Alien Species Invasion? I Kill Them Back.

Chapter 84: Chapter 82: Three Pure Ones Palace

Feng Ling asked, "So, should we head up or down first?"

Huangfu Miaomiao’s face scrunched up as if she’d bitten into a sour plum. "Umm... Going by the name, the Three Pure Ones Palace sounds like a safe house, but considering the location, the mountain is bound to be crawling with monsters. Wouldn’t the base of the mountain be safer?"

She was torn again, seemingly paralyzed by indecision.

Feng Ling said to Li Qing, "Use your beads to get a reading. Didn’t you say the second try still has a 48% accuracy rate?"

Li Qing did as she asked, taking out his phone and detaching three beads from its strap.

As he did so, he shot Feng Ling a somewhat resigned glance before tossing the beads into the air. After observing how they fell, he said, "We go up."

"Alright, let’s move." Feng Ling was very satisfied.

She felt that bringing Li Qing along had been an absolutely brilliant decision.

Huangfu Miaomiao followed behind her, pouting unhappily. She felt like she wasn’t being useful.

The group continued up the mountain path.

Night fell quickly.

The sun had been setting when they entered the Maze. Now, dozens of minutes later, twilight had descended, and the sky was nearly pitch-black.

The fog grew thicker.

Roars of beasts and cries of birds echoed through the mountain forest, each sound stranger than the last—some like the hiss of a wildcat, others like the eerie cackle of a baby.

The rustling of grass seemed to follow them, always just at their heels.

Blue-green Ghost Fire drifted in the distance like lanterns lit by wandering souls, sometimes far, sometimes near, flickering faintly in and out of sight.

The Cat Spider and Cat Owl had started out enjoying a buffet along the path. Later, perhaps because they were full or had sensed the dangers of the night, they grew more subdued and stuck close to Feng Ling, no longer wandering off.

They walked for a full half hour.

Eventually, it became so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. Feng Ling and Huangfu Miaomiao, who had better night vision, took Li Qing’s place at the head of the group.

As they neared the Three Pure Ones Palace, Feng Ling heard Huangfu Miaomiao let out a sigh of relief.

"Are we there?" Feng Ling asked.

Huangfu Miaomiao nodded happily. "Yeah! I see a light up ahead. It must be the safe house!"

Huangfu Miaomiao had been worried they had gone the wrong way and wasted half an hour, especially since walking on a rough mountain trail like this was far more exhausting than walking on flat concrete.

Feng Ling looked ahead. "Can only players see it? I don’t see any light."

"Yeah, I can’t see it either," Pei Xianjue added.

"The safe house is part of the Maze quest, so only players who have accepted it can see the light," Li Qing explained.

With the light in sight, Huangfu Miaomiao’s pace lightened considerably. As they drew closer, the upturned eaves of an ancient-style building began to peek out from between the dense pine trees.

A notification popped up in Huangfu Miaomiao’s vision:

[You have found a propitious location in the perilous mountain forest. The Three Pure Ones will shelter you from the threat of monsters.]

[Maze Exploration Progress +13%]

"Found it!" Huangfu Miaomiao’s spirits lifted. She waved a hand at the others behind her. "This way!"

From this point on, the mountain path began to show signs of human artifice.

The path underfoot transformed into wide, thick stone steps.

Following the steps further up led them into a slightly narrower stone walkway.

Tiny stone pavilions flanked the walkway, but it was too dark to make out any carvings inside them.

At the end of the walkway stood an archway built from massive stones. An inscription was carved on it, too dim to read, but Feng Ling guessed it must say "Three Pure Ones Palace."

Passing through the archway, they came to an open platform, and the main hall of the Three Pure Ones Palace entered their view.

Although the area was still dim and cool, it exuded a peaceful, serene atmosphere that involuntarily put one’s mind at ease.

Huangfu Miaomiao made herself right at home, casually stepping over the threshold into the main hall. She fumbled her way inside in the dark, and a moment later, her voice called out, "There’s lamp oil here, and it’s full! I’ll light the lamps."

Feng Ling surveyed their surroundings as she slowly walked into the main hall.

Huangfu Miaomiao found a lighter in her bag. With a CLICK, she carefully lit the oil lamps on the altar table.

There were six lamps in total on the altar. Once they were all lit, the hall became quite bright, and all its furnishings were visible at a glance.

On the platform behind the altar sat three clay Divine Statues. Though their paint was peeling with age, they still possessed an air of simple, profound mystery.

Other than that, the hall contained nothing else; it was exceptionally clean.

Feng Ling went around the altar platform and discovered the building was divided into a front hall and a rear chamber. The area behind the platform led to the rear chamber, another very open space. In the very center, resting on a granite slab, was a wooden box.

"Hey, there’s a box over here," Feng Ling called out to the others.

"A box?" Huangfu Miaomiao ran over, then cried out in delight, "Ah! It’s a treasure box!"

She joyfully rushed toward it.

Pei Xianjue, Liang Zhou, Baozi, and the others heard her and came over. Seeing Huangfu Miaomiao opening the treasure box, they all had mixed feelings.

"This really is like playing a game..." Pei Xianjue sighed softly.

Li Qing remained silent.

Huangfu Miaomiao opened the wooden box to find a large blade, a shortsword, and an axe.

She knew Feng Ling liked using an axe, so she immediately handed it over. She kept the shortsword for herself. The remaining blade was too large and broad for her; it required a lot of strength to swing, so she couldn’t use it. She looked toward Pei Xianjue and the others and asked, "You guys want it?"

Pei Xianjue, who already wore two scimitars at his waist, might not get used to a new weapon, so he just shook his head.

"Baozi, why don’t you take it?" Pei Xianjue said.

Baozi paused for a second, then smiled as he took the large machete from Huangfu Miaomiao. "Thanks."

"You’re welcome!~" Huangfu Miaomiao closed the empty box and happily stored her new weapon away in her inventory slot.

The divide between the humans and the Alien Species in the group seemed to lessen, just a little, in that moment.

Feng Ling took in the shifting expressions on everyone’s faces before looking away.

’It’s just false camaraderie,’ she thought. ’A peace so fragile it couldn’t withstand a single blow.’

’But... it doesn’t matter.’

She shrugged off her backpack, sat on the floor, and took out the drone parts. Following the instruction manual, she slowly began to assemble it.

Li Qing offered a well-intentioned suggestion. "It’s too dark out. Why not wait until morning to do anything?"

"It’ll be a while before dawn, and it’s not like we’re sleeping. I’ll send the drone out for a look," Feng Ling said. Gripping the remote, she muttered, "Why isn’t it taking off?"

"Let me help, I’m good with these." Pei Xianjue scooted closer and sat down, taking the remote and making a few adjustments.

The drone responded, slowly rising into the air.

Feng Ling’s phone started syncing with the drone’s camera feed.

Pei Xianjue asked her, "How do you want to scout? Up the mountain first, then down, or the other way around?"

Feng Ling thought for a moment. "Up first."

Pei Xianjue piloted the drone out of the main hall and into the boundless darkness—

CLICK.

Its searchlight switched on, casting a conical beam into the forest. The light pierced the thin mist, startling a flock of birds into flight.

A massive shadow flashed across the phone’s screen.

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