My Misfortune Crushed Instances-Chapter 203: How Did You End Up Like This?

The Secret Realm World is not entirely designed according to the game.

This Demon Dragon Valley doesn't have a setup where there are five fortresses, each with a boss standing on the city tower.

The idea of the five regions was proposed by Secret Realm agents because there are exactly five areas as you go in. The first one, the Ancient Forest, is on the outermost edge. Here, captured humans and demons live together. They are at the lowest level of Demon Dragon Valley, unqualified to enter deeper, and can only stay to do menial labor.

The boss of this area is a Wild Boar Demon, standing two zhang tall, weighing like a mountain, donning heavy armor forged by human blacksmiths, and wielding a warblade that requires several people to lift.

His subordinates aren't just Pig Demons. Once beasts cultivate intelligence, they're no longer limited by species, and even reproductive isolation disappears. So the first demon encountered by Li Rui and others was a Snake Demon patrolling the forest.

The scoundrel hadn't transformed, just hung on a tree branch as its true form, pretending to be a harmless little snake.

But it was no use, the moment Li Rui sensed a threat, he swung his arm and smacked it with a shield.

Wu Bing clicked his tongue in wonder, "Strange, how come none of the guides mention such a sneaky little demon?"

"There is,"

Li Rui said, "The Chi Jia Association guide has a section stating that if you're unlucky, you might encounter such a Flower Snake Demon. It's hard to spot, and if not dealt with, it might directly alert the boss, for it will act as an informant."

"That's quite formidable." An Qing, a young lady appearing twenty-seven or eight years old, seemed carefree with a bit of Nan Jiumei's demeanor.

Li Bailang also felt a shiver, "It's so serious... No wonder it's a ten-star Secret Realm. Good job, Xiaoli."

Only Wu Bing felt a bit strange.

"Unlucky? My main attribute is luck, that's really odd." He found it puzzling.

The good thing is, this is a Demon Race territory, where their management system practically doesn't exist. Deep in the mountains, these captured humans can't escape anyway. So, after bypassing or stealthily killing the outer sentries, Li Rui's group attracted little attention once they entered the Ancient Forest.

After all, there were already many humans here, four more wasn't unusual. Maybe someone grabbed them while outside?

But suddenly, a somewhat clever Wild Dog Demon leaped out from the nearby forest.

He found it odd. Most humans here were pale and emaciated, with only a few becoming lackeys, serving as advisors to demons for a better life. These four, however, appeared clean and fair, prompting him to investigate.

So he asked, "Who are you?"

In tacit agreement, Wu Bing and An Qing retreated, while Li Bailang stepped forward, channeling power into his hand, preparing to silence the dog demon and hide the body in the bushes. As long as they didn't cause too much commotion, it wouldn't easily cause a stir in the chaotic forest.

However, Li Rui, having studied the guide extensively, stopped him, glaring at the Wild Dog Demon, and said, "You foolish dog, don't ask too much. If you keep yapping, I'll cut out your tongue and offer it to King Zhi with his drink."

With such a fierce aura, the Wild Dog Demon dared not say more, thinking Li Rui was a new advisor, and ran away with his tail between his legs.

"Can it really work like that?"

Wu Bing thought Li Rui would slap the demon with a shield but didn't expect him to pass just by talking, cleverly bluffing his way through with confident authority.

"Hey, the more scared you look, the more suspicious it seems. You've got to act bold and pretend to be a collaborator, only then he wouldn't dare question us," Li Rui explained.

Li Bailang looked at him with newfound respect. Unexpectedly, this gentle-looking young man remained so calm and composed. Regardless of his strength, his ability to stay unflustered was something many couldn't match.

Of course, the so-called danger wasn't just a little demon, but the potential of causing a ruckus leading to encirclement and prematurely triggering a boss battle.

After passing through, the four entered the depths of the Ancient Forest. Wu Bing casually grabbed a few ragged robes from a vine clothesline.

"Put these on, smear your faces a bit, so nothing extra happens."

"Uncle Bing, you're quite skilled at pilfering," Li Rui chuckled.

"Hey, we Prophets must be proficient at deception and trickery. Otherwise, we would fail every time we enter a Secret Realm," Wu Bing replied proudly.

The four changed their attire, blending in more seamlessly.

Li Bailang suggested, "Let's find allies among the NPCs first."

Entering the Ancient Forest early was meant to bolster friendly forces by recruiting some NPCs as helpers.

Wu Bing said, "Let me guide the way."

He pulled out an octagonal bronze compass from his inventory, engraved with Bagua yin-yang symbols, with a round-bottomed bronze spoon placed on top.

Doing nothing more than giving the spoon a light tap, it spun continuously for a full half-minute before stopping.

