Chapter 5: Running Into the Ex
This part of the countryside still belonged to the outskirts of Dragonbone Town. Tall grass covered the area, with the occasional waist-high thicket, but there were very few trees.
In combat, the Bronze-Armored Taotie was enormous. The moment it appeared, there was no way anyone could miss it.
Once badly wounded, however, it shrank into a small beast, which made it much easier to hide.
There was an NPC among the crowd as well. His spirit form was a pigeon currently circling overhead, searching for traces of the beast and guiding the players in the right direction.
Some players had no intention of relying on an NPC and were attempting to scout with their own mental energy instead.
In this game world, NPC spirit forms and player mental energy were fundamentally similar. The main difference was that NPC spirit forms took on various animal shapes, whereas a player’s mental energy couldn’t manifest physically when released.
Lufiel surveyed the area and prepared to search farther out.
He had no interest in the demonic beast itself.
He had only come here to make sure Dong Li wasn’t somewhere inside a dangerous zone.
The gray pigeon circled overhead, tiny specks of light spilling from its eyes.
Suddenly, its head snapped to one side.
“Over there!” The NPC raised a hand. “Spirit wielders, please assist us in driving back this demonic beast that has been terrorizing the area—”
The NPC delivered his usual scripted line.
Everyone nearby immediately converged in the direction he indicated, including quite a few solo players who hadn’t been part of the original group.
By now, everyone knew the demonic beast was badly wounded and its combat power had plummeted.
Even lower-level players wanted to try their luck. If they could somehow land the final blow in the chaos, they might walk away with the reward.
Yet no one seemed to notice something odd.
The gray pigeon had already been searching nearby without moving much at all.
So how had it suddenly found the beast…?
Hidden in the grass, the little black creature stared fixedly at the crowd.
A vengeful fire burned in its crimson eyes.
Lufiel seemed to sense something.
His gaze shifted instinctively to the side.
[Bronze-Armored Taotie] — [Domain]
In an instant, an enormous ancient formation appeared beneath the players’ feet, covered in black-and-crimson sigils.
A familiar roar followed.
The giant Taotie seemed to materialize out of thin air, burning ash swirling beneath its feet.
“Holy shit!”
“Wasn’t it seriously injured?! How is it back to full strength?!”
“Spread out! Move!”
—
Meanwhile, Dong Li was strolling leisurely along the road.
Rongrong was tucked inside his hood, occasionally poking its head out to peek around.
Dong Li had already eaten two wild fruits. Whenever he spotted another nice-looking one along the way, he picked a few more.
He took one bite.
His face immediately scrunched up.
He spat it out and tossed every fruit he’d picked into the grass.
There weren’t any restaurants around here either…
Not that Dong Li had any money.
He kept walking.
Before long, he noticed a crowd gathered farther ahead, accompanied by quite a bit of commotion.
Dong Li stopped and peered curiously in that direction.
So many people…
Unfortunately, that was also the only road leading toward Dragonbone Town.
Dong Li pulled his coat tighter and continued forward.
Once he got closer, he realized they all seemed to be players.
Some wore black from head to toe and even covered their faces.
Others dressed more normally, wearing bright, colorful clothes that didn’t look all that different from the local NPCs.
The one obvious difference was that none of them had spirit forms following them.
More players gradually noticed the disturbance and came over to watch.
Dong Li was strikingly good-looking, and his golden hair drew attention. Several people glanced his way, but no one looked twice.
Dong Li didn’t have an NPC spirit form beside him either, which was one of the ways players identified NPCs.
At first glance, everyone simply assumed he was another player.
That made Dong Li much bolder.
He wanted to see what was going on too.
Rongrong, still wary, ducked its head deeper into the hood. Its fluffy tail spilled over the edge like fur trim sewn into Dong Li’s clothes.
Boom! Boom!
A series of unknown explosions went off.
Dust and smoke spread through the area, blocking part of the view.
Standing at the very edge of the crowd, Dong Li craned his neck to see.
Someone seemed to be fighting.
Whatever was happening, it was definitely intense.
“I told you this game was trash! Another bug!”
