Immortality Path: From the Blind Man at the Pharmacy

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During the day, after Song Cheng and the three women finished breakfast, they quietly went to the outskirts of the mountain forest again.

"Leaving one's own wife alone at home" was something Song Cheng couldn't do. Although he didn't have much combat experience, he had watched many TV shows in his past life... Therefore, he was not unfamiliar with the plot where "a woman was left at home and then someone ransacked it."

He swept a glance at the three women behind him, each holding a third-in-command's knife, scythe, and axe, with combat powers of "2~2," "2~2," "0~0" respectively.

Song Cheng cast a squinty look at Nan Hui, who was still "0~0" even with an axe.

Hmm...

Maybe the axe blade was dull...

The four of them traversed mountains and valleys, with the deep winter wind wrapping around the sunlight, and a mixed scent of chilled soil in the air, as if from a long-decayed beast corpse...

Guan Xi suddenly spoke, "Mr. Song..."

Song Cheng quickly waved his hand, saying, "A mere countryman, can't bear the title of sir."

Guan Xi said, "Pardon my forwardness, how far have you progressed in your training?"

Song Cheng was taken aback, then asked, "A country bumpkin, practicing blindly. Miss Guan, please enlighten me. What are the levels?"

Guan Xi said, "Martial artists have three realms, power, force, and form.

"Amongst them, power is external, the strength of flesh and blood.

"Force is internal, nurtured by the flesh and blood.

"To put it in perspective, if power is like a heavily armored cavalry charging with strength, then force is like the spear of refined iron in the hands of the cavalry.

"As for form... pardon my ignorance, I've heard its name, but do not know its essence."

As these words were said, the young mistress beside them showed solemn respect, while feeling a sense of inferiority in her heart.

My goodness, city folks.

So well-traveled and articulate.

Song Cheng was also taken aback.

His panel was clearly "Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow," but what was this "power, force, form"?

Even if it corresponded to "Yellow Armor, Yellow Level Grade B, Yellow Level Grade C, Yellow Level Grade D," wasn't there one less?

However, if mapped from the bottom, it did match up.

Hence, he said, "Oh, I'm still lingering at the power level."

Guan Xi said, "Then Mr. Song, even within the Power Realm, you are not weak. Previously, those bandits were almost at the brink of a Great Achievement in the Power Realm."

Song Cheng said, "I ambushed them."

Guan Xi:...

...

Setting off in the morning, they arrived at the front mountain by dusk.

Along the way, the young mistress frequently exclaimed, "There is wild vegetables over there, let me go and pick some," "Oh, these frozen mushrooms, it's a waste not to pick them," "Wow, why is there Fire Mother Grass here, for tea, just a sip and you won't be cold all night"...

This was the herbalist woman's "herb-picking syndrome"...

When the four of them arrived at the front mountain, the young mistress had already cut quite a bit of stuff with the third-in-command's knife, loading more than half of the Bamboo Basket.

The third-in-command's knife was pretty good, close or distant, naturally Song Cheng gave it to his own woman.

A moment later, Song Cheng found a good sight under an old tree and hid behind it, with the three women lined up behind him.

Through the old tree, in the sunset, there was a small settlement.

Bonfires roared, lighting the surroundings, there were nearly two hundred people, some bandits, but most were villagers.

Song Cheng was stunned for a moment.

So many people?

Tang River Village had fewer than three hundred households, and after the draft, there were probably just over eight hundred people left.

Trapped in the forbidden area, how could so many still be alive?

Song Cheng asked again, "Miss Guan, how many bandits are there?"

Guan Xi responded quickly, "Fifty-six... most died in the village, then some ran from the front of the village, and some ended up here. The bandits here, excluding the third-in-command, only eight remain."

Song Cheng found it even more unbelievable.

There were actually those who ran from the front of the village?

Then Yune killed even fewer.

In his memory, once trapped in the forbidden zone of "Endless Hell," if one out of ten managed to escape, it was sheer luck; total annihilation was a normal phenomenon.

And apart from the few escapees, there was only one true opportunity.

That was, "reappear."

"Reappear" was a term from the "Endless Hell" player forum.

That was, reliving the original events that the forbidden source was "programmed" to include.

Everyone who entered could be drawn into the "reappearance" at some point, becoming a particular role.

If you defy the role, you would be immediately killed by the taboo. If you wait for the reappearance to end, you would also be obliterated.

The only chance was to find a way to survive within the "role-playing"...

