Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 272 Treasure Map Scroll

After Xia Yu left, Valeria's resentment burned like a toxic fire, almost overwhelming her reason.

She was the first to discover Lin Lu's special physique, and she was the one who paid the price to gather intelligence! Blood Lord is known for his clear rewards and punishments, and if she makes a great contribution to the team this time, she will definitely receive a few more Resentment Crystals as a reward!

In the end, all the credit went to that damned bitch Xia Yu! It made her so angry she wanted to kill her!
Is she excluded from this instance simply because she is a medium?
"Why?!" Valeria roared, sweeping all the bottles and glasses off the table in front of her!

Her beautiful face was contorted with extreme jealousy and rage, and her pupils flashed with a mad killing intent!
She absolutely would not allow Xia Yu to steal her credit and then flaunt his power in front of her!
A crazy and audacious plan quickly took shape in her mind.

She took a few deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down, a resolute glint in her eyes.

She got up, quickly walked into the women's restroom of the bar, and locked the door after confirming that the last stall was empty.

She took out the special bottle containing the ashes of Deathstroke's lingering resentment from the Reincarnator's Watch.

Inside the bottle was only a very thin, almost dissipating gray mist, which was Deathstroke after being severely injured by the ghosts of "Sweet House".

“Poor little puppy…” Valeria looked at the weak ash, a cruel yet excited smile playing on her lips. “Your master must be very worried about you… Don’t worry, I’ll help you out and make you… stronger!”

She decided to use her trump card as a Level 3 Yin-Yang Medium to forcibly strengthen this undead hound! Then, she would instigate Jiang Jin and Xia Yu!
She was determined to wrest control back from Xia Yu, and even... use someone else to do her dirty work!
She carefully retrieved three items from the space within her watch, each radiating a strong aura of yin energy and spiritual light:

The first item is the [Styx Soul Crystal]. It's a small, dark purple crystal with what appears to be flowing liquid inside. Originating from a certain Western horror game, it contains pure soul energy refined by the waters of the Styx River, which can greatly enhance the essence and resilience of a spirit.

The second item is the [Fragment of the Scroll of One Hundred Demons' Night Parade], an ancient, tattered fragment of a Japanese scroll, depicted in blood-red ink with countless grotesque ghostly figures. Originating from the infamous [Night Parade of One Hundred Demons] horror instance, it grants spirits the ability to devour other vengeful spirits for rapid growth, and to briefly summon faint phantoms of a hundred demons to aid in battle.

Finally, there is the [Infernal Torture Instrument - Soul-Splitting Shuttle], a palm-sized, jet-black, spindle-shaped metal object covered in fine barbs. Originating from a hellish dungeon, it greatly enhances the attack power of spirits, imbuing their attacks with the "Soul-Splitting" effect, directly damaging the target's soul core, posing a significant threat to high-level reincarnators.

Valeria formed hand seals and chanted obscure psychic incantations. The three items floated up, emitting a faint glow, forming an eerie triangular magic circle that enveloped the bottle containing the death knell at its center.

"In the name of the River Styx, temper their souls!"

"By binding the hundred demons, imbue them with ferocity!"

"Use the punishment of endless torment to forge its sharpest blade!"

"melt!"

She suddenly channeled her immense spiritual power into the magic circle!
The three precious items shone brightly instantly, transforming into three streams of energy of different colors, which were forcibly injected into the weak ash in the bottle!

"Ouch——!!!"

The ashes inside the bottle suddenly churned and expanded violently! A roar, a mixture of pain and ecstasy, erupted from it!
The ash grew even deeper in color, as if it had absorbed all the light, and began to exude a chilling and menacing aura!
The shape of the death knell kept twisting and recombining, becoming more ferocious and powerful, and the phantom images of the three items vaguely appeared in the gray mist!
The process lasted nearly ten minutes. Valeria was pale and exhausted, but her eyes were unusually excited.

Finally, the light faded. The bottle shattered with a deafening roar!
A brand new, terrifying undead hound appeared in the cubicle!

