Chapter 3552: Dead Silence City

In the temple, as Su Xiao pushed open the Dead Silence Door, cold mist and gray-white cotton-like substances drifted out from the door crack, along with feelings of death, ominousness, and silence.

Su Xiao looked into the door. The scene that came into view was a piece of white fog. Through the white fog, he could vaguely see the building complex standing in the distance. This was the Source · Dead Silence City.

Woom~

A fluctuation that only Su Xiao himself could sense came from the Black King Armguard he was wearing. He felt that the Black King Armguard was resonating with something deep in the Dead Silence City.

After the layout and investigation in the High Wall City, Su Xiao's purpose for exploring the Dead Silence City this time was very clear.

Located in the deepest part of the Dead Silence City was a building named the Supreme Sanctuary, where the Source was sealed, which was the root of the spread of Dead Silence. Solving this thing would naturally end the cause and effect with Dead Silence.

Many years ago, the Healing Church cut a piece from the huge "Source" in the Supreme Sanctuary. Afterward, this piece of "Source" transformed into the "Initial Source Stone." Later, this "Initial Source Stone" was divided into five.

To enter the Supreme Sanctuary where the Source power spread, having one or two "Source Stones" was useless. Only by gathering all five pieces and letting them reunite into the volume of the "Initial Source Stone" would one have the qualification to step into the Supreme Sanctuary.

At the moment, Su Xiao only had one "Source Stone" sent by the Archbishop. There was still a considerable distance from gathering all five pieces and letting them reach the volume of the "Initial Source Stone."

Corresponding to the "Source Stone" was the "proof," which was the Black King Armguard. At this time, after opening the Dead Silence Door, it displayed characteristics that it didn't have before.

Su Xiao raised his left arm, pulled up his sleeve, and looked at the Black King Armguard that wrapped his left forearm and left hand. This armguard already had a kind of ability: it could absorb "Source Stones," thereby improving the wearer's resistance to Dead Silence power.

Absorbing about 3 pieces of volume, by then, even if Su Xiao didn't use 【Shelter Stones】, he could move in most areas of the Source · Dead Silence City.

To be precise, the 12-hour shelter effect possessed after using 【Shelter Stones】 was more like a kind of buff state, but this kind of shelter had levels.

Because of selling semi-finished 【Shelter Stones】 recently, Caesar and Wood, these two guys, listed the shelter levels in detail through the difference between semi-finished 【Shelter Stones】 and normal 【Shelter Stones】.

First was the semi-finished 【Shelter Stone】. The shelter level of this thing was around 3.5. And the outer area of the Dead Silence City only needed level 3 shelter. Going deep into the building complex on the outer side required level 4 shelter.

So quite a few victims... cough, quite a few buyers of semi-finished 【Shelter Stones】 indicated that when they arrived at the building area, they would encounter intermittent Dead Silence erosion. That was the kind where the tiger body suddenly shook, the whole body felt tearing pain, and the HP dropped by a cut. When turning around to run backward, they found it was fine again.

When a group of buyers came to settle accounts with Caesar, they found that Caesar had long since run away.

Normal 【Shelter Stones】 could probably provide level 5 shelter effect. Under normal circumstances, this shelter level could go to most places in the Dead Silence City.

If Su Xiao could let the Black King Armguard absorb about 3 "Source Stones," he could obtain a 24-hour level 5 shelter effect. If he used 【Shelter Stones】 again, the shelter effects would stack, probably reaching level 8 shelter.

As for wanting to enter the Supreme Sanctuary, according to the general information given by the Archbishop, Su Xiao estimated that it would require at least level 40 shelter level to enter.

This also represented that besides finding all five Source Stones and letting the Black King Armguard absorb enough Source power, there was no other way at the moment.

As an alchemist, after Su Xiao obtained the first "Source Stone," he didn't rush to find a way to use the Black King Armguard to absorb this thing, but first thought about whether he could manufacture it. If he could manufacture it, let alone missing 4, even missing 40 wouldn't be a problem.

It was a pity that until now, Su Xiao hadn't figured out what the "Source Stone" was. The energy nature of this thing was both high-tier and complex, seemingly fused from several high-tier energies.

Su Xiao took out the "Source Stone," which attracted the attention of Zuiyas and Wood on the side. Zuiyas said:

"Brother Bai Ye, this thing is ominous. You and I have a friendship of life and death, so why not let me bear this ominousness for you..."

