Mortar Hell, one of the ten hells in the underworld. With this token, one can successfully pass through the gates of the Mortar Hell."

Jiang Xinghuo calculated in his mind. The fragments of hell that he had obtained now included the Scorched Earth Hell, Blood Lake Hell, Blood Pool Hell, Volcano Hell, and Corpse Forest Hell. Together with the identity certificates of the Iron Tree Hell and Mortar Hell, he had obtained more than half of the hell fragments. As long as he found the remaining three hell fragments, he could start to create the Six Paths of Reincarnation Dharma Image.

However, the remaining fragments of hell are not so easy to find, so we still need to plan carefully.

"Where do you choose to go next?"

While Jiang Xinghuo was thinking about these things, he saw new text messages and interactive options pop up in the game.

But this time, Jiang Xinghuo did not choose to stay here any longer, but chose to return and leave the cemetery.

"Do you want to try to open the other doors again?"

Jiang Xinghuo returned to the corridor outside, looked at the options given by the game, and controlled the character to try again.

But the result was still no change. All the doors were closed to him, even the first two doors were no longer open to him.

Jiang Xinghuo had no choice but to control the game character to return along the same route and came back to the lobby on the first floor of the Yinshan Ancient Building.

"You chose to go to the stone door on the right and explore."

Jiang Xinghuo controlled the character to come to the White Bone Taoist Temple on the right, found the stairs leading to the second floor, and walked towards the map where the second floor was located.

"On the way, please wait..."

"You have arrived at the second floor of Yinshan Ancient Tower."

"At this moment, what appears in front of you is also a long corridor, with more than a dozen rooms evenly distributed on both sides, but most of the doors are locked and you can't enter them."

Jiang Xinghuo took out the Seven Treasures Key and tried it. The Seven Treasures Key, which was always effective in the world of the living, had lost its original effect in the underworld.

Afterwards, Jiang Xinghuo opened the skill panel again, wanting to use the ability of the Nine-Death Cicada to make the game character's body virtual to see if he could enter the dusty room.

But the result was still useless. Without finding the key, it would be wishful thinking to enter these rooms.

"Look carefully at the rooms on both sides of the corridor and notice that only the door at the end is not locked. Instead, it is half-open and a little light is leaking through it. It seems to be attracting you to come over. Do you want to go and take a look?"

Jiang Xinghuo knew clearly in his heart that, if nothing unexpected happened, behind that door should be the other cemetery that the gravekeeper had mentioned, which was also the hiding place of the key to the Yinshan Ancient Tower.

"You chose to enter that door."

Jiang Xinghuo controlled the character to walk over and chose to enter without any hesitation.

"You only feel the mist in front of you, the air is filled with the foul smell of the underworld, and countless shadowy collapsed tombs are scattered on the dry and cracked land. Do you want to explore here?"

Jiang Xinghuo found the dead jade given to him by the gravekeeper, put it in the mouth of the game character, and began to explore the cemetery.

The gravekeeper said very clearly that the key to leaving the Yinshan Ancient Tower was placed in a golden coffin.

Moreover, as long as he holds this piece of dead man's jade in his mouth, he can hide it from the gravekeeper of the cemetery.

Regardless of whether what the gravekeeper said was true or not, it is always better to be prepared than to be caught off guard.

Time slowly passed.

After half an hour.

There is finally new reply information in the game text.

"You found a golden coffin under a broken grave in the corner of the cemetery. It seems to be the coffin the gravekeeper mentioned. Do you want to open it immediately and take out the key?" Jiang Xinghuo was delighted and subconsciously wanted to choose yes, but just when he was about to press yes, he had a sudden thought and activated his talent of seeing through walls.

As the old saying goes, it’s better to be careful.

Anything could happen in this kind of haunted place, so the best thing to do is to be extra careful.

"You used your gifted vision of seeing through walls to observe the coffin that was piled with rubble, and discovered that there was indeed a key inside the coffin."

"But the key is firmly held in the palm of a corpse whose appearance cannot be seen clearly. If you open the coffin rashly, I am afraid something ominous will happen. Do you still want to continue opening the coffin?"

Jiang Xinghuo narrowed his eyes slightly and took out several talismans from his magic bag. They were all secret talismans passed down by Taoist Master Lushan. Some were for the soul, and some were for the body. He stuck them all on the coffin, not caring which one was useful and which one was not. In short, it would be right to use them all together.

"You pasted all the talismans on the coffin, then pried it open and snatched the key into your hand. However, at the moment you snatched the key, the corpse in the coffin suddenly opened its eyes, roared strangely, and tried to pounce on you, but the talismans on the coffin took effect at this time, instantly turning the corpse into ashes."

"You killed Xia Gengshi."

"You have obtained the key to the Yinshan Ancient Tower."

