The Trial Game of Life

This time, the Secret Lake was calm. Except for the thick mist that lingered across the lake surface, it seemed to be no different from an ordinary lake. But Tang Cuo didn’t run closer, rather, he stopped more than 10 meters away from the lakeshore and looked back at the others who were following behind.

The twin brothers Celtic, Hammo, plus two druids and three adventurers headed by Don, made a total of nine people. No one knew where the three men from the Pinwheel Harbour office had gone off to.

Hammo was still a little out of it and rubbing his eyes vigorously. After staring at the lake for a long while, he finally reacted: “Secret Lake!” 

As his words fell, he anxiously rushed to the lake, caught in so much amazement that he even ignored his wine flask. Seeing this, Tang Cuo lifted his leg and kicked a stone at the dwarf to stop him.

“Impertinent human, what are you doing?! You dare to hit the great Hammo in the butt!” Hit by the rock, the dwarf jumped up angrily. He really wanted these good-for-nothing-but-their-height humans to learn the dwarves’ humility, but then, he found that everyone’s expression was very strange, for they were all looking at the direction behind his back with a nameless fear scattered all over their faces.

At this point, the sound of water crashing and the roar of a beast banged into his eardrums. He immediately turned around, and upon seeing the lake where layers and layers of waves were surging, he almost slumped to the ground in fright: “God of Blacksmithing, what is this……”

A two-headed giant serpent broke through the lake, its huge body whisking the mist. Even before its full body was exposed, it already reached more than 20 meters in height. The creature seemed to have been disturbed in its sleep and was feeling very annoyed, its scarlet eyes scanning one round throughout the lake and eventually stopping at the group of humans standing by the shore.

The next moment, the two heads opened their mouths together and screeched at the lakeside with immense anger.

Carrying with it a bloody stench, the wind blew away the mist and the huge impact crashed the entire shore, cutting off all the grasses on land. Hammo couldn’t stand straight and fell to the ground on his butt. He raised one hand to wipe his face; there were a few drops of liquid on it, for which he had no idea whether they were the lake’s water or the beast’s saliva.

“Step back! This is the Abyssal Serpent!” As Heimen screamed its name, everyone’s expression ruptured into sheer terror and they all quickly retreated.

Don couldn’t hide the horror on his face: “Doesn’t the Abyssal Serpent reside in the Scarlet Heights? How come it’s here? What’s wrong with this Secret Lake?”

Hammo: “Yes, how could it end up at the elves’ place of origin?!”

The twin brothers immediately informed the others about the illusion, and everyone suddenly understood. One of the adventurers tremblingly asked: “So, the Abyssal Serpent is also fake?”

Another one clasped his arms tightly: “But someone really died!”

Inside the dwarf’s illusionary Secret Lake, they already had one death.

As soon as these words came out, everyone backed away a few more steps until they were sure that the Abyssal Serpent hadn’t come to the lakeside, upon which they could finally heave a sigh of relief. Tang Cuo looked at the two druids: “Are you sure that the adventurers who headed back with you are gone?”

“What are you suspecting?” One of the druids swept his gaze through the group: “It seems that some of you are also missing.”

Heimen: “Let’s not care about those men for now.”

Hayes: “We can’t defeat the Abyssal Serpent, lord of the Scarlet Heights. Only great men like His Excellency Roger Reeds could be strong enough to fight against it.”

If they destroyed or killed things in the lake, they could break the illusion. They were able to destroy the Black Iron Furnace and Iron Colossus that had no autonomous attack power, but what about this giant serpent?

Who triggered this illusion? Were they the five missing adventurers, or the three from the Pinwheel Harbour office? Everyone here was still awake, so it couldn’t be them.

Hammo later realised: “You destroyed the Black Iron Furnace and the Iron Colossus???”

Don kindly reminded him that they were both fake, but Hammo couldn’t listen to it anymore. Those were the Dwarf race’s sacred artifacts! They were the artifacts that all dwarves dreamt of being able to recreate; even if they weren’t real, he would be eager to have a chance to take a look, but they were both gone!

