Chương 467: Đệ nhất bá thổ lỗ

“Master, someone is getting close to the royal capital region of the Qing Dynasty ghost domain.”

Outside the game, Ling Xi woke Ye Chen, who was napping with his head resting on her thigh.

This was something Ye Chen had specially instructed her to keep an eye on—if any player entered the core region of the ghost domain, she was to notify him immediately.

“Oh? So fast?”

Ye Chen raised his head from the smooth black silk stockings, looking at Ling Xi with a hint of curiosity.

Although he had mobilized the power of the Main God Domain to give the players a green light,

the Qing Dynasty ghost domain occupied a quarter of China; no matter how one looked at it, it shouldn't have been pushed to the foot of the royal city so quickly.

“It's not a large force, just a Taoist player who snuck over secretly.”

“Master, let me tell you, this guy is quite special. His real-world identity is a tomb raider, and after entering the game, he's still practicing his old trade.”

“Back in the One Piece realm, he was the one who looted the royal tomb of Alabasta.”

“Now he's set his eyes on the imperial mausoleum inside the ghost domain again. I wonder if he'll get anything out of it.”

“Though I feel it's a bit unlikely. The things nurtured inside that ghost domain's imperial tomb won't be easy to deal with!”

Ling Xi poured out everything about Zhang Dianying to Ye Chen like beans spilling from a bamboo tube.

Among the hundred thousand players in *Kaitian*, more than half were elites handpicked by Ling Xi.

Formidable figures from all walks of life—wealthy second-generation heirs, nurses, doctors, monks, Taoists, tech giants...

There were even quite a few tomb raiders among them; it was truly a gathering of talents.

Ling Xi had always been quite proud of this.

“Interesting. Named Dianying, huh? Looks like this Qing Dynasty and Dianying really clash.” Hearing Zhang Dianying's name, Ye Chen let out a soft laugh.

There was actually a strange sense of destiny to it.

Three major realms.

The Earth before Ye Chen's transmigration had normal history.

The Blue Star where he currently resided had no Qing Dynasty after the Ming Dynasty.

The Ghost-Invasion realm was a world where supernatural entities had descended.

Therefore, Ye Chen was the one who saw everything most clearly.

“Dianying is great, the number one tomb raider of the Great Qing!” Ye Chen smiled, no longer in the mood for a nap. He got up to observe the in-game developments alongside Ling Xi.

At this moment, Zhang Dianying had no idea he was already being watched by the Main God.

He patted the dust off his clothes and stood up from the crowd of beggars.

Adjusting the position of his tattered straw hat, he tightened the worn bundle on his back.

He walked toward the imperial capital on the distant horizon, shrouded in a layer of grayish-black mist.

He wanted to take a trip to the imperial mausoleum, but he couldn't head straight there. He also needed to explore the capital to see if he could gather some intelligence.

However, the situation here in the capital was clearly entirely different from that in Yongping County.

Perhaps because it was close to the core of the ghost domain,

the closer he got to the capital, the thicker the smell of blood and rot in the air became.

Even the sunlight became bone-chillingly cold, offering not a shred of warmth on his body.

After walking for fully five hours, Zhang Dianying finally arrived three li outside the southern gate of the capital.

He looked up.

The entire capital city was blanketed by a layer of thick, grayish-black fog that never dispersed.

The sun within the thick fog had turned into a ghastly white disc, resembling the eyes of a dead person.

The wild grass on the ground was completely black, making a rustling sound whenever the wind blew,

as if countless people were leaning close to his ears, whispering softly.

In the real world, Zhang Dianying had dug up ominous tombs and seen all kinds of bizarre sights.

Yet this time, he instinctively felt a chill run down his spine, his palms breaking out in a cold sweat.

Even though he knew he was inside a game, he still felt a surge of panic.

If he were outside, he would definitely turn around and leave whenever he felt flustered, but after all, this was a game.

Zhang Dianying silently pulled out his peach wood sword and held it tightly in his hand.

This was the first time he could feel such an intense, sinister aura before even entering an ancient tomb.

The strongest ghost domain on the Chinese side truly lived up to its reputation.

Walking under the southern city gate, Zhang Dianying hid behind a withered willow tree to observe secretly.

