Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
The dry corpse with the missing upper half had two extremely long legs, ash-gray withered fur, and skin and muscles that were clinging to its bones.
The structure of the corpse’s bones was quite similar to that of a human’s.
However, its ilium was extremely large. Its pubic bone and tailbone were protruding as well, and the femur was really long and strong and curved outward.
The surface area of the knee patella, the gap between the calf shin and the fibula, and the gap between the first metatarsal bone (commonly known as the big toe) and the second metatarsal bone were quite large.
With a brief glance, Li Ang almost completely memorized the corpse’s bone structure and internally compared it to that of modern and ancient species.
This was an unknown species.
Li Ang shook his head extremely subtly. He dared not take even one more glimpse. He instead lowered his head, afraid that someone might notice his actions. Pulling Wang Congshan’s hand, he merged into the leaving crowd of tourists.
Were these imposing firefighters and monks responsible for managing supernatural events?
He wondered why they were heaving that dry corpse…
A “firefighter” who stood on the square before the Hall of Great Strength looked at the dazed muscled monk, frowned, and asked, “Reverend Hui Bing, what’s the matter?”
The muscular, beautiful monk woke up from his stupor and replied with a gentle smile, “It’s nothing. I just became distracted.”
The firefighter nodded. “There’s no time to waste. Reverend Hui Bing, please lend a hand.”
“Okay.”
Hui Bing waved his hand, ushering people away. The firefighters hastily closed the gates to the square and used the loudspeaker to inform the people outside that the entire Jingan Temple would be sealed.
When everyone left, Hui Bing stood before the dry corpse, held his breath, and focused. His muscles seemed to pulsate like they had a life of their own, causing his gray robe to rip apart.
“Heave ho!”
Hui Bing let out a shout, the veins on his face and arms bulging. He clenched his jaw, extended his arms, and hugged the dry corpse lying on the floor.
The floor below his cloth-clad feet cracked and collapsed in a spiderweb fashion. As though he was carrying a 1,000-kilogram object, Hui Bing slowly lifted the dry corpse and crab-walked toward the center of the square before the Hall of Great Strength to where the newly-built Tripod of Fortune and Wisdom was.
The Tripod of Fortune and Wisdom was made of a copper-nickel alloy weighing more than 15 tons and had a height of 10.23 meters. Regal, sacred, and intricate, it stood on a platform carved from a one-piece 10,000-year-old bluestone.
Hui Bing carried the dry corpse over to the Tripod of Fortune and Wisdom and slowly placed it inside the structure.
The dry corpse came into contact with the tripod’s wall, emitting a low and elongated “dong” sound.
A blood-curdling shriek could be heard as gusts of dense black smoke were emitted from the holes on the tripod.
The heavy tripod had always been as sturdy as a mountain. However, following the insertion of the dry corpse, it started to vibrate and shake back and forth on the platform, almost toppling over several times.
The surrounding “firefighters” and monks stared at the tripod in trepidation, afraid that an accident would occur.
After a long moment, the tripod quietened down, the shriek tapered down, and no more black smoke was emitted.
Hui Bing swiftly climbed up the bluestone platform and peeked into the tripod. When he saw the ball of black residue inside, he let out a sigh of relief, regained his normal physique, turned to the “firefighters” and said, “Refinement is complete.”
The “firefighters” were relieved. They then picked up the walkie-talkie and informed their colleagues outside. “Mission complete. The gates can open again. Remember to tell the internet surveillance department to eliminate any information related to Jingan Temple.”
“Roger.” The other end agreed and then said, “Oh, yes. The Chinese Exotic Institute has released an analysis report according to which the dry corpse abandoned and buried deep under Qianhua Road belonged to an extinct demon beast known as a mandrill.”
——————
The plan to find Buddhist Dharma instruments at Jingan Temple was not successful that day. However, it was not a wasted trip since Li Ang had probably spotted the members of the state organization.
After parting ways with Wang Congshan, Li Ang returned to his living room and continued to collect information on supernatural gossip and make some small gadgets, thus passing his time as usual.
According to the system, the shortest gap between receiving two quests (regardless of whether they were routine, mandatory, or scripted) was 15 days, unless the player themselves activated the quest and thus shortened this duration.
The longest gap was 20 days.
In other words, upon completing a quest, a player would be forced to participate in a quest after 20 days no matter what.
15 days had passed since the completion of the Hidden Mountain Village quest. The system would give out quests at any time. In order to avoid any mishaps, Li Ang applied for a 5-day leave from school, choosing to stay home and wait for the quest.
As he was sanding the AK-47 Special Steel Ammunition, a system prompt was heard near his ear.
[Quest Type: Scripted Quest (Team)]
[Quest Name: Solitary Temple]
[Quest Objective: Survive 7 days in the Solitary Temple]
[Quest Time Limit: 7 days]
[Quest Reward 1: Additional 200 EXP]
[Quest Reward 2: 400 Game Credits]
[Quest Reward 3: Random Rare Grade Item*1]
[Quest Reward 4: Random Rare Grade Scroll*1]
[Teleporting in 5 minutes. Do you wish to teleport now?]
Li Ang could not help but gasp. This quest was also a Scripted Quest, just like the Hidden Mountain Village. However, the quest reward this time seemed too generous.
The combination of all the quest rewards was more than one time greater than what he’d received for the Hidden Mountain Village quest.
Something was not right. If the rewards offered reflected the quest’s difficulty, then what kind of monster would he have to face this time?
Li Ang felt bitter about it. If he had been currently in Africa, Mexico, or another unlawful place, he would have been able to obtain military-grade heavy weapons through unlawful means, unlike now, when he still had to settle for the Kalashnikov rifle.
More importantly, the Scripted Quest this time was team-based. He had yet to see other extraordinary people who possessed special abilities other than the muscled monk at Jingan Temple.
Who would he encounter on this quest?
An individual player like himself? An official member of a State Apparatus? The member of an external military organization? Or perhaps a modern cultivator who had inherited ancient arts?
Li Ang was full of questions. Nonetheless, he calmly packed all the equipment in his living room. As the countdown approached zero, he stood in the center of the living room while he waited for the teleportation to occur.