Legend of Mir 2: Seeking the Truth in Marfa

After the two of them were ready, Brook stood up and took the lead in walking down the stairs leading to the stone tomb.

The stone tomb array is a room with a circle inside and a square outside. There is a circular tomb in the center of the room, which is divided into two circles, the inner and outer circles. The inner circle is an arched tomb made of stones, surrounded by a trench, which forms the outer circle. The inner and outer circles are connected by only a small path more than two people wide. The room is surrounded by a flat ground, and there are eternal lamps more than 1 meters high in the four corners. The room is very densely populated with monsters, and almost half of the space is occupied by monsters. As soon as Brook came down, he was attacked by a red wild boar, a black evil maggot and a wedge moth at the stairs. He quickly became invisible and cleared out the monsters on the stairs with Xiaobai. Then he took the next step to make room for Bayin to stand, and then called Bayin to come down.

After Bayin descended, Brook cast a collective invisibility spell. The two of them, watching for gaps between the monsters, took advantage, Brook in front, Bayin behind, pausing to become invisible with each step. While their movement would inevitably lead to them being spotted by the nearby wild boars and receiving a vicious blow, Brook, who was in the lead, was able to withstand the blows, and his high defense allowed him to absorb them, replenishing any health he lost by drinking Golden Wound Medicine.

If a wedge moth appeared within their sight, they would prioritize killing it with ranged abilities. As for other monsters, as long as they weren't blocking the path, they should ignore them. They were running low on medicine, so this was the only option. Brooke didn't have time to care for the skeleton baby, Xiaobai, as it had already been attacked and killed by a group of wild boars.

After two minutes of arduous, step-by-step progress, they finally reached the doorway in the lower left corner. They entered one after another, arriving at the cave entrance to the next room. Here, monsters were just as numerous, and three horn flies appeared at the entrance. Upon seeing someone enter, they immediately vomited bats. The two had no choice but to kill the wedge moths first, then the horn flies. Once again, they made their way to the cave entrance in the lower right corner, entering the third room.

At this point, both of them had run out of magic potions and began using their remaining sun water. This time, they had to walk from the upper left of the room to the lower right, a longer distance than before. At the end, just four squares away from the cave entrance, they were blocked by a group of monsters, and both of them had run out of sun water.

"I have no magic left, and I have drunk all the sun water." Looking at the cave entrance that was so close to him, Bayin felt helpless.

Brook is out of medicine, and the two are currently invisible.

"The shadow form can last for another 30 seconds. Let's stand still and wait for our magic to slowly regenerate," Brook said quickly. "Once you have enough magic, place a wall of fire at the cave entrance. I'll run to the upper left corner to distract the monsters, and you can take the opportunity to enter."

"I'm in, what about you?" Bayin asked.

"Don't worry about me, I'm invisible. You go in first, and I'll find a way." Brook said.

If a monk stands still, health regenerates approximately every 6 seconds, and mana regenerates approximately every 12 seconds. The amount of regeneration depends on the monk's maximum health and mana. For example, Brook's current health is 181 and his mana is 185, so he regenerates approximately 6 health points every 3 seconds and 12 mana points every 11 seconds.

After 25 seconds, her invisibility was about to end, and Bayin's magic power was finally enough to cast a wall of fire. She gritted her teeth and used this last bit of magic to cast a wall of fire at the cave entrance. It continued to burn, attracting the monsters in the innermost cave and heading towards Bayin who was attacking them.

Brook, who had been in stealth mode, waited for the monsters at the cave entrance to emerge before turning invisible towards Bayin. The monsters lost sight of Bayin and stopped moving. Then, Brook took two steps to the upper left corner, his invisibility failing. The monsters nearby, including those at the cave entrance, swarmed towards Brook.

In the first second, Brook rushed into a group of monsters and was hammered by the five closest to him, losing over 5 HP. He immediately used a healing spell and drank a high-level golden wound potion. Brook deliberately did not turn invisible, as he needed to continue attracting the monsters towards him. With the blessing of the Holy War Armor skill, Brook's defense reached 70-10, allowing him to withstand the monsters head-on.

