Chapter 421

The loss was serious; Fang Yue awkwardly said, "I was just swallowed in, didn't even see what was around, didn't think that far ahead."

No one blamed Fang Yue; they did their best to salvage what they could—some supplies were preserved, and two horses still lived, though severely burned; after makeshift first aid, they could still pull the cart for a while, but how long they'd last was unknown.

The only good news was that despite the events of tonight, no one had died, though everyone had some injury, varying in severity.

"Xiao Ye, this place isn't safe to stay; wash off the stench, then pack up quickly and leave!"

Lord Han said with a grave expression.

We set up camp here, first encountered the 【Bi Gua Gui】, then the smell attracted a giant 【Bi Gua Gui】; let's assume it was the smell that drew it.

In short, this area is definitely unsafe; there may be even more anomalies lurking.

If this were a location with relatively few anomalies, even after killing a 【Bi Gua Gui】, since other anomalies were far away, not washing off the blood's stench wouldn't matter.

But here, clearly, it won't work.

That giant 【Bi Gua Gui】 arrived so fast—it must have been nearby all along; who knows how many more anomalies are out there? We must leave this place immediately.

Fang Yue naturally had no objections.

He took off his clothes, rinsed off the stench with a little Qing Shui, then burned the garments with the Flame of the Heart Method; the matter was settled.

But Lin Ling's organization of the team's supplies was far more tedious.

Added to that, Lin Ling was severely injured and could only give verbal orders, leaving Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu to do the work—making progress even slower.

Only after several urgent proddings from Lord Han did they hastily finish organizing, and the team immediately set off.

"Ye Ge, help me roast some frog legs."

The horses pulling the cart were barely standing, so no one rode; everyone walked on foot.

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu jogged two steps closer to Fang Yue and pointed mysteriously at a large, partially severed frog leg tied behind the cart.

Fang Yue blinked: "You want to eat this?"

"Mm-hmm! It'll definitely boost stats!"

Last time she ate the 【Shi You Chong】, she seemed to have tasted the benefits, and now she was especially interested in anomaly corpses.

Of course, she only ate cooked food—and it had to taste good; she carried various seasonings with her at all times.

Fang Yue didn't hesitate; he ignited flame from his fingertip, lifted the giant frog leg, turned up the heat, and soon a savory aroma spread.

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu hurriedly sprinkled bottles and jars nearby, but her cooking skills seemed poor—she scattered seasonings randomly.

Fang Yue noticed she had dumped the same seasoning multiple times; the flavor was surely overpowering.

"You've never cooked for yourself before, have you?"

"No!"

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu said it with complete confidence.

She then felt the smell was sufficient and told Fang Yue to stop.

"What if it's not cooked through? These are frog legs—full of parasites."

"Huh? Ye, Ye Ge, don't scare me—we're in a game, these are anomalies, right? No parasites?"

"I'm just guessing; better to roast it thoroughly."

"Uh…"

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu, still somewhat repulsed by bugs and such, agreed.

After roasting a bit longer, Fang Yue extinguished the flame and handed it to Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu.

She didn't hesitate; carefully tore off a piece, studied it closely, then swallowed it whole…

And immediately vomited it out with a "Wah!"

Fang Yue:???

"Parasites?"

"No… it's just disgusting."

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu's eyes filled with tears, glistening.

"What about the stats? Did they go up?"

"I didn't even swallow it…"

"Then eat it!"

"Ah, I… I can't."

"Close your eyes and imagine it's cake. You can do it."

"Cake… cake cake cake!!"

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu self-hypnotized, then swallowed a small piece—and immediately widened her eyes.

"How is it?"

"It went up! Ye Ge, it went up by 0.2! Just from this tiny bite!"

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu grew excited, but her mood instantly froze—her seasoning had been so abstract it turned into a dark dish, utterly inedible.

Between stats and taste, Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu chose taste—but she feared Fang Yue would force-feed her the thing anyway; the image was too horrifying.

She let out a forced laugh. "Ye Ge, I'll… I'll eat it slowly myself, you go ahead."

"Mm, fine. I'll get someone to supervise you."

Huh?? Supervision now?

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu nearly cried—she should've just eaten the plain, unseasoned frog leg instead of this dark horror!

After Fang Yue left, he truly sent someone to watch her; Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu could only tearfully chew slowly.

Actually, Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu had it easy—she only suffered while eating; others trained hard, endured more pain, and gained even less in stats.

Because of the earlier 【Shi You Chong】 example, Fang Yue knew some things were edible for Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu but not for others.

Even he could only eat them thanks to the 【Ye Zhi Hu Xi】 enhancement; and even then, a mere Black Grade Mid-level anomaly gave barely any stat gain from the kill reward, let alone from eating its meat.

Glancing toward the back of the group, he saw Lin Ling lying on the cart, her face somewhat pale. Although she had already taken a pill and her life was not in danger, her injuries were still serious and required proper recuperation.

"Ye Ge, this trip has gotten off to a bad start."

Jing Yan leaned in at that moment and said in a lowered voice.

Fang Yue glanced at him, cradling Xiao Xuedou in his left arm and supporting Lord Han's head with his right hand—he had become a little nursemaid.

"Don't worry. Before, I hadn't thought it through properly. I figured that with you all here, and the village road being safe, cultivating for a while shouldn't be a problem. Now that this has happened, part of the responsibility is mine. For the rest of the journey, I'll be on full guard—I won't give any anomaly another chance to attack the group."

With Fang Yue's assurance, Jing Yan immediately felt at ease.

Fang Yue's past battle achievements were fresh in his mind; with Fang Yue around, the group should be able to travel safe and worry-free.

"Xiao Ye, I have something to tell you."

Seeing that Jing Yan was fine, Lord Han suddenly said.

Fang Yue was taken aback for a moment, took Lord Han from Jing Yan, and asked curiously, "Lord Han, what is it?"

"That giant 【Jade-Croak Anomaly】 you killed earlier—it was probably coming for you."

"Coming for me?"

Fang Yue was startled.

He had dropped out of his cultivation state and simply gone on a rampage, not thinking that much about it. Hearing Lord Han say this now, he could not help but frown.

"That doesn't make sense. You were the ones who killed the 【Jade-Croak Anomaly】 and got stained with its blood's scent, which drew the giant 【Jade-Croak Anomaly】. Why would it specifically come for me?"

"I thought the same, but the facts are exactly so. At the time, Lin Ling and the others were attacking the giant 【Jade-Croak Anomaly】 with everything they had, yet it charged straight at you, completely ignoring everyone else."

(End of this chapter)