Chapter 43: Gap

At this moment, the scene was utterly silent.

Everyone stared at Fang Yue in disbelief.

"Who the hell is that guy? He actually matched strength with the anomaly!"

"I recognize him—he's the refugee Lord Han brought into the village last night!"

"So he's this strong! No wonder Lord Han took notice of him!"

Coming to their senses, the crowd's expressions grew excited and animated.

Among the crowd, the players widened their eyes, staring at Fang Yue as if he were a monster.

"Impossible! A player actually blocked the anomaly's attack head-on!"

"Fake! Both captains were nearly killed by the anomaly—he's the one who stopped it?"

While everyone was still stunned, the maid anomaly moved.

It suddenly opened its mouth wide.

Roar!!

The anomaly's piercing, shrill shriek rang out instantly.

The next instant, while still locked in strength with Fang Yue, it used its severed-arm hand to stab straight down toward Lin Ling on the ground.

Lin Ling had just regained his senses; he had no time to ask Fang Yue why he appeared or how he could block the anomaly—he quickly shot a pleading glance at Fang Yue.

But he didn't need to signal.

As the anomaly changed tactics, Fang Yue had already kicked its severed-arm hand—and intercepted it in time.

Clang!

That kick sounded like striking an iron door—unbelievably hard.

Fortunately, Fang Yue had prepared himself; he poured all his strength into the kick and forcibly deflected the severed hand off course.

It plunged into the ground mere centimeters away from Lin Ling's head.

Lin Ling turned pale with terror; before he could recover, a tremendous force lifted him and hurled him backward in an arc.

When he landed, he was caught firmly by two people.

"Oh my god! Lin Captain, you really need to lose some weight—you're so heavy!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

Lin Ling looked at the two who caught him—they were two refugees who had entered the village last night.

One was bulky, the other somewhat refined-looking.

The bulky one—he recognized him. He was also a member of the Guard Team, but only a Reserve Member, named Niu Niu.

The two groaned, exchanged glances, then began ingratiating themselves with Lin Ling, boasting of their efforts.

"Lin Captain, you don't know how much we suffered just getting here to support the Gathering Fire Order."

"Yeah, yeah, Captain Lin, you've got to remember the credit we deserve—we're just two refugees, and we burned through half our lifespan last night!"

As they were still talking enthusiastically, they realized Lin Captain wasn't listening at all.

They immediately fell silent, following Lin Captain's gaze forward.

There, two figures were locked in mortal combat!

……

"Ora ora ora ora ora ora… Muda!"

31!

22!

15!

18!

1!

Fang Yue unleashed a combo, ending with a jumping kick that slammed into the anomaly, delivering perfect output.

The elegant numbers looked like a beautiful score—how the hell is this even possible!

This is what "ten percent aura, one percent damage" means!

Fang Yue stared at the anomaly, now pushed back slightly, having blocked his final kick with one hand—his expression darkened.

This isn't right.

Why isn't it losing any HP?!

Sure, it felt great, like punching a sandbag—but what's the point if the damage is this pathetic? Do I have to wear it down slowly?

Fang Yue felt frustrated.

He clearly remembered that when Lin Ling and Hua Wuye fought earlier, damage numbers flashed in the hundreds—Lin Ling even landed a four-digit critical strike.

But with me, it's two digits at minimum, sometimes dropping to single digits.

What the fuck is wrong here?

I shattered the 【Trapped Ball Anomaly】 before—every punch landed solidly, so damn strong!

Why doesn't it work on this one?

Both have black-blooded eyes—aren't they both 【Black Grade Low】 anomalies? Why the huge difference?

Fang Yue felt he must have missed some crucial insight.

Earlier, after flinging Lin Ling away, he had smoothly delivered a knee strike to the anomaly's chin.

33!

Perhaps because the anomaly's forehead had already been badly damaged, this hit didn't deal massive damage—but it did cause slight stagger.

Then came the scene he'd just witnessed.

Fang Yue unleashed a flurry of rapid punches, followed by a final kick—and yet, that was all the damage he caused.

The maid ghost also stopped her movements, shook her intact single arm, tilted her head with a hole in it slightly, as if to say—Is that all?

Fuck!

I was mocked by a ghost!

For the first time in my life!

Think of me, Fang Yue—aside from that one in Chen Fu, which ghost have I ever failed to shatter?

Don't even think about pretending!

Fang Yue lunged forward, closing the distance, channeling his last remaining internal energy into his fist, and swung a punch straight at the maid ghost's leaky forehead.

What Fang Yue didn't expect was that the maid ghost stood perfectly still, not dodging or evading—until the moment he struck, then suddenly exploded into motion.

In a flash, she threw a punch, trading damage for damage, landing a direct blow to Fang Yue's head.

Boom!!

Boom!!

The two explosive impacts sounded almost simultaneously.

The maid ghost's fist struck Fang Yue's head with perfect accuracy; searing pain surged through his skull, accompanied by the faint crack of breaking bone, and he was flung backward, a terrifying number appearing above his head.

111!

And Fang Yue's fist, before he was thrown back, slammed hard into the maid ghost, knocking her flat onto the ground with a thud that shattered the earth into a spiderweb of cracks.

106!

Mutual destruction?!

Everyone stared, stunned, at this scene.

No! The ghost had the upper hand!

The maid ghost, lying on the ground, creaked and groaned as she pushed herself up.

She touched her forehead; pieces of her shattered skull tumbled down in a rattling cascade.

She shook her head, then stepped slowly toward the direction Fang Yue had been flung.

A wave of utter despair washed over everyone.

Fang Yue's fall meant the complete failure of Gu Yue Cun's night defense.

Captain Lin was too wounded to fight on, Captain Hua's fate was uncertain, and Chief Captain Chen had vanished without a trace.

The other Deputy Captains could at best hinder or distract this ghost—they couldn't repel or kill it.

"It's over… Gu Yue Cun is finished!"

"So even he couldn't do it…"

"Human and ghost physiques are too vastly different! Xiao Ye… no, Ye Ge—he may have the potential of a Captain, but his combat skills are crude, nothing like the real Captains, and he has no proper weapon to pierce the ghost's iron hide! If only he'd had more time to grow, this wouldn't be the outcome!"

"Damn! We were so close—we could've killed the invading ghost!"

"Run! We can't stop the ghost anymore—scatter and flee to Mo Cun for shelter!"

Though these words were spoken, no villager moved.

Fleeing beyond the village at midnight, traveling through the night to Mo Cun?

That's no different from walking into death.

At best, you die in your birthplace; at worst, you die on some roadside in the wild.

The choice, then, goes without saying.

One more chapter coming—don't rush.

My sleep schedule's been off—I'm adjusting.

(End of Chapter)