As the icicles slowly stopped falling, the stone door gradually cracked open, from which a chilling glow emanated.
Just then, a voice came through everyone's earpieces.
It sounded like a woman singing. The voice was ethereal yet seemed to be everywhere.
Ji Siyue thought the singing was beautiful, but in this environment, it was a bit too creepy.
"Did you all hear the singing?" Ji Siyue asked tentatively.
"Yeah," Qin Chengyao replied. "Although the description outside the dungeon didn't tell us what the final boss is, I think since we've reached this point, it must be related to this singing."
"Should we enter this stone door or not?"
"Not for now. The more impatient we are, the greater the risk. Since we've come this far, we can't take chances."
This time, Qin Chengyao really showed the same serious spirit he had when he played professionally. He was extremely cautious with every step. It didn't matter if it took a long time; he couldn't afford to make the slightest mistake.
As the group slowly backed away, the icicles started falling again. Once they were out of the safe area, the icicles stopped.
The ethereal singing that had been lingering in their ears also stopped. All they could hear was the occasional howling of the wind and the distant rumbling of the cave collapsing.
"We can't just stay here, neither moving forward nor backward," Bai Yu frowned and said.
"Let's protect Bai Yu in case of a sudden attack. Let him check first," Qin Chengyao ordered. Immediately, the other four players back - to - back surrounded Bai Yu's character in the middle.
At this moment, Bai Yu opened the dungeon map.
In the dungeon, the areas they had passed through would be marked on the map, while the unvisited areas were completely blank.
He roughly checked the path from the entrance to their current location and couldn't help frowning.
"This map is not centered but located in the lower - left corner. The area we've passed through only accounts for half of the map. If we're going to fight the final boss, what's behind this door definitely isn't it."
Bai Yu just stated what he had observed, leaving the decision - making to Qin Chengyao.
Qin Chengyao also opened the dungeon map to check. "It's really not the center point. Either there are other hidden paths, or we must pass through this stone door. I personally lean towards the second option because the paths we've walked along have been very narrow. There shouldn't be enough space for another passage."
Zhu Zhiyao suddenly sighed and whistled.
"Well, if that's the case, let's go in and see what this singing thing is!"
After several seconds of silence, Qin Chengyao suddenly frowned and stared intently ahead.
"Advance!"
"OK!"
"Received."
"Got it!"
"Let's go!"
Just as before, they carefully passed through the area of icicles in front of the stone door and approached it.
Sure enough, the ethereal singing came through their earpieces again.
Qin Chengyao used a low - damage skill on the stone door, which cracked a little. Then the others attacked the stone door together. The stone door gradually crumbled, and the ethereal singing finally became clear.
After they walked in, there was no light at all, only the cold air filling the air.
As a support, Ji Siyue selflessly sacrificed 10% of her health and used a summoning skill to light a lamp and place it in the middle.
As the warm - yellow light illuminated the cave, the situation inside finally became clear to everyone.
Ji Siyue couldn't help taking a sharp breath.
This woman was really beautiful!
In the middle of the cave stood a huge icicle, inside which a woman was sealed.
Although she should have been frozen, her clothes fluttered as if there was wind. She folded her hands in front of her chest in a praying position and was singing. The voice that everyone had been hearing just now came from her.
Zhu Zhiyao usually loved to see all kinds of beautiful female characters. Even the sorceress she played was a female character. So when she saw the full appearance of this woman, she walked up in surprise and exclaimed, "Wow! In this game's dungeons, the bosses and monsters are usually dragons or beasts. This is the first time I've seen a human - shaped monster!"
"I don't think this is a monster," Ji Siyue felt something was off. "We've only just reached the halfway point. With such a grand spectacle, it should at least be a mini - boss. But since we came in, this person hasn't launched any attacks, just singing. I don't think she's a monster."
"If she's not a monster, what could she be? Could she be an NPC?"
Zhu Zhiyao didn't believe it and tentatively reached out her hand to touch the ice surface, trying to trigger her.
Unexpectedly, as soon as her hand touched the ice, the ice surface rippled like a lake. Then the woman sealed inside stopped singing and slowly opened her eyes.
Ji Siyue couldn't help widening her eyes - this character's eyes were blood - red! Coupled with her almost transparent white skin, she looked beautiful but also had an indescribable eeriness.
"Everyone, back off and stay vigilant!"
At Qin Chengyao's order, the others quickly gathered around him and kept a safe distance from the icicle.
The woman in the ice lowered her hands and looked straight at the group.
"Are you the ones who can kill the Demon King?" The woman's voice was extremely sweet, but perhaps because she had been sealed in the ice for too long, it also carried a bit of chill.
"What the...?" Zhu Zhiyao was almost in disbelief. "Is this really an NPC?"
This game had never had an NPC in a dungeon before. Although it was highly playable, players usually had to use both wisdom and courage to clear it. No one expected there to be an NPC!
"I think she's more like a character that triggers the plot rather than an NPC. And there are no options in front of us," Bai Yu retorted.
Just then, the woman sealed in the ice moved again.