Sour Apple stared at the expression on White Fairytale's face. It went from madness, to joy, to excitement, to disappointment, and finally to despair. In just a short minute, the expression on White Fairytale's face was a testament to her love for Fleeting Time.
"Is it Fleeting Time who's looking for you?"
White Fairytale remained silent. Tears rolled down her cheeks like pearls from a necklace. She was beautiful to begin with, and her skin was as white as snow. Her face was as beautiful as a piece of white jade, and her tears were dripping down her cheeks like pearls from a broken necklace. It was a sight to behold.
Sour Apple did not ask any further questions. She had already seen Fleeting Time's message in the World Channel. She was curious as to why Fleeting Time would contact White Fairytale at a time like this. It was only after reading the message in the World Channel that she realized that Fleeting Time had a motive. One of White Fairytale's admirers was also a Goblin Engineer. He had crafted a few Goblin Repairers for Genesis, but White Fairytale did not even spare him a glance.
Fleeting Time must have known that the Goblin Repairer was acquainted with White Fairytale, which was why he contacted White Fairytale when he could not find any other Goblin Engineer. But for some reason, Fleeting Time did not get an answer from White Fairytale in the end, and White Fairytale's expression was one of sadness.
"Fairytale, it's time to go to bed. It's getting late." Sour Apple let out a sigh. Love is the most complicated and illogical thing in the world.
"Why is he doing this to me?" White Fairytale's heart was riddled with holes, and she could not even feel the pain anymore. However, Fleeting Time's words left her with no choice but to face the truth. White Fairytale could not help but feel resentful, and she finally burst into tears, "Even if he doesn't appreciate what I've done to him, there's no need for him to do this to me! Isn't it better for me to have some hope in my heart? Why must he hurt me again and again? "
Sour Apple was at a loss for words.
What is love? It's something that people will pledge their lives to.
Time passed by quickly. In the blink of an eye, an unknown amount of time had passed.
Ye Ci sat deep in the palace with a bonfire in front of her. Meat was being roasted over the bonfire while the Fourth Prince was squatting beside her, wagging his head and wagging his tail as he stared at the meat on the bonfire, drooling. Ye Ci raised her head and looked up. The originally huge dome of the palace was now so small that it was almost invisible.
They did not know how long they had been walking in the spiral palace. The only source of light was the torches on the walls.
Although Ye Ci had never done an Epic Quest in her previous life, it wasn't difficult for her to find out from the discussions on the forums that each Epic Quest tested a player's character differently. Some tested the player's skill, some tested their cooperation, and some tested their intelligence. This quest was obviously testing the player's patience.
Ye Ci took in a deep breath and patted the Fourth Prince's head. She then tossed a piece of roasted meat to the pet. The Fourth Prince immediately let out a happy whine and began feasting on the meat. Ye Ci was envious of the Fourth Prince as she watched the Fourth Prince devour the meat happily. Being a Hunter's pet was not bad at all.
The sound of steady footsteps could be heard coming from the darkness, slowly approaching Ye Ci. She did not even turn her head, nor did she move from her spot. She spoke softly, "It's been a long trip. Let's eat something."
Fleeting Time walked up to Ye Ci and sat down opposite her, while Little Five stood in the middle of a mess not far away. Fleeting Time picked up a piece of roasted meat and tossed it to Little Five before stuffing a piece of meat into his mouth, "Yup. I've lost count of how many floors there are. It took me a long time just to climb the stairs."
Ye Ci did not bother to express her gratitude. She merely smiled at Fleeting Time. She and Fleeting Time had developed a rapport over the past few days. Despite being players from opposing continents, they were able to work together seamlessly in this dungeon. "It's been a long time since I last saw the sun, be it in or out of the game."
Fleeting Time raised an eyebrow, "A Hunter is a class that lives in the shadows of the forest. I didn't know that you like the sun."
