After Midnight, Don't Go Outside

Gu Jianlin felt his spiritual energy rapidly evaporating. In its place, a vast torrent of violent negative energy flooded into his body, seeming to set his dark emotions ablaze and awaken a demonic personality.

Under Dual-Core Drive, the burning was multiplied!

His emotions spiraled out of control, and he let his bloodlust run wild.

In his Ghost Humanization state, his physical abilities were enhanced across the board, from the strength of his muscles to the hardness of his bones and even the functioning of his organs. Trillions upon trillions of cells roared as they released their power, and his whole body rang with explosive force.

He hefted the chair in his hand and slammed it down with all his might!

Compound Eye's guard shot up in an instant. His body crackled, and pale exoskeleton grew over both arms. He instinctively drew back his twin axes to block in front of him and sprang backward.

But Gu Jianlin was faster. The chair smashed straight into his face, sending him flying through the air!

This was the sheer brutality that Ghost Humanization brought!

Gu Jianlin brought his hands together like a blade and thrust without mercy at Compound Eye's throat, shattering his Adam's apple in an instant!

He had never received any combat training, but sheer speed and strength were enough to make such a vicious strike possible.

Gu Jianlin turned his head. His pitch-black eyes, like a demon's, fixed on the white-haired girl in the corner.

Ever since the Grave Diggers had surrounded the inn, Tang Ling had stood motionless in the corner, gripping her iron sword. She watched like an outsider, seemingly with no intention of joining the fight.

But Gu Jianlin could tell she was already in combat mode, building up some kind of power.

And when Compound Eye charged into the back row, she stirred slightly.

At that moment, Gu Jianlin gave her a look, signaling her to wait and keep gathering strength.

After seeing his look, Tang Ling really did stay still.

Now it was time.

With a boom,

the wind tore the sun hat from the white-haired girl's head. Her clear, resolute eyes seemed to shine in the night as she leaned forward and rushed in like a nimble sprite, swinging her sword down without mercy!

A crimson bloodlust filled her eyes. Her expressionless face took on a haughty, wild edge, and her snow-white hair turned red as flame, streaming through the night!

Two fierce, frigid sword auras burst forth, crossing as they split the earth with a roar, then vanished in a flash of darkness!

The terrible sound of sword qi slicing through flesh, the gush of blood, and the shrill screams

all blended together.

Compound Eye's arms were severed, the cuts as smooth as if made by a laser.

Then a chair, carried by tremendous force, slammed into his head.

As if struck by a giant hammer, his forehead caved in under the blow, spraying blood everywhere!

Tang Ling closed in, her sword flashing like a shooting star, its cold edge plunging into his heart!

"Keep up!"

She curled her red lips and spoke coolly.

A cold wind howled past. Gu Jianlin appeared behind him like a specter and pressed both hands against his head.

Left hand in front, right hand behind—he twisted hard!

Crack!

Compound Eye's head was wrenched around by force, turning a hundred and eighty degrees to face backward. Terror twisted his expression.

"Finish him."

Gu Jianlin said coldly.

Tang Ling also twisted her sword hilt, grinding his heart to pieces with the silver-white iron blade and ending any chance of mutation.

And that wasn't all. Pale ghostfire even flared in Gu Jianlin's hands, greedily draining Compound Eye's life force.

Sacrifice!

As the Divine Sacrifice Fire burned, another surge of chaotic vitality poured into his body.

Circulating through his blood, it gathered into a drop of impure golden blood in his heart.

Ancient God Blood was slowly taking shape.

Gu Jianlin gave Compound Eye a casual shove.

With a thud, Compound Eye fell to the ground, dead-eyed.

There was no doubt that he was the strongest of the Fallen present.

One moment he had been arrogantly untouchable; the next, he was dead, unable to fight back.

Silence.

The Ether Association members and the Grave Diggers' Fallen were all shaken by the scene of such extreme violence.

It had been perfect teamwork.

Their timing and tactics had been flawless.

Their attacks came in a relentless storm.

They had given Compound Eye no chance to catch his breath.

Anyone who didn't know better would have thought the two had practiced their coordination countless times.

But only the Association members knew they had met for the first time today.

Of course, they couldn't know that when true hunters met, they often needed no words.

A single glance was enough to understand what the other meant.

Because they had the same goal.

To kill every last enemy.

Nie Xiangsi stared at the scene in shock, her small mouth hanging open as she struggled to speak.

"Ghost Humanization, Rank One Life Controller! He advanced! But..."

