Chapter 260: Chaos in the Wilderness

Speaking of which, Xu Pai looked at the others: "But the decision to rashly head into the wilderness is really too dangerous, so I need you all to volunteer — either come with me into the wild to find Captain Ye, or stay here and wait for news."

The cute girl called Ma Shou was the first to raise her hand: "I'll go with you!"

Seeing this, the others also quickly stated their positions one after another.

Having made up their minds, they no longer wasted time, and soon contacted powerful martial artists to be responsible for protecting them out of the village.

Most of Mo Cun's martial artists were unwilling to go out at this hour, even though Xu Pai and the others offered a high price; only the outside martial artists who had come for the 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】 were willing to take the job.

Considering the time pressure, they ultimately decided to choose the protection of the outside martial artists, and the group hurried out of the village, vanishing into the night.

……

The Meng Clan Hunting Group was an extremely powerful and well-established hunting group.

Even when facing the rampage of the 【Giant Beast Blood Hound】 and the assault of the Yang Void Strange, they still held their ground in the wilderness, continuing to hunt.

Only the hunting location had retreated from Ruoyun Stone Ground to Yuanyuan Hill.

Among the three gathering grounds of the 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】, Yuanyuan Hill was the area closest to Mo Cun.

Whether it was the number of strange creatures or the number of 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】, both had greatly decreased, which lowered the danger and ensured the hunting group could operate normally.

"Everyone, perk up. This is the best opportunity for our Meng Clan Hunting Group. Most of the other hunting groups have already withdrawn back to Mo Cun; only we are still holding out. That means we've suddenly lost a whole pile of competitors. Precisely at this moment, we need to stay in the wilderness even more, hunt well, and harvest more strange game!"

A group of the hunting team, gathered around the Human Soul fire, listened to the Regimental Commander's pep talk and tomorrow's task assignments.

Pushed to the edge, Zhang Dashou glanced from afar at the Regimental Commander who was spitting as he talked, his heart full of grievances.

He was a player, one of the second batch to enter the game.

Unlike the first batch of players, players like him who snatched a Game Watch and entered the game in the second batch had actually gotten a taste of the 'version welfare.'

Because the first batch of players had already made a splash in Mo Cun, and by the time the second batch entered, they could immediately get started and stabilize their lifespan.

Although life was a bit harder to muddle through, Zhang Dashou still managed to survive, and quietly began to develop himself, scraping together a job as a small-time Hunter, taking part in a few outside hunting activities, and his experience and background both grew.

Coinciding with the gathering of 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】 outside, his master, along with other Hunters from Mo Cun, had all been hired at high prices.

Logically speaking, this sort of thing had nothing to do with a little apprentice like him, but his master was greedy — he insisted on bringing him along to pocket an extra share of the money for one more head, that double salary.

Most importantly, Zhang Dashou himself didn't get any money, which was really annoying.

Actually, not getting paid was no big deal — Zhang Dashou had already inquired and knew that following the hunting group out this time meant going to hunt strange game.

Strange game — that was a treasure from head to toe. The meat could be eaten to raise cultivation, the bones could be broken down to forge weapons, the skin peeled off to sew armor, and the other materials could be used for refining medicine and the like.

In short, successfully killing one strange game brought huge returns, and even an apprentice like him could tag along for a sip of soup.

Don't underestimate it — the Meng Clan Hunting Group, this outside hunting team, after joining forces with his master and several other veteran local Hunters, actually managed to hunt down a 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】. Since it had been killed, the quality had already been affected, so they butchered and processed it on the spot, and he, the freeloader padding the headcount, actually got to scrounge a mouthful of thick soup along with them.

The thick soup simmered from 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】 bones — needless to say, it was delicious, but the most important thing was... it raised stats!

That's right! It raised stats!

It might be because he was too weak, his base value too low, but after drinking one mouthful of thick soup, his Control actually went up by 0.1 — comparable to cultivating with the Guard Team for half a day.

However, after asking other members of the hunting group, he learned that this phenomenon was unique to him alone.

Sure enough, after subsequently begging half a mouthful of soup from someone else and getting no further stat increase, he confirmed that his stat base was indeed low, which was why the reward was so generous.

Even so, Zhang Dashou still really hoped the Meng Clan Hunting Group could hunt another 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】, so he could scrounge a bit more food and drink — who knows, maybe just by eating strange game he could pull ahead of the other players by a whole head!

Just as Zhang Dashou was thinking all sorts of random things, the grass not far away suddenly rustled.

Zhang Dashou's eyelids jumped in fright.

This was the wilderness — he had heard from others just how dangerous the wild could be.