The dwarf thumped his chest, stomped his feet and almost shed tears.

No one had time to deal with him, for the top priority was to break from the illusion. But after a long discussion, they still found no good solution. Facing the overwhelmingly powerful Abyssal Serpent, their only option was seemingly to be trapped in this illusion forever.

Tang Cuo asked Celtic: “Does the Abyssal Serpent have any natural enemy?”

Celtic nodded: “Yes.” 

Tang Cuo folded his arms and motioned for him to continue, at which point Celtic said: “It’s the dragon. Dragon is all creatures’ natural enemy.”

If it weren’t for Celtic’s serious expression that showed no intention of joking, Tang Cuo felt that he might hit someone right away. After a brief moment of pondering, his eyes caught a glimpse of the two druids and a bright light flashed by at once: “Aren’t druids good at shapeshifting?”

Suddenly called upon, the druids became slightly alert: “What do you mean?”

Tang Cuo: “You can become dragons.” 

The druids’ faces turned black, and they suspected that Tang Cuo was taking the opportunity to mock them. Don hurriedly tried to appease them and explained: “Your Excellency Theodore, although druids can shapeshift, it’s already very difficult to become a dragon, let alone fighting the Abyssal Serpent.” 

The twin brothers seemed to think of something too, both their eyes directly staring at Tang Cuo.

Tang Cuo paced slowly in front of them: “This is an illusion. Since there’s already a fake Abyssal Serpent, why can’t there be fake dragons? You have two people, and the serpent have two heads. You can also merge into one. A two-headed dragon.” 

Fat chance.

Growing up till this big, the two druids had never heard of such a nonsensical method. It was a humiliation to the Druid race, no, it was a humiliation to the dragons, no, it wasn’t either, anyway — 

“That is impossible!” The druids couldn’t help but retort loudly.

“You haven’t tried it and already claimed it’s impossible, that’s the real impossible.” Tang Cuo stopped pacing and turned sideways to look at them with an oh-so-righteous expression: “For actually this world had no roads to begin with, but when many men pass one way, a road is made’世上本没有路，走的人多了，便成了路’ is a famous quote by Chinese writer Lu Xun (1881 – 1936)..”

Tang Cuo felt that they should receive some modern education. 

The two druids still found themselves unable to agree to this request and couldn’t help casting their eyes on the twin brothers, the two people who had been the most composed in the group. But the brothers just calmly walked over and concluded: “We can give it a try.”

The druids felt so angry their faces turned as white as a sheet: “Your Greenvines Alliance really is harmonious, huh? But even if we successfully shapeshift into a dragon, can we really fight it? Not to mention, you aren’t helping at all.”

Celtic frowned, unable to hold back to urge to give them a reminder: “You ran away earlier then ran back to us. You didn’t help us break the previous illusion either.”

Being choked at their throats, the druids’ expression became unsightly. They looked at each other to only see deep worries and desperation. After all, the Abyssal Serpent was terrifying. Even if they knew everything was an illusion and that the serpent was fake, they couldn’t embrace the idea that this beast could be defeated. 

In the distance, the three men from the Pinwheel Harbour office were hiding behind the trees and quietly peeking over.

“Are they arguing?”

“It’s about time for them to argue.” 

“But if this is an illusion, what we’re looking for is definitely not here. Do we have to wait for them to break the illusion?” 

“The master said that the Secret Lake represents the unknown, and every detail here can’t be let go. Even if it’s an illusion, it doesn’t necessarily mean that everything we see is fake.”

As Hawk pricked up his ears to listen to his two teammates’ words, he continued staring at Tang Cuo: “That man is weird. I’ve never heard of such a person in the Principality of Flange office.”

