When the two arrived at Yang Dong's location, the artillery fire had stopped for some unknown reason. Bullet shells and cannon shells littered the ground, and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder.
The huge black skeleton that was tens of meters high had vanished into the darkness without a trace or sound.
Laughing Gentleman, who had arrived earlier, had already turned back to his original appearance of a man in a black coat and was resting on the side. After all, using Demon Armor took a lot of energy. Seeing Li Changhe and Yanyun arrive, he seemed a bit surprised but still nodded in acknowledgement.
Yang Dong and [Unseen Red Dust] looked at Li Changhe and Yanyun for a moment before their gaze settled on the phantom behind Li Changhe.
"Is this a possession?"
"A symbiotic spirit?"
The two of them whispered their thoughts - both were knowledgeable and could tell Li Changhe's condition without any explanation. They quickly wrapped the painting that Laughing Gentleman sent them in a box covered with eyes and tossed it into the [Player Backpack].
Earth Knight was surprised: "Can this kind of ghost be put into the backpack?"
"Normal ghosts can't, but this one is attached to an object. It's like Uncle Eight-direction (Li Changhe's nickname): you can't say he's not human, right? He's just possessed by a ghost, but he's still human." Yang Dong glanced at Li Changhe and continued: "As for the painting ghost we just dealt with, normally we wouldn't dare put it into the backpack. If something goes wrong inside, it could cost us our lives."
"Then what about that box...?"
"That box is a device specifically for dealing with these kinds of ghosts." Yang Dong explained: "This ghost is only Level D, so it might still be a headache if we let it out, but its limitations are significant. If it is being watched or affected by Mysterious Forces, then it is just an ordinary painting. The box is filled with artificial eyes that can trigger its limitations, so it's no longer a threat."
"This ghost is just Level D? One of your Demon Armor users almost fell into its hands." Li Changhe questioned, his voice sharp - the effect of the female ghost Yun Ting's possession hadn't yet faded.
Yang Dong raised his eyebrows: "It's not about the level... The danger level of a ghost is calculated based on the destruction it can cause. This type of ghost has all attributes above 10 points, so it's quite powerful. But its limitation is that it can only attack one person at a time and return to the painting right after."
"So if no one looks at this painting, it's actually harmless to people and animals?" Earth Knight was also confused, as he wasn't very familiar with the classification system.
"You can't say it's completely harmless. If no one watches the painting, the figure inside will turn around and detach itself from the painting. That would make it a wandering ghost that kills anyone it sees before returning to the painting. If a [Player] encounters it, they might have a chance to resist, but ordinary people would undoubtedly die. However, that's as far as the ghost goes - if you stare at it, it can't come out and poses no danger. That's why it's Level D. Even if it could kill us in one hit, it's limited by its inability to come out. Its limitations make its danger level the lowest." [Unseen Red Dust] explained with a smile.
"How come there's such a dangerous thing at Yanyun Middle School, and no reports of students being harmed or attacked there?"
"It's a matter of arrangement. Originally, the painting was in the art room, and a plaster model was watching it. However, I didn't notice that at first, and when I was exterminating the other ghosts, the plaster model was destroyed by accident." Laughing Gentleman said: "Looking back, the model's eyes must have been processed in a special way that restricted the figure inside the painting. I was too careless."
"Who could've arranged this? Evolution Game?"
"Evolution Game wouldn't do such a thing. It must have been done by a [Player] who encountered it before. As for who that might be..." Yang Dong thought for a moment and shook his head: "That's a different topic for another time. For now, let's focus on how to deal with that skeleton."
Li Changhe and Earth Knight were confused and looked around but didn't see the giant skeleton. They wanted to ask where it had gone.
"It disappeared. This is the second time it has disappeared right in front of us." Yang Dong frowned: "We found an underground tunnel in the basement. We chased it and found the skeleton. I shattered it with seven main cannons from a battleship, but the task still wasn't completed. We were going to regroup with you and figure out a plan, but as soon as we came out, we saw the skeleton standing there, so here we are."
"What level is that skeleton?" Li Changhe asked.
"Based on its size and the power it exerted when it dug holes, it should be Level C or B. There's too little information." Yang Dong looked at Li Changhe and said: "But I estimate that the spirit behind you is Level C. I know you agreed to be possessed to avoid being wiped out, but it's still not safe. After the task is over, I hope you can contact Great Wall to ensure your safety."
Li Changhe didn't answer but raised a question: "What are the limitations and abilities of this kind of skeleton?"
"If nothing goes wrong, we were transferred away at the beginning because of it." Yang Dong looked embarrassed: "As for its limitations, I can't even determine what category it belongs to, so of course, I don't have any clues."
"You Great Wall people claim to have studied all kinds of ghosts, but you still can't recognize it?"
"There's too little information." Yang Dong sighed: "If this were a real-world mission, we would have strong logistical support. Even if we weren't familiar with it, our Strategy Group would analyze it in the shortest time possible. But in an instance mission like this one, we truly don't have that advantage."
Suddenly, [Unseen Red Dust] noticed something and looked to the side. Li Changhe instinctively used [Eagle Eye] to see as well. A huge figure suddenly appeared tens of meters away, facing away from the group.
Everyone quickly grabbed their weapons, but Li Changhe noticed something was off.
"Don't attack!" He and [Unseen Red Dust] shouted simultaneously.
Yang Dong hesitated, and the few cannonballs that had appeared around him slowly retracted. He was about to fire everything he had.
Fortunately, the giant skeleton didn't react and kept its back to everyone.
"What did you... find?" Yang Dong asked quietly.
[Unseen Red Dust] glanced at Li Changhe and hesitated for a moment before saying: "After using Magic Eye, in my view, every person has a very unique fog emanating from them, which should be what Daoists call Qi. I didn't notice it during the previous encounters because they were too far away and during battles. This time I realized that the Qi from the four of us is connected to the skeleton."
"Qi? I've heard colleagues mention it - it's another term for energy. But how did it connect our Qi?" Yang Dong furrowed his brow, and the next second, his expression changed, and he suddenly distanced himself from everyone: "You said four people? Who's not connected?"
How could there be just four people? There were supposed to be five players participating in this mission!
Yang Dong's reaction was understandable: among the five of them, four had the same experience, so what was special about the remaining one?
Or could it be that one of them had reached an agreement with the ghosts inside the instance? There were cases where [Players] worked together with mission targets to harm their teammates. Was there someone like that in this mission?
Everyone cautiously kept some distance from one another.
Who could it be?
The next second, [Unseen Red Dust] looked at Li Changhe and clasped his hands together: "Eight-direction... do you have anything to explain?"
"Explain my ass!" Li Changhe coldly replied.