So this instance was a trap from the very start!

Xiao Tangqiu’s eyes reddened in extreme grief and anger. Even though he knew that his power was far from that of the Abyss Demon, he took out a crossbow and rushed towards the Abyss Demon.

“It’s a pity, but I will keep to the Demon’s Oath…” The Abyss Demon chuckled through the mask, “But next time we meet, you won’t have such good luck.”

He had good luck?

It was the first time that Xiao Tangqiu heard these words from someone else. Hearing the regretful tone of the Abyss Demon, he felt ironic and numb. In his whole life… this was the second time he sincerely wished that “good luck” did not befall him.

As he charged before the Abyss Demon, before he even had time to touch a corner of the Abyss Demon’s clothing, he was bounced out by an invisible barrier. He fell heavily to the ground and before he had time to climb back up, a sudden pain came.

Xiao Tangqiu convulsed in pain and rolled on the ground as if there was a giant invisible hand crushing his insides…

“Then, see you next time.”

With the low laughter from the Abyss Demon, Xiao Tangqiu gradually lost consciousness in the severe pain wracking his body. Finally, his vision went dark and he passed out completely.

…

“Mission failed…”

Xiao Tangqiu seemed to have heard the cold and familiar system sound again in his dim consciousness, but before he could listen carefully, he was awakened by a familiar sound.

“Qiuqiu! Qiuqiu! Xiao Tangqiu!”

He abruptly opened his eyes to meet Tang Mianmian’s eyes through the glass. After seeing the joy in Tang Mianmian’s eyes, his awareness gradually returned to his body, and he quickly opened the switch of the transfer cabin and lunged towards Tang Mianmian.

“I just had a nightmare…”

Xiao Tangqiu looked at Tang Mianmian’s joyful face and couldn’t wait to speak.

His heart was full of fear and doubt. But Tang Mianmian’s frozen expression made the fear in his heart expand enormously. He felt like someone had punched him in the chest. There was a sudden painful and suffocating feeling, but he still struggled to speak, “I dreamed that… Shen Yuan died…”

Tang Mianmian was silent for a long, long time before speaking with the same difficulty, “…That wasn’t a dream.”

Xiao Tangqiu asked blankly, “Wasn’t a dream?”

Tang Mianmian was silent for a long time before speaking, “Our captain… he is really dead…”

Tang Mianmian looked at Xiao Tangqiu, who was sitting on the ground, and opened his mouth as if wanting to ask something, but he didn’t know what to say.

At this time, the others in the Reincarnation Team also came out of the transfer cabin one by one. They gathered around Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian quietly. Nobody opened their mouths, only a heavy silence hovering around them.

After a long time, Xiao Tangqiu asked with difficulty, “…What happened back then? Where are you guys? Why didn’t we see you?”

Xue Junli was silent for a while, and tried to calmly speak, “At that time we were trapped behind the barrier. We could see you, but you couldn’t see us…”

It turned out that the Reincarnation Team was all there when the Abyss Demon caught Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan, just trapped by an invisible barrier set up by someone. They couldn’t get out of the barrier, so they could only watch helplessly and everything happened, unable to stop it. Of course, even with them, their group of players would not be able to deal with the Abyss Demon.

Xiao Tangqiu asked in a daze, “Then you guys saw it too? You also know that Shen Yuan is dead?”

Xue Junli was silent for a few seconds before whispering, “We also saw the captain’s death…”

Xiao Tangqiu looked around and saw that besides the men, the two women had eyes swollen from crying, but they still stood strong. There was no sign of collapse or hysteria… It made him a little lost. He remembered in the beginning, the Reincarnation people were so angry that he had injured Shen Yuan and wanted him to disappear immediately/ But now that Shen Yuan actually died because of him, their attitude was unprecedentedly calm. So calm it felt cold-blooded.

“…Why?” Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you still so calm?”

Xue Junli paused, then spoke in a heavy but steady voice, “No matter which member dies, we must calm down immediately. We must get used to and accept death, and be prepared that everyone, including ourselves, will die at any time… Even if that person is our captain.”

Xiao Tangqiu was speechless. He wanted to accuse these people of being cold-blooded and ruthless, but he wasn’t in the position to say anything… Moreover, he had partial responsibility in Shen Yuan’s death even though he knew in his heart that Shen Yuan would die even if it wasn’t him. The Abyss Demon’s purpose was clear from beginning to end.

They fell into a silent confrontation and Xiao Tangqiu looked at the people in the Reincarnation Team coldly. Suddenly, he remembered something and rushed towards Xue Junli, grabbing him by the collar, asking with a glimmer of hope, “Are there any resurrection potions or elixir in the system store? Are there such special items in the instances?”

Normally, it was definitely impossible for Xue Junli to be grabbed by the collar easily by Xiao Tangqiu, but he was obviously distracted due to Shen Yuan’s death. He changed his expression several times when he heard Xiao Tangqiu’s words, and finally sighed and shook his head, “No… I have never heard of it.”

Xiao Tangqiu’s heart sank. Xue Junli was the founder of the City of the Abyss Forums. If even Xue Junli thought that there was none, then it should indeed be none…

What’s more, Shen Yuan was killed by the Abyss Demon…

Just as he wallowed in frustration, a voice rang out, “Special items for resurrection? I’ve heard of it.”

Xiao Tangqiu was greatly shocked and turned his head to look at that person. The others also looked in disbelief. He saw a somewhat familiar figure slowly walking up to him. It was actually Bai Yushan, whom he had met twice before.