"A Hunter is a Hunter, and I'm me. I like the sun." Ye Ci tore off a piece of meat and stuffed it into her mouth. She was the person who hated the sun the most in her past life. But after reincarnating, she gradually fell in love with the sun. The sun was a symbol of passion. It was just too beautiful. She suddenly asked Fleeting Time, "Do you like the sun?"
"Yes." Fleeting Time nodded. His answer was quick, but he did not seem to be trying to please Ye Ci.
"Why?"
"I'm afraid of the cold. That's why I like the sun." Fleeting Time smiled.
That did not sound like something a man would say. Be it Bai Mo or Tan Polang, Ye Ci's companions, none of them were afraid of the cold. Ye Ci was surprised by Fleeting Time's answer, "You're afraid of the cold?"
"Yup, I'm afraid of the cold." Fleeting Time narrowed his eyes. His answer was sincere, but there seemed to be more hidden behind his calm voice. Ye Ci wanted to ask about it, but she decided against it in the end. She smiled, "It's rare for me to meet a man who's afraid of the cold."
"Of course there will be all kinds of strange things." Fleeting Time did not bother to explain himself, and he simply ignored the question. He raised his head, wanting to see where the huge transparent dome was, but he didn't see anything. This made the environment around him even more slippery and unbearable, just like how he used to live.
Ye Ci knew that Fleeting Time must have a past that no one knew about. And it was a past that belonged to him alone. He would not share it with anyone else. Everyone had something like that in their heart, and she was one of them.
Thus, she smiled and skipped the topic. "How long have we been in the dungeon?"
"Four days and seventeen hours." Fleeting Time knew better than Ye Ci when it came to the passage of time, "The bottom of the dungeon is still nowhere to be seen. We don't know how long it'll take. Will it take up your time?"
Ye Ci was stunned for a moment. She lowered her eyes and thought about it. She had planned to return to the Eastern Continent within seven days, mainly because she wanted to head to the Lesser Demon Sanctuary earlier. That way, she would be able to prepare for the discovery of the Mithril ore vein. But she did not know if she would be able to do so.
"I'm not sure." Ye Ci smiled bitterly, "I'd be God if I could control the flow of time according to my own will."
Fleeting Time chuckled at Ye Ci's words. She was right. Humans had very little control over their own time, and it was often the case that their plans could not keep up with the pace of change. "Don't think too much about it. Let's keep moving forward. We might reach the bottom soon."
Ye Ci stood up and looked at the darkness below. She did not have much hope for the bottom, but Fleeting Time was right. It would not be too bad if they kept moving forward.
The two sat down for a while to replenish their energy before they continued their journey. After so many days, they had lost count of how many floors of the palace they had passed, how many undead creatures and orcs they had killed, and how many robots they had controlled. However, all of this seemed to be endless. It made them feel both hopeless and hopeful at the same time.
Now, the two of them could bring 30 robots with them. In fact, they could bring more. However, the middle of the palace was empty, so the space that each floor could accommodate was limited. If they brought too many robots with them, it would be very inconvenient.
They went down another floor, and it was even darker than before.
However, this floor seemed to be different from all the previous floors. This floor was not as narrow as the previous floors. It was more spacious, and there were more torches in the room. Places without torches were dark, but places with torches were still very bright.
"Wait a moment." Eagle Eye was greatly limited in such a dark place. This was where Ye Ci's Flash Grenade came in handy. She nodded at Fleeting Time and fired a Flash Grenade in front of her. The dim light from the grenade allowed Fleeting Time and Ye Ci to see the path ahead.
It was a fork in the road. There were two dark paths that seemed to lead to endless despair.
"Let's take the left path." Fleeting Time decided on a random path after taking a look at both paths.
Ye Ci followed Fleeting Time's lead and walked down the left path. This floor was very quiet. It was so quiet that it felt a little strange. There was not even a single monster. In the darkness, only the ear-piercing sound of rusty bearings and the sound of steel hitting the ground could be heard. The slightest sound would be very obvious in such a quiet environment, let alone the sound of so many robots moving at the same time. It was as if a cacophony of noises reverberated in the quiet palace.
