Chapter 286 Viewing Party

The communication on the walkie-talkie was eerily terminated, and Ling Mo tried to call back, but no one answered on the other end.

He quickly attempted to contact the fat guy and the others, but again, nobody picked up.

Murong Yue watched his actions and hesitated for a moment before suggesting, “Could it be a trap? Should we go back to find them?”

Ling Mo thought for two seconds and shook his head, “No need. Even if it’s a trap, it shouldn’t be anything serious. Besides, I have the Golden Formation Center, so if the ghosts want to act, they should come looking for us first.”

Moreover, those ghosts had tried to separate them more than once; perhaps that’s just how this dungeon normally played out. Given that, it would be best to endure it. Going back to find the fat guy might only lead to more trouble, and he wasn’t even sure if they’d really be able to find them—after all, this was a ghost town, and its happenings couldn’t be explained by science at all.

Rather than wasting time, it would be better to push forward with the main storyline. According to the typical dungeon pattern, even if players were apathetic and didn’t drive the main story, the dungeon’s difficulty would naturally increase over time, ultimately forcing players to engage with the plot or perish. So wasting time was absolutely unwise.

Murong Yue thought to herself, “That’s why I didn’t want to team up with these two.”

However, Ling Mo and Xia Xinyan were oblivious to the complex inner turmoil she was hiding beneath her surface facade, so Murong Yue could only continue leading them towards the formation center.

The formation center wasn’t far from where they stood. According to Murong Yue, it was located in the middle of a square in the town’s central area. Although she didn’t remember the exact route, all roads lead to Rome, so with the well-connected routes in this ancient town, they just needed to head in a general direction, and they’d surely find the place.

And indeed, that was the case.

Before long, the three found the formation center, but to their surprise… there were already two teams that had arrived before them.

And they were fighting.

One team was the one Xia Xinyan recognized: Yan Qiu’s team, mentioned previously by the fat guy, and they seemed to have hostility towards them. The other team… consisted of four girls dressed in white; although it wasn’t a dress, they appeared quite intimidating in this dungeon environment at first glance.

Moreover, the fight between the two sides was peculiar. Besides Yan Qiu’s team occasionally shouting insults, the four girls’ team hadn’t uttered a single word throughout, attacking Yan Qiu’s group silently—well, perhaps it was understandable since Yan Qiu’s team was currently at a disadvantage.

Murong Yue, from the alleyway, stared dumbfounded, “These guys… are all so strong…”

As she said, every one of the eight fighters in the battle displayed impressive strength, with every move carrying potent killing intent. They seemed to possess significant PVP combat experience. If there was a danger level for PVP among players, Yan Qiu’s group would be classified as high-risk, while those four girls belonged in the extremely high-risk category—at the highest level.

Ling Mo stealthily shielded Xia Xinyan behind him and whispered, “Let’s observe the situation first.”

Xia Xinyan had already activated her abilities, quietly watching the two teams fight.

Without a doubt, as the God of War Cup was nearing its conclusion, any remaining players had certain skills. However, the levels of the two teams before them had even exceeded her expectations. Even if they faced off against each other, Xia Xinyan couldn’t guarantee an easy victory.

Of course, winning outright wasn’t an issue. Yan Qiu’s team had the backing of the Eternal Life Palace, one of the major powers; it was normal for their underlings to possess some ability. But those four girls in white… which faction did they belong to?

Neither their matching outfits nor their appearance seemed familiar to her from her past life.

Just when Xia Xinyan was deep in thought, the two teams in the square suddenly halted their battle, retreating to opposite sides and beginning to confront each other.

—Because they noticed the three strong onlookers at the alley’s entrance.

Even if Ling Mo and the others had no intention of joining the fray, no one could guarantee they wouldn’t swoop in to take advantage after both teams had weakened each other, so any team with even a slight sense of strategy would choose to cease hostilities.

Noticing the gazes from the two teams, Murong Yue immediately raised her hands in surrender, “It’s none of my business; I’m just here to watch the show and have no interest in your grievances.”

Ling Mo then stepped out, shielding Xia Xinyan, and tried to appear friendly, “Since the fighting has stopped, how about we sit down and chat?”

Yan Qiu sized them up and frowned slightly, “It’s you guys?”

“Yes, we apologize for being us again,” Ling Mo shrugged.

At that moment, the four girls finally spoke—the one standing at the front, the tallest among them, said, “Chat? We have no objections, but it depends on what these four say.”

“Heh, it’s easy for you to say since you’re not the ones suffering, you bunch of crazy ladies…” Yan Qiu gritted his teeth but knew this wasn’t the time to regain lost face. He glanced at the center of the formation, then sat down in place, “Fine, let’s chat.”

Ling Mo let out a slight sigh of relief.

It seemed like they were pretty easy to negotiate with, saving them quite a bit of trouble.

“You… are here for the formation too, right?” he asked.

The formation center was an old, dry well, the mouth of which had been sealed, and above the well, there was a circular recess.

It didn’t look particularly special, but just approaching the well made the cold atmosphere that filled the ancient town disappear as if they had returned to a normal world—this clearly wasn’t the effect of an ordinary object.

Noticing that Ling Mo and Xia Xinyan were observing the well, Yan Qiu couldn’t help but scoff, “You’ve found the formation, but do you have what’s needed to seal the formation?”

“I actually do,” Ling Mo promptly pulled out the fragment from before.

Yan Qiu: “…”

Xia Xinyan noted that the moment they saw the fragment, their expressions shifted.

She silently went on high alert.

Ling Mo seemed unaware of the change in atmosphere and continued to examine the circular recess, “There’s a character for ‘gold’ here. It should be the Golden Formation Center. By the way, have you found the locations of other formations? Why don’t we share any intel we’ve gathered? That way, we can clear the dungeon faster.”

Saying this, he inserted the golden circular fragment into the recess, seemingly wanting to test its effects.

Then, suddenly, the recess burst forth with a blaze of golden light, which all fused into the fragment.

At almost the same moment, a system notification appeared before Ling Mo and Xia Xinyan—

[Sealing Progress: 1/5]