Chapter 14 Those in the Light, Those in the Dark (III)

Switching perspectives, let's look at Wang Tanzhi's side...

With absolute advantages in both intelligence and strength, Xiao Tan had virtually no worries when he acted. Therefore, he quickly tracked down Xian Ye Wei Wang and Zui Zhong Qiangxi and kept them at a distance.

Although those two remained vigilant, their Investigation Specializations were mediocre. The constant interference from approaching ghosts also made it almost impossible for them to spot Xiao Tan.

"These two guys... are they planning to run outside the town...?" After tailing them for five or six minutes, Wang Tanzhi discerned their intentions.

His guess was correct. Xian Ye Wei Wang and Zui Zhong Qiangxi were trying to "escape Heyue Town."

Even though the two Corpse Blades members hadn't obtained much intel, they were still professional players, and deducing the existence of a "barrier" wasn't difficult. After their attempt to "be the first to solve the plot" failed, Xian Ye Wei Wang's backup plan was to "escape the barrier."

According to Captain Xian Ye's idea... if he and his teammate could successfully leave Heyue Town, they'd have at least three advantages: First, the ghost pursuit would stop; second, the skill restrictions would be lifted; and third, they shouldn't encounter the people from Hell's Frontline in the short term.

In short, he planned to use "time" and "distance" to reduce their current disadvantage and drag the fight into a protracted war before seeking an opportunity to win.

Unfortunately... none of his plans or reactions were outside of someone's predictions.

In fact, from the moment Xian Ye Wei Wang was drawn in by Feng Bujue's mountain song and appeared before the latter, he was as good as trapped in the other's palm, unable to escape...

Here, let's take a moment to review Captain Xian Ye's experiences after meeting Brother Jue...

First, he was injured and tracked by Brother Jue, serving as a guinea pig. Then, after running for tens of minutes, he finally met up with his teammate, but still couldn't shake off the surveillance...

When Feng Bujue went to help Xiao Tan and Xiao Ling at Oink's place, he arranged for Ruo Yu to secretly follow Xian Ye Wei Wang and Zui Zhong Qiangxi to ensure they lived a little longer. Thus, the scene of Ruo Yu stopping Miao Xuzi occurred.

And now, here they were, being watched by Xiao Tan again.

In summary... the Corpse Blades' captain had basically never left Hell's Frontline's sight, and his and his teammate's lives were in a state of constant peril.

If someone analyzed this match using recordings, they would likely conclude that Corpse Blades' first team had already lost ten minutes after the match began.

Because in those ten minutes, the two people who came into contact with Feng Bujue were one dead and one injured, one breaking the balance of the situation, and the other becoming a pawn for the opponent to consolidate their advantage...

"Eh? You can actually see the 'border'." After following for several more minutes, Xiao Tan saw a hazy barrier in the distance.

The barrier was like a semi-transparent energy field. In the hazy moonlight of the night, it was difficult to detect from afar. But upon closer inspection, one could see a "refraction" effect of light and shadow.

"This is bad... there are no more houses ahead, and the crops in the fields are all withered..." Xiao Tan muttered to himself as he tracked them, "Even if their eyesight is average, in an open area with no cover, relying on a bunch of semi-transparent ghosts for cover... I'll still be exposed."

Even so, he couldn't just watch those two leave his sight. If he really had to, he'd have to reveal himself. It was better to directly kill them than to lose track of them.

Fortunately... it seemed he didn't need to.

Because Xian Ye Wei Wang and Zui Zhong Qiangxi, upon reaching the border... stopped themselves.

"Damn it... I knew it wouldn't be that easy." Touching the "barrier wall" in front of him, Xian Ye Wei Wang muttered dejectedly.

Buzz buzz buzz...

Zui Zhong Qiangxi next to him immediately clenched his fist and knocked on the invisible barrier, but it felt... like punching into semi-solidified cement, unable to exert any force at all.

"This... you'd need a high-intensity energy skill to create an opening, right?" Zui Zhong Qiangxi then said.

"Yeah..." Xian Ye Wei Wang shook his head and sighed, "But right now our skills are restricted, so we can't produce high-intensity energy attacks at all."

"So..." Zui Zhong Qiangxi swallowed and glanced back at the town, "We can only go back...?"

"It seems we have no other choice." Xian Ye Wei Wang quickly accepted the reality before him and thought of his next move, "Let's head back into town and get rid of the blood on us first..." He turned around and continued, "Those ghosts are too troublesome. To avoid them, we have to keep moving at a certain speed... which severely affects our stamina recovery. Also... they indirectly expose our location, making it easy for the Hell's Frontline guys to track us down."

"But the problem is..." Zui Zhong Qiangxi said, "Even if we stop the bleeding from our wounds, the blood on our clothes will still attract monsters..." He spread his hands and said helplessly, "So far, the rivers and wells we've seen are dry, so we have no water to clean our clothes, and we can't exactly take off our clothes and throw them away..."

"I know." Xian Ye Wei Wang waved his hand, interrupting his teammate, "I wouldn't bring it up if I hadn't already thought of a solution."