Zhang Cheng watched the scene. He knew that even in Ghost Humanization, a Rank One Life Controller shouldn't be this strong.

What was with this guy?!

As for Cheng Youyu, only one thought filled his mind: Holy crap!

He'd once read a post asking when in your life you'd felt completely useless.

Cheng Youyu figured that moment had probably just happened.

He'd actually said he would protect the demonic boy in front of him!

Of everyone present, Li Xun was the most shocked. He was also on the Divine Priest Path.

Even though he was a Rank Two Junior Life Controller, he felt a sense of oppression from this Rank One.

It even made him feel awe—and tremble!

"No wonder he could kill Joker. But why hasn't Deep Sky updated his file?"

Though Yan Ye detested the descendants of Fallen, having powerful fighters show up at a time like this wasn't a bad thing.

"Zi Qing, speed up the healing."

He instructed her.

"Got it."

Mu Ziqing focused on healing her teammates.

Yan Feng clutched his injured chest but kept his eyes fixed on the boy and girl in the middle of the fight. Watching their flawless teamwork, he looked almost unwilling to accept it and silently clenched his fists.

But the next moment, his expression eased.

After Gu Jianlin and Tang Ling killed the enemy leader together, they suddenly pulled apart warily.

"Was it you?"

Gu Jianlin stared at the red-haired girl, his expression blank. "Were you the one who leaked the intel this time?"

For some reason, the woman's appearance had changed, and she seemed extremely dangerous to him.

Tang Ling arched her carefully groomed eyebrows and threw the question right back at him. "No. Was it you?"

Gu Jianlin couldn't be bothered to explain. He simply picked up the chair, turned around, and faced the remaining Fallen.

"Just as I thought. I knew you were hiding your strength."

Tang Ling's eyes were crimson, her gaze hiding a sharp edge. Her voice was cool and arrogant. "So, which side are you taking?"

After entering combat mode, not only had her appearance changed dramatically,

her personality had changed too.

She had become more outspoken and flamboyant, haughty and arrogant.

"I'll take the left. You take the right."

Gu Jianlin scanned the remaining Grave Diggers and kept forming mental profiles of them.

"We'll finish this before midnight."

The Fallen had mentioned what would happen after midnight, and that bothered him.

After their leader died, the group showed no fear. Instead, the madness lurking inside them was unleashed. Each of them underwent a different degree of mutation, and they charged as one.

After a second of silence, Tang Ling turned and charged straight into the enemy ranks, iron sword in hand.

Sword qi swept through the air, spraying blood everywhere.

Gu Jianlin stamped his foot. Pale ghostfire flared in the four directions—northeast, southeast, northwest, and southwest—as countless black runes twisted and circled.

It was an advanced application of the Divine Sacrifice Fire: draining the life force of targets within a certain range!

He charged into the enemy ranks like a demon, swinging the chair and smashing it into them again and again!

With a series of thuds, he smashed one Fallen's head after another to pieces.

Brains burst out, and blood gushed like a spring.

When one chair broke, he simply grabbed another.

His fighting style was brutally simple: he crushed his opponents with speed and strength.

One blow to kill, then he drew their life force with the Divine Sacrifice Fire.

Then he turned and smashed the next one.

Tang Ling's style brought ancient swordsmanship to life in all its chilling grace and beauty.

Gu Jianlin, on the other hand, was pure, bloody brutality.

"This damn thing's a Chair Murderer!"

Cheng Youyu was utterly stunned. Once the wound on his back healed, he sprang back into action and rushed forward to help.

Behind them, Zhang Cheng fired ten arrows at once, reaping enemy lives in a frenzy!

"Bro, give me some wind!"

Yan Feng finished healing and charged back into the fight, his aura surging.

Yan Ye raised a hand and clenched it. A fierce wind blew out, swirling around Yan Feng's fists.

Boom!

A Fallen who had mutated into a praying mantis charged in, swinging a hammer at him.

At the critical moment, Yan Feng swung his wind-wreathed right fist. It crashed against the hammer with a metallic boom.

It was a contest of sheer strength. Both sides dug in, roaring through clenched teeth.

Suddenly, a cold voice sounded behind him.

"If you can't handle it, get out of the way."

Yan Feng had only just turned his head when a huge shadow came flying at him.

Before he could react, a heavy thud rang out.

The Fallen who had mutated into a praying mantis reeled from the blow, staggering backward.

In an instant, Gu Jianlin closed in and drove his right hand, fingers held together like a blade, into the Fallen's chest.

Blood sprayed onto the boy's face.

