Chapter 85: Sudden Encounter (First Chapter, Requesting Moon Tickets)

He exhaled, cleared his thoughts, slung his rifle, secured his axe, and stepped out of the two-story semi-subterranean building standing at the edge of the wasteland, heading toward the dream ruins.

Crossing the wasteland along previous survey routes, he cautiously advanced into the cluster of collapsed buildings, drawing nearer to the crimson “mountain peak.”

The high air was thick with mist, the ground barren of grass, the entire world dark and gloomy.

Soon, Lu Mi left the familiar zone and truly entered the depths of the ruins.

He observed his surroundings, traced signs, and continuously imagined which elements in this environment could be used if combat broke out.

This made his progress extremely slow.

Caution and care were always the first principles of hunting.

Finally, Lu Mi found fresh footprints.

They appeared human, hidden along the edge of the “path” by surrounding collapsed structures, nearly impossible to spot.

“Good at concealing himself… capable of partially erasing traces…” Lu Mi observed for a while and made an initial judgment.

He suspected this was a creature similar to the rifle monster, possibly holding clues to the Hunter pathway’s Sequence 8.

Based on his experience and Aurora’s speculation, the ruins contained three types of monsters:

The first type received blessings but possessed no extraordinary characteristics; typical examples were the "Noodle Man" and the mouth monster, all seemingly originating from the domain controlled by the secretive entity known as Fate.

The second type inherently possessed extraordinary characteristics but showed no blessing abilities; the rifle monster was the clearest example, yet they too were likely suppressed by the black thorn symbol on Lu Mi’s chest, indicating they had also been corrupted by that secretive entity, transforming them into monsters.

The third type had neither blessing abilities nor extraordinary characteristics—like ordinary humans or normal creatures tainted by corruption; the skinless monster Lu Mi first encountered belonged to this category.

As for monsters possessing both extraordinary characteristics and blessings, Aurora and Lu Mi believed such creatures existed, but lacked concrete examples.

Therefore, a monster displaying “Hunter” traits likely possessed extraordinary characteristics!

While tracking the footprints, Lu Mi even discovered two traps, further confirming his suspicion.

Had he not been cautious enough, or if he weren’t a “Hunter,” he might have become the hunted instead of the hunter.

Soon, Lu Mi noticed the footprints had grown fresher.

This meant the target was likely just ahead.

Without rushing to make contact, Lu Mi circled a small arc and found a suitable hiding spot.

Then he began to dance.

Within an invisible melody, he stepped with forceful rhythm, turning in soft, slow half-circles, fully reenacting the strange and mysterious ritual dance of the Noodle Man.

It was unrefined, even awkward, but with the Dancer’s ability, Lu Mi still successfully felt his chest grow searing hot.

He unbuttoned his shirt, confirmed the black thorn symbol had risen prominently, then climbed halfway up the collapsed building and entered his chosen hiding spot.

He quickly glanced far off and saw a figure digging a trap.

It was indeed a “human,” but entirely charred black, with crimson flames burning across its surface, never extinguished.

Could it be the Pyromancer? Caught a big one… Lu Mi felt both elated and troubled.

He was elated because the main material for Sequence 8, the Provocateur, had appeared; troubled because the prey was far stronger than he’d anticipated.

The Pyromancer was Sequence 7 of the Hunter pathway—a turning point, according to Aurora, historically called the Fire Mage.

Lu Mi judged that with his combined strength as a Hunter, a Dancer, and the deterrent power of the black thorn symbol, he could hunt a Provocateur monster without carelessness, but facing a Sequence 7 Pyromancer, he had no real confidence.

This monster, if it kept attacking from afar, might not even be weakened by the black thorn symbol!

After thinking it over, Lu Mi decided to retreat.

He planned to devise an effective strategy and set targeted traps before attempting to confront the flame monster.

His initial idea was to return home and perform the dance that summoned strange entities from the surrounding area, to observe what negative effects would occur if the lingering spirit of the mouth monster possessed him.

If the effects weren’t severe and acceptable, he could borrow one of its abilities—perhaps “Invisibility.”

As for potential aftereffects from possession or whether the vengeful spirit would willingly leave afterward, Lu Mi wasn’t overly concerned.

After all, this was the Dream Ruins; as long as he didn’t die on the spot, returning to reality and resting well would restore everything.

Just as Lu Mi moved, the flame monster suddenly lifted its head, staring at him with its charred face and bulging eyes.

“Damn!” Lu Mi thought, abandoning his climb down, he leapt directly from his hiding spot to the ground.

Almost simultaneously, a massive crimson fireball slammed into his former position, blasting bricks and stones everywhere, sending waves of flame outward.