The city gate was built from pitch-black âm trầm mộc, covered in dark red bloodstains and deep claw marks.

Hanging from the city walls were not lanterns, but bags sewn together from air-dried human skin.

Whenever the wind blew, the bags swayed back and forth, with things vaguely wriggling inside.

The braided soldiers guarding the gate were completely different from those in the county town. Back in the county, they looked no different from living people, but here, they were clearly not alive.

Their faces were as pale as paper, devoid of any expression.

Their eyes lacked pupils, filled entirely with a murky white color.

Their movements were stiff like marionettes, their knees refusing to bend as they walked.

The hands exposed outside their gloves were greenish-black, with long, sharp nails gleaming with a cold light.

On the other side, several refugees without registered identities were stopped by the Qing soldiers.

There was no beating, no scolding, and no interrogation.

The Qing soldiers directly extended their long, sharp nails and thrust them into the refugees' throats.

In just a few seconds, what were once living human beings turned into shriveled skins.

The Qing soldiers casually tossed the corpses aside, hanging them on the hooks of the city gate as a warning to the public.

That complete disregard for human life caused Zhang Dianying's heart to contract violently.

Suppressing the fear in his heart, he blended into the line of refugees and moved forward slowly.

Thanks to the fact that he had set up a respawn point outside earlier, otherwise dying here would mean having to run across the map all over again!

Soon, it was his turn.

Zhang Dianying lowered his head and handed over his forged identity document.

Every muscle in his body was tense, ready to take action and flee at any moment.

The Qing soldier took the document and stared at it for a long time with his pupil-less eyes.

Then he extended his greenish-black hand, about to search Zhang Dianying's body.

Before that hand even reached half a foot away from him, a bone-chilling coldness had already seeped deep into his bones.

Trương Điện Anh vội vã nhét một nắm bạc vụn vào tay tên lính Thanh.

Điều khiến Trương Điện Anh ngơ ngác là.

Tên lính tết tóc trông như người chết kia lại nắn nắn thỏi bạc, rồi lặng lẽ nhét vào ngực áo.

Gắn sức vẫy cánh tay cứng đờ, hắn cất giọng khàn đục như tiếng đá mài vào nhau.

"Cút."

Trương Điện Anh cúi đầu bước nhanh qua cổng thành.

Lúc này, tấm áo sau lưng hắn đã bị mồ hôi lạnh làm ướt sũng.

Khoảnh khắc bước qua cổng thành, hắn hoàn toàn chết lặng trước cảnh tượng trước mắt.

Con phố trông rộng rãi thẳng tắp, hai bên cửa tiệm mọc lên như nát, nhưng mọi thứ lại vô cùng vặn vẹo.

Người dân trên đường ai nấy đều mặt không cảm xúc, đi cùng tay cùng chân, bước chân đồng điệu đến mức như những con rối bị điều khiển bởi cùng một người.

Khuôn mặt họ vàng như sáp, có người mọc vảy đen đầy mặt, có người ngón tay thừa ra hai ba ngón, có người con ngươi mọc ngay trên má.

Mọi bảng hiệu cửa tiệm đều viết ngược, chữ nghĩa uốn eo sắc đen, nom chẳng khác nào những con sâu đang ngoằn ngoèo bò.

Chưởng quỹ cùng gã sai vặt trong tiệm đều đứng bất động sau quầy, chỉ có khuôn miệng là mở ra khép vào một cách máy móc, nhưng chẳng phát ra bất kỳ âm thanh nào.

Rõ ràng đang lúc giữa trưa, con phố lại u ám như buổi hoàng hôn, bóng của tất cả mọi người đều đổ dài ngoẵng.

Trương Điện Anh thậm chí còn cố tình giẫm lên chân một người phụ nữ đi ngang qua.

Người phụ nữ không chút phản ứng.

Vẫn giữ nguyên tư thế và bước chân cũ mà tiếp tục tiến về phía trước, cứ như hoàn toàn không hề cảm thấy đau đớn.

Trương Điện Anh nuốt một ngụm nước bọt, bước chân càng thêm vội vã.

Đến lúc này hắn mới hiểu vì sao nơi đây lại gọi là quỷ vực.

So với cái nơi này, thành huyện trước kia quả thực đúng là thế giới bình thường.