There's a big problem with dreams in this world.

The kingdom's authorized hunters are primarily responsible for field reconnaissance in each region. If they discover any unusual situations, they must report them to the nearest city.

If we make a move while Charles is still alive, there is a very high risk that Charles will escape.

For ordinary people or soldiers in the town, surviving in the cold snow is almost impossible, but for authorized hunters, it's just a daily routine.

In this way, he could pass the message to Fremures City, causing the Silent Sect's plan to fail, since the transformation of the Bloodstone would take quite a while.

However, the Guiji Cult probably never expected that Princess, who was supposed to be undergoing [spiritual] training in the capital, would actually come to Fremures with the Pope, causing their plan to fail.

“Indeed, that makes sense. But why is that Void Worm under the control of the Guiji Sect?” Lu Qing lowered her head slightly, pondering in her heart.

She glanced at Fang Qingrou, who looked somewhat sad, opened her mouth, but didn't know how to comfort her.

Should we tell her that the dead cannot be brought back to life, or should we say that this is just a dream world, and it's all fake?

Of course, she couldn't bring herself to say such a thing. Looking at Hao Meng beside her, her cheeks were flushed red, and she opened her mouth several times but couldn't utter a single word.

"Sigh." With a sigh, Lu Qing simply sat down next to Fang Qingrou and let her rest her forehead on her shoulder.

"Although the place isn't very big, it should be enough for you to rest," Lu Qing muttered softly.

"Knock knock knock..."

A soft knock sounded at that moment. Eileen pushed open the door and was taken aback when she saw that Fang Qingrou was already awake. She then said, "Your Highness, Miss Hao Meng, Miss Fang Qingrou, I have prepared dinner."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work. We'll be there in a bit," Lu Qing said, waving to Eileen.

"I understand." Eileen bowed slightly, then looked at Fang Qingrou and asked, "Should I inform His Holiness the Pope and Knight Myron about Miss Fang Qingrou's awakening?"

"Thank you for your help," Lu Qing said.

"Yes." Eileen took her leave.

"The wounds on my body were not caused by the Void Worms," ​​Fang Qingrou said softly after Eileen left.

"Hmm?" Lu Qing was slightly taken aback. If it wasn't caused by the Void Worm, then could it be caused by those Guiji Cultists? But the wounds on Fang Qingrou's body didn't look like they were caused by a sharp weapon. Instead, the ferocious exoskeleton on the Void Worm's body was more likely to be the cause.

Fang Qingrou quickly answered Lu Qing's question.

"After defeating the Silent Cultists who were blocking the cave entrance, I rested for a while until my strength had recovered. Then I used my greatsword to dig through the rubble at the entrance..."

"It was during the excavation that a roar, neither human nor monster, came from inside the cave..."

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Chapter 498: Wilderness Walk LV2

P.S.: A small part of the settings have been modified in this chapter. If you notice it, please don't mind it. If you don't notice it, it won't have any impact.

“Charle has become a vengeful spirit.” That night, after dinner, when Eileen took Fang Qingrou to rest, the Pope took a deep breath and said.

"Are you sure?" Knight Myron asked the Pope.

"Hmm." The Pope nodded, recalling what Fang Qingrou had said earlier: "The monster emerged from the cave entrance when there were still rubble, but it did not destroy the rubble at the entrance after it rushed out."

"Fang Qingrou also said that she did not hear any sound before she was attacked, which is very consistent with the description of a spirit. Moreover, as I said before, I sensed the power of the void and the spirit world on her wounds."

“Indeed, but didn’t you say before that the Void Worm turned into a vengeful spirit after being killed due to the influence of the Void Power? How come it’s Charles now, or a vengeful spirit?” Knight Myron continued to ask.

"Intuition." The Pope glanced at Knight Myron indifferently. He had never mentioned that the Void Worm had turned into a vengeful spirit; it was just Knight Myron's own speculation.

He was preoccupied with the news of Charles's death and had no intention of telling Knight Myron that creatures corrupted by the Void could never become spirits because their souls had been eroded.

As for why it's a vengeful spirit rather than a vengeful ghost......

That would truly be relying on intuition and experience. Thinking this, the Pope looked at Lu Qing and said, "Your Highness, could you please carve a wooden mask of Charles?"

For mortals, wooden masks represent death; placing wooden masks on the dead is a way of remembering them.

For those who practice spiritual communication, carving wooden masks is a way to retreat into the soul and allow restless souls to settle down once again.

Whether Charles became a vengeful spirit or a vengeful soul, this wooden mask was necessary, but...

"Don't you plan to carve it yourself?" Lu Qing asked the Pope. Charles was the Pope's brother, and carving his wooden mask would be more meaningful to the Pope.

The Pope shook his head, then stood up and said, "Get some rest. We'll set off to find Charles at noon tomorrow."

"The movements of the vengeful spirit are completely unpredictable. We must find him as soon as possible, before things escalate."

The appearance of vengeful spirits is a deadly matter, no matter where it is, and because he often deals with these creatures, the Pope knows very well that this matter cannot be delayed for too long.

After everyone returned to their rooms to rest, Lu Qing took out a wooden board that the Pope had given her, specifically for carving wooden masks.

The Pope said that these planks were made from trees that grow near the sacred tree. Lu Qing had secretly bitten one out of curiosity, and it was harder than the trees that grow in the dark forest.

The taste is about the same, but it has a slightly sweet flavor, and one piece is equivalent to a dozen ordinary wooden planks...

cough cough.

