Chapter 167 – Mountain of Bones
Translated by: Daikon, Anne, GGP
Edited by: Sachin, Based Jessica, Zdog, NamelessEcon
After paying the restaurant bill, we were on the campus pathway, on our way back to the dorms.
Carrying her purse, Lin Wan Er swayed and wobbled as she walked.
I walked closer and reached out to support her arm, asking, “Are you okay?”
She nodded: “En, no problem. Go help support Dong Cheng, she’s almost kneeling…”
I turned my head to look, and sure enough, Dong Cheng Yue was kneeling on the ground; her shoelaces were untied and she was struggling in vain to tie them.
After sending the two girls back to their dorm, I returned to mine and went online to continue the Five Barbarians Desolate Tomb expedition. Without a doubt, once we finished this SS-rank quest, the rewarded experience would allow all of us to go up a level. Moreover, we would also be rewarded with equipment. With an SS-rank quest’s difficulty, getting rewarded with Purple Tier equipment would be considered normal. Maybe we would even get rewarded with an Emperor Tier equipment which would truly be fortunate!
……
“Shua!”
Once online, I appeared on the third floor of the Five Barbarians Desolate Tomb. Looking at my equipment, my sword’s durability was at 11% and my breastplate armor was at 72%, with the rest of my equipment’s durability being within 20% to 60%. I ran towards the first floor without any hesitation to find the Blacksmith Old Man and repair my equipment. Upon my return to the third floor, everybody appeared online one by one. In a few minutes, all ten members were together.
Onward to the fourth floor!
The fourth floor’s entrance was a deep pit approximately one meter wide and this time there were no stone steps. It just led to a straight up fall all the way down, yet there was no doubt that this was the entrance. It looked like the ground of the third floor had a hole poked through it and plunging through this hole would lead directly to the fourth floor.
“Sh*t!”
I looked around for a moment and finally stood up, saying, “This kind of fall would surely lead us to our deaths. Every floor’s height has brought us down at least 100 meters…”
Yuzi Chengshuo laughed saying, “We will, but you won’t. Don’t forget your defense and health. The only one here who wouldn’t fall to their death is you, don’t you dare back out now…”
I pondered for a moment, nodding, “Okay. Buff me properly and I’ll go down first to confirm when it’s safe then I’ll call you guys!”
“Got it!”
Wan Er laughed lightly, “Be careful!”
“Yup.”
Hoisting my Frost Rain Sword, I turned around and jumped down. I was immediately met with a free fall as my cloak fluttered behind me. It was extremely dark and the sound of wind wrought havoc on my ears!
I could barely open my eyes and my left hand had already undergone preparations to cast [Heal] on myself.
“Huala!”
The wind blasted past and my eyes suddenly lit up so that I could see again. Not good!
Right below, there was an impressive h.e.l.l made of magma; there were rows and rows of sharply pointed pillars that were a crimson red from the magma. Once a player fell down here, he would most likely get run through by these pillars and become a roasted kebab!
In a moment of desperation, I took up my sword and used my strongest skill, [Wind Blade] to chop at these sharp lava pillars in the hopes of avoiding any disaster!
“Peng!”
Gravel flew out and the pillar of lava consequently split. Yet I still smashed against a sharp cone with a “Peng!”. Blood burst from my chest as a huge damage number flew out–
“2249！”
My heart almost stopped and I was scared death. Fortunately I wasn’t killed!
Immediately healing myself and brought my health up 900 points, before communicating in the party chat, “It’s not very safe down here. Dong Cheng, Matcha, since you two can fly get down here first.”
With flapping wings, the two girls came flying down. Immediately, Dong Cheng Yue covered her mouth in astonishment saying, “Whoa, so many stalagmites, yet Xiao Yao, you actually survived the fall….”
I was speechless, “Are you looking forward to my death that much? You guys up there, jump down one by one and I’ll catch you. Wolf, how about you come down first?”
“Alright, Brother Xiao Yao!”
Within the empty s.p.a.ce a shadow suddenly swept down. Wolf’s agility was really quite high.
