Chapter 46: Huosui

Watching Wu Chang emerge from the shadows, Liu Shan's face turned ashen.

Wu Chang shrugged and said, "I told you this was a knowledge point—I'd test you when we met again. Let me ask you once more: how should a villain laugh?"

Liu Shan forced a stiff laugh: "Hahaha?"

"Wrong! It's 'Jiejiejie.' How old are you, sir?"

"Sixty-four," Liu Shan answered automatically.

"Live and learn, especially at your age—in our world, you're not even eligible for retirement yet. So young and already giving up, abandoning learning and progress, yet still trying to play the villain?"

Wu Chang shook his head in exasperation, then said, "Time's running out. Hurry on your way—you might still catch up to your second-in-command. But before you go, I have one last question."

"You're bandits, yet you act like villagers so naturally, with not a shred of guilt—even I was fooled. Why?"

At this question, Liu Shan's blank expression stirred.

He looked at Wu Chang and protested, "Because we want to forget everything and start over!"

"The court is corrupt, traitors hold power, local aristocratic clans control everything, seizing land and ignoring our lives! We turned to banditry just to eat!"

"We had no choice before. Now we only want to hide in the mountains, return to being ordinary villagers—why can't you leave us alone?"

Wu Chang lowered his gaze, took a deep breath, and said, "Fine. Go tell the villagers buried in the underground crypt whether they'll let you return to being ordinary villagers."

Hearing Wu Chang's words, Liu Shan broke.

"They're evil spirits! They're demons! You come from a prestigious sect, you're a great hero—how can you side with demons instead of your own kind? Do you betray your sect? Do you betray all living beings?!"

Wu Chang clenched his lips, his expression grave, as if undergoing a soul's interrogation, moral condemnation.

"I…"

Pfft—he couldn't hold back his laughter.

"Actually, I lied. I'm not from a prestigious sect, and I'm no hero."

As Liu Shan reeled in shock and rage, Wu Chang fired a spear, blowing his head apart.

Huh.

Wu Chang exhaled deeply; as a true sixth, he'd finally reclaimed his dignity.

He picked up the Square Flame Lamp beside Liu Shan; a prompt flickered on the lamp.

"Current fuel burn time: 7200 seconds."

He poured in the remaining oil from the mist demon's burning, bringing it to 8000 seconds total.

"This much time should be enough."

He turned and gazed toward Huai Valley Village, hearing screams and wails carried on the wind.

Wu Chang had a kind heart—he couldn't bear to watch demons slaughter humans, even if those humans were bandits drenched in blood.

So he moved far away from Huai Valley Village, to a place where he couldn't hear the screams.

He found a sheltered spot beside the mountain path, lit a bonfire, and pulled out a lamb leg.

Earlier, during the chaos, he'd stolen the three sacrificial offerings—pig, goat, chicken—that Liu Shan and the others had prepared for the Sui Festival; now they made perfect barbecue.

As the lamb leg browned, its skin turning golden-brown with slight char, he brushed on his homemade sauce, releasing its full aroma.

Just as he was about to eat, his vision blurred—he saw again the blood-red hatred of the evil spirit.

The scene opened as before: Huai Valley villagers working in the valley, peaceful and content.

But this time, the intruder wasn't the Heishan bandits—it was him.

He rode through the valley; every villager—whether sowing seeds, hurrying home with buckets, or playing with children—paused their actions and bowed to him.

"Thank you, Great Hero Wu."

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

…

As all the villagers bowed to him one by one, the vision shattered—he snapped back to reality, and something new settled in his mind.

He looked toward Huai Valley Village and realized all sound had ceased; the blood-red clouds hanging in the sky had vanished.

Everything was over. The evil spirit's resentment had dissipated. The reward for pacifying the resentment had arrived.

Pacifying the evil spirit granted him one point of life, one point of energy, two points of inspiration, and one point of will.

Beyond the standard attribute rewards, pacifying also granted him a talent skill.

"Skill Name: Huosui."

"Skill Rank: B"

"Skill Description: When activated, the user enters Huosui State. In this state, the user becomes a spirit entity and directly attacks the target's soul. If the target's combined Inspiration and Will is less than 80% of the user's, one of 'Plague,' 'Misfortune,' or 'Affliction' triggers randomly; if less than 50%, two trigger randomly; if less than 20%, all three trigger, plus an additional special effect."

"Plague: When affected, the target randomly gains 1–5 serious illnesses; the lower their current life, the worse the illness. The greater the difference between the target's and user's Inspiration, the more illnesses they gain."

"Misfortune: When affected, the target suffers constant accidents, misfortune, and unforeseen events; effect intensity scales with the difference between target's and user's Inspiration."

"Affliction: When affected, the target experiences hallucinations and mental shocks; effect intensity scales with the difference between target's and user's Inspiration."

Wu Chang hadn't expected that completing a C-rank instance's Blood Testament would yield a B-rank skill.

And such a powerful one at that.

From the description, Huosui essentially let him become an evil spirit, wielding all its abilities.

Having seen the Sui-controlled villagers, he knew how potent Plague, Misfortune, and Affliction truly were.

In a duel between equals, minor status advantages decide victory—how much more so with such overwhelming effects? Imagine two warriors fighting, one suddenly struck with a real, acute illness—even appendicitis or diarrhea would be unbearable.

Worse still, Huosui's judgment mechanism depends entirely on Inspiration and Will.

He'd only just entered the Abyss Game and lacked every other attribute—but he had no shortage of Inspiration and Will.

90 Inspiration and 64 Will guaranteed that whenever he unleashed it, it would hit perfectly.

Just as he was about to study Huosui further, hoofbeats echoed from afar.

More accurately—they were donkey hooves.

Only to see Master Chiyuan riding a small black donkey hurrying over.

Wu Chang tore off a piece of lamb leg and asked, "Master Chiyuan, would you like some?"

Master Chiyuan, seeing Wu Chang roasting by the roadside, was utterly astonished. "Young Master Wu, what a refined pastime."

Wu Chang smiled and asked, "Master, why risk your life traveling through the night? Where are you headed?"

"I just dealt with the escaped Lan Shan Ghost. I was heading toward Huai Valley Village when I sensed overwhelming demonic energy and rampant malevolent qi—so I rushed over to see what had happened in the village."

Wu Chang held up the lamb leg and sighed bitterly. "Ah, during the Sui Festival, several wild demons attacked Huai Valley Village. The villagers fought back bravely, but the demons were too powerful—the entire village was slaughtered."

Master Chiyuan's face turned ashen, muttering as if soulless, "How could such a tragedy occur!"

Wu Chang bit into the lamb leg and asked, "Tragic?"

"Young Master Wu, how can you say that? The whole village was slaughtered by demons—how could this not be tragic!" Master Chiyuan roared.

Wu Chang blinked, showing a look of discomfort.

"I thought this was good news. I was about to congratulate you on avenging your great grudge."

(End of Chapter)