Chapter 93

Lu Mian was performing the dance that attracts strange creatures, with the goal of using "Invisibility" to sneak closer, observe the flame monster's activity patterns and daily behavior, and gather enough intelligence for the subsequent hunt.

In just thirty or forty seconds, he used Ancient Hermes to have the mouth-part monster attach itself to him once again.

That intense feeling of hunger swept over him, and Lu Mian couldn't help but open his mouth, as if he himself had grown a mouth-part with teeth arranged in a spiral.

He hurriedly suppressed the bloodthirsty, insane impulses filling his body, pulled out a small biscuit and a piece of cubed cheese, stuffed them into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

At the same time, he amplified the mouth-part monster's instinct for invisibility and vanished from where he stood.

After slightly suppressing that hunger, Lu Mian tried hard to keep his mouth shut, not letting the scent of the biscuit and cheese escape.

Immediately after, he followed the edge of the road, directly tracking the flame monster's trail.

Soon, Lu Mian saw that monster, charred black all over and burning everywhere.

It was setting up new traps in that same clearing as before.

Still so dedicated even after becoming a monster? Lu Mian mocked silently.

Of course, he knew very well that this was actually just a manifestation of the monster following its instincts.

Lu Mian didn't dare get too close, stopping beside a broken wall at the edge of the clearing.

He studied the flame monster for a few seconds, then looked back at the road he had come from, discovering that although his footprints were very shallow and faint, and all hidden in places not easily noticed, they still existed quite clearly.

Looking down at his current position, Lu Mian had some ideas.

He closely watched the monster's movements, and when it picked up a larger stone and threw it to the side, he immediately pressed his right hand against the broken wall, jumped up with a 'whoosh', and landed steadily on top of the wall.

Bang! The sound Lu Mian made was perfectly masked by the noise of the stone hitting the ground.

After changing his observation spot, Lu Mian felt much more at ease; while keeping an eye on his own spiritual consumption, he earnestly watched the flame monster.

He discovered that the traps the flame monster was setting this time didn't belong to the type that were very hidden or hard to find, nor did they target flaws in thinking or the target's behavioral inertia; they were simple and straightforward, not concealing themselves at all.

A simplest example: on the other side of the clearing, between two collapsed buildings, the flame monster had pulled a rope at a height just above the ankles.

Any human or monster with normal vision could spot this trap.

Lu Mian didn't understand what use this had at first, but after putting himself in that position, he gradually discovered the possible significance:

The purpose of this type of trap wasn't to directly harm or trap the enemy, but to create an occasion more suitable for a hunter to perform.

In an intense battle, a target who isn't good at observing the environment or paying attention to their surroundings needs to constantly divide their attention to guard against various restrictions here, sometimes having to lower their speed or change their posture to jump over traps, while the "Hunter's" characteristic is to always pay attention to the surroundings and fully utilize the environment.

In this way, the strength of both sides shifts accordingly.

In Aurora's words, it's a "conspiracy in the open"... Lu Mian nodded with a sense of realization.

At this moment, he felt that the flame monster was like a strict teacher, imparting certain experiences regarding "Hunters" to him in this way.

Almost simultaneously, he recalled the content of one of Aurora's novels:

Stealing a master's techniques will get you killed!

After a while, the flame monster stopped its movements, its charred face instinctively scanning the area once.

Then, bearing the flames emerging from inside its body, it walked toward the edge of the clearing near Lu Mian.

"Following a fixed route to the next location?" Lu Mian muttered to himself in his heart, thoughtful and quite excited.

For a hunter, mastering the prey's movement route is very valuable.

Most traps are buried along these kinds of routes!

The flame monster kept looking around as it walked, checking the ground, appearing very vigilant.

This made Lu Mian frown, feeling that a high-sequence "Hunter" is truly not easy to deal with.

What most suppresses a Beyonder is often a person or object of a higher sequence in the same pathway, even if it's only one or two sequences higher.

What you are good at, I am even better at; what I have, you might not!

If not for the "Dancer" related abilities and having obtained the "Fallen Mercury" dagger, Lu Mian wouldn't have dared to entertain the idea of targeting this flame monster at all.

Seven or eight seconds later, the flame monster arrived at the edge of the clearing, about five or six meters in a straight line from the broken wall.

Just like before, the flame monster's gaze instinctively turned toward this side.

Its gaze paused, as if looking at the footprints where someone had seemingly stood by the edge of the broken wall.

Thump, thump—Lu Mian's heartbeat involuntarily accelerated slightly.

He wasn't prepared to hunt the flame monster right now.

Not to mention that they were five or six meters apart, the mere fact that "Fallen Mercury" hadn't yet stored a fate available for exchange left Lu Mian with no confidence in killing the opponent.

If a battle were to break out now, he, who hadn't had time to semi-activate the black thorn symbol, would be the one being hunted!

Lu Mian tried hard to control his heartbeat and breathing, placing his right hand on the black cloth strip wrapped around the surface of the "Fallen Mercury" blade, ready to tear it off at any moment.

Within the current distance, if he jumped with all his might, he would have a chance to get close to the flame monster, avoiding the long-range combat where the gap between them was greatest.