The duo stood at the intersection on the left. Just as they were about to move forward, they were suddenly bounced back, just like when they first entered the dungeon.
Ye Ci immediately took out the Goblin Compass to check on the situation, but the Goblin Compass only told her that De 'frei was still quite a distance away from them. There were no other notifications.
"We can't get in?" Ye Ci furrowed her brows, "Is it the right path?"
The two of them hurriedly walked to the right path to take a look, but what they didn't expect was the same result. They were bounced out of the path by something.
"There must be a trap here." Fleeting Time and Ye Ci said at the same time. After that, the two of them looked at each other and smiled. "Where do you think the mechanism is?"
Fleeting Time gave it some thought, "I think it's somewhere in between the two paths." His guess was the same as Ye Ci's. Ye Ci shrugged, "Then what are we waiting for?"
There was a rather tall statue in the middle of the two paths. It was at least taller than Ye Ci and Fleeting Time. It was a statue of a Goblin. It was dressed in luxurious clothes, and there were fragments of gems on the statue. It seemed that the statue was very beautiful in the distant past.
Fleeting Time lit up a torch, and bent down to read the words written on the statue.
Ye Ci could not understand what Fleeting Time was mumbling. She bent down to the statue as well, and looked at the words that she could not understand, "What are you chanting?"
The light from the torch could only illuminate a small area in the darkness. Ye Ci had to get very close to Fleeting Time in order to read the words on the statue.
However, both of them were so focused on the inscription that they didn't notice that they were only a short distance away from each other in the darkness.
Fleeting Time turned his head around when he heard Ye Ci's question, and was stunned when he realized that he had bumped into something. Ye Ci felt something soft brushing past her cheeks, and she immediately realized what it was. She took a step back as if she had been electrocuted. She tried her best to remain calm as she stared at Fleeting Time.
Fleeting Time was stunned as well. He stared at Gongzi You, who was right in front of him. Under the illumination of the fire, her cold expression was replaced by a gentle look. The light from the fire blurred the sharpness of her face, but added a touch of gentleness to her appearance. Her long silver hair was tied behind her head, but there were many fine strands of hair on her forehead and cheeks. Her amber eyes flashed with a turbulent light. She was flustered, but strong.
It was a look that Fleeting Time had never seen before on Gongzi You's face. But it was happening right now.
Sometimes, time, place, and environment would obscure a person's rationality and make them act strangely. They would do things that they should not do.
Ye Ci stared at Fleeting Time, and her heart trembled uncontrollably. She felt that she should say something, or do something, but it was as if she had lost all her strength. She could only remain in her original position. She could do nothing but stare at Fleeting Time in silence.
She stared at Fleeting Time as she stared at Fleeting Time. She stared at the tenderness in his eyes, the tenderness in his lips, and the warmth in his eyes.
Fleeting Time was afraid that he would scare Gongzi You away, and that he would be further away from her. However, under such circumstances, he seemed to be unable to control his own heart, nor was he able to control his own actions. He just wanted to be closer to her, closer and closer.
Fleeting Time's warm breath caressed Ye Ci's face, causing her to feel flustered and helpless. This was something that had never happened before. She had always been able to grasp the situation and come up with a plan. But why did she lose that ability at this moment?
She could only feel Fleeting Time getting closer and closer to her. His breath was getting hotter and hotter, and her blood was boiling.
Finally, just as Fleeting Time was about to touch Ye Ci, she took a step back and managed to put some distance between them. But even the slightest movement was enough to make her feel physically and mentally exhausted.
Fleeting Time seemed to have regained some of his senses after seeing Ye Ci's movement. He stared at Ye Ci in silence, and took a step back as well. He reached out his hand and brushed away the strands of hair in Ye Ci's mouth. He spoke in a voice that only he could hear, "This is already very good."