Lu Mi dodged hastily, landing with no control over his body, collapsing and rolling to dissipate the force.

Had it not been for the Dancer’s extraordinary flexibility, he would have torn muscles or ruptured ligaments from the contorted motion.

When Lu Mi rose again, the flame monster stood atop the collapsed building, surrounded by numerous crimson crows formed from fire.

Seeing this, Lu Mi felt as if surrounded by a squad of soldiers, every sight lined with gun barrels.

Without hesitation, he didn’t flee—he charged forward, sprinting toward the collapsed building where the flame monster stood.

Faced with this scenario, he believed his only chance to turn defeat into victory lay in using the black thorn symbol on his chest.

And that seemed to require closing the distance!

Thud-thud-thud!

As Lu Mi sprinted, half the fire crows rained down from above, striking his back, sending up scorching heat and echoing explosions.

The remaining phantom fire crows shifted direction, their “gazes” all locking onto the running target.

At that moment, Lu Mi reached the base of the collapsed building, less than five meters from the flame monster in a straight line.

The next second, the charred, flame-wrapped monster froze completely; the remaining fire crows around it instantly extinguished.

It worked! Lu Mi’s heart surged with joy—then the flame monster spun around, descended the collapsed building from another side, and fled in a sprint.

“Hey, don’t run!” Lu Mi blurted out instinctively.

He dashed around the ruins ahead, chasing the flame monster.

After chasing past two buildings, the monster’s speed was simply too great—Lu Mi lost all trace of it.

At this moment, the searing heat in Lu Mi’s chest also vanished.

He had to stop, adjust his breathing, and prepare to track footprints and watch for traps.

While catching his breath, Lu Mi’s gaze swept sideways—and froze.

Not far to his side, at the entrance of a half-collapsed building, stood a figure.

The figure wore a long black robe with a hood, otherwise indistinguishable from a normal human—except that its single head bore three faces.

The front face belonged to an old man, eyes cloudy, sparse eyebrows, deeply wrinkled;

The left face was that of a middle-aged man, sharp features, bright blue eyes, thick dark beard;

The right face resembled a child under five, smooth, delicate skin, blue eyes filled with innocence and naivety.

The Three-Faced Monster! That Three-Faced Monster! Lu Mi was genuinely terrified.

He had clearly ventured deeper into the ruins chasing the flame monster—and now he’d directly encountered the Three-Faced Monster!

Even after becoming a Dancer, mastering the mysterious ritual dance, and partially activating the black thorn symbol, Lu Mi had never considered testing it against the Three-Faced Monster; he instinctively felt the creature was extremely dangerous—according to the Mystic Lady’s terminology, its rank was likely very high, and even weakened by the black thorn symbol, it could still effortlessly kill a weak Hunter.

Thus, Lu Mi’s original plan had been to bypass the Three-Faced Monster’s territory first, use other monsters to practice, confirm how the partially activated black thorn symbol performed against enemies of varying strength, then decide whether to hunt the Three-Faced Monster or avoid it entirely.

Who knew this creature had left its own territory and come here, meeting Lu Mi face-to-face!

This… how about I dance for you as an apology? Lu Mi mentally panicked, instinctively stepping back one pace.

At the entrance of the half-collapsed building, the Three-Faced Monster in its black robe and hood also stepped back one pace.

Lu Mi turned his body.

The Three-Faced Monster turned its body.

Lu Mi bolted away in a sprint.

The Three-Faced Monster sprinted away too.

Lu Mi, who had originally intended to create distance and attempt dancing, ran a few steps—then suddenly felt something was wrong.

He stopped, turned back toward the enemy’s location, and saw the Three-Faced Monster’s fleeing back.

“… ” Lu Mi froze.

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

“Am I really that terrifying?”

The Three-Faced Monster’s behavior just now reminded him of their first encounter:

Back then, he’d glanced at the Three-Faced Monster once, recoiled in fear, prayed to the Eternal Sun for protection from being noticed—afterward, the Three-Faced Monster had clearly looked toward his hiding spot, yet seemed to sense nothing, instead actively creating distance and moving farther away.

So it wasn’t the Eternal Sun’s protection, nor was it pure luck—it was the Three-Faced Monster sensing my “specialness” and fleeing on its own? Lu Mi nodded thoughtfully, then made a guess:

“In the Dream Ruins, monsters of sufficient rank can directly sense my ‘specialness’—without me needing to partially activate the black thorn symbol?”

ps: First chapter, begging for moon tickets~

ps2: Recommend a book, “The Arbiter of Ming,” a uniquely absurd and humorous historical novel.

(End of chapter)