Before Zuiyas could finish his words, Su Xiao had already activated the Black King Armguard.

Ding~

The "Source Stone" was adsorbed onto the Black King Armguard, making a crisp sound while dissolving, and finally transformed into a stream of pure black energy, sinking into the Black King Armguard.

This gave Su Xiao a feeling that the Black King Armguard had been completed a bit. If more "Source Stones" could be absorbed, the Black King Armguard would definitely have a huge improvement.

He wasn't surprised by this. Theoretically speaking, the "Source Stone" was the superior level of the Black King Armguard. Absorbing it, and ensuring that the amount absorbed was sufficient, it was only natural for the Black King Armguard to climb to the superior level.

Seeing the "Source Stone" being absorbed by the Black King Armguard, the two good teammates on the side were all interested, but there was no meaning of competition. After all, the three of them entering the Dead Silence City this time had their own purposes.

Su Xiao's reason for entering the Dead Silence City didn't need to be mentioned. As for Wood, he was looking for the Black Maple Tree and also looking for other secret treasures, thereby making up for the cost paid for entering this world.

Although Wood had already guessed that the news that there was a Black Maple Tree in the Dead Silence City was a fake news deliberately released by his "good teammate," since he had come, and it was resources provided by the clan to enter this world, looking around in the Dead Silence City could be considered giving an account to the old devils in the clan. More importantly, finding secret treasures to stop losses, and even making a big profit in return.

Compared to Wood, Zuiyas, that scoundrel, clearly had impure motives. The Meteorite Star he was in was an old rival of this world, the Dark Continent, in the past, and knew more about this place.

Although Zuiyas hid it well, Su Xiao always had a feeling that this guy was looking for something in the Dead Silence City, and thinking about it, that thing was very important to the Ancient God system.

The Dead Silence Door was wide open. Su Xiao, Wood, Zuiyas, and Gulu stood side by side, while Xiang Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha were behind Su Xiao.

The situation was deadlocked like this. No one was willing to be the first to enter the Dead Silence City, especially under the premise that Su Xiao's Black King Armguard was continuously resonating with some kind of existence deep in the Dead Silence City.

"Stiffening like this is not a way. Why don't we elect a leader?"

Zuiyas spoke. If it were in the past, he, who had the immortality characteristic, would definitely walk in the front. But after facing Dead Silence, he knew that the situation this time was different from the past.

Hearing the word "elect," Su Xiao and Wood, with calm expressions and coincidentally, pushed Zuiyas, who was standing in the middle, out, thereby completing this physical election.

Zuiyas only had time to shout half a beautiful hometown phrase before disappearing into the white fog without half a breath. It was obvious that the Source · Dead Silence City was located in an independent area; otherwise, it would have assimilated and eroded this world long ago.

Wood asked: "Is Zuiyas okay?"

"Probably."

"Then we enter too. You first?"

Wood made a gesture of invitation, fully displaying the style of the Devil race.

"..."

Su Xiao didn't speak, taking a step and walking into the white fog in front.

In the white fog, the coldness that originally made the soul ache retreated, replaced by the confusion of space. This feeling was similar to the experience of being randomly teleported. Noticing this point, Su Xiao felt bad.

Just at this moment, a coldness attacked from the surroundings. Different from the bone-chilling cold just now, this time it was a coldness that made people unable to help but grow goosebumps. In the chaotic space of the white fog, one after another wooden, withered, and dry arms probed out from the surroundings. Among them, the strangest one rushed straight toward the back of Su Xiao's neck.

Zing!

The slash mark flashed and disappeared. Su Xiao pressed the hilt of his sword with one hand. Although he didn't draw his sword, the slash edge had already come out. Facing this kind of surprise attack, the slash strike improved from the Blade Domain responded more efficiently.

The withered arm shattered in response, but from the broken part of this arm, one after another small arms coiled together immediately grew, constituting a strange claw, intending to attack Su Xiao again.

"Moo."

Amu's big hand met it.

Bang!

The chaotic space around made a booming sound like an explosion. Even Su Xiao felt a buzzing sound in his ears. This mutation was clearly the hospitable Dead People welcoming Su Xiao, who was the Chosen One.

A spatial suction force surged. The scene in front of Su Xiao blurred one after another, and finally, he was pulled out of the chaotic space.

Su Xiao squatted on the ground. The white fog around dissipated quickly. The buzzing in his ears disappeared after a few seconds. His whole body also felt slightly sore because he was in the chaotic space, and everything in front of him appeared with double images.