Ye Ci could feel the heat from Fleeting Time's slender fingers brushing past her cheeks. She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails were almost digging into her palms.
Fleeting Time then lowered his hand and turned his head to look at the inscription on the pedestal, "This is the statue of the current Goblin King, Ciel. It records some of his great achievements. But there's no need to pay too much attention to these achievements. After all, such achievements are everywhere."
Fleeting Time's voice was calm and gentle, as if nothing had happened. Ye Ci could feel her rapid breathing and heartbeat calming down as she listened to Fleeting Time's words. The strength that she had just lost seemed to have returned to her.
She stole a glance at Fleeting Time, who was still translating the runes on the pedestal to her. But she was not paying attention to his words. Her mind was filled with thoughts of what would have happened if … If I had not retreated, and Fleeting Time had continued to approach me … What would have happened?
She did not dare to think about it. She did not even have the ability to think about it.
And for a moment, something seemed to have gone haywire.
Ciel's statue held two scepters in his hands, one on the left and one on the right. These two scepters seemed to be the most suspicious. Ye Ci reached out and grabbed the scepter on the left. She pulled hard, and a gust of cold wind blew in the dark.
This gust of wind blew her long hair up, causing her originally confused mind to calm down. She looked at the path on the left and slowly said, "Pull the scepter on the other side."
"We'll have to split up if that's the case." Fleeting Time looked at Ye Ci, and saw the tenacity in her eyes. It was as if the gentleness that he had seen was just a fleeting dream.
"Alright." Ye Ci nodded.
"Will you be fine by yourself?"
Ye Ci turned to look at Fleeting Time. She understood that he was concerned about her, and a faint smile appeared on her face, "There's no such thing as gender in a dungeon, only class. I, Gongzi You, am a lvl 60 Hunter. I'll be fine. "
Fleeting Time was momentarily stunned by Ye Ci's voice, and a smile appeared on his face. That's right. This is the Gongzi You. This is the Gongzi You that made his heart race. This is the Gongzi You that knows who he is at all times. This is the Gongzi You that is rational, strong, and decisive.
"I, Fleeting Time, am a lvl 60 Hunter. I'll be waiting for you at the end." Fleeting Time said as he pulled the scepter on the other side. A gust of cold wind blew at Fleeting Time, and it was bone-chilling.
"Don't be so sure about that." Ye Ci looked at Fleeting Time one last time, and ran into the endless darkness without looking back.
In that lonely darkness, only her triumphant laughter was left, moving one's soul.
Fleeting Time let go of the scepter and dashed towards the other side of the path. He could still hear Gongzi You's laughter in the darkness.
Ye Ci ran in the darkness, with a dozen androids following behind her. Even though the number of androids had decreased, they were able to unleash their full potential. There seemed to be no end to the path. Ye Ci could only hear the sound of her own footsteps and the clanking of the androids. It was too dark. Even an Elf with night vision would not be able to see very clearly. Fortunately, there were no monsters around, and Ye Ci was able to follow the direction of the wind.
After running for some time, Ye Ci suddenly stopped in her tracks, and stood silently in the darkness.
There was not much difference between this place and the previous one, but it was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop on the ground. But … the silence here was different.
Ye Ci closed her eyes and listened carefully. There was no sound of the wind. It was as if the wind had disappeared in an instant. Was it because the sound of the wind had become so soft that she did not notice it? Ye Ci's long, pointed ears twitched. She tried to listen carefully, but there was no sound at all.
How can this be? Why did the wind disappear all of a sudden?
Ye Ci opened her eyes and stuck out her tongue, leaving a trail of saliva on the back of her hand. She then raised her right hand to feel it. If there was a slight chill, it would mean that there was still wind in the air. But there was none. There was nothing.
Ye Ci finally gave up on the idea of following the wind to find the exit. She took out the last torch from her bag and lit it. She carefully observed the place she was in.
