The Tide's End

"You don't even know what a Soul Lantern is... I really don't know how you've managed to survive out there."

"A Soul Lantern is a lamp fueled by the most important part of a person's soul: their Lifespan. It serves many purposes, such as helping people stay sane and driving away lesser anomalies. Some anomalies also use Soul Lanterns to refine all sorts of sinister things."

"But its greatest use is keeping the body safe from [night chill erosion]."

As he spoke, Lord Han looked over Fang Yue's legs and furrowed his brow.

"Your legs have already been affected by [night chill erosion], but the erosion isn't severe. You should recover if you warm them by the Soul Fire for a while."

"If it were like mine..."

Lord Han gave a bitter smile and held out his hands. A thin layer of frost coated them.

"...If it were as severe as mine, I wouldn't have long to live."

Ah, this...

Fang Yue was a little stunned.

He instinctively looked at his legs.

He touched them with his hand. They were ice-cold, as if he had just stepped out of a freezer. They were so stiff he could barely move them, and his sense of touch had greatly diminished, as if he had lost all feeling.

Fang Yue had thought his legs were just a little stiff because of the cold weather.

Only now did he realize they had been eroded by [night chill erosion].

He was suddenly overcome with fear.

From what Lord Han had said, if Fang Yue had waited any longer, his ordinary body would have left him with no choice but to have his legs amputated to survive. Otherwise, he would have died.

Neither outcome was something Fang Yue could accept.

Whether he became disabled or died, either outcome would have ended this character's run.

Fang Yue asked a few more questions and learned that ordinary people generally didn't go outside late at night. If they did, they had to carry a Soul Lantern to stay safe.

As for inside the village, the Soul Fire warmed everyone, so there was no need to worry about much else.

Ordinary flames couldn't burn in the dark, either.

That was why Fang Yue had failed to start a fire by rubbing sticks together earlier. It wasn't that he was bad at it; in the darkness, no flame could be lit except the Soul Fire.

"Wait, that doesn't make sense! I remember the little anomaly in the Ruined Temple using a little flame to brew poison..."

Fang Yue lowered his voice and briefly told Lord Han what had happened in the Ruined Temple.

Lord Han's strength was unfathomable. At least, Fang Yue was no match for him. Killing an anomaly would be easy for him, so he shouldn't be interested in the few things Fang Yue had.

"You've killed an anomaly?!"

Lord Han's eyes widened, and he abruptly stopped walking, staring at Fang Yue in shock.

"Yeah, I did."

As he spoke, Fang Yue took out the [black embers].

"It's real! Incredible, truly incredible! An ordinary person managed to do something like this—and you can move freely in the rain, too..."

The more Lord Han looked at Fang Yue, the more astonished he became.

But Lord Han was well-traveled, and he quickly suppressed his turbulent emotions.

"Little Ye, try not to tell anyone else about this."

"Why?"

"People's hearts are hard to fathom. The [black embers] produced by anomalies... are worth a fortune. They're not much use to someone at my level, but they're irresistibly tempting to others. You'll understand in time."

Fang Yue thought that made sense and hurriedly put them away.

After a pause, Lord Han continued, "As for the little flame you mentioned... that must have been Soul Fire as well."

"People have been disappearing from Ancient Moon Village and the nearby villages lately. I expect the [Index Finger Ghoul] was the one who took them. It drained their Lifespans and turned them into Soul Fire, then used it to brew something."

"When the Soul Fire went out, it meant the Little Boy's Lifespan had run out. The Ghost Messenger should have taken his soul. But he chose another path..."

Fang Yue's heart stirred. "Mixing ashes into rice—ah, no, I mean the [black embers] from the [Index Finger Ghoul]?"

"Right. The Little Boy ate the [black embers]. There's a chance that consuming [black embers] will turn someone into an anomaly. He staked everything on one last gamble. In the end, he went from a dying person to an anomaly, and was no longer human. An anomaly that has only just transformed is called a [Nascent Anomaly]. It's the weakest kind of anomaly."

"Even so, an ordinary person has absolutely no chance of defeating one. Even a trained Martial Artist wouldn't be able to beat one in a one-on-one fight."

So that was how it worked.

Fang Yue finally understood.

Through their conversation, Fang Yue had learned quite a few new things.

By the time they finished talking, they were almost at the village entrance. Lord Han called out, and the Patrol Team lowered their guard. Dozens of pairs of eyes fixed on Fang Yue, some curious, some hostile, some afraid...

Just then, a loud shout came from behind Fang Yue.

"Hey!"

The rain had eased again, becoming moderate.

Fang Yue turned around in confusion and saw a man charging out of the crowd of refugees in the shelter, using a corpse as a makeshift umbrella. Even so, the rain kept splashing against him, and a whole string of damage notifications popped up.

One after another, -1s appeared over him. He seized the moment and shouted, "Hey! Are you really a player?"

Fang Yue scratched his head. "Yeah."

"Holy crap, you really are... Big bro! Big bro! My name's Shi Wuliao. Please, please take me into the village!"

The Third Young Master of the Shitian Group was groveling to someone online.

But Shi Wuliao didn't care about saving face. He had finally found a chance to get into the village and didn't want to let it go.

The others also reacted one after another.

"He's not an anomaly? You should've said so earlier! You scared the hell out of me!"

"Damn! He really is a player!"

"He said he was a player earlier, but you didn't believe him!"

"That guy misled us!"

"Damn it, we're all players, so why's there such a huge gap between us? And how can he move freely in the rain? I saw his health dropping like crazy. Where'd he get so much health?"

"Who knows? But is that even the point? The point is... bro! You up there! Take me with you! Let me into the village too!"

"Yeah, and me! I know a physician in the village who can teach me to identify medicinal herbs. Big bro, get me into the village today, and I'll make medicine for you from now on!"

"Who cares about making medicine? Bro, take me! I'm a Lucky Gift Pack player, and my talent is innate divine strength! My strength is three points, while everyone else only has one! Take me into the village. You won't regret it!"

Seeing how the others were reacting, Shi Wuliao's face darkened. He suddenly bellowed,

"Enough!"

"You pieces of trash think you're worthy of competing with me for a spot in the village?"

"Innate divine strength? Making medicine for big bro? Bah! What good are any of you?"

"Big bro, remember this face! I'm telling you, I'm in it for the long game!"

"And what does that mean? It means that starting today, I'll stay online for twenty-four hours straight! I mean it!"

"If big bro gets me into the village today, I'll owe him everything! If he ever gets into trouble, I'll go through fire and water for him!"

Hiss—

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.

Twenty-four hours online? Was he trying to push the limits of the human body? What a madman.