Extraordinary Items

As Lu Chen spat out a mouthful of hot blood onto the small drum.

In an instant, a shrill scream came from the small drum.

Struck by Lu Chen's blood, the face, nose, and calves on the small drum dissolved continuously as if they had been splashed with sulfuric acid.

Very soon, all the strange phenomena on the small drum vanished, leaving behind only the blood-red drum. That crimson color came from the blood Lu Chen had spat onto it.

After all those phenomena disappeared, a system notification sounded beside Lu Chen's ear.

Ding. System notification: Host has killed a Bai You Grade Aberration and gained 200 Experience Points.

"Whew..."

After the system confirmed that the small drum had truly died, Lu Chen let out a breath and sat down weakly.

His blood and qi had boiled throughout his body just now, while his heart had pounded without pause, placing immense strain on him. Then, that sudden stop at the end had nearly killed him.

Even now, Lu Chen was still shaken by the close call.

"That was far too close. If I'd passed out from cardiac arrest, I would've died here this time."

"As expected, in the real world, physical constitution is still the most useful thing. As long as my body is strong enough, I can endure any kind of aberration head-on!"

Though he was reflecting inwardly and his body was extremely weak, after taking a few breaths, Lu Chen still quickly forced himself to his feet.

"It isn't safe outside. I need to return to the Totem Pillar's protection."

With that thought, Lu Chen struggled to rise, preparing to head back. Yet before leaving, he inexplicably picked up the blood-red small drum left behind after the Small Drum Monster's death.

Then, something that surprised Lu Chen even more happened.

Ding. System notification: An extraordinary item has been detected. Would you like to spend Experience Points to appraise it?

Ding. System notification: This item is an extraordinary item and can be sold to the shop in exchange for Spirit Crystals.

The sudden system notifications stunned Lu Chen. He had never expected the corpse left behind by the Small Drum Monster to turn into an extraordinary item.

What surprised Lu Chen even more was that the top-up function, which he had thought would be useless after leaving the real world, could now actually be used.

"Although topping up in this world requires extraordinary items, as long as I can top up, that's enough. With Spirit Crystals, if I draw an unsatisfactory skill next time, I can just replace it."

Thinking of the benefits of being able to top up, Lu Chen could barely suppress the smile on his face.

However, he soon calmed himself and hurried back into the range protected by the Totem Pillar.

It still wasn't safe yet.

Once inside, before Lu Chen could inspect the extraordinary item in his hand, the two barbarians approached him with guilty expressions.

"Sorry, A'Chen. We didn't help at all just now!"

"If you want to scold someone, scold me. I was the one who stopped A'Niu from going out to help you."

Looking at the apologetic pair, Lu Chen shook his head. "This isn't your fault. I was the one who wanted to go out. You were right to follow Witch Doctor Master's orders."

Although the two had not helped in the end, Lu Chen was not angry. He understood clearly that going out to hunt Aberrations had been his own decision and had nothing to do with them.

Therefore, if anything went wrong, Lu Chen himself had to bear the consequences. It had nothing to do with the two of them.

At the same time, after these few hunts, Lu Chen had to admit that although the Witch Doctors' approach was somewhat conservative, it was the right one.

"Sure enough, how could the Clan Chief and Witch Doctors, who have survived in this wilderness, possibly be fools?"

"Ordinary barbarians truly shouldn't go out to hunt. Not only would hunting outside consume a huge amount of blood and qi, leaving them weakened."

"The various Aberrations outside can also easily kill barbarians. And if a large number of young barbarian men die, this village will soon perish as well."

With that in mind, Lu Chen spoke to the two barbarians again. "When I go hunting in the future, you'd better stay farther away. I'm afraid you'll get caught up in it."

He told them to stay away partly for their own good, but also because he did not want them to affect him.

