[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-ring-of-fate":3,"chapter-the-ring-of-fate-the-ring-of-fate-chapter-24":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Ring of Fate",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2297993,4496,"Chapter 24: Harvest","the-ring-of-fate-chapter-24",24,"\u003Cp>Lu Mi didn’t dare linger too long, fearing other monsters might come; after a brief rest, he endured the pain in his neck and back, along with some internal discomfort, and crouched beside the monster’s corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His right hand still gripped the axe, wary that the prey might not be fully dead and could suddenly spring up like the skinless monster before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Using only his left hand, he searched the monster’s body and found three five-scope copper coins called “Rik,” along with an empty cloth sack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is that all?” Lu Mi’s disappointment wasn’t about the small amount of money—he hadn’t found any item tied to supernatural power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If not for that, why would he have fought this monster to the death for no reason?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he hadn’t possessed some inherent uniqueness within the dream, he’d already be the monster’s meal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi pushed himself up and stared at the monster’s severed head, rolled to one side, praying his desired object lay there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, he saw faint deep-red light seeping from the monster’s body, riddled with puncture wounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They drifted like fireflies, slowly moving toward the same spot, unstoppable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi stared, his heart swelling with rising joy:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This phenomenon was undoubtedly tied to supernatural power!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, a viscous patch of deep red appeared on the monster’s chest, and no more light points emerged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi carefully bent down and reached for the substance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was slippery; he dropped it twice before finally grasping it, then weighed it in his palm:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Very light, with texture and elasticity, its surface extremely smooth…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What the hell is this?” Lu Mi realized again that he was truly illiterate in the occult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the silent whisper, he faintly smelled a metallic bloodstink emanating from the strange deep-red mass, and his mind grew restless, a nameless malice growing inside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a moment, Lu Mi wanted to raise the axe and strike the monster’s corpse again, to vent the rage within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, Aurora had always stressed that pursuing supernatural power was dangerous; he’d prepared himself, constantly monitoring his condition, and hadn’t lowered his guard due to joy—he’d spotted the anomaly early.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s affecting my mental state?” Lu Mi tossed the deep-red mass into the cloth sack he’d taken from the monster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The instant direct contact broke, he immediately regained the calm after the battle and the faint, still-unsettled excitement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His body still trembled slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly!” Lu Mi whispered, delighted, once he returned to normal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He promptly tied the sack shut and hung it from his belt loop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After thinking, he took the sack off again and shoved it into the inner pocket of his leather jacket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That made it less likely to be lost—and gave him far more security!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he undressed, a book behind his back lost support and fell with a thud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its surface was pitted and battered, the whole thing ragged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the workbook Aurora had compiled for Lu Mi, titled “Simulated Training Set for the Higher School Entrance Examination”; its soft cover and large format made it ideal for outer protection and filling gaps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today, it had blocked a shotgun blast at a critical moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, it wasn’t just the book’s doing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi picked up the workbook, returned to the monster’s corpse, and chuckled at the dead thing:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“See? Knowledge really is power!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After saying this, he’d planned to toss the workbook onto the monster’s face—but remembered how much effort his sister had poured into it, and couldn’t bring himself to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He slipped the workbook behind his belt and bent down to drag the corpse to the trap, dumping it in, then kicked the severed head after it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a quick cleanup of the battlefield, Lu Mi endured his pain and discomfort, secured the axe, picked up the shotgun—now empty—and his own spear and shovel, retreating toward the wasteland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He walked while watching his back, not daring to slacken for a second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, he crossed the wasteland, returned home, climbed to the second floor, and entered his bedroom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did Lu Mi truly relax; the pain, obvious discomfort, and intense fatigue all erupted at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat on the edge of the bed, took a long while to regain some mobility, but didn’t rush to sleep; instead, he stripped off his clothes, put away his books, and walked to the full-length mirror attached to the wardrobe to inspect his injuries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His neck was swollen high, with five blood-tinted finger marks visible against dark bruising; his back bore large patches of obvious bruising; minor scrapes and bumps were too numerous to count.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There’s even a bit of what Aurora calls internal injury—I wonder if it’ll heal completely next time I enter?” Lu Mi replayed the battle in his mind, evaluating his performance: “Failing, but not by much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the first half of the fight, he could’ve scored high: he’d fully exploited the monster’s low intelligence, successfully lured it into the second trap, strictly followed his pre-planned strategy, and perfectly maneuvered it for a long time, dragging it to the brink of total collapse. His only flaw was lack of experience—he’d chosen to stab the monster at the bottom of the pit with his spear instead of throwing heavy stones directly into it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the second half, near victory, his joy, lack of combat experience, and underestimation of the monster’s intelligence led him to fall for its trap and nearly get killed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This performance was certainly failing, but luckily, his earlier success had pushed the monster to its limit—it couldn’t kill him quickly, giving him time to meditate and summon the “special.