Chapter 85

*Huu... * Lu Mian exhaled, collected his thoughts, shouldered his hunting rifle, tucked in his axe, and left the two-story semi-underground building standing at the edge of the wilderness, heading toward that dream ruin.

Passing through the wilderness, following the route he had explored several times before, he cautiously ventured deep into the complex of buildings composed of circles of collapsed houses, moving toward the dark red "mountain peak."

The mist at high altitude here was thick, no weeds grew on the ground, and the entire world was so dim and gloomy.

Not long after, Lu Mian left the familiar area and truly entered the depths of the ruins.

He observed the environment along the way, identifying traces, and constantly imagining which things he encountered now could be put to use if a battle occurred.

This made his forward progress very slow.

Caution and care are always the first principles of hunting.

Finally, Lu Mian found new footprints.

They looked like they belonged to a human, at the edge of the "road," obscured by various collapsed buildings, making them very difficult to discover.

"Knows how to hide oneself very well... will eliminate traces to a certain extent..." Lu Mian observed for a while and made a preliminary judgment.

He suspected this was a guy similar to the hunting rifle monster, perhaps having clues to the "Hunter" pathway Sequence 8.

According to his experience and Aurore's guesses, there should be three types of monsters in this ruin:

The first type belongs to the gifted type, possessing no Beyonder characteristics. Typical examples are the "Noodle Man" and the mouthpart monster, and they all seem to come from the domain controlled by that hidden existence known as Inevitability;

The second type possesses Beyonder characteristics itself but has not shown gifted abilities. The most typical is the hunting rifle monster, though they should also be suppressed by the black thorn symbol on Lu Mian's chest, which indicates that they very likely have also suffered the corruption of that hidden existence, which is why they turned into monsters;

The third type has neither gifted abilities nor Beyonder characteristics, as if they were ordinary humans or normal creatures that suffered corruption. The skinless monster Lu Mian encountered at the very beginning was of this kind.

As for whether there are monsters that contain both Beyonder characteristics and have obtained gifts, Aurore and Lu Mian both feel there should be, but there is a lack of examples to prove it.

Therefore, a monster showing "Hunter" characteristics very likely has Beyonder characteristics!

In the process of tracking the footprints, Lu Mian even discovered two traps, becoming more certain of his guess.

If he hadn't been careful enough and wasn't a "Hunter" himself, he might have already turned from a hunter into a hunting target.

Soon, Lu Mian found the footprints becoming fresh.

This meant that continuing forward would very likely lead to encountering the target.

Not rushing to "greet" it, Lu Mian circled a small half-loop and found a good hiding spot.

Then, he began to dance.

In the formless melody, he stepped with clanging, powerful footsteps, turning in soft and soothing semicircles, fully reproducing that strange and mysterious sacrificial dance of the "Noodle Man."

It wasn't proficient enough, even a bit rusty, but relying on the "Dancer" ability, Lu Mian still successfully felt his chest become scorching hot.

Unbuttoning his shirt and confirming that the black thorn symbol had become prominent, Lu Mian climbed to the middle section of a collapsed house and entered the chosen hiding spot.

He quickly looked into the distance and saw a human figure digging a trap there.

It was indeed a "person," only charred black all over, with crimson flames burning on the surface that never went out.

Could it be a "Pyromaniac"? Caught a big fish... Lu Mian was both happy and troubled.

He was happy that the main material corresponding to the Sequence 8 "Provoker" had appeared, and troubled that it was much stronger than the prey he had expected.

A "Pyromaniac" is a Sequence 7 of the "Hunter" pathway, which, according to Aurore, is a sequence where a qualitative change occurs, anciently known as a "Fire Mage."

Lu Mian reckoned that with the combined strength of "Hunter," "Dancer," and the black thorn symbol's deterrence, as long as he wasn't careless, hunting a "Provoker" monster shouldn't be a problem, but facing a Sequence 7 "Pyromaniac," he really had no confidence.

As long as this monster keeps attacking from a distance, it might not even be weakened by the black thorn symbol!

After thinking about it, Lu Mian decided to retreat first.

He intended to formulate an effective plan and, after setting up targeted traps, attempt to deal with this flame monster.

His preliminary idea was to go home and dance that dance that could summon strange things from the surrounding area, to see what kind of negative impact having the remnant spirit of the mouthpart monster possess him would have.

If it wasn't serious and was acceptable, then he could borrow one of the other party's abilities later, for example, "Invisibility."

As for whether there would be aftereffects after being possessed, and whether that vengeful spirit would be willing to leave after successfully possessing him, Lu Mian wasn't too worried.

Anyway, this is in the dream ruin; as long as he doesn't die on the spot, returning to reality and resting well will allow everything to recover.

Lu Mian had just made a move when the flame monster suddenly raised its head, looking toward this side with its charred face and protruding eyeballs.

"Not good!" Lu Mian thought to himself, not bothering to climb down, and jumped directly from his hiding spot toward the ground.

