Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 41 Opening the Treasure Chest
Jiang Jin stood in the dim light of the corridor, the skull key in his hand gleaming with a cold, black light.

The empty eye sockets of the skull at the top of the key seemed to be staring at him, carrying a sinister and eerie aura.

He chose to open Liang Qin's treasure chest first.

The best time to open the treasure chest is when his SAN value is high and the ghosts are unlikely to attack him.

This is a restricted area, so we must not be careless in the slightest.

Then, the text prompts him to crouch down and point the key forward.

Jiang Jin squatted down and did as instructed.

"Heavens and earth spirits! May I be blessed with good luck and get some great equipment! At the very least, I must have that gun!"

The next second, space in front of the key began to distort, and then a skull treasure chest half the height of a person condensed.

The box is made up of countless tiny bones, and the keyhole is a distorted human face with its mouth wide open, as if it is screaming silently.

The skull key is inserted into the keyhole.

Jiang Jin turned the key, and the "face lock" on the skull treasure chest emitted a piercing laugh before popping open with a "click".

The inside of the box was pitch black, as if it connected to some unknown space.

After a long while, a light appeared.

Inside, there were three items.

Jiang Jin was overjoyed, among other things was Liang Qin's hunting rifle!

When he saw Liang Qin's gun, he thought he would have one someday. He never expected that it would be his so soon!

The system prompt appears:

"Reincarnator Jiang Jin, you have extracted three items from Reincarnator Liang Qin's watch from before his death."

First item: [Mourning Hunting Rifle] (Liang Qin's strongest weapon)
Gun body: Forged from dark red locust wood, the bones of the dead, and a fragment of resentment crystal. The stock is engraved with twisted runes and feels cold to the touch, as if you are holding the spine of a living thing.

Barrel: The surface is covered with fine vascular patterns, and when fired, it will briefly show a faint blue fluorescence, pulsating like breathing.

Muzzle: When fired, it spews out a pale green flame similar to phosphorescence, accompanied by a low wailing sound, as if countless dead souls are howling inside the gun barrel.

Bullet characteristics:
【Soul Eater Bullet】(Standard ammo, no SAN required, unlimited ammo)

The bullets are made from crystallized resentment that has been soaked in black dog blood and cinnabar. No matter how many rounds are fired, new bullets can be automatically regenerated and loaded into the barrel using this resentment.

The attack inflicts a "Tear" effect on spirits. Each attack costs 1% of your SAN value and can successfully repel vengeful spirits.

Firing at un-ghosted reincarnators does not deduct SAN value. Upon hitting a reincarnator, a small blood curse vortex will briefly form within the target's body. In addition to causing massive physical damage, it will also deduct 5%-10% of the target's SAN value per second for 3 seconds.

The spent cartridge case will burn to ashes on its own after landing, leaving no trace.

【Soul Lock Bullet】(Special ammunition, no SAN value required, limited to 3 rounds per day, automatic reload, can be fired by switching the ammunition button on the gun body)

The projectile is made by infusing resentment crystals with the blood of Haitian voodoo-infused resurrected corpses. When it hits a spirit, it will forcibly bind it to the spot for 30-150 seconds (depending on the spirit's strength). Each shot requires 3% of SAN value.

There is a 33% chance that the bullet will trigger a "Fatal Penetration," completely shattering the resentment of the hit spirit. Hitting a reincarnator will force their SAN value to drop below 30%. Furthermore, regardless of whether the bullet hits a spirit or a reincarnator, it will release a brief "Hunter Mark," which can automatically trigger every 5 minutes, continuously burning the spirit or the reincarnator's body, delaying the resentment's re-aggregation into a spirit or continuously deducting the reincarnator's SAN value.

Weapon characteristics

1. [Curse Binding] (Passive) The weapon requires a Hunter-class Reincarnator to bind it to their bloodline before it can be used. When not in the owner's possession, the runes on the weapon will writhe like living beings and release [Curse Backlash]. The owner can track the location of the person affected by the curse through the curse, even if they are in different dimensions.

2. [Absorption of the Dead] (Passive)

Firearms have a certain chance of absorbing some of the resentment of the spirits they kill, thus further enhancing their power.

In extremely yin places (such as mass graves or haunted houses), the runes on the gun barrel will light up on their own, indicating the location of high-threat spirits in the vicinity.

3. [Death Aim] (Active Skill)
Within the scope, spirits within the weapon's firing range will be highlighted (for 10 seconds), and an infrared aiming point will appear on the prey, increasing the hit rate.

Second item: [Ghost Dog Whistle]

Once blew, it can summon undead hounds in any area, such as when the master and hounds are separated for some reason or are on different planes of the same dimension. Each use consumes 2% of SAN value.

The third item: [Blood Curse Bandage]

Wrapping the wound heals physical damage and temporarily blocks pain, while randomly increasing SAN by 20%-30%.

Risk: Bandages can absorb the user's blood; excessive use may lead to anemia.

Without hesitation, Jiang Jin grabbed the hunting rifle, the Mourning. The moment the handle touched his skin, he felt a chilling resentment creeping up his fingertips, after all, he was the one who killed the gun's original owner.

"Good stuff." He used a boning knife to cut his finger and began to drip blood to bind it to him!

From then on, Sangming became bound to Jiang Jin, becoming his exclusive weapon!
He grinned and stuffed the two items besides the shotgun into the Reincarnator's Watch. Then, the Skull Chest disappeared.

Immediately afterwards, he gripped Wu Qin's skull key tightly.

"Do you wish to summon the Skull Treasure Chest of Reincarnator Wu Qin? Yes/No"

"Yes."

A second treasure chest appeared, this time covered in eerie runes. At the keyhole was a withered, ghostly hand, its five fingers curled as if struggling. It seemed that the skull treasure chests varied in appearance depending on the reincarnator's class.

Turning the key, the ghost lock creaked open, revealing three items inside the box—

"Reincarnator Jiang Jin, you have extracted three items from Reincarnator Wu Qin's watch from his previous life."

First item: [Soul Refining Jar] (A core item for Wu and Qin)
It can seal spirits and refine them into ghost slaves (they need to be fed blood continuously during the soul refining process). A fragment of resentment crystal was incorporated into its creation. It can successfully refine the souls of extremely powerful vengeful ghosts by taking risks and paying a price. Only the Soul Stealer class can use it.

Risk of backlash: If the soul refining fails, the user will suffer a loss of more than 40% of SAN value, which cannot be recovered within 5 hours.

Second item: [Substitute Death Talisman] (Consumable x1)

When attached to another person, it transfers one of your fatal injuries to them. Once attached, it can only be removed upon death. Once triggered, it deducts 15% of your SAN value.

The third item: Resentment Crystal Shards Ribbon (four in total)
The sash already contained four fragments of resentment that Wu Qin had collected; he only needed one more to advance to LV3 Soul Refiner.

Aside from the mournful cries, Jiang Jin stuffed everything into the Reincarnator's Watch's storage space, planning to study it in detail later when he got out.

Six treasures, acquired.

If other reincarnators were here at this moment, they would be absolutely dumbfounded!
A Level 1 Reincarnator who had just survived the first terrifying dungeon actually obtained two items infused with resentment crystals, as well as a total of four resentment crystals!

Jiang Jin hadn't realized how precious the Resentment Shards were! They were enough to drive anyone mad with envy!

Just then, a creaking sound suddenly came from the far end of the corridor—like an old wooden door being slowly pushed open!

(End of this chapter)