LV3!

"Heh, heh, I just wanted to do what I could..."

Facing Hidechiyo's strange look, Gu Mo explained. He was indeed a little awkward. There was nothing wrong with being useless, but the comparison was the worst. The big shot casually made the BOSS's Health Bar disappear in an instant, and then turned around to find himself fighting wits and courage with ordinary monsters, even taking half the day for a solo fight...

Of course, that was an exaggerated figure of speech. He wouldn't take half the day to fight a Lesser Hungry Ghost solo. It only took him less than a minute in total to finish it off.

Although there was a slight deviation in the middle, and the battle didn't go as ideally planned, he had confidence. Once he made up his mind, he wouldn't be hesitant anymore. A series of completely disorganized punches still managed to brutally pummel the enemy.

He truly had no combat awareness, no experience, and no techniques to speak of. He relied solely on the speed and ruthlessness of striking first, and not at all being stingy with his stamina. But at least it ensured that his first battle didn't have any major accidents and that he secured the first kill relatively smoothly.

The only surprise was probably that even though his movements were already quite nimble and he didn't waste much time, Hidechiyo still saw this awkward scene... Gu Mo twitched his mouth and couldn't help but look at the Ox-Head Demon's corpse, which was as big as a small mountain.

Killing a BOSS was faster than him killing a small monster. This was truly outrageous. And this Brother Ox, too, you should have stood up! It was already weak and couldn't withstand a single blow in its normal state, but even its dying struggle before death was still just as weak...

The black-haired girl looked at the Lesser Hungry Ghost's corpse on the ground. She didn't know if she believed Gu Mo's words or simply didn't care about this trivial matter, and she nodded calmly.

She had become accustomed to silence; after all, she couldn't speak. This was probably a psychological issue left over from her childhood, as seeing her mother killed in front of her eyes while protecting her at a very young age was already something difficult to bear and face.

Although after that, she firmly followed her mother's dying wish to "live strong"... However, after living alone since she was very young and not communicating with people for years, she slowly didn't know when she stopped speaking.

Perhaps she had forgotten...

For a moment, the air seemed too quiet. Gu Mo blinked, not knowing what to say now. Because one sentence was enough for an explanation; the more he wanted to say, the more it would make him seem guilty.

Speaking of which, was there a system prompt ringing in his mind just now? It was just that he was experiencing his first battle at the time and had also strictly adhered to the principle of "using full strength even when hunting a rabbit with a lion." When facing enemies like Lesser Hungry Ghosts for the first time, he had also invested his full attention and focus, leaving no room for relaxation.

So now that he thought back, he only had a vague impression that a familiar broken prompt sound seemed to ring when he was highly focused on the battle in front of him... Of course, it was just "seemed," and he couldn't make a conclusion for a while.

He looked at the Lesser Hungry Ghost's corpse on the ground again. There were no item light spots or anything similar appearing on the corpse. He didn't know if there wasn't such a mechanism, or if he was just unlucky and didn't drop anything.

There were still many mechanisms he needed to explore one by one and verify.

Just like he didn't know how to level up now, where the level he had increased before came from, whether fighting monsters now could really accumulate the progress bar, and so on. Because he hadn't fought many monsters in the first two dungeons, but he had indeed leveled up once. He didn't know if it was unintentional teaming up with Brother Fu and sharing monster kill experience or something.

Another thing worth noting was that the gatekeeper uncle he had seen before was also Life Level 1, Profession Level 2. Did this mean that one could slowly level up without killing monsters, but the pace for ordinary people would make the accumulation of this progress bar very, very slow...

Or perhaps for ordinary people, the maximum total level they could reach in a lifetime was only four or five?

Numerous thoughts flashed through his mind. Gu Mo didn't show it on his face, but after a light cough, he said, "Um, let's continue... Let's go."

There was no mirror right now, so he would find an opportunity later to look into the river when crossing the bridge. Anyway, as long as he could open the Status Panel and observe whether his Experience Bar progress had changed, he would have a general understanding of the current situation.

