Chapter 125: Chapter 125: It Must Be Fish Head Soup! (Fourth Update)
Under the Phoenix Tree’s words undoubtedly gave everyone hope. Players didn’t want to be impaled by crossbow bolts; any alternative was preferable. If all else failed, they would just have to die once.
Standing up, Under the Phoenix Tree said in a deep voice, "When I was in college, the library had some books on ancient mechanisms. I’ve flipped through them, and there’s a mechanism named ’Heaven and Earth Overturned.’ It essentially means the world turned upside down. We haven’t found the exit because the exit is right in front of us!"
Huh??? Good grief. After such a speech, it was all just nonsense. The exit is right in front of us, but the surroundings are all walls of crossbow bolts. Where could there possibly be an exit?
Seeing the skeptical looks from the players, Under the Phoenix Tree quickly pointed to the ground and said, "The exit is beneath our feet. The floor can flip over. We just need to apply enough weight to make it turn over, and we’ll find the exit."
Flip over? Why didn’t you say so sooner!
The players all started looking intently at the ground beneath their feet. Xu Nian was also staring at the ground with a half-believing, half-doubting gaze. The ground did have a ring of cracks. It seemed to outline the entire floor, setting it apart from the surrounding area—more like a warning line than something inherently dangerous.
Under the Phoenix Tree pointed to where the Jianghu People stood, saying, "As long as you don’t get close to the center, it’s safe even on the edge. So, that’s where we should apply the weight."
Hearing this, the players all moved to stand on it. As the players continued to test the area, the crossbows did not fire. This seemed to confirm what Under the Phoenix Tree had said. The ground beneath them indeed began to tilt noticeably. Their side was descending while the other side kept rising.
If they hadn’t had enough people, they really might not have been able to get out of here. After all, one or two people certainly couldn’t have accomplished this.
"Make some room, don’t crowd me!"
"Sister Zhou, come closer to me, I’ll hold you."
"Get lost! Are you harboring ill intentions? Believe it or not, I’ll have someone beat you up offline!"
"Who the hell picked me up? Let me go first, you’re pressing against me!"
"..."
More and more players stood on the edge. Xu Nian held the Blood Demoness in his arms, his gaze sweeping continuously across the surrounding walls. At this moment, his greatest concern was the crossbows firing. With so many of them gathered together, if even one bolt shot out, the scene would be lethal.
A few moments later, the ground seemed unable to bear the weight any longer, and the tilt grew more pronounced.
CRACK, CRACK, CRACK—
The next moment, the ground flipped over instantly. All those standing on the edge were sent tumbling down by the flipping floor. Below this area was a long descending passage, and everyone felt the thrill of free fall at this moment. The passage wasn’t very deep, and below was a subterranean lake.
This scene was like dropping dumplings into water. Everyone fell one after the other into the lake, and the bone-chilling cold immediately enveloped them all.
Xu Nian glanced around and swam toward the nearest shore. The rest also swam toward the shores around them.
"Damn it, I’m freezing to death! This is just like winter swimming in the middle of winter."
"A perfectly good game, and they have to design so much stuff. Is this to show off their creativity or what?"
"It’s a good thing Feng Wu was here. Otherwise, wouldn’t we all have been trapped up there?"
"Who’s going to hug me? It’s too cold! Preferably a Sister!"
"..."
After the players reached the shore, they each began to shiver from the cold. Xu Nian circulated his Internal Energy to dispel the chill. Just then, he did a quick flip and leaped up, his movements agile and swift. And in the instant he flipped and leaped, a figure with a ferocious complexion and scales all over its body lunged out of the darkness. It narrowly missed Xu Nian, brushing past him before plunging directly into the icy lake.
SPLASH!
The sound was very distinct, putting everyone on high alert.
But then, the Jianghu People who had just climbed ashore hadn’t even reacted when, amidst screams, they were grabbed by those creatures and dragged into the icy lake. Even a few players were snatched and dragged in with them.
"Damn! What’s in here?"
"Everyone be careful! Something just dragged our people down."
"I saw it! It’s a monster with a fish head. It almost got me too!"
"A Fish-Headed Monster? What is that?"
"..."
The players, no longer concerned about the cold, began to scan their surroundings. They used Powerful Flashlights to continuously illuminate the area. When illuminated by the Powerful Flashlights, the Fish-Headed Monsters lurking in the dark would panic and leap back into the cold lake, as if they had encountered their nemesis.
It was another scene of dumplings being dropped into water.
Xu Nian stood to the side, watching these fish creatures that could come ashore, his expression grave.
This is getting more and more odd. What happened to the world of martial arts? Since when did your martial arts world have such creatures?
The Blood Demoness leaped to Xu Nian’s side and said in a deep voice, "What were those just now? Do you know?"
"How would I know about these things? It’s my first time seeing them!" Xu Nian said, his face dark. "Those things are probably similar to the wolf-like creatures from before. They’re most likely here to stop us from getting through."
Tomb Guardian Beasts, huh? That seemed to be the only explanation.
Suddenly, a loud shout came from not far away.
"We caught one! It’s a Big Black Fish, as big as a person!"
Several players pinned the creature to the ground, and many others quickly gathered around. Xu Nian exchanged a glance with the Blood Demoness, and they both leaped over. On the ground, they saw a Big Black Fish pinned down by several players. It had broad, spine-covered fins that resembled a pair of Wings.
"What the hell is this?"
"It looks like a fish, but I don’t know what species it is."
"Come on, this is a game! Studying the species of fish is a bit much, don’t you think?"
"I’m hungry, I’m hungry! Why don’t we just stew it?"
"..."
Someone suggested stewing the fish, and it was immediately met with a lot of agreement. They had never seen such a big fish; it had to taste good. Little Boss and the others even began to set up a pot and boil water. They had actually brought Firewood with them!
Watching their practiced movements, Xu Nian couldn’t help but feel the corner of his mouth twitch.
Was this preplanned?
Little Boss approached with a knife, eyeing the Black Fish. "We should knock it out first and also deal with the scales. It’s too big to fit in the pot. How about we stew a part of it first to taste?"
"Fish Head Soup! It has to be Fish Head Soup!" one player shouted. "This part is the tastiest! It’s a shame we don’t have any Coriander or Chopped Green Onions. Otherwise, the flavor could be even better."
"I brought Coriander!" Dung Beetle suddenly squeezed through the crowd, with the girl Guan Guan Jujiu following him. "I brought Coriander! You guys can go ahead and cook. I have plenty! Also, do you want some Stinky Tofu?"