Almost at the same time, a massive, crimson fireball smashed into the position where he had originally been, blowing bricks and stones flying and sending waves of flames outward.

Lu Mian dodged in a rush, and upon landing, he was almost unable to control his body, so he could only fall with the momentum and roll to dissipate the force.

If it weren't for the extraordinary flexibility brought by "Dancer," he would inevitably have torn muscles and broken ligaments due to this distorted movement.

By the time Lu Mian stood up again, the flame monster had already appeared at the top of the collapsed building, with crimson crows condensed from flames appearing around its body.

Seeing this scene, Lu Mian felt as if he were surrounded by a squad of soldiers, with gun barrels everywhere he looked.

Without hesitation, he didn't flee but advanced, running toward the collapsed building where the flame monster stood.

Facing such a scene, he felt that his only possibility of turning defeat into victory was to utilize the black thorn symbol on his chest.

And this seemed to require closing the distance!

*Thump, thump, thump! *

In Lu Mian's wild sprint, half of the fire crows descended from the sky, smashing behind him, sending heat waves soaring and explosions echoing.

The remaining illusory fire crows changed direction, their "gaze" all locked onto the target running.

Just then, Lu Mian arrived at the bottom of the collapsed building, with a straight-line distance of no more than five meters from the flame monster.

The next second, the charred monster wrapped in crimson flames froze completely, and the fire crows remaining around it instantly extinguished.

It works! Just as joy surged in Lu Mian's heart, the flame monster turned its body, descended from the collapsed building from another direction, and fled wildly.

"Hey, don't run!" Lu Mian shouted subconsciously.

He skirted around the ruins in front and chased after the flame monster.

After chasing for two buildings, because the monster's speed was truly too fast, Lu Mian completely lost its trail.

And at this moment, the scorching heat on Lu Mian's chest also disappeared.

He had to stop, adjust his breathing, and prepare to track the footprints and guard against traps later.

While panting, Lu Mian's gaze swept across and suddenly froze.

Not far to his side, at the entrance of a semi-collapsed building, a human figure was standing.

That figure was wearing a black robe with a hood, and overall, it was no different from a normal human, except that three faces grew on its only head.

The face in the front belonged to an old man, with turbid eyes, sparse eyebrows, and many wrinkles;

The one on the left was a middle-aged man with deep contours, bright blue eyes, and a thick, dark beard;

The one on the right looked like a child under five years old, with smooth and delicate skin, and innocence and ignorance in its azure eyes.

Three-faced monster! That three-faced monster! Lu Mian was truly frightened.

Because he had been chasing the flame monster, he had clearly gone deeper into the ruins and had actually encountered the three-faced monster directly!

After becoming a "Dancer," mastering the mysterious sacrificial dance, and being able to semi-trigger the black thorn symbol on his chest, Lu Mian still had no intention of using the three-faced monster as a test target. He intuitively felt that this guy was very dangerous. According to the mysterious lady's wording, its level might be relatively high, and even if weakened by the black thorn symbol, it could still easily kill a weak "Hunter."

Therefore, Lu Mian's previous plan was to first bypass the area where the three-faced monster was located, practice with other monsters, confirm what effects the semi-triggered black thorn symbol could exert when facing enemies of different strengths, and then consider whether to hunt the three-faced monster or avoid provoking it entirely.

Who knew that this guy would actually leave its own "territory," come here, and bump into Lu Mian head-on!

This... how about I dance a dance for you to apologize? Lu Mian muttered frantically in his heart while instinctively taking a step back.

At the entrance of the semi-collapsed building, the three-faced monster wearing a black robe and hood also took a step back.

Lu Mian turned his body.

The three-faced monster also turned its body.

Lu Mian fled wildly.

The three-faced monster also fled wildly.

Lu Mian, who had originally intended to open the distance and try to dance, ran a few steps and suddenly felt something was wrong.

He stopped, turned around to look at the area where the enemy was, and happened to see the back of the three-faced monster running away wildly.

"..." Lu Mian was stunned for a moment.

After a while, he vaguely understood something, raised his hand to touch his own face, and muttered to himself:

"Am I that scary?"

The three-faced monster's performance just now reminded him of the scene when he first encountered the other party:

At that time, he had secretly glanced at the three-faced monster, was so scared that he shrank back, and prayed for the "Eternal Blazing Sun" to protect him from being discovered. Afterward, the three-faced monster had clearly looked toward where he was hiding, yet it seemed to have noticed nothing, and instead actively opened the distance and stood further away.

So that time it wasn't the "Eternal Blazing Sun" protecting me, nor was I very lucky, but the three-faced monster saw or sensed my "specialness" and scared itself away? Lu Mian nodded thoughtfully, then made a guess:

"In the dream ruin, monsters whose level has reached a certain degree can directly perceive my 'specialness' without me needing to semi-trigger the black thorn symbol?"

PS: First update, asking for monthly votes~

"How can we cooperate with someone so evil and dirty that she's more terrifying than a devil?"

(End of chapter)