“It hasn’t actually been that bad… although something did happen in the Fuling Region yesterday, and they still haven’t fixed it…”
At the familiar place name, Dong Li immediately perked up his ears.
Someone else had apparently just arrived and asked, “What happened?”
“That Taotie was badly injured a minute ago, then suddenly recovered.” The player beside him still looked shaken. “Good thing I didn’t go any closer, or I would’ve gotten pulled into its Domain too.”
The Bronze-Armored Taotie’s Domain trapped everyone inside a fixed area, then devoured them one by one.
Armor shards also flew constantly through the Domain, attacking the trapped players and wearing down their combat strength.
A demonic beast of this level was already powerful and difficult to deal with.
Not long ago, a large group of players had finally managed to gang up on it and beat it into a weakened state. They had been seconds away from claiming their rewards.
Who could have guessed that the next time it appeared, it would be back in full combat form?
It was like reaching the end of an exam, looking down at your paper…
and discovering every answer you’d written had vanished.
As Dong Li listened, he gradually pieced together what had happened.
He thought of the players he’d seen earlier.
And the little beast he’d found.
Could it be…?
Dong Li kept looking.
At last, he caught sight of the Bronze-Armored Taotie inside the Domain.
[Regional Boss · Bronze-Armored Taotie]
[Region: Dragonbone]
It was an enormous pitch-black beast covered head to toe in armor plates.
Its appearance was fierce and terrifying; red flames burned beneath its feet, and its pupils glowed crimson.
It was about the same size as Yuanbao had been back in the cavern.
The beast lowered its head with a roar, opened its jaws—and swallowed two players whole.
Dong Li’s eyes widened.
A tiny bit of smug satisfaction crept into his heart.
This regional boss had probably been just like Yuanbao before, constantly getting killed by players.
Well, now they couldn’t beat it anymore, could they…?
Besides, players were players.
Even if they got eaten, they probably wouldn’t really die.
Dong Li inexplicably thought of Lufiel again.
He seemed to be a player too.
Back then…
A commotion suddenly rippled through the crowd.
A streak of golden light tinged with blood-red flashed like a blade through the murky air inside the Domain.
It struck the Taotie.
The beast roared and staggered half a step backward.
“Oh! He’s here too…”
“Who?”
“Lufiel! Isn’t that his Crimson-Gold Sword?”
The people in front of Dong Li were talking loudly enough for him to hear every word.
He froze.
Who…?
The very person who had just crossed his mind had suddenly appeared.
Dong Li stood there blankly for a long moment.
Then he pressed his lips together.
Lufiel…
Back then, Lufiel had disappeared without a word and hadn’t shown up again for so long.
Yet on Dong Li’s very first day outside the Fuling Region…he had run straight into him.
So the person who had vanished without a trace had actually been this close all along.
Whether Lufiel was a player, an NPC, or something else entirely…he was still here.
Still in this world.
And yet he had never once come looking for Dong Li.
From outside, the Taotie’s Domain looked as though it were shrouded in black mist.
Dong Li stared ahead and finally spotted a figure beside the golden light.
“With him there, they should be able to deal with it even if it’s bugged, right?”
“What if the Taotie just won’t die anymore? Once it finishes eating everyone inside the Domain, it’ll head straight for Dragonbone Town.”
“No way… When was the last time God Lu even lost a level?”
Losing a level meant dying once.
And apparently Lufiel never used level-protection items.
Dong Li didn’t understand a lot of the game terminology.
But from the way these players talked about Lufiel, he sounded incredibly strong.
And famous.
Sure enough, under the relentless attacks, the giant Taotie kept retreating, tossing its head in frustration.
The figures inside the Domain gradually became clearer.
Lufiel wore black robes.
His massive red-and-gold sword hovered at his side.
He was tall, and a metal mask concealed the side of his face.
Even so, his presence hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
It was as though the simple act of standing there was enough to draw everyone’s attention.
Dong Li couldn’t look away.
His emotions were complicated.
After all this time…he was still just as handsome.
So…
What exactly were you supposed to do when you unexpectedly ran into your ex?
Dong Li had only ever dated once.
And he’d only ever been dumped once.
He had no experience with this.
