Scourge Messenger

Chapter 264 Leaving
Yan Qing originally planned to find a deserted corner to teleport back to the Thieves' House after leaving the secret realm, since he had been away from home for too long and was a little homesick.

But as soon as he stepped out of the secret realm, the overwhelming stench of blood made him squint.

Remains.

There were pieces of corpses everywhere.

As mentioned earlier, the military town had built a fortified position to surround the entrance to the secret realm. Dozens of crossbow-wielding soldiers were stationed on the fort, and even ordinary messengers couldn't withstand a single volley of their fire. Now, their corpses were scattered and hanging on the fort, with dark red blood flowing down the walls, resembling some kind of barbaric sacrificial site.

As we left the bunker, there were corpses all along the way, but not many. After all, people aren't stupid; if they couldn't win, they would have run away.

Upon seeing Gai Louxian appear, the surviving soldiers did not emerge with jubilation. They had realized that the purpose of the elite demons was to eliminate the high-ranking officials of Pingcheng Military Town. This was a struggle between the emperor and the aristocratic families, and they, as low-ranking soldiers, had been unwittingly drawn into the political vortex. They stood by the roadside, hiding in corners, watching Gai Louxian and Bu Liuguzhen with numb and fearful eyes.

Upon arriving at the military training ground, Yan Qing held her breath.

Besides the fact that the scene in front of me was quite shocking, the smell was also really unpleasant.

The corpses and heads were piled up together, resembling both a mound of corpses and a bonfire, burning fiercely. The thick smoke from the burning flesh, leather, and various other miscellaneous things was extremely choking.

“If you kill more than a hundred animals, cremate them to ward off the plague; if you kill more than a thousand animals, bury them to avoid the disease.” Gai Louxian’s tone was devoid of any emotion: “As expected of the elite of the Shanwen Camp, even in such a short time, they have abided by the Baibao Army Law.”

As Yan Qing watched the skull roll down from the flames, a thought struck him, and he suddenly realized something... He seemed to have killed someone.

Although it's unbelievable, this was indeed the first time he had killed someone with his own hands.

In the first major case at Anguo Temple, he only injured people, not killed anyone. The killings were all handled by his underlings, and the raging flames burned everything away. In the second case, needless to say, he spent the whole time saving Shang Xinlei, that snotty-nosed devil. In the third case, although he did take action, he killed the constables of the Divine Marquis's Mansion, who were demons.

Just now, Yan Qing had truly killed people, and seven of them at once, even using the most brutal method of being cut in half at the waist. But he didn't feel anything special. It felt like... killing a demon, nothing to be surprised about.

He began to understand why the three kingdoms in the Central Plains all had organizational structures that were outwardly fierce but inwardly cruel, and why the upper echelons were so oppressive and brutal towards the common people. This was because messengers had long regarded killing as their most common means of communication.

Consider this: each messenger slaughters dozens or even hundreds of demons in the secret realm, the vast majority of which are humanoid. Demons are ferocious, monstrous, and fearless in the face of death, and messengers will not hesitate to kill them, even if the demons look like living people.

In the eyes of the messenger, is there really a big difference between demons and living people?
Living people are much easier to kill than demons.

Therefore, for the messengers, each conquest of a secret realm is a process of desensitization. Regardless of their inherent nature, they gradually become numb through repeated killing, eventually becoming completely accustomed to it. Even after leaving the secret realm, this set of rules cannot be switched back instantly. As long as enough people become accustomed to solving all problems with 'killing,' bloodshed will naturally become the underlying tone of society.

Worst of all, the stronger the individual, the more accustomed they become to the killing rules of the secret realm, a trait vividly illustrated by the Foundation Establishment Messenger. Winter Hunting True Man goes without saying, and Dragon Locking True Man also wields the power of life and death over mortals. They act without considering the fate of the nation or the plight of sentient beings, just as Yan Qing doesn't worry about the demons being sleep-deprived when he raids the secret realm early in the morning.

Yan Qing recalled some experts from her previous life saying that playing too many video games would lead to violence and murder. In her previous life, this was naturally nonsense, because there was a thick screen separating games from reality. The blood and gore on the screen wouldn't smell bad, and cutting someone in half only required clicking a mouse. Even if a player slaughtered dozens of cities in the game, they would still be afraid when they saw a corpse in real life.

But Yan Qing just cleared out the Zhen San Shan Secret Realm once, what's the difference between that and slaughtering the Zheng family? The game and reality are completely blurred in this respect.

The game not only provides unlimited resources, but also instills the idea that "killing earns rewards" into the messenger's mind. Now, Yan Qing is inevitably affected as well. He feels nothing when he kills someone, and he is not afraid when he sees skeletons. He is like a weirdo who has played too many games and can no longer distinguish between reality and the game. He has truly "gotten the game into his brain."

Yan Qing suddenly remembered that there was a mutton soup restaurant outside the military town that served really good mutton soup. Since he was already there, he decided to eat there before going back, as he wanted to try something fresh and hot.

But when he stepped out of the town gate, he was immediately stunned.

Like a storm passing through, most of the houses outside the military town were destroyed, including the soup shop. The owner and his family of four were buried under the rubble, with scalding hot soup spilled all over the ground.

The victims like their family were all along the way, stretching from the city gate all the way to the entrance of the military camp. They had done nothing wrong, but simply because their homes were on the shortest path, they were crushed by the unreasonable storm, like ordinary people who could only accept their fate in the face of a catastrophe.

