Chapter 117: Making Money and the Fortress of Curses

The group waited for a while, and more people gradually arrived. Finally, a merchant appeared, selling potions of various grades: undead protection, shadow protection, and purification. These potions, once consumed, could resist significant damage from undead spells and shadow attacks, while the purification potions could cleanse various diseases and curses.

Chu Cheng didn’t have much use for the first two, but he needed the purification potions, so he spent four gold coins to buy two bottles of strong purification potions.

With all preparations complete, the fifteen-person team set off. Chu Cheng saw several members of the group pulling out different mounts and climbing aboard. He took out his magic carpet and sat on it. Many people in the team looked at him in surprise, and two women covered their mouths, stifling laughter at the sight.

He was somewhat puzzled. At that moment, the team leader, Lei Ming, approached riding a massive armored war bear, as tall as an elephant, and said, “The magic carpet can fly, but it consumes magical energy. Within the campus, the virtual magic network supplies power, so you can use it freely. But inside the dungeon, there’s no way to replenish the energy unless you continuously expend mana; otherwise, it won’t last more than a few minutes.”

“I see,” Chu Cheng replied, immediately jumping off the magic carpet and noticing the mana inside had indeed dropped significantly.

Lei Ming smiled and pulled a bridle from his pocket. “I recently changed mounts and haven’t dealt with my old warhorse yet. I’ll sell it to you for one gold coin. Interested?”

“Sure, thanks.”

“No problem.”

They exchanged gold for the horse.

Warhorse (Excellent)
Equipment Type: Mount
Requirement: None
Mount HP: 3000
Walking Speed: 150
Running Speed: 300
Mount Attribute: Acceleration—when activated, increases running speed by 50% for 30 seconds; cooldown: 2 hours.
Evaluation: An excellent military warhorse.

Though this horse’s running speed was slower than Chu Cheng’s current speed of 384, running on foot consumed stamina, while riding the horse didn’t, allowing continuous travel without fatigue.

He summoned the mount, swung up, and trailed behind the team as they leisurely left the Crusader Fortress, venturing into the desolate wasteland littered with bones.

Unbeknownst to Chu Cheng, after their team left the Crusader Fortress, Senior Fang Xi’s team also entered the dungeon. Desolation, chill, and death formed the realm’s dominant atmosphere.

A great lich had summoned undead to unleash a catastrophe, killing the vast majority of life in this world. Only remnants remained, clinging to survival within the Crusader Fortress.

Though the story was framed as a counterattack, without any adventurers joining, it was nothing more than empty talk. In its prime, even the full forces couldn’t defeat the undead plague; now, with only a handful left, victory was impossible.

As the group gradually distanced themselves from the Crusader Fortress, the stench of death grew stronger in the air, and faint undead figures began to emerge from the mist.

About twenty minutes after setting out, the team encountered a small group of undead moving toward the Crusader Fortress. The group consisted of forty or fifty level 18 zombies and seventy or eighty level 15 skeletons—weak templates, staggering about mindlessly.

Lei Ming, at the front, loudly ordered a detour to avoid them.

Their main target was to hunt the Four Undead Horsemen. Unless they encountered high-value undead, they generally avoided combat.

Chu Cheng had no reason to engage either; these low-level undead were so weak they didn’t even drop soul shards.

They continued their journey, occasionally encountering undead groups of varying sizes but always bypassing them. Traveling northward, they covered thirty to forty kilometers daily.

At night, the team set up tents to rest. Chu Cheng, lacking a tent, borrowed space in Lei Ming’s large tent and used a sleeping bag.

This was the advantage of being in a team: with many people, they could assign guards, and mages placed sentry eyes—orb-like magical watchers—around the camp. Lei Ming’s war bear served as both mount and pet, alerting them to approaching monsters.

In the school dungeon, Chu Cheng could rest anywhere outdoors and, even if monsters attacked, they rarely could kill him quickly. But in these more dangerous dungeons, encountering wandering bosses was perilous.

After several days of continuous travel covering about two hundred kilometers, the team stopped at a dry riverbed. Lei Ming and a few others paced back and forth, pointing to the right bank of the river.

At the same time, Lei Ming’s voice came through their temporary team channel: “According to the map, if we follow this river eastward, there’s an important undead legion stronghold called the Cursed Fortress. The Four Undead Horsemen patrol the Plague Lands and sometimes stop at the Cursed Fortress. Let’s go check if they’re there.”

Someone asked, “If the Four Horsemen aren’t there, should we take the opportunity to attack the Cursed Fortress?”

“What do you all think?”

“I remember the Cursed Fortress is a crucial undead base with several terrifying template-level bosses. Capturing it would guarantee a loot warehouse filled with ores and materials. If we’re lucky, there might be plenty of mithril ore. Taking it down could yield great rewards.”

“The loot is tempting, but can we really capture it?”

“The Cursed Fortress is built to fortress standards and houses many elite undead, including large stitched abominations. Our team isn’t big; it would be hard to withstand such a massive undead assault.”

“Could we lure the undead out in small groups and eliminate them bit by bit?”

“It’s possible, but it would take too much time.”

“Why not try? Searching for the Four Horsemen is aimless anyway. Might as well secure this undead stronghold. If we’re lucky, the Horsemen might show up while we’re there!”

“Hmm.”

“Here’s what we’ll do: there are fifteen of us total. Let’s vote. If more than half agree, we go for it. Sound good?”

“Alright!”

A dividing line appeared in the channel chat. Lei Ming instructed, “Below this line, enter 1 if you agree, 2 if you disagree.”

“1”

“1”

“2”

“1”

Chu Cheng silently typed ‘1’ on his interface.

Wandering aimlessly for days held no appeal—he preferred the thrill of battle.

The Cursed Fortress data Lei Ming shared indicated it housed over five thousand undead, with tens of thousands gathering around. If they sounded the horn and rang the death bell inside, they could summon the surrounding wandering undead, potentially amassing tens of thousands.

Killing so many undead would surely yield abundant soul shards and necromantic essences.

Chu Cheng remembered clearly that his main goal entering this dungeon was to earn money.

Besides, killing so many undead—even if most were low-level—would accumulate so much experience that surely someone would level up.

The vote concluded swiftly: eleven in favor, four against. Even within Lei Ming’s squad, some were eager to take the chance.

The decision was made. Lei Ming didn’t appear reluctant. They continued their journey while discussing tactics in the channel.

Chu Cheng remained silent, quietly observing the tactical discussions.

Unexpectedly, they formulated a strategy early, but after a full day following the riverbed, they still hadn’t found the Cursed Fortress.

It wasn’t until the afternoon of the second day, when wandering undead began to appear along the riverbank and dry riverbed, that Lei Ming sent two fast members to scout.

An hour later, they returned with news: the Cursed Fortress lay just ahead.