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frankly, before this, Lu Mi had never imagined the “special” could be so powerful, plunging the monster into uncontrollable terror, unable to break free even when attacked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d feared the near-death state triggered by summoning the “special” would make him an easy target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s really special… and strong…” As he marveled, Lu Mi suddenly had an idea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The monsters in the ruins never entered his house, turning it into a “safe zone,” because something even more terrifying resided inside—perhaps the master of the mysterious voice he’d heard when summoning the “special!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shit, thinking of this, Lu Mi involuntarily sucked in a sharp breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His instinct was to immediately search every corner of the house for that terrifying thing—but he quickly dismissed the thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A man who couldn’t even defeat a shotgun monster shouldn’t provoke something that scared the shotgun monster into submission!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the house remained peaceful, he shouldn’t lift the veil—better to preserve the current “safe house” state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One day like this was one day gained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for future dangers, he’d face them later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No—not later. When I become a transcendent and grow strong enough.” Lu Mi’s gaze fell on the cloth sack in his left hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Even while bare-chested before the mirror, he refused to let the source of his hard-won supernatural power slip from his control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How do I use this?” Lu Mi opened the sack, staring at the deep-red mass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It lay still at the bottom, its shape somewhat unstable, yet clearly lifeless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lacking occult knowledge, Lu Mi didn’t know whether to swallow it directly, perform a ritual to fuse it with himself, or sacrifice it to some hidden entity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The latter two ideas came only because he’d read the magazine “The Veil of Secrets”—before, he’d only ever thought of one word:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Eat!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi didn’t rush to decide; he planned to consult the mysterious woman at the old tavern first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He felt she’d guide him on how to use the deep-red mass to gain supernatural power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though he didn’t know why she’d help him, he simply had this intuition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If all else failed, he could still pressure his sister for answers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly dressing, Lu Mi stuffed the deep-red mass and all the money he’d gained into his inner pocket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having done this, he lay on the bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Intense fatigue surged, overpowering the pain in his neck and back and the internal discomfort, and he quickly fell into deep sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Lu Mi woke, sunlight had pierced the curtains, flooding the entire room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat up slowly, feeling every muscle aching as if he’d been brutally beaten in a dream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had been brutally beaten… the dream’s injuries had manifested in reality, though noticeably weakened… Lu Mi tried a few movements; aside from muscle soreness, he felt no other effects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This eased his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he patted every pocket on his person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not here… not here!” Lu Mi couldn’t find the deep-red mass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His expression darkened, brows knitted tight—he didn’t know what to do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As an item tied to supernatural power, the deep-red mass hadn’t followed him into reality, contradicting what the mysterious woman at the old tavern had said!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi steadied himself, quickly dressed, and left his room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bathroom door stood open; Aurora stood before the mirror, brushing her teeth intently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Morning.” Lu Mi greeted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s not morning—you’re late…” Aurora mumbled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gurgling, spitting, she flung the mouthwash from her mouth as her golden ponytail swung.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she turned her head toward Lu Mi:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What bad thing did you sneak out to do last night?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That owl’s outside—I wouldn’t dare go out.” Lu Mi remained calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“True.” Aurora dropped the subject and said, “Remember to take five fai to the administrator’s office and send a telegram.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mi nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the key to his and Aurora’s escape from Koldu Village—he dared not forget for a second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After breakfast, Lu Mi headed straight for the village square, where the administrator’s office occupied a two-story building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he arrived, Administrator Beoster was still at home, but other staff had already begun their day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After paying the fee and sending the telegram, Lu Mi turned toward the old tavern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the mysterious woman was likely still asleep, he was willing to wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In pursuit of supernatural power, he’d waited long enough—he didn’t mind waiting a little longer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1659,"2026-06-20T06:22:34.374Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","cb8f77503851e156f33a1643432ebd6cf90213156748a55893909f10c243d960","the-ring-of-fate-chapter-25","the-ring-of-fate-chapter-23",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-ring-of-fate-cover.jpg"]