Sometimes, Lu Qing couldn't help but let her mind wander, especially when she was thinking about things that were rather embarrassing.

She couldn't help but wonder if others could see what she was thinking, but she pretended not to notice. She glanced around nervously, and then silently breathed a sigh of relief, though she didn't know what she was so nervous about.

"Open Sesame".

Lu Qing summoned the storage cabinet in the cabin, opened the bottom drawer, and took out the stone knife inside.

She gently tapped the wooden board in her hand with the back of the blade of the [Words of Rock], and a peculiar "sound" gradually entered her ears.

Lu Qing slowly closed her mouth, recalling Charles's face, and gradually conceived the best carving route in her mind.

........

Forty-five minutes later.

"Phew, finally done." Wiping non-existent sweat from her brow, Lu Qing looked at the wooden mask in her hand with a satisfied smile.

The carving of the wooden mask went very smoothly, and it resembled Charles's appearance by at least 70-80%.

Actually, it's not that she couldn't carve a mask exactly like Charles's face, but if the mask were carved to look exactly like a real person's face, then it would be meaningless.

A mask is a mask because it is different from a human face. In this world, carving a mask that looks exactly like a human face is a taboo.

People consider such masks unlucky and terrifying. For psychics, using such masks may anger spirits, making it a losing proposition.

So it's enough to carve a wooden mask that's about 70-80% accurate, like this one.

With that thought in mind, Lu Qing placed the carved wooden mask on the table in the room, then cleaned up the wood shavings and lay down on the bed to rest.

I need to go see Charles tomorrow at noon. Although not sleeping won't have a big impact on her, I should still get some rest beforehand.

........

The next day, the four of them, who were already fully prepared, headed to the location where Charles and Fang Qingrou had their accident.

Because of the previous avalanche, the road here is not easy to walk on. Almost every step leaves a thick snow pit. However, Lu Qing and her companions are not ordinary people. They did not find walking in such terrain particularly troublesome, although their speed inevitably decreased.

If this were a martial arts world, perhaps they could use some kind of light-footed skill, like floating on snow, running across the snow without leaving a single footprint.

But this isn't the case. Even if your physical abilities are far superior to those of characters in martial arts novels, the idea of ​​running on the snow without leaving a trace is pure fantasy.

[Wilderness Walk - Forest LV9 - Wilderness Walk LV2]

Suddenly, the words "skill upgrade" popped up on the diary. Lu Qing glanced at it and found that the words "Forest" after "Wilderness Walk - Forest" were gone, replaced by only "Wilderness Walk". The original LV9 had also been changed to LV2.

This should be considered progress, since she had never seen a skill regress on the attribute panel before.

I don't know if her skills really never went backwards, or if players of the Dream Game, once they master a skill, there will never be a time when they go backwards.

Suddenly, Lu Qing saw a cave that was similar to the one Fang Qingrou had described.

This is what she saw through Wayne's vision. There were also buried rubble at the entrance of the cave, which looked like the one Fang Qingrou was talking about.

Besides the cave, she also saw a dense black aura in Wayne's field of vision.

"Hmm?" Wayne's voice suddenly entered my mind. He seemed quite pleased as he said, "Such a strong negative energy!"

"Gah! This great one will absorb that negative energy completely. As long as I digest it, I will definitely advance to become a blue Ga!"

------------

........

I'm posting this to prove I'm not dead yet.

oooo~

Ahem, seriously, I'm sorry, I really can't write it!

It's not that I lack inspiration, it's just that I can't write it down. The plot is in my head, but I can't put it into words!

Lacking in reason and strength, yet extremely arrogant. (Just kidding.)

I promise I'll update twice tomorrow, I swear!

If there's no double update tomorrow, I'll dress up as a woman and post the photos in the comments!

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Chapter 499: This is a Trial

"No way~" Lu Qing said to Wayne in her heart.

This negative emotion is most likely Charles, who has become a vengeful spirit. The Pope and Knight Myron are still watching her, so how could she let Wayne devour Charles?

Moreover, even if the Pope and Knight Myron were not present, she couldn't let Wayne devour Charles's soul. After all, Charles was Fang Qingrou's master and shouldn't be treated like that.

"All right........"

Wayne probably guessed why Lu Qing refused. Although he felt it was a pity, he didn't have the idea of ​​absorbing that negative energy.

Anyway, he can break through to the blue level in another two or three months through his own cultivation; the only difference is the speed.

Lu Qing was surprised that Wayne agreed so readily, and was slightly taken aback for a moment. However, this was not a bad thing; it only made her feel a little surprised.

“Vayne has found the cave, and besides that, he seems to have also spotted the location of the Soul of Hatred.” Lu Qing shared the information she had gathered with the three people beside her.

She had previously spoken to Knight Myron and the Pope about Wayne. As a princess of the royal family, it's not unreasonable for her to be able to summon a talking raven that can communicate remotely.

"Could you have your raven keep an eye on the Soul of Hatred? I plan to go to the cave first and take a look," the Pope said after thinking for a while. He wanted to go into the cave first to see if he could find Charles's body.

As for the vengeful spirit that had long since left the cave, since the crows summoned by the princess could scout from high above, let them keep an eye on it for now. There's no need to worry about losing them.

After listening to the Pope's words, Lu Qing and Knight Myron felt there was no problem, so they nodded in agreement to go inside the cave first. As for Hao Meng, she might have other ideas, but she didn't say anything. So the four of them quickened their pace and ran towards the cave on the hillside.