The Hidden Threat of Lishan Village

“Boss, I just spotted two players riding horses out of the city,” a player in the wilderness privately messaged their leader.

“Block them. Find out how they got those mounts,” the player’s boss commanded.

“But Boss, they’re too fast. We can’t keep up,” the player replied.

The boss bristled. “Don’t be so foolish. They’re leaving, so they’ll have to pass through the city gates again on their return. That’s when we’ll intercept them.”

The player’s eyes widened. “You’re right, Boss! I understand now.”

Such conversations weren’t isolated to just this one player. Mounts were still an unseen rarity, their acquisition methods unknown.

Thus, upon seeing Lin Shenyue and Ye Jue riding past on horseback, many with ill intentions secretly began to target them. The vastness of the city meant few actually witnessed them, yet despite this, at least two or three groups had already set their sights on the pair.

Lin Shenyue and Ye Jue remained oblivious to being watched. Ye Jue had never experienced the game’s early days; by the time he joined, mounts were commonplace.

Unaware of how precious mounts currently were, he paid no mind to the attention they might attract. The two galloped, skillfully dodging monsters, until they reached their destination.

This small mountain village, named Lishan Village, was not large, spanning only about five kilometers in circumference. However, an unsettling silence hung over the village, causing Lin Shenyue to frown.

Ye Jue, too, furrowed his brow. “Be careful. Something feels off.”

Lin Shenyue tightened her grip on her staff, her senses sharpening to the surroundings.

As the tank, Ye Jue naturally took the lead. Lin Shenyue followed precisely nine meters behind him—a position he had instructed her on. This distance optimally ensured the healer’s range, allowing the warrior to quickly provide support if attacked, and prevented missteps that could move her out of healing range, rendering her spells useless.

Following closely behind Ye Jue, Lin Shenyue suddenly heard him say, “Stop. Something’s here.” She focused her attention, faintly discerning some movement nearby.

Ye Jue’s brow furrowed at the sound. “Prepare for battle.” He immediately recognized the distinct ‘clack-clack’ as the sound of skeletons, indicating the village had been overrun by the undead.

Lin Shenyue watched Ye Jue meticulously scan their surroundings, noticing a sudden shift in his expression. She asked softly, “What is it?”

Ye Jue’s frown deepened as a particular formation came to mind. The Demon Realm had once deployed a devastating grand formation, composed of a core array and hundreds of smaller auxiliary arrays, which had inflicted immense casualties upon players.

However, this formation had a significant limitation: each auxiliary array required a live sacrifice. He had sensed the aura of a formation the moment he entered the village.

Initially, he thought he might have been mistaken, but it now seemed he was correct. This array was very likely one of the smaller auxiliary formations, which suggested there were probably no living inhabitants left in this village.

He relayed his suspicions to Lin Shenyue, who fell silent upon hearing them. She surveyed the deathly quiet atmosphere and ultimately agreed with Ye Jue. “It’s very possible. What should we do next?”

Ye Jue pondered for a moment. “Let’s first check if there are any survivors.” While the possibility was remote, he believed the key to their mission might lie with such a person, assuming one existed.

Lin Shenyue couldn’t think of a better plan, so she consented. Just then, the sounds grew closer, and several skeletal figures materialized before them.

[Skeleton Soldier (Normal): Level: 13. Health: 21000/21000. Attack: 290-310.]

After reviewing its stats, Lin Shenyue felt a surge of relief. These creatures possessed a Dark attribute, meaning her skills could inflict significant damage, unlike the more common monsters that would take them ages to defeat.

Even though the formation prevented Lin Shenyue from dealing double damage, her magical attack power was formidable. Coupled with the priest’s relatively high magic intensity bonus, her output was quite substantial.

Lin Shenyue’s Healing spell, cast every ten seconds, could chip away nearly 1000 health from a monster. Her Cure spell, while dealing around 700 damage instantly, had a longer cooldown and couldn’t match the sustained damage of Healing.

However, Ye Jue was comfortably tanking the monster damage, effortlessly sustaining himself with potions. This allowed Lin Shenyue to unleash all her skills directly onto the creatures.

The two easily dispatched these monsters, though their experience gain was minimal—only a few hundred points—as their experience acquisition window had passed. Neither cared, as experience wasn’t their primary objective.

After searching for about half an hour, Lin Shenyue suddenly paused, her gaze fixed on a nearby house.

“What is it?” Ye Jue inquired.

Lin Shenyue hesitated, then finally said, “I feel a different aura coming from that house.”

Ye Jue was somewhat puzzled, but he decided to investigate with a casual attitude.

Upon opening the door, Ye Jue was surprised to find traces of a struggle on the ground. He knew that when the formation was active, it would weaken human strength within its bounds by over 90%. Furthermore, those who set up the formation were far more powerful than the current skeletal guards.

This suggested there had once been a formidable individual in this village, making it quite possible that survivors remained here.

Lin Shenyue entered, carefully observing her surroundings. Her gaze drifted to the second floor, and she hesitantly pointed upward. “It should be up here.”

Ye Jue looked towards the second floor, drew his weapon, and cautiously ascended.