After silently calculating how long they’d been broken up, Dong Li lowered his eyes.
Then turned around and quietly walked away.
—
Not long afterward, the Bronze-Armored Taotie was completely overpowered.
Once again, it was beaten into a weakened state.
Its enormous body rapidly shrank until it became a little black beast.
The small creature glared viciously at Lufiel, its eyes burning with resentment.
But there was nothing it could do.
It turned and fled into the grass.
The Domain vanished along with it.
Lufiel put away his heavy sword and frowned as he surveyed the surroundings.
The Taotie had appeared without warning and dragged him into its Domain, preventing him from using his sword aura to search for traces of Dong Li.
He couldn’t leave the Domain.
His only option had been to defeat the beast.
By now, almost everyone who had participated in the attack had been eaten.
The Taotie had been seriously injured for the second time.
Whether it would display another abnormality was impossible to say.
But Lufiel had no interest in chasing after it.
After a moment’s hesitation, he headed in another direction.
In a corner of the grass, the little black beast remained hidden.
It watched Lufiel walk away, then darted its crimson eyes around.
That one from before…had given it something tasty.
Now it was hungry again.
And it felt awful.
So hungry…
The little creature licked at its wounds.
Then it raised its head and sniffed the air.
Catching an extremely faint scent, it began following the trail in search of its source.
—
By then, Dong Li had already reached the entrance to Dragonbone Town.
From a distance, he could see people streaming in and out of the town.
His steps immediately quickened.
Then an NPC stopped him.
The NPC was one of Dragonbone Town’s patrol guards, with a hawk spirit perched on his shoulder.
In a perfectly serious tone, he said, “Please show your entry pass.”
Entry pass?
Dong Li discreetly watched the other people going inside.
Some of them did indeed pull out small plaques before entering.
Others didn’t seem to need one at all.
Then he looked back at the patrol guard.
Floating above his head were the words:
[Level 10 NPC · Hawk Spirit]
Level 10…
That sounded pretty strong.
There were too many people nearby for Dong Li to simply force his way through.
So he lowered his head, turned around, and left.
Not long afterward, he circled around alone to a section of wall at the edge of town.
The wall wasn’t particularly high.
And since hardly anyone passed through this part of the outskirts, Dong Li simply climbed over it in secret.
Rongrong landed first.
The little fox looked sharply left and right, then trotted ahead to scout the way.
Dong Li followed it from the alley beside the wall and emerged onto the streets of Dragonbone Town.
The sight of the bustling crowd made his eyes light up.
He looked everywhere as he walked.
Still, he hadn’t forgotten the reason he’d originally decided to come here.
Following the location he remembered from the map, Dong Li arrived in front of an herbal medicine shop.
He carefully checked the shop’s name.
Then he stepped inside.
Sure enough, there was a familiar figure within.
Dong Li’s face brightened.
“Xiaobai!”
Shu Bai was sorting medicinal herbs.
He looked up.
The moment he saw Dong Li, his entire body went still.
He remained frozen for several seconds before slowly asking, “Dong Li… why are you here?”
Dong Li hurried over and lowered his voice.
“I… I’m not working at the alchemy hut anymore, so I came to hang out with you!”
Shu Bai still looked dazed, as though he didn’t quite understand.
“Hang out… with me?”
His reaction drained quite a bit of Dong Li’s excitement.
And after unexpectedly running into the ex-boyfriend he hadn’t seen in so long, Dong Li’s mood had already taken a hit.
Now he felt even more lost.
The same two lines of text still floated above Shu Bai’s head, marking him as an NPC.
Dong Li had always known that whenever he tried talking to Shu Bai, Shu Bai responded slowly.
Sometimes his answers didn’t even match the question.
But even though plenty of people came and went through the Fuling Region, hardly any of them ever talked to Dong Li.
Shu Bai was basically his only friend.
“Are you busy?” Dong Li asked hesitantly, lowering his head. “Then I won’t bother you…”
He paused.
“But… do you have anything to eat? Could you maybe give me some?”
He had fled the Fuling Region overnight.
Then he’d set out for Dragonbone Town that morning.
All he’d eaten since then were two wild fruits he’d picked by the roadside.