It was taller and more powerful than before, with a deathly gray color all over, as if it could dissipate at any moment and then reassemble at any moment.

Its claws and teeth gleamed with the eerie light of the [Soul Splitter Shuttle], and the faint phantom of the [Hundred Ghosts Scroll] surrounded its body. Its core of resentment was made incredibly stable and powerful by the [Styx Soul Crystal]!

Deathstroke has now been upgraded to an Ashhound!
Its strength has already leaped forward, enough to threaten ordinary LV3 reincarnators! Xia Yu, on the other hand, is just a newly promoted LV3, whose realm is not yet stable!

"Alright, now go back to your master." Valeria stroked Deathstroke's cold, solid head made of ash, her eyes filled with malice and expectation. "Remember, you must help me... kill that vixen Xia Yu! At all costs!"

The Blood Lord ordered her not to kill her own companions, but he didn't forbid her from using others to do her dirty work!

To ensure that Jiang Jin would fight Xia Yu to the death, she made another meticulous plan.

She took the Death Bell back to the bar counter and let it sniff carefully the lingering scent of the spot where Xia Yu had just sat.

“Remember this taste, that’s your goal.” Valeria sneered, then took out another scroll that exuded an ancient aura and had Deathstroke carefully put it in his mouth.

“Give this to your master, Jiang Jin. Tell him that this is his reward if he helps me kill Xia Yu.” Valeria’s eyes gleamed with calculation. “Now, go back to your master!”

The enhanced Deathstroke roared, its form instantly turning into an invisible cloud of ash, merging into the shadows of the ground, and speeding through the contaminated layer towards the "Sweet Home"!

As the death knell disappeared, Valeria was so excited she almost trembled!
She could almost see the beautiful scene of Xia Yu, that bitch, dying under the claws of Jiang Jin's hounds!

From now on, there will be no more of that annoying vixen in the Bloody Team!

She returned to the bar in high spirits and even ordered the strongest drink, a deep-sea bomb, which she downed in one gulp. The fiery liquid burned her throat, but it only made her more excited.

"Jiang Jin... you're the one who killed several big shots from the Old Core, you have to live up to expectations... you have to help me kill Xia Yu!" she murmured to herself, her eyes filled with twisted anticipation.

She couldn't help but recall how, back in the Silent Hill instance, Xia Yu, this surrendered general, shamelessly undressed in front of her and the Blood Lord to show his loyalty, stripping down to nothing and using every seductive trick in the book.

By betraying her husband Sima Jin and the entire Misty Swamp team, she enabled the Bloody Team to successfully slaughter everyone in the Misty Swamp team except for their leader Sima Jin. Surprisingly, she used this achievement to become a core member of the Bloody Team, on equal footing with herself!
Valeria still vividly remembers that humiliation and jealousy!

Most importantly, she looked down at her impressive assets that could drive any man crazy, and had to admit that Xia Yu, that bitch... how did she develop so incredibly well? Her assets were even more substantial than her own!
However, Xia Yu's innate allure, which makes countless men willingly fall under her skirt, is indeed superior to Valeria's.

This is certainly related to her background. Back in Italy, she was just a prostitute struggling at the bottom of society, working in the sex trade.

Xia Yu, on the other hand, was born into a scholarly family and seemed to be born to be a queen who was adored by everyone.

In the past, some bored busybodies created a beauty pageant for female reincarnators in Muxu City on the Reincarnator Forum. Frankly, this list garnered just as many clicks as the Reincarnator Strength Ranking. This list considered factors such as appearance, figure, and temperament, and its selection process was highly authoritative and consistently convincing. Throughout the rankings, "Witch Queen" Xia Yu consistently ranked second, second only to the legendary "Lady Bai Ye" Bai Yewei!

In terms of looks and figure, Xia Yu and Madam Bai Ye are roughly equal. However, compared to her refined demeanor, Xia Yu's subtle, almost imperceptible air of arrogance pales in comparison to Madam Bai Ye's noble bearing. Before becoming a reincarnator, Bai Yewei was a genuine sociology professor at a prestigious 985 university, holding a doctorate; her husband was also an economics professor. Bai Yewei was highly respected and reputable in academia, her every move exuding composure and elegance. It was precisely because of this that Madam Pustuca trusted her more than the Blood Lord, whom she had always harbored prejudice against. Xia Yu, therefore, was always overshadowed by her.

