novelbin 39: Skull
39: Skull
The puppet's remains were scattered all over the ground, with pieces of wood and broken joints lying in pieces.
Su Chen noticed that the nauseating stench of the doll's blood had disappeared, which was good news, as it made breathing much more comfortable for him.
but……
[Life Skills Change Card: Puppeteer]
Su Chen picked up the faintly glowing card, her eyes filled with curiosity.
This was a completely new type of card he had never encountered before, entirely different from the combat skill cards he had obtained previously.
"But now is not the time to use it."
Su Chen shook his head, suppressing the urge to try it immediately, and carefully put the card into his backpack.
The most urgent task now is to thoroughly investigate this basement.
Ideally, we could find a few more magical items like the "music box"!
With that in mind, Su Chen began to search the basement carefully. He maintained his usual cautious approach, leaving no corner unchecked.
It took quite a while, almost turning the entire basement upside down.
"call!"
Su Chen wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the counter in front of him, which he had finally managed to open with great effort.
On the surface of the counter that he had violently dismantled, some luminous patterns were still visible, gradually dimming.
The cabinet was originally locked, and it was a magical lock, but Su Chen managed to remove it by brute force. As the cabinet door was damaged, the patterns on it lost their luster.
"It seems this counter itself isn't a magical artifact, but rather it's been enchanted with some kind of spell specifically to lock away the things inside..."
The power of magic? Su Chen was actually quite curious.
However, perhaps because of the passage of time, the curse could not withstand his violent dismantling.
This should be the third magical item he found in this basement!
Su Chen stepped forward and saw that the items inside the counter were emitting a faint, cold light...
"Gold dropped! What's this? A Witcher's dagger?"
This is a silver dagger, not long, about one and a half palm lengths, with fine spiral patterns engraved on it, like some kind of rune. At the end of the hilt is a gray crystal the size of a pigeon egg, and you can feel a slight coolness coming from your palm when you hold it.
Su Chen held the dagger with great joy, his heart filled with delight—this must also be a magical artifact, right?
He played with it for a while and then did a simple test: he used a dagger to cut the edge of the cabinet where it was originally stored.
The patterns on the dagger gleamed slightly.
"Whoosh—"
The touch was like a sharp blade slicing through paper; the solid wood counter was instantly cut in half, the whole process effortless!
Su Chen's breathing suddenly became hot!
A real magical artifact!
And right now, it's the most practical item for him!
This trip to the Black Forest has been incredibly fruitful.
He happily put the dagger away, then looked at the other two props.
The second item was a lamp wrapped in strips of cloth with runes. Although the runes on the cloth were somewhat blurred, a faint energy fluctuation could still be felt when you got close.
This was clearly a magical artifact—a lamp held in hand that could emit a soft, bright light with a mere thought. The illumination lasted a long time; Su Chen didn't have time to test its exact duration.
The third item was a sachet embroidered with peculiar patterns, only the size of a palm. It contained dried, grayish-green powder, which emitted a faint, bitter odor when smelled closely. Its function seemed to be detoxification; Su Chen wasn't sure of the specific effects, but whenever he wore it, he felt refreshed and his mind was exceptionally clear, clearly indicating its extraordinary properties.
These three items are definitely magical artifacts.
Su Chen played with it for a while with great delight, but a doubt arose in his heart.
Why didn't the homestead system give me any notification?
He fiddled with the dagger in his hand, pondering the question.
This also shows that not all magical items will be automatically suggested by the Homestead System. It seems that the Homestead System cannot be used entirely as a treasure hunt system; sometimes, you need to discover and experience them yourself.
Meanwhile, Su Chen looked at the fragments of the puppet on the ground and took out the Demon Hunter's Compendium to examine them.
"However, the Homestead System provides a detailed introduction to this Demon Hunter Encyclopedia."
When he used the encyclopedia to identify the "Corrupted Doll," he discovered that the doll was not included in the encyclopedia and that he had to spend extra survival points to explore its information.
This is something that Su Chen is particularly concerned about.
The monsters we encountered before, such as the Bloodtooth Rabbit and the Nightmare Spider, all have descriptions in the encyclopedia, so there's no need to spend extra survival points.
But this time, it's necessary.
"Could it be that this corrupted doll isn't originally from the Black Forest?"