After calming down for half a minute, Su Xiao recovered to his peak state. It had to be said that the force of this chaotic space was not small, making Su Xiao, who was accustomed to the Demon race teleportation, adapt for half a minute.

Before he could look around at the situation, a bloody smell drifted over. Regarding this, Su Xiao wasn't surprised. This was the Dead Silence City, where dangers were hidden everywhere. He looked in the direction where the bloody smell drifted and saw Gulu lying on her side on the ground, her body slightly curled up.

"Woof?"

Xiang Bubu Wang, who couldn't distinguish north, south, east, or west and looked like he was drunk, got up from the ground, moved a few steps horizontally, and stood firmly against the wall.

"Damn, the force of this teleportation is too big. My head is buzzing."

Baha shook its head. The world that was shaking left and right in front of it gradually stabilized and finally stabilized completely.

"Almost... almost died."

Gulu got up from the ground, but because her whole body was in pain, she was still sitting on the ground on her side. A few drops of blood dripped down her white chin. Looking at that appearance, she was clearly a bit doubtful about life.

Gulu naturally wasn't afraid of death, but she absolutely couldn't accept dying in this near-wild teleportation.

Actually, Gulu was unlucky. Only the Chosen One had this treatment when entering the Dead Silence City. This was why Wood, that guy, deliberately waited a while and didn't enter the white fog with Su Xiao.

Just now, being attacked by Dead People in the chaotic space, Amu could be said to have made a great contribution. With so many Dead People's arms probing, in that situation, Su Xiao being dragged away was almost inevitable. At the critical moment, Amu, as a tank, stood up and pushed those Dead People back.

As for Amu's position at the moment, it was unknown. It was estimated that he was already in the deep part of the Dead Silence City.

Su Xiao looked around. This was a clothing store. The floor-standing clock had stopped. The clothing fabrics hanging on the shelves were thick and weathered until they were hard, all presenting a dirty oily black.

The chandelier above was metal, and the style was complicated. It could be seen that the civilization of the Dead Silence City at that time was not backward. The skeleton suspected to be the clothing store owner was hanging on the chandelier. From the white degree of the bone weathering, the other party had been dead for some years.

From the few clothes hanging on the shelves, it could be seen that this shop owner had no intention of operating this store. Instead, the counter full of bottles and jars occupied most of the shop's area.

A yellowed diary was placed in the most conspicuous place on the counter. Su Xiao picked it up and checked it. The content was:

"Hahahahahahahahaha..."

Su Xiao frowned. He didn't know what happy thing this tailor had. The first page of the last words diary was so happy. He continued to flip it open and discovered that the content recorded on each page afterward was not much, as follows:

"It's all the Healing Church's fault. The church abandoned us. We can only rely on ourselves to live."

【Torn-off Scrap Page】

"Thank you for the candles sent by the church. Still being able to see the firelight is really great. Ina hasn't laughed for a long time, and little Aivi is the same."

【Torn-off Scrap Page】

"Damn Healing Church, they deserve to die, deserve to die!"

【Torn-off Scrap Page】

【Torn-off Scrap Page】

"Should I join them? I'm a bit... want to join them. No, I want to accompany my wife and daughter to the end. I can't become a Dead Person."

"Little Aivi died. The cute and warm her in the past is now cold, hard, and pale. There is no need to persist anymore, but I don't want to become a monster. Although I am just a tailor, not a supernatural hunter, nor a church knight, I have my own dignity. I won't become a monster and won't hurt others."

The diary ended abruptly here. One could imagine the desperate mood of the residents here when the Dead Silence power spread at that time. They loved and hated the only reliance, the Healing Church.

Su Xiao had just put down the diary when he heard Gulu, who was still sitting on the ground, ask:

"You, why are you okay."

Gulu said this, threw away the empty potion bottle in her hand, and took out a wet wipe, preparing to wipe the blood off her face.

Hearing Gulu ask this, Baha showed a smile of someone who had been through it: "Nothing else, just familiarity."

"What?"

Gulu was even more confused. If it were about the survival power in terms of resistance to beating, she didn't know which one was stronger between her and Baha, but she could be sure that she was definitely stronger than Xiang Bubu Wang.

Gulu didn't know there was something called a Demon race teleportation array. When Xiang Bubu Wang experienced the Demon race teleportation array at the beginning, he went into shock for the first few times. Later, his spatial resistance increased sharply.

