Chapter 253: The Lurker

He Lingchuan asked curiously, "If so, why do some people still say Yuan power was taught by Immortals?"

"Historical records state that during the medieval period, monsters ravaged the land, poisoning the people. People listed floods and monsters as the two major disasters, and Immortals, or practitioners, were their mortal enemies." Sun Fuling explained, "As the spiritual energy in heaven and earth became less and less, practitioners hoped to snatch it from monsters, and vice versa. Some old scholars believe Yuan power was taught by Immortals because for a long period, sects and nations were allies, dealing with monsters together. For the sake of a common enemy, sects deliberately showed goodwill to humans. But gods are, after all, too ethereal, invisible, and unverifiable."

Therefore, nations established by humans spread across the world, while most monsters were driven to mountains, wilderness, and great marshes.

Heterodoxies like the Northern Monster Nation were, after all, in the minority.

"Gods..." This was a mysterious term, but He Lingchuan could hear it on many occasions. Back then, Nian Songyu even invited a god to possess him, aiming to seize the Great Fang Hu. "Why would they help humans?"

Sun Fuling spread her hands. "How many people in the world understand such ethereal things? I have heard countless legends, all of which are far-fetched."

She smiled. "You might as well ask Commander Zhong or General Hong this question."

Yes, the distance between these two and the gods was closer than most people.

He Lingchuan scratched his head and changed the subject. "How do you plan to spend this ten-plus day break?"

"I want to go..."

A scream suddenly came from the west, interrupting her.

The voice was sharp and thin; it was either a woman or a child.

The sound stopped abruptly, but He Lingchuan had already identified the direction and pointed to the Chinese toon tree beside him to Sun Fuling. "Stay under the tree and don't move!"

This Chinese toon tree was very large. Although it had shed all its leaves in winter, the trunk formed an angle with the low wall on the side. At this moment, the sun was slanting west, and it didn't shine here, so standing inside was very hidden.

He himself ran towards the sound.

Climbing over three low walls and two earthen houses, he saw a child lying face down on the threshold.

He Lingchuan flipped him over.

This was a boy of about six or seven years old, his eyes wide open, his expression terrified, and his cervical spine was broken.

There were also several blood holes on his neck, as if pierced by sharp claws.

The boy stared fixedly at He Lingchuan, his mouth moved, but he didn't say anything before taking his last breath.

The dead cannot be brought back to life; catching the murderer was the priority. He Lingchuan put the child's body down and observed the traces nearby.

He had been a patrol guard catching monsters several times and had accumulated a lot of experience. At this moment, he saw a footprint on the ground next to the child's body—

A human footprint, but not even as long as his palm.

He leaped onto the wall and found two smears of fresh blood on the tiles; this was where the opponent's forelimbs had pressed, staining them with the child's blood.

Chase! He performed the Swallow Return movement technique and chased in the determined direction.

More than three months of day and night hard training showed results. He traveled through narrow streets and houses, his speed almost undisturbed by debris, no less than a real swallow.

Immediately after, he saw a black shadow flash across the wall to the east, as if jumping into someone's window.

Caught up! He Lingchuan followed, landing silently on the roof, holding his breath and waiting.

For a long while, it didn't come out; he didn't know if it was waiting for He Lingchuan to go in.

He didn't fall for it; he lit a small medicine bottle and threw it through the window.

With a clatter, the bottle shattered.

Soon, a large cloud of dim yellow smoke emerged from the doors and windows, accompanied by bursts of hoarse coughing.

Was the murderer really a human? This medicine smoke was for smoking monsters and wild beasts out of their holes, such as weasels, foxes, cave spiders, etc., but it was equally effective against humans.

After just a few breaths, He Lingchuan saw a black shadow jump out of the window and flee frantically.

The distance between the two sides was no more than two or three zhang.

He had been prepared; his wrist lifted, the hidden mechanism activated, and the sleeve arrow shot out.

It hit.

However, he had aimed at the back of the heart, but the sleeve arrow hit the opponent's leg instead.

Attacking a high-speed moving object was ultimately a bit off in accuracy.

The black shadow staggered, let out a strange low roar, and continued to rush forward.

He Lingchuan secretly called it a pity.

The sleeve arrow he was equipped with was a mass-produced item he had Skinny buy; the material and force were just so-so, at a passing level. If he had replaced it with the purple gold sleeve arrow he specifically ordered from Li Fubo, the black shadow's thigh would definitely have been pierced, and the arrow would have had a rope attached to the back; He Lingchuan could have completely dragged it back.

But here, the sleeve arrow could only have a slowing effect.

The importance of equipment often only manifests at critical moments.

He Lingchuan didn't dare to delay; he jumped off the roof and chased after it.

At this time, the smoke hadn't dissipated, and the vision was unclear. Just as he landed, he felt a disturbance of wind behind him and felt a sudden chill.

There was an ambush! He didn't have time to think; his knees bent and his legs went soft, he did a side roll on the ground, his right hand gripped the hilt at his waist, and he slashed forward! Sure enough, there was another black shadow lurking behind him, enduring the choking smoke, wanting to give He Lingchuan a blow from behind.

