"Ah, did you notice how many times the Queen of Silence attacked you during her rampage?" Xiao Hua's question hit the nail on the head, drawing Piaoling's attention.
"Six times!" The memory of those final attacks was seared into Xiao Hua's mind, and he answered without hesitation, a sudden realization dawning on him.
"You figured it out! Six attacks, corresponding to the number of people in a six-person group. That's the total number of attacks the rampaged Queen of Silence makes! As long as one person can withstand a single hit without dying, the dungeon can be cleared. After that, you saw how weakened she became. I think even a healer could finish her off at that point! Otherwise, even if the rampage lasted only thirty seconds, the entire team would be wiped out despite using super boss cards," Piaoling said, somewhat smugly. Analyzing boss behavior was her forte.
"Indeed, I was terrified by that insane speed and almost gave up," Xiao Hua nodded, still shaken by the experience.
"The mission is finally complete. Let's search around to see if there's a treasure chest or something." Piaoling, seeing the mission marker turn to 'completed,' felt relieved. Failing once would mean losing 10% proficiency in three skills, which would take considerable time to regain.
Xiao Hua agreed and began searching for anything the Queen of Silence might have left behind. In the Second World, various dungeons often spawned a random treasure chest within a certain radius of the boss's spawn point after defeating the boss. These chests contained gold, equipment, blueprints, and free skill books, offering rich rewards, albeit with a low chance of appearance and entirely random nature.
Taking just two steps, Xiao Hua suddenly stopped, squinting at the distant horizon, his expression changing dramatically.
"There's no need to search; we need to run for our lives," Xiao Hua said, tears streaming down his face. He felt the game designers had gone too far, not even giving them time to search for a chest. The thought of missing out on a potential epic item if a chest existed was unbearable.
But the sight in the distance compelled him to flee the dungeon immediately. Through the tops of the bamboo groves, the clear blue sky suddenly shattered like glass, pieces raining down, revealing an endless, pitch-black void. Although Xiao Hua couldn't see the ground, he imagined it was rapidly collapsing like in disaster movies.
Piaoling also saw this and, with a drastic change in her expression, they rushed toward the entrance.
Fortunately, the entrance remained open, and they crawled inside, moving back toward the Silent Forest in the dark tunnel.
Stolen novel; please report.
Following the principle of ladies first, Xiao Hua, though faster, allowed Piaoling to lead the way in the tunnel.
However, not long into the tunnel, Piaoling felt a large hand reach around and touch her rear!
How dare he take advantage of the situation!
Furious, she prepared to condemn Xiao Hua's lecherous behavior, but he spoke first: "Can you walk faster?"
"It's so dark; I'm already going as fast as I can. Just now..." Piaoling stopped, intending to scold Xiao Hua, but he, unaware she had halted, crashed into her, causing both to tumble to the ground.
After struggling to get up, Xiao Hua complained: "Why did you stop? The tunnel is collapsing behind us. We need to move faster or we'll be trapped here!"
Listening to his complaint, Piaoling's heart sank. During their struggle on the ground, Xiao Hua's hands had roamed over her body, touching places they shouldn't. The system even issued an infringement warning. Frankly, Piaoling wanted the system to punish Xiao Hua, but knowing the tunnel was collapsing, she realized it was an accident and swallowed her anger, unable to say, "You touched me; you need to take responsibility."
To escape safely, they sprinted through the pitch-black tunnel, Piaoling running especially hard, fearing another collision with Xiao Hua would push her over the edge.
In the Silent Forest, two figures emerged from a giant tree. The first figure barely stood when the second crashed into it, sending both tumbling.
"Why didn't you move out of the way? I couldn't see inside; it was dangerous!" Xiao Hua accused Piaoling, who hadn't run fast enough in the tunnel, matching the collapse speed. Seeing the exit, Xiao Hua leaped out, assuming Piaoling would move aside. But she wasn't as agile and was unfortunately hit by Xiao Hua.
He didn't mean to! He didn't mean to!
Piaoling repeated this to herself to calm down.
As Xiao Hua emerged, the hole in the giant tree disappeared, reverting to a regular tree. However, moments later, the tree rapidly withered, turning into a lifeless, gray husk within a minute.
Stunned, they watched the transformation.
"Too magical!" Xiao Hua exclaimed, lacking better words.
Piaoling looked at the surrounding six giant trees forming a hexagram, noting they remained unchanged.
"Let's turn in the quest, but can you remember the way back to camp in this maze-like Silent Forest?" While games don't provide maps, finding the way in this vast forest wasn't Xiao Hua's forte.
Typically, after killing a boss or completing a non-quest dungeon, players enter an evaluation system, receiving rewards and exiting safely. However, in quest dungeons, players must find the relevant NPC to complete the quest before entering the evaluation system; otherwise, the quest fails.
"Of course, I remember," Piaoling smiled. Unlike Xiao Hua, she knew remembering the NPC's location saves time and trouble. She had mentally noted the route, though not precisely, finding the camp wasn't difficult.
Feeling slighted by the earlier incidents, she decided to play a prank on Xiao Hua, leading him in a different direction.
Unaware, Xiao Hua followed her for nearly an hour and a half, growing suspicious. "Are you lost? It shouldn't take this long," he asked.
"No, you're wrong!" Piaoling replied confidently, secretly pleased that he hadn't realized the deception. Deciding it was late, she changed direction, heading toward the camp.
Soon, a massive silhouette appeared ahead—the same bird that led them to the Queen of Silence!
The giant eagle spotted them. Its large, human-like eyes revealed astonishment upon seeing them!