This was an insight that hardcore players on the "Endless Hell" forum worked out through sleepless nights at the beginning of the game. Mainly because this thing was really addictive, when the immersive headset was worn, it was like entering a horror movie. Players tired of ordinary level-up games finally had such a thrilling and colorful game to enjoy, they naturally played it obsessively.

...

Yune was, for one, a new taboo; and secondly, Yune didn't seamlessly become taboo because he had interrupted her, this interruption came from goodwill, but did it weaken Yune's initial strength?

Many thoughts flashed across Song Cheng's mind, and he stopped pondering over these unfounded things, and began patiently observing the people entering and leaving the camp below.

The bandits naturally were in charge.

Though the villagers numbered more, none dared act rashly, beckoned back and forth by the bandits.

And the village girls with any charm had long been claimed by the bandits, becoming private property, following them wherever they went.

Just like Guan Xi and Nan Hui who followed the third-in-command before.

Lines of data flashed before Song Cheng's eyes.

"0~0" was the most common.

A few were "3~5," "4~6," and the like.

Song Cheng observed until it got dark, continuing to watch.

The three women were astonished behind him, looking in his line of sight, but all they saw was pitch black.

Guan Xi reminded, "Mr. Song, they all went into their tents."

"Where did the tents come from?"

Not neglecting the details, Song Cheng asked again.

Guan Xi replied, "They sent people into the village to get them, mostly three go and one returns, sometimes four go and one comes back.

"Apart from tents, there are also some rough grain and such. They are taken from the houses closest to the back mountain, brought back immediately after."

Song Cheng: ???

Three go, yet one can come back?

Sure enough, Little Miss Yune isn't fierce...

He nodded, continuing his observation.

By now, his confidence began to rise with the ongoing watching.

The strongest person in the camp below was merely a "4~6."

And he himself was "16~29."

This fight, should be doable?

Song Cheng decided to act.

But, he needed to choose a good time.

...

Thus, he turned around and discussed the plan with the three women.

The young mistress took out the cold meat she brought, distributing it among the few people to eat, then again pulled out the grass with fiery red leaves from the Bamboo Basket, soaked it in water, drank a sip herself, then shared it with the others.

Night gradually deepened...

The mountain night changed unpredictably.

Just now, the moon was shining high, suddenly a sinister wind arose, with flying sand and rocks.

The moonlight vanished, dense scarlet clouds quietly spread, snowflakes began to fall.

With no light, anyone walking here moved like the blind.

Song Cheng simply closed his eyes, the black-and-white world reappeared before his eyes, with no data escaping his sight.

The lightless night could affect anyone, but not him.

Song Cheng led the three women to a closer position to the tents, then ripping away the wolf skin sheath, snuck over from the downwind of the snowstorm...

He seized a nearby tent, fixed his eyes on a number that, with no goodwill, was clearly a bandit, poured force into his arm, twisted his body, and the knife sliced through the air.

Whoosh!

The tent was pierced through, along with the person behind it who was nailed to the ground.

While the accompanying village girl was cluelessly unaware.

Song Cheng raised and lowered his knife, swiftly and briskly.

Amidst the snowy night, his heart pounded with tension as he slaughtered.

Finally, a Tang River Village villager cried out in fear in the darkness.

But by that time, Song Cheng had already killed all the bandits.

His tension slightly eased upon sheathing his knife, but suddenly tightened again.

The direction toward Tang River Village in the west seemed... like something was watching him.

'Is it Yune?'

...

...

The chilly river, its bed strewn with many corpses.

These waterlogged corpses, strangely hadn't disintegrated.

A woman in green stood on the river in the light snow.

She was looking eastward.

No one knew what she was looking at.

Having restrained her killing intent and released some of the villagers, her memories finally began to fade rapidly.

What remained was the program running as a ghost, or perhaps a fragment of memory deep within her shell.

Suddenly...

One of the corpses in the riverbed floated up.

That bloated corpse, vaguely recognizable as a burly bandit with a face full of flesh.

If Guan Xi and Nan Hui were present, they could identify him as the bandit leader.

When the bandit leader's corpse surfaced, the woman in green stared straight at him.

Abruptly, the woman in green sank into the water as if soulless, while the bandit leader stood up, his decayed flesh repaired by a mysterious force, becoming as intact as before.

His aggressive eyes rolled, displaying a cruel gleam of pallor, devoid of any hint of life.

A dense mist, far thicker than the earlier village-covering fog, began spreading from the river, expanding outward...

Taboos had "programming," and also "loading."

And the stronger the carrier, the more taboo power it could unleash.

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