The Fire Goes Out

"I will!"

"I will!"

"I will!"

Except for Niu Niu, the other three all hurried to volunteer. At Fang Yue's urging, they settled it with a game of rock-paper-scissors, and a winner was chosen.

The man excitedly took Fang Yue's torch, lit it with his Lifespan, and started running into the distance.

Compared to staying here and fighting whatever weird thing might appear at any moment, spending Lifespan to light a torch was a minor concern.

Besides, reporting back counted as a merit with the Guard Team, and they would be rewarded.

With Shi Wuliao and the man gone, only four people remained in the squad.

Only Niu Niu still had a torch.

Niu Niu was keyed up and eager to try.

Since last night, apart from eating and using the bathroom, he had spent all his time in the game, practicing his punches like mad.

The bloodied, fist-shaped marks left on the hardstone in the courtyard of the guard station today told the story of his effort.

If he hadn't been short on Lifespan, he wouldn't have wanted to come out on a mission at all.

His original 3 points of Control Strength had climbed all the way to 3.7 in just a day and a night.

The growth rate left the other recruits green with envy and amazement. Even the instructors had begun to look at him in a new light.

In any sect, he would have been a bona fide martial arts prodigy.

But Niu Niu knew that, aside from working hard, he owed most of it to his talent, [Innate Divine Strength].

He had kept the effects of [Innate Divine Strength] to himself.

Besides increasing his Control Strength by 2 points, [Innate Divine Strength] also boosted how quickly his Control Strength grew. It was a growth-type talent with a bright future.

"But who doesn't keep a few things to themselves?"

Niu Niu looked at Fang Yue like a challenger.

"Just like no one knows how Brother Ye managed to walk through the rain last night."

Fang Yue had shattered the hardstone with one punch last night, leaving Niu Niu deeply shaken. But Niu Niu wasn't one to admit defeat. He believed that given enough time, he could surpass Fang Yue.

And now, he was going to kill a weird thing without giving Fang Yue the chance to act, proving how strong he had become!

With that thought, Niu Niu prepared to light the Soul Fire torch and search for the weird thing's location, but a large hand pressed the torch down.

"Wait!"

"Brother Ye, they're hidden and we're exposed. If we don't light the Soul Fire, how are we supposed to find them?"

Fang Yue glanced at Niu Niu and spoke more firmly. "Wait!"

After speaking, Fang Yue continued staring intently at the teammate who had just left the group with the torch.

The man had only run a little over a hundred meters and stood out clearly in the dark.

Niu Niu was confused, but he said nothing. Instead, he looked at the other two people in the group.

Those two had actually hidden behind Fang Yue, looking as if they were begging him for protection.

When they noticed Niu Niu watching them, they immediately gave him an expression that was three parts embarrassed and seven parts ingratiating.

They clearly couldn't be counted on as fighters.

In fact, neither of them specialized in combat. They were just ordinary players.

They had spent the whole day wandering around the village, doing odd jobs for the villagers, like pulling weeds and feeding chickens, always looking for a way to get ahead.

But after a whole day, they still hadn't found their direction. They had no talent and no idea what to do. They needed more Lifespan to find an opportunity and a place for themselves in the village.

But time waited for no one. With their Lifespan running low, desperation drove them to clutch at straws. They had no choice but to turn to Niu Niu and risk their lives taking the night patrol mission.

So the two of them really were just dead weight.

Fang Yue knew it too, not just Niu Niu.

But there was no helping it: if you took someone's money, you had to solve their problems.

They had all paid him, so Fang Yue couldn't very well abandon them.

Of course, if things went wrong, he would prioritize saving himself.

Like now, Fang Yue was using them to run a few tests and make sure he stayed safe.

The only thing that bothered him was that he hadn't known whether [Night's Breath] could heal his injuries when he'd set the price, so he'd charged too little.

Asking for more now... felt a bit dishonest. If he ruined his reputation, it would be harder to fleece players in the future.

As for the deal Shi Wuliao had mentioned earlier—10,000 yuan for each weird thing's head—Fang Yue hadn't even considered it.

If there were weird things to kill, how could he let someone else have them? It was a terrible deal. He hadn't even thought about taking the job while badly injured, so they hadn't discussed it in detail.

While Fang Yue was thinking all this over, the teammate with the torch had already run more than two hundred meters and was nearly at the first intersection.

According to the route, he would turn left there. Once he rounded the corner, Fang Yue wouldn't be able to see the light from where he stood.

"Looks like the weird thing isn't nearby."

Just as Fang Yue reached that conclusion and was about to look away...

The distant torchlight, which had been moving the whole time, suddenly stopped.

Fang Yue's heart lurched. He focused his gaze on it.

But it was too far away. He could barely make anything out.

From the shifting light and shadow, he could tell the torch had fallen to the ground.

He could just make out what looked like two figures moving.

Hiss.

The Soul Fire went out when its Lifespan ran out.

The area over there fell completely dark, and only then did Niu Niu and the others turn to look.

Almost as soon as they did, a series of heart-wrenching screams rang out from that direction, echoing along the main road.

The screams lasted only a few seconds before abruptly falling silent.

Everyone knew the man was probably dead.

Remembering the gruesome fates of Brother Yong and his teammate, the group shuddered.

Thump.

One of the players behind Fang Yue suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Fang Yue turned around and saw him trembling with terror. The other player stared blankly ahead, expressionless, as if his soul had left his body.

Fang Yue paused.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He logged out."

Niu Niu lowered his voice. "I've seen what people look like after logging out. They're just like that, as if their souls have left their bodies. Brother Ye, forget them. The weird thing is up ahead. Let's go kill it!"

Go kill it?

They didn't even know what level the weird thing was, and he wanted to charge in? Was he trying to get himself killed?

"That won't do. We don't know how strong it is. Let's go to the Chen residence for help first."

With the weird thing up ahead, they couldn't seek help from any other patrol teams.

The only help left was at the Chen residence.

Given his relationship with Captain Chen, it wouldn't be unreasonable to snag the kill after he and the weird thing fought, would it?

At that thought, Fang Yue reached for the Soul Fire torch in Niu Niu's hands, but suddenly felt resistance.

He turned to Niu Niu in surprise and saw him clutching the Soul Fire torch tightly as he smiled. "Brother Ye, it's not time yet. Let me hold the torch."

Niu Niu wasn't stupid. Before that man got into trouble, he had only been puzzled by Fang Yue's decision.

Now, he understood completely.

Fang Yue had already realized that the weird thing was nearby, and had used a human life to test its exact location.

Niu Niu didn't want to become Fang Yue's stepping stone—or cannon fodder.

So he had to think for himself and decide what to do, instead of blindly following Fang Yue's orders.

Niu Niu valued his life. He knew that if he died and started over, there wouldn't be another Lucky Gift Pack. Reaching his current level again would be difficult.