The teammate: “He’s a knight, so he should be a young master of a noble family. Which one could it be”

The other teammate: “But I think his teammate and the two druids are more suspicious. That Celtic strayed off at the beginning then suddenly reappeared. The druids left with the adventurers, so why did they come back? They’re friends of the elves, so they might know the inside story.”

“We have to find those five adventurers.”

Hawk’s eyebrows slightly furrowed. If he could, he really didn’t want to care about those five cowardly idiots. But thinking of the purpose of this trip, he suppressed this urge and said: “Our plan this time must not fail. When it’s completed, father will help persuade Roger Reeds to let me be his disciple. Only in this way can we have enough right to speak up at Luo Island. This is all for our Pinwheel Harbour office, understand?”

“Understood.” The other two nodded in response.

Hearing this, Hawk narrowed his eyes and stared at Tang Cuo again before letting out a cold grumble, then he turned and left. The other two followed him and their eyes also narrowed, which seemed to carry a tinge of impatience and annoyance.

The departure of the three men from the Pinwheel Harbour office didn’t attract any attention. By the lake, the druids were trying to shapeshift into a two-headed dragon. To no one’s surprise, their attempt failed. They couldn’t even turn into a dragon, let alone a two-headed dragon.

In the end, they could only turn into a chimera with a dragon body and a snake tail.

If Jin Cheng were here, he would definitely watch this transformation with great interest, but Tang Cuo was a fierce warrior, so he simply picked up the dwarf’s wine flask and threw it to them.

“Drink.” No longer being afraid of the system restriction on his character settings, Tang Cuo was getting colder and colder with each word he spoke.

The druids caught the flask in confusion.

“Let the wine numb your brains, you need a little imagination.” Thereafter, Tang Cuo decided to give them a prep talk: “Do you know what imagination is? The world is created by you, and you’re the god. In this world, humans can manipulate an iron giant to fly in the sky. The Abyssal Serpent is just food on the table, we can cook it however we want. This is just a dragon, what is so difficult about it?”

This time, even the twin brothers were stunned. The druids were dumbfounded for a moment, then they seemed to want to refute but felt that there was nothing they could say. They ended up taking a sip to suppress their shock.

After they drank all the wine, Hammo, who was still in grief, finally reacted, and his grief doubled at once: “My wine!!!”

You, you damned long-legged human, what grudge do you have against the great Hammo?!

Of course, Tang Cuo remained indifferent.

After screaming for a while, Hammo couldn’t help but approach him and ask: “What is the iron giant flying in the sky that you mentioned? Is there really such a thing?”

Tang Cuo: “Just believe in yourself.”

Hammo seemed to figure out something and his expression lightened up, but then his beard stood up and his eyes gaped at Tang Cuo again: “Don’t think that if you suck up to me, I’ll forgive you!”

Tang Cuo: “…”

Which ear of yours heard that I was trying to suck up to you?

At this moment, the light in front suddenly flared up. Tang Cuo subconsciously raised his hand to cover his eyes, and when the light retracted, a giant figure was casting a shadow that covered them all.

“Dragon! It’s really a dragon!”

“A black dragon!”

Perhaps because they were drunk, or perhaps they were really bewitched by Tang Cuo, the two druids actually combined their powers to become a dragon. The joy of success diluted their worries and the black dragon roared at the sky, its rumble finally provoking the serpent lying in the lake.

The lake water began to ripple violently, and the giant serpent let out a thunderous cry, as though wishing to slap the water waves apart, but there seemed to be a hint of fear in those scarlet eyes.

The battle was about to start.

Tang Cuo started pulling out the [Sword of Judgment], tilted his head to look at Celtic and suddenly asked: “Do you think we can win?” 

Celtic was a little taken aback, then he gazed deeply at Tang Cuo’s sword and said: ” Yes.”

Tang Cuo smiled.

This was the first time Celtic saw Tang Cuo smile, and his eyes couldn’t help but follow Tang Cuo’s figure until his sword was completely drawn. His robust body looked like a cheetah that was intently spying on its prey. With all his strength, Tang Cuo slashed his sword into the lake in one neat strike.

