Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 179 Debuffs and Ghosts
"Dear player, thank you for submitting your feedback... This is all nonsense!"

Shen Yun couldn't help but mutter something under his breath, then continued reading: "Upon investigation, we did indeed have some debuffs that weren't displayed, but that has now been fixed. As for your concern about the impact on your real-life health, please don't worry. This emotional change is a feedback from the 'Inner Awareness' system, a feature created by 'Ten Continents Chronicles,' and only exists in the game. It won't be reflected in reality, so please rest assured..."

Zhen Junzi finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Good heavens! So it was related to 'inner awareness'!"

Shen Yun continued reading: "To thank you for your contributions to the 'Ten Continents Chronicles' game, we will compensate you and your team members with 200 sect contribution points each... That's too stingy!? Who cares! It's not even half the reward from the quest!"

"The developers should just shut up!" Jia Xiaoren cursed, then suggested, "But since it's about a debuff, why don't we go back and take another look? We need to figure out exactly what the debuff is so we can fix it properly!"

Zhen Junzi stretched out his arm and put his arm around Bian Yuanzhi, the "precious" and only NPC apprentice in the entire server, and said, "You guys go first, I need to take my apprentice back first!"

Jia Xiaoren clicked his tongue sourly and said, "It can't be that bad, can it? How about this, we send two people over to investigate and find out what kind of debuff it is? Like we said, even if there are a lot of ghosts over there, we can't see them at all. They're obviously all weak ghosts!"

Bian Yuanzhi didn't want to be treated as a burden every time, so he tugged at Zhen Junzi's sleeve and whispered, "Master, if I encounter danger, I can run away by myself! Can I come along?"

Zhen Junzi objected, saying, "No! That's too dangerous!"

At the same time, Shen Yun glanced at Zhongzhou Jinli and their eyes met. They had a moment of tacit understanding, and Shen Yun said at the right time, "How about this, Jinli and I will go and take a look. He has some experience, and the rest of you can wait here for our news, okay?"

Bai Chenxue immediately nodded: "I second that!"

Jia Xiaoren and Lin Muning had no objections. Zhen Junzi hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Bian Yuanzhi, who was looking on expectantly, and reluctantly nodded.

With the plan finalized, Shen Yun and the Central Continent Koi took to the air and soon flew to the vicinity of the Gray Sand Eye.

Gray Sand Eyes seemed unchanged from when everyone left; even the inexplicable laughter from before hadn't reappeared, as if it were all an illusion.

"I'll go in and try it first."

As Shen Yun spoke, he took the lead and stepped onto the sand.

The soft gray sand supported Shen Yun's cloth boots, and the faint sound of the wind could be heard in his ears.

He checked his own status in his field of vision and found that a debuff had indeed appeared under his health bar!

[Eerie Atmosphere]: [You have entered an environment filled with eerie energy. Your emotions are affected to some extent, and this effect continues to impact your mind. Recovery effectiveness is reduced by 50%.]

"They really are all ghosts!"

Shen Yun felt a little scared, so he quickly took a screenshot and sent it to the team channel, while immediately retreating from the sand.

The team chat immediately erupted in chaos:

"Wow! The game developers are pretty quick; they fixed it so fast!"

"That debuff sounds terrifying!"

"Thank goodness, this debuff isn't too severe. It's just that the so-called 'emotions are somewhat affected' actually affects emotions in the game. That's too exaggerated! What kind of black technology is this?"

"This is unbearable! No wonder it's a game with powerful backing!" "What can I say, ladies!"

Bai Chenxue was the first to open the group microphone and asked hesitantly, "How exactly should we handle this? Anyway, according to Jin Cai, the source is definitely in the Gray Sand Eye area, but what are your ideas on how to deal with it?"

Jia Xiaoren also said in the group chat: "My suggestion is - a massive bombing campaign to clean up the ground!"

Lin Muning frowned and said, "I don't really recommend it. No matter what, the few times Jinli and I encountered these formless ghosts weren't anything heinous. If we just eliminate them indiscriminately... that's not a good idea..."

Jia Xiaoren said awkwardly, "Even ghosts don't have human rights! Besides, this is just a game!"

Bai Chenxue agreed with Lin Muning's statement: "What's wrong with games! Lives in games should be respected too!"

Jia Xiaoren retorted in a low voice, unconvinced: "Can ghosts be living beings..."

As the team leader, Zhen Junzi tried to smooth things over, saying, "Alright, let's vote. If you think this mission should be done through gentle means, press 1!"

Lin Muning, Bai Chenxue, Zhongzhou Jinli, Shen Yun, and Zhen Junzi—five "1"s appeared in the team chat in a row.

Upon seeing this result, Zhen Junzi chuckled and said, "Alright, then we won't use any other methods. It's pointless anyway!"

Jia Xiaoren muttered angrily, "Hmph! A bunch of soft-hearted saints! They're just too soft-hearted! They're not fit for polite society!"

"Alright, alright, please, a few individuals, stop your impotent rage. Let's move on to the next step!" Zhen Junzi said smugly, then asked, "Here's what I'm thinking: shouldn't we try to communicate with them? Koi Brother, Cockroach Sister, do you know any ways to communicate with ghosts?"

Lin Muning was taken aback by the nickname "Sister Cockroach" and protested, "Just call me 'Xiao Ning' instead..."

"Okay, Sister Cockroach! No problem, Sister Cockroach!"

Zhen Junzi joked for a moment, then said seriously, "I remember the plot was that the fox demon and snake demon bosses living here ate a lot of people, and they were even villagers from Shenyou Village, I think? Maybe these ghosts are allies too?"

Jia Xiaoren retorted, "That's not right! I clearly remember that it was some kind of demon in the cold pool at the gate of Chang'an that ate it. Every year they hold some kind of human sacrifice. They were clearly talking about the Water Goddess, which is exactly what the demon is, isn't it?"

Zhen Junzi said, "Isn't Xi Mo the Nine Nether Demon? Could the Nine Nether Demon have that kind of intelligence to impersonate the Water Goddess?"

Jia Xiaoren replied, "Then I don't know, but I remember it was eaten by the Demon of the West!"

Bai Chenxue, unusually, sided with Jia Xiaoren and said, "I also remember that it was the Ximo that ate them, it seems that fox demons eat children. Over the years, they must have eaten quite a few children, right? Could it be that all those ghosts are children?"

Just as Zhen Junzi and the others were speculating, Lin Muning and Zhongzhou Jinli, who were not familiar with the plot of Shenyou Village, asked about the plot in the team chat. Shen Yun, who knew a little about it, explained it in a few words. Zhongzhou Jinli suddenly spoke up in the team microphone: "Do you think that since those monsters like to eat people and know how to raise villages, it's possible that they raise more than one village?"

"What the hell!?"

This idea, which no one had ever considered, shocked everyone.

(End of this chapter)