Xiao Tangqiu used Bai Yushan to escape the instances by lucky accident previously. Compared to the last time he saw her, Bai Yushan had obviously experienced a lot of ups and downs. Not only was her skin rough and older, but even the originally beautiful black hair was also mixed with mostly white. She looked more than twenty years older.

“Bai Yushan?” Xue Junli almost didn’t dare to recognize such a Bai Yushan. He frowned, “How did you…”

Bai Yushan interrupted Xue Junli, she asked bluntly, “Are you looking for special items for resurrection?”

Xiao Tangqiu nodded immediately, “Yes! Do you know information related to special items?”

“Hey, intelligence broker,” Duan Hongzhen frowned, “How did you make yourself look so fucked up? And special items… how can they exist?”

“Then don’t believe me,” Bai Yushan said coldly, turning her head to look at Xiao Tangqiu, “Are you willing to believe it?”

Xiao Tangqiu actually didn’t believe in Bai Yushan, but for Shen Yuan’s sake… even if it was only a tiny possibility, he was willing to take a gamble. So he nodded without hesitation, “I believe it!”

Before Duan Hongzhen and others could ask questions, Bai Yushan said in a heavy voice, “In order to resurrect my sister, I have crossed hundreds of instances in this period of time, and finally got an important piece of information…”

“In a certain S-level instance, there may be special items that can resurrect a player!” Bai Yushan’s expression suddenly became excited, “It’s said that as long as the dead still have some mental awareness, they can be resurrected!”

Xue Junli frowned, “Why have we never heard of it?”

“Because it is a hidden instance. The probability of a player entering is minuscule, probably only one in ten thousand or less,” Bai Yushan sighed, “I also got this information from another hidden instance. The hardest part isn’t about finding special items from the instance, but to find the door of the hidden instance.”

Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a moment before asking Bai Yushan, “Where are your teammates?”

Bai Yushan’s expression shook, and a moment later, she said with difficulty, “They… are all dead…”

No wonder Bai Yushan had no one around her. All of her teammates were gone.

Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help asking, “Is it worth it?”

Was it really worth paying all her teammates for her sister?

Bai Yushan’s expression was a little agitated, “It’s exactly because of this that I must resurrect my sister! If my sister can’t be resurrected in the end, then won’t their sacrifices be in vain?”

Xiao Tangqiu was silent. Bai Yushan had obviously lost her clarity, and it forcefully sobered him a bit.

“I went through hundreds of instances and finally brought back my sister’s remnant soul with the Soul Gathering Orbs. Now I only need to find the special item in the hidden instance and I can resurrect my sister,” Bai Yushan didn’t mind Xiao Tangqiu’s silence at all, carrying the conversation alone, “Do you want to cooperate with me?”

Xiao Tangqiu’s mind turned. Although Shen Yuan was sacrificed and died, he may still have a remnant soul attached to Ouroboros. If the special item Bai Yushan talked about really existed, then Shen Yuan should still have a chance to be resurrected… Even if it was just a small possibility, he wanted to pursue it.

So he opened his mouth and said, “I agree to cooperate with you, but… it might just be me.”

Tang Mianmian immediately called out, “Don’t joke! If you want to go, then I will definitely go with you!”

Xiao Tangqiu’s heart felt a little hot. Then, Duan Hongzhen also scoffed, “Do you think that you are the only one who has feelings and sentiments? I want to go too! That’s our captain!”

Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu also did not hesitate to speak, “We have to go too!”

Xue Junli pushed up his glasses, “How can it just be you?”

Xiao Tangqiu smiled faintly, “Aren’t you numb to the death of your teammates?”

Xue Junli said calmly, “Our team’s training is indeed to calmly accept the death of teammates, but if there is a chance of resurrection… Why wouldn’t we try it?”

Xiao Tangqiu turned around and nodded to Bai Yushan, “If what you said is true, we agree to cooperate with you. But we don’t want to gamble everyone’s life for an illusory possibility. Can you prove that what you are saying is true?”

Bai Yushan sneered, “Of course!”

She did not hesitate to take out a book with a black cover. It was the Book of Demons.

“This is the Book of Demons, a forbidden book circulated within the demonic worshippers. It records all history from the demon creator creating the world to the present and also records some forbidden formations of how to sacrifice and summon demons… As we all know, the creator demon created the real world and the instance world, but no one ever knew why he was ultimately rejected and exiled by the instance world. Likewise, no one knows who created the City of the Abyss.”

“In the last hidden instance, I accidentally obtained this mutated Book of Demons. As long as I look at it upside down, I can learn the truth of all of this…”

Bai Yushan turned the Book of Demons upside down. Instantly, the black cover turned into a pure white cover.

“This book has no name. I call it the Book of Light. It says that the universe was originally an abyss of chaos. From the chaos, the first demon, the Abyss Demon, was born. He created and ruled the world. Ten thousand years later, the first ray of light appeared in the darkness, and a light side was born from the Abyss Demon. It can be called the Bright Demon or the Bright God. After all, the opposite of a demon should be a god.”

“God defeated and exiled the Abyss Demon in the instance world, allowing light to appear in this world, but the good times did not last long. Later, God was defeated and killed by the Abyss Demon. After he fell, his body turned into the City of the Abyss, and his spirit turned into the highest authority of the Abyss City… That is, the system we are familiar with.”

TN: Phew, lots of info to unpack here, eh?