The turn of events far exceeded Fang Ming's expectations. What kind of monster could kill such a terrifying behemoth in an hour at most? And what could have spirited it away?
The future grew increasingly obscure. Who was orchestrating this elaborate game of cat and mouse, where one predator became prey?
Calming himself, Fang Ming turned his gaze back to the four-armed monster. He wanted to know what entity had slain it.
Its body continued to expand, absorbing more and more of the white mist. Meanwhile, the mist surrounding Bai Mu Village gradually thinned, and the village's perimeter expanded unnoticed.
This reckless absorption of white mist had finally stirred some unknown entities within it.
To these beings, the white mist was their private domain. The four-armed monster's actions were an act of theft, especially infuriating to the ruler of the area where Bai Mu Village was located.
Within the white mist.
A stream of water materialized from nowhere, flowing slowly towards Bai Mu Village. As it flowed, the water grew, as if a spring with a terrifying reservoir was constantly replenishing it.
"Gurgle..." The sound of a rushing river reached Fang Ming's ears.
Fang Ming was surprised. "What sound is that?"
Could it be the white mist monster arriving?
Soon, what he witnessed in the distance sent him into a panic—a water curtain that blotted out the sky descended from the heavens, crashing towards Bai Mu Village with unstoppable force.
"Holy crap! Where did this tsunami come from?!"
Fang Ming couldn't comprehend it and quickly scrambled down, looking for a safe place to hide.
If this water curtain fell, Bai Mu Village would likely be reduced to dust.
"Hmph!" The four-armed monster exhaled a breath of scorching heat, its eyes cold as it looked towards the water curtain. "Kill—!"
"Thump! Thump!..." The four-armed monster strode towards the water curtain, the house talismans beneath its feet flashing like a carousel, resisting its weight.
The distance between them was merely a dozen steps for the four-armed monster's size. Soon, they met!
"Boom!"
The four-armed monster struck out with all four fists simultaneously, countless fist shadows smashing into the water curtain. Water splashed everywhere, piercing directly through the curtain to its other side.
The water curtain then crashed down heavily upon Bai Mu Village, covering more than half of it!
Fang Ming, hidden in the corner of a courtyard, watched the water curtain descending from above with wide eyes. His diary had not recorded his death here; theoretically, this water curtain would not kill him.
Yet, he couldn't help but feel a tremor of fear, like facing an unsharpened sword. Even knowing it wouldn't harm him, his heart couldn't suppress its unease. He wasn't an invincible movie protagonist with such willpower.
"Boom!" The water curtain fell.
All the talismans in Bai Mu Village lit up, forming a barrier that resisted it. Fang Ming breathed a sigh of relief and turned his attention to the battlefield between the two monsters.
After unleashing its attack, the water began to rapidly recede, gradually coalescing into a water sphere the size of the four-armed monster before it. Faces contorted in pain and fear continuously emerged on the surface of the sphere.
Once all the water had been gathered, the upper body of a person formed on the water sphere, calmly gazing at the four-armed monster. The four-armed monster, in turn, stared coldly at it.
"Someone dares to try and create malevolence on my territory? Overestimating themselves!" The white mist monster regarded the four-armed monster with disdain. "A mere defective product dares to look at me like that!"
At that moment, the four-armed monster seemed to receive a command and suddenly lunged forward to punch the white mist monster.
The white mist monster waved its right hand, and a stream of water surged from the water sphere below, meeting the four-armed monster's fist.
"Bang!"
The water stream exploded, and the four-armed monster was repelled a few steps.
The white mist monster showed no reaction, waving its hands again. Eight streams of water shot out simultaneously, each ending in a howling head. Clearly, these were even more powerful than the first stream!
"Bang bang bang bang..."
The four-armed monster crossed its four arms to block the water streams' attacks. The eight streams attacked in turns. Each impact pushed the four-armed monster back a step, while the heads on the water streams took advantage to bite at its arms.
In less than a minute, the four-armed monster's arms were riddled with wounds. Black mist seeped from the torn flesh, and its entire aura rapidly declined.
Fang Ming watched the distant battle from the shadows, deeply shocked. What was even more unbelievable was the content of his diary: this white mist monster was about to be finished off by another entity!
The four-armed monster was clearly no match for the white mist monster. The difference in their strength was like that between an adult and a child. The white mist monster had only used one move to render the four-armed monster utterly defenseless.
"Die!"
The white mist monster's calm voice rang out again. Countless streams of water surged from the water sphere, instantly encircling the four-armed monster.
As the white mist monster clenched its right hand, all the water streams contracted sharply, tightly encasing the four-armed monster within.
"Crack crack crack..." The sound of bones breaking echoed. Black mist swirled, and the four-armed monster wailed and struggled within the water.
The water encasing the four-armed monster gradually reformed into a water sphere. The four-armed monster's figure had long since vanished, annihilated and swallowed by the sphere.