But today, this "Witch Queen," who ranked second on the beauty pageant list of reincarnated beauties, may be permanently removed from the list!
……

Meanwhile, Xia Yu, who was taking the subway to Sukhumvit, was completely unaware of Valeria's vicious scheme.

She was basking in the pleasure of soon "reclaiming" her resentment and the triumph she was about to achieve.

She was wearing headphones, and the music playing on her phone wasn't music, but a chilling recording—the very recording she made when she, posing as her captured husband Sima Jin, lured the entire Misty Swamp team into the Korean horror instance [Rose, Red Lotus], and then, with the help of the Bloodthirsty Team, wiped them all out.

This is her hobby; when she kills an enemy, she records the enemy's dying cries.

The recording initially showed the panic and disbelief of the Fog Swamp members upon discovering they had been ambushed, followed by desperate resistance and screams, and finally culminated in the most vicious curses and scathing rebukes of Xia Yu, the traitor.

"Xia Yu! You vicious woman! The commander has been so good to you! What have we ever done to wrong you?!" "You slut! I called you 'sister-in-law' all those times! You'll die a horrible death!!"

"Ahhh—please, have mercy on me!"

"Xia Yu! I'll haunt you even as a ghost!!"

Xia Yu even deliberately walked up to his dying teammates and told them with a beaming smile, "Let me tell you, A-Jie who died in the [Hill of Silence] dungeon... didn't die at the hands of Pyramid Head, but was killed by me... to prove my loyalty to Blood Lord!"

At this moment, listening to the shrill wails and curses coming from her headphones, she felt no remorse whatsoever. Instead, a joyful and intoxicated smile appeared on her face, and she even began to hum a song softly.

She has more than a dozen similar "trophy recordings" on her phone. Every time she listens to them, she can relive the ultimate pleasure of manipulating other people's fates and being the final victor.

As the third division of the Insect Nest team, the Misty Swamp team is one of the few divisions within the team with a relatively high average moral standard and its own bottom line. Team leader Sima Jin established a rule: "Never kill the innocent."

Xia Yu was the one who personally pushed this team into hell.

To her, the world was only about interests and exploitation. From childhood, with her stunning beauty and hot figure, she had long been accustomed to all men revolving around her like servants, willingly sacrificing everything for her. No matter how good others were to her, she took it all for granted.

This woman loved no one but herself. Even when her parents died from meme contamination, her first reaction was to calculate how much inheritance they would leave behind, without a trace of grief. Knowing that her parents died in the restricted area, she never thought of searching for or confirming whether they had become those eternal, self-destructive "guide NPCs" within the restricted area.

Her first murder occurred in the horror instance "Friday the 13th". At that time, she was a newbie, staying at the Crystal Lake camp with other reincarnators.

She was the first to find the camp's handwritten rules, and then... she actually took a pen and rewrote the rules, using the false rules to deceive her temporary partner who had cooperated with her several times before and had always been honest and trusting of her. She deliberately led him to violate the real rules of death in order to verify Jason's killing patterns, and then coldly watched him die.

"Beautiful as a peach blossom, but with a heart of a serpent"—these eight words perfectly describe her. How unjust is Heaven, bestowing such a perfect appearance upon a demon devoid of any humanity.

"You killed A-Jie?"

"You beast! How many times did Ah Jie risk his life to save you? Without him, would you still be alive today?"

"The commander must be blind to have married a woman like you!"

Listening to the curses in her headphones, Xia Yu felt as if she were listening to the most beautiful music; the wailing of a defeated dog was always so melodious.

Then Xia Yu's own voice came through the earpiece: "When A-Jie died, he couldn't believe it was me who did it to him. His bones were really hard; it took me ages to completely sever his head and give it to the Blood Lord. After you go down there, remember to give A-Jie my regards."