Probably!
Because the "Demon Hunter's Compendium" previously only recorded monsters and related information within the Black Forest, it did not consume any additional survival points.
The reason why points are deducted when identifying a corrupted doll is most likely because it comes from outside the Black Forest and does not belong to the same region as other monsters, thus increasing the handling fee.
If that's the case, then could it be that the Witcher didn't originally exist in the Black Forest?
Perhaps.
"So, before the Witcher came to the Black Forest, in which territory did he operate? And what about that 'Pinocchio'...?"
Su Chen felt that the world was becoming more and more interesting.
However, the most urgent task is to check if there is anything else in the basement that I may have overlooked.
Su Chen carefully inspected the basement again when suddenly he kicked a slightly protruding stone slab.
He looked down and saw that the stone slab was similar in color to the surrounding slabs, but there were obvious signs of splicing at the edges. Moreover, there was much less dust in the gaps between the slabs than in other places, as if it had been moved frequently.
"strangeness."
Su Chen crouched down and gently pried at the edge of the stone slab with the tip of his red-tasseled spear. A hollow echo came from beneath the slab, and a faint hissing sound could be heard.
"What is this?"
"A basement within a basement?"
A hint of curiosity flashed in Su Chen's eyes. After inspecting it, he discovered that the hidden door used an internal locking mechanism, making it difficult to open from the outside.
"It's hidden so well; it seems the owner of the basement doesn't want anyone to find it."
"And it's locked from the inside... It's probably where the Witcher sleeps, used to prevent outsiders from breaking in."
Anyway, let's open it and take a look.
He tried to pry open the iron gate with his red-tasseled spear, but found it to be exceptionally sturdy. The spear tip only made a creaking sound, but the iron gate remained completely still.
"This is a bit tricky."
With his current strength, he can't even break down this door. It will probably take a lot of hard work to open it.
As he was thinking this, Su Chen suddenly remembered the magic dagger he had just obtained!
He pulled out a dagger, gripped it tightly, and the patterns on the blade glowed faintly once more.
"Whoosh!"
One slash.
He managed to slice a hole in what was originally an incredibly sturdy door!
"This iron gate actually has this kind of defensive capability?"
Su Chen was somewhat surprised.
You should know that this dagger was used to cut a solid wood cabinet like it was tofu!
No wonder I couldn't open this iron gate using conventional methods!
"There might really be treasure inside!"
Su Chen became a little excited, raised his dagger and slashed several times, completely breaking open the iron gate.
He peeked inside.
"It's a bit dark...that's just right."
He took out a magic lamp and slowly walked down the steps.
Reaching the bottom, Su Chen could see the underground scene clearly: neat wooden shelves lined the walls, displaying various dried herbs and peculiar plant roots. Some herbs still had dried vines hanging from them, but there was no particular smell in the air.
In the center of the basement stood a large stone preparation table, on which several glass flasks were scattered. The flasks contained liquids of different colors—some were transparent, some were pale blue, and some were dark red—clearly, they were already prepared medicines.
Next to the preparation table were tools such as a grinder and a funnel. Dried medicine stains remained on the table, indicating that the owner had been frequently preparing medicines, seemingly researching something important.
Holding a flashlight, Su Chen slowly moved along the wooden frame, carefully examining the potions on it. The Homestead System still didn't provide any notification.
Just as he reached the corner of the basement, the light suddenly illuminated a huddled figure.
It was a skeleton, chained to the corner of the wall with thick iron chains. One end of the chain was fixed to an iron ring on the wall, and the other end was wrapped around the skeleton's ribcage, binding it firmly.
Su Chen paused, immediately becoming alert.
"Where is this place? Why is there a skeleton locked up here?"
The skeleton's posture looks somewhat eerie, not like a natural death, but more like someone who trapped it here alive.
Su Chen had just stopped walking and hadn't had time to observe carefully when he felt the surrounding air suddenly become viscous and the temperature inexplicably rise a few degrees.
Suddenly!
Suddenly, a mass of dark red flesh and blood surged from deep within the eye sockets of that lifeless skeleton!
This mass of flesh spread rapidly as if it were alive, crawling up the skull from the eye sockets and then spreading along the gaps in the bones to the limbs at an astonishing speed!