"Overestimating themselves." The white mist monster retracted the water sphere that had devoured the four-armed monster back into its body. It looked down at Bai Mu Village below, where monsters, transformed from villagers, shivered on the ground. "Are these the ones stealing my things?"
"Die!"
The white mist monster attacked again, sending countless streams of water crashing towards Bai Mu Village. The moment they made contact, all the talismans in Bai Mu Village lit up once more.
"Bang bang bang..."
The talismans flickered continuously, but some also suddenly extinguished, clearly unable to withstand the white mist monster's assault.
Suddenly, the white mist monster looked sharply in one direction, and all the water streams rapidly retreated.
"It's here!" Fang Ming knew what was about to happen upon seeing this. The white mist monster had also sensed some impending danger.
As expected, in the next instant, a tentacle approximately two meters in diameter burst forth from Bai Mu Village, piercing the white mist monster's body before it could react. The tentacle then exploded into countless branches within its body, instantly filling the entire water sphere.
The white mist monster was terrified, its previous composure gone. It wailed, trying to escape, but its entire body was occupied by this unknown tentacle, leaving it utterly helpless.
The same scene repeated. Countless small tentacles pierced out from the white mist monster's body, then connected to each other, tightly wrapping the white mist monster.
This method had just been used by the white mist monster, and now someone had used it against it, but it was the white mist monster on the receiving end.
After wrapping the white mist monster, the tentacles rapidly shrunk and then pulled towards a certain direction, quickly disappearing into the darkness.
Both battles ended with such extreme speed, giving Fang Ming a movie-like sensation.
After the white mist monster was taken away, the monster-villagers of Bai Mu Village became busy again, rearranging monster corpses on the altar. A fist-sized black cloud gradually appeared...
Seeing no further developments here, Fang Ming quietly left, preparing to return.
On his way back, Fang Ming was still replaying the battles. It was clear that the entity that took the white mist monster was now within Bai Mu Village, and it was undoubtedly the mastermind behind the village's current state!
"I think I should strike the idea of destroying Bai Mu Village from my list," Fang Ming sighed. In this battle of bigger fish eating smaller fish, and smaller fish eating shrimp, he was less than a shrimp in the eyes of the shrimp. How could he possibly take on the big fish?
It wasn't that he lacked perseverance, but what was the point of doing something with no chance of success?
"But I have to admit, what exactly is the function of that altar? If I understood the white mist monster correctly, the people here wanted to create malevolence? What is this 'malevolence' it spoke of?"
Fang Ming felt as if his knowledge level was that of kindergarten. He couldn't even understand what these beings were saying, let alone gather information about them.
The journey back was smooth, encountering no "blind" monsters.
Upon arriving home, Fang Ming immediately opened his diary, hoping to see if any new content had been updated.
"After witnessing two battles between monsters, I deeply realized my shortcomings and lack of professional knowledge to analyze their abilities. The diary seemed to hear my thoughts and unlocked a new ability on its last page."
A new ability?
Fang Ming's eyes lit up. He quickly flipped to the last page of the diary. Indeed, large amounts of text had appeared on the previously blank page, informing Fang Ming what the four-armed monster and the white mist monster he had encountered actually were.
Ferocious Residual Body: An experiment created by certain entities for the purpose of artificially manufacturing ferocity. It utilizes the resentment generated by a large quantity of 'sha' seeds, forcibly condensed into 'sha' through secret methods. However, lacking the key element for forming 'sha', it results in a weakened, crippled half-ferocity.
Pure River Ferocity: The resentment of a large number of people who drowned themselves in the Pure River has accumulated over years. Upon triggering a certain special condition, it condenses into 'sha'. Due to its long formation time and the vast quantity of resentment, it has become a top-tier ferocity over a thousand years!
"Ferocity..."
Fang Ming closed the diary, his gaze unfocused as he stared out the window. Based on the general descriptions in the diary, he had gained some understanding of the nature of "ferocity."
It was a kind of eerie collective of resentment. In places with abundant resentment, under specific conditions, the resentment would condense, develop rudimentary consciousness, and thus form "ferocity."
If every ferocity was formed this way, it meant their strength would be terrifying!
Fang Ming suddenly thought of the entity in the old well, the person in the mirror. Could it be a ferocity? Was it the one manipulating things behind Bai Mu Village?
"I should stay far away from it in the future," Fang Ming muttered. "No, I should never see it at all."
He had no desire to interact with these things that defied scientific understanding. He only wanted to rescue Zhao Xue to resolve a personal matter and find clues about his parents' disappearance. As for the goal of destroying Bai Mu Village, he no longer held any hope.
The experiences of the night had left Fang Ming physically and mentally exhausted. He glanced at the updated content in his diary. No further incidents occurred in the next hour, allowing him to finally fall asleep with some peace of mind.