"Oh?" Zui Zhong Qiangxi immediately asked, his eyes lighting up, "What solution?"

"Since we can't completely 'clean' the blood..." Xian Ye Wei Wang replied, "Then we can try to 'cover up' the blood with a stronger odor."

"That's right!" Zui Zhong Qiangxi suddenly realized, "That makes sense!"

"Mm..." Captain Xian Ye nodded to him, "Anyway, follow me... I actually considered this situation on the way here, so I noticed a pigpen in the northeast corner of the village beforehand..."

…………

On the other hand, back at the Liuhe Temple...

After resolving Smartie's plot, Brother Jue and Xiao Ling ascended to the fifth floor of the pagoda.

In this floor's chamber, a humanoid ghost floated. His face was obscured by messy, long hair, making it difficult to discern. His entire body was covered in a layer of flesh-colored "armor," with twisted patterns all over its surface.

Most people would be intimidated by the appearance of such a creature, but Feng Bujue walked towards it without hesitation.

Soon, Brother Jue realized... that it wasn't wearing "armor" at all. Those fleshy, thick substances... were all flesh and blood.

"Are you Zhang Ke?" Feng Bujue asked without hesitation.

But the other party didn't respond to him, or rather... didn't respond with "words."

"Ugh..." Two seconds later, Zhang Ke let out a groan and suddenly raised his head.

Brother Jue took the opportunity to raise the lantern and shine it on the other party's face.

It was a face full of twisted patterns and extreme pain. Except for the eyes, the outlines of the other features were difficult to make out, and the only discernible eyes were completely white.

"Ah-ah!" Zhang Ke immediately went berserk when his face was illuminated by the white light. He roared and opened his arms wide.

At that moment, the entire chamber was enveloped in a suppressed resentment, and the sudden burst of invisible spirit pressure made Brother Jue and Xiao Ling feel a weight on their shoulders, as if they were carrying several times their own weight.

"This kind of reaction, huh..." Facing the change, Brother Jue calmly muttered, "Then I'll take that as a 'yes'."

Feng Bujue knew very well that the Zhang Ke before him... was obviously not the final Boss of this scenario. In fact, he should be considered the easiest of the six ferocious spirits to kill.

Forty years ago, Zhang Ke secretly crafted a key to the stone courtyard with his own hands and snuck into the pagoda. As an ordinary person, he naturally had no ability to break the seals within the tower. Therefore, after some random wandering, he was injured by the defensive spells before even reaching the second floor.

Then, in a panic, Zhang Ke's blood... dripped onto the floor. This drop of blood wouldn't have mattered if it had dripped outside the tower, but inside the tower... was the "inside of the seal." Thus... the Six Harmonies Mirror reacted to the blood and directly sucked Zhang Ke's three spiritual souls and seven earthly spirits to the top floor.

In the next forty years, this poor man was repeatedly tormented by the vengeful spirits in the mirror, suffering the pain of uninterrupted purgatory. The "flesh armor" on his body... was actually the accumulation of scars from countless tortures.

Later, when Miao Xuzi and the others unlocked the mirror's seal, Zhang Ke, as the last vengeful spirit absorbed by the mirror, carried the resentment of the "Hell Realm" and appeared inside the tower. According to Oink's description—"This person's soul has long been tortured beyond recognition, let alone reason... he may not even have consciousness. Rather than calling him a ferocious spirit, it's more accurate to call him a mass of flesh carrying power."

Of course, even without intelligence, he still had some strength. The system placed this "Hell Realm" ferocious spirit here as a "test of raw power." There was no need for tactics to deal with him, but the battle had to be ended with an attack that had power above a certain level.

In summary, there were only two types of people who could pass this point. The first type had already solved the plot and drunk Oink's meat soup. The second type had the strength to fight their way up while their skills were restricted and their survival points were constantly depleting, and could then kill Zhang Ke.

Feng Bujue and Gu Xiaoling undoubtedly belonged to the former... and to be honest, even if those two Corpse Blades members had really snatched the key from Miao Xuzi, their chances of surviving after entering the tower were slim...

"Then... let me help you find release..." After waiting for two seconds, Feng Bujue put down the lantern, raised his hands, and unleashed a [Xie Wang Yan Sha Lian Yu Jiao (Evil King's Flaming Hells Scorch)]

To be on the safe side, Brother Jue also instantly activated [Ling Shi Ju Shen Shu - Gai (Spirit Consciousness Convergence Technique - Modified)] when casting this skill to increase its power, aiming to finish it in one shot.

Boom boom boom—

In an instant, the shadows of fists flickered, and black flames raged. As the flames moved, they brought forth bursts of roaring.

Seconds later, the pressure in the chamber lightened, announcing the demise of this gatekeeper Boss.

"Okay... now the fun begins." Before the mass of flesh had completely dissipated, Feng Bujue turned to Xiao Ling and muttered, and... conveniently took out the [Blood Zombie God's Magatama] from his bag.