Chapter 1116

「Lin Dui, is this instance a ghost-monster type, or are you going with others? 」

His hairs stood on end; inside the fighter jet, upon hearing Lin An say they were going to Dead Silent Mountain Villa, Zhang Tie instinctively glared.

After being frightened several times by supernatural incidents, he now has an instinctive physiological reaction to this thing.

「Yes, this instance is an outdoor instance, not a small-world type. 」

「After entering, keep your identities concealed; Dead Silent Mountain Villa is very close to the capital war zone, right inside the neighboring Jingnan war zone. 」

Seeing Xiong Hanzi so frightened, Lin An couldn't help but chuckle.

It's not Zhang Tie's fault; any Awakened One hearing about a supernatural incident has pretty much the same reaction.

Although the three major incidents in the Huaxia war zone aren't numerous, they are so terrifying that they are practically unsolvable for most Awakened Ones; ordinary people, upon hearing of a supernatural incident nearby, will basically detour as far as possible.

Speaking of which, he's also quite curious about what kind of Awakened One would actually choose to enter this instance.

「Dead Silent Mountain Villa—just hearing about this spooky thing sounds sinister.. 」

「Damn it, don't let it be the same as that deserted village. 」

「I damn well keep dreaming now, dreaming of that female ghost lying on my shoulder. 」

「Lin Dui, what do you think is in there? 」

After wiping a cold sweat from his forehead, Zhang Tie's expression was almost scrunched up like a chrysanthemum.

Seeing Zhang Tie ask him, Lin An hesitated a moment then shook his head.

That's right, he also doesn't know what's inside.

After all, in his past life no one came out alive, so naturally no one knows what the mission inside is; the only limited information is the rumor gathered by the Long An Intelligence Department.

Inside Dead Silent Mountain Villa, over a hundred survivors once lived there, serving as a semi‑gathering place.

Afterward people kept dying, until a pair of supply‑search teams passed by and smelled a strong stench of rotting corpses, realizing something was wrong.

However, the squad that discovered it also soon died; then one day the mountain villa was suddenly shrouded by a light curtain, and nearby survivors realized the system had designated it as a supernatural instance.

「Let's go in and see; no need to worry too much. 」

「With your strong vitality, encountering one or two supernatural attacks shouldn't be a problem. 」

After comforting Zhang Tie with a few words, Lin An, although also somewhat worried, still had some confidence.

Since realizing that supernatural entities belong to the rule type, he also understood that they don't necessarily kill instantly; often the damage is just so high that it looks like death on contact.

Take the low‑level supernatural entity summoned by Mo Ling as an example: even a Third Rank can hold out for a while when its life force is being drained.

This operation consists of me, Zhang Tie, and Mo Ling.

No need to mention me—my vitality and reversal trump card should let me endure several times. Zhang Tie has death‑immunity resistance, and Mo Ling simply isn't affected by attacks.

「As long as we find the counter‑rule, the supernatural incident isn't that scary. 」

「Of course, Lin An's only worry is that the rules governing the supernatural incident at Dead Silent Mountain Villa are too bizarre… or the rank is too high, high enough to ignore Mo Ling's talent. 」

「But.. 」

「The system won't issue a suicide mission. 」

Lin An unconsciously glanced at the ever‑sleep‑loving Mo Ling, his eyes flickering. This mission, the main combat power might just be little Mo Ling.

The next afternoon.

After a not‑short flight, Lin An had Yun Tian hide the fighter jet, then he and the two others rushed to the outside of Dead Silent Mountain Villa.

Their rendezvous point with another batch of Awakened Ones is right outside the villa.

A few minutes later, Lin An saw the six Awakened Ones from the Jingnan war zone who had been waiting early.

Among them, a youth in a black robe instantly caught his attention.

Two were Third Rank, four were Second Rank peak, and the youth turned out to be a mid‑level Third Rank.

Perhaps the youth's concealed strength could fool others, but to Lin An it was almost like a firefly fluttering in the night.

Being highly sensitive to spiritual anomalies, especially after continually grasping the cataclysmic power lately, Lin An could see at a glance that the youth's power was not only 'over the limit', his equipment was also clearly superior to the others.

「Kind of interesting.. 」

「Heads up, that youth is a mid‑level Third Rank. 」

After saying that softly on the team channel, Lin An stopped observing. An Awakened One whose power exceeds the limit and who intentionally hides himself… especially since Lin An had basically no impression of him from the trial battle.

「A card? Or is there some other opportunity? 」

Almost instantly, Lin An saw through what the youth's disguise was trying to conceal.

Unaware that he had been seen through, Xiao Peng kept sizing up Lin An and his companions.

In his eyes, he could barely tell that the three Third Ranks before him also had disguises, but their true appearance and even physique were indiscernible to him.

Straining his senses, he could only sense that Lin An was deliberately revealing his early‑stage Third Rank strength.

「Everyone, let's not waste words; I hope we can act together once we go in later. 」

「This instance is very difficult; those who have previously solved supernatural incidents can lead the team, while others should try to stay together and share any information. 」

「This is Li Xiang. 」

Xiao Peng pointed to the middle‑aged person beside him, then pointed to himself:

「Xiao Peng. 」

After a brief introduction, Lin An frowned slightly and spoke calmly:

「Just call me Ye Lin. 」

「My other two companions are Li Tie and Zhang Ling. 」

Casually reporting a random made‑up name, Zhang Tie behind him happily nodded, indicating he was Li Tie.

The two groups stood facing each other; after the introductions, the middle‑aged Li Xiang gave a strange glance at the one yielding the main position, indicating he was letting Xiao Peng lead, then simply spoke:

「Well, since we all know each other, let's go in. 」

After everyone exchanged glances, they nodded warily at each other, then all turned their gaze to the villa's gate.

All that could be seen inside the manor, which was grayish-white and leaned toward a European decorative style, was darkness.

"Ding, entering 【Silent Death Manor】 instance."

"Current instance mission: Find the ghost's true form and destroy it."

"Note: The ghost's true form can disguise itself as an inanimate object, including but not limited to the building itself."

"After confirming the target, you can proactively apply to the system to check whether the target is the true form of a malevolent ghost. If correct, the malevolent ghost will be restrained and can be attacked within 10 seconds. If incorrect, the initiator of the check will die instantly!"

"A flash of white light, Lin An felt his vision go dark, and after a brief moment of dazedness he discovered he had already entered the manor's interior."

"The place he was in was exactly the hall."

"Two circular corridors were distributed on either side, with a huge portrait of a head hanging in the middle."

"Have you found... the true form?"

"An inanimate object? Hidden in the manor?"