Hidechiyo nodded lightly, without any objection, and turned to walk forward.

Gu Mo quickly followed. In Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village on this night when Yokai were rampant, only by following the girl could he feel safe enough.

Before leaving here, he subconsciously glanced towards the direction of the graveyard again, only to find that the Ox-Head Demon's massive corpse, which was like a small mountain, was now fading. Its originally solid body outline had already begun to show slight signs of translucency, and the edges were gradually blurring...

Strands of strange, visible aura rose from the Ox-Head Demon and its giant weapon. The two were like dry ice sublimating, and probably wouldn't take too long to completely disappear from this world, leaving no trace behind.

He couldn't help but look back, only to see that the Lesser Hungry Ghost's corpse had dissolved by half at some point, like snowflake ice crystals exposed to strong sunlight, and the bloodstains on his feet had completely disappeared long ago, as if the touch and the stench just now were all illusions.

Because it was originally a creature of Tokoyo, this was the result after being defeated, and even the remnants would be expelled from the human world?

A guess instinctively flashed through Gu Mo's mind, but it wasn't a good time to stop and ask a question, let alone that even if he asked, there was nothing he could do, as the girl couldn't answer him.

Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village was not large. It was built on high ground, surrounded by a river and a traffic hub, and the roads were straight and direct, without many twists and turns.

It was impossible for a place that was clearly close by to require going in a large circle to get there, or for a broken wooden door bolted from the back to force a protagonist with mystical combat power to go around to the back to open the door or something... Therefore, sweeping through it was particularly fast.

Before long, they had already swept through the area behind Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village, approaching the village's Ancestral Hall.

And this was still under the circumstances where Gu Mo had asked the girl to let him "give it a try." For the most common monsters like Lesser Hungry Ghosts, he would take out his weapon and hack at them himself, and only when they encountered stronger Yokai would he let Hidechiyo cut them down with a single strike.

This did indeed waste some time, and the girl was somewhat helpless, but ultimately, considering that there were no living people left in the village now and there was no rush to eliminate the demons, she didn't object.

Hidechiyo patiently followed this strange client, watching him fight wits and courage with those Lesser Hungry Ghosts in front. To be safe, he would sometimes try every possible way to lure them out one by one, and after they were isolated, he would corner them and beat them to death.

And when stronger or more Yokai appeared, or when there were stronger enemies hidden in Tokoyo by means of demonic energy ahead, she would immediately step forward without hesitation, protecting Gu Mo behind her, and neatly kill the enemy in front with a single strike, fearing that he wouldn't notice.

It really felt very safe.

It just felt wrong no matter how he thought about it. There was a sense of displacement in the roles they were playing.

The delicate and slender girl was the big shot carrying him...

Instead, a grown man was the burden being protected...

Gu Mo himself was well aware of this, which is why he became even more motivated out of shame... He worked even harder when hacking at the Lesser Hungry Ghosts. After all, he knew what he had to do now, so he didn't have anything he couldn't let go of, but rather thick-skinnedly seized every opportunity he could.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have lowered his face and made such a request to Hidechiyo, asking the girl to escort him and let him level up in peace.

Anyway, he was seen just now, so what else was there to let go of? Everything was illusory. The most important thing to do was to firmly grasp every opportunity for growth and develop as quickly as possible... There aren't many big shots like A-Xiu who are easy to talk to and won't object to such troublesome proposals.

"Hoo... hoo..."

Breathing heavily, he threw away the chipped hatchet in his hand and watched the Lesser Hungry Ghost's corpse, which he had dismembered, fall to the ground. Gu Mo reached out and took another weapon handed over by the black-haired girl with a calm face. It was a tachi, but it was still a generic piece of equipment without specific attributes.

He had picked up quite a few weapons along the way, but none of them had any rank.

Moreover, due to the overall low level of metallurgy and craftsmanship in this era and country, when dealing with non-human beings that were either copper-skinned and iron-boned or rough-skinned and thick-fleshed, not only was the efficiency not high, but the wear and tear was also quite fast. He had already changed weapons twice by the time he had hacked his way to here.

