Taoist Master, wishing for a sacrifice-based system

Chapter 52 Stumbling Block! Three ruthless bandits walked for two hours on the mountain road!

Qin Du closed the system panel.

I reopened the game.

Let's start the next ranked match.

The moonlight shone on his face.

His expression was calm.

As calm as usual.

It was as calm as if nothing had happened.

What he didn't know was.

The moment he clicked "Redeem".

Three men carrying explosives had just set off on the mountain path of Qingyun Mountain.

1:23 AM.

The three of them set off on the path leading up the mountain.

The road is narrow, just wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

The sides are covered with dense shrubs and weeds.

Moonlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

The chirping of insects rose and fell in waves.

Occasionally, night birds would fly overhead, emitting sharp cries.

Very normal.

Everything is normal.

The bald man walked at the very front.

His steps were steady.

His breathing was even.

The canvas bag is easy to carry.

He's been in this line of work for over ten years.

I've seen it all.

I've groped my way through the dark in the deep mountains and forests.

Walk through the ruins of a war-torn region amidst a hail of bullets.

A small Taoist temple with no walls, no surveillance cameras, and only two people living there.

In his view, it was as simple as taking a walk.

He even planned in his mind to go on a two-month vacation in Thailand after this job.

Three million is enough for him to live comfortably for a whole year.

It took about ten minutes to walk.

The baseball cap suddenly stopped.

"Wait a moment."

The bald man turned around and looked at him.

"What's wrong?"

'

The baseball cap frowned, looked to the left, then to the right.

"Did we just pass by this tree?"

'

He pointed to a crooked old tree by the roadside.

There is a very obvious "scar" on the tree trunk, like a mark left by lightning.

The bald man glanced at the tree.

No. You've mistaken me. Let's go.

5

The three continued walking forward.

We walked for another five minutes.

The mixed-race young man suddenly said something.

"This is the wrong road."

The bald man stopped.

"What's wrong?"

'

"The GPS signal is gone." The mixed-race man looked at his phone screen. "Ten minutes ago there were two bars of signal, now it's gone completely."

.

The bald man took out his phone.

one look.

indeed.

The signal bar was empty.

Even that little triangle symbol has disappeared.

"It's normal for the signal to be bad in the mountains," the bald man said. "Don't make a fuss. Just keep going in the right direction."

He looked up at the moon to confirm his location.

"The Taoist temple is located at the foot of the mountain, slightly to the east. The moon is in the southwest. We should head in this direction."

The three of them continued walking.

Ten minutes later.

The baseball cap stopped again.

This time he didn't say anything.

He simply pointed to the right.

The bald man looked in the direction he was pointing.

A crooked old tree.

There is a scar on the tree trunk from being struck by lightning.

It's exactly the same as the one from twenty minutes ago.

No.

Not exactly the same.

It's the same tree.

The bald man frowned.

He walked to the tree, squatted down, and looked at the soil at the base of the tree.

There are three sets of footprints in the soil.

It belongs to them.

They went in a circle.

We've returned to where we started.

"Damn it," the bald man muttered under his breath.

"A ghost wall?" The baseball cap's voice sounded somewhat unnatural.

"Don't talk nonsense. There's no such thing as being trapped in a maze." The bald man stood up. "I misjudged the direction. Let's start over."

He took another look at the moon.

Confirm location.

He was particularly careful this time.

The moon is located at approximately 30 degrees south of southwest.

They were heading in the northeast direction.

That's right.

Absolutely right.

"Walk."

The three of them started anew.

This time, the bald man carved a cross on a tree trunk by the roadside with a knife every hundred steps he took.

Mark it.

The most basic wilderness survival skills.

He's been in this line of work for over a decade; he could do this kind of thing with his eyes closed.

The first cross.

The second cross.

The third cross.

the fourth.

the fifth.

sixth.

It took about fifteen minutes to walk.

The bald man suddenly stopped.

His pupils contracted.

There is a tree in front of me.

A cross is carved on the tree trunk.

He carved it himself.

It's the first one.

He recognized the knife marks on his body.

They're back.

The bald man's Adam's apple bobbed.

He did not say again that "the direction was misjudged".

Because he knew that he couldn't possibly be wrong about the direction twice in a row.

Moreover, he used the moon for positioning.

The moon doesn't lie.

unless.

He looked up at the sky.

moon.

The moon is still in the same position.

Thirty degrees south of southwest.

Nothing has changed.

So where is the problem?

The bald man's back began to break out in a cold sweat.

It's not fear.

He's the kind of person who doesn't know what fear is.

It is an instinctive unease stemming from animal instinct.

It's like a wolf walking into an unfamiliar forest and suddenly discovering a scent in the air it has never smelled before, a scent that makes every hair on its body stand on end.

"Something's not right," he finally admitted.

There's something wrong with this mountain.

66

The baseball cap didn't say anything.

His face had turned pale.

It's not pale.

It was the kind of white that looked like paper under the moonlight, devoid of any color.

The mixed-race young man pulled his hand out of his pocket.

He now had a gun in his hand.

The dark muzzle of the gun was pointed into the surrounding darkness.

"Put it away." The bald man lowered his voice. "What's the use of shooting? Who are you going to shoot? A tree?"

The mixed-race man put the gun away.

But his hands were shaking.

I couldn't stop shaking.

"Boss, should we retreat?" the baseball cap finally spoke up.

"Retreat? Where to retreat to? Do you know the way down the mountain?"

'

The baseball cap opened its mouth.

He couldn't utter a word.

Because he suddenly realized a problem.

They couldn't find the way up the mountain.

We couldn't even find the way down the mountain.

The entire mountain seemed to have transformed into a giant maze.

No Exit.

There is no entrance.

There are only endless, repetitive, and seemingly identical mountain paths and forests.

And that crooked tree with a cross carved on it.

It's like a silent guardian.

Stand still.

Waiting for them to come back again and again.

We entered the mountains at 1:23 AM.

It is 3:41 a.m.

It's been more than two hours.

Three professionals carrying explosives.

On a small hill that is two hundred meters high.

It took more than two hours to walk.

There was no further progress.

at the same time.

Qingyun Temple.

Qin Du turned off the computer.

I stretched.

He yawned.

Six-game winning streak.

Satisfied.

He stood up, holding his teacup, ready to go back to his room to sleep.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After taking two steps, he suddenly stopped.

He sensed something.

It's not a sound.

It's not the smell.

It is a feedback from the Misty Mountain Protection Formation.

Just as the Tranquil Mind Formation allowed him to sense changes within the temple, the Misty Mountain Protection Formation also allowed him to perceive anomalies within its range.

There are people on the mountain.

three people.

It harbors strong malice.

They are getting lost in the illusion created by the formation.

Qin Du hummed in agreement.

He took a sip of tea from his mug.

Then they continued walking back into the house.

Turn off the lights.

go to bed.

Close your eyes.

The system panel was quietly lit up in the corner of his field of vision.

A message is displayed.

[The Misty Mountain Protection Formation is in operation. Three malicious intruders have been detected. Current status: Lost. Expected trigger of the Inner Demon Illusion: 23 minutes countdown.]

Qin Du glanced at it.

He rolled over.

fell asleep.