This place was very spacious, and the roof was very high. She could not see where the roof was with the light from the torch in her hand. She turned around and saw that this was the end of the long corridor. The walls on both sides were inlaid with many Roman-style pillars. The patterns on the pillars were complex and beautiful. There were huge murals between the pillars. The murals were mainly depicting the glory of the Goblin Kingdom.
Ye Ci looked at the murals seriously. They roughly depicted the history and development of the Goblins. However, they were all positive or prosperous scenes. None of the murals said that the Goblins were bad, and none of the murals said that the Goblins were in decline. It was easy to worship the Goblins from these murals. It was a pity that these murals were just murals. They were just murals that buried the real past in the dust of history.
Ye Ci looked at the murals and saw a huge metal door in front of her.
The metal door was covered in rust, but it could not hide the exquisite workmanship of the door. Ye Ci walked into the door and studied it carefully. There was no latch or keyhole. It was simply embedded in the wall and in the middle of the corridor. There was no way to open it.
Am I really going to be trapped here?
Ye Ci narrowed her eyes. That's impossible. If the quest told me to come here, then there must be a way to get through it. It's just that it's very hidden. I can't find it.
Fleeting Time's voice rang out in the party channel just as Ye Ci was searching the door, "Little Gongzi, where are you now?"
"The end of a corridor." Ye Ci gave it some thought, and explained, "Actually, I shouldn't call it the end of a corridor. I'm separated by a metal door. I don't know what's behind the door. What about you? "
"If you're not mistaken, I'm in the same situation as you." Fleeting Time's voice sounded relaxed, and there were no negative emotions in it. It was obvious that he was searching for a way to open the door just like Ye Ci.
"I'm looking for the mechanism to open the door. Did you find anything special?" Ye Ci continued to search every inch of the floor and wall, hoping to find something special, but to no avail. Since Fleeting Time is in the same position as me, he might have found something. I should be able to find it very soon if I follow his instructions.
"Nothing special." Fleeting Time's voice was slow, as if he was thinking about something. He then asked, "By the way, what's the mural on the wall to your right?"
Ye Ci raised her head and looked at the mural on her right. It was different from the other murals. The other murals were all about the development of the Goblins, but this one was a portrait of a young Drow girl. There was a hint of resentment in her eyes, and the Goblin King, Ciel, was depicted behind her. The background of the mural seemed to be a beautiful garden. There were neatly trimmed trees and flowers in the garden, as well as some unique pavilions. It seemed to be the backyard of a palace. It was very beautiful.
"I think it's a wedding photo. And it's a cross-racial one." Ye Ci stared at the mural, and described her feelings towards it based on her intuition.
Fleeting Time could not help but chuckle at Ye Ci's description, "Why does your description sound a little weird?"
"What's weird about it? These two people are originally of different races. One is a drow, and the other is a goblin. I wonder what their offspring will be like? " Ye Ci was an academic, "But according to the records in the National Library, the Royal Family does not usually conduct cross-racial weddings. It seems that they do it to ensure the purity of their bloodline. So this is really weird."
"Haha, I've never paid much attention to this." Fleeting Time chuckled as he looked at the young Drow girl in the mural. Her skin was slightly dark, unlike the pale skin of ordinary elves, which indicated that she was a dark elf. However, she had red eyes, which meant that she belonged to a race that was almost extinct among the elves — the drows.
Drows were a race that was more valiant than the dark elves and more fascinated by nature than the white elves. It could be said that they were one of the few high-ranking races among the elves. However, the reproduction ability of drows had always been poor, and they liked to live in the deepest depths of the forest. They were not good at dealing with the outside world, so this race slowly disappeared from the elves. Until now, the elves were not even sure if there were any drows left in the world.
"I heard that the Drows are born with higher Perception, Balance, Endurance, and Wisdom than us White Elves. Their starting points are also very high, so they get more points every time they level up. They are indeed a high-level race." Fleeting Time's curiosity was piqued at the mention of the Drow, "But they're not open to players."
