The Trembling World
chapter-451-30041322

TL: LifeisaJourney

After ten minutes, the tremors started weakening, and the King Crocodile’s roars were fainter. Without a doubt, they had unknowingly ventured into its territory, and crossed the border of its zone. It was also a possibility that the bonfires had played a part in luring the monster so close. It was still very dark out, so the bonfires would’ve been like beacons.

Half an hour later, the tremors of its footsteps had ceased, and even its roars could no longer be heard. That was when Liu Gan finally stood up from the mud bank. He headed in a direction away from the King Crocodile, while still moving quietly. It was no longer viable to stay near the public square. The camp that they had set up for the night had to be abandoned.

After two more hours of quietly trudging through the mud, Liu Gan felt that he was far enough away from the monster that he could re-establish a new campsite.

The air was so cold that the liquid from the mud had started to turn to ice. Even if it was dangerous to start a fire, they had to take the risk. Once Liu Gan found a good campsite, he had everyone gather firewood. They created multiple bonfires, with them sitting around the central bonfire to stay warm. Aside from staying warm, it was also used to dry their clothes.

“Who would’ve thought that Evil Dragon Gulf actually contained an Evil Dragon!” Cai Hao Chen sighed.

“Yeah! A creature of that size is ridiculous right? It’s just terrifying to think about!” Liu Kang responded.

“I’m afraid only Lord Liu could handle it.” Ana glanced over at Liu Gan.

“I don’t think I can handle it,” Liu Gan disagreed. He barely managed to fight against the smaller version of the King Crocodile, there was no way he can put up a fight against that monstrosity. Liu Gan felt that this monster was Nin Jing City’s final BOSS. It could be possible that he would need ten to fifteen level 15 players to work together to take it down.

As a level 12, the level discrepancy was too high. On top of that, Yin He couldn’t even enter the instance. First things first, he must reach level 15. After that, he could foster the growth of several other players to level 15. Maybe then, he would have a chance at competing against the final BOSS.

“So does this mean that we can’t complete this instance?” Star Yu whispered.

“Wait until the square dancing quest is finished, then if anyone of you want to leave, I won’t force you to stay. That final BOSS is here, so this instance just increased in difficulty. Regardless, I still want to stay a while longer,” Liu Gan said to the players.

“I’ve already decided to follow Lord Liu!” Cai Hao Chen spoke up quickly.

“I won’t leave,” Liu Kang also chimed in.

“I will also follow Lord Liu to fight against the Evil Dragon!” Ana clenched her fist, stating that she had no intention of escaping.

“They say that those who are favored will be struck by lightning. I, Stratos, am not afraid of lightning! I will be the electricity that empowers you! I will continue to work for Lord Liu! So I must stay behind!” Stratos continued with his theatrical nonsense.

“The dance isn’t complete yet, so no one can leave right? There is still the fourth puzzle piece, it might require everyone,” Johnny Fei spoke up.

“These few days, I’ve learned a lot from following Lord Liu. I don’t enjoy speaking up, but I feel like we’ve been through life and death as a group. I love this group, so as long as you guys are still here, I will stick with you to the end,” Saffron Ma stated gravely.

“I will also stay with you to the end,” Xu Ji Chao and Song Jiu both promised.

“I… I will follow Ana,” Star Yu had thoughts about retreating, but he still hadn’t been able to reap any benefits. He was reluctant, but he would stay, so he used Ana as a way out.

No one spoke about leaving, so even if someone wanted to leave it would be embarrassing to be the first person to speak up. Even if they were terrified of their situation, they didn’t feel like they had the option to go under the pressure of their peers. As a result, everyone said that they wanted to stay.

“Then, everyone should rest up for the remainder of the night! Tomorrow we will finish that dancing quest. At that time, if anyone wants to leave, they can do so. I won’t blame anyone. This instance difficulty has increased by too much, it has exceeded my expectations. This instance could be Nin Jing City’s final mission, it is something that we can’t complete with our current abilities. I chose to remain because I want to see how difficult it can get. Even if we don’t have any chance of completing it, I want to get as much information as I can so I can prepare for next time,” Liu Gan explained to them all.

Everyone was feeling nervous, worried that the King Crocodile would wander over again. They were even more worried that another type of creature would appear. After hustling and bustling for these last few days, they were truly tired and sleepy. If they didn’t rest, they couldn’t focus to complete tomorrow’s quest.

Without saying anything extra, aside from those on guard duty, all other players fell deeply asleep next to the bonfire.

***

Luck was on their side, as their new camp was far away from the King Crocodile’s territory. The latter half of the night was peaceful, and there weren’t any more appearances of creatures to disturb them.

Liu Gan woke up around 7 AM, and took over guard duty so Cai Hao Chen’s group could rest. They had all lost two hours of sleep from last night’s disturbance, so everyone needed more rest. They all slept until 10 AM, so it was actually fairly light out before he woke them up for breakfast.

After breakfast, Liu Gan arranged it so that the best dancers, Ana, Saffron Ma, and Xu Ji Chao, would help train the others. Even without the teenage girl to lead them, they had all memorized the basic moves by now.

For the sake of one piece of puzzle the whole group of men kept practicing. Aside from eating, drinking, and stretching out, all other time was allotted for dancing. Everyone had a serious expression on, and they danced remarkably well.

To them, this dance was a life and death situation. The sooner they learned the dance, the faster they could finish the quest. Getting their third piece of the puzzle map was very important, but once they had the four pieces together they would understand the purpose of this instance.

The earlier they assembled the four puzzle pieces together, the faster they could leave. Even if Liu Gan said they could leave anytime, those who had reached level 10 felt obligated to stay behind to repay his kindness.

Those who hadn’t reached level 10 all wanted an opportunity to level up, so they didn’t have any intention of leaving!