Ignoring Gulu, whose psychological shadow area was gradually increasing, Su Xiao arrived at the shop door and wiped a smear of dust off the glass, and the desolate street came into view.

Although this was the outer circle of the Dead Silence City, it had already left the white fog area of the outermost circle. The street was not paved with stone slabs, and there was little land in the entire Dead Silence City. The ground was a kind of gray rock layer.

If one looked down at the outer area of the Dead Silence City from the sky, one would find that the terrain here was very simple. In the middle was a main street more than ten meters wide, and on both sides were multi-story buildings of uneven height. These buildings were mostly pointed roofs, the outer walls were gray-white, and the roots of the walls were climbed with thick greasy moss.

This clothing store was the main street as soon as one went out. Compared to walking other branch streets or paths, walking the main street could undoubtedly reach the deep part of the Dead Silence City faster. Of course, one would also die faster.

From a certain perspective, the Branch · Dead Silence City was a part that mapped the Source · Dead Silence City, but it was essentially different from here.

At this moment on the main street, Su Xiao saw a large amount of scraping marks on the ground, as if something had been dragged across it frequently. If he wasn't wrong, these were the marks left by the "old acquaintances," which were Tree Eaters.

Su Xiao had seen Tree Eaters in the Branch · Dead Silence City. There was only one strategy to deal with Tree Eaters, which was to avoid them. Fighting with Tree Eaters, winning or losing was a blood loss, and it was possible that while fighting, one would be hunted by a group of Tree Eaters. In that situation, one couldn't even escape.

Furthermore, Su Xiao suspected that the Tree Corrosions he had encountered previously were weakened, knock-off versions; the Tree Corrosions within the Source · Dead Silence City were the complete forms.

Just as Su Xiao was thinking about how to explore toward the deep part, footsteps came. Hearing the sound and looking over, a team of people came into view.

This team of people... no, to be precise, it was a person and several monsters forming a peculiar team.

The man walking in the front was in his early 40s. Looking at his attire, he was a member of the Steam God Sect. One didn't need to think to know that he must have wanted to come to the Dead Silence City to find secret treasures, but ended up planting here.

Behind this man were two Dead People in tattered clothes, whose exposed forearms and faces were withered, and a little girl with long hair and pitch-black eye sockets.

Behind these three was a monster that was over 10 meters tall, with rough skin that revealed gray-black, and looked like a human shape overall.

The chest of this monster was covered with black rusted armor plates. Its head had no facial features, just like a bulging gray abscess. Only at the mouth were a row of air holes of different sizes. The most conspicuous was the monster's right arm. This 10-meter-tall guy's right arm was so long that it dragged on the ground. The whole arm was composed of tree roots, and some hanging tree roots were full of barbs, dragging across the street and making friction sounds, leaving black wet marks.

In this peculiar five-person team, the Steam God Sect member walked in the front, but his appearance was hesitant. If one looked carefully, one would find that several strands of hair pierced through the back of his head, sinking deep into his brain marrow, controlling him to walk forward.

The owner of these strands of hair was the black-eyed little girl. She looked like a human shape, but actually, she was more like an intention, or a collection of negative emotions such as resentment. What made her have wisdom and imitate the human appearance was the twisted soul at the very center of her body.

"God will... protect us, don't... be afraid, Healing Church... won't abandon us."

The Steam God Sect member walking in front shouted, his voice numb and dull, clearly a bait.

Su Xiao noticed that the two Dead People in the team each held a lantern. The lantern was full of solution, soaking a ball of eyeballs that were stuck together.

This eyeball ball was about the size of a fist. The moment he looked at one of the pupils, Su Xiao felt as if needles were pricking his scalp. This thing was a trap aimed at the soul level.

Su Xiao withdrew his gaze. He further realized the hospitality of the Source · Dead Silence City. The monsters here, after being alarmed, didn't wait in place or wander around. These Dead People actually took the initiative to come out to hunt the living beings who broke into the Dead Silence City.

At the moment, this monster team was using that Steam God Sect member as bait. There was no need to lure others to show up at all. As long as one looked at the eyeball lantern, anyone with soul strength below 400 points would hold their head and wail on the spot. This wasn't something that could be suppressed by willpower, but a stress response at the soul level.

Su Xiao's soul strength was as high as 650 points. After looking at the evil eyeball lantern, he felt his scalp being pricked by needles. If his soul strength was below 500 points, or even 400 points, the outcome could be imagined.