"That seems to be the case. I've never seen a living Drow before." Ye Ci recalled her past life. As a Human Sorcerer, she had the most encounters with Magic Classes. She remembered that she had met a Drow for the first time when she was around lvl150, which was around six or seven years after Fate was released. But that was only an environment. The Drow she saw was merely the memory of a Drow Sorcerer. Even so, Ye Ci was impressed by the Drow Sorcerer. Not only were the Drow Sorcerer's skills superb, but their high stats also made the Sorcerer class a perfect fit for them.
Ye Ci had seen Drow more than a dozen times in her past life, but they were either corpses, illusions, or portraits. She had never seen a living Drow before. She couldn't help but think that if she could collect the maps of the Elven King Dau 'er and find his soul, she might be able to ask him about the Drows.
"What? You've seen a dead Drow before? "Fleeting Time followed up on Ye Ci's words and asked.
Ye Ci was surprised by the question, "Isn't there a portrait right in front of me?" Then, she exhaled softly. She almost said something she shouldn't have because of her own carelessness. Although it was unimaginable to say that she was reborn, she still had to be careful. She couldn't let the cat out of the bag.
Fleeting Time was smart, but he was unable to see Ye Ci's expression. He was only able to glean something from Ye Ci's replies in the party chat.
Ye Ci stared at the Drow girl. She had a beautiful ruby necklace around her neck, and the pendant was the size of a pigeon's egg. Even though it was painted on the wall, it still shone brightly. Ye Ci reached out to touch the necklace. Why was the pendant softer than the rest of the wall? She touched around and pressed on the ruby necklace, but the iron door on her side didn't move at all.
Looks like I've been overthinking.
Fleeting Time asked in the party chat just then, "What did you touch?"
"I didn't touch anything." Ye Ci was puzzled, "I touched the Drow girl's necklace. The pendant is a little soft, and it's different from the rest of the wall. So I pressed on it a few times, but nothing happened. What's wrong …"
Before she could finish her sentence, she heard a loud noise from the rusty bearings that hadn't been oiled for many years. She abruptly turned around and saw that the iron door was slowly being lifted up.
"The door on my side is open …" Ye Ci was surprised. She immediately thought of something and asked Fleeting Time, "Did the door on your side open as well?"
"Yes."
"Did you press on the Drow girl's necklace as well?"
"That's right. So this is how the mechanism works. Pressing the button on your side will open the door on my side, and pressing the button on my side will open the door on your side." Fleeting Time removed his hand from the wall when he heard that the door on Ye Ci's side had opened. It seems that my prediction was correct.
"Heh, it seems that the minimum number of players required to enter this dungeon is two. I don't think I'll be able to proceed if I enter alone." Ye Ci stared at the slowly opening door. There must be a limit to how long the door could be open, or the system would not have done something like this.
"It won't be that easy to proceed from here." Fleeting Time was able to see more than Ye Ci, as he had opened the door before Ye Ci.
"Yup. There's not a single monster in the depths of the palace. This can only mean that this is the darkness before dawn." Ye Ci tucked her hair behind her ear. As she spoke, she saw a bright light behind the door. The light came from the wall lamps that were installed on the walls. Unlike the other races that still used torches to illuminate their surroundings, the advanced and intelligent Goblins had already produced things like wall lamps. Wall lamps that were lit up by small energy cores were much brighter than torches, and they could illuminate a much further place.
Especially with so many wall lamps installed on the walls, the long corridor was illuminated as if it was daytime.
Ye Ci, who was already used to the darkness, could not help but close her eyes when she saw the light. It was too bright.
The corridor seemed to have no end. The floor was covered with a scarlet carpet, and the walls were painted with colorful murals. Of course, these were not the most eye-catching things. The moment the door opened, and the blinding light shone on Ye Ci, Ye Ci saw the most eye-catching thing in the corridor.
It was a group of robots that were lined up neatly. They were silent, as if they were dead. They stood there quietly, as if they were an underground army. They stood there majestically, guarding their master and everything that was sleeping here. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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