The First Body Part

[Quest: Obsession of the Demon Hunter]

[Requirements: Explore the dungeon, retrieve the six severed body parts of Althran Windwhisper, and bury them beside the Moon Well]

[Rewards: Random Demon Hunter Skill Book x1, Primary Tome of Wisdom x1, Primary Tome of Charm x1, Lord EXP x1000, Team EXP x500]

(The ancient dungeon once held Blood Burn demons; explore it thoroughly, and you will find unexpected gains.)

I didn't expect it to actually be a quest.

Furthermore, it is a quest recognized by the Lord System.

It truly is a game of the gods.

Zong Shen sighed silently in his heart.

Aside from the ethereal "gods," he could not think of any other reason to explain all of this.

"Let's move forward. The next task is to explore the dungeon and search for the severed body of a Demon Hunter."

Zong Shen gave a simple explanation of the quest requirements.

Because he discovered that, apart from himself and Tasia the Necromancer, the other soldiers could not see the wandering soul of the Demon Hunter at all.

The group nodded, indicating they understood.

Even the aloof Tasia nodded in cooperation this time.

It seems this girl just keeps the living at a distance; she still has a great deal of resonance with spirits and the like.

Having confirmed the quest objective, the group headed toward the corridor.

As they walked, Zong Shen became interested in the white candles on the dungeon walls that could ignite themselves.

He turned his head to look at them.

He wondered if he should take a few back to use for lighting in his territory.

Directly burning wood produced too much smoke.

Therefore, once night fell, the territory would be pitch black.

Unless he had blueprints for some lighting items, the territory would not have a stable light source at night.

These candles looked quite good.

Thinking of this, Zong Shen reached out and snapped one off the iron candle holder on the wall.

However, he watched as the candle rapidly melted in his hand the moment it detached from the holder.

It seems like this wool can't be sheared after all.

What about this candlestick, then?

Zong Shen tilted his head and paused, considering whether to have the Wolf Cavalry pry the iron candlestick off the wall.

(Oh! My heavens! As a lord, can you stop thinking about how to shear wool every single day? Get out of this hallway within a minute, or you're going to run into some minor trouble.)

The Strategy Guide's snarky remark appeared suddenly.

Zong Shen rubbed his nose and abandoned the idea of investigating the candlestick.

"Let's go, we're moving on!"

Zong Shen waved his hand; after all, the Strategy Guide had said that if they didn't leave this hallway within a minute, they would encounter trouble.

This hallway was very long.

Even with a candlestick on the walls on both sides every meter or two, the end was nowhere in sight.

Heaven knows where this hallway actually led.

Zong Shen picked up his pace a little.

After a bout of fast walking.

He finally saw the end of the corridor.

Hanging at the very end was a peculiar cross.

However, they were still a step too late.

Several black shadows appeared suddenly at the end of the hallway, moving in a crawling posture.

Their shadows were stretched long and thin by the candlelight.

The next moment, these shadows crawled in from both sides of the corridor's end.

This allowed Zong Shen to see what they looked like clearly.

There was no skin on their heads, only bright red muscle.

A massive mouth extended almost to their cheeks, and the sharp teeth inside were like the blades of a shredder.

They were on all fours, completely naked, without a single hair or any skin.

Their joints were twisted and deformed, and on their arched backs, spines protruded through their bodies, extending into rows of bone spurs.

They looked exactly like hyenas that had crawled out of hell.

These monsters did not act rashly; instead, they gradually gathered at the end of the corridor.

At the same time, several more dark shadows were approaching.

They were waiting for reinforcements.

These creatures stared fiercely at Zong Shen and his group with evil gazes.

"Undead scum again."

"These foul-smelling creatures aren't even worth Gris devouring."

The Wolf Cavalry Arvid suddenly spoke.

Upon hearing this, Zong Shen narrowed his eyes and focused his gaze.

[Ghoul lv10]

[Race: Undead]

[Bite Damage: 27~30]

[Health: 200]

[Armor: 0]

[Skills: Frenzy lv2 (increases Ghoul's attack speed by 5% and movement speed by 5%, duration 60s, cooldown 5m), Corpse Devour (devours corpses to restore health), Passive Skill Corrosive Poison lv2 (attacks inflict 3 points of Corrosive Poison damage per second for 3 seconds)]

(Take out these agile little nuisances)

Zong Shen looked at the other Ghouls, and their attributes were much the same; there were no elite monsters among them.

Just then, two more shadows crawled over.

There were now five Ghouls in total.

With Zong Shen's current forces, it was enough to easily slaughter them!

"Take out these rotting things!"

Zong Shen pointed his sword, issuing the order to attack.

The corridor was wide.

The three Wolf Cavalry roared and launched their charge.

Tie Zhu merged into the shadows and crept forward.

Zong Shen turned his head.

Tasia, standing behind him, raised her root-like staff after noticing Zong Shen's gaze.

After a brief chant.

Two necrotic arrows shot out!

This was her skill, Double Necrotic Arrow!

Zong Shen nodded in satisfaction.

He raised his sword and walked up.

In an encounter like this, the Ghouls had no advantage whatsoever.

Even though their agility was higher than the previous undead, they still couldn't evade the interception of the Wolf Cavalry.

Moreover, they were all unarmored, fragile units.

Tasia's Double Necrotic Arrow alone could wipe out more than half of these Ghouls' health in one go.

This time, Zong Shen had an easy time throughout.

By the time he strolled over with his longsword in hand.

The battle was basically all over...

The life of a lord was just that simple and unadorned.

[Your subordinate Wolf Cavalry killed Ghoul lv10, you will receive half of the experience points]

[Your subordinate Tie Zhu killed Ghoul lv10, you will receive half of the experience points]

[Your subordinate Necromancer killed Ghoul lv10, you will receive half of the experience points]

The five Ghouls were quickly eliminated.

The battle was as fast as a gust of wind.

Zong Shen quickly looted the rewards, but instead of rushing to check them, he walked straight to the end of the corridor.

Here, there were walkways on both the left and right, forming a T-junction.

However, that wasn't the point; the point was that Zong Shen had discovered the first piece of the Demon Hunter's body.

It should be his torso, bound to a wooden cross.

This cross was the very same one hanging at the intersection.

It was extremely conspicuous.

On the wall behind it, there were a large number of strange, cryptic runes drawn in what could have been either fresh blood or red paint.

The Demon Hunter's torso was riddled with steel nails, as if it had undergone some sort of malicious curse ritual.

Zong Shen focused his gaze upon it.

Information immediately surfaced.

[Torso of Althran Windrunner]

[A torso subjected to the Blood Burn Demon Profanation Ritual, one of the quest items]

Zong Shen stopped looking at it, waved his hand, and stored it away into his inventory slot.