38: Thunderous Ruins

On the Divine Deer, Qing Lan saw that Xiao Xing didn't answer her, but she was still very happy because they were about to reach their destination.

The scenery along the way had been very beautiful, and since Xiao Xing said he was taking her to a good place, it would surely be even better than the scenery from the long journey, so she was very excited.

They had now arrived at the territory of Rank 29 Unicorns, and she was already looking forward to seeing what that legendary good place was like.

"We're here!"

After the Divine Deer stopped, Xiao Xing pointed ahead, signaling for her to turn her head and look.

"Really? Let me see!"

Qing Lan braced her hands against the Divine Deer's back and turned her body around; she soon saw their destination.

The area ahead was hazy, making it impossible to see clearly, but judging by the nearby rubble and collapsed walls, it appeared to be a field of ruins.

After she watched for a while, her heart began to race. The various eerie sounds faintly drifting from the area caused chills to run down her spine.

She had never seen a place like this, and now she could only feel a deep-seated fear starting to spread through her entire body.

"How is it? Not bad, right? The monsters inside are quite cute, and these monsters can even drop a thunder set!"

Seeing her pale face, Xiao Xing gave her an introduction.

"You—you're not lying to me, are you? Why do I feel like it's so scary here!"

Qing Lan suppressed her inner fear and bit her lower lip as she turned her head back.

She really wanted what Xiao Xing said to be true, but the sinister laughter echoing in her ears made her feel very uneasy.

"Why would I lie to you? Come, I'll take you in to see."

After Xiao Xing finished speaking, the Divine Deer began to walk toward the ruins.

The closer they got to the ruins, the more afraid Qing Lan became, her body involuntarily moving a few inches closer into his embrace.

When they entered the ruins, the map instantly darkened. Combined with the hazy mist, their vision was greatly restricted, and they could only see about 10 meters ahead.

The ground was cluttered with various rubble and scattered bone fragments. On some stone walls that hadn't completely collapsed, blood-red skulls were painted. Accompanied by the occasional chilling screams, it felt as if they had arrived at the entrance to Hell.

"Ah! A ghost!"

While watching intently, Qing Lan suddenly saw two red lights flickering in the mist ahead. She was instantly terrified, turning and pouncing into Xiao Xing's arms.

She wrapped her arms tightly around Xiao Xing's waist, her head buried deep against him.

"You guessed wrong; that's not a ghost."

Xiao Xing said grumpily into her ear.

There were indeed ghosts on this map, but what had appeared wasn't a ghost; it was a zombie.

The Thunder Ruins used to be a town, but for some unknown reason, it had turned into this state overnight.

That night, people saw lightning and thunder over Yaofeng Town, so it was called the Thunder Ruins. Perhaps Yaofeng Town had done something to provoke both heaven and people, leading to divine punishment.

However, Xiao Xing knew that this wasn't divine punishment, but rather the beginning of the Demon Race's appearance.

This was only the very beginning. As Ranks increased, many maps would start featuring various Demonic Monsters.

Although the attributes of these Demonic Monsters were relatively powerful, players flocked to them because the Demon Race had a higher drop rate and would drop various magical items.

For example, magic silver and magic gold, as well as magic crystals and so on. These could not only be used by players to increase their strength but also provide energy for certain player buildings.

Building teleportation arrays required magic crystals to provide energy; Mana Spirit Arrow Towers, magic crystal cannons, and Demon God Cannons all required the consumption of magic crystals.

"If—if it's not a ghost, then what is it?"

Hearing his words, Qing Lan's voice trembled slightly.

Because she heard the sound getting closer and closer, she knew that thing had already approached them. She was extremely terrified; if she didn't have someone to lean on, she would have been scared to the point of wetting herself.

"It's a zombie. Can't you hear the hopping sounds?"

After Xiao Xing finished speaking, he commanded the Divine Deer to toss away a zombie that had jumped up to grab them.

-2633

The zombie gored by the antlers rolled away, a moderate amount of damage appearing above its head. However, the zombie only had a little over 8,000 health, so this single hit took away nearly half.

Ancient Zombie (Normal)

Rank: 30

HP: 6325/8958

MP: 1910/2110

Physical Attack: 450

Magic Attack: 198

Defense: 157

Skill 1 (Passive): Corpse Rot Poison

Corpse Rot Poison: After an attack hits the target, zombie poison will invade their body, causing 50 points of corpse poison damage per second for 15 seconds.

MP Cost: None

Skill Cooldown: None

Skill 2: Fearful Howl

Fearful Howl: The Ancient Zombie will emit a special sound, causing the target to enter a Fear state where their strength decreases by 10%.

MP Cost: 100

Skill Cooldown: 30 seconds

Skill 3: Heart Gouge

Heart Gouge: Leaps vigorously toward the target to instantly gouge out their heart, causing 200% physical damage and applying a Bleeding state.

MP Cost: 200

Skill Cooldown: 45 seconds

This kind of ordinary zombie wasn't a major threat; aside from the corpse poison being quite potent, its skills weren't even as good as the Rank 10 Great Lord Bee King from before.

Subsequently, this zombie was killed after being gored several times by the Divine Deer. It didn't even get the chance to use Heart Gouge to get close to the two of them.

"Look, the zombie was killed, and it even dropped equipment and copper coins!"

Xiao Xing rubbed her back, wanting her to go pick up the items. Perhaps because his Luck was very high, this ordinary zombie had dropped a piece of equipment.

However, seeing the color, it wasn't the thunder set he wanted, so he didn't plan on picking it up himself.

"Ah! I don't want to look, I don't want to look!"

Qing Lan, hiding in his arms, shook her head vigorously, looking as if she wouldn't let go for the life of her.

She was terrified just seeing the monsters, let alone seeing an ugly zombie in this gloomy place. Forget ordinary equipment; she wouldn't even plan to pick it up if it dropped a Divine Artifact.

"Then let go of me, otherwise how am I supposed to pick up the equipment!"

Xiao Xing was truly speechless. He hadn't expected her to be scared to this extent. If she kept clinging to him, how was he supposed to farm for the thunder set?

"I won't! You lied to me!"

As Qing Lan spoke, her arms couldn't help but hug him tighter, for fear that Xiao Xing would leave her side.

Only by hiding in Xiao Xing's arms could she feel a shred of security; how could she possibly let go?

"The Divine Deer is very strong; it will protect you. Let go and let me fight the monsters. I guarantee nothing will happen to you."

Seeing her like this, Xiao Xing felt somewhat helpless and decided he wouldn't bring her along for leveling up in the future.

Next time he had the chance, he would find someone with more courage, mainly to help pick up items; otherwise, Xiao Xing didn't want to bring anyone at all.

His killing speed was too fast, and with his ultra-high Luck, a lot of items dropped. If he killed them all himself, he might not be able to pick up everything in a fatigued state.

If no one was willing to help pick up equipment, he could also post a recruitment post. As long as the pay was right, was he really afraid no one would come to work?