Even such a slight stirring of wind and grass still made him jumpy.

He was a useless guy whose two stats hadn't even reached ten points; apart from using the Hunter Observation Ability he'd learned from his cheap master to keep watch, he basically had no other use.

He whispered a word to the Meng Clan Hunting Group member beside him, and pointed at the patch of grass that had just moved.

That fellow was bold enough — he raised his Soul Torch and headed toward that patch of grass, but after searching for a bit, he soon said irritably: "Nothing, there's nothing in that grass, made me tense up for nothing."

"I, I just wanted to help out a little…"

Zhang Dashou lowered his head, not quite daring to look at the man.

In this hunting group, his status was the lowest; being able to scrape together a job to do was already pretty good.

"Help out? With that scrawny body of yours?"

The man's tone carried a hint of mockery, clearly looking down on this sickly weakling who could only stand watch.

But the veteran Hunter the Regimental Commander had hired had specifically requested to bring this person along, so he had no way to get rid of him — he just felt a bit of "out of sight, out of mind."

"Fine, you keep staying here on watch. I'll go check over there to see if the Regimental Commander's pep talk is done."

Glaring at Zhang Dashou twice, the guard took his Soul Torch and headed off in another direction.

But just as he turned to leave, Zhang Dashou suddenly widened his eyes and stared fixedly at the guard's back.

He saw that the back of the guard's head had, at some unknown point, already been hollowed out for more than half — the entire back of his head was drenched in fresh blood, and something like a spiky ball was desperately burrowing into his brain.

The whole scene, under the light of Zhang Dashou's Soul Torch, was seen clearly as day — enough to make one's scalp crawl.

No horror movie could compare to experiencing it in person.

At this moment, Zhang Dashou felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet, climb up his spine, and his whole body trembled.

But he didn't dare cry out. His body instinctively retreated step by step; he didn't even dare say another word to the guard, just shivering as he watched the man walk away toward the Human Soul bonfire where the Regimental Commander and the others had gathered.

One step, two steps, three steps... the guard with the eaten-through back of his head arrived at the gathering spot.

The Human Soul bonfire didn't give off much light — only a ring around it.

Many people knew that guard; some nodded at him, some greeted him.

The Regimental Commander frowned.

"A Lei, why are you here? You left a single outsider alone on the west side to keep watch?"

"Don't worry, Regimental Commander — Zhang Dashou is a Hunter; when it comes to keeping watch, he's way better than me…"

Hearing this, the Regimental Commander nodded slightly, but was still a bit dissatisfied: "You should still go keep that kid company. We're camping in the wild — caution above all."

"Yes, I'll head back right now…"

The guard was still speaking when he suddenly noticed the others' gazes snapping toward him in unison, every pair of eyes wide open as if they'd seen a ghost. A few who had been eating with bowls in hand dropped them—clang—onto the ground.

Even the Regimental Commander's mouth hung open, his whole body trembling slightly as he stared.

His heart gave a sudden lurch, and the guard couldn't help asking, "What—what's wrong with all of you? Why are you looking at me like that?"

He felt as if his field of vision had narrowed, the surroundings growing dim, but it didn't seem like there was anything actually wrong.

But in everyone else's eyes—

A Lei's head had melted entirely.

Like a candle meeting flame, the skin on his face began to melt downward from the top, scalp and hair together, dripping down to the bridge of his nose, exposing half a skull.

Inside the skull, flesh and blood were long gone—only a usurping spiked ball remained, rising and falling like a heart within his hollow cranium.

"G-Gui Yi!"

"It's a Gui Yi! Scatter!"

"Possession! A Lei's been possessed by a Gui Yi!"

"Someone come, hurry!"

After a moment of scalp-prickling horror, once they came to their senses, the Meng Clan Hunting Group exploded into chaos.

Everyone screamed and scattered in all directions. Only A Lei felt his vision growing darker and darker, as if he could see nothing at all, and at the same time his ears caught no sound whatsoever.

His two hands flailed in panic, as if trying to grab hold of someone. "What's happening? I—I can't see, I can't hear either? Regimental Commander! Regimental Commander, are you still there? I think I just went blind! I'm so scared, save me, save me!"

Save you?

The Regimental Commander, fallen on the ground, face ashen, stared at the monster before him—its human skin already dissolved past the eyes—and scrambled backward on all fours.

Just then, A Lei suddenly dropped to his knees and let out a scream of "Ahhh—!"

In the wilderness late at night, the most feared thing is a high-decibel scream.

That kind of sound is the easiest way to draw nameless, terrifying beings out of the darkness.

