Chapter 46: Calamity Spirit

Looking at Wu Chang as he stepped out from the shadows, Liu Shan’s face turned ashen.

Wu Chang shrugged and said, "I told you this was a key point, and that I’d test you on it when we met again. Let me ask you one more time: how should a villain laugh?"

Liu Shan laughed stiffly, "Hahaha?"

"Wrong! It’s 'Jie-jie-jie.' How old are you this year, old man?"

"Sixty-four," Liu Shan replied subconsciously.

"You’re never too old to learn, and at your age, you wouldn't even be retired where I come from. To lie flat and give up on learning and progress while you're still so young, and then go out and try to be a villain—how embarrassing."

Wu Chang shook his head in disappointment and then said, "It’s getting late. You’d better get on your way; you might still catch up with your second-in-command. But before you go, I have one last question for you."

"You say you’re mountain bandits, so why did you play the part of villagers so naturally, without a shred of guilt? Even I was fooled by you."

At the mention of this question, the vacant expression on Liu Shan’s face stirred.

He looked at Wu Chang and said resentfully, "Because we wanted to forget everything and start over!"

"The imperial court is corrupt, treacherous officials hold power, and local clans control everything, seizing land on a massive scale without a care for whether we live or die! We only turned to banditry to have a bite to eat!"

"We had no choice before, but now we just wanted to hide in the mountains and be ordinary villagers again. Why couldn't you just let us be!"

Wu Chang lowered his gaze, took a deep breath, and said, "Fine. Go tell that to the villagers of Huaigu Village buried in the pit, and see if they’ll let you be ordinary villagers again."

Hearing Wu Chang’s words, Liu Shan’s composure shattered.

"They are evil spirits! They are monsters! You come from a prestigious sect and call yourself a hero, yet you don't side with your own kind, but instead speak for monsters! Do you have no shame toward your sect or the common people of the world!"

Wu Chang pursed his lips, his expression grave, as if he were suffering under the torture of his soul and the condemnation of morality.

"I..."

Pfft—he couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

"Actually, I was lying to you. I’m neither from a prestigious sect nor a hero."

Having said that, he took advantage of Liu Shan’s shock and rage to blow his head off with a single shot.

Whew.

Wu Chang let out a long breath; as a veteran trickster, he had finally regained his footing.

He picked up the Square Age-Fire Lamp from beside Liu Shan, and a prompt popped up on the lamp.

"Current lamp oil burn time: 7200 seconds."

He poured in the remaining lamp oil from the Mist Monster, bringing the total to 8000 seconds.

"This much time should be enough."

He turned and looked toward Huaigu Village, where he could hear screams and cries carried on the wind.

Wu Chang was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to watch monsters slaughter humans, even if these people were mountain bandits with blood-stained hands.

So, he moved far away from Huaigu Village, hiding where he could no longer hear the screams.

He found a sheltered spot by the mountain path, lit a campfire, and pulled out a leg of lamb.

Taking advantage of the chaos earlier, he had swiped the sacrificial offerings the bandits had prepared for the Age-Removal Festival, and now it was perfect for a barbecue.

As the leg of lamb browned, its skin turning golden with a hint of char, he brushed on his homemade sauce, fully bringing out the aroma of the meat.

Just as he was about to eat, his vision blurred, and in a trance, he saw the scene within the evil spirit’s blood-red resentment.

The scene began, as before, with the villagers of Huaigu Village working in the valley, the atmosphere peaceful and content.

Only this time, it wasn't the Black Mountain bandits entering the valley, but him.

He rode through the valley, and every person he encountered—whether they were villagers sowing seeds, carrying water buckets home in a hurry, or children playing—stopped what they were doing to bow to him.

"Thank you, Hero Wu."

"Thank you, Hero Wu." "Thank you, Hero Wu."

As all the villagers of Huaigu Village thanked him one by one, the scene in his eyes shattered. Coming back to his senses, he realized something had been added to his mind.