I calculated a good point of interception and flew over, reaching out to grab Wolf’s arm and took advantage of my rotation to effortlessly slow him down. Right after, Old K, Dong Cheng Lei, Fox, and Yuzi Chengshuo dropped down one by one. It was risky but not quite dangerous. Lin Wan Er was the last one to leap down. Preparing for her, I spread my arms and waited there for quite a long while, only to discover her floating down with her opened iron umbrella quite casually.
d.a.m.n it, my posture and expression were in vain.
……
Standing still and replenishing ourselves, we prepared to battle!
Not far off, war horses neighed unceasingly. The iron hooves of countless undead war horses trampled wildly across the floor. The Knights seated on the back of each war horse had already died very early on yet their spirits lingered on. Each Knight had a long sword in hand and they exhaled a rotten breath with a stench. They were all fully armored and above their heads floated line after line of words–
【Hun Tribe Horseman】 (Elite Monster)
Level: 60
Attack: 1110-1440
Defense: 900
Health: 9000
Skills: 【Charge】 【Arc Moon Slash】 【Flame Blade】
Introduction: Hun Hors.e.m.e.n, the Hun tribe’s elite fighters, they hail from beyond the Great Wall and have powerful killing capability, therefore acc.u.mulating a wild nature to an astonishing degree. Utterly brutal and cruel, they take pleasure in killing others. Once Ran Min died in battle, these Hun tribe hors.e.m.e.n became a part of his tomb’s guardsmen.
……
“Finally, Lv 60 Elite Monsters…” Dong Cheng Yue smiled “These Lv 60 heavy armor hors.e.m.e.n take 50% more magic damage. My favorite type of monsters…”
Lin Wan Er cautioned “Don’t underestimate the enemy, they have high defense, high attack and high health. These kind of hors.e.m.e.n are definitely the strongest Elite Monsters we’ve seen so far. Let’s think about how we should deal with them. They have [Charge] which can stun us and once stunned, they follow up with [Arc Moon Slash] and [Flame Blade]… Normal players can’t handle that kind of damage.”
Before we even finished talking, Dong Cheng Lei raised his axe and charged ahead, “Haha! I’ll fight as the vanguard!”
“My G.o.d, Ah Lei!” I quickly shouted, but it was already too late.
Dong Cheng Lei instantly pulled all the aggro and the first Hun Tribe Horseman immediately went berserk, raising his spear and charging after Dong Cheng Lei. Old K, worrying that Dong Cheng Lei couldn’t handle it alone, quickly followed behind “Ah Lei! I’m coming to help you!”
“Shua!”
The metal horseman suddenly sped up, leaving after images behind him. This was the effect of [Charge]!
“Peng!”
Dong Cheng Lei was pushed back around ten meters and entered a state of dizziness. At the same time, the Hun Tribe Horseman raised his long sword and delivered an arced blow, hitting both Old K and Dong Cheng Lei with the same strike.
“1472！”
“1621！”
……
“My G.o.d, these two don’t fear death…” Yuzi Chengshuo quickly healed them as she commented in an exasperated tone.
I hurriedly rushed over to help. Hitting the ground hard with my fist, I used [Binding Chains] to restrict another Hun Tribe Horseman. At the same time, I lunged at the one in the front, yelling, “Ah Lei! What are you waiting for?! Start the counterattack!!”
“Hua!”
Dong Cheng Lei’s reaction wasn’t bad as he quickly used the skill [Reflect], resulting in the Hun Horseman tasting his own [Flame Blade]!
“Dun!”
“2187！”
Directly taking his own attack, I bet that horseman felt a lot of sadness and despair.
As six golden hexagrams shone brightly, my Frost Rain Sword activated [Combo]. Baby Bobo also followed up quickly, along with a fireball spell from Dong Cheng Yue. Together we instantly finished off the first horseman!
I then raised up my sword and rushed towards the horseman that I bound earlier, finishing him in an instant as well. Right before dying, this horseman roared his last words, “With an impossible situation upon us, even the lowest people trample over us!”
“Pa Cha!” With one more strike, the horseman and his horse both fell to the ground. He had also dropped a pair of beautiful glittering shoes. My eyes glittered as I grabbed it. Nice! It was a Silver Tier drop, so I stored it away to sell for money later.
