Due to an ever-present feeling that something was off, Gu Ran's pace was exceptionally slow.
Still, he resolutely headed towards the staircase leading to the seventh floor. Regardless of potential danger, the seventh floor was an obstacle he couldn't avoid unless he moved to a different place, which clearly wasn't practical.
He quietly arrived at the entrance to the seventh-floor corridor. Peering around the corner of the wall, he saw no monsters, but his ears picked up an unusual sound.
"Dong cheng, dong dong cheng!"
The sound, akin to gongs and drums, came from the end of the corridor. At first, one might think it was an elderly man, hard of hearing, indulging in a Huangmei opera by himself.
Considering the current situation outside, this was obviously unlikely. Those in their seventies or eighties might be slow to react, but it had been nearly three days— even the slowest should have noticed something was wrong by now.
Clearly, the percussive sounds infiltrating his ears were very likely not man-made.
With this thought, Gu Ran's suspicion deepened. If it wasn't human, then what was the source of these sounds?
After a moment of contemplation, Gu Ran could only grit his teeth and continue forward. The gongs and drums originated at the end of the corridor, and he would see what was causing the commotion with his own eyes.
Like the fifth and sixth floors, every door on the seventh floor had been violently smashed open, and the ground was splattered with bloodstains—as if something explosive had occurred here before.
As he approached "706" at the end of the corridor, the various striking sounds grew clearer. Instinctively, Gu Ran's heart tensed, and his right hand clutching the Mechanical Bow tightened its grip.
The door to 706 was also left open, which counted as good news for Gu Ran.
Pressing his body against the wall and barely peeking out, Gu Ran was immediately struck with shock, his breathing unintentionally halted.
He saw the living room behind the door filled with figures.
Several grey-green Goblins were neatly kneeling on the floor, faces glowing with fervor while their hands waved incessantly, each holding all kinds of strange tools. The percussive sounds were emanating from them.
In front of them on the ground was a circular altar piled up, with bizarre symbols carved upon it and a few neatly arranged human corpses.
Besides, the only thing that caught Gu Ran's eye was a small wooden box at the center of the circular altar, emitting a white luminescence.
Because through the Eye of Insight, he had seen the properties of this box.
[Goblin Tribe Basic Chest]
[Quality: Basic Chest]
[Belongs to: The "Dark Forest" Goblin Tribe]
[Description: A chest used by the Goblin tribe as the core of their tribal altar, containing a portion of the treasures from the "Dark Forest" tribe.]
Seeing the properties of this wooden box, Gu Ran understood that what he saw was a so-called altar being set up by the Goblins of the "Dark Forest" tribe.
With this thought, his gaze shifted to the circular altar beneath the box.
It was just a casual attempt, for Gu Ran himself had not expected to discover anything, but the Eye of Insight gave him a pleasant surprise.
He could actually view the information about this eerie altar.
[Name: Goblin Summoning Altar (Incomplete)]
[Altar Link: Dark Forest Tribal Main Altar]
[Description: Sacrifice enough flesh and blood, and a space rift to the otherworldly main altar can be opened, which could summon more of the Goblin kin.]
...…
After reading the properties of the circular altar, Gu Ran's expression became suddenly grim. He was very clear about what this represented. If left unchecked, once this altar was fully constructed, an endless stream of Goblins would pour out from it.
Although he was not clear on the exact number of goblins behind the altar in the so-called dark forest tribe, what he did know was that even the smallest among them could easily crush him to death.
A sense of deep urgency surged from the bottom of his heart, and he knew he must prevent it, or else he would have no choice but to move his dwelling.
However, moving his dwelling was merely a temporary solution, not a cure. The whole of Jiang City was already in chaos, and it wasn't just his neighborhood that had seen the appearance of monsters. If the goblins here could build a summoning altar, who's to say the same couldn't happen elsewhere?
Moreover, if goblins could summon their kin, what about other monsters?
Facing such a completely unknown situation, rashly moving was definitely not a good choice.
...…
Though his mind was made up, Gu Ran had yet to take action. Just by looking with his eyes, he could see that there were more than six goblins, and the one leading them had a noticeably larger build than the common goblins, obviously presenting a higher level of danger.
If he were to attack rashly at this moment, that wouldn't be called decisive action, but rather foolishness.
His gaze swept over the larger goblin and, after seeing its attributes, he almost didn't hesitate; Gu Ran turned around and quietly retreated toward the sixth floor, promptly vanishing from the seventh.
There was no other reason; simply, this group of goblins was beyond what he could currently afford to provoke.
[Name: Goblin Warrior (Common)]
[Race: Goblin Tribe]
[Level: ??]
[Weapon: ??]
[Skills: ???]
[Traits: Social, Omnivorous, Extremely strong in combat.]
As a series of question marks appeared before his eyes, Gu Ran immediately determined that if he dared to make a move, it would be no different from courting death.
If he had something like a hand grenade, maybe he would have considered taking a risk, but unfortunately, he did not.
...…
After leaving the seventh floor, Gu Ran quickly returned to the third floor, didn't stay long, and continued on to the second floor with his mechanical bow.
Unable to provoke the large group of goblins on the seventh floor, he chose to explore downwards.
With no further incidents, he only encountered two level 0 goblins on the first and second floors, which he easily killed.
On the second floor, he also encountered the second survivor in the building, a middle-aged woman by the sound of it, who was extremely wary of outsiders and never opened her door from start to finish.
Gu Ran didn't care and quickly tallied the harvest from killing the two goblins.
The Source Energy Points only awarded him 2 points, which increased his level progress from level 1 (2/20) to (4/20). Disappointingly, there were no Miracle Card Fragments dropped, but he got 3 card points, which was still okay overall.
Seeing his card points increase to 14, Gu Ran still felt quite happy.
As for the two goblins only yielding 2 Source Energy Points, Gu Ran was not surprised, as the two from the sixth floor had also only given 1 point each.
He guessed it might have to do with his level, because the change in Source Energy Points happened after he had leveled up to level 1.
After collecting all his arrows back, there were only nine left in his quiver; one had been smashed by the Wolf Fang Club, severely deformed to the point of being unusable.
At this, Gu Ran sighed softly, as he didn't have many arrows to begin with.