novelraw Chapter 75: The Nameless One’s Grave
Chapter 75: The Nameless One’s Grave
As usual, Lin Xun automatically ignored the first two options and selected the third.
[You stride confidently to the pew and pocket an eternally burning white candle.]
[You obtained White Moon Candle *1 (Junk)]
“Huh? Not a Memorial White Candle?”
Lin Xun quickly opened his inventory to check.
[White Moon Candle (Junk): A small, white, round candle made from the fat of the giant white whale of the sea. Used to offer tribute to the Radiant Crescent, typically seen in White Moon churches.]
He raised an eyebrow. This candle was clearly higher-end than the Memorial White Candle. He wondered whether that fancy tombstone could handle such a premium offering.
Leaving the small church, he mounted his lion and spent another stretch of time traveling back to the cemetery.
He proceeded to the final tombstone.
Opening his inventory, he clicked on the newly obtained White Moon Candle.[Do you want to light the White Moon Candle in front of the tombstone?]
[You place the White Moon Candle in front of the tombstone and light it. After bowing in silent tribute, the inscriptions on the tombstone glow even brighter!]
“Good, so the White Moon Candle can substitute for the Memorial White Candle’s effect.”
Lin Xun quietly waited to see what would happen next.
[A faint rumbling rises from beneath the earth. The center of the cemetery suddenly collapses, revealing a deep, yawning pit.]
[You step forward to take a look and find the pit to be over two meters wide. The crimson afternoon sunlight barely illuminates the top layer of the pit’s dirt walls.]
[Peering down, you see nothing but endless darkness.]
[Do you want to leap into the pit?]
“Another leap of faith?”
Lin Xun frowned, scanning his items and flipping through the text.
After a good while, he still couldn’t find any clues to solve this jumping problem.
According to the description of ‘bottomless’, without some sort of anti-death item, jumping down had a high probability of ending in death.
He thought about it and decided to switch to the Dancer shell.
[You have possessed the Corrupted Theater Dancer shell.]
The Dancer, once a master assassin, had shell equipment that reduced body weight.
At the same height, the Dancer’s chance of dying from a fall would certainly be lower than that of the Yellow-Robed Bishop.
Just as he was about to choose to jump into the pit, another clever idea popped into his head.
Both of his summoned creatures were currently alive. The Three-Headed Lion worked as a mount, but you couldn’t have both summons out at once.
So why not send the warhorse down first to test if it would die? After all, the horse was a bit redundant now, and if it died, it wouldn’t cost any soul strength to reshape.
Alternatively, he could ride the warhorse and jump down himself, using the horse’s body as a giant cushion. That should reduce the chance of dying.
But there was some risk in that approach. If both horse and rider died, he’d be out two points of soul strength.
After thinking it through carefully, Lin Xun decided to go with the second plan: jump down while mounted on the horse.
Because if he went with the first plan and the horse died, he’d have to resort to the second plan anyway.
He opened his inventory and clicked the Summoning Horn.
[A clear horn blast rings out. You summon the tall, strong Turkoman Bloodhorse.]
[With the Turkoman Bloodhorse summoned, the Corrupted Three-Headed Lion lets out a low growl, dissolving into shimmering starlight, dispersing with the wind and awaiting your next summon.]
[You mount the horse, grip the reins tightly, and ride into the bottomless pit…]
After a moment, the text finally continued.
[You and the Turkoman Bloodhorse crash to the bottom of the pit.]
[The immense impact from the fall kills your summoned creature!]
[You also suffer serious injuries. Your lower body is paralyzed, leaving you unable to walk.]
[You are at the bottom of the pit, shrouded in darkness. The air is thick with the stale scent of earth. You seem to spot a faint light in the distance.]
[Do you want to drag your crippled lower body and crawl forward?]
“Success!”
Lin Xun pumped his fist in excitement.
The warhorse had sacrificed itself as a cushion, allowing his shell to survive the fall.
As long as he made it to the new area alive, the plan was a success. Paralysis? Just a minor inconvenience. In this game, an injured shell could simply be refreshed at a Resting Page to restore it to full health and status.
He opened the Shell Slots and clicked on the Yellow-Robed Bishop.
[You have possessed the Corrupted Yellow-Robed Bishop of the White Moon Church shell.]
[The Thunder Dragon Scepter in your hand glows softly with a golden hue.]
[You see that a long corridor stretches ahead of you, with faint light glowing at the far end.]
[Do you want to proceed to explore?]
Lin Xun cautiously selected “No.”
The game did not bring up any search options.
Seeing that there was nothing else to explore in place, he had no choice but to enter the corridor.
[Guided by the soft glow of your weapon, you step into the dark, narrow passageway…]
[You have entered the Nameless One’s Grave.]
The Nameless One’s Grave?
Lin Xun immediately thought of burial treasures, loot, and treasure chests.
But knowing how cursed this game was, even if there were treasure chests, they’d definitely be guarded by some kind of boss monster.
[You approach the faint light at the end of the corridor, only to discover that it is a huge crystal embedded at the bend of the passage.]
[The crystal is taller than a person, with a smooth, polished surface so clear you can see your reflection perfectly.]
Could this be the grave’s treasure?
Most likely a giant luminous pearl-type of a grave lighting equipment.
A glowing crystal this large must be valuable, Lin Xun mused. It hinted at a grave owner of significant status.
[Your reflection is caught in the crystal. You have triggered a trap!]
[The crystal, which was glowing faintly, suddenly shoots out a bright beam of light, striking you directly.]
[You are disintegrated by the beam of light…]
[You died!]
“…”
That trap hit so suddenly, Lin Xun didn’t even have time to react.
He had been expecting a text like [You obtained XX Crystal] to pop up.
Instead, the crystal turned out to be a deadly trap…
“This stupid game really is next-level cursed.”
Having experienced so many bizarre deaths, Lin Xun thought they should just change the game’s name from The Book of Salvation to The Encyclopedia of Ways to Die.
[The feeble wandering soul is reborn at the Wilderness Shed…]
He tapped the Resting Page to rest and healed the Dancer shell’s paralysis.
Now his Shell Slots still had the Engineer and Dancer shells alive, and he still had the Three-Headed Lion as a summon.
Lin Xun reviewed the text from his recent death: [Your reflection is caught in the crystal. You have triggered a trap!]
“Hm, in other words, as long as the crystal doesn’t catch your reflection, and you use an invisibility skill, you can avoid the trap.”
Lin Xun stroked his chin in thought.
But the price of dying inside the grave was steep.
Entering the grave cost a summoned creature, and if you messed up, your shell could end up crippled.
Given that kind of risk, the rewards inside the grave had to be pretty significant.
Since the crystal’s trap needed to be bypassed with the Dancer’s invisibility skill, Lin Xun decided the Dancer shouldn’t be the one jumping into the pit.
He thought carefully and made a plan to sneak past the trap using full invisibility.
If he ran into a boss, he would use the Engineer as his ace up the sleeve.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t beat the boss. It was just that trial-and-error inside the grave was too costly.
Dying once would cost him two points of soul strength, which would seriously slow down his game progress.
Lin Xun wasn’t stubborn. When it was time to use a cheat, he would use a cheat.
With that thought, he opened his writing software.
After finishing two chapters, he waited until nightfall, and his soul strength was fully restored.
He picked up his phone. The Book of Salvation, activate!
[The feeble wandering soul awakens in the Wilderness Shed…]