San Tian Liang Jiao
Chapter 987 Inside and Outside the Kitchen
Wang~ Wang Wang~
A series of high-pitched, frequent, and cheerful barks echoed through the oppressive and eerie temple, creating an indescribable sense of incongruity.
This Chihuahua (though the breed summoned was always random, the appearance of this teacup dog was likely due to "skill limitations") hadn't popped out of thin air; it was summoned by Xiao Tan using [Summoning Art—Puppy].
As a very basic summoning skill, the summon created certainly didn't possess high intelligence or combat power. However, in a script where one might encounter a "jump scare" at any moment, sending a puppy to "step on the mine" was undoubtedly a rather clever strategy.
At present, Xiao Tan and Xiao Ling were using this Chihuahua to quickly scout the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Arhat Hall, and the west side hall of the Six Harmony Temple. They weren't conducting a very detailed search, just confirming whether there were any instant-death events or monsters in these three places.
Their plan was... to scout as many places as possible before the summon's duration (8 minutes) ended, and then return to thoroughly investigate after the puppy disappeared.
Unfortunately, because the script weakened the effects of active skills, the puppy disappeared before its eight minutes were up... Even though the two of them had been racing against the clock, they still only managed to scout three areas.
And just before that Chihuahua disappeared, Xiao Tan and Xiao Ling had just arrived near the Xiangji Kitchen...
"Eh? Did you smell that?" Xiao Tan's sense of smell was quite keen; he smelled the aroma wafting from the building dozens of meters away from the kitchen.
"Rather than the smell..." Xiao Ling replied, pointing high up, "the smoke rising from the chimney is easier to spot, right?"
"Hmm... Under these circumstances, to actually have the leisure to light a fire and cook in the kitchen..." Wang Tanzhi recited with a shake of his head, "Could it be... Brother Jue?"
"You think..." Xiao Ling retorted at the right moment, "that no one but the Captain would do something like this, right..." As she spoke, she took out a bottle of red wine from her bag, "In any case... I'll send a bat in to investigate and we'll know."
Before she finished speaking, she activated her only summoning skill...
[Name: Summoning Art—Vampire Bat]
[Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered]
[Skill Category: Summoning]
[Effect: Summons a vampire bat to fight for you (Cooldown time: 20 minutes, Duration: 5 minutes, Maximum of 1 vampire bat can exist at the same time)]
[Consumption: 2 Spirit Points, at least 50 ml of red wine]
[Learning Conditions: Level 10, will unlock the Summoning Specialization after learning]
[Remarks: Its attacks may not cause serious damage, but are enough to leave wounds on the target; its natural ultrasonic ability gives it excellent evasion, making it difficult to hit with either projectiles or direct attacks; be aware... if it leaves your sight and hasn't received clear instructions, it will actively attack the closest warm-blooded animal.]
Like Xiao Tan, Xiao Ling had learned this skill in order to unlock the Summoning Specialization and incidentally grind its proficiency. However... although both were basic summoning skills, Xiao Ling's summon was stronger than Xiao Tan's, because her skill required the use of [Red Wine], a rather expensive consumable, unlike Xiao Tan's, who could summon as many times as he wanted with a [Dog Whistle].
"But... even if you let the bat fly in through the window and bite randomly, we still won't know who's inside, will we?" Xiao Tan asked.
"Dummy~" Xiao Ling flicked Xiao Tan's head, "The bat can't recognize people, but can't people recognize bats?"
"Oh! Right!" Reminded by the other party, Xiao Tan realized, "Brother Jue recognizes your summons, so if he's inside, he'll naturally respond to us." He paused, "And if there's someone else inside... this bat might lure them out."
"That's right." Xiao Ling replied, "So..." she said as she commanded the large, earth-brown bat to fly towards the kitchen window.
At this moment, the window was undoubtedly open. After all, such ancient buildings couldn't possibly be equipped with exhaust fans or range hoods; even with a chimney, closing the window while cooking would easily kill someone.
Pafu pafu pafu...
