Tan Xinghe was a burly man with bronze-colored skin, his muscles well-proportioned and powerful.
At that moment, he took off his shirt, revealing a bright red number over his heart.
His face looked grim. "After the monster left, this number appeared over my heart. At first, it was just a red glow,
but starting last night, whenever I fell asleep, I'd hear knocking at the door. From that moment on, a number would appear over my heart,
starting at one. But with every knock, the number went up by one."
He continued, "I strongly suspect it's a curse, but I can't be sure,
until the number over my heart reaches one hundred. Then, all of a sudden, I'll just know: when it reaches three hundred, I'll die."
"Though there's no basis for this feeling, I believe it with all my heart."
When he finished, he cupped his fist toward Ning Gongdao. "My martial arts cultivation has reached the peak of the Body Refining Realm. I'm just one step away from the Body Refining Realm, and I couldn't even withstand four moves from that monster. So I suspect it's a Blood Sha, or at the very least, a Severe Sha."
A bloody number over the heart. Three hundred, and death would come knocking.
Jiang Yan's heart tightened. Monsters came in all shapes and sizes, and curses were every bit as varied—impossible to guard against.
In a case like Tan Xinghe's, unless he stayed awake constantly, the knocking would sound whenever he fell asleep.
That knocking seemed to come from within, heard not with the ears but in the mind.
There were only two ways to break this kind of curse.
First, kill the monster. Once it died, the curse would naturally disappear.
Second, use the legendary Exorcism Talisman to forcibly dispel all negative forces.
The Exorcism Talisman was out of the question. Right now, killing the monster was his only chance to save himself.
Seeing the glaring, blood-red number over Tan Xinghe's heart, Ning Gongdao rose to his feet, his expression solemn. "You can rest easy, Captain Tan. If that monster hadn't been so fast and slipped away so quickly, I could've held it back when it knocked that Body Refining Realm martial artist away, then beaten it to death."
"Now, we need time for the Rune Soldier to gather its strength. Once it's ready, we'll use the Anomaly Seeking Talisman to find the monster and use the Rune Soldier's power to restrain it.
"As long as we can limit its speed, I'll deal with it myself. It won't get away!"
"The Rune Soldier needs time to gather its strength. Please wait a while."
With that, he turned to the others. "While the Rune Soldier gathers its strength, our defenses will be weak. Monsters may take the opportunity to sneak into the village and wreak havoc. Your duty is to kill them and prevent too many casualties."
"The Patrol Teams will keep their original captains and vice-captains as leaders. Qingshan Village will cover the southeast, Yuyang Village the west, and Xiaoqiu Village the north. The three teams will support one another."
"Tan Xinghe, you know Qingshan Village well. Stay here and help me!"
In no time, Ning Gongdao had assigned the village's defensive duties.
"We're covering the western side of Qingshan Village. We got lucky."
To the south of Qingshan Village stretched a vast expanse of reeds. Monsters and Fierce Beasts often charged out of it, threatening the village's safety.
The west side was much safer. Outside the village lay nothing but gravel, with a wide-open view.
Of course, they didn't need to patrol the Village Boundary this time. They only had to protect the residential areas, which meant a much smaller patrol zone and a much easier job.
"But how exactly does the Rune Soldier's defense mechanism work?"
Did it have standby mode, power-saving mode, and high-performance mode?
The Rune Soldier had to suppress a High-Level Monster, and they were running low on power over here, so the Patrol Team members had to give off light and heat?
Jiang Yan and the others left the room with Ren Yuan and Tang Long and hurriedly ate something.
Looking up, they saw the Rune Soldier in Qingshan Village radiating a gentle glow.
Unlike the plain, pitch-black Big Carp Talisman Soldier in Yuyang Village, Qingshan Village's Rune Soldier was a tree.
A willow tree.
To Jiang Yan, apart from the fact that it glowed, it looked exactly like a real willow tree.
