Escape for His Life

Under the dim yellow glow of the oil lamp, Li Shaolin felt a chill run through his body. Listening to the faint howls of wind outside the window tearing through the air, his heart began to pound uncontrollably.

Suppressing the heavy, drowsy feeling clouding his mind, he took out the Book of the Dead and summoned two Skeleton Warriors and a Clay Golem. Only then did he feel somewhat reassured. Fortunately, the summons were already present and did not need to be called forth again. Otherwise, in his current state, he definitely would not have been able to complete the summoning spell.

Watching the soul flames flicker in the Skeleton Warriors' eye sockets as they raised their Bone Blades and stood silently by the door like two loyal guards, while the Clay Golem slowly circled around him, Li Shaolin could no longer suppress the spreading drowsiness. He collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.

In his daze, he vaguely heard what seemed to be the agonized cries of a man, sometimes loud and sometimes soft, reaching his ears in waves and disturbing him terribly. Light also seemed to flicker beyond the half-closed door. Li Shaolin found himself desperately wanting to open his eyes and see what was there, but no matter how hard he tried, it was futile. Waves of emptiness surged through him, and he cried out before suddenly waking up!

Opening his eyes, he found himself still in the room. The lamp flickered weakly, its faint reflection falling upon the wine barrel on the nearby table. With an inadvertent glance, he seemed to see a man's face flash across the barrel, filled with pain!

Startled, he thought to himself, This room is haunted! He stood up and looked through the crack in the door. Six children stood silently in the room outside, all facing the wall as though they had discovered something unbelievable. Their positions formed a Pentagram!

"So I really did end up in a haunted house! No, I need to get out of here!" Although he had Bone Fang and three summons, he had no idea whether they could deal with ghosts. Escaping came first.

Turning his head, he saw two latticed wooden windows in the adjacent wall. Their handles were shaped like human eyes, as if they were staring at him! He shuddered, not daring to think further. Walking over, he gripped a handle and gave it a gentle pull. With a creak, the window opened, and gusts of wild wind immediately blew in from the pitch-black night outside, stinging his face with icy pain!

He looked down. The drop was around six or seven meters, and he immediately hesitated. After leveling up several times, he felt that his physical condition had improved greatly, but jumping down from six or seven meters... he had no idea whether he would break his legs. If he became disabled, that would be tragic.

As he considered it, he saw the Clay Golem wandering aimlessly nearby. After thinking it over, he decided to have the fellow test the jump. He gave the golem the mental command to leap down. The Clay Golem placed its two muddy arms on the nearby table, sprang up, and without hesitation plunged headfirst out the window!

"You can't even jump properly? You deserve to fall to your death!" Li Shaolin could not help feeling annoyed. This thing really was stupid beyond belief! Yet after a while, he did not hear the sound of anything heavy hitting the ground. He quickly poked his head out the window and saw that the golem had turned into a puddle of mud spread across the ground.

"Damn, how did I forget that this guy can soften earth?" Li Shaolin was overjoyed. He immediately ordered the Clay Golem to maintain that position, then jumped down himself! Wind howled past his ears, and cold air poured into his nose, making it difficult to breathe. His feet landed on something soft, like a heap of cotton. It was sticky and mushy, yet he did not feel the slightest impact.

After ordering the two Skeleton Warriors to jump down as well and having the golem catch them, he did not dare remain there any longer. He picked a random direction, had the Skeleton Warriors lead the way, and fled in panic!

The dead of night was pitch-black, but fortunately, the Skeleton Warriors walked ahead. Whenever they encountered thorny bushes or brambles, they hacked them apart with their Bone Blades, saving Li Shaolin from having his clothes shredded and ending up looking like a beggar. After stumbling along for a while, he faintly heard the sound of running water. It looked like they had reached the edge of the lake.

Remembering that strange child who had been fishing, Li Shaolin shivered. He thought that child was probably like the six children in the attic—not human either! But if the lake water flowed somewhere, where did it lead? Maybe he should follow the shore. At least he would not run into wolves or spiders in the forest. Getting injured in the darkness would be bad.

Having made up his mind, he commanded the Skeleton Warriors to move along the lakeshore. The rustling sound of the water came from the two skeletons stepping through it, while the Clay Golem seemed quite afraid of water. It wandered far away along the sand and stones by the lake, following behind them.

Before he knew it, they had walked for two or three hours. The sky was beginning to brighten, and dawn was not far off. Damn it, my life really sucks. I could have been a mine owner, but instead I came here to suffer this kind of crap! Li Shaolin was thoroughly irritated. Just then, the lake water churned, followed by several "Mmmh" cries. Several green-skinned Murlocs, resembling upright frogs, charged toward them!

"Murlocs?" Before he could react, a wooden spear shot toward his chest!

