Musclebound Necromancer?! Are You Kidding Me?

Chapter 28 – Strange clearance method

Qiao Yu walked up to the beast-head gate, reaching out to gently stroke it.

The door exuded a rich woody fragrance, which was quite pleasant to the senses.

"Found it!"

Yang Xiangdi excitedly approached Qiao Yu.

"Yu bro, look, there's a hint about this dungeon in the Kyoto University brochure!"

Qiao Yu glanced at the brochure, and indeed, there was a hint.

Upon hearing this, Fang Xun and the other two immediately lit up with interest.

In these puzzle-type dungeons, hints were crucial, so he quickly came over.

"Yang Xiangdi, could you share the hint with us? After all, more people mean more strength, and we can help out, right?"

Yang Xiangdi glanced at him. For some reason, he always felt Fang Xun was insincere, which made him dislike him.

But he didn't hide it and shared the brochure with Fang Xun and the others.

After all, they would need to cooperate to clear the dungeon later.

"It's the name of a bird and also a flower."

"Two words in total, a 2+3 pinyin combination, and the pronunciation is the answer."

Long Chang scratched his head in confusion at these hints; it was simply too difficult for him.

But Fang Yuan's eyes grew brighter and brighter. After thinking for a moment, she suddenly realized!

"I got it! The answer is..."

Bang!

A loud noise interrupted Fang Yuan's words.

The indestructible beast-head gate exploded into pieces, dust flying everywhere, and Fang Yuan's rosy mouth gaped in shock.

In front of the gate, a lean and vigorous figure maintained a punching posture. It wasn't hard to guess that this figure was the gate's destroyer.

"Awesome, Yu bro!" Yang Xiangdi excitedly ran over. As expected, clearing dungeons with Qiao Yu made things incredibly easy.

Qiao Yu withdrew his fist, somewhat embarrassed, and rubbed his nose.

"I heard you guys say this door was magic-immune, so I thought I'd try using physical strength to push it open. I didn't expect it to be so fragile."

Fang Xun and the others were stunned by Qiao Yu's display.

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They felt like there was a strange person in their team.

Wasn't this supposed to be a mage's exclusive dungeon? What kind of mage could punch through a door?

"Fang Yuan, you said you knew the answer. What is it?" Fang Xun asked.

"The answer is azalea. Du Juan - De Wu - Du! Ji Yu An - Juan!" Fang Yuan replied instinctively.

[Ding! Correct answer!]

[Beast-head gate has been opened!]

(Proofreader: azalea(杜鹃)，The Chinese pinyin for "杜鹃" is Du Juan. The pronunciation clue — Virtue and Might ("德武" dé wǔ, sounding like "Du") + Entrust with Peace ("寄予安" jì yǔ ān, sounding like "Juan")—blends into "Du Juan," which is exactly how "杜鹃" is pronounced in Mandarin (dù juān). It's a fun phonetic pun)

With the system's prompt, the two door hinges, now without a door, slowly began to turn.

Fang Xun, Fang Yuan, Long Chang: ......

The door's gone; does it even matter if it opens or not?

Behind the door was a long plank road leading to the mountainside, with scattered purple-red azaleas planted along the path.

"It seems there's only one way forward. We have to keep going. Yu bro, be careful of these flowers; I have a feeling they're not normal," Yang Xiangdi said.

"Okay!" Qiao Yu nodded.

They continued forward, the azaleas intermittently guiding them as if pointing the way.

Following the flowers' direction, they entered a mountain crevice.

Suddenly, a strange fragrance wafted through the cave. Qiao Yu took a breath and found his mind starting to blur.

"Xiangdi, be careful! There's something wrong with this scent!" Qiao Yu warned.

"You're a bit late, Yu bro. Look at my hand."

Yang Xiangdi grimaced, raising his wrist, which had turned a sickly purple.

Qiao Yu looked down and saw his own arm had also turned purple, and his health on the attribute panel was steadily decreasing.

"Health: 64/70 (Poisoned: Losing 3 health per minute)"

Qiao Yu's expression hardened. At this rate, he had less than half an hour to live.

Damn, his health was still too low!

"Could we have been poisoned? I remember the system said the tribe we're looking for is skilled in poisoning," Fang Yuan said, staring at her wrist.

"Look here! It seems like something's carved on the wall!" Fang Xun pointed to a spot inside the cave.

"Heavenly Silkworm Poison, alluring scent, enters the body, devours the five organs, within half an hour, a hundred holes pierce the body."

"Oh my god! It's really poison! I've been poisoned!" Long Chang fell to the ground in fright, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

Fang Xun and Fang Yuan's faces also turned grim. With such a mysterious poison affecting them, no one could stay calm.

"Yu bro, what do we do now?" Yang Xiangdi asked, his face drawn with worry.

"Keep moving forward. Staying here is waiting for death."

After saying this, Qiao Yu walked straight ahead, believing that the Inner World wouldn't set an unbeatable dungeon.

Wasting time standing still was the stupidest thing to do.

Watching Qiao Yu and Yang Xiangdi's backs, Fang Xun and the others exchanged glances and could only grit their teeth and follow.

Qiao Yu crawled through the cave for about a quarter of an hour before reaching the end.

The cave's exit was blocked by a massive stone, with a line of text carved on it.

"Strengthless, Jade without King, one cave one bend determines the world."

"What the hell is this? Another puzzle? How many words do we need to guess this time? We're running out of time!" Yang Xiangdi grew anxious.

"Don't worry, we'll use the old method," Qiao Yu said calmly.

"Wait! Don't rush; I know this! This is a cave; if you mess around, it could collapse!" Fang Yuan, following behind, was almost jumping in urgency.

Strengthless is ten thousand, Jade without King is poison, one cave one bend determines the world, cave above bend below is a den, right?

But Qiao Yu didn't give her time to speak. With a simpler, more efficient way to clear the dungeon, why waste brainpower?

Poisoned as he was, he didn't have time to waste.

As soon as he finished speaking, Qiao Yu slightly bent his right hand back, slowly closing his fingers into a fist.

Bending slightly, he used his right foot as a pivot, twisting his waist to turn his whole body.

"This question your dad can't solve!"

Bang!

Rumble!

Qiao Yu punched the cave wall, and the terrifying force caused the entire cave to collapse, burying Qiao Yu and the others in the mountain.

"Cough! Cough, cough, cough!"

After a while, Qiao Yu coughed and poked his head out of the ground.

His face was covered in dust, but his bright eyes were full of excitement.

Because a group of ancient buildings appeared before him.

"My god, what is this place? It looks so magnificent!" Yang Xiangdi emerged halfway from the rubble.

"Cough, cough! Cough, cough, cough!"

Fang Yuan and the others also crawled out from the debris. Although Qiao Yu's method of clearing the dungeon was quick and effective, it was a bit life-threatening.

[Congratulations, player, for completing Task One: Successfully finding the legendary evil tribe—the Ten Thousand Poison Den.]

Hearing the system prompt, Fang Yuan and the others' expressions turned strange.

Was this really a puzzle-solving dungeon? Why did it feel like they didn't need to use their brains at all?

"Huh? Are you guys from outside?" A childish voice sounded in Qiao Yu's ear.