Chapter 238 - 166: Hidden Passage and Treasure Chest
「After leaving the small wooden cabin.」
Forgotten Dao continued to follow the guidance of the Snake Eyes.
However, his luck seemed to be terrible. An unknown force was interfering, preventing him from finding the so-called Divine Hall or even encountering any monsters.
This left Forgotten Dao quite frustrated, so all he could do was sit and sulk by the Milestone Spirit Candle.
However, after he teleported back and checked the world chat channel, he was stunned.
"Guys! Teleport back, quick! There’s a hidden passage under the swamp with the Bronze Palm!"
The player excitedly shared his discovery in the world channel.
This, in turn, left the other players completely shocked and dumbfounded.
One Spirit Candle Player perfectly summed it up:
"Huh?"
The other players who saw the message were equally stunned.
ImInATrashCan: "No way, dude. There’s actually a hidden passage under the swamp?"
Eagle’s Fierce Flame: "Awesome, I’m heading over now! Wait... I don’t think I’ve even found the cabin yet... (awkward laugh)"
Venerable Lique: "This swamp stinks to high heaven... Bro, how’d you even convince yourself to get in the water?"
Horrified: "I can’t take it anymore. The devs are completely insane. Who hides things like this? Are they expecting us to search the entire swamp floor?"
Storyteller: "A hidden passage? What’s inside?"
"..."
Forgotten Dao was dumbfounded.
He would’ve never found this hidden passage if he hadn’t decided to check the chat on a whim.
’I’ve got to go back and check it out!’
𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
At that thought, Forgotten Dao quickly used the Spirit Candle to teleport.
In his haste, he missed the follow-up complaints from the player who had discovered the hidden passage.
He soon arrived back at the Milestone Spirit Candle in front of the cabin.
Just as he was about to leave, he seemed to remember something and glanced back at the cabin, but the old woman from before was nowhere to be seen.
Forgotten Dao found that a bit odd.
But he didn’t dwell on it; he had more important things to do.
Soon, Forgotten Dao arrived at the location of the Bronze Palm on his Spirit Fire Sail.
To be safe, he summoned a Living Corpse and had it swim toward the Bronze Palm’s location.
A moment later, the water erupted, and the two hands broke the surface once more.
Forgotten Dao seized the opportunity, pinched his nose, and jumped straight into the swamp.
After pushing aside a layer of foul-smelling sludge, he finally entered the water below and opened his eyes.
But as one might expect, the incredibly murky, stinking water stung his eyes.
Furthermore, the absurd conditions severely obscured his vision.
Luckily, the two giant bronze arms were conspicuous enough that Forgotten Dao didn’t lose his bearings.
When he reached the spot between the two arms, Forgotten Dao actually spotted a stone lid, its faint outline visible amidst the sludge and sediment.
Seeing this, Forgotten Dao’s eyes lit up.
He quickly swam to the stone lid, grabbed hold of a crack, and began to pull with all his might, intending to heave it open.
But just then, a game prompt appeared in his vision.
[The stone lid is sealed and cannot be opened from here.]
???
Forgotten Dao was utterly stunned.
But while he was still stunned, the two giant bronze hands—the same ones that had smashed the Sacrificial Living Corpse into a pulp—had already clenched into fists and were hurtling toward him.
Forgotten Dao’s heart leaped in alarm. He instinctively tried to use a Sacrificial Living Corpse to switch places, but then he realized—in his haste, he had completely forgotten to prepare one!
At that thought, he froze for a moment, then broke into a wry smile.
"Oh, wonderful. Just wonderful. Absolutely perfect!"
BAM!
「A moment later.」
His Wandering Soul re-formed his body. After his Resurrection, a grimacing Forgotten Dao teleported back and began scrolling through the world channel’s chat history.
"Guys, this dev is the biggest scumbag of all scumbags!"
"I recommend going to the base of the Bronze Palm to turn off its switch first."
"But be super careful. Next to the switch at the base of the Bronze Palm, there are three exploding toads. High damage, poison, and a slow debuff. They’re so damn annoying!"
"There are seven stone lids in total, and only one of them opens. The rest are duds."
"I opened the second one on the right."
"..."
Clearly, that player wasn’t the only one who had gotten screwed over.
Other players were also filled with righteous indignation, cursing the game designers through gritted teeth.
My Son Failed, But I’m On Shore: "Hahaha, what kind of sadistic design is this? The flavor is so strong!"
AttackHisGroin: "That’s the stuff!"
Never Air Force Fisherman: "...I don’t get it. How do you young people seem to be enjoying this?"
Brother Miao Won’t Fail the Exam: "I haven’t even found this place yet, but let me just say, what a vicious design."
"..."
After carefully reading the entire chat history, Forgotten Dao silently closed the world channel.
Alright, compared to the suffering of the other Prison Players, his own experience was mere child’s play.
’Let’s try this again!’
’I need to be properly prepared this time.’
Forgotten Dao scratched his head, then teleported back to the Bronze Palm’s location once more.
This time, of course, he was smarter and much more cautious.
To avoid the risk of losing control of his character, he even deliberately unequipped some gear to reduce his negative Spiritual Value, just to be safe.
After holding the Human Skin Banner and muttering for a moment, one Sacrificial Living Corpse after another leaped from his boat, heading toward the Bronze Palm to serve as cannon fodder and draw its fire.
Then, taking a few more Sacrificial Living Corpses with him, Forgotten Dao entered the water. While the Bronze Palm was busy attacking the decoys on the surface, he made his way to its base.
Forewarned by the other players, Forgotten Dao was on high alert. After a careful scan, he did indeed spot three toads glaring at him menacingly. They were a dark, murky green with hints of icy blue, allowing them to blend in almost perfectly with the turbid water.