He hurriedly stepped back and barely dodged it. The spear struck the sand beside him with a hum, burying itself halfway into the ground. Its force was obvious!

"You think I'm an easy target? Brothers, get them!" With a wave of his hand, the two Skeleton Warriors charged forward. The Clay Golem paced twice along the shore but still did not dare enter the water. At that moment, several more wooden spears flew toward them!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! All three wooden spears stabbed into the Clay Golem's body! Since the golem could not enter the water, Li Shaolin had pulled it over to use as a shield. The golem's body was special; its skin softened at once and caught all three spears.

"Heh heh, too bad these wooden spears are trash. Otherwise, I could have played Zhuge Liang's straw boat borrowing arrows trick." Li Shaolin grinned foolishly. Seeing that the two Skeleton Warriors had already engaged the Murlocs, he was about to help when he suddenly remembered a skill: Venomous Dagger. Couldn't it be applied to summons? He decided to give it a try.

As he began chanting, two clouds of green gas condensed in the air and instantly clung to the Skeleton Warriors' Bone Blades. The blades immediately turned a vivid green, with specks of green light dripping down their lengths like liquid before dissipating into the air. It was utterly eerie. After casting the spell, Li Shaolin felt his mana plummet. It had consumed half of it!

After their weapons were coated in poison, the Skeleton Warriors swung their Bone Blades and struck the Murlocs. The Murlocs they hit immediately turned green, as though infected with poison. Li Shaolin quickly locked onto one Murloc with magic and fired two Bone Fangs. Like bullets, they punched two small holes into its body, and blood slowly flowed out. The Murloc let out a string of "Mmmh" cries, immediately abandoning the Skeleton Warriors. Waving its thin blade, it rushed toward him!

The moment it reached the shore, the Clay Golem clenched its fists and brought them together with a bang, smashing the frog-like head to pulp. Li Shaolin shamelessly cursed, "You want to come after me? Get past my brother first!"

The two Skeleton Warriors raised both blades and, within a few exchanges, slaughtered three Murlocs. The remaining two seemed to realize things had gone badly. They cried out and fled in separate directions!

One had only run a few steps when the green color around its wound spread throughout its body in the blink of an eye. It gave a mournful cry, lost all strength to run, and was caught by one of the Skeleton Warriors, who cut it down with a single strike. The other had not been injured and disappeared after a few quick leaps.

He recalled the Skeleton Warriors, but the Clay Golem had no way to collect the spoils. Li Shaolin was also a complete non-swimmer, so he could only give up.

"Fine, I'll spare its life. Amitabha. I hope it turns over a new leaf and becomes a better person. Let's keep moving!" He wore a compassionate expression, like an enlightened old monk.

This time, they walked farther up the beach rather than provoking the Murlocs in the water and risking another hard battle.

After passing an Elwynn Ancient Tree, a small glowing plant caught Li Shaolin's eye.

"Huh? Strange, glowing grass!" He examined it for a long time without figuring anything out, then suddenly remembered his Detection skill and quickly cast it on the plant. Several small words appeared: Silverleaf Grass! "Damn, I should learn alchemy later. I wonder what these potions are even useful for." Since he had no inventory bag, he could not take it with him. He had wanted to study how this thing differed from plants on Earth, but it seemed he would have to forget about it.

They continued onward when several Murloc cries sounded behind them. Looking back, Li Shaolin saw that the one who had escaped had returned with a large group of Murlocs, charging toward them amid cries of "Mmmh"!

"Brothers, retreat!" Li Shaolin decisively chose to run for his life. But the ancient trees along the river were huge, and Forest Wolves seemed to be lurking about in the early morning. It did not look safe, so they should keep following the riverbank! Thus, the two Skeleton Warriors ran in front, Li Shaolin stayed in the middle, and the Clay Golem brought up the rear.

There were scattered Murlocs along the riverbank. Some were searching for food, while others seemed to be taking a stroll. The moment they saw Li Shaolin's group, they all rushed at them madly. But the two Skeleton Warriors in front were no pushovers. One or two Murlocs were not even enough to fill the gaps between their teeth. As their Bone Blades rose and fell, the charging Murlocs were hacked apart in sprays of blood and flesh. Moreover, the blades were poisoned, so even if they did not die immediately, they were doomed sooner or later.

They sprinted all the way, with scattered Murlocs constantly appearing ahead to block them. Naturally, every one of them was cut down by the two Skeleton Warriors.

He did not know how long they had run before the rising sun had already appeared. Li Shaolin glanced back amid the chaos and discovered that the pursuing Murlocs had somehow returned long ago. Only Murloc corpses remained, lined up behind them in a magnificent sight! "You should've said you weren't coming after us!" Before his words had even faded, a white light descended as the Murloc ahead was cut down. He had actually reached Level 8!