"Why?"
"Brother, do you know what this means?" Jiang Yan asked, his expression darkening.
In his eyes, Lord Ning had acted in haste.
He had borrowed the Rune Soldier's power without regard for the consequences, leaving all of Qingshan Village exposed in the open to the strange creatures, completely unprepared.
Why?
A sudden restlessness and unease welled up inside him.
He had only just met Ning Gongdao briefly, but the man was no simple character. He was the lord of Zhenwu Hall in the mining district. How could he really be so rash?
Had some major upheaval occurred in the village just now?
"Why?" The man echoed Jiang Yan's question.
His face turned ashen. He suddenly yanked open his shirt, revealing a blood-red number over his heart.
The man gave a bitter laugh, his face twisting into a savage grimace. "I don't know what got into that strange creature. It suddenly swallowed and killed more than a dozen people. And that's not all..."
Fear spilled into his eyes. "That creature is too good at hiding. Even Chief Tan and one of the squad leaders were swallowed and killed."
Before Jiang Yan could react, he delivered even more horrifying news. "After Chief Tan and the others were killed, within half an hour, blood-red numbers appeared over the hearts of everyone in Qingshan Village—including Lord Ning."
What!?
The man might have been silent before, but once he spoke, his words were like thunder splitting the sky.
The strange creature, which had been hiding all this time and growing by killing people through curses alone, had begun to act in person, swallowing and killing people. Even Tan Xinghe, whom Jiang Yan had just met, and one of the squad leaders had been killed.
Even more terrifying, everyone in Qingshan Village had been cursed at the same time.
That explained why Ning Gongdao was gathering all his talisman power. He wanted to kill the strange creature as quickly as possible.
No wonder Ning Gongdao seemed so agitated.
Jiang Yan froze for a moment, then his face darkened.
A possibility had occurred to him.
According to their earlier analysis, this strange creature was powerful, but its primary means of growing stronger was to kill the Human Race through curses.
Now it had broken with its usual habits and begun swallowing people itself. Then the entire village had been cursed at once.
That suggested the creature was likely on the verge of advancing.
Ning Gongdao had guessed as much, which was why he was taking the risk and acting aggressively to kill the creature ahead of time.
Otherwise, even if everyone had been deeply cursed, they only needed to stay awake for one night. No one would die. The Rune Soldier could gather talisman power for at most two hours. Then they could proceed gradually: locate the creature with the Anomaly Seeking Talisman, bind it with the Rune Soldier, and have Ning Gongdao strike the killing blow.
A Blood Refining Realm cultivator could kill a Severe Sha-level strange creature by overpowering it. He just had to charge in and crush it.
But now, the situation had changed unexpectedly.
Jiang Yan guessed that the whole village being cursed all at once was the result of the creature's unstable power spreading as it neared advancement.
He shook his head and tightened his grip on the long sword. "Whether or not my guess is right, things are definitely changing for the worse."
He pushed down the thoughts churning in his mind, then asked, "Did Lord Ning give any other instructions?"
The man thought for a moment. "Lord Ning said that every Patrol Team must repel the strange creatures coming in from the wilderness, and prevent the villagers from suffering heavy casualties."
"Understood."
Jiang Yan cupped his hands toward him. "We'll obey. Thank you for bringing us the message, brother. I'll tell our chief right away."
After bidding the man farewell, Jiang Yan left at once to tell the other members of the Patrol Team.
As he walked, his expression turned thoughtful. "At a time like this, Ning Gongdao still has the presence of mind to tell us to be more vigilant and protect ordinary people. It seems Lord Ning is panicked, but not confused."
"He should still be able to handle this strange creature."
Still, I should memorize the route from Yuyang Village to Qingshan Village one more time.
He thought to himself in silence.
Jiang Yan didn't go around passing on the message one person at a time. Instead, he gathered the squad leaders, Tang Long, and Ren Yuan, and told them what had happened.
"What? Tan Xinghe is dead, and everyone in the village has been cursed?"
Ren Yuan and Tang Long were stunned too.
If they failed to kill this strange creature, wouldn't all of Qingshan Village...
With the vitality of an entire village to feed on, how powerful could that creature become?
No one could even imagine.
"Ahem."
Jiang Yan gave a light cough, interrupting their thoughts. In a grave voice, he said, "Chief, I think we should be even more cautious now. Carrying out Lord Ning's orders is more important."
"Lord Ning has already told us to kill the strange creatures, keep them from entering the village, and prevent most of the villagers from being killed or injured."
He put great emphasis on those words.