"Aberrations are extremely strange. One that can manipulate heartbeats has already appeared. In the future, there may be Aberrations that control minds or parasitize others. If I encounter such Aberrations, these two barbarians won't just be unable to help—they'll become a burden. It's best for me to act alone from now on."

"You're still planning to go out?"

"A'Chen, it's too dangerous outside. You should stay in the village!"

Lu Chen did not want the two barbarians to go out, but they were even more shocked that Lu Chen still wanted to leave after being attacked by the Drum Monster.

Lu Chen merely smiled faintly at their surprise.

"Going out is necessary."

Of course, Lu Chen could choose not to go out and remain around the Totem Pillar like the other barbarians.

But if he did that, then when danger came, he would be like the other barbarians—waiting helplessly to die in despair.

After all, the Totem Pillar was not invincible.

Lu Chen had not forgotten that monsters often broke into the Totem Pillar's range to hunt villagers. That was also why the Night Patrol Team had been established.

"Although most monsters can currently only enter the outer perimeter, and become weakened under the Totem Pillar's suppression, what if a powerful aberration comes?"

That awareness of danger made Lu Chen steel his resolve.

"Hunting absolutely cannot stop. Even if I die while hunting, I refuse to wait in despair for death to come one day!"

With that thought, Lu Chen led the two barbarians back toward the village.

There was no helping it. Though he wanted to hunt, the battle against the Bai You Grade Aberration, the Small Drum Monster, had drained Lu Chen considerably. For now, he could only rest.

"Rest for now. Once I've eaten my fill tomorrow, I'll fight again tomorrow night!"

Afterward, Lu Chen rested near the village while the two barbarians continued patrolling along their route.

This actually violated the rules somewhat. Lu Chen should have been patrolling as well.

But among barbarians, strength was justice. Lu Chen's formidable power, along with his ruthlessness in hunting evil ghosts—and succeeding—left the two barbarians utterly unable to object.

And so, as Lu Chen rested, the night passed.

Over the course of that night, Lu Chen noticed many things.

"Most evil ghosts won't enter the area covered by the Totem Pillar. Therefore, most of the time, the Patrol Team remains safe and sound."

"They may be safe most of the time, but once something happens, people usually die. Even suppressed by the Totem Pillar, those evil ghosts can still inflict tremendous harm."

"Moreover, the evil ghosts that dare rush into the Totem Pillar's range are stronger than those outside. That's also why the Patrol Team suffers so many deaths."

As he pondered and rested, dawn finally arrived. When the first ray of light appeared on the eastern horizon, the evil ghosts wandering around the village vanished one after another like phantoms.

That made Lu Chen narrow his eyes.

"They vanished outright instead of hiding during the day. This world—and those aberrations—run far deeper than I thought!"

After thinking about the world for a while, Lu Chen quickly shook his head and stopped dwelling on it.

"I don't have the energy to concern myself with the world right now. I should focus on myself first."

Once daylight fully broke, the night patrolmen soon gathered together. Then, everyone entered the square and stood beneath the Totem Pillar.

The Witch Doctor Master then activated the Totem Pillar's power and inspected them. Once he confirmed that everyone was safe and unharmed, cheers immediately erupted from the crowd.

For barbarians, getting through a night patrol without casualties was already something worth celebrating.

"A'Chen, how did the patrol go?"

After activating the Totem Pillar, the Witch Doctor Master came over to Lu Chen and asked after him with concern.

Lu Chen smiled at that.

"I'm fine. Everything went well. I'm going to rest first."

Since he still had things to do that day, Lu Chen did not speak much with the Witch Doctor Master and soon left.

After Lu Chen departed, the Witch Doctor Master did not leave the square. Instead, he summoned the two barbarians over.

He then asked them how Lu Chen had performed the previous day.

Originally, it was merely a routine inquiry. The Witch Doctor Master had not thought Lu Chen would encounter anything strange on his first night patrol, so he had never expected to learn anything from this questioning.

But very quickly, the Witch Doctor Master realized that he had concluded too soon.