This thing was actually working in pairs!

Thanks to He Lingchuan seeing the opportunity early.

But even so, he still felt a burning pain in his back.

He was injured after all.

If he had dodged half a second later, this thing would probably have poked several large holes in his back.

Fortunately, his blade also slashed the opponent's chest; that blow felt like hitting rotten leather, without the satisfaction of slicing through flesh.

But the black shadow also screamed in pain, launching a storm-like attack on He Lingchuan.

With a few clangs, the weapons of both sides clashed, sparking in the swirling smoke.

He Lingchuan then discovered that this guy's body was more than a circle larger than the first black shadow he chased, but its movements were far less flexible; no wonder its first reaction after being attacked was to lurk and counterattack rather than flee.

And this black shadow choked on several mouthfuls of smoke while roaring, and its attack slowed down. If it weren't for its thick skin and flesh, it would have been hacked to death by He Lingchuan long ago.

Its skin was thicker and tougher than hundred-year-old vines, and the patrol guard's battle-hardened long blade had limited damage to it. As long as this thing protected its head and neck, He Lingchuan couldn't do anything to it for a while.

With this layer of thick skin, it was almost invincible.

He had already seen clearly that this opponent was gaunt, like a skeleton wrapped in a layer of skin, but the skin was dark and covered with fine scales.

At first glance, it was humanoid, with lower limbs longer than upper limbs, capable of standing and attacking, but its forelimbs only had three toes, and the claws were like scissors with hooks, and the hardness was astonishing, capable of head-on resisting He Lingchuan's blade.

Even more terrifying was its face...

It had no face; on its head, there were only two sunken eye sockets, with green ghost fire jumping inside; the other hole didn't know if it was a nose or a mouth, emitting an insect-like hissing sound.

Suddenly, it spat a mouthful of green thick phlegm at He Lingchuan.

The two were close, and it had a style of "one spit, one nail"; He Lingchuan didn't dare to let it spray on him, so he raised his blade to block it.

Afterwards, he heard a faint hissing sound from the blade body, along with a strange smell.

If this thick phlegm had splashed directly on his face, then...

He would have to say goodbye to being handsome in this dream, right? Just at this moment, a shadow flickered on the wall; the agile monster He Lingchuan had been chasing returned and joined the battlefield without a word.

One fierce, one fast, and it was two against one; how much chance of winning did he have?

He Lingchuan was in a precarious situation.

If it weren't for the life-and-death experiences in the Martial Arts Hall these past few days, his temperament and martial arts skills had improved rapidly; he would have been disemboweled and offline early in two rounds.

But he didn't know how long he could hold on.

Should he risk getting injured to take out the agile monster first? He was calculating in his heart when he heard a "clatter," and someone poured a pot of boiling water from behind, pouring it all over the strong monster.

This thing immediately screamed, its movements losing all order.

Its cry was very strange, like an insect hissing and also like a night cat crying.

How could He Lingchuan miss such a good opportunity? Taking advantage of its instinctive turn of the head, he slashed at its neck with his blade.

He knew this thing had hard skin, so he used all his strength for this strike, using all his might.

At the same time, something black also smashed onto the monster's head, making a "bang" sound, just in time to bump it towards the long blade.

Cyan liquid splashed, and He Lingchuan dodged it.

The monster's neck was slashed open by more than half, but the bone-cutting didn't go all the way through, and it was still connected by a small section.

But his blade broke.

The blade body had been corroded earlier, and it was used by its master for violent hacking again, so it could no longer bear the burden.

The strong monster fell to the ground, twitching endlessly. Its companion saw the situation was bad and turned to flee, its speed faster than before! He Lingchuan fired another sleeve arrow at its back, but could only watch it go far away.

"Why are you here?" At this time, the smoke had basically dissipated, and he also saw the person who helped him—

Sun Fuling.

She was still clutching a large pot in her hand, with a deep dent in the bottom of the pot.

It was she who had poured the boiling water onto the monster and gave it a heavy blow on the forehead, which perfectly coordinated with He Lingchuan, otherwise he really might not have been able to slash open the monster's neck.

The monster on the ground couldn't stand up, but was still reaching out with its claws to grab people. Seeing it was about to touch Sun Fuling's shoes, He Lingchuan pulled her back. "Didn't I tell you to wait under the tree?"

"It's too lively here." She didn't seem very terrified, just leaned down to observe. "What is this ghost thing?" Its neck was slashed open by more than half and it still didn't die.

He Lingchuan admitted, "I haven't seen it either." Since joining the patrol guard, he and his team had at least killed forty or fifty monsters, and none of them were in this state.

Calling it a monster, it was better to say it was more like an evil ghost.

But the ghost realm fears the sun's true fire, generally doesn't operate during the day, and shouldn't be under the sun.

He saw clearly during the chase that the sun was shining on the monster, and it didn't cause any discomfort.

"Where did the hot water come from?"

Sun Fuling pointed into the house. "I took it from the stove; it just happened to be boiling."

"Does anyone live here?"

"Yes, dead on the ground." Sun Fuling turned and walked into the house.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 254 =====