The next second, three more monsters approached. These were the fastest-moving black maggots, though their attack wasn't very powerful. A total of eight monsters attacked, draining Brook of over 3 HP. With only 8 HP remaining thanks to healing spells and Golden Wound Potion, Brook immediately became invisible, making the surrounding monsters lose their target.

With the combined efforts of the two, the monsters moved to the left side of the cave entrance, leaving a small gap. Bayin took the opportunity to run two steps and rushed in.

Brook was surrounded. After using a healing spell to restore his health, he began using random scrolls to teleport around the room. After using more than ten random scrolls, he flew to the right side of the target cave entrance. Before the monster could react, he rushed in with a few steps.

Once inside, there were no monsters. If there were any, he would have to use the City Return Scroll. Brook breathed a sigh of relief. The master's map was correct.

Bayin was waiting at the cave entrance. Seeing Brooke come in, she was relieved and pleased. The monsters in this stone tomb array were too dense. Without the Taoist's invisibility, she couldn't level up alone.

Brooke surveyed the room. Unlike the other stone tomb rooms, it only had a single door in the lower left corner. While there were no demonic beasts, there were no other people either. Could the merchant be gone?

The two walked a few steps further and finally saw the drugstore owner. He was sleeping on the round stone tomb in the center of the room. He was smacking his lips and drooling, probably because he was dreaming about delicious food.

"Hello, pharmacy owner." Brooke called softly. Seeing no response, he gradually raised his voice, "Hey~ wake up!"

"Am I dreaming? I actually saw two young men. Ah~ my chicken leg, oh no. Ah~ young monks, hello. No one has been here for a long time, it's great to see you." The pharmacy owner woke up and wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth.

"Hello, respected pharmacy owner, we passed by here and were trapped in the stone tomb formation. We would like to buy some potions." Bayin stepped forward and said directly.

"Okay, dear customer, these are my medicines, please take your pick." Seeing that there were customers coming, the pharmacy owner immediately set up his stall.

"Why are the medicines here so expensive? They are twice as expensive as those in Tucheng. Aren't you afraid of being reported?" Bayin saw the price of the medicine and questioned the pharmacy owner.

"Dear guest, this is a remote and dangerous stone tomb formation. Opening a shop here is extremely risky, so the higher prices are understandable and reasonable," the pharmacy owner said calmly. This is Mengzhong, and deep within the stone tombs. Even if he reported it, it would be out of reach, and no official would come to his rescue.

Bayin was a mage, and mage skills were all very mana-intensive, so drinking potions was like breathing, which was why they were relatively poor. She still had over 20 gold coins in her pocket, but with potions being so expensive, she could only afford 30 bundles of high-level magic potions, which she felt wasn't worth it.

"Boss, please give us a discount. We have finally come here and we don't have many gold coins left." Bayin begged again in a soft voice.

"Dear customer, I sympathize with your situation, but this is the final price. If you cannot accept it, you can go back to Tucheng to buy it." The pharmacy owner actually closed the stall and stopped selling.

This pharmacy owner seemed unyielding. But everyone has weaknesses. Brooke thought of his drooling face and the chicken in his backpack, and an idea came to him.

The chicken was originally intended for Xiaobai, but Xiaobai didn't seem to like it, so he kept it in his backpack. So he patted Bayin's shoulder, and the two of them went to the side and whispered. Then Brook took out the chicken, and Bayin released a small fireball on the side, slowly roasting the chicken until it was fragrant.

Brooke came up to the pharmacy owner, carrying a roasted chicken. "Dear pharmacy owner, this roasted chicken is a gift I brought you from the distant province of Biqi after many hardships. I hope you will give it a discount since we are all Marfa people."

The pharmacy owner stared at the roast chicken and swallowed a few times. The people of Marfa could rely on potions to stay alive, but they also wouldn't refuse delicious food. It had been a long time since he'd returned to Tucheng and eaten roast chicken.