"Your actions triggered an unknown change. Thunder suddenly roared throughout the cemetery, and the surrounding fog gathered like a whirlpool on an inconspicuous grave."

"Then, a withered hand suddenly stretched out from under the grave, grabbed the soil on both sides of the grave and crawled out, stared at you with cloudy and dim eyes, and then waved at you, as if to let you pass."

"You have been found, gravekeeper."

"What are you going to choose now?"

"Will you choose to go over and see what the other party wants to do? Or will you take advantage of the fact that half of its body is still under the grave and get away from here in time?"

Jiang Xinghuo hesitated for a moment. According to the gravekeeper, he had been tortured over the long years and his character had changed drastically. He became extremely cruel and liked to torture and kill anyone who came here.

But judging from the other party's current actions, it seems that he is not as bad as the gravekeeper said.

Did he trick me into coming over and then kill me?

Jiang Xinghuo thought for a while and decided to go over and take a look. The worst that could happen was that he would die at the hands of the other party, but if he didn't die, it would definitely trigger unexpected plot clues.

"You chose to walk over and see what the other person wanted to do."

"You came to the side of the broken tomb, and then you noticed that the gravekeeper's lower body had been completely buried by the soil. Moreover, the soil seemed to have its own life, constantly rolling and surging, crushing the gravekeeper's lower body, making it impossible for it to escape from here forever."

"You have triggered the Tathagata's talent."

"You have discovered the Xirang grave soil."

"Xiran grave soil (rare material), Xiran is originally a spiritual thing in the world, which can continuously increase in value and reproduce, and contains extremely strong vitality, and can breed life without water. However, the Xiran soil you saw has been integrated with the bacteria and microorganisms of the underworld, resulting in various abnormalities. Once you fall into it, you will sink forever and cannot escape."

"This gravekeeper was trapped by the Xirang grave soil, and half of his body was worn away over the long years. If this continues, it won't be long before the remaining half of his body will also be worn away. By then, he will completely disappear from the world and become a fusion substance of the Xirang soil. This is a very vicious method, making people slowly wait for death in despair."

"The gravekeeper was able to hold on for so long because he relied on the Yin energy in the cemetery to fight against the soil beneath him. Otherwise, he would have disappeared long ago."

"You also learned something from this gravekeeper that was completely opposite to what the other gravekeeper said."

"According to what the gravekeeper said, the reason why it was trapped here by the Xirang Tomb was because of the gravekeeper. The gravekeeper was unwilling to be trapped here and wanted to get rid of Tubo's restraints. However, if he wanted to get rid of Tubo's contract, he had to find a replacement, or transfer his contract to another gravekeeper."

"But if this happens, the gravekeeper whose contract has been transferred will be trapped in the cemetery forever, unable to escape for eternity."

"So, the gravekeeper trapped it here with the Xiluo soil, hoping to use it to erase its consciousness, and then transfer his contract to it before it completely died."

"In this way, the gravekeeper can be freed from this, and the only thing he has to pay is his life."

"However, this gravekeeper is no ordinary person. He has been here for many years using various methods, but in the end, the gravekeeper did not get what he wanted. The two have been entangled until now."

"The gravekeeper hopes you can help it take revenge. As long as you stab the gravekeeper's chest with the dagger forged with Tu Bo's blood, it will be freed from the pain and will surely reward you handsomely."

"You have obtained the dagger forged with Tubo's blood."

After reading this description of the game text, Jiang Xinghuo felt a little confused. Who should he believe?

The gravekeeper of the cemetery on the left not only told him how to find the key, but also solved his other doubts.

Based on emotion and reason,

You should all believe that gravekeeper instead of this gravekeeper who looks miserable and whose words are not sure whether they are true or false.

Moreover, Jiang Xinghuo was more inclined towards the gravekeeper. Judging from the triggered plot, the other party did not ask him to kill the gravekeeper for him.

Instead, this gravekeeper asked me to kill the other party as soon as they met.

He doesn't look like a good person at all!!
But Jiang Xinghuo thought about it and decided to take the task.

Anyway, it is not a mandatory task. It is up to him whether to accept it or not, and it is up to him whether to do it or not. No one can force him.

In fact, the best option is to kill these two gravekeepers, and that would naturally put an end to all the problems.

But Jiang Xinghuo always felt that if he did that, he would most likely miss some plots and tasks.

This quest line has finally come to an end.

"You left the cemetery with what you found. Where did you choose to look next?"

"Would you choose to go back to the cemetery on the left and confront the gravekeeper about what you just heard?"

"Or should we choose not to help either side, open the door with the key, and leave Yinshan Ancient Tower directly?"

Now that the key is in hand, the option to leave the ancient building also appears during the interaction.

Next, it depends on what Jiang Xinghuo chooses...

(End of this chapter)