### Chapter 4: The Mysterious Blue Smoke
==============================
In a dim underground space, a massive, bl**d-soaked White Wolf let out a fierce howl and lunged at Gongsun Ding. It had realized that among all these folks, only Gongsun Ding’s Heart Sword posed the biggest threat. If it didn’t take him out soon, their plans might just crumble like yesterday’s leftovers!
As for that Black Armored Warrior? Not a real worry! Sure, his defenses were strong, but when it came to offense, he was all bark and no bite. Even if he gave it his all, he wouldn’t be able to deal any fatal damage.
“ROAR!”
The White Wolf was surprisingly nimble. Even in the cramped underground space, it dodged Gongsun Ding’s Heart Sword like an overconfident cat avoiding a bath, and managed to rip off a large chunk of Gongsun Ding’s robe. If Gongsun hadn’t moved faster than a startled rabbit, he’d have been eviscerated, with bl**d spattering everywhere!
Seeing the White Wolf tangled up with their senior brother, Tang Tong and the rest rushed to the jade door.
A dozen black-shelled insects were stubbornly clinging to the door, not budging an inch. They were as hard as rock—sword strikes just seemed to tickle them.
As they watched the insects corrode the door at an alarming rate, the circular depression began to seep downward. They looked like they were about to tunnel straight through!
“Use fire! Burn them!” Tang Tong shouted, leaping up to grab a torch from the wall. The rest quickly followed suit, and before long, four torches blazed defiantly in front of the door.
The searing flames roasted those black insects like marshmallows over a campfire, and soon they couldn’t take the heat anymore. With pop and crackle sounds, they all tumbled down like dice thrown at a game night!
Seeing this, the White Wolf’s eyes nearly bulged out of its head, and it roared with frustration. But Gongsun Ding’s Heart Swords kept swirling around it like an overly friendly puppy, preventing it from getting close to the door.
“ROAR… ROAR!”
The White Wolf continued to roar, and just when everyone thought it was out of tricks, it charged directly toward the door that had been partially corroded!
The colorful Heart Swords stabbed into its body like enthusiastic fans at a concert, bl**d spraying everywhere. One even pierced straight through its back, but the White Wolf didn’t stop running!
“Get out of the way!” Gongsun Ding yelled.
A dying struggle is the most dangerous of all! Anyone standing in its path would undoubtedly get trampled into a human pancake!
But just at that moment, the Black Armored Warrior stepped into the line of fire. His helmet obscured his face, but one could imagine the determination etched on his features as he braced for impact.
“BOOM!”
With a deafening crash, a shockwave rippled through the space. Tang Tong was knocked sideways, nearly losing his lunch all over the floor!
Once the dust settled, Tang Tong was shocked to see the White Wolf crash right into the Black Armored Warrior, while the Heart Swords found their mark in its skull, sending bl**d splattering in all directions.
The White Wolf was toast.
“Quick, check if he’s still alive!” Everyone scrambled to the Black Armored Warrior, pushing the massive White Wolf off him.
That’s when they saw it: the armor was caved in, soaked with his own bl**d. Tang Tong quickly whipped off the warrior’s helmet, only to find a young-looking man slumped sideways, bl**d oozing from his mouth and nose. It appeared he had taken the full force of that impact.
His insides must’ve been scrambled like eggs!
Everyone sighed in dismay, mourning the loss. They’d just walked through a slaughterhouse, and all the Black Armored Warriors guarding the place had been wiped out, sacrificing themselves against the enemy.
“Let’s collect the bodies,” Gongsun Ding sighed, seeing that the door defended by the Black Armored Warrior seemed undamaged.
As everyone set to work, no one noticed that the part of the door most corroded by the insects was actually quite thin from the other side. That last fatal crash by the White Wolf had cracked it open just a tiny bit.
At that moment, a wisp of blue smoke began to seep through the crack.
It moved slowly, and by the time everyone had left, no one noticed anything odd about the door.
The blue smoke coalesced into a little puff and started drifting outside the tunnel, swaying gently as if contemplating disappearing altogether.
Meanwhile, in Thousand Bird City, the chaos caused by the giant serpent demon had been quelled by the Inner Door Disciples.
The earthquake’s instigator had been tightly bound with demon-binding ropes by Tan Ziyan, and for the time being, it was powerless.
But then, to her utter astonishment, the serpent demon transformed into a person!
This guy was definitely the key to understanding the whole situation. Though she had gleaned some information from the heavenly insights, many details remained elusive.
Just as Tan Ziyan was about to take him back to the Hall of Heavenly Secrets for some serious babysitting, something unexpected happened.
Suddenly, smooth scales appeared on the man’s body, as if he was performing some kind of magic trick. His shoulders suddenly shrunk inward, and he slipped right out of the ropes like a slippery eel!
But Tan Ziyan was riding a spirit beast on the way back, with the ropes dragging underneath, meaning this guy was now a high-altitude contestant in the ‘let’s see who can fall faster’ game.
With that, he made a graceful descent, plummeting toward the ground.
Tan Ziyan felt a sudden lightness in her hands and quickly commanded the spirit beast to chase after the falling young man, but it was all too late.
The young man hit the ground with a solid thud, turning into a puddle of goo.
Tan Ziyan felt a chill run down her spine.
He had to have known that falling from such heights would be disastrous, yet he still went for it with all his might, showing zero regards for his own safety. What kind of organization would inspire such unwavering dedication?
The spirit beast circled in the air, and finally transformed into a tiny black shadow, vanishing in the light of the rising dawn.
In the Immortal Gate conference hall, Tan Ziyan asked, “Have we sent word to the Sect Leader?”
“Yes, the disciples have reported to the Sect Leader,” came the reply.
“Good, then I’ll let this rest for now. We’ll wait for the Sect Leader to decide what to do next.”
With that, Tan Ziyan really took off. It wasn’t until her purple figure disappeared that Gongsun Ding straightened up from his respectful bow.
“Tang Tong, did you say there was a similar monster invasion at the Heavenly Sword Sect?”
“Yes, senior brother, exactly that.”
The NPCs understood the live broadcast like it was some kind of spell; whenever the players used words that clashed with this world’s worldview, the system automatically made replacements. So there was no communication barrier between the two.
After listening to Tang Tong’s account, Gongsun Ding fell deep into thought.
“What a terrifying countermeasure. That Cold Moon Witch—her power, and the forces she commands, are anything but ordinary. We were careless.”
“You did well. When the Sect Leader returns, I’ll report this thoroughly,” Tang Tong replied. “I have a feeling this isn’t the end of it.”
Gongsun Ding thought of the door in the forbidden area that had yet to open and said solemnly, “Indeed, they must want something from inside that forbidden area, so the Cold Moon Witch will undoubtedly return.”
