After regrouping, Yuexia Jiu quickly led the team back through Naldun Town’s specially set-up teleport array and returned to the Gloom City Ruins.
The flow of players was still heavy. In the distance, many teams were hurrying over. Quite a few were like Yuexia Jiu’s group—people who had been killed inside and come back again—yet their enthusiasm showed no sign of fading.
After all, the event had greatly reduced the experience penalty after death. Even if they hadn’t killed many monsters inside the ruins, spending ninety minutes grinding outside could easily make up for one death. On top of that, the contribution rewards were a strong motivator, and this lively atmosphere was something you rarely experienced on normal days. This was the charm of group activities.
The Oka Forest guild stepped into the Gloom City Ruins once more. Under Yuexia Jiu’s lead they still headed toward the middle area, but this time they took a slightly different route.
After passing several forks and the dispersing crowd, they deliberately confirmed their direction again and pushed forward while trying to stay as far from the swamp as possible.
Sure enough, after advancing some distance, everyone was delighted to discover they were still stepping on solid rock ground instead of some sticky, filthy mire.
“It feels so much safer. Standing on solid ground is way more comfortable.” Timeless Serenity noticed Yuexia Jiu’s silence and spoke softly.
“Yeah, that swamp was so inconvenient.”
“I think we’re pretty far from the swamp side by now.”
Yuexia Jiu shook his head. “That’s not what I’m worried about. Haven’t you noticed we still haven’t run into any monsters?”
“Let’s just keep going. It was the same in the swamp earlier. The monsters probably won’t appear until we go a bit deeper.” Timeless Serenity comforted him. “The distance we’ve already covered is about the same as when we entered the swamp last time.”
Yuexia Jiu seemed to be pondering something. “It still feels a little off… Never mind. Let’s keep walking. Maybe it really is like you said.”
Before he could finish speaking, a message came from the front. “Vice-leader, there’s no path ahead.” The Holy Knight scouting at the front turned around and reported to Yuexia Jiu.
“Then we’ll just take another route,” Timeless Serenity replied instinctively.
But the Holy Knight quickly gave the answer. “We can’t. We already came from the other dead end earlier. There are no more paths.”
Only after this reminder did Yuexia Jiu and Timeless Serenity remember that they had switched to this route precisely because the previous one was a dead end. They had never expected this one to be a dead end as well.
“It’s impossible for both paths to be blocked.” Yuexia Jiu frowned. Holding his glowstone lantern, he walked forward, carefully examined the stone wall blocking the team, and seemed to notice something. He suddenly raised his sword and slashed heavily at the wall on the left.
Stone chips flew everywhere in an instant.
Timeless Serenity raised a shield to block the flying debris. “Wine Bro, these walls are designed to be indestructible… At least at our current levels we can’t break them, right?”
Yuexia Jiu smiled faintly. “Not necessarily. Come take a look.”
Hearing this, Timeless Serenity and several frontline members gathered closer. At first they saw nothing special, until Timeless Serenity spotted the key detail. “Wait, why does this wall have a health bar?”
Following the direction he pointed, they finally noticed the floating text on one section of the wall—though it had been hidden in the dim environment of the Gloom City Ruins.
Destructible Wall: Integrity 842/1000
At once the Oka Forest members understood. Several frontline fighters drew their weapons. In less than three or four seconds they smashed the wall apart. The backline damage dealers then tried bombarding other walls and actually blasted open two more passages.
Seeing everyone’s expectant gazes, Yuexia Jiu thought for a moment. “Let’s try this path first.”
They had only taken a few steps down the rocky passage before they slammed into another wall. Even after the whole team poured out their damage, it stood firm—clearly different from the previous one.
(Looks like this is a complete dead end. Let’s switch routes.) Yuexia Jiu turned and called to his companions, planning to head back the way they had come.
The constant back-and-forth was starting to wear on everyone. Honestly, Yuexia Jiu himself was growing impatient with this design. Wasting time was one thing, but the biggest issue was gaining absolutely nothing. If they could at least meet a few monsters and farm some points, it would still be acceptable.
Just as Yuexia Jiu was thinking this, his wish was granted the very next moment.
Squeak squeak squeak.
A string of sharp cries suddenly rang out from the cavern ceiling. Then more than thirty black shadows dropped straight down from above, landing right in the middle of the crowd. They slashed at anyone nearby with sharp claws and teeth, their glowing green eyes looking especially terrifying in the darkness.
The Oka Forest members, who had been about to turn back, had not expected this at all. In the sudden panic their formation was thrown into complete chaos.
“Damn, what the hell are these monsters?”
“Their attack is so high.”
“Can any frontline please tank them!”
Thankfully Yuexia Jiu reacted in time. He shield-bashed away one shadow leaping at him and quickly began issuing commands. Only then did the calmed-down group manage to kill off all the monsters.
It was only when the last few were struck down by fireballs that they finally got a clear look at the creatures.
Black Claw Monkey, Level 16.
These were monsters that had originally existed on the first floor of the Gloom City Ruins. Small, skinny, and pitch-black, they normally hid and slept on the cavern ceiling, making them hard to notice.
Their sharp cries usually gave players time to prepare, and many guilds already had experience dealing with them. Still, given the earlier situation, it was no surprise that Oka Forest had been successfully ambushed.
Although they eventually killed every monster, Oka Forest still paid a price—four mages had died.
“Let’s try another route.” Yuexia Jiu sighed. He contacted the two dead players and told them to level up nearby for a while, then led the team back to the original spot and chose the left-hand path.
This time everything went smoothly. The frontline even checked the surroundings—especially the cavern ceiling—but found no sign of monster activity.
Yet they had not gone far before they slammed straight into another stone wall.