"You beast! You have no humanity! Ah!!!"

"I'm waiting for you to go to hell, Xia Yu!"

"You'll get your comeuppance!"

……

Inside the "Sweet Home".

Having temporarily repelled the ghostly attack and effectively disrupted it with black magic, Jiang Jin and Lin Lu had a brief respite. Relaxing slightly, they began preparing for tomorrow's school anniversary celebration. Jiang Jin had a strong premonition that tomorrow might very well be their final moments in this instance.

But the biggest problem remains—where exactly is the ghost's true form located in the Lost Layer? In the Material Layer, they can find almost no coordinates that can be directly correlated.

Just then, a familiar cloud of ashes gathered in the shadows of the living room.

The figure of Deathstroke slowly materialized and appeared!
"Death knell!" Jiang Jin exclaimed in surprise, but then realized something was wrong.

"Deathstroke is back? Where is he?" Lin Lu asked excitedly.

Jiang Jin discovered that... Deathstroke had not only fully recovered, but his aura had become even stronger and more ferocious than before. He was surrounded by an unsettling aura of ashes and strange, malevolent energy, and he was also carrying something in his mouth.
Deathstroke walked up to Jiang Jin, lowered his head, and placed the ancient scroll he was holding in his mouth at Jiang Jin's feet.

Then, through the soul link, it transmitted Valeria's message to Jiang Jin—kill Xia Yu, and this is the reward. And Xia Yu will arrive soon.

Jiang Jin frowned and picked up the scroll.

A system notification immediately appeared on the retina of his left eye:
"Reincarnator Jiang Jin, you have obtained a special item: [Soul Summoning Dungeon Treasure Map]."

"Note: This treasure map points to a powerful witchcraft item originating from the Salem witch hunt era in Massachusetts, USA, within the horror dungeon [Summoning]. (It can only be used by the Hunter class and can pose a threat to LV4 Reincarnators.) However, the treasure map has been sealed by the Psychic class ability and can only be unlocked by fulfilling specific conditions set by the Psychic (killing the target: Xia Yu, a member of the Bloody Team)."

A [Summoning] dungeon?!

Jiang Jin's heart skipped a beat. That was the famous, high-difficulty, Western-style horror dungeon in the Night Amusement Park, known for its in-depth exploration of Western demonology and family horror. It was said that there were even evil spirits in the annihilation layer deep inside, and ordinary reincarnators dared not enter easily.

The value of this treasure map is unimaginable! Where did Valeria get it?
Blood Lord had indeed done him a favor before, helping him suppress the retaliation from Duncan Club and Long Mingzhang... Jiang Jin hesitated for a moment.

Killing Xia Yu would mean offending the Bloodthirsty Team once again.

"Officer Jiang, what is this scroll?" Lin Lu asked in confusion.

After the scroll was handed to Jiang Jin, it entered the materialistic layer, which Lin Lu saw at a glance.

"It's a long story... I never expected the Blood Spider to present me with such a difficult problem."

After hearing Jiang Jin explain the situation, Lin Lu immediately recalled the cruel memories of Xia Yu flooding her mind, and said excitedly, "Officer Jiang! Xia Yu deserved to die! She killed so many people! Killing such scum was doing justice for heaven!"

Jiang Jin gave a wry smile.

Resai Tali was arrested because he attacked ordinary citizens, causing disruption to public order.

Fighting and killing each other is commonplace among reincarnators; none of them are without blood on their hands. It's impossible for him to transform into a martial arts hero and kill them all one by one. He's not that saintly.

Just as Jiang Jin was weighing the pros and cons and struggling internally—

Ding Dong!Ding Dong!
The doorbell rang abruptly!
Jiang Jin gestured for Lin Lu to step back, then, holding the Mourning Shotgun, he carefully walked to the back of the door and peered through the peephole—

Standing outside the door was a woman with an extremely hot figure and stunningly beautiful face, giving a sweet but chilling smile to the peephole.

Jiang Jin recognized her at a glance—it was Xia Yu!
She is coming!
(End of this chapter)