Brother Yong's head, with a little flesh still attached to the neck, looked as if it had been ripped straight off his body while he was alive.
His eyes were wide open, as though he'd seen something terrifying. His expression had frozen in that moment, vivid and lifelike.
Even Shi Wuliao found the sight revolting, let alone Fang Yue.
Damn, did they really have to make it this realistic? Severed heads are way too terrifying.
Niu Niu and the others stood stunned for a moment before steeling themselves and going over to investigate.
Fang Yue followed. Farther ahead, they found Brother Yong's torso, both hands, both feet, and an unlit torch, laid out separately.
The body parts were scattered at uneven intervals, one appearing every so often.
It was as if Brother Yong's body had been taken apart piece by piece while he was fleeing. What's more, the method seemed strangely precise.
Normally, if someone tore a person's hand off with tremendous strength, the bones would come out with it. But if they twisted the arm off, the break wouldn't look like this.
The whole body looked as though someone had turned it into building blocks. A slight tug was enough to remove a body part. Only when the head had been taken off had ordinary brute force been used.
Without a word, Fang Yue picked up the Soul Fire torch on the ground, lit it, and continued forward a short distance.
A pungent smell of blood immediately hit them. Fang Yue frowned and thrust the torch ahead. His pupils shrank.
Up ahead, a pile of human body parts was heaped together like garbage, forming a small mound. Crimson blood flowed across the ground.
Fang Yue's heart sank. After a brief inspection, he recognized them: they were Brother Yong's teammates.
"It was done by a weird."
Fang Yue spoke in a low voice. He held the Soul Fire torch high to illuminate as much of their surroundings as possible, remaining on high alert with every nerve taut.
"It might not have gone far. It's only been an hour since we ran into Brother Yong's squad. That thing could still be nearby!"
The other five stiffened at his words. One after another, they swallowed audibly.
"Brother Ye, should we retreat?"
Shi Wuliao asked cautiously, earning a glare from Fang Yue.
"What the hell are you talking about? This is what the Patrol Team is for. Now that something's happened, you want to run? If you do, we'll all be kicked out of the village tomorrow, according to the rules!"
There was something Fang Yue didn't say.
If they started running and made a commotion, they might be the first ones the weird noticed and killed.
Thinking of this, Fang Yue even put out the Soul Fire torch and had Niu Niu extinguish his. He told everyone to move closer to him.
"Th-then what do we do?"
According to the Patrol Team's rules, they couldn't flee. They could only request reinforcements and fight the weird to the death. That was one reason the Patrol Team had the best benefits in the village, the best equipment, and the right to allocate Lifespan.
They were responsible for the safety of every villager!
But players like Shi Wuliao didn't see it that way.
What did they care if villagers lived or died? Better someone else than themselves. Patrol Team pride was all fake; their own lives were what mattered.
If they died for good, their characters would be gone, and all their previous efforts would go to waste.
But if they disobeyed the Patrol Team's rules, they'd be driven out of the village and left to fend for themselves in the wilderness.
Out there, there was no earth core, no Patrol Team, and no roof to keep out the rain.
Rain, Cold Night, weirds—any one of them could easily take a person's life.
And that was without even considering hunger, keeping warm, and finding food.
Even Fang Yue would die if he spent a night out in the wilderness. He had no way to resist [Night Chill Erosion].
While everyone stood there, at a loss over what to do, Niu Niu suddenly stepped forward and shouted, "What are you all afraid of? It's just one weird! We players treat weirds like monsters. Kill it, level up, and earn Lifespan! I heard that killing weirds can increase your Lifespan too. Don't you want to earn some extra?"
The others stared at him in disbelief, then hurriedly shook their heads.
Talk was cheap. Brother Yong was already dead; they didn't want to throw their lives away too.
After all, none of them had learned Martial Arts. Only Niu Niu had been taught by an instructor, and he had Innate Divine Strength, so he was the only one with any fighting ability.
And Niu Niu had inside information. Did he roughly know how strong Brother Yong was? Did he think he was stronger than Brother Yong? Was that why he was so confident?
"Whether we kill the weird or not is another matter. But we have to find out what's going on. That's the rule. We also need to send someone for reinforcements."
Fang Yue's words made Shi Wuliao and the others' eyes light up.
As long as they could get away from here, running an errand was no big deal!
Shi Wuliao was the first to raise his hand.
"Brother Ye, I'll go get help!"
The others immediately glared at Shi Wuliao. They wanted to volunteer too.
Fang Yue calmed them down.
"I have two possible routes for getting help. The first is to ask Captain Chen Mu to come. The Chen residence is nearby, so it'll only take about ten minutes to run there. Chen Mu is also the Captain-General of Ancient Moon Village, and he's powerful. When we passed the Chen residence on patrol earlier, it was quiet inside. At this hour, he should have gone back to rest."
"The second route is to go to a more distant Patrol Team and ask them to send reinforcements. Brother Yong's squad was the closest to us, but now we'd probably have to run for half an hour before reaching the area covered by another patrol squad."
"In theory, one of those routes should be enough. But our lives come first, so we'll send someone along both routes. Which one do you want?"
Either route was, in fact, a test devised by Fang Yue.
He wanted to find out whether the weird would attack if someone ran and made a commotion.
It was the best way to test whether the weird was nearby, though it meant putting his teammates at risk.
Shi Wuliao hadn't thought that far. His eyes darted around before he raised his hand. "I'll go to the Chen residence and get Captain Chen to come save us!"
"Good. You know the way, right?"
"I do!"
They'd just finished a patrol, and Fang Yue had pointed out the Chen residence to Shi Wuliao and the others when they passed it, so he remembered where it was.
"Then go ahead."
Shi Wuliao froze.
"Huh? I'm going just like this? I don't have a torch."
"The Chen residence is close. Including the one I just picked up, we only have two torches, and I can't give you one. You'll have to run there in the dark. If you'd rather go to the more distant Patrol Team for help, I can give you a torch."
The others saw Shi Wuliao hesitate and were eager to volunteer, but he spoke first.
"Then I'll go to the Chen residence. Brother Ye, wait for good news!"
Gritting his teeth, Shi Wuliao turned and ran toward the Chen residence. He soon disappeared from view, swallowed by the darkness.
Fang Yue watched the direction he'd gone and waited. When no death screams came, he finally felt a little more at ease.
Maybe there isn't a weird guarding that route? But it's too soon to say. This isn't conclusive evidence.
There was no helping it. The weird might be nearby, so Fang Yue had to be careful.
How could other people know how terrifying weirds were? He did. He'd once escaped one with his life.
Fang Yue shifted his gaze to Niu Niu and the other three.
"Who wants to take the other route for help?"
Before you continue