Chapter 85: Chapter 2: Abandoned Town 2
"What is this thing?"
Su Ziyu felt it was very cold to the touch, emitting a slight chill. The data stream didn’t react, seemingly indicating it wasn’t anything peculiar.
"Looks like I finally encountered a non-corporeal monster."
"Luckily, I had prepared earlier."
There seemed to be some unclean entities in this abandoned town.
Su Ziyu had originally enhanced his spiritual energy abilities for the possibility of encountering non-corporeal monsters. He didn’t expect to face one so soon. That ghostly thing just now seemed like a ghost; conventional weapons couldn’t kill it at all. Firearms should also be useless, but a blast of spiritual lightning killed it instantly.
"Is this place polluted?" Su Ziyu couldn’t find any living humans.
The entire town seemed to have been abandoned for some time.
He took out an energy bar and ate it bite by bite, observing his surroundings as he continued along the river. The water here was quite murky, exuding a rotten stench.
"Is there someone here?"
"Two footprints; one should be an adult male, the other is a bit shallow. Is it a child or a woman?"
Su Ziyu discovered two sets of footprints by a bridge, left not too long ago. One set was deeper, the other quite shallow. The deeper prints were likely left by an adult male, weighing at least 20 kilograms more than him.
"Follow and see."
"There should be humans in this world." Su Ziyu identified the direction and quickly followed.
The current world’s civilization level is not high.
From the observations in the abandoned town, it seemed to resemble a medieval civilization, similar to the world where Lina once was. However, Lina’s world was likely not as dangerous; at least she didn’t encounter such a malevolent ghost right at the start.
The town wasn’t very large.
Su Ziyu quickly came across a large graveyard along the river.
"Did so many people die?"
"Was it a plague? Or what happened?" With a glance, Su Ziyu saw thousands of graves. The town probably had only a few thousand inhabitants.
Boom!
A flash of firelight flitted through the darkness, followed by the sound of an explosion.
"Someone is fighting?"
Su Ziyu put on the witch’s cloak. His figure soon disappeared, only the grass moving underfoot as he moved.
With the weight removed, Su Ziyu moved more agilely.
Taking advantage of the night, he gradually approached. Within sight appeared some monster figures— rotten corpses, and several figures rapidly moving while crawling on the ground, their heads and body proportions were a bit off, with a wide-open mouth exposing muscular tissue.
The most eye-catching was a banshee floating mid-air, surrounded by a sinister dark cyan mist, moving with remarkable speed.
"Watch out for the ghouls!"
"Throw me the petroleum!" a deep male voice called out.
He was tall, wearing a set of armor, holding a Cross Greatsword reflecting silvery light. This man was quite skilled, dodging the enemy’s attacks cautiously, occasionally pouring some mysterious potion into his mouth.
Another was a woman in a blood-red tight outfit, her appearance unclear in the darkness, yet also quite adept, fighting against a horde of decaying corpses.
"Pollution entity detected."
"Mission objective: Eliminate the Plague Beldam."
"Mission reward: Authority level increase!"
The data stream changed a bit.
Su Ziyu curiously looked at the man fighting. He was using a sword too, yet he could harm the banshee, possibly through some special means.
Boom.
Another explosion sounded in the darkness.
The man seemed to have thrown something, causing an explosion in mid-air, turning into a mass of flames. The plague beldam soon let out a piercing scream.
"Not bad strength."
"That man’s swordsmanship is probably much better than mine; the woman’s slightly weaker." Su Ziyu watched with interest from the side.
Because of the invisibility cloak, neither of them noticed him.
However.
There was more than just humans present. A creature resembling a ghoul seemed to have smelled something, gradually creeping closer to him.
Whoosh!
A black short blade suddenly shot out in the night, piercing the ghoul’s head. Su Ziyu extended his hand, and the black short blade flew back into his palm. The two fighting were quite alert, the woman in the blood-red tight outfit immediately distanced herself, warily saying, "Who?"
Their language sounded somewhat familiar, structurally similar to ones he had heard before.
Su Ziyu thought for a moment, then put away the invisibility cloak and stepped out of the darkness.
As soon as he appeared, several decaying corpses rushed over, led by a ghoul. With the flash of a blade in the darkness, the ghoul’s stomach was split open by Su Ziyu.
Squelch.
Disgusting entrails spilled out onto the ground.
Su Ziyu looked at his shoes with a bit of disgust, wiping them on the ground. To deal with such monsters, using the man’s longsword or Great Sword would be the right choice; the black short blade’s attack range was too short, easily stained by the monster’s viscous blood and flesh.
"What a formidable guy!" The woman in the blood-red tight outfit paused her breath.
Su Ziyu’s swordsmanship was undoubtedly excellent.
In melee combat, decisive factors are power and speed, with techniques merely being means to utilize these elements. Su Ziyu’s physical attributes might be even stronger than the man tangled with the plague beldam.
"Demon Hunter?" the woman said hesitantly.
Su Ziyu’s attire was quite strange.
Ordinary people wouldn’t dress like this; some demon hunters did like bizarre clothing. His black combat suit was clearly designed for combat convenience. Considering the possibility of entering ancient planes, Su Ziyu adjusted the combat suit’s style a bit to resemble a black tight outfit.
"Yeah."
Su Ziyu’s shadow flickered, swinging his blade to decapitate three more decaying corpses.
This movement speed left the other two astounded; be it the decaying corpses or the ghoul, they didn’t see the mysterious man swing a second time.
It was much easier dealing with a demon hunter.
The woman in the blood-red tight outfit immediately shouted, "You’re here for the bounty too? Help us kill the plague beldam! We’ll share the bounty with you!"
Their advantage wasn’t very noticeable.
Success was possible, but someone would likely be gravely injured; offering part of the bounty to gain a powerful ally was a wise choice.
More importantly, this could quell potential greed or hostility from the other party.
"Deal." Su Ziyu pondered briefly and nodded.
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