Chapter 666: The Escort

Under Snowy Owl’s questioning, Lin Yu hadn’t even started explaining yet when Seagull had a flash of insight.

“Hey? Could it be… what we’re supposed to stop is the real Willow Town underground from emerging?”

“And you guys can actually go to that renamed Willow Town to complete your mission!”

As Seagull spoke, Lin Yu and Snowy Owl both let out a collective sigh.

“I’m afraid that won’t work. If only it were that simple.”

Lin Yu said with a sigh.

Snowy Owl also rubbed her forehead. “Li Hua really should’ve locked you up for three more weeks.”

High Mountain tried to smooth things over again. “Well, Brother Seagull’s reasoning is reasonable enough…”

“So, this… Ms. Yao, what exactly is this cooperation method you mentioned?”

Lin Yu spread his hands. “Is it that hard to understand? I mean it literally—let us reach Willow Town without it surfacing.”

“‘Emerging’ should mean letting Willow Town see the light of day again… and according to the info I’ve gathered, Willow Town is deep beneath our feet, inside Twin Saw Mountain.”

“If Willow Town won’t emerge, then we’ll just go find Willow Town ourselves.”

Lin Yu said calmly.

Snowy Owl looked down at the mountain beneath her feet. “It’s easy enough to say, but that’s like ‘putting an elephant in a fridge in three steps’… Without more details, I can’t judge whether this is feasible or not.”

“Since you already know Willow Town is right beneath us, you must have more info, right?”

Hearing Snowy Owl’s question, Lin Yu nodded.

“Of course. We did gather more info on our end—just like you started near the bandit stronghold, we started near the Golden Fortune Escort Agency’s rendezvous point.”

“The escort you’re trying to seize, the key points mentioned in those bandits’ letters, should be what that escort team is transporting.”

“And since those escort teams are definitely more righteous than the bandits, we didn’t clash with them. In the process of getting along with them, we naturally obtained plenty of useful information… Of course, for us, the situation isn’t completely clear either.”

Lin Yu said slowly. “That real Willow Town ruins sunk deep inside Twin Saw Mountain is occupied by a giant spider demon as big as the mountain—all these spider silks and spiders all over Twin Saw Mountain and its surroundings are likely the work of that spider demon.”

Seagull was astonished. “These spider silks and spiders actually have some leader controlling them?”

Snowy Owl’s expression also turned grave. “A spider demon as big as a mountain… Sounds like it’s no pushover.”

“Yes, based on my observations, besides shooting spider silk and releasing spiders, that spider demon also has the ability to control people…”

As Lin Yu spoke, Snowy Owl interjected again. “We noticed that too—those bandits mentioned that there are strange people wandering in the mountains, looking like ordinary merchants but actually lost souls that could vanish at any moment—some have even become evil ghosts and puppets, attacking people on their own.”

Lin Yu nodded. “Yes, and according to my research, this spider demon likely has an ability similar to ‘manipulating cause and effect and the past’… It turns people into puppets by manipulating the past to achieve its goals—of course, figuring out the cost of this ability was heavy. Almost all the friendly NPCs we encountered along the way were wiped out by that spider demon—they just vanished silently, without a trace.”

Hearing Lin Yu say this, Snowy Owl’s face grew even more serious. “Not only is it huge, but it also has such a troublesome ability… This [dungeon] really is… full of surprises.”

High Mountain nodded slowly. “It seems we’d better cooperate indeed… Even if the cooperation plan is more roundabout, facing such a demon—six people are still stronger than three.”

“And a demon of this level staying in Prison Mountain Realm is a huge disaster.”

Even Seagull, who seemed more relaxed, turned serious. “I didn’t expect this dungeon to have something of this level—if what you said is correct, the ability to manipulate the past and cause and effect has already touched upon the Authority of a god.”

Lin Yu was very satisfied with the three’s reactions.

He chose to prioritize sharing this information precisely to use the pressure to make the three more determined to cooperate with him.

“Your mission is to ‘prevent Willow Town from emerging’… That means someone must be working to make it emerge, and that’s likely this spider demon!”

“After all… it’s occupying the underground Willow Town and clearly has a symbiotic relationship with that town.”

Lin Yu said calmly, giving his conclusion.

“So, we do have a possibility of clearing this together—we all go underground, us three sneak into Willow Town, and you three go kill that giant spider demon.”

Hearing Lin Yu’s words, Seagull nodded.

“I get it. That is indeed a feasible plan—happy to cooperate!”

Seagull was about to reach out and shake Lin Yu’s hand, but his hand was directly smacked away by Snowy Owl with a “slap.”

“Happy to cooperate my ass. Does this plan have any feasibility at all?”

Snowy Owl looked at Lin Yu, also a bit exasperated. “I thought you were a strategist type, Old Yao… Whether it’s you three sneaking into a demon that can manipulate cause and effect’s lair or us three killing a mountain-sized demon, neither is a very feasible plan.”

“This is just the big framework and direction. The specific execution plan isn’t about us digging a hole right now and going head-to-head with it directly,” Lin Yu looked at Snowy Owl and explained. “Because the core key of this dungeon is… ‘the escort.’”

Lin Yu pointed at the gray Mutilated Body strapped to his back.

“Didn’t you notice this thing I’ve been carrying all along?”

Snowy Owl looked at the Mutilated Body and said, “We noticed, but we were afraid it might be your special hobby or that you had some tragic story, so we didn’t dare ask.”

Meanwhile, Seagull looked at this scene and suddenly realized. “I get it now… You and the ‘Master Thief’ were playing good cop, bad cop to trick us—you’re from the ‘Free Alliance’ too, right?!”

Lin Yu was startled by Seagull’s words.

Could this guy really be that sharp?

But in the next second, Seagull’s words made Lin Yu realize it was just a misunderstanding.

“You’re the ‘Undertaker,’ right? I know—the ‘Undertaker’ is a somewhat handsome, cool, pretty girl who likes to carry corpses around… That fits your image perfectly.”

Lin Yu let out a sigh.

Before he could defend himself, High Mountain spoke up to set the record straight.

“No, I’ve seen the ‘Undertaker.’ She doesn’t look like that.”

He looked at Lin Yu and said, “So what you’re carrying is the corpse of some NPC?”

“Yes, but more importantly… This is the very ‘escort’ that was being transported!”