Standing beside the horseman’s corpse, Lin Wan Er blinked her big round eyes a few times and laughed “What was that? ‘ With an impossible situation upon us, even the lowest people trample over us!’ What does that even mean? Some kind of Hun tribe dialect?”
TL: That part was spoken with ancient chinese wordings that were quite obscure
I nodded. “Yea, it must be! Don’t worry about it!”
Fox’s mouth twitched a bit before saying, “If I’m not mistaken, I think it’s a cussing term from the Su Bei or Nan Jing region. Right?”
Surprised, I asked, “As expected of the wise brother Fox. What does it mean though?”
Fox quietly translated, “You son of a bi*ch, I’ll punch you so that your eyes start bleeding….”
Everybody instantly fell to their knees after listening to the translation!
TL: Falling to knees = figure of speech = horrible translation
……
Our group continued onwards. After killing ten or so Hun Tribe Hors.e.m.e.n, Matcha furrowed her brows and said, “Boss, we’re clearing monsters too slowly. We can’t maximize the use of Dong Cheng Yue’s [Thunderbolt Finger] like this. Plus my Illusionary b.u.t.terfly Queen is already Lv 42 with 1400+ magic attack. Her [Abyssal Flames] will hurt them quite a bit. Let’s find a suitable spot to lure a bunch of the Hun Tribe Hors.e.m.e.n and kill them with AoE spells!”
(TL Note: AoE is a term used in games that stands for Area of Effect)
I pondered. “The idea is good…but we need people to guard the outer perimeter to keep them within the AoE. The Hun Tribe Hors.e.m.e.n’s [Arc Moon Slash] slash is too painful. Old K and Ah Lei won’t be able to handle it unless we have the most ideal and advantageous location.”
“But we do, Boss!”
Matcha flew up into the sky and pointed her finger behind us, “Look over there…”
I looked over and my whole body trembled. There was a mountain of bones in addition to piles and piles of decomposing clothes. From its color, it seemed that the clothing ought to have belonged to women. The pile of bones conveniently formed a pathway with the cliff, just enough for one person to push through.
Blinking her eyes, Matcha said, “If everyone can all go through that pa.s.sage, and you, Boss, remain here to block the way and defend against two to three Hun Tribe Hors.e.m.e.n with the support of the Healers, then Dong Cheng can fully express the power of [Thunderbolt Finger] and [Pillar of Fire & Ice]. It can elevate our leveling speed by at least 70%!”
I nodded, “Sounds reasonable, what do the rest of you think?”
Fox also nodded, “I approve.”
Wan Er laughed lightly: “Sure!”
……
After everyone agreed, we immediately began the operation.
Drawing near to the mountain of bones, Wolf, Lin Wan Er, and the others entered through the pa.s.sage one by one. Dong Cheng Yue remained closest to the outside, while I remained in front of her to cut off the pa.s.sageway. Matcha then flew into the air and laughed lightly, “The Hun Tribe Hors.e.m.e.n can’t attack targets in the air. Boss, I’ll go and start aggroing them, so wait for me…”
“Okay, be careful Matcha!”
“Yea!”
Matcha flew out gracefully. Not long after, the ground started shaking, and skulls rolled down the mountain of bones unceasingly. I furrowed my brows without saying anything.
Wan Er’s pretty eyebrows knitted as well, “These bones, could it be……”
I hastily nodded, “Correct. According to history, these remains belong to the Han women that were boiled alive by the Five Barbarian tribes in the past.”
TL: Han is not Hun – Han = mainland chinese, Hun = tribe of the five tribes
“So many, over 10,000…….”
“Yeah.”
A hint of hatred flashed across Lin Wan Er’s beautiful eyes, “It’s settled, we definitely have to slaughter this floor’s boss!”
……
In the distance, a dense cl.u.s.ter of the Hun Tribe Hors.e.m.e.n cavalry thundered over with Matcha lying at the very front with her longsword. Her face was full of excitement, “Beauty Dong Cheng Yue, manage your mana. From here on out, it’s up to your magic output!”