Two or three seconds passed, feeling as if time were about to freeze, and the flame monster withdrew its gaze and continued forward.

It seemed not to have discovered Lu Mian's footprints.

After walking more than ten meters, this flame monster suddenly turned around.

The clusters of flames emerging from its body instantly condensed, turning into a massive, somewhat incandescent fireball.

This fireball was like a cannonball, blasting toward the position by the edge of the broken wall where Lu Mian had originally stood.

Crouching on the wall, Lu Mian didn't think at all; following his instincts, he jumped directly to the other side of the broken wall, which was the clearing where the flame monster had just set its traps.

Boom!

The wave of fire exploded, and the already tottering broken wall collapsed on the spot.

After Lu Mian landed, he rolled twice in succession, avoiding the falling stone bricks and the shockwave mixed with firelight.

Immediately after, he jumped up, maintaining his "Invisibility" state, passed through the various traps left by the flame monster, and sprinted toward another exit of the clearing.

The flame monster couldn't find the enemy immediately, so it had to focus on searching for traces.

Finally, it saw a series of faint footprints.

And by this time, Lu Mian had already reached the rope set between the two collapsed buildings, jumped over it easily, and escaped this clearing.

Running all the way back to a certain natural trap, he completely shook off the flame monster.

Reviewing what had just happened, Lu Mian, who had long since deactivated his "Invisibility" state, cursed painfully:

"Too treacherous, too treacherous!

"These monsters' brains are all better than Pons's; after discovering my footprints, considering the distance between us was too close and it might be counterattacked, it actually pretended to see nothing and naturally opened up the distance!"

While cursing angrily, Lu Mian felt he had learned something else.

Of course, this way of handling things also had obvious drawbacks:

The opening of distance gave Lu Mian room to escape.

Coupled with the fact that he was still invisible, making it impossible for the flame monster to lock onto his trail immediately, escaping that area smoothly became a high-probability event.

Panting for a while and recovering some spirituality, Lu Mian muttered while eating the biscuit and cheese:

"Judging by the situation just now, as long as it's set up properly, after wounding that guy, I might very well have the opportunity to rely on 'Invisibility' to open up the distance, escape to a farther place, and wait for the fate exchange to complete."

—When launching an attack, the "Invisibility" state will be deactivated, but as long as contact is broken, Lu Mian can use it again.

This was the biggest gain from this reconnaissance.

At the same time, he also discovered a problem:

"As a hunter, 'going up the mountain to hunt' and not bringing water!

"I'm dying of thirst!"

Whether it's cheese or biscuits, they all need water to balance them out.

The jerky Lu Mian wanted to make later also belonged to this category.

After resting for a while, he decided to hunt the "Noodle Man," strip away some of its bad fate, and store it in "Fallen Mercury," so he wouldn't be unable to fight back when encountering sudden situations like just now.

—The puppet's fate also belongs to "Fallen Mercury" and can be used for exchange, but Lu Mian isn't the "Knife-Wielder" and cannot use his own fate to exchange for someone else's; otherwise, he would be very happy to give away the bomb on his body.

About half an hour later, Lu Mian found the "Noodle Man," whose limbs and facial features were chaotically pieced together.

Having performed the sacrificial dance in advance, he walked over openly and saw the "Noodle Man" crawl down onto the ground as expected.

"Quite obedient..." Lu Mian praised.

His right hand held that iron-black axe, while his left palm gripped "Fallen Mercury," which had already revealed its silver-black blade.

After holding this evil dagger for a long time, Lu Mian discovered that even without direct skin contact, he would gradually bear a little bit of the corruption it emitted; for most Beyonders, this might slowly induce signs of losing control, but Lu Mian had long been accustomed to it and had a certain resistance.

Looking at the constantly trembling "Noodle Man" for a few seconds, Lu Mian withdrew his gaze from the mouth located on its forehead and sighed:

"In Aurora's words, in your state, death is equivalent to liberation; dying sooner means peace sooner."

As he spoke, he knelt on one knee, and with a 'swish', he plunged the silver-black dagger into the back of the "Noodle Man's" neck, burying it deep inside.

The "Noodle Man" trembled even more violently, but didn't put up any resistance or struggle.

Lu Mian then withdrew his left hand, gripped the handle of the iron-black axe with both palms, and swung it down with force.

Amidst the dull sound of the blade and axe entering flesh, the "Noodle Man's" head, carrying "Fallen Mercury," detached from its body and rolled to one side.

A large amount of blood sprayed out, splashing all over the ground.

After the "Noodle Man's" body twitched a few times, it fell completely silent.

Lu Mian took a big step, came to the "Noodle Man's" head, reached out his left hand, and gripped "Fallen Mercury."

The next second, he saw an illusory river shimmering with ripples.

That river seemed to be pieced together by one silver-colored complex symbol after another, and each symbol was like a small river coiling around itself.

At this moment, at the end of the illusory long river, all the tributaries had already disappeared, leaving only the main trunk; it was broken in the middle, bending as if trying to return to the origin but temporarily unable to succeed.

PS: Seeking monthly votes~

(End of chapter)