Looking at these ruins and rubble, Yan Qing could imagine how ferocious the elite demons would be when they charged forward, smashing through mountains and seas, their iron cavalry pointing in the direction of the spreading death!

"Sister Jiang, Sister Jiang!" A dirty little child ran over, tugging at Jiang Shi's sleeve, trying to pull her outside. "The house, the house collapsed! My mother and sister are still inside! Sister Jiang, please save my mother!" The child pulled but couldn't budge her; instead, he fell to the ground from the force. He paused, then suddenly remembered something, and knelt down to kowtow to Jiang Shi. However, he clearly didn't know what kowtowing meant; he was just imitating an adult's action, more like shaking his head, which looked rather comical.

Yan Qing looked in the direction he was pointing. Half a pale arm protruded from the rubble, dark red blood seeping from the cracks. It hadn't moved for so long; it might have fainted, or it might be dead. Some people were frantically digging through the rubble, others were weeping over the body, and those unaffected hid in their homes, afraid to go out. Pedestrians hurried along the streets, and no one dared to pass by the town's gate. When Yan Qing looked over, the people who had been secretly watching from afar immediately hid, fearing they would be implicated.

Anger, hatred, and compassion, in the face of overwhelming violence, can only become the prison of fear.

"Go," Yan Qing said calmly to Jiang Shi, then turned and left, returning to the military town. He didn't want to stay there any longer; he didn't want to see or hear anything more. Since he couldn't get the soup noodles, he'd find a corner and teleport back to the thieves' house.

But by the time Yan Qing came to his senses, he had already unknowingly found Gai Louxian.

Gai Louxian was currently arranging the aftermath, his face full of worry but forcing a smile. Bu Liugu was nowhere to be seen. Seeing Yan Qing come over and stand waiting beside him, he tactfully waved his subordinates away, "Is there anything this old man can help with?"

"What exactly was the origin of those enemies we just encountered?"

"The Shanwen Camp, directly under the Emperor's command, is also known as the Evil Ghost Elite."

"Where is Shanwen Camp stationed?"

Gai Louxian paused for a moment, then said, “Shanwen Camp has two garrisons: Huoshu Military Town in Buyetian County and Tombstone Military Town 150 miles to the west. Tombstone Military Town is the core garrison because it contains the second-stage secret realm, Tombstone Forest.”

A forest of tombstones?
Yan Qing's heart stirred. "Let me introduce the tombstone forest."

“I don’t know much about the Tombstone Forest. Only the elite 100-strong soldiers of the Shanwen Camp are qualified to enter. It is said that the demons in the Tombstone Forest are all incredibly strong and impervious to swords and blades. Ordinary tokens are of little use to them, but fire attacks are surprisingly effective.” Gai Louxian paused. “I heard that the Tombstone Forest secret realm can be conquered three times a day. The fact that a second-tier secret realm can be conquered so frequently indicates that the military town has mastered near-perfect offensive techniques. Therefore, the Tombstone Military Town is also the richest and most powerful military town in Qi, with more than 30,000 troops stationed there.”

But Yan Qing didn't listen to what Gai Louxian said after that; he only had one thing on his mind:

The demons are all 'ghosts'. The Corpse Forest Secret Realm can be purified with Buddhist relics. Could the Tombstone Forest Secret Realm also be purified?
……

...

"The milestone of 'Famous Town of Three Mountains' has been achieved."

"The milestone reward, the Intermediate Sharpening Stone, has been added to your personal inventory."

After returning to the Thieves' House, Yan Qing ran the 'Suppressing Three Mountains' dungeon four more times, finally reaching the 200-run limit.

"Famous Guardian of the Three Mountains: After defeating 'Guardian of the Three Mountains' Zheng Shan 200 times, you will be rewarded with a medium-grade whetstone. Upon reaching this milestone, the player's damage to 'Guardian of the Three Mountains' Zheng Shan will be reduced by 50%, the maximum damage per hit will be limited to 70, 'Guardian of the Three Mountains' Zheng Shan's attacks will deal additional fire damage to the player, and the drop rate of 'Guardian of the Three Mountains' Zheng Shan loot will be increased by 10%."

"Next milestone: Defeating 'Suppressor of the Three Mountains' Zheng Shan 1000 times (200/1000)."

Upon seeing the milestone "Dominating the Three Mountains," Yan Qing was instantly numb. If it were less than 500 times, he might have considered it, but with 1000 times, he felt like he was being played by the official team. Moreover, the damage to Zheng Shan would be reduced by 50% and the damage limit would be 70, which was clearly not even an act, just an extension of the player's game time.

Although The Messenger is a time-based subscription MMORPG, it is very restrained in terms of grinding. If you want players to grind, you have to give them corresponding rewards. The bigger the reward, the easier it is for the stats to collapse. The only exception is the real mode, where no matter how hard players grind or how overpowered their characters are, they can be eliminated as soon as they die.

The 'Dominating the Three Mountains' milestone is different because it's clearly a trap. The final reward is absolutely not worth the time and effort spent running the dungeon a thousand times. But what if someone just likes repetitive work? Players' tastes are hard to predict.

Since they're making money anyway, the official team obviously doesn't mind making money off these gullible... players with such unique tastes.

Having decided not to explore this secret realm, Yan Qing began to consider his next development plan. Twenty days seemed like plenty of time, but he was already at the third stage of cultivation, leaving little room for improvement.

Should we head north to the Murong family or west to the Forest of Tombstones?
(End of this chapter)