Encounter

San check!

Although there was no tabletop role-playing system, Feng Xue felt that at this moment, a dice sound effect should play in her head, and a few points of sanity should be deducted as a sign of respect.

However, this was just a thought. As the green smoke and unpleasant smell slowly dissipated, the detective once again pinched his brow and began to activate his Phantom Object, which could detect a wide area.

They're all dead.

That's how he answered.

"It seems to be Corrupted Creatures of the Hoth lineage." As if worried about getting burned, Qing Jin quickly ran his hand over his Phantom Object, and the faint heat spread out, but nothing happened.

If she had to put it into words, Feng Xue felt quite uncomfortable when that aura swept over her.

It wasn't that I suffered any physical harm, but rather a pure, mental and physical aversion.

"Is this the true nature of this Phantom Object, similar to the Old Seal?"

Feng Xue reviewed the ability of this phantom named "dung" and felt slightly in his heart, but Qingjin said calmly:

"No ambush, we can move out now."

"I'll have the snakes scout ahead, don't use area-of-effect attacks." Snake Pupil seemed to be able to categorize the snakes she raised into different classes. With her command, the snakes that had managed to escape earlier surged back into the sewers. This time, however, Needle Stab was the first to follow.

Feng Xue casually blocked the ghost hand's sudden attack, then followed behind the Needle Stab. Soon after, he saw a hellish scroll that was far more gruesome and devastating than anything outside.

Various kinds of highly rotten minced meat lay limply in the already unclean sewer, and even though the green smoke had dissipated, a small amount of unpleasant sour and putrid smell remained.

Needle Stab seemed to have grown accustomed to the smell. He stretched out his thickly gloved hand, picked up pieces of rotting flesh, and tossed them into his not-so-large leather quiver.

Pieces of rotting flesh fell into the quiver, which then began to writhe.

"Why does it always make sense in such inexplicable ways!" Feng Xue thought to herself as she watched the quiver digest flesh and blood to generate arrowheads, but her gaze remained fixed on the depths of the sewer.

Although she didn't know what the target was, Feng Xue had already equated it with something like the Alien Queen.

The group of five slowly made their way into the sewers. Neither the Poisonous Snake ahead nor the detective who had established a mental network with the snakes through Phantom Object gave any warning. However, they still tacitly chose the slowest possible strategy.

However, seemingly aware of their arrival, the target decided to concentrate all its forces and did not continue to send out "offspring" to harass them. This made Feng Xue suspect that the other party had concentrated all its forces and was planning a big attack.

"We're getting closer." Suddenly, the detective's voice was slightly hoarse, and Snake Pupil immediately reacted, activating the power of Phantom Object to gather the snakes together to provide more visibility.

With their combined efforts, a clear route was marked out. However, before they could even reach their final target, a new wave of attacks had already begun.

However, the one that launched this attack was not a monster, but that ghostly hand!

Seemingly aware that he could not "directly" kill Feng Xue under any circumstances, Ghost Hand simply used a tripping maneuver.

Although with Feng Xue's martial arts level, such a fall would not have been enough to disrupt his balance, the Ghost Hand had the power to turn the impossible into possible.

By an inexplicable coincidence, Feng Xue, who should have regained her balance after stumbling, lost her footing. The loose floor tile, for some reason, lifted up at just the right moment, causing Feng Xue to lean forward again.

It was this sudden change that seemed to trigger a chain reaction. Figures darted out from the dim corners, and without any mental fluctuations, they did not attack Feng Xue, who had lost her balance. Instead, they directly targeted the person whose attention had been slightly diverted because of Feng Xue's actions.

"This intelligence is completely different from those other monsters!"

Feng Xue braced himself with one hand on the ground. Although he still slipped, he was prepared for a wrist sprain and found it too easy. He twisted his body in the air and, as he stood up again, kicked away the monster that was pouncing on Qing Jin.

The fleshy monster, no bigger than a rat and resembling a mud monster, was kicked by Feng Xue towards the back of the detective's neck. But this was clearly not betraying a teammate, because before hitting the detective, the monster had already clashed with another small creature that darted out from the corner, and under Feng Xue's perfectly timed force, they turned into two puddles of flesh.

At this moment, Feng Xue threw another punch, intending to knock down the monster that was approaching Snake Pupil, but before she could, a Nail Thorn had already knocked it down. At this moment, Needle Stab hand of the needle that had just shot down the monster and saved Snake Pupil, which was covered by the Phantom Object glove, was now holding a monster.

"Smack!"

Without any qualms, he crushed the monster that made Feng Xue feel disgusted into a pulp and stuffed it into his quiver. Needle Stab glanced at the innocent-looking ghost hand beside Feng Xue, but ultimately said nothing.

He knew all too well how terrible the side effects of Obsession Item were. Not to mention anything else, his entire lineage, spanning three generations of masters and disciples, had been killed by this quiver at least ten times.

However, after this incident, the detective and Snake Pupil readjusted their focus and stopped concentrating entirely on the investigation. Qing Jin even held a ball of fire in his hand, looking like he was going to "burn it first this time."

But then, the monsters vanished again, leaving only the mangled snake carcasses on the ground as a constant reminder to the investigators to be careful.

This time, however, Feng Xue revealed a disdainful smile. Although no one else could see the target, in his eyes, that guy was far too conspicuous.

Because...

In the dark sewers, a ball of flame floating in mid-air was far too conspicuous!

"The ceiling is twelve meters directly in front of you!"

Without wasting words, Feng Xue directly reported the location. Although he didn't know why Feng Xue said that, Needle Stab, taking a "better safe than sorry" approach, shot a Nail Thorn directly at the location Feng Xue pointed out.

The Corrupted Creatures had been brimming with confidence in its stealth abilities, broke free of its stealth and, looking like a miniature Shoggoth, plummeted from the sewer ceiling, dodging the Needle Stab shots while spraying a stream of murky green slime at the five people.

Boom!

This time, Qing Jin didn't falter. He threw the flame he had already gathered forward, and the collision between the flame and the slime immediately produced an unpleasant sound. At the same time, that nauseating stench once again spread through the sewers.