This was truly an incredible thing. Though there was no wind, countless leaf-like ashes whirled around like the center of a storm, too numerous to count, impossible to grasp or collect.
When Bai Zhou's cautious fingers finally touched the edge of the spinning mass, he could even clearly feel a faint warmth moving deep within it, as though his fingertips had touched a still-beating heart.
"Buzz."
With Bai Zhou's touch, the ash residue suddenly collapsed inward, then burst forth with blazing light, spiraling upward and surging higher.
Something rushed through the edge of the ashes and Bai Zhou's fingertips, plunging straight into the depths of his mind.
"This is—!"
Bai Zhou's breathing nearly stopped as fragment after fragment of imagery came flooding in, each one vividly perceived by him.
Bai Zhou saw a gray-green swamp. The water was covered in disgusting foam and floating dead branches. Someone crouched atop a tree, breathing softly and remaining utterly still, his deathly silence blending him into the tree itself. A hunting rifle engraved with Ritual patterns and stained with green rust silently poked out from the dense leaves.
His finger rested on the trigger as he waited quietly for three days and three nights, until his prey entered his field of vision.
That thing had no fixed shape. It resembled a breathing puddle of rotten mud, wriggling through the swamp so inconspicuously that it was difficult to notice.
"Bang!"
With the gunshot, the enchanted bullet stirred up a faint green radiance and shot through the air, striking the monster's core directly.
The monster let out an unforgettable shriek. Its body turned into countless splashes of mud, and a warm crystal fell onto the swamp muck with a "plop," pulsing vividly like a heart.
"Puchi—gurgle, gurgle—"
The Hunter's boots stepped into the mud before