"Shut him up! Shut him up now!!"

The Regimental Commander couldn't help roaring at the top of his lungs.

At that very moment, the Vice Regimental Commander, who had rushed over, swung his axe straight down at A Lei's head.

Crack—A Lei's scream cut off short, and only his round head rolled away.

"D-dead?"

Seeing this, the Regimental Commander was a little stunned. With the support of the people beside him, he got to his feet and cautiously approached A Lei's head.

The strange spiked ball still lay quietly inside A Lei's hollow skull.

"Vice Regimental Commander, what the hell is that thing?"

"No idea! It's a Gui Yi I've never seen before."

The Vice Regimental Commander's expression darkened slightly, but he didn't seem panicked. His whole body tensed, a thin layer of Internal Breath clinging to the surface of his body.

This was a defensive-type Martial Technique. Its effect wasn't strong, but it should be enough to withstand a single strike from a Black Grade Initial Stage Gui Yi.

He cautiously approached the spiked ball on the ground, while the Regimental Commander was also scrambling up on all fours and running toward the Vice Regimental Commander.

Just as the two were about to meet up…

Squelch!!

The Regimental Commander, who had just reached the Vice Regimental Commander, was pierced through the forehead by a black spike that suddenly shot out and lengthened!

Fresh blood spattered across the Vice Regimental Commander's stunned face.

"Regimental Commander!!"

"No!!"

"That Gui Yi killed the Regimental Commander!"

"Think of something, quick! Vice Regimental Commander!"

The Meng Clan Hunting Group, compared with other hunting groups, had a somewhat different arrangement of positions.

In fact, they used a dual-commander system.

The Vice Regimental Commander was the combat side of the group, responsible for the group's safety.

The Regimental Commander was the hunting side, responsible for the group's hunting matters.

Faced with a Gui Yi, the Regimental Commander was helpless—he could only rely on the Vice Regimental Commander to lead the team in dealing with it.

As for their standing within the group, although there was a distinction between the two, in practice their status was equal. The teams each of them managed were like two teams joined together, but in reality each ran his own affairs.

And this kind of structure, even among large hunting groups, was extremely rare. Tracing it back to its Origin, it was actually because the squads led by the two commanders had originally been two separate teams to begin with.

It was only later, when martial artists needed to consume Gui-beasts to grow, and hunting groups needed people to protect them, that during their long-term cooperation they simply merged completely into one, forming today's Meng Clan Hunting Group.

Both commanders had the surname Meng, which was why it was called the Meng Clan Hunting Group.

Now that the Regimental Commander was dead, it meant everyone had to take orders from the Vice Regimental Commander.

He looked at the Regimental Commander twitching on the ground, then at A Lei's head over there, his expression ugly.

"That thing isn't dead yet. All Vice-Regimental members, rally on me! Regimental members, stay as far from here as you can—use your Hunter skills, hide and lie low, and wait for the rally signal!"

The moment the orders were distributed, the Vice Regimental Commander had already charged up to A Lei's head and brought his axe down again, hacking into the spiked ball.

Unexpectedly, the spiked ball was as fragile as a puddle of rotten mud—with a wet slap it burst apart under the axe, black residue splattering all over the ground.

"That's… all?"

The Vice Regimental Commander felt something was off. The Vice-Regimental members had already closed in around him, forming a tight circle, staring tensely at A Lei's corpse on the ground.

Just as no one knew whether the Gui Yi was dead or not, a sharp cry suddenly rang out.

"Behind you! Vice Regimental Commander! Behind you!"

The one shouting was Zhang Dashou. Though he was terrified out of his wits, he still yelled at the top of his lungs.

The deputy regimental commander whipped his head around, and what he saw was the regimental commander who had just collapsed on the ground, nearly beyond saving.

The regimental commander at this moment had a calm expression, his eye sockets as black as if heavy smoky makeup had been applied. Those eyes were staring straight at their group.

"R-Regimental Commander?"

"The regimental commander isn't dead?"

The surrounding people let out somewhat nervous murmuring.

But the deputy regimental commander, his face darkening, said in a low voice: "No... he's been possessed!"

Black blood flowed down from the corners of the eyes of the regimental commander who had just stood up.

Those originally pure-white eye whites, like ink-dyed, turned pitch-black!

Possession by a strange entity!

But this was not the most terrifying part.

The most terrifying part was... after the strange entity possessing the regimental commander finished these changes.

Those pitch-black eyes, as if fading, rapidly shed their blackness, turning back to black and white!

His gaze was clear!

Black Grade... mid-tier!

(End of chapter)