"Ding! You successfully blocked the Black-Haired Vengeful Woman's attack and severed her hair. Your Basic Swordsmanship proficiency +1."
Ignoring the commotion from the neighboring residents stirred up by the ringing of his sword, Lu Ren braced a foot against the well and pushed off hard, swiftly swinging himself away.
Long hair continuously flew out from the well, thick and dense, forming bundles like tentacles that writhed wildly through the air.
Lu Ren did not step forward. Instead, he kept a sufficient distance and quietly watched the changes unfold before him.
The area around the well had practically become a space made entirely of hair.
It was packed so densely that anyone with trypophobia would probably need a lifetime to recover from the depression of seeing it.
Thinking about the water he had drunk and the baths he had taken these past few days, a shadow suddenly settled over Lu Ren's heart.
"Hey, friend, what's going on here?"
An angry knock suddenly sounded at the door.
Of course. It was the middle of the night, and all this noise was keeping the neighbors awake when they still had work tomorrow!
Without turning around, Lu Ren took several steps back and flicked the door open with his longsword.
Just as a furious man in brocade robes was about to charge inside, he saw an icy longsword hovering inches from his face. The rage on his face froze at once, then twisted into an incomparably stiff smile.
This man was a wealthy merchant who lived next door.
"Brother, I never expected that, with the long night making sleep impossible, you would have the refined interest to practice your swordsmanship—ah, ah, ah... What is that?"
Chen Jinghu finally noticed what was happening by the well. In particular, when he saw clusters of