Seeing the pharmacy owner seemed interested, Brooke said, "If you like, I'll bring you some every time I go down to the stone tomb. Not only chicken, but also lamb. Roasted lamb legs, roasted lamb chops, roasted until they're sizzling with oil, and sprinkled with cumin, the taste is even more fragrant than roasted chicken~"

The drugstore owner's mouth watered after hearing this. Finally moved by Brooke's sincerity, he snatched the roast chicken from Brooke's hand, took a big bite, and wolfed it down. "Okay! Since... you're so sincere, I... I'll think about it."

The pharmacy owner quickly finished his roast chicken and patted his belly contentedly. He then formally addressed Brooke, "Respected Brother Marfa, I actually have three good friends in the Stone Tomb: the owner of the weapons shop, the owner of the clothing shop, and the owner of the jewelry shop. I haven't seen them in a while, and I miss them terribly. Would you be willing to help me get these potions to them and see how they're doing? If you can, I'll give you a 5% discount on my potions."

"Thank you, respected pharmacy owner. This Marfa monk Bayin is my closest teammate. We fought hard together, meditated and rested together, cooked roast chicken together, and shared life and death, just like you and your three friends. May I ask if we can accept this mission together?"

"Respected Brother Brooke of Malfa, this was originally a solo mission. But what you said makes some sense. Okay, you can share the responsibility." The pharmacy owner whispered, "Remember to ask her to bring some food down as well."

"Dear pharmacy owner, we will definitely deliver your thoughts and potions to your three friends." Brooke formally accepted the task and lowered his voice to say to the pharmacy owner, "No problem, she will."

Bayin was speechless. He hadn't expected a roasted chicken to solve the problem. There was no one else around, so why had these two people spoken so stealthily?

So the two of them began buying potions. Brook said, "Please trust our character and abilities; we can definitely complete the mission." However, since we're short on cash, he'll offer a 5% discount. The pharmacy owner, sensing his sincerity, generously agreed. In the end, Bayin bought over 20 bundles of potions, and Brook over 60. It wasn't that they didn't want to buy more, but their backpacks were already full of equipment dropped by monsters, and they had to find a vendor to clear out the mess.

Brooke considered it for a moment and decided to head to the Stone Tomb Weapon Shop first. The route from the pharmacy to the weapon shop is: upper left, upper right, lower left, upper right. While it might seem like four rooms, the last two rooms don't require forcing your way through the beasts. Instead, you can simply pass through the doors in front of or behind you, making the route much more convenient.

Now with sufficient potions, the two opened fire at full force. Every time they passed through a room, they eliminated all the monsters that appeared in front of them, converting all of them into experience. The two killed their way along the route and soon entered the Stone Tomb Weapon Shop.

This room also had only one door. No monsters were inside. Only the weapons shop owner stood alone in the center, polishing a hammer he used to repair equipment. Seeing the two men enter, the owner remained calm: "Finally, a monk has arrived at the Stone Tomb. Do you need your weapons repaired?"

"Hello, respected weapon shop owner, we don't repair weapons. The two of us are here on behalf of the owner of the Stone Tomb Pharmacy. He missed you very much and asked about your recent situation. He also asked us to bring you some potions." Brook said respectfully.

"Greetings, respected Brother Marfa. I'm doing well here, and thank you for coming. Please tell the captain that there's no need for any pretentious potions. I'll definitely collect enough gold as soon as possible to redeem my backpack," the weapon shop owner said angrily. He paused and asked, "I can perform special repairs that won't damage the weapon's durability. Do you need any weapons repaired?"

I had originally thought the owners of the Stone Tomb were close friends, but that seems to be a different story. It seems there's some debt dispute going on. And the pharmacy owner is called the captain. Are they part of the same team? If they're a team, why would Brook need to relay messages? They could just chat directly with the team.

"Oh~ Dear weapon shop owner, we don't repair weapons. Were you calling the pharmacy owner the captain just now? Are you in the same team?" Brook asked.