Don't underestimate it just because it's a low-level summon; the vampire bat's flight speed was quite fast, but the sound of its flight was a bit loud, the sound of its flapping wings was quite noticeable.
About seven or eight seconds passed, and the summon flew into the Xiangji Kitchen.
Then, it never came out again...
…………
At the same moment, inside the kitchen.
"Hmph... I was wondering why such a topping would be delivered to my door..." Oink looked at the bat he had crushed in his hand, which quickly turned into white light, and sneered, "So it's a summon..."
Hearing the words "summon," Fei Kouwei Wang's eyes lit up. Surrounded by fear and despair, he seemed to have a glimmer of hope rekindled.
Speaking of which... this classmate, who had successfully tied with Zuiwo Changran in the S2 preliminaries, could be considered one of the elites of Corpse Blade's younger generation. One could even call him Corpse Blade's version of Tuntian Guixiao, but... in this script, without his medication, he was in a terrible state.
At the beginning of the script, Fei Kouwei Wang became the only player who was directly teleported inside the Six Harmony Temple. Such a situation... if handled well was an advantage, if handled poorly would be quite bad. And Fei Kouwei Wang's situation was clearly the latter... In less than a minute, he accidentally triggered a Boss-level combat event.
Compared to the "Red-Clad Woman" encountered by Xiao Tan and the others, the mini-Boss Fei Kouwei Wang encountered could only be described as "difficult to look at"...
In terms of appearance, he had a head of short, unkempt black hair, a sallow, waxy complexion, and a worried look on his face... making him unforgettable.
In terms of build, he had the torso of an adult human and the limbs of a Hobbit; if his hunchback was a sign of his humility, then the three characteristics of having a needle-thin throat, a torch-like mouth, and a mountain-like belly... undoubtedly represented his attitude towards life.
In terms of attire, his bare upper body and bare feet were covered in blood, dirt, and excrement (probably), this unreplicable, performance art-like way of dressing... was simple, yet not simple, high-end, yet not ostentatious. A small skirt woven from grass, leaves, and bark around his waist revealed an unruly personality and wild aura that were hard to conceal, giving one a sense of oppression where they didn't even have the courage to raise their heads and open their eyes in front of him.
In summary... this guy was basically a demonized version of a deformed primitive.
But we all understand a principle—it's wrong to judge people (or monsters) by their appearance. In recent years, more and more studies have shown... that combat power and appearance actually have no direct correlation; those guys who are both handsome (beautiful) and strong simply have one more innate racial talent for taunting than others.
Fei Kouwei Wang didn't underestimate this bizarre creature; he went all out from the start. But... "skill limitations" were a big problem, and the other party was indeed a tough opponent, extremely difficult to deal with... So, this person and this monster fought for a long time in the Great Hero Hall of the Six Harmony Temple. It wasn't until more than ten minutes ago that Fei Kouwei Wang barely managed to win a narrow victory.
And just as he disengaged from the battle and was about to sit down and catch his breath, Second Senior Brother... no... Oink... suddenly appeared.
The events that followed can be summarized in two sentences—Oink easily subdued Fei Kouwei Wang, brought him back to the kitchen... and prepared to let him taste "meat soup".
"What's wrong?" Right now, Oink had just placed his dish in the soup pot. Don't think that just because his back was to the player, he didn't know what the other party was doing, "Did you think that there would be some turning point in the situation just because you learned that there were other interdimensional travelers nearby?"
"I..." Fei Kouwei Wang hesitated for two seconds upon hearing this, then forcibly adopted a calm posture and responded in a neither servile nor overbearing manner, "...I don't understand what you're talking about."
"Ha!" Oink chuckled dryly, "This is the first time I've heard someone lie in such a stiff tone."
After these words were spoken, Fei Kouwei Wang did not respond further.
Seeing that he didn't reply, Oink continued, "Alright... since you think relying on others can turn the tide, then fine..." As he spoke, he put down the wooden spoon in his hand and covered the pot, "I'll go invite the other party in."