Chapter Sixty-Eight: The River Where Willows Turn to Blossoms

After killing a player, some of what they carried would drop, while the rest would vanish forever, dissolving slowly along with their body. The Predatory Spider Web and the greatsword originally used by Nanyang Sheng remained, since they had slipped off early in the fight and hadn’t disappeared. Now, they lay ownerless. The Spider Web was a fine secret treasure and was naturally put away. The greatsword was also of high quality—a purple-grade weapon—but, regrettably, Zhao Nan currently had no one at his side capable of wielding such a massive blade.

His gaze settled on the items scattered near Nanyang Sheng’s corpse. There was quite a lot, though most of it consisted of coins and healing potions. Besides those, there were two pieces of blue-grade armor and a crystal ball.

Sorcerer’s Crystal Ball: Enables observation within a hundred-meter radius.

Zhao Nan, intrigued, experimented with it and found that the crystal ball could display everything within a hundred meters—likely the very tool that had prompted Nanyang Sheng to attempt a sneak attack. Unfortunately for him, the ambush had failed.

The Sorcerer’s Crystal Ball belonged to a rare category of secret treasures. Its detection function was far more useful than either his Breeze of Lightness or Whispering Wind.

Suddenly, a graceful figure appeared within the crystal ball’s vision. Zhao Nan’s heart stirred with a sense of familiarity that spread swiftly within him. Evidently, the other party had sensed the same thing, for the figure in the ball broke into a run.

Moments later, she appeared before Zhao Nan.

...

“You’re hurt? What happened here?” Finina’s gaze had already fallen on Nanyang Sheng’s corpse, her face taut with worry.

Zhao Nan brushed the dust from his clothes, then took Finina’s hand in his own and smiled. “I’m fine.”

His clothes were only a bit torn, hardly enough to count as injured. Finina’s worry was simply a result of her concern, but even this fleeting care was cherished by Zhao Nan, as though it might vanish at any moment. He unconsciously tightened his grip on her hand.

“Nan, do you hear me?”

Jiang Lun’s voice suddenly sounded. “We’ve found Sister Xu Yang. She seems to have fainted, and Brother Xu Fei is tending to her wounds.”

Zhao Nan’s brow furrowed, and he quickly asked, “No sign of Gao Xiang?”

“None. What about Mingyang?” Jiang Lun asked in return.

“Wait... something’s going on here—damn, damn!” Gao Mingyang’s voice came through, shrill and odd like a rooster having its throat cut, but not exactly frightened or panicked.

“Mingyang?” Zhao Nan was puzzled.

“I’m fine... really, I’m fine... damn! Don’t bite—wait, never mind, I’ll talk later.”

The words were mystifying. Zhao Nan shook the water from his hair and said, “Let’s go check on things. We should be the first to find Mingyang.”

...

A short while later, farther downstream in the underground river, the glow of crystal illuminated Gao Mingyang’s silhouette. Zhao Nan saw him with his head bowed, and from the side he caught sight of Simen Yu’s younger brother—the strikingly delicate Simen Wu. At the moment, Simen Wu’s eyes were a little red and swollen, wide with surprise, his features seemingly softer than before.

The sound of approaching footsteps made Gao Mingyang turn. On his left cheek blazed a fresh, red handprint, making the situation all the stranger.

Zhao Nan approached quietly, his eyes flickering between the two, a hint of curiosity growing. Finina whispered something in his ear, and after a few odd reactions from Gao Mingyang, enlightenment dawned on Zhao Nan.

Apparently, upon seeing someone appear, Simen Xiao Wu feared her identity as a girl might be exposed. She muttered to Gao Mingyang, “If you say anything weird, I won’t forgive you!”

“I know, I know!”

His tone was one of surrender, but he couldn’t conceal it from those who’d already guessed the truth. Zhao Nan fought back a smile and joined them.

“Since we’re safe, let’s meet up with Xu Fei and the others,” Zhao Nan said, glancing at the now-exposed ‘boy.’ He asked softly, “Do you have any way to contact Simen Yu?”