"Sorry, I misspoke. He used to be the team leader, but after he cheated us out of our money and backpacks playing dice, we left the team. That damned pharmacy owner, that abominable profiteer, is no longer our leader," the weapon shop owner said, gritting his teeth, clearly recalling painful memories. Then, turning to Brook and Bayin, he said, "The monsters in the Stone Tomb are numerous, and fighting here will easily wear out your weapons. I'm the only one here who can repair them. Are you two really not going to repair weapons?"

"Oh~ Dear weapon shop owner, actually we are not warriors, and we usually don't fight monsters in close combat. Our weapons usually don't wear out for long... Well, I think it's better to repair them." Looking at the eager eyes of the weapon shop owner, Brook decided to let him do business.

The weapon shop owner happily took Brook's demon slayer, tinkered with it for a while, and quickly repaired it and returned it to Brook. "Special repair completed, a total of 9200 gold coins."

What, 9200 gold coins? That's at least twice as expensive as repairing it in Tucheng. And Brook didn't ask for special repairs. Fine, 2 gold coins, I'll give it to you.

"Would you like to have your weapon repaired, too, ma'am?" The owner of the weapons shop looked at Bayin expectantly again.

Bayin wanted to refuse, but Brooke gave him a look, and Bayin had no choice but to hand over his weapon, the Crescent Moon. Another round of clanging and knocking, and after a minute, the Crescent Moon was repaired, costing 1 gold coins.

"Haha, I earned 1.5 gold coins today, which brings me one step closer to redeeming my backpack. Thank you, dear customers." The weapon shop owner said with a smile.

"Excuse me, how much does it cost to redeem the backpack?" Bayin couldn't help asking from the side.

"Ten billion gold coins," the weapon shop owner said with a smile. "Your arrival today is a very good start. I'm sure more and more people will come here in a few days, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands. Ah~ Ten thousand people coming here every day for repairs, how wonderful it would be~ It won't be long before I'll have enough money saved up."

"..." Bayin and Brook looked at each other, speechless. The owner of the weapons shop was not only an optimist, but also a workaholic, and probably not good at arithmetic. It took one minute to repair a weapon, and even if he worked continuously all day, he wouldn't make 1.

"Oh~ Dear owner of the weapons shop, we have some common weapons in our backpacks and we want to sell them to you." Brooke couldn't bear to hit him, so he changed the subject and prepared to sell the weapons and leave after selling them.

"I'm sorry, I don't buy weapons here." said the owner of the weapons store.

"Huh? You're the owner of a weapons store, and you don't buy weapons?"

"As you can see, I don't have enough gold coins to buy weapons, nor do I have enough backpacks to store them." The weapon shop owner spread his hands and said, "I can only repair weapons now."

Brook and the other man looked at each other and gasped.

"Then, can the clothing store merchants and jewelry store merchants purchase items?" Bayin thought of this terrible question and asked hurriedly.

"I'm afraid not. They, like me, lost to the captain." The weapons shop owner shook his head.

"So, in the Stone Tomb Formation, besides the four of you merchants, are there any other warehouse merchants?" Brooke continued to ask without giving up.

"There are no warehouse merchants. The city lord only commissioned four of us to come to the stone tomb formation to provide convenience for the Marfa monks and warriors from other worlds." The weapon shop owner replied.

"But it's not convenient right now!" Brooke tried to control himself, nearly losing his temper. If these merchants hadn't been playing dice, they wouldn't have been unable to sell anything now.

"There's nothing we can do. This is all the captain's fault. He won our money and backpacks..." The owner of the weapons shop looked righteous. He said that since we lost the dice roll, the responsibility was his, not mine.

Bayin patted Brook's shoulder and comforted him, saying, "Forget it."

Brooke held his forehead with his hand and smiled bitterly. Although he could buy potions now, he couldn't sell or store the items dropped by the monsters. What should he do?

Even a full moon can be obscured by clouds, and life is full of disappointments. Why blame anyone? Cherish every moment you have.