Its long branches swayed in the breeze, and its dark trunk was so wide that it would take a person to wrap both arms around it. Transplanted somewhere else, it would be nothing more than a living, breathing willow.
"Captain," Jiang Yan asked, "the Rune Soldiers are so miraculous. What are they made of?"
Ren Yuan led everyone toward the village outskirts. Hearing Jiang Yan's question, he replied without looking back, "I've asked that myself. I got an answer, but I'm not sure I believe it."
He glanced back with a smile. "Don't laugh, but I heard the materials used to make Rune Soldiers might actually be the remains of certain unusual monsters."
Rune Soldiers?
Monster remains?
Jiang Yan froze at the answer.
"It really is hard to believe."
Rune Soldiers protected the Human Race, and yet they might be made from the remains of monsters.
Night stretched beneath a vast, dark sky.
The Patrol Team wasn't trying to save supplies this time. Every member carried a wooden stick with a Brightness Gathering Talisman stuck to it, lighting the way ahead.
The team spread out, leaving more space between them.
Once again, Jiang Yan brought up the rear.
He carefully checked everyone's positions, then quietly moved closer to Shan Renhu.
"Brother Shan," Jiang Yan called softly. "We're on night watch. Be careful not to stray too far from me."
He and the other Patrol Team members had never encountered a situation where a Rune Soldier's defensive power was insufficient.
But based on the protection provided by Yuyang Village's Big Carp Talisman Soldier, either the barrier had grown thin enough for monsters to withstand its pressure, or the defenses had vanished in some places, allowing monsters to enter directly.
Either way, the chance of encountering a monster tonight was bound to be high.
He took a Blazing Flames Talisman from his robes. In the light of the Brightness Gathering Talisman, the tadpole-shaped runes on it had almost disappeared.
"Your Blazing Flames Talisman is almost out of power. When we get back, be sure to trade it in for a new one. Without talisman power, we won't stand a chance of killing a monster."
Shan Renhu looked at the dim Blazing Flames Talisman in Jiang Yan's hand and reminded him patiently.
"Mm. All right. I'll trade it in as soon as we get back."
He still had a mid-grade Blazing Flames Talisman and an Ice Talisman, but no one ever complained about having too many talismans.
And neither did he.
"By the way, did the officials from Patrol Mountain Hall say what level of monster we're dealing with?"
Shan Renhu asked curiously.
"They did," Jiang Yan said seriously. "But they couldn't tell exactly what kind of monster it was. They only figured out its approximate strength."
"It's probably a Severe Sha-level monster."
"Lord Ning, the one who came from the mining district, seems confident he can deal with it."
Jiang Yan patiently described some of the High-Level Monster's characteristics to Shan Renhu. At last, he said, "The High-Level Monster seems to be a stealth-type curse monster. It wounded the vice-captain of the north village's Patrol Team and a Body Refining Realm martial artist, but strangely, it didn't kill either of them. Instead, it cursed them."
"So I'm guessing the monster relies on curses to kill members of the Human Race and gain more strength. At least we won't necessarily be killed the moment we run into it."
Meanwhile, in a small house near the square in Qingshan Village, Xia Fengshe lay weakly on the bed, his face somewhat pale.
He stared blankly at the red glow over his heart.
"Here, drink some water."
Ou Yanling had somehow managed to borrow some hot water from a villager. She wanted Xia Fengshe to have a drink.
He was her ticket back to Guihua City.
"Thanks."
Perhaps because he was weak, Xia Fengshe's temper had mellowed. He took the water, thanked her, and slowly drank it.
When he was done, Ou Yanling took the bowl. From the corner of her eye, she discreetly glanced at Xia Fengshe's chest, where a faint red light was seeping out.
Holding the bowl, she prepared to return it to the villager.
"That red glow over Big Brother Xia's heart looks like some kind of curse."
Could it be a Time Curse monster?!
Before you continue