As long as one was attracted by the sound and took a look at this monster team in the dark, they would be hit, and then they would face the pursuit of 2 Dead People + black-eyed little girl + one Tree Eater. Please don't misunderstand, this was just the initial pursuit. After one of the Dead People roared, a large number of Dead People would swarm over from the nearby area.

No wonder the contractors were wailing like wolves on the World Contact Platform last night. With the current situation of the Source · Dead Silence City, this ghost place, as long as one was rational, they wouldn't enter.

"What's the situation?"

Gulu quietly arrived at the side, preparing to straighten up and look out through the glass on the door, but was pressed down by Su Xiao with one hand.

"What are you doing!"

Gulu looked at Su Xiao. She hadn't forgotten the matter of being clamped with the Ancient Mask before.

"..."

Su Xiao didn't speak. Based on his understanding of Gulu, this little neurotic, if she didn't suffer a big loss, she wouldn't have heartfelt awe for the Dead Silence City.

Seeing Su Xiao no longer speak, Gulu hesitated, first putting on a protective mask, and then stuffing a suppressor into her mouth. Clearly, she had suffered the loss of being briefly mentally controlled and exposing her position before.

Gulu poked her head out to look, then looked at one of the pupils in the eyeball lantern. She immediately rolled her eyes, held her throat with both hands, and prepared to wail, but the suppressor in her mouth was activated, making her unable to make any sound, and she fell to the ground instead.

Su Xiao looked at Gulu, who was curled up on the ground, holding her head with both hands. He was quite satisfied in his heart. Although Gulu had her own ideas, she knew how to prevent herself from becoming a pig teammate, which was a good character.

Gulu was in shock for a few minutes before waking up. She felt terrible overall. It wasn't that she hadn't been to dangerous areas, but she had truly experienced such a dangerous one as the Dead Silence City for the first time. The chaotic spatial force field at the entrance was full of malice toward the small physique of the assassination type, and afterward, she experienced the evil means of the Dead People.

"Is this the trial for promotion to the Ninth Tier?"

When Gulu asked this, she seemed a bit doubtful about life, because in the next world progress, she would also be promoted to the Ninth Tier.

"You could say that."

Baha's answer was a bit vague.

"Don't just say that. I'm also being promoted in the next world progress. If the promotion difficulty is so high, then I'll eat well recently. Whatever candy I want to eat, I'll buy whatever candy."

"Don't overthink it. It's complicated to explain specifically. In short, when you are promoted, it won't be so dangerous."

While Baha lowered its voice, its gaze scanned outside the window. Determining that the team of Dead People and Tree Eaters had gone far, it quietly pushed open the room door, transformed from an air hegemon into a running chicken, and thief-like poked its head out to observe.

A moment later, Baha stepped toward the main street. One of its eagle claws had just stepped on the street surface when a piercing wind-breaking sound came.

Bang!!

The explosion spread, and an all-metal arrow nailed in front of Baha. The sound and attack fluctuations were extremely shocking, but they didn't destroy the streets and buildings of the Dead Silence City much.

Baha was shocked by this arrow and almost sat on the ground. It could be 100% certain that if this arrow shot on its head, it would die instantly.

Gulp~

Baha swallowed its saliva. It suddenly raided out, drew an arc at the ultra-low altitude of the main street, and then turned back into the clothing store at the fastest speed.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...

One after another ancient but sturdy metal arrows nailed to the position Baha had just flown past. That was to say Baha's speed was fast, which could be called the fastest in Su Xiao's team; otherwise, it would have been nailed to the street by these arrows.

According to the direction from which the metal arrows flew, Su Xiao looked at the high tower in the distance. This kind of high tower was cylindrical and was several tens of meters high. Looking at it, there was one every half a kilometer.

The observation hole of the high tower was pitch black, as if there were pairs of pale eyes looking down at everything on the main street.

Walking the main street was looking for death. With the arrows of these pale hunters, the top-tier tank of the Eighth Tier could enter a near-death state after taking two arrows. What's more, the shooting speed and attack frequency of this thing were too perverted.

What made people gratified was that the explosion caused by these pale hunters shooting arrows didn't attract a large group of Dead People. This explained one thing: Dead People would only be attracted by specific sounds, such as the roaring of other Dead People.

Roughly determining this point, Su Xiao looked at the high wall in the distance. The first thing to do at the moment was to pass through the outer area of the Dead Silence City and enter the inner city area, which was the key area.