Simen Xiao Wu shook her head, lowering her gaze. “I just woke up a little while ago.”

Gao Mingyang said nothing, turning his head to the side to hide the embarrassing handprint. Yet he couldn’t help but steal glances at Simen Xiao Wu’s face.

“They’ll likely be farther downstream. Let’s meet up with Xu Fei and Xu Feng,” Zhao Nan said, pointing ahead. He subtly flicked his fingers, and a pale blue glow flashed as a palm-sized patch of liquid covered Gao Mingyang’s left cheek. The red mark began to fade, and Gao Mingyang’s bravado melted away.

He thought to himself, This guy’s eyes are sharp—he must have figured it out long ago, just didn’t say anything.

...

Xu Feng was the first they found. After some time, he had recovered and even wrung the water from his clothes. He was surprised to find someone from ‘Purgatory’ among Zhao Nan’s party, but given the chaos, the teams must have been scattered.

Soon after, they reunited with Xu Fei, Jiang Lun, and Xu Yang. The three looked weary but not downcast. With the exception of Gao Xiang, ‘World’s End’ was now nearly whole.

Simen Xiao Wu kept her head down, seemingly listening intently to something. Zhao Nan knew she was silently calling out on her team channel.

“What should we do now?” Xu Feng asked bluntly, the joy of reunion quickly overshadowed by reality.

Gao Xiang needed to be found, but the question remained whether they should also help ‘Purgatory’ recover Simen Yu. In their team channel, they quietly debated, avoiding Simen Xiao Wu.

The argument went on in silence, everyone disturbingly calm. Simen Xiao Wu’s face grew pale. She wasn’t oblivious to their deliberations, but for now, she could only endure it. She wasn’t anyone special to them—just a chance companion, hardly even a friend.

Zhao Nan sighed and spoke. “Let’s keep heading downstream. If we don’t run into Gao Xiang after a while, I fear his chances of survival are slim…”

...

Everyone agreed—they had no better plan.

“Hey, you should come with us, too. Maybe you’ll find your brother,” Gao Mingyang said, scratching his head.

“All right,” she replied softly, unable to say more.

...

Fortunately, they did find Simen Yu farther downstream. Less fortunately, there were two corpses by his side.

Simen Xiao Wu’s eyes widened in relief when she saw that the bodies were not from ‘Purgatory,’ and she hurried over in delight.

“Actually, it was three,” Simen Yu said, squinting at Zhao Nan. “I tossed one into the river.”

Zhao Nan glanced around—Simen Yu was alone, and those two corpses clearly belonged to the ‘Guardian Knights.’ He didn’t ask why Simen Yu had killed them, but he was curious about the body in the river.

It was obviously not an attempt to destroy the evidence, so why throw it into the water? Zhao Nan craned his neck, watching the river. Not far ahead, the rushing water abruptly vanished—not down a cliff to form a waterfall, but disappearing straight into a wall.

The river crashed against the wall, yet didn’t back up. The wall seemed almost illusory.

After soothing Simen Xiao Wu, Simen Yu looked to the river and said, “I have a question. If this is a dungeon, how big is it? The river must be long, but could the dungeon really contain both its source and its mouth?”

“Obviously not,” Simen Yu answered himself confidently. “That’s why, after falling in, I didn’t try to get to shore—I let the current carry me downstream.”

“What’s behind the wall?” Zhao Nan suddenly asked.

“The end, and the beginning,” Simen Yu replied.

Zhao Nan nodded. Seeing the others’ confusion, he explained, “In other words, when the river passes through that wall, it reappears at its starting point. In an instant, the end becomes the beginning. It’s a perfect loop.”

This marvel left everyone astonished. Zhao Nan, however, asked, “And the corpse?”

“It should show up any moment now... There it is,” Simen Yu said with a slight smile, pointing at the river. A body floated swiftly by, already dissolving, pale bone peeking through.

“Experiment complete. My theory is proven,” Simen Yu said. “Now then, Mr. Zhao, I think I’ve found a shortcut to our destination.”