Chapter 10: Subsequent Tasks

For the heroes and troops under Li Bin's command, his word was law. At his command, two ballistae simultaneously launched bolts as thick as an arm toward the old man. But something astonishing happened—the bolts struck the earth heavily beside the old man rather than hitting him. Instantly, a fireball shot from the old man's hand, smashing into one of the ballistae.

“A mage?” Li Bin immediately deduced. “Collapse the formation! Skeleton warriors and corpse soldiers, lock down the death miners. Let the skeletal Naga and sword-wielding mummies be the main force against them, with the priests focused on healing. Skeleton archers and ballistae, switch all targets to the death foreman—take him down as quickly as possible. Elf archers, use anti-magic arrows to support the skeleton mage against that damned wizard. Heroes, act at your discretion!”

As Li Bin issued a string of orders, the tide of battle shifted rapidly. Skeleton warriors and corpse soldiers threw themselves in front of the death miners, allowing the skeletal Naga and sword-wielding mummies to strike from optimal positions. Skeleton archers and ballistae alternated their shots, giving the death foreman no chance to dodge or counterattack. Li Bin and Tordina, without consulting each other, both chose the mage as their primary target, for wherever a mage was present, he was always a grave threat.

Faced with such an assault, the first to fall was, surprisingly, the highest-level death foreman. Targeted by more than ten ranged attackers, he didn’t even have time to order the miners to regroup before he was riddled like a hedgehog. Next, the two death miners battling the skeletal Naga met the same fate as their leader, torn apart on the spot. By then, Tordina had already reached the mage and struck down with her four steel blades.

Just like that, the battle was over. Receiving the system’s notification of mission completion, Li Bin sank to the ground. Although his tactical choices had been correct, the disparity in levels had still cost him dearly. Half of the skeleton warriors and corpse soldiers used as shields were lost; of the four sword-wielding mummies, only one survived. Beyond these, Deirdre was exhausted from excessive spellcasting, Tordina had suffered a moderate wound, and the newly promoted skeleton mage had nearly been slain in the magical duel—all of which left Li Bin heartbroken.

Still, there were some gains to be had. The ghostfire slaves had salvaged about seventy units of metal ore from the death miners—a week's yield from a major mine. The bodies of the death miners made excellent material for third-level corpse soldiers, especially the mage; Li Bin believed that with this corpse, he could create another skeleton mage.

Determined not to leave empty-handed, Li Bin decided, after tidying up the battlefield, to send the ghostfire slaves to scour the mine for scattered ore or other valuables.

Soon, mine lamps, gold coins, and ore were gathered before Li Bin. But what caught his eye most was a battered diary. Flipping through the “Foreman’s Journal,” Li Bin sensed something amiss. According to the diary, these miners had only come to work this iron mine within the last fifty days, contradicting the report that Xubi Bloodthirst City had occupied the mine much earlier. Moreover, within that short span, the miners had transformed into death miners at the rate of one per day, hinting at some hidden secret deep within the iron mine.

Thinking it over, Li Bin quickly ordered his wounded troops to withdraw to the Graveyard Demon and summoned several undead gargoyles stationed there as guards, proceeding cautiously into the depths of the mine.

Yet, after circling through the mine, Li Bin found nothing, much to his confusion. But now was no time for investigation; according to the rules of Judgement, after clearing all enemies from a mine, stationing troops there for one day would make him its new master.

Li Bin had no desire to provoke unnecessary conflict with Xubi Bloodthirst City; who knew if they wouldn’t treat him as another target for a mission. Just as Li Bin was about to leave, he noticed a fist-sized spider crawling past.

A trivial thing, yet it drew Li Bin’s attention—for this was a mine inhabited solely by undead, so how could a spider appear? With that thought, Li Bin waved his hand, and the eager Tordina shot forward, slicing the spider into four pieces.

At that moment, Li Bin received a system message: “You have triggered the follow-up quest for the Haunted Mine, ‘The Truth of the Haunting.’ The spider nest in the mine depths has opened.”

Li Bin’s eyes lit up. He quickly led his troops deeper into the mine. After rounding several bends, he discovered a new passage lined with countless layers of dense webs. Behind the webs, it seemed innumerable eyes were watching Li Bin and his companions intently.

Out of caution, Li Bin did not order an assault, but instead sent a skeleton soldier to scout ahead.

The skeleton soldier staggered into the passage. Before it reached the webs, Li Bin sensed a murderous intent from further within. Instantly, the webs hanging in the passage wrapped tightly around the skeleton soldier, cocooning it in the blink of an eye.

But that was not all. As the skeleton soldier was enveloped, an ice arrow shot from the depths, freezing the cocoon into a blue block of ice. Before Li Bin could react, three rapid arrows followed, striking the same spot and shattering the ice into powder.

Standing outside the passage, cold sweat streamed down Li Bin’s back. Had he not been so cautious, he and his entire force might have been wiped out inside.

At this moment, Deirdre suddenly spoke. “Master, did you notice something odd about their attacks?”

“What’s odd?” Li Bin asked, as if grasping at a lifeline.

“Did you notice that their remarkable attack only began after the skeleton soldier was wrapped in the webs, and these webs throughout the passage…” Deirdre trailed off, letting Li Bin figure it out for himself.

“The webs?” Li Bin paced outside the passage, then smiled. “Deirdre, you’re right. There’s something wrong with these webs. Look, there are droplets of ice on them—it seems the webs, not the arrow from within, were what actually froze the skeleton soldier.”

Li Bin’s words caused a stir within the passage, and several long arrows swiftly shot toward him.

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