Just at this moment, footsteps came from outside the window. Hearing the sound and looking over, it was actually Wood walking on the main street. Wonderfully, the pale hunters in the high towers all acted as if they didn't see Wood.

Su Xiao guessed what was going on. Pale hunters were also a kind of Dead People, so they were more inclined to attack living beings, or rather, living things.

At this time, Wood had already retreated from "three-dimensional" to "two-dimensional." In the two-dimensional state, he was not a living being, but more like a combination of lines, shapes, etc. that could walk. One could only say that the other three "good teammates" all had their own extraordinary strengths.

Wood, who was walking on the main street, noticed Su Xiao's side. He raised his finger and pointed at the high wall in the distance, meaning to pass the outer area first and meet in the inner city area. The outer area was not worth exploring. Quite a few contractors had come here before, and there were too many Dead People here, so it couldn't be explored. 【

Su Xiao nodded at Wood, who was a hundred meters away, signaling that they would meet inside the high wall. Seeing this, Wood, in his two-dimensional state, continued walking at a pace that was not particularly fast.

Watching Wood walk away on the main street, Su Xiao headed toward the back door. His purpose for entering Dead Silence City was quite clear: the first thing to do was to find the Demon Blacksmith. He had previously sent a message through the Skeleton Gambler to meet the Demon Blacksmith here.

With the 【Oath Object】 in his possession, Su Xiao was certain that the Demon Blacksmith would definitely come.

This was indeed the case. After entering the outskirts of Dead Silence City, Su Xiao discovered that the 【Oath Object】 in his storage space had activated on its own, frequently emitting resonant fluctuations, and the direction of this resonance was precisely the inner city of Dead Silence City.

Given the Demon Blacksmith's power, even within Dead Silence City, the place where he was located could be considered a safe zone, which was exactly what Su Xiao urgently needed.

Only after arriving at this safe zone would Su Xiao consider looking for the Choir to seize the Source Stone they possessed.

Pushing open the back door of the clothing store, Su Xiao had just stepped out when he saw Zuiyas in the narrow alley. He noticed that Zuiyas was walking toward him with his back turned.

"Bai Ye, let's act together later..."

Before Zuiyas could finish his sentence, Su Xiao had already retreated back into the clothing store and closed the back door behind him, then wiped the dust off the glass on the door.

Gulu, standing to the side, was stunned. The skill and naturalness with which he sold out his teammate clearly wasn't his first or second time; without having done it eight or ten times, he wouldn't be this natural and fluid.

Through the glass, Xiang Bubu Wang, Baja, Gulu, and Saint Poetry saw Zuiyas in the narrow alley outside walking backward past the door step by step. A few seconds later, a humanoid existence composed of black particles walked past the door in the same posture, also moving backward.

Seeing this existence, Gulu felt intense discomfort, both physically and mentally. At this moment, she somewhat regretted coming to Dead Silence City.

Compared to Gulu, Saint Poetry in her consciousness space was already about to vomit. After seeing that black-particle humanoid existence, her soul body felt as if it were about to be assimilated into that same granular form.

"Your friend is in trouble."

Gulu spoke.

"Mm."

Su Xiao took out his pocket watch to time it. About half a minute later, the door handle was turned, and Zuiyas, with a 'mosaic' face, walked in.

"The smell is too disgusting. That thing was staring at me intently; if I don't swallow it, it will assimilate me."

Zuiyas had the expression of someone who had eaten dirt. By the looks of it, he was preparing to devour something else to 'rinse his mouth.' His gaze turned to Gulu, and he then asked Su Xiao: "Is the one in this little girl's consciousness your friend? If not, I'm going to swallow it."

"Let's count it as one."

"Then forget it."

Zuiyas felt a slight sense of regret. In Zuiyas's view, Saint Poetry in her soul state was not difficult to swallow; or rather, most soul bodies were very easy for the Ancient God faction to consume.

"..."

Su Xiao tossed out a Soul Crystal (Medium). Usually, when he encountered soul energy with a strange taste, he would eat a Soul Crystal to soothe it.

After Zuiyas caught the Soul Crystal (Medium), he made a gesture to toss it into his mouth, but ultimately shook his head, preparing to save it for his daughter. He tucked it into his bosom and said: "Many thanks, it cured my discomfort instantly. Bai Ye, your medical skills are truly superb."

