The Terror of Evil Spirits

By the time Lu Chen arrived at the patrol camp, someone was already waiting for him with a Pottery Jar in hand.

It was Arrow. As soon as Lu Chen arrived, he directly handed the Pottery Jar to him.

"Witch Doctor Master asked me to give this to you."

Opening the Pottery Jar and seeing it filled to the brim with Medicinal Soup, a faint smile appeared on Lu Chen's face.

"Thanks."

"Witch Doctor Master gave it to you. I'm just the errand runner."

After saying that, Arrow did not leave immediately. Looking at Lu Chen, he hesitated for a moment before taking the initiative to ask, "Are you still planning to hunt evil spirits today?"

Hearing the question and seeing the eager look in Arrow's eyes, Lu Chen said directly, "You want to imitate me and go out hunting too."

"Mm."

Upon receiving Arrow's definite reply, Lu Chen could only say that barbarians truly were fierce and brave. The young ones among them were even so courageous that they bordered on recklessness.

Shaking his head, Lu Chen said directly, "Don't do pointless things. The village rules have been enforced for so many years; naturally, there's a reason for them. I have special reasons for doing this. Otherwise, I wouldn't go beyond the Totem Pillar's protection."

If hunting had not earned him Experience Points, Lu Chen would never have taken the initiative to fight.

However, Arrow remained silent in response to Lu Chen's answer, and Lu Chen said nothing more.

Though he was one of the village's talented youths, he also had a family. His actions did not require Lu Chen's particular concern, and Lu Chen did not have the energy to pay attention to others.

The fact that he had offered a reminder at all was only because they were from the same village.

Carrying food and hot soup, Lu Chen passed Arrow and headed toward the designated patrol location with the two barbarians who had acted alongside him the previous night.

As they walked, one of the two burly barbarians spoke up. "A'Chen, is there anything you need us to help with?"

Seeing how enthusiastic the two were, Lu Chen was somewhat surprised. He had thought they would choose to request a transfer away. After all, Lu Chen was always going outside to hunt, and following him made it easy to encounter danger.

However, Lu Chen had misjudged the situation. If it had been peacetime, these two barbarians might indeed have left.

But things were different now. Even with the Totem Pillar suppressing them, evil spirits often entered the outskirts to hunt. Thus, even if Lu Chen did not venture outside, the Patrol Team could encounter danger at any time.

Following Lu Chen, however, had obvious benefits. After all, not every Patrol Team could deal with evil spirits. It was common for someone to die miserably whenever they encountered one.

Most Patrol Teams existed mainly to raise the alarm.

But following Lu Chen changed everything. Even outside the Totem Pillar's protection, Lu Chen could kill evil spirits. If an evil spirit entered the Totem Pillar's range, Lu Chen could usually kill it directly without the two men behind him even needing to act. Moreover, judging from Lu Chen's manner, he did not need their help at all. This made the two barbarians feel much safer following him.

Therefore, unless Lu Chen asked them to go outside and hunt with him, the two were unwilling to leave Lu Chen's protection.

Their speaking up now was also meant to show their loyalty. Barbarians might be simple and honest, but when it came to their own safety, they were not entirely without calculation.

Lu Chen did not understand this very well. He had only been in the Patrol Team for a short time and did not know the immense pressure faced by weaker patrol members.

After thinking briefly, Lu Chen spoke directly.

"Same as last night. Stay behind and watch. No matter what happens, don't come forward."

Going out to hunt was Lu Chen's own choice, and he would bear all the consequences himself. At the same time, the two barbarians were too weak and could easily be controlled, so Lu Chen still chose to have them remain behind.

Lu Chen's answer made the two barbarians breathe a sigh of relief, though they were also somewhat embarrassed. After a while, one of them said, "A'Chen, let me carry your things for you."

After considering it, Lu Chen nodded. "All right."

Handing the food in his hands to the two barbarians, Lu Chen carried only his iron sword and remained alert to the surroundings.

And so, while keeping careful watch, the group of three set off along the patrol route.

Before long, the three of them arrived at the edge of the Totem Pillar's coverage once more.

After having the two men retreat, Lu Chen stepped forward again. This time, however, he did not immediately go out. Instead, he held an oil lamp in one hand and an iron sword in the other, vigilantly watching the silent night outside.

The Small Drum Monster from last night had made Lu Chen wary of charging ahead rashly.

However, lacking any detection skill, Lu Chen saw nothing even after watching for a long while.

Instead, his abundant vitality drew over a crimson Human Head Fireball.

Watching the Human Head Fireball repeatedly try to approach the Totem Pillar's range, only to remain deeply wary of it, Lu Chen sighed.

"Forget it. There's no point looking. Without any detection skills, I'm just wasting time. I should kill first and gain Experience Points. Hopefully, I'll draw some kind of detection ability in the future."

With that thought in mind, Lu Chen stepped forward.

The moment he stepped beyond the Totem Pillar's coverage, the crimson fireball immediately rushed toward him.

But midway there, its body was completely pierced through by the dark iron sword stained with blood.

Then came the flames scattering and reforming, only to be immediately shattered again by Lu Chen.

The current Lu Chen no longer feared crimson fireballs that were merely remnant souls.

Of course, that was because Lu Chen had ample vitality and could ignore them.

If an ordinary person encountered one, it would be troublesome.

After all, without high-quality vitality, it was difficult to shatter a crimson fireball in a single blow. And if the fireball was not shattered, allowing its cold, sinister flames to invade one's body would absolutely not end well.

Though his mind was occupied with thoughts, Lu Chen's movements did not slow. He shattered the Human Head Fireball three times in succession, causing it to completely vanish into nothingness. Then, Lu Chen swiftly returned within the Totem Pillar's range before launching another attack from elsewhere.

"Hopefully, moving quickly and not staying in one place will let me encounter fewer dangerous monsters."

Thanks to his abundant vitality, Lu Chen cleared out five or six Human Head Fireballs around him in just over two hours.

By then, however, clearing the Human Head Fireballs and melting away their crimson flames had left Lu Chen somewhat drained.

Rather than stubbornly continuing his attacks, Lu Chen retreated farther inward. Then, he took out the meat wrapped in leaves and began taking huge bites.

Feeling his stomach constantly churning as it digested the large chunks of meat, while streams of warmth flowed from his stomach through his bloodstream and throughout his body, replenishing his nutrients, Lu Chen nodded in satisfaction.

"As expected, saving some food to replenish my energy at night was the right choice."

His powerful physique gave Lu Chen strength in every respect, but what he praised most was his stomach's digestion.

In just half an hour, Lu Chen had completely digested the food he had swallowed. At the same time, the digested wild boar meat made his body lively once more.

Half an hour was all it took to recover from depleted vitality back to normal. That was the powerful restorative ability of his physique.

Of course, ample food was indispensable in the process.

With his body restored, it was naturally time to hunt again. Yet after walking along the edge of the village and looking at the situation outside, Lu Chen's expression turned grim.

"Why are there still so many Human Head Fireballs outside?"

"I already cleared the area once, and I killed several strange creatures last night. Yet now, there are almost no fewer Human Head Fireballs outside. What exactly is going on?"

"Could it be that strange creatures can't be killed? Or did I never actually kill them before?"