My Misfortune Crushed Instances-Chapter 39: The Secret of Gu Xuan Town

Gu Xuan Town, after all, is a level 10 Secret Realm. No matter how strong the boss is, they’re still confined within the level 10 framework.

Brother Rui can instantly kill ordinary level 10 monsters. Facing a boss, he might not be able to kill it instantly, but downing a bottle of Spirit Recovery Potion makes it manageable.

"Looks like we still have to visit the Elder Council. I reckon we can trigger a hidden plot there too."

Seeing Brother Rui picking on the Daoist and now going to pick on the elders, everyone had no objections.

After all, neither side is good.

The Elder Council’s headquarters was originally in the Huang Mansion, but since Brother Rui wiped it out, the plot changed, and the location of the boss trio moved to the town’s shrine.

Upon arrival, sure enough, the Secret Realm prompted with a new hidden mission, but no reward was mentioned. Clearly, this hidden conclusion requires all of it to be completed to count as resolved.

Brother Rui once again led Zhang Xiaoguang into the boss location.

Unexpectedly, the combined combat power of the trio wasn’t higher than Shen Bu’s. Despite being three, they combined to form the true boss, so each was weakened to varying degrees.

Thus, individually, each wasn’t much stronger than a Corpse Demon in combat power, meaning they couldn’t withstand even one strike of the Thunderbolt Palm.

However, to bring them alive to the Ghost Garden, Brother Rui deliberately held back, not using fusion skills, only using a standard big flip.

Once the three elders were dragged out, Zhang Xiaoguang tied them together.

"Brother Rui, shall we go to the Ghost Garden now?"

Brother Rui waved his hand: "Wait, I have questions to ask."

He squatted next to the four captives, first finding Shen Bu.

"You, practice Daoist arts?"

"Young hero, yes, yes, yes!"

The captured Daoist was very cooperative.

Brother Rui asked, "Alright, have you heard of Shenxiao Palace?"

"Shenxiao Palace, of course, of course!"

Shen Bu, enduring his pain, nodded repeatedly, which tightened the ropes on his body, causing the other severely injured elders to grimace and grit their teeth, yet not daring to make a sound.

Brother Rui continued, "How much do you know about the Thunder Skill of Shenxiao Palace?"

Shen Bu, now solely interested in survival, spilled everything he knew:

"Thunder Skill, namely the Five Thunders Skill, with the five thunders being Celestial Thunder, Earth Thunder, Dragon Thunder, Divine Thunder, and Community Thunder, with Celestial Thunder ruling, Earth Thunder commanding Spirit Monsters, Dragon Thunder intimidating Barbaric Beasts, Divine Thunder piercing ghosts, and Community Thunder slaying the Evil Dao." (Note 1)

"However... within Shenxiao Palace dwell true immortals, I truly do not know what kind of Thunder Skill they practice."

He smiled ingratiatingly, showing sincerity in his words.

Brother Rui nodded, thinking for a moment, then asked, "Do you know where to find these Thunder Skills?"

"Uh, I really don’t know. Not hiding anything, but if I had such abilities, I wouldn’t be stuck in this small Gu Xuan Town."

Brother Rui nodded, stepping back and addressing all of them, "Tell me about your connection to this Gu Xuan Town, why you kidnapped the solitary townsfolk, where you sent them, who you gave them to, and for what purpose. Shen Bu, you tell me about what happened with that melon farmer."

The four looked at each other, then each confessed what they knew.

Years ago, a strange scholar came to town, approaching the Elder Council, asking them to kidnap those lonely and neglected in town to send to him, proposing a long-term cooperation.

The three of the Elder Council, being local powers with wealth, naturally didn’t entertain this nonsense, summoning their retainers to arrest him under the charge of using demonic claims to endanger lives.

In a society without legal governance, it was normal for local powers to administer their own justice on malefactors.

However, the scholar, unfazed by several strong retainers, merely chanted a few spells, and those robust men dropped dead on the spot.

The three of the Elder Council were shocked, but the scholar calmly proposed, "If you help me, I can teach you this cultivation method."

Cultivation methods were far more precious than gold and silver; Huang Zhonglu, already immensely wealthy, naturally sought further advancement and agreed on the spot. The other two, under threats and enticement, also complied.

The scholar laughed, then presented his demands, requiring them to deliver at least ten people to the haunted Cloud Temple Mountain every three months, with no other questions asked, accepting anyone as long as they were alive, and specifically instructing not to publicize it or alert anyone.

Because it required an ongoing and discreet supply, the scholar needed the local powers’ help, otherwise, he could have slaughtered the town alone.

The cultivation method he taught involved using live human essence and blood to enhance oneself, a path of evil.

After hearing the story, everyone despised the three elders. If He Chengli had not been injured, he would’ve likely given each a kick.

Brother Rui turned to the Daoist and asked, "Does the scholar’s technique relate to Fengdu?"

Shen Bu paused for a moment, then shook his head vigorously, "Fengdu? Impossible. Using live sacrifices is clearly Evil Dao. Fengdu practices Demon Dao. I don’t know the intricacies, but I know they deal with the souls of the dead, yet live sacrifices... too despicable! Not like Fengdu’s methods."

Brother Rui thought, that Sun Qian was confirmed to be from Fengdu, but the scholar wasn’t, making things strange; seems like they were in a collaborative relationship.

He then asked, "And you, what’s your connection with that melon farmer?"

Shen Bu righteously pretended, "This humble Daoist sensed what those three old folks were up to and wanted to act for the heavens..."

Seeing Brother Rui’s icy glare, he hesitated and changed his tone, "I wanted to know what methods allowed a few ordinary people to cultivate so excellently in a few years. If, hehe, if usable, this humble Daoist wanted a piece of it, so I sent people to watch the melon farmer, stirring trouble to make the Huang family intervene."

Slap!

Brother Rui gave a solid hit: "And you have the nerve to call others despicable!"

Listening all along, Zhang Xiaoguang suddenly asked, "And what about Yujiang Ghost Garden?"

The three elders, being both shameless and face-saving, didn’t want to speak, while Shen Bu, having traveled the world with much thicker skin, spoke bluntly, "The owner of that garden was also a cultivator. For some reason, these three wanted to kill him but couldn’t, so they hired me for a hefty price to join them and slaughter his entire family."

"The cultivator’s resentment was intense, turning into restless spirits lingering in the garden, creating many Corpse Demons. Fortunately, the garden’s feng shui, combined with Evil Qi, formed a Ground-binding Scenario, trapping the Corpse Demons inside, and no one bothered with them."

After enduring several more big flips from Brother Rui, the three of the Elder Council confessed. The cultivator discovered their scheme of abducting townsfolk but didn’t want to clash with the local powers, so he didn’t kill them and simply demanded they stop, offering to let bygones be bygones.

However, this indecisive act led to his downfall, proving hesitation invites defeat.

He Chengli and the others admired Brother Rui greatly, realizing no wonder previous players never unraveled the town’s plot—because they hadn’t unlocked this hidden ending.

"Alright, let’s head to the Yujiang Ghost Garden," Brother Rui clapped his hands.

Everyone together carried the captives to the ghost garden outside the town. Upon entering the gate, they received a new prompt.

[Hidden Quest Update: Three Strong Rivals.]

[Quest Objective: Strategically pit the Qi Union, Elder Council, and the ghost garden’s spirits against each other, annihilate all enemies in the chaos.]

[Quest Reward: Experience +5000, Attribute Points +2, Five random quality items.]

(Note 1: The Five Thunders Skill in the book is a reinterpretation by the author, unrelated to real Taoist legends.)