Chapter 28: Heads

The Patrol Team consists of six members.

Under normal circumstances, during the first half of the night, even a seasoned team like Yong Ge's would refrain from lighting the Soul Torch to conserve Life Order, unless an emergency arose.

But by the second half of the night, most Patrol Teams would light the Soul Torch, burning some Life Order to gain visibility and safety.

After all, the strange grow more active the deeper the night.

Of course, they don't only appear during the day—just at a relatively lower probability.

This phenomenon seems to have been studied; it's said the strange prefer the environment of midnight.

"But didn't Lin Ling say we don't usually need to light the Soul Torch?"

Shi Wuliao immediately panicked.

Lighting the Soul Torch requires burning Life Order.

Their Life Order is barely enough to last until the end of the night watch.

Only after shift handover, when they receive more Life Order, can they continue to cling to life.

But if they burn Life Order now, they won't make it to the end of the mission.

So if they light the Soul Torch, they can only count on Fang Yue or Niu Niu—those two who already obtained the Bronze Life Order.

"With Lin Ling's Captain-level strength, he truly doesn't need to light the Soul Torch under normal circumstances. But we, as low-level guards, are different—if we don't light the Soul Torch and encounter something strange, we'll probably be killed before we even see what it looks like, dying silently, without understanding why."

This was what Yong Ge told Fang Yue, and Fang Yue found it very reasonable.

Even now, with this level of visibility, Fang Yue already felt it was dangerous—and this was only the first half of the night.

"Must we light it…?"

Everyone hesitated.

"It's still the first half of the night—maybe we should skip it?"

"Yeah, better to save Life Order whenever possible."

Fang Yue shook his head.

"No! We light the torch now."

"But… why?"

Everyone was confused.

Fang Yue explained patiently.

"Yong Ge has years of Patrol Team experience—he can lead a squad through the dark even in the first half of the night. But all of us players are newcomers; we can't compare."

"Take what just happened—if it hadn't been Yong Ge but something strange, all five of you would already be lying on the ground. But if we'd had the torch lit, we could've spotted the danger early, giving us time to flee or fight, instead of only noticing when it was already right in front of us."

Everyone fell silent.

They knew Fang Yue was right, but psychologically, they couldn't bear to spend their Life Order.

Burn it in the first half of the night, burn it again in the second—before the night watch ends, their Life Order will be gone!

And this was a very real problem.

Fang Yue thought for a moment and said: "Here's the deal—I'll cover the Life Order cost for the Soul Torch for now. After the night watch ends, when you receive your rewards, you'll repay me. We're six people; the Soul Torch burns for six hours, so each of us only pays one hour's worth."

One hour sounded easy to say.

They hadn't even received their rewards yet, and already they felt pain at the thought of giving up their Life Order.

Shi Wuliao's eyes darted: "Ye Ge, doesn't the Bronze Life Order let you allocate Life Order to others? I want to buy one hour from you!"

Others' hearts stirred, and they quickly spoke up too.

Prices rose from a thousand to ten thousand, making Fang Yue's heart race.

But Fang Yue still refused.

Fang Yue had plenty of Life Order, but his martial training consumed it heavily.

And he hadn't yet found a way to earn large amounts of Life Order—every bit he spent was one bit less. Such a precious resource, he'd keep it all for himself.

The stronger his character, the more money he could earn—he understood this principle well.

Seeing Fang Yue's firm stance, everyone turned to Niu Niu, raising the price to twenty thousand.

Niu Niu finally relented and sold one hour of Life Order.

Fang Yue shook his head, offering no comment on this practice.

Seeing Shi Wuliao buy one hour, the others kept pressuring Niu Niu to sell more.

Finally, Niu Niu was persuaded again—thinking he'd receive Life Order rewards after the night watch—so he sold four more hours, keeping only one for himself.

Fang Yue looked at Niu Niu, suddenly rich overnight, and his resolve wavered.

But thinking of the bright future, of how much more he could earn once his character grew stronger, he finally held back the impulse.

"Everyone now has Life Order replenished. Each of us contributes one hour to light the Soul Torch—any objections?"

"None."

Burning Human Souls, they lit the torch.

Puff—the flame ignited in the darkness, illuminating the surroundings.

Looking at the tiny flame, they realized for the first time how luxurious light truly was.

The Soul Torch requires its holder to burn Life Order to ignite it.

Fang Yue was first; when the next hour came, he'd pass the torch to the second person, who would then hold it and burn their own Life Order.

Carrying the torch, Fang Yue continued his patrol route.

Those following Fang Yue felt a quiet excitement.

With light, their courage grew slightly.

It was said the Soul Torch also repelled the strange—meaning if anything entered the village, the probability of being attacked would decrease.

Fang Yue's team's patrol route covered a small area in the northern-central part of the village, passing Chen's house—the relatively safest route among all night patrols.

After all, since it borders Chen Fu, Captain Chen usually sleeps inside the mansion and can provide immediate support if anything happens.

This route was not chosen by Fang Yue, but selected for him by Lin Ling.

It could be said that after Fang Yue became a "waste," that guy's attitude toward him improved greatly—he was downright attentive.

This made Fang Yue hesitate whether to tell him the "bad news" that he had fully recovered his health.

As for Yong Ge's night patrol route, it just so happened to overlap with Fang Yue's route on one stretch.

But everyone's patrol efficiency differs; under normal circumstances, they'd only meet two or three times a night.

With Fang Yue leading, his calm demeanor and the wide-range illumination of the Soul Torch gradually boosted everyone's courage.

From initial caution, they slowly progressed to occasional casual chatter.

By the time the first watch had passed and the patrol route had completed two loops, when Shi Wuliao took over holding the Soul Torch, everyone was already chatting freely, completely relaxed.

"What's this? Night patrol isn't so bad after all."

"Yeah, I thought we'd definitely encounter something strange and was trembling with fear."

"The villagers said that because Lord Han is in Gu Yue Cun, strange incidents here are far rarer than in other villages—it's just unlikely we'd happen to run into one."

"Not just that—apparently, Gu Yue Cun's Di He is larger than neighboring villages'. Besides repelling Cold Night, it also drives away low-level anomalies, making them feel repulsed and deterring them from entering. Of course, some still slip through, which is why the Patrol Team exists."

The latter part was information Fang Yue already knew, but the former part made him pause in surprise.

Lord Han?

Lin Ling said Lord Han went to the neighboring village to get medicine for me—he should not be in the village now…

It should be fine—he's only been gone one day.

As Fang Yue was pondering this, suddenly the surrounding light and shadows shifted abruptly.

Startled, he looked up and saw Shi Wuliao slumped on the ground, finger pointing forward, face filled with terror, mouth opening and closing but unable to speak.

It's said that some people, in moments of extreme fear, cannot produce sound.

Clearly, Shi Wuliao was one of them.

"What's going on?!"

"The torch is going out—someone hurry and pick it up!"

"Did we encounter an anomaly? Let me handle it!"

The last voice came from Niu Niu.

He strode forward, picked up the torch on the ground, and swept it toward the front.

With that sweep, everyone saw clearly.

On the ground lay a human head.

Yong Ge's head.

There's one more chapter today—please collect and vote!

Thank you to "Lei Yins Cangyue" for donating 10,000 Qidian coins—Boss, you're awesome, may you stay healthy!

(End of Chapter)