Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 151: Poisoning

Liu Xing always felt that the title "Terror in the Mountains" for Schaugnar Fagern wasn't quite right; it should be "Time Dominator."

However, now Liu Xing finally understood why the soup on the table was made from human blood. It turned out to be the "soup" for Schaugnar Fagern to drink.

Moreover, Liu Xing was certain that the ultimate boss in this module was the Great Old One—Schaugnar Fagern. As long as the specified time arrived, Schaugnar Fagern would appear, resolve Liu Xing's group, turn them into a new "soup," and, incidentally, take away their time.

Thinking of this, Liu Xing shared his discovery with Addison and the others.

"So that's it. I didn't expect this timed module to feature the Great Old One as the boss. It's worth it even if we die just to see the Great Old One," Addison said with a smile.

Zhang Jingxu nodded with a half-smile, saying, "In this way, the plot of this module is finally connected. We are currently in a dreamlike state. Schaugnar Fagern brought us here through the dreamland entrance under the Weave Plateau. This place should be Schaugnar Fagern's 'home,' and that bowl of soup is indeed made from human blood. But it seems Schaugnar Fagern is afraid of it being too hot, so he waits for the soup to cool before drinking it, along with processing us newcomers."

Zhang Jingxu's speculation was reasonable and convincing.

"In that case, we need to hurry. I don't want to be processed as ingredients," Xue Jingliu said nervously.

Liu Xing nodded and continued flipping through the small booklet, finding an illustration of a giant winged serpent.

"What's this?" Liu Xing looked puzzled at the illustration. Though the mythical creature seemed familiar to Liu Xing, he couldn't recall its name.

Addison came over, smiling, and said, "Isn't this the Dread Hunter? If there's a way out behind that iron gate, there's almost certainly a Dread Hunter guarding it."

"Dread Hunter, right. If I remember correctly, it's an advanced version of the Ghoul, with stronger power, the ability to attack twice in a turn, and an armor value of 9. It won't be affected by bullet penetration, and its HP is over 30 points. For damage, it bites for 1d6, and if it binds, it's 4d6," Xue Jingliu reported the data on the Dread Hunter.

Liu Xing frowned; this timed module seemed a bit tricky. Not only did the Great Old One handle the cleanup, but there was also a powerful mythical creature like the Dread Hunter acting as a gatekeeper.

"But we shouldn't worry too much. The DM said this module is of an easy difficulty, so we should have a way to deal with this Dread Hunter," Addison shrugged, saying casually.

As Addison said, it was an easy difficulty module, so Liu Xing believed the Dread Hunter would likely have restrictions, like the Formless Offspring in the Mirror World, such as...

"I think the Dread Hunter should have a limit on its number of attacks. After a certain number of attacks, the Dread Hunter will disappear. I've encountered this type of mythical creature before. As long as we endure enough rounds of combat, we should be able to pass safely," Wu Wei suggested.

However, Zhang Jingxu on the side shook his head and said seriously, "I once encountered a module with a powerful mythical creature as the final boss. In the end, my group and I couldn't find any other way, so we had to forcibly enter combat rounds with the mythical creature. When two players died, the mythical creature suddenly disappeared. So, we can't rule out that possibility either."

Liu Xing nodded, finding both Wu Wei and Zhang Jingxu's possibilities reasonable.

"Anyway, let's all use detection now and see if there are any other clues in this study room," Xue Jingliu said while contacting the KP Ghost.

Xue Jingliu, 42/50, success.

Zhang Jingxu, 63/50, failure.

Addison, 49/50, success.

Wu Wei, 86/50, failure.

Xue Jingliu picked up the only light source in the study room, a white candle, and pulled out a small key from under the candlestick, smiling and saying, "I knew there would be a key under this candlestick because I used to hide keys like this when I was a kid. I was planning to check this candlestick just now."

Meanwhile, Addison took out a black vial from a pile of books, grinning and saying, "This is a good thing, an unknown poison. After drinking the poison in this vial, it will cause 2d6+10 damage ten seconds later. In other words, it guarantees at least 12 points of damage, with a maximum of 22 points."

Liu Xing nodded and said, "I see. It seems this poison is prepared for the Dread Hunter. Without any surprises, there should be another vial of poison. This way, we can at least weaken the Dread Hunter's HP to single digits, giving us a fighting chance."

"Not necessarily. Don't forget, the Dread Hunter won't just obediently let us feed it the poison. After all, it's not Wu Dalang, and we're not Pan Jinlian," Addison shook his head, smiling.

Upon careful consideration, Liu Xing realized that was indeed the case. Though the Dread Hunter looked like a giant serpent, its intelligence far surpassed that of ordinary people. So, there was no hope of tricking the Dread Hunter into consuming the poison.

Therefore, the only way to poison the Dread Hunter would be to use a throwing skill, and with a 50% success rate, it wasn't particularly high.

"Anyway, let's go to other rooms and search. We should have found everything we can in this room, and I believe the other rooms should also have a vial of poison each," Zhang Jingxu said while leaving the study room.

Liu Xing looked around the study room and found nothing interesting, so he turned to leave.

"What the heck is this! Watch out behind you, Liu Xing!"

At that moment, Zhang Jingxu, who had already left the study room, suddenly pointed behind Liu Xing and exclaimed loudly.

Liu Xing was startled, immediately turning around. He saw a shelf behind him emitting waves of "oil," continuously accumulating and wriggling on the floor.

"It's a Formless Offspring. Liu Xing, quickly throw the book in your hand!" Addison asserted.

Liu Xing nodded, understanding Addison's intention. He immediately threw the small booklet in his hand. The still unformed Formless Offspring instantly split into several tentacles, grabbing the booklet, and then swiftly "squeezed" back into the bookshelf.

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