Ren Yuan and Tang Long were both clever men. They immediately understood, and their expressions eased a little.
Indeed, Ning Gongdao was still concerned for the safety of the ordinary villagers. That meant things were still under his control.
Once the Rune Soldier's defenses vanished, the strange creatures in the wilderness would surely come. The danger and pressure facing them would be no less.
At that moment, a point of green light rose within Qingshan Village.
As soon as that wisp of green light appeared, countless more quickly sprang into being.
Countless green lights gathered in the sky, eventually forming a gigantic willow tree ten zhang tall, suspended in the air.
The willow was like jade, crystalline and translucent.
Outside the village, Jiang Yan stared blankly at the enormous willow in the sky. Even with danger lurking all around, he was still shaken by this magnificent sight between heaven and earth.
"Th-this is... the Rune Soldier?"
"That's right. This is the Rune Soldier!"
The others looked at the giant willow's image, each with a different expression.
Just as their attention was drawn to the Rune Soldier's image, a whooshing sound came from behind them.
Several dark-green balls of fire suddenly appeared.
Crackle, crackle—the sound of wood burning fiercely rang out.
"It's Green Yin Fire!"
Shan Renhu cried out.
The moment he called out the strange creature's name, its characteristics flashed through Jiang Yan's mind.
As a matter of fact, if people could name a strange creature accurately, that meant it appeared fairly often and had likely already been recorded in the official compendium of strange creatures.
Its characteristics would have been recorded too, allowing the Human Race to use them to kill it more efficiently.
Green Yin Fire: the creature's true form was a mass of green flames floating in the air. Its color was emerald green. Though it looked like fire, approaching it brought an intense, bone-deep chill.
Hence the name Green Yin Fire. A Severe Sha-level strange creature, it usually appeared in groups.
The dark-green fireballs took shape. Since they were close to Jiang Yan and the others, they let out shrill cries as soon as they formed and drifted toward the group.
Wherever the Green Yin Fire passed, the weeds below instantly turned white, and frost formed over them.
As they drew near, their shrieks pierced the ears and muddled the mind. Their icy chill sank into the bones, stiffening the whole body.
"Ha!"
Ren Yuan struck first, quickly calling out, "I'll hold off three. Tang Long and Jiang Yan, take one each. The rest of you, take one together."
Severe Sha-level strange creatures were far more powerful than Fierce Sha-level ones. Shan Renhu and the others were not yet Martial Apprentices, and even together, they could only just manage to surround one.
Hoo!
Inhale!
Jiang Yan drew a deep breath.
He gripped the sword hilt tightly. A mid-grade Blazing Flames Talisman was attached to it, its blazing fire distorting the air.
Thump, thump! His heart pounded as the immense power of a peak Martial Apprentice surged through his body.
He secretly activated the Golden Cloak External Cultivation technique. A thin protective membrane appeared, and his strength grew even greater.
"Come on!"
Jiang Yan raised his long sword. Flames roared along its blade—the power of the mid-grade Blazing Flames Talisman.
"End this quickly!"
The thought flashed through his mind. His body moved with it. He swept his sword, lowered his left foot, and sent force coursing through him in layers. The first form of Chopping Iron Four Forms: a thrust!
Whoosh!
Like thunder exploding across a clear sky, rolling currents of air expanded and burst from the sword tip. The air roiled like boiling water.
This was the sword form Jiang Yan knew best. Now that he had reached the peak of the Martial Apprentice realm, its power was worlds apart from before.
His sword rose!
A violent shriek and a fierce wave of air shot toward the Green Yin Fire!
Jiang Yan practiced the Fast Sword, and his strikes were as swift as lightning. Once his sword form began, the Green Yin Fire, which only seemed fast, had no chance to dodge.
In an instant, Jiang Yan thrust ten times.
He directly pierced the frigid Green Yin Fire, shattering it. Crimson flames clung to the scattered dark-green firelight: the power of the mid-grade Blazing Flames Talisman.
Then Jiang Yan's sword flashed again and again, forming a curtain of light that enveloped the scattered green sparks.
A wretched scream rang out as the crimson flames and dark-green light clashed and consumed each other.
In the blink of an eye, the curtain of light shrank. As it did, the dark-green flames continued to break apart, until the red flames finally swallowed them whole.
Weird Value: 8
A Severe Sha-level strange creature was only between a minor and major Martial Apprentice in strength. To him, it was no longer anything to fear.
Seeing his Weird Value rise, Jiang Yan's eyes gleamed. He quickly raised his sword and joined Shan Renhu and the other four in their fight.
Before you continue