Having received a benefit, Zuiyas was never stingy with words of praise; after all, he was thick-skinned.

"..."

Su Xiao didn't speak and lifted his foot to walk outside, but was stopped by Zuiyas. Zuiyas said: "I'll walk in front. If I get hit, you must spare no cost to treat me."

"Mm."

As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, the front door of the clothing store opened, and Wood walked in with a bone arrow stuck in his neck. Clearly, the main street was not so easy to walk on.

"I couldn't leave you two behind and go to the inner city by myself; my conscience would be uneasy."

Wood spoke with a smile, not mentioning a word about being shot into a sieve by the Pale Hunters.

"By the way, there is one thing you might need to know."

In the narrow alley, Zuiyas, who was walking at the very front, spoke in a low voice.

"What."

Baja, who was bringing up the rear, looked around, worried that a few Dead Citizens might suddenly rush out.

"I came here alone yesterday and even reached the foot of that high wall."

When Zuiyas reached this point, his eyelids drooped. He had originally intended to check the situation on the outskirts and hadn't planned to go so deep, but an accident occurred. Not only was he dragged over, but he was also almost gutted. Thinking about it now, he still felt a lingering fear.

Through Zuiyas's brief narration, Su Xiao understood the situation. In fact, not only did Zuiyas come to Dead Silence City first yesterday, but Caesar, in his human-jar integrated state, had also come.

Caesar hadn't just come; he had also explored Dead Silence City to a great extent, but was currently temporarily trapped somewhere in the inner city, which was why he hadn't returned to share the intelligence.

Zuiyas met Caesar near the high wall yesterday and obtained some intelligence about Dead Silence City. Overall, Dead Silence City could be divided into two parts: the outer city district of the outer ring, and the inner city district surrounded by the circular high wall.

The outer city district was the territory occupied by Dead Citizens, Tree Corrosions, Dark Mediums, Pale Hunters, and others. There were many monsters here, but they had no fixed dwelling place. Conversely, there were no particularly strong existences here.

The truly important, or rather dangerous, buildings were all in the inner city district. For example, the "Saint Ten Church," the "Sacrificial Altar," the "Treatment Center," and even the "Supreme Sanctuary" were all in the inner city district.

The inner city district didn't have a large number of Dead Citizens, but if one encountered Tree Corrosions, Dark Mediums, or Pale Hunters there, one must be careful. The monsters that dared to enter the inner city district were all elite individuals, the powerful ones among their kind, one in ten thousand.

In layman's terms, if you see a Dead Citizen in the inner city district, even if it looks unremarkable, just treat it as an Eighth-Tier boss-level unit.

The intelligence Caesar provided was that if you encounter one Dead Citizen in the inner city district, you can fight; if you encounter two Dead Citizens together, be extra cautious; if three Dead Citizens are together, it's best to go around them; if five Dead Citizens are together, then that is the "Dead Silence City Sword Saint Team"—turn around and leave immediately, don't even take a second look. If you dare to provoke them, they will hack you to pieces in minutes.

As for the Tree Corrosions in the inner city district, these things had combat power even stronger than an Eighth-Tier boss. Their average height was 25–30 meters. What was even more unacceptable was that the Tree Corrosions in the inner city district were all in groups of three or five; usually, there was one Tree Corrosion Lord leading 2–3 elite Tree Corrosions.

And the Pale Hunters in the inner city district—these guys made even Caesar dizzy when he saw them. In short, if you see a place where Pale Hunters are clustered, find a way to bypass that area.

These guys' abilities were similar to those of the Tianba tribe; they used an ability called Death Erosion, which caused the person hit by the arrow to take damage based on their maximum health limit. Tanks would have their heads buzzing just looking at it.

Hearing Zuiyas say this, Baja at the back of the team felt a tightening in his rear; the experience of being shot by the Tianba tribe had already surfaced in his mind.

The good news was that once they reached the inner city district, although the monsters there were several levels stronger, their numbers weren't as high as in the outer city district, where outsiders would constantly trigger massive chain reactions.

The intelligence Zuiyas relayed was very important. At the end, Zuiyas pointed into the distance and said: "Over there, there is a... woman with fish scales and a mouth full of sharp teeth. Let's call her Fish Sister for now. If a harpoon-shaped mark appears on your body, it means Fish Sister has set her sights on you."