"This way, follow me."

He led the way, heading straight in a certain direction through the forest.

The terrain in the Secret Realm is randomly generated. The guide could only mention which NPCs can be recruited but couldn't describe exact locations.

At times like this, Wu Bing was particularly crucial.

As for the combat strength, Li Rui didn't really mind. As a level 30 advanced character taking on a level 30 Secret Realm boss, it couldn't be more difficult than tackling Zuo Qiutian's avatar at level 25.

But he still opted to recruit as many friendly NPCs as possible, because these were side or optional quests, offering experience points to gain.

He wanted to level up to 35, so he had to try to do as many quests as possible.

The group followed Wu Bing and arrived at the edge of the other side of the Ancient Forest. There was a hut; three sides were made of stacked stones, and the front was sealed with dense wooden sticks, serving as a makeshift door. Outside the hut was a burnt-out campfire with a pot on top, serving as a stove.

Under the hut lay a Wild Boar Demon, snoring like thunder, exuding the smell of cheap liquor with each breath.

"It's actually that Zhi Yan."

The four of them stopped from a distance to confirm this guy's identity. They had all read the guide and knew which NPCs could be recruited.

[Trigger optional quest: The Pig Demon has no friends]

[Quest objective: Gain Zhi Yan's favor.]

[Quest reward: Experience +27000, Random enhancement materials x5, Zhi Yan's aid.]

According to the background introduction, this Pig Demon is actually a direct descendant of King Zhi, but because he was ostracized by colleagues and his kind, he was slandered to King Zhi and exiled to this fringe area.

Due to being isolated, this demon is lonely at heart. If you can get close to him and touch him, he will come out to help when the boss battle starts.

"Who has negotiation skills? It's best to directly persuade him to help. Otherwise, it's better to just give up. If you proceed step by step, it's too lengthy, and this Pig Demon is very fussy."

Although An Qing is a girl, and her name sounds gentle, she speaks without any gentleness.

Wu Bing volunteered, "I'll give it a try."

In the Secret Realm World, negotiation skills or talents are means to improve one's persuasion skills, but even without skills, if you are eloquent enough, you can still achieve your goal.

Just like Li Rui was able to trick Zuo Qiutian twice, and someone with negotiation talent might not be able to do the same.

Wu Bing came out of the forest and approached, calling out.

"Brother Zhi Yan."

The names of beasts and spirits usually take their race as the first name and then casually add a character as the second name.

The Wild Boar Demon was originally dozing under what could barely be called a hut, but upon hearing someone call him, he sat up with a start.

"Hmm?"

Zhi Yan saw that it was actually a Human Race person coming to disturb him and snorted unhappily, "What do you want?"

This is the Demon Race's territory. Even if he's exiled, he still looks down on the Human Race.

Wu Bing smiled apologetically, "Brother Zhi Yan, how have you been? I have no other purpose, just admire your charisma and came specifically to pay respects. If you might spare a moment to..."

Zhi Yan rudely interrupted, "If you have nothing, then get lost."

Wu Bing's eyelid twitched.

According to the guide, if you want to win over this character, you have to greet him with a smile, let insults slide, and then complete various tasks as per his requests. They are all errand tasks, but you need to keep traversing the Ancient Forest, and if you're not careful, your identity might be exposed.

But the premise is that the other party is willing to talk to you. If you are met with a 'get lost' on meeting, then there's no chance.

After retreating, An Qing still wanted to give up on this troublesome NPC, but Li Bailang immediately said, "Let me give it a try."

He stepped up to Zhi Yan, cupped his fists, and said, "Brother Zhi Yan, the few of us are..."

Swish.

This time, Zhi Yan didn't even let him finish and directly picked up a knife, "Though I've fallen to this point, I don't need pity from a few Human Race people. If you dare say another word, don't blame me for not being polite."

"It's not pity, it's not pity."

Li Bailang was afraid to anger him, triggering a battle and exposing their identity, so he quickly reassured, "If you're not willing, then forget it. We'll leave now..."

The group retreated once again.

"Looks like it's no good; let's look for someone else."

Li Bailang also gave up, "Didn't expect even establishing contact would be this hard."

Li Rui then said, "How about you let me try."

An Qing said, "Don't provoke him; if it doesn't work out, just give up. As long as we don't trigger the boss early, it's fine."

Li Rui reassured, "Don't worry, I'm very good at talking."

The other three watched him go up worriedly, afraid that if persuasion failed again, it might cause a disturbance instead.

Zhi Yan also looked displeased, ready to strike if a word was said wrongly. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

However, Li Rui wasn't having it, and as soon as he got in front of him, he blurted out.

"Yo yo yo, isn't this Zhi Yan? How did you end up like this?"