In an instant, the Holy Light of Judgement gushed out and spilt open the lake surface, sending the waves soaring up high. The razor-sharp aura of the sword extended to more than hundred meters from the shore, so even though it didn’t cut through the giant serpent, it forced the beast to bring its vigilance up.

Seeing this, Heimen immediately yelled at the druids: “Hurry up! We’ll back you up!”

The dragon’s terrifying roar shook the sky.

The black dragon flapped its wings, dived down and opened its jaw wide, ready to sink its teeth into the serpent’s neck.

By the lake, Hayes took out his staff and began to chant spells that the others couldn’t quite figure the meaning. When the light shined on the tip of his staff, a magical storm gradually took shape, and at the exact moment, it was swiftly released.

“Great Freezing Beam!” An icy breath began to fan out from the lakeside and froze the lake surface at lightning speed. Without any gap, the ice continued spreading towards the giant serpent.

With Hayes’ strength, it was impossible to release a freezing beam strong enough to freeze the entire lake. He stared at the ice surface with a solemn expression, hoping that it could trap the serpent a little longer.

The next second, as fast as the wind, a figure swept across their line of sight. Hayes squinted hard to see Tang Cuo rushing across the ice.

Followed by his older brother Heimen and Celtic.

Don and other adventurers gritted their teeth and drew their swords.

At the same time, in the beast’s lair, Jin Cheng found a black egg with dark gold patterns. The egg was huge, almost the size of a rugby ball. Luckily, since it could be temporarily stored in the Inventory Bar, it wouldn’t pose any problem to carry around.

He had injected the beast with a sedative. Like the previous time when he walked the bear in the dungeon [On A Snowy Night, He Returns], he put a leash on the beast and decided to ride it away.

The mouse McCaw felt his head spinning. Jin Cheng’s fighting style really made him feel like he was riding a roller coaster. It was incredible enough that he was still alive.

But when Jin Cheng finally managed to tame the beast and was about to leave, he heard a voice from the bottom of the cliff. Immediately alert, he patted the beast’s neck to order it to return to the lair, then he hid inside, quietly peeking at where the sound came from.

After a while, the sound of footsteps came to his ears, and as they got closer and closer, the voice became clear.

“We’ve searched the place before and found nothing.”

“Because we didn’t find anything, we have to continue searching. We’ve already searched all over the palace, and there are guards patrolling all the hanging bridges. He can’t disappear out of thin air. If he isn’t here, where could he be?”

A total of five elf guards were coming over.

Jin Cheng listened to them and subconsciously thought of McCaw.

The guards searched meticulously, but this trench was so empty that they couldn’t even find a rock that looked out of shape, so they moved through it very fast. When they reached the beast’s lair, the leader suddenly stopped and frowned: “Why are there traces of fighting here?”

All the arrows had been taken back by Jin Cheng, so what they saw was only the pit on the cliff wall and messy gravel on the ground.

Another person said without hesitation: “Maybe the Griffin went crazy again. It has always been like that, even a bird flying by can disturb it.” 

Still a little suspicious, the captain looked up at the Griffin’s lair. Seeing the beast falling asleep as usual and putting on its usual dispassionate look, he finally heaved a sigh of relief.

“This is Elder Evans’s steed. Don’t be negligent, let’s report to him when we get back.”

“Yes, Captain.” 

The team continued to move forward, no one speaking a word for a long while. Just as they were about to step out of Jin Cheng’s sight, the vague sound of another dialogue came to his ears.

“Captain, what happened to the Royal Palace? What did the Prince violate? Why……”

“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask.”

“But…”

“About His Royal Highness, we can’t control it… Understand?”

Jin Cheng couldn’t clearly hear the words that followed, but this only piece of information was already shocking enough. He lowered his head and stared at the two bean-sized eyes of McCaw, who had just waken up —

Damn, you’re a prince?