Corpse Ghost

Stepping out of the witch's small wooden cabin, the figures of Xu Haoran and Hu Wenxu were nowhere to be seen. The door behind him closed automatically; there was no telling what the witch intended to discuss with Gao Xiaowen, but that was no longer any of Lu Li's concern.

Lu Li set off toward the west. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting mottled spots of light. It is easy to lose track of time when walking alone through a forest, and Lu Li could only vaguely sense that he had been traveling for quite a while—long enough to have left the witch's territory, as signs of life began to appear in the surroundings, and occasionally, even traces of human activity. He figured that if he kept heading in this direction, he would likely stumble upon a human village or town.

A strange sensation reminded Lu Li that the cave the witch had mentioned was not far off. It was then that Lu Li suddenly snapped to his attention; the witch had only specified "the west" without giving a concrete location, yet he had walked out and found the vicinity based on a bizarre intuition. It was likely that the witch had used some method to guide him, which served to highlight her terrifying nature—she had exerted influence over him without him even realizing it.

"The gap is quite large..." Lu Li frowned. Although he possessed an extreme level of control, the disparity between him and the witch was simply too vast; this was not something that could be bridged by mere control.

Having regained his clarity, Lu Li scanned his entire body, smoothing out any disharmonious areas to ensure that any influence imposed by others was purged. He then continued his search for the cave mentioned in the quest, burying the matter of the witch's manipulation deep within his heart.

It did not take long for Lu Li to find the cave the witch had described. It was quite large, sloping downward, and emitted waves of nauseating stench. Near the entrance lay scattered white bones, though it was impossible to tell if they were human or animal.

With his Dark Vision, Lu Li did not have to worry about visibility, but the smell was truly unbearable. Although Lu Li's abilities allowed him to block his sense of smell, the stench still entered his body with every breath—a thought that was unpleasant enough on its own.

Walking into the cave, Lu Li frowned, filled with irritation. He wanted interesting things, not this kind of disgusting business. But there was no help for it; for the sake of future amusement, and not wanting to die here by failing the quest, he had no choice but to hold his nose and accept it. This feeling only served to make Lu Li even more annoyed.

After walking a short distance, the cave plunged into total darkness. The light from outside had already been sparse due to the dense trees, and once inside, it was nearly a lightless environment—the perfect setting for Lu Li to exert his strength to the fullest.

One of the skill slots attached to Lu Li lit up. As his Shadow Magic was drained, two figures instantly appeared before him. These silhouettes were pitch black, with only a faint red glow where their eyes should be, making them virtually invisible in the dark. They knelt on one knee before Lu Li, heads bowed, waiting for his command.

"Head inside and kill every living thing in this cave, except for me..." No sooner had the words left Lu Li's lips than the two figures flashed away. Moving with a strange gait, they reached the depths in an instant, their dark hands clutching shards of black throwing knives.

Sensing the connection to the two figures ahead, Lu Li chuckled and followed. Previously, he had refreshed the game shop, hoping to find modules to compensate for his self-developed Shadow Clone skill, only to discover a Special Module. Before this, Lu Li had never seen a Special Module in the shop, and there was little information about them even on the forums. Had he not already possessed one—Special Module: Primary Intelligence—he would not have even known such things existed.

The Special Module he had refreshed in the shop was named: Unit: Assassin. Its description read:

[Special Module: Unit: Assassin. This is a special assassin template. Note: This template contains only information and requires corresponding materials to be filled. The unit comes with Stealth, Throwing, Assassination, and Weapon Generation. Purchase requires 200 Game Points.]

Lu Li had bought it the moment he saw it. This module was indeed suitable for him, but it was also incredibly niche and had harsh usage conditions. Without a corresponding module to fill it, the unit module was useless; in other words, to use it, one needed at least a humanoid, mobile vessel. Even then, without an intelligence module, it could not unleash the full power of the unit.

He optimized and adjusted the skill module, incorporating the unit module. The current skill configuration had removed the redundant Control Module and now consisted of: Module: Magic + Module: Will + Module: Manipulation + Module: Bestowal + Module: Fixation + Module: Intelligence + Module: Assassin Unit. In other words, this skill no longer relied on a Control Module, but instead used two Rule Modules—Will and Manipulation—combined to produce an effect similar to a Control Module.

It could be said that this skill was now quite formidable; many players who had experienced several game dungeons might not possess a skill that could compare to this one.

However, as he thought about how perfectly this module fit his needs, a flash of contemplation crossed Lu Li's eyes. Some things were too coincidental to be mere coincidences, but there was no benefit in dwelling on it now, so Lu Li set the thought aside.

The two Shadow Assassins moved with a peculiar gait, making not a single sound yet traveling at incredible speed. A centipede had barely crawled an inch before a throwing knife pinned it to the wall. The next moment, the knife vanished, and another appeared in the assassin's hand. They came with innate Weapon Generation; each Shadow Assassin could generate eight throwing knives and one short blade. These weapons were composed of shadows, yet they were razor-sharp.

Lu Li walked behind the two Shadow Assassins, sensing their campaign of extermination within the cave. These shadows were entirely controlled by Lu Li's will, obeying his commands implicitly. Following the connection to the shadows, Lu Li's expression shifted—the Shadow Assassins had discovered a humanoid monster and had begun to lurk, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Their assassination skills were not just for show.

Lu Li sneered, his own shadow writhing behind him. Through long practice, he had become capable of fine-tuning the deformation of his shadow if he only controlled a single person's worth, which was why he had split off two Shadow Assassins to maximize his strength.

He was in a foul mood—very foul, extremely foul. When one is annoyed, one must vent. Lu Li strode forward, a cold, sharp smile on his face. His shadow surged out from the darkness like a lethal arrow, piercing a creature clinging to the cave ceiling. Looking at the monster's pale skin and dog-like face, Lu Li said, "You dog-like thing, have you decided how you want to die yet?"

Xu Ming is in a terrible mood. Someone maliciously joined the reader group and posted prohibited information, trying to sabotage Xu Ming—twice. Combined with other matters, Xu Ming is extremely annoyed. This chapter was written while feeling this way; please forgive any shortcomings...