He looked toward Huaigu Village and noticed that all was quiet there; the blood-red clouds that had hung in the sky were now gone.

Everything was truly over. The evil spirit’s resentment had dissipated, and the reward for laying the resentment to rest had arrived.

Laying the evil spirit to rest had brought him one point of Life, one point of Energy, two points of Inspiration, and one point of Willpower.

Beyond the inherent attribute rewards, the act had also granted him a talent skill.

"Skill Name: Calamity Spirit."

"Skill Grade: B"

"Skill Description: When the skill is activated, you enter the Calamity Spirit state. In this state, the user becomes a spiritual entity and attacks the target's soul directly. If the sum of the target's Inspiration and Willpower attributes is less than 80% of the user's combined total, one of 'Plague-Bringing,' 'Calamity-Calling,' or 'Spirit-Descending' will be triggered at random; if less than 50%, two are triggered; if less than 20%, all are triggered, with an additional special status effect."

"Plague-Bringing: When a target is affected by Plague-Bringing, they will randomly contract 1-5 major illnesses. The lower the current health, the more severe the symptoms; the greater the difference between the target's Inspiration attribute and the user's, the more types of illnesses."

"Calamity-Calling: When a target is affected by Calamity-Calling, they will suffer constant accidents and misfortune. The effect depends on the difference in Inspiration attributes between the target and the user."

"Spirit-Descending: When a target is affected by Spirit-Descending, they will experience hallucinations and mental shocks. The effect depends on the difference in Inspiration attributes between the target and the user."

Wu Chang hadn't expected that completing a blood-red last wish in a C-grade instance would drop a B-grade skill.

And such a powerful B-grade skill at that.

It was easy to see from the description that the Calamity Spirit skill essentially allowed him to manifest as an evil spirit, possessing all their various abilities.

Having seen the Age-Pressers controlled by the evil spirit's aura, he knew how potent the effects of Plague-Bringing, Calamity-Calling, and Spirit-Descending were.

In a duel between experts of the same level, one's condition could decide the outcome, let alone such a massive impact. Imagine two people dueling, and one suddenly suffers a literal medical emergency—even something as minor as appendicitis or diarrhea would be impossible to overcome.

Furthermore, the most powerful aspect of the Calamity Spirit skill was that its checks were all tied to the Inspiration and Willpower attributes.

He hadn't been in the Abyss Game for long and was lacking in many attributes, but Inspiration and Willpower were the two things he had in abundance.

90 points of Inspiration and 64 points of Willpower guaranteed that whenever he cast a curse, it would hit every single time.

Just as he was about to study Calamity Spirit further, the sound of hoofbeats came from afar.

To be precise, it was the sound of donkey hooves.

He saw Daoist Priest Chiyuan riding his little black donkey, hurrying toward him.

Wu Chang tore off a piece of the lamb and asked, "Daoist Priest Chiyuan, would you like a piece?"

Chiyuan was surprised to see Wu Chang barbecuing by the roadside. "Hero Wu, you have quite the refined taste."

Wu Chang smiled and asked, "Daoist Priest, you risked danger to travel through the night; where are you headed?"

"I just finished dealing with the escaping Mountain-Blocking Ghost and was heading toward Huaigu Village. On the way, I sensed an overwhelming demonic aura and malevolent energy here, so I rushed over to see what had happened in the village."

Wu Chang held up the leg of lamb and sighed, "Alas, during the Age-Removal Festival, several wild monsters attacked Huaigu Village. The villagers fought back bravely, but the monsters were too powerful, and the entire village was slaughtered."

Chiyuan’s face turned pale, and he muttered as if lost, "How could such a tragedy occur!"

Wu Chang took a bite of the lamb and asked, "Is it tragic?"

"Hero Wu, how can you say that? The entire village was slaughtered by monsters—how is this not tragic!" Chiyuan shouted in anger.

Wu Chang blinked, showing a troubled expression.

"I thought it was a joyous occasion, and I was just about to congratulate you on your revenge being fulfilled."

(End of chapter)