Too realistic, causing discomfort...

"Going up from here should be the Ancestral Hall on the back mountain..." He looked up at the road leading up the mountain ahead and found that the road had suddenly become much better. Neat stone steps ascended along the mountain path, and structures similar to torii archways and pillars had also been built.

No other place in the village had such good treatment, and the only place the villagers would be willing to spend so much on seemed to be the most important clan ancestral hall in ancient times. Gu Mo said this after making a judgment by simply comparing it with the impression in his mind.

"As long as we clear out that area, there should be no more Yokai in this village."

"Mhm."

The black-haired girl nodded gently at his words, uttering a sound of affirmation. This was one of the few times she could directly express her opinion with her voice.

"Should we prepare before going up?"

Looking around, Gu Mo asked. This area was also near the back mountain of the village, and the river flowed around it. In his memory, there was also a shrine here where players could rest... of course, it definitely wasn't there at this time.

Just like in the game, besides Yokai, this village also had fearless bandits and robbers. The Yokai were in this area, and the bandits were in that area, each occupying a territory and leaving each other alone... But in reality, he hadn't seen a single human-shaped monster on this entire journey. All the enemies he encountered were Yokai.

But this was more logical.

Hidechiyo shook her head; she didn't need to rest.

"Then I might need to take a break, sorry, I'm really a bit tired..." Gu Mo chuckled dryly. Under the girl's helpless gaze, he walked to the riverbank and squatted down. He reached into the water to wash the bloodstains off his hands. The sound of the water carried in the quiet night.

If it had been before, he wouldn't have wanted to go near the water.

However, along the way, he not only discovered that he could see the Health Bars of the Yokai hidden in Tokoyo that normal people couldn't see, but also that Hidechiyo always thought he couldn't see them. Every time a hidden Yokai appeared nearby, she would immediately step in front of him.

Using the act of washing his hands as cover, he gazed at the faint reflection in the water and found the options listed to the right of his image.

Opening the "Upgrade" page, he saw that his Life Level was clearly showing LV3... He actually leveled up? And two levels at that? He was exceptionally surprised, and then suddenly noticed that the current Experience Bar was already almost full. It seemed he would level up again soon.

Is it because the leveling mechanism is the classic type where the early stages are particularly easy and it gets harder later on? Or is there really a team experience mechanism, and Ah Xiu is currently his teammate, so he gets experience from the Ox-Head Demon she killed and some of the stronger Yokai later on?

He quickly thought while focusing his attention on the plus sign next to the Constitution attribute. The small icon flashed twice continuously and then disappeared, and his Constitution went from 10 to 12.

In the battles along the way, Gu Mo found that his current physical stamina was the biggest weakness. His Strength and Agility were sufficient when dealing with low-level Lesser Hungry Ghosts, and the gap between him and ordinary Yokai wasn't as large as he had imagined. Perhaps it wasn't even as advantageous as having a good, handy weapon.

Since his Agility was temporarily sufficient, and adding Strength wouldn't make his fists and feet as lethal as a blade, adding to Constitution was a good choice. It would enhance his vitality and increase his ability to withstand attacks...

Even without considering the margin for error, it could improve his stamina, so he wouldn't have to stop and rest for a long time after fighting just a few Lesser Hungry Ghosts.

After pressing confirm, in an instant, Gu Mo's eyes narrowed slightly. He felt a warm current surging through his body, as if his limbs and bones were immersed in a hot spring, incredibly comfortable. After a brief two or three seconds, the heat subsided, followed by an indescribable feeling.

He was full of energy, as if he had inexhaustible strength. The fatigue accumulated from fighting all the way seemed to vanish instantly.

He didn't know if it was a full-state change brought about by leveling up, but he just felt that he was now full of energy, capable of punching a bull to death.

Hmm?

The black-haired girl held the torch and looked around somewhat boredly. Then she furrowed her brow slightly and looked at the strange young man squatting by the riverbank.

Was it her imagination? Why did she feel that his aura had suddenly become much stronger?