He activated the Ghost Curse Technique at once.

Twisted black runes covered both Gu Jianlin and the Fallen!

They both bled from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and their bodies seemed to collapse in on themselves.

Sacrifice!

Pale ghostfire blazed in Gu Jianlin's right hand.

The Fallen screamed shrilly. Pale flames seemed to burn inside his chest, and his heavily mutated body rapidly regressed until he withered into a small, shriveled figure.

Gu Jianlin pulled his hand from the Fallen's chest, flicked the blood from it, and turned away without a word.

If he'd been acting like himself, he probably wouldn't have been so brutal.

He wouldn't have said such taunting things, either.

But he was in his Ghost Humanization state now, brimming with negative energy.

Even many of the people on his own team rubbed him the wrong way.

If he hadn't needed to drain the heavily mutated Fallen's life force, he wouldn't have cared if the Yan brothers got hammered to death.

"You..."

Yan Feng's expression was awful. Yet when he looked at the boy, who was like an evil spirit, he was too cowed to come up with a threat.

"The mission comes first. Don't do anything unnecessary."

Yan Ye said coldly beside him.

Yan Feng snorted. He said nothing and turned to charge at the other Fallen.

By then, Gu Jianlin had picked up another chair and walked expressionlessly into the rear of the enemy ranks.

Li Xun was fighting the Fallen when a burly man sent him flying with a hammer.

With a crash, Gu Jianlin saw him flying toward him, back first.

His eyes narrowed. He swung his arm backhanded and sent the man flying.

Li Xun, still in his Ghost Humanization state, slammed into the wall behind him, hit the ground, and rolled several times. He was furious and shocked.

Gu Jianlin glanced back at him, looking as if he were staring at a corpse.

Thump, thump.

Li Xun thought he heard a heart beating violently.

His Ghost Humanization state ended. A strange black hue spread across his face, and his entire body trembled and convulsed as if he were about to lose control.

That was the price of Ghost Humanization.

Gu Jianlin withdrew his gaze and turned to face the Fallen. "Come on. Let's keep going."

The Fallen belonging to the Grave Diggers looked at him as if they were staring at a demon. Trembling, they were about to kill the hostages.

Fortunately, these rookies weren't completely useless. They still had some strength left and seized the chance to fight back.

The Fallen clearly hadn't expected them to have another trick up their sleeves, and they paid dearly for it.

Just then, Gu Jianlin came charging over with a chair and smashed in their heads one by one.

One body after another hit the ground. The tide of battle had turned completely.

Gu Jianlin surveyed the area.

A few captives were still lying on the ground. They were rookies who'd been ambushed while asleep.

Some were badly injured; others were on the verge of death.

A few were in decent shape and hurried to thank him.

One pretty young woman even burst into tears and tried to throw herself into his arms.

Gu Jianlin raised the chair and pressed it against her forehead.

"Don't move."

Gu Jianlin ordered coldly, then patted her pockets.

Nothing. No supplies.

He checked the pockets of the others, too, but found nothing.

Finally, his gaze settled on the Fallen whose heads he'd just smashed in.

"These people took all our supplies," the young woman sobbed. "Thank you for getting them back for us."

Gu Jianlin searched the Fallen's bodies and found six bottles of Azure Blood and four Purification Stones.

Then he tossed the Purification Stones over to her.

The young woman stared at him for a moment, then caught them.

Gu Jianlin had already tucked the six bottles of Azure Blood into his pocket and turned to leave.

He left them with a single remark:

"You have no use for this stuff. Compared to her, I'm already being kind."

The young woman turned stiffly.

After rescuing the hostages, Tang Ling had taken all their supplies too. She hadn't left them a single bottle.

The battle still wasn't over, but midnight had already arrived.

The Fallen who'd just been fighting without fear of death all looked terrified.

"It's getting foggy! The fog's coming!"

"Run! Those things are coming!"

"Hahaha, we're going to die! Every last one of us!"

In an instant, they all lost the will to fight. Like stray dogs, they scattered in every direction.

The sight stunned everyone. No one knew what had gotten into the Fallen.

Gu Jianlin was stunned, too.

A Fallen fleeing in a hurry dropped a diary.

Gu Jianlin bent down, picked it up, and opened to the first page.

A crooked line of words had been daubed there in blood.

"After midnight, don't go outside."

Gu Jianlin looked up and narrowed his eyes.

Black fog was spreading, accompanied by faint, eerie laughter.

From deep within the fog came a rustling sound.

As if something were crawling.

Four thousand characters. A little late.