"Father, the mission has failed."

Han Siying hesitated for a moment before recounting the events exactly as they had happened, especially emphasizing Su Ran’s surprise attack as the main reason for the failure.

"Dammit!"

Her father slammed his hand down on the armrest of his wheelchair, his cold gaze fixed on Han Siying. After a moment, his breathing finally calmed, "Then Spilt Water Can’t Be Regained, she must not be left alive!"

"Father, what do you mean?"

...

"Whoosh!"

Su Ran appeared within the Ghost City. Not lingering, he used Instant Movement to leave the area.

"Overturning Water has appeared!"

"Damn, he’s so cunning, he escaped again!"

The scouts from Dancing Demons guild had been watching the Ghost City’s teleport point. Just as they spotted the target, before they could even get excited, they found that the boy had already escaped, which was frustrating for them.

"Hey, do you think this kid doesn’t have the Ghost Pearl, and was forced out of Ghost City?"

"Makes sense, let’s move and find him to report back to the guild leader!"

The two players hurriedly left, racing towards the outskirts of the city.

...

Thanks to Su Ran’s Undead physique, which feared not the Power of Curse, he could recklessly use the Instant Movement skill. After several consecutive teleports, Su Ran finally arrived again at the cave space.

"Thank goodness this terrain hasn’t been refreshed by the system, otherwise, it would be extremely difficult to enter again."

Su Ran felt immensely relieved. Having firsthand experience, he had fewer concerns about the cave. With the Treading on Air Technique, he effortlessly leaped down to the cave floor. However, just as Su Ran was about to delve deeper, he suddenly heard the sound of players talking from inside the cave.

"Crap, someone got here first!"

At the sound of the player’s voices, Su Ran’s heart missed a beat; he understood all too well that this exploration of the twelve statues wouldn’t be as simple as he had imagined.

Human players really are ubiquitous!

Shaking his head helplessly, Su Ran summoned Wang Cai and activated the Luck Concealment skill, vanishing into the cave with his dog.

Deep inside the cave, a group of about thirty players moved forward cautiously. The player at the front was a male warrior wearing a spiked armor of earthy yellow and a rocky helmet, looking very imposing and clearly not an easy opponent.

Next to the warrior, there was a female player dressed in a white robe, holding a pristine staff. From her attire, she was undoubtedly a Healer. At this moment, her eyes were filled with fear, clinging to her staff as if it provided her a semblance of security.

"Xiao An, don’t be afraid. With me here, even though this place is dangerous, I won’t let you get hurt!"

A sly glint passed through the warrior player’s eyes, as he immediately wrapped Xiao An in his arms, his excitement clear on his face.

"Bro, that’s not cool. You’re making us single dogs suffer with all your lovey-dovey stuff."

"Yeah, yeah, there are over thirty brothers here. Mind the influence, would you? Why stir up envy?"

"Sister-in-law, don’t let the big brother lead you astray. We’re still counting on you to help us find partners!"

The teammates could no longer stand by and watch, complaining one after another. Really, it was too much for the big brother to show off his romance in front of everyone. Had he ever considered their feelings?

"Ah!"

The healer named Xiao An couldn’t handle the barrage of comments from the players and hurriedly broke free from the warrior’s arm. Like a startled rabbit, she hopped to the side, her gaze turned evasive, and her face flushed feverishly red.

"Look at you light bulbs, scaring Xiao An like this! To think you still expect me to introduce you to someone? Dream on!"

The warrior player had just succeeded but was interrupted by his teammates before he could enjoy his triumph, which certainly didn’t sit well with him. Yet before he could continue, he suddenly heard a series of thuds from behind not too far away.

"Not good, someone’s coming, and there are quite a few of them! Everyone, be careful!"

It wasn’t just him who was tense—every player’s face tightened. They all knew that opening up a new terrain was an extremely rare opportunity, and a major battle was inevitable driven by interest.

As expected.

It didn’t take long before a large group of players appeared in their sight.

"Is the visitor Leader Dai, Dai Xuan?"

The warrior player saw the person in the lead riding a golden tiger and recognized the identity of the visitor by their ostentatious mount. His heart sank, knowing trouble had come. The reputation of the Dancing Demons guild was notorious for being unreasonable. Encountering this bunch meant a bad end was foreseeable for them.

"Unexpected. To think that players could find such a hidden place, truly surprising."

Dai Xuan looked at the thirty or so people ahead with an impassive face, indifferently saying, "Since you recognize Dai, that makes things simpler. I’ll give you two choices, submit or fight—make your decision!"

"You!"

The warrior player didn’t expect his well-intentioned question to be met with such treatment. Pressed by the other’s intimidation, he could only swallow his anger, surrounding his teammates and quietly began to discuss.

Just then, an invisible ripple passed over these people and drifted further into the depths.

"I must get ahead of these players to unravel the secret of the twelve statues!"

Su Ran had no time to keep watching the confrontation. His invisibility would only last less than a minute more, and if he waited any longer, he would expose himself!

Taking advantage of the dozen players holding back Dai Xuan’s advance, Su Ran couldn’t miss the opportunity to use it to his benefit!

"This guy Dai Xuan, truly a persistent ghost; to run into him three times in a single day!"

Su Ran couldn’t fathom why he seemed fated to meet Dai Xuan. The Ghost Clan’s realm was so vast, yet it was with him that there were issues. Could it be that he had been silently tracked again?

No, that couldn’t be right. He was in a state of teleportation, how could he be followed?

Su Ran couldn’t solve the puzzle and decided to stop pondering it. He signaled Wang Cai to gallop at top speed, and they soon left both groups of players far behind.

"Good, the space with the statues hasn’t been reached by any players yet."

Seeing the solitary twelve statues, Su Ran finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After Su Ran and his group had cleared out the Ghost Clan monsters here, there hadn’t been another spawn, which is why the plump player could venture into the secret chamber alone. Now, it saved Su Ran the trouble; he didn’t have to worry about monster ambushes and could concentrate on dealing with the statues.

Approaching the statues, Su Ran called back Wang Cai and started to rearrange the statues according to the sequence on the wall.

Once all the statues were back in place, the phenomenon Su Ran anticipated predictably occurred.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Twelve beams of light shot out from each statue, converging in mid-air into a cluster, their bright light illuminating the entire space like daytime.

Subsequently, the cluster of light began to compress until it finally formed a tablet-like shape, then ceased to change, remaining suspended in the air, emitting dazzling luminescence.