217: Chapter 217 Picking Up a Girl

Ultimately, Li Taiping still didn't listen to the village chief.

The village chief's words, "She might really be awake," sounded very frightening, but Li Taiping was more concerned about another matter.

Who is she?

Su Jie?

An Old God?

Or is she the key answer hidden within this dungeon?

He carried a tree branch and walked into the forest.

Behind him, Black Wood Village grew further and further away; the firelight was swallowed by the morning mist, leaving only a few blurred shadows.

Li Jun did not follow.

The little guy stood at the village entrance, holding that ugly puppet in his arms, his eyes fixed on him the whole time.

Li Taiping didn't look back; his heart was very calm. Even if the other party were a real person, their suffering had nothing to do with him.

In a world like this, being soft-hearted is usually not a good thing.

Li Taiping continued forward.

...

The closer he got to the River Beach, the wetter the ground became.

Black mud submerged the soles of his shoes, making a squelching sound when stepped upon.

Tree roots on both sides were twisted together, with some small dark red fruits growing in the crevices.

Li Taiping stopped and reached out to pick one.

"It has spiritual energy."

Although it was very weak, it was edible.

He took a bite.

It was sour, astringent, and had a slightly fishy taste.

"This taste—even a dog would shake its head at it."

Li Taiping frowned and swallowed the remaining half.

The next moment, a subtle stream of heat dispersed from his stomach and traveled along his limbs.

His muscles tightened slightly, and his bones felt as if they had been tapped lightly.

But that was all; the change in his life level was not obvious.

Li Taiping picked a few more and ate them while walking.

Along the way, he saw quite a few corpses.

Some were ferocious beasts, others were human.

Most of the beast corpses had been torn open, with black liquid sticking to the edges of their wounds.

The human corpses were even more miserable.

Some were only left with half their bodies, while others knelt in the mud, their hands still in a posture of crawling forward.

Li Taiping stopped beside a corpse.

It was a woman.

A broken spear was stuck in her back, and she was still protecting a tattered bamboo basket in her arms.

Inside the basket were a few herbs and a small wooden shoe.

Li Taiping's gaze paused; the scene was truly tragic, after all—this was a massacre.

Li Taiping bent down, picked up the small wooden shoe, wiped it with a blade of grass, and tucked it into his clothes.

"I might not be able to bring the person back, but I can bring the item."

Before long, he reached the River Beach ahead.

This river was very wide.

The river water was not clear but gray-black, with large patches of rotting leaves floating on the surface.

In the center of the River Beach was a collapsed pit, from which black mist was rising.

The black mist did not disperse, flowing along the ground like a thin layer of fog.

Li Taiping saw the sacrificial bones.

Many of them.

Pieces of white bone were stuck in the mud, the patterns on them identical to the bone fragment around A-Shan's neck.

Further away, a massive skeleton was half-buried in the riverbed.

The skeleton did not look human.

Its ribs rose higher than the tree canopy, its spine lay across the riverbed, and only a corner of its broken skull was visible.

Even though it had been dead for who knows how many years, it still made the surrounding air feel incredibly heavy.

The unlock progress of the Exquisite Pagoda also soared accordingly, soon to complete the 100% puzzle.

Li Taiping muttered to himself, "Old God remains?"

The village chief didn't lie.

But the point wasn't the remains; the point was that beside the remains... there was actually a person?

In the shallow water of the River Beach lay a young girl.

She was wearing a tattered white dress, her black hair spread out in the water, her face stained with mud, her wrists very thin; one foot wore a small wooden shoe, while the other was bare.

But she didn't look like someone from Black Wood Village.

The girl had no animal skins, no bone ornaments, and no signs of hunting on her; more importantly, she had no injuries.

In a place like this, for a young girl to be unconscious beside the Old God remains, and to be completely clean...

Is this reasonable?

It is highly unreasonable.

Li Taiping gripped the tree branch, moved a few steps closer, observing as he approached.

"It wouldn't really be a juvenile Old God, would it?"

Just as he finished speaking, the girl's fingertips moved slightly.

Li Taiping's gaze sharpened.

The next second.

Ding—

[Special life magnetic field triggered.]

[Unlock Talent Sequence 20: Breathing Makes You Stronger.]

Li Taiping stood there, frozen for a moment.

The wind blew across the River Beach, stirring his hair.

He was completely bewildered right now.

"Sequence 20?"

Li Taiping looked down at the system prompt.

"Don't I only have fifteen Talents?"

"Where did twenty come from?"

His brain raced.

Previously, for some reasons, he had unlocked Talents he already possessed, and some were still in the process of unlocking, but now, just seeing a girl had directly "gifted" him a Talent.

And a Talent he didn't even have.

This meant... this girl was a key NPC?

The girl's breathing was steady, her chest rising and falling slightly.

Her complexion was somewhat pale, but she appeared unharmed.

A wisp of black mist approached her wrist; the next moment, that wisp of black mist dissipated silently.

Li Taiping's eyelid twitched.

"Your constitution is a bit unreasonable."

He walked over, crouched down, and reached out to check the girl's pulse.

Warm and steady.

She was still alive.

And at the very moment his fingers touched her wrist, a strange feeling suddenly arose in Li Taiping's heart.

Familiarity.

Very inexplicable.

It was like he had met her before, or like he had known her all along.

Li Taiping was silent for a moment.

"...Is it because of this Talent unlock?"