novelraw Chapter 63: The Clown in the Catacombs of the Ancient Theater
Chapter 63: The Clown in the Catacombs of the Ancient Theater
Early the next morning, since his mission was complete, Lin Xun didn’t need to clock in for work.
Opening his phone, he saw a string of spam messages from the short-haired A-cup beauty, urging him to update his novel.
According to Ye Xiaoqi, the black stocking lady had taken a flight to Yun Capital City today, all because of the Seat Pass for the Disciple Sanctum he had obtained.
Only the four of them knew about this matter, and one of them was Lu Caiyi.
“Hm, my superior is probably going to help me apply for a reward. I wonder what I’ll get.”
Automatically ignoring Ye Xiaoqi’s messages urging him to update his web novel, Lin Xun opened the game.
The Book of Salvation, activate!
His current soul strength was 2/2. Lin Xun carefully considered which Shell to reshape.
The Yellow-Robed Bishop hadn’t been destroyed, so there was no need to reshape it.
Reshaping the Paladin of Discipline required two points of soul strength. He could first spend 1 point to partially recharge it, then after 12 hours spend another to fully recharge and reshape it again.“Better to explore the game for now. I’ll reshape the Paladin of Discipline once I have excess soul strength.”
As for the Engineer Shell, its quality was very low. It wasn’t even on par with the Paladin of Discipline, let alone comparable to the Dancer or the Yellow-Robed Bishop.
Lin Xun had always treated it as a temporary shell. Unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t waste experience points on the Engineer.
Suddenly, his eyes fell once again on the Summoning Horn in his inventory.
He furrowed his brow, thought for a while, and chose to reshape the mount.
[You have consumed 1 point of soul strength and reshaped the “Turkoman Bloodhorse.”]
The passage leading from the ancient theater to the catacombs was designed for gladiators and large beasts.
Even something as massive as the Three-Headed Lion had entered the catacombs. There was no reason a warhorse couldn’t.
If he could ride the horse around the iron cages, maybe he could kite the Three-Headed Lion using the Yellow-Robed Bishop’s abilities.
Compared to giving experience points to the Engineer Shell, Lin Xun preferred to feed them to the higher-quality Yellow-Robed Bishop.
Of course, kiting was just Lin Xun’s planned tactic. If the Three-Headed Lion turned out to be faster than the horse, he’d be doomed anyway.
“Let’s test it first.”
[You have discovered a large archway built into the stone wall separating the stage and the audience seating. It leads to the underground catacombs beneath the ancient theater.]
[Do you wish to pass through the archway and enter the catacombs of the ancient theater?]
Lin Xun opened his inventory and clicked the Summoning Horn.
[With a loud, clear horn blast, you have summoned the tall and sturdy “Turkoman Bloodhorse.”]
[You have possessed the Shell of the “Corrupted Yellow-Robed Bishop of the White Moon Church.”]
Switching back to the Yellow-Robed Bishop Shell, Lin Xun mounted the horse and entered the catacombs.
[You ride through the archway. In the dim torchlight, your horse’s hooves strike the stone steps as you descend.]
[You pass through a massive iron gate at the bottom of the stairs and arrive in the “Catacombs of the Ancient Theater.”]
[Your vision clears. The catacombs are vast and brightly lit. On either side are over a dozen decrepit living quarters. In the center are several huge iron cages covered in black cloth. Only two cages have had their coverings removed.]
[Will you explore the unopened iron cages, or search for the traces of the “Corrupted Three-Headed Lion”?]
The first time he encountered the Three-Headed Lion, Lin Xun had been inspecting a cage. It had silently appeared behind him.
The Three-Headed Lion probably hadn’t emerged from one of the cages in the central area. Given its massive size, if he had been facing the cage at the time, and the Dancer wasn’t blind, there was no way they would’ve missed it.
There might be some hidden mechanism in the catacombs that allowed the lion to conceal itself. If he could find it, maybe it would lead to an unexpected reward.
Lin Xun chose the second option.
[You search the catacombs carefully for traces of the “Corrupted Three-Headed Lion.”]
[Following faint bloody clawprints on the ground, you ride to a corner of the catacombs.]
[You notice that the floor here is slightly different from elsewhere. Listening closely, you hear the steady breathing of a large beast from underground.]
[The “Corrupted Three-Headed Lion” appears to be slumbering beneath the disguised floor. Do you wish to attack it?]
The Yellow-Robed Bishop riding a warhorse made far more noise than the Dancer using stealth.
Yet the Dancer had been discovered, while the mounted Bishop had not.
Could it be that the Three-Headed Lion was nocturnal and currently asleep during the day?
“Should I blast it with a laser cannon?”
The kiting strategy was just a theory. It might not be the optimal approach.
Plus, there was a big risk. If the lion outran the horse and caught up, he’d lose two points of soul strength.
After some thought, Lin Xun decided that since the lion was asleep and hadn’t been disturbed by the noise of his horse, he might as well go explore the cages first.
He rode out of the catacombs, dismounted at the open-air stage, and switched to the Dancer Shell.
Using stealth again, he reentered the catacombs to inspect the black-covered cages.
[You lift the black cloth and find that the metal bars of this massive iron cage have been torn open. The beast inside is nowhere to be found, leaving only bloodstains and shredded flesh.]
[Inspecting the broken bars closely, you see massive claw marks that clearly came from the outside. Even this sturdy cage couldn’t hold a wild beast for long.]
[Do you want to remove the cloth from the next iron cage?]
Same text as before.
[You remove the cloth from the next iron cage and find it too has been damaged. The beast once inside is gone, leaving only blood and meat fragments behind.]
Lin Xun continued exploring the cages one by one, until finally, when he reached the last cage, the text changed.
[You lift the cloth on the cage and find the metal bars perfectly intact.]
[Inside lies a person sleeping soundly, dressed in tattered clown attire, with dried blood covering his mouth. He appears to be one of the performers from the ancient theater.]
[The gap in the iron bars is just wide enough for your slender body to barely squeeze through.]
[Do you want to wake the “Corrupted Circus Clown,” or quietly sneak in and kill it?]
The name immediately reminded Lin Xun of the “Corrupted Theater Dancer.” Perhaps the clown was another special-type monster like the Dancer.
But if the clown turned out to be an NPC, killing it could mean missing a side quest.
At that moment, the game notified him that his stealth duration had expired. Lin Xun opened the panel and clicked to activate stealth again.
With stealth active, what was there to fear?
Lin Xun selected the first option to wake the clown.
[You take out a piece of “Foul Dungstone” and toss it at the sleeping clown’s face.]
[It jolts awake, glancing around in confusion. All it sees is the black cloth lifted from the cage.]
[The clown wipes the dungstone off its face in disgust, scratches its head in confusion, and then lays back down to sleep again.]
[Do you want to reveal yourself and talk to the clown?]
It didn’t seem like this clown was one of those twisted NPCs.
Lin Xun thought for a moment and clicked yes.
[You cancel stealth and reveal yourself in front of the clown, preparing to speak to it…]
[The clown stares at you in terror, suddenly pulls out a brass whistle, and shoves it into its mouth to blow, intending to summon the Three-Headed Lion.]
[What will you do?]
???
Are all the NPCs in this game this messed up? Is there not one normal person?
Lin Xun typed three question marks and stared at the screen in utter disbelief.