When Zuiyas said this, he had an expression that was hard to describe. Fish Sister was very strong, but she was both dangerous and not particularly dangerous; it depended on the person's ability to adapt. Or rather, Fish Sister was originally an intruder too, but she had been trapped here for hundreds of years and was not far from being assimilated by Dead Silence City.

"A harpoon-shaped mark? Is it... like this?"

Gulu raised her hand. Unknown to anyone, a dark purple mark had appeared on her palm, emitting a faint fluorescent glow.

Seeing this mark, the corner of Zuiyas's eye twitched, and he turned to smile: "Little girl, good luck."

Almost at the same time Zuiyas spoke, Su Xiao, Wood, Xiang Bubu Wang, and Baja took two steps back simultaneously.

Seeing this, Gulu's nerves tightened. Unknown to anyone, water liquid had appeared in the air around her. Without giving her a chance to react, it instantly enveloped her. Two hands with fine scales, long and sharp fingers, reached out from both sides of her neck.

Gulu's eyes gradually widened, and the look in them clearly said: 'Save me!!!'

However, she was already in a space of another dimension, which could also be called the "Drowning Space." This was the strength of Fish Sister; if she wanted to abduct someone, unless the person being abducted had strength similar to or even exceeding Fish Sister's, this process was almost impossible to stop.

The large water ball enveloping Gulu suddenly contracted, finally turning into a single drop of water that dissipated into the air.

After witnessing Gulu's disappearance, Su Xiao, Wood, and Zuiyas continued to advance along the narrow alley toward the depths of Dead Silence City.

Facts proved that Su Xiao's setup was very effective. Before entering this world, he first released the false news that there was a Black Maple Tree in Dead Silence City, causing many Eighth-Tier Some Qiyuezhe or members of Void factions who coveted the Black Maple Tree to enter this world.

Afterward, within this world, he conspired with Caesar, Wood, and Zuiyas to manufacture and sell semi-finished Shelter Stones, allowing more people to enter the outskirts of Dead Silence City.

The occasional explosions coming from the outer city district at the moment indicated that there were still many people adventuring and exploring this place, which significantly shared Su Xiao's pressure. Otherwise, as the Chosen One, the Dead Citizens would definitely have targeted him.

Zuiyas cleared the path in front, Su Xiao was behind, and Wood, further back, released black mist to mask their aura. Behind them was Baja bringing up the rear, while Xiang Bubu Wang, blended into the environment, followed far behind the team, overlooking from some towering buildings to prevent Su Xiao and the others from running head-on into a large group of Dead Citizens.

The journey forward was much smoother than expected; or rather, the plan to have more people come to Dead Silence City to share the risk was more effective than estimated.

Two hours later, Su Xiao arrived under the towering pitch-black high wall. For some reason, the Dead Citizens in the outer city district did not approach this high wall, as if they were afraid of something, or as if there were some kind of restraint.

One must never climb the high wall. Just now, Xiang Bubu Wang saw from a high vantage point that the high wall was packed with Pale Hunters. These Pale Hunters appeared to be petrified, but no one knew if they would suddenly break free from their rock shells. With this number of Pale Hunters, no one could withstand a round of arrow rain.

Strangely, these Pale Hunters were not facing the outer district but were all facing the inner city district. It felt as if this high wall was not built to keep the many Dead Citizens of the outer city district out, but to trap the inner city district so that the things inside couldn't get out.

Su Xiao arrived in front of the only gate tunnel in the high wall. A half-broken metal door was barely standing. It felt as if a giant claw had reached out from inside and torn this nearly ten-meter-high metal door into this state.

Passing through the gap in the metal door and exiting the arched gate tunnel, Su Xiao arrived in the inner city district. Just after walking out of the gate tunnel, he felt the colors of the surrounding world dim by a few degrees, beginning to be dominated by gray, black, and white, with other colors dimming slightly.

The scene before his eyes was a circular plaza. Around the plaza was a ring of kneeling sculptures, like a circular wall, surrounding this empty plaza of several thousand square meters.

On the grayish-white rock ground, bone arrows were densely nailed, leaving only a winding path leading to the center of the plaza.

Seeing this plaza, Su Xiao, Wood, and Zuiyas all stopped in their tracks, their gazes fixed on the center of the gray rock plaza.

"Holy... sh*t."

Baja spoke subconsciously, and Xiang Bubu Wang to the side was dumbfounded.

Located at the center of the gray rock plaza, a Black Maple Tree several dozen meters high stood there. This was a Black Maple Tree that had already withered and died.