Chapter 10: Waves of Annihilation

"You don't even know what a Human Soul Lamp is… I don't know how you've survived outside."

"A Human Soul Lamp is lit using the most vital part of a Human Soul—its lifespan—as fuel. It has many uses: maintaining sanity, repelling low-level Guiyi, and some Guiyi even use Human Soul Lamps to brew vile substances."

"But the greatest function of a Human Soul Lamp is to protect the body from 【Yuhan zhi shi】."

At this, Lord Han scanned Fang Yue's legs, his brow slightly furrowed.

"Your legs have already been afflicted by 【Yuhan zhi shi】, though the erosion is not severe—just keep them near a Human Soul Flame and they'll recover."

"If it were as severe as mine…"

Lord Han let out a bitter smile and extended his hands; a thin layer of frost coated his palms.

"…if it were as severe as mine, you'd be dead soon."

Ah, this…

Fang Yue was stunned.

He instinctively looked down at his legs.

He touched them—cold as ice, like they'd just been pulled from a freezer, stiff and unyielding, with drastically reduced sensation, as if he'd lost all feeling.

Fang Yue had previously thought his legs were just stiff from the cold weather.

Now he realized it was the erosion of 【Yuhan zhi shi】.

He suddenly felt a wave of dread.

From Lord Han's tone, if he'd waited any longer, his ordinary human body would've required amputation to survive—otherwise, death was certain.

Neither outcome was acceptable to Fang Yue.

Whether crippled or dead, both results would render this character utterly useless.

Fang Yue asked a few more questions and learned that ordinary people never ventured into the wild at night; even if they did, they must carry a Human Soul Lamp to stay safe.

Inside the village, the Human Soul Flame warms the entire settlement, so no extra precautions are needed.

Ordinary flames cannot burn in the night.

This was also why Fang Yue had failed to start a fire by rubbing wood—he wasn't bad at it; it's simply that in the night, no flame can ignite except a Human Soul Flame.

"Wait—that little Guiyi in the ruined temple used a tiny flame to brew poison…"

Fang Yue lowered his voice and briefly recounted the events at the ruined temple to Lord Han.

Lord Han's strength was immeasurable—at least Fang Yue was no match for him. He could kill Guiyi effortlessly; he wouldn't care about Fang Yue's meager possessions.

"You killed a Guiyi?!"

Lord Han's eyes widened, he suddenly stopped walking, and stared at Fang Yue in shock.

"Y-yes, I did."

As he spoke, Fang Yue pulled out the 【Black Ember】.

"It's real! Unbelievable—truly unbelievable! An ordinary person managed this? And you can move freely in the rain…"

The more Lord Han looked at Fang Yue, the more astonished he became.

But Lord Han had seen too much—he quickly suppressed his inner turmoil.

"Xiao Ye, don't mention this to anyone else."

"Why?"

"Human hearts are unpredictable. 【Black Ember】 produced by Guiyi… is extremely valuable. It's useless to someone like me, but it's fatally tempting to others—you'll understand later."

Fang Yue heard this and nodded, quickly stowing it away.

After a pause, Lord Han continued: "As for the tiny flame you mentioned… it was probably a Human Soul Flame too."

"Lately, people from Gu Yue Cun and nearby villages have been disappearing—likely taken by the 【Shi Zhi Gui】. It drains their lifespan, turning it into Human Soul Flame to brew things."

"When the Human Soul Flame goes out, the boy's lifespan is exhausted—he should've been taken by the Ghost Messengers. But he chose another path…"

Fang Yue's heart stirred: "Ashes mixed with rice—no, I mean the 【Shi Zhi Gui】's 【Black Ember】?"

"Yes. The boy ate the 【Black Ember】. Consuming 【Black Ember】 has a chance of turning one into a Guiyi. He fought for his life, and from a dying man, became a Guiyi—he's no longer human. Such newly transformed Guiyi are collectively called 【Chu Sheng Gui】, the weakest of all Guiyi."

"Even so, to ordinary people, they're utterly unbeatable—even trained martial artists can't defeat one in single combat."

So that's how it was.

Fang Yue finally understood.

In the course of questions and answers, Fang Yue learned many new things.

As they spoke, they neared the village gate. Lord Han gave a signal, and the Patrol Team lowered their guard; dozens of eyes fixed on Fang Yue—curious, hostile, fearful…

At that moment, a loud shout came from behind Fang Yue.

"Hey!"

The rain had lessened again, now a Medium Rain.

Fang Yue turned back in confusion and saw a man in the refugee tent dragging a corpse as a shield against the rain, rushing out—yet even so, the heavy rain kept spawning dozens of -1 damage notifications on his body.

One by one, -1 numbers popped up on his body, and the man seized the moment, hurriedly shouting, "Hey! Are you really a player?"

Fang Yue scratched his head: "Yeah."

"Holy shit! You really are! Big bro! Big bro! My name is Shi Wuliao—please take me into the village! Please!"

The third son of the Shitian Group, humbly begging online.

But Shi Wuliao didn't care about his dignity—he'd finally found a chance to enter the village, and he wouldn't let it slip.

The others now realized what was happening.

"Not a Guiyi? Why didn't you say so sooner? You scared the hell out of me!"

"Damn! He's really a player!"

"He already said he was a player—you just didn't believe him!"

"He was misled by that guy!"

"Damn it, we're all players—why is the gap so huge!? And why can he move freely in the rain? I saw his health draining like crazy—where does he get so much HP!?"

"Who knows, but is that even the point? The point is... brother! Brother up ahead, take me with you! Take me too! I want to get into the village!"

"Yes, yes, me too! I know a herbalist in the village—he can teach me to identify herbs. Big brother, let me in today, and I'll brew medicine to support you!"

"Brewing medicine? Pfft, brother, take me! I'm a Lucky Pack player—my innate talent is Godlike Strength! My Power Control is 3 points—everyone else only has 1! Take me in, you won't regret it!"

Seeing the others' reactions, Shi Wuliao's face darkened, and he roared suddenly.

"Enough!"

"You trash, do you even deserve to compete with me for a spot in the village?"

"Godlike Strength? Brewing medicine to support your big brother? Pfft! What the hell are you?"

"Big brother, remember my face! Let me tell you—I'm a late-game player!"

"What do you mean late-game? Late-game means starting today, I'm staying online 24 hours a day! I swear it!"

"If big brother takes me into the village today, you're my savior! From now on, if you're in trouble, I'll walk through fire and water for you!"

Hiss—

At these words, everyone sucked in a sharp breath.

24 hours online? Challenging human limits? What a lunatic.

(End of Chapter)