Research Society

Ou Yanling knew the Compendium of the Strange by heart.

When she saw Jiang Yan toss a few scattered, unusual objects far outside the village, her eyes narrowed as she recognized their purpose.

The strange were born from the negative forces of heaven and earth. They saw all living beings as food, and ran rampant across the boundless wilds of Hantu.

Bustling villages and towns were like lighthouses in a vast ocean, attracting the greedy gaze of nearby strange creatures at every moment.

What Jiang Yan was doing was no different from adding fuel to the fire.

Studying the habits of common strange creatures was only meant to make killing them more efficient.

Or to use certain special objects to ward off their malicious attention.

"Jiang Yan, do you know what you're doing?"

"Hm?"

"Luring the strange, of course. Can't you see? Or do you not understand?"

"Luring... the strange?"

The two words sounded odd together. She seemed never to have heard them combined like that before.

Still, she understood.

Understanding didn't mean she agreed.

"Are you attracting the strange ahead of time so you can kill them?"

A sudden flash of insight crossed her mind, and she seemed to understand. "Are you trying to draw some of the strange here ahead of time, then kill them, so the other members of the Patrol Team are less likely to run into any?"

"That would make it less likely for them to be in danger, too!"

As she spoke, her eyes shone brightly as she looked at Jiang Yan.

This man was a martial artist, so he had to be a senior member of the village Patrol Team.

She had traveled all the way from Youshan City, passing through many villages and meeting many people. But she had rarely, very rarely, met anyone like Jiang Yan, who would take the danger upon himself by luring the strange and leave others in safety.

Uh...

Jiang Yan stared at Ou Yanling in astonishment.

Damn, this woman's imagination really ran wild!

They had barely spoken to each other from beginning to end. Just how much had she made up in her head?

Then,

He looked at Ou Yanling with solemn composure and declared, "The Human Race's path is arduous, and the world is beset by suffering. The greater our strength as martial artists, the greater our responsibility. I'm only a humble martial artist, but I'm willing to contribute what little I can to the peace and prosperity of this age."

"Well said!"

To his surprise, Ou Yanling was even more excited than Jiang Yan. Her delicate face flushed with enthusiasm, and a hint of heroic spirit shone through. She praised him loudly, then gave him a formal martial salute. "Brother Jiang, your noble righteousness is deeply admirable."

"We martial artists ought to be like this."

Jiang Yan returned the salute with a smile.

He didn't want to say anything more. He'd let the woman fill in the rest with her imagination.

Ou Yanling didn't say anything more either. She stood with him by the ditch embankment and silently watched the area beyond the Village Boundary.

But there was a slight difference: Jiang Yan sensed that Ou Yanling's wariness of him had vanished.

It was a subtle feeling, but he could sense it.

He shook his head, pushed the thought aside, and focused on watching their surroundings.

Half an hour later, the village outskirts remained quiet. Nothing happened.

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

Footsteps sounded behind them.

Jiang Yan turned around and saw a dark-skinned woman approaching. When she noticed him looking back, she studied him carefully, then smiled with simple warmth.

"Sir, are you on day watch today?"

"Yes."

He knew this woman. A few days ago, her child had been afflicted with the Black Pus Insect Curse, and Jiang Yan had helped treat it when she sought assistance.

"How's your child doing now?" he asked casually.

"He's doing well. He was weak for a day or two after the curse was broken, but he's recovered now."

"Sir, these are bottle gourds I grew myself. They're very sweet. Please have one."

As she spoke, however, she offered the gift in her hands to Ou Yanling.

Ou Yanling paused, then accepted it in bewilderment.

The woman smiled kindly at her. Touched by that pure, grateful smile, Ou Yanling smiled back.

Without another word, the woman gave Jiang Yan a slight bow and left.

Jiang Yan took the bottle gourd from Ou Yanling. It had already been washed.

Crack!

He put a little force into it and broke it in half.

He handed one half to Ou Yanling. "Give it a try. It's really sweet. I used to... pick them a lot while on patrol."

"It really is sweet."

Ou Yanling didn't eat it right away. Instead, she watched the dark-skinned woman leave, then took a small bite. A refreshing, sweet tang burst across her tongue.

"It really is sweet."

A quiet, peaceful village. Strong, responsible martial artists. A woman sincerely grateful to them.

All of this.

"It's wonderful." Ou Yanling lowered her eyelids. "I think I finally understand the president's ideal."

"Kill every strange creature and restore peace to the world."

She murmured softly, determination gathering deep in her eyes.

Turning her head, she looked at Jiang Yan and asked quietly, "Brother Jiang, what's your ideal?"

"My ideal?"

Jiang Yan munched through his half of the bottle gourd, finished it, and dusted off his hands. He hadn't expected Ou Yanling to ask such a lofty question.

He glanced at the pitiful amount of Weird Value on his ability panel and answered solemnly, "I hope that one day, as far as my strength allows, I can kill every strange creature and become the strongest martial artist."

Jiang Yan felt a little odd. Maybe it was because Ou Yanling had just misunderstood him, but he seemed to be building up an image of himself in front of her.

Righteous. Passionate.

Ignoring the words "as far as my strength allows," Ou Yanling thought to herself, Brother Jiang really is a righteous man.

"A person like him, with a heart like his and an ideal like his, is exactly what the Research Society needs."

"Then I'll observe him for a few days as a test. If he seems suitable, I'll apply to the branch president when I return to Guihua City and invite him to join."

"The branch president will surely be glad to accept a young man with such a strong sense of justice, whose ideals align with those of the Research Society."

After a while, both of them began to grow bored. Ou Yanling suddenly said, "Brother Jiang, the village is bustling with people. If strange creatures are born nearby or migrate here, they'll inevitably be drawn in."

"Rune Soldiers guard the village, and few strange creatures can sneak in. Those that can't get inside—apart from a small number that keep trying to enter—will head back into the wild to hunt. After all, the wilds of Hantu are home to more than just the Human Race. There are plenty of other living creatures there."

"You want to lure... the strange, but judging by today, there don't seem to be any strange creatures wandering nearby for these objects to attract."

"You could prepare more kinds of objects tomorrow. I... can help you, too."

Hmm...

Jiang Yan understood what Ou Yanling meant. The objects he'd prepared were like receivers for strange creatures, but the signal they sent was too weak, so they wouldn't attract many.

In that case, Ou Yanling's offer to help seemed like a pretty good idea.

The more unusual objects he prepared, the more strange creatures he could kill. The more Weird Value he gained, the stronger he'd become as a martial artist. Then he could kill even more powerful strange creatures, and after that...

It was a perfect cycle.

"Hehehe..."

Thinking of this, Jiang Yan grinned. If things kept going this way, he'd have a steady income of Weird Value.

"Oh, right." Jiang Yan remembered something. "Miss Ou, I'll let you help me, but you still have to keep taking the Mind-numbing Powder..."

Ou Yanling: ...

Damn it, you lousy man!