Invasion Like Fire

Rustle, rustle...

"Stay close to me. There are lots of little paths here."

Shan Renhu led Jiang Yan and the other three along a country lane. Each of them carried a lantern to light the way.

"Big Brother Shan, what do we need to do once we reach the orchard?"

Ying Cong asked earnestly.

"What else? Just do what we do during the day."

"But it's so dark at night. We can't see anything..."

"That's why nighttime is dangerous..."

Shan Renhu suddenly fell silent and waved a hand. He stopped dead, his expression darkening. "Be careful. I smell blood!"

Under the dim yellow lantern light, a man's corpse lay motionless in a pool of blood on the path ahead. His face was twisted in terror, as if he had seen something utterly horrifying before he died.

His eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the sky. The stench of blood drifted through the little clearing on the gentle night breeze.

Jiang Yan raised his lantern high and scanned their surroundings, but saw nothing.

"Brother Jiang, let's quietly back away first. This man hasn't been dead long. That thing might still be nearby."

A chill ran down Jiang Yan's back. He quietly took out a Yellow Talisman and drew his sword, his muscles taut and ready for battle.

"Fine, but let's send up a signal first."

"Uh, all right."

Shan Renhu took a long look around. They still didn't even know what kind of strange creature they were dealing with, yet Jiang Yan was already ready to send up a signal and call for help.

"Damn, why does he seem even better at playing it safe than I am?"

Still, he agreed with Jiang Yan's decision. He, Shan Renhu, had survived so many encounters with strange creatures thanks not only to his sharp eyes and wealth of experience, but also to his... fear of dying. He never took unnecessary risks.

That was why he always stressed that when they encountered a strange creature, they should call for help and deal with it together.

In fact, for old hands like them, the basic traits of many common strange creatures were common knowledge. A small group could take one down without much trouble.

After all, the Patrol Team rewarded them for killing strange creatures—and handsomely, too.

As he spoke, Shan Renhu deftly took out a Whistling Arrow, pointed it at the sky, and yanked hard on the short cord at its base. After a shrill whistle, a long flame shot into the sky.

He felt a little more at ease.

At his gesture, the others slowly backed away.

Jiang Yan took one last look at the man lying on the ground. His expression was calm, his eyes indifferent.

In this world, if you weren't strong enough, you were nothing but food for strange creatures.

Only after they had retreated two or three hundred meters did the four of them begin to feel a little safer.

"Big Brother Shan, if we call the other teams over, what happens if a strange creature shows up in the area they're patrolling?"

"Hmm, that's a bit of experience our Patrol Team has picked up. Usually, after a strange creature appears in one place, none show up elsewhere for a short while. I don't know why, but it really does seem to be a pattern."

"Even Captain Tang and the others don't know what causes it."

Jiang Yan rubbed his chin. A glimmer of insight seemed to flash through his mind, but it vanished in an instant.

"B-Big Brother Shan, y-y-you..."

Meng Sheng had started stuttering again.

"Me?"

"Big Brother Shan, behind you!"

Jiang Yan slapped a Blazing Flames Talisman onto his sword and looked behind Shan Renhu.

Beside the path stood a huge old willow, its countless hanging branches seeming to blot out the sky. Its leaves rustled in the lamplight. Rather than looking beautiful, they gave off a bone-chilling air, like a ravenous beast baring its claws and fangs.

Through the canopy of willow leaves, they couldn't see the star-filled sky—only a stretch of darkness.

Heh... heh... heh...

The sound broke the stillness of the night, coming out of nowhere.

Yet it drew their eyes despite themselves.

"Snort... snort..." In the lamplight, a small child's figure crouched on the ground with its back to them, digging at something.

The four of them stared at the little figure, frozen, as a thick stench of blood reached them.

They slowly backed away. In the distance, they could already make out approaching lantern lights.

Suddenly, all four felt an immense weight pressing down on their backs, as if a mountain had dropped onto them. A chill welled up in their hearts. The strange creature had already set its sights on them!

When they looked up again, the black figure was only a few meters away.

"Uncles," a childish voice called out. "Have you seen my..."

"Seen your ass!"

Jiang Yan lunged forward and swung his sword upward, unleashing every ounce of his strength.

His sword flashed like a spark of lightning, glinting dazzlingly in the lantern light. Yellow flames surged along its length as it shot down at blinding speed, carrying a bone-chilling cold.

At the same time, a pair of dark bluish-black hands reached out to grab Jiang Yan.

The farther the hands stretched from the black shadow, the larger and more hideous they became, until they resembled gleaming, icy claws.

Clang!

The sword collided with the claws. Flames roared along the blade, and it carried immense force. The huge dark claws held it back for just an instant before snapping with a crisp crack, as fragile as paper.

Without pausing to let the strange creature react, Jiang Yan swung again.

His blade sliced down from its head, along its neck and torso, nearly cleaving it in two.

"Ah!" the black shadow shrieked.

By then, Jiang Yan had already struck with his third sword—the most powerful move in his arsenal, Chopping Iron First Form.

He lowered his left foot, sending waves of force through his body, and thrust the sword tip straight at its brow.

Boom! A huge hole appeared, and torrents of flame poured from the sword into the black shadow's body.

With one final shriek, the black shadow burst apart with a bang, turning to black ash. It was well and truly dead.

A wisp of black ash drifted into Jiang Yan's left hand.

Weird Value: 12

Jiang Yan panted heavily, his whole body flushed red. Though he had fought the strange creature for only a few short moments, he had held nothing back with any of his strikes. He had gone all out, catching it off guard and keeping up the pressure until he smashed it to pieces.

Shan Renhu, Meng Neng, and Ying Cong stared blankly at Jiang Yan. They had only just slapped their Blazing Flames Talismans onto their weapons when Jiang Yan had lunged forward.

A few blows later, he had beaten the strange creature so thoroughly it couldn't fight back, reducing it to ashes and scattering its soul.

Ying Cong was especially shaken. He felt as if the whole world had turned upside down. Weren't strange creatures supposed to be terrifying? Wasn't standing night watch supposed to be dangerous?

As Jiang Yan recovered his strength, he also replayed the fight in his mind.

"It looks like things aren't quite the way I thought. When fighting strange creatures, I have to strike fast and hard. If one blow can kill them, I can't waste a second."

"If I can reduce them to ashes, I can't leave a single piece behind."

In the words of his previous life, it could be summed up like this: "If you can settle it with your fists, don't waste time talking. If you can kill them, don't settle for crippling them."

"Best to finish them off in one go."

Here, he set the tone for every battle to come: stay still until it was time to strike; then attack like wildfire, shaking the heavens with every move.

A sudden gust of wind swept through. Willow leaves fell, their shadows swaying and mottling Jiang Yan's face, casting it into alternating shades of light and dark.

At last, Jiang Yan's gaze sharpened like a sword as he looked toward the place where the middle-aged man had died. "Sooner or later, I'll kill every last one of you."