Froy walked over to Chen Lun, glanced at Will lying on the ground with his eyes turned skyward, then looked away, paying him no further attention.
"You killed Will. It won't take long for the guards outside to notice something's wrong. When they do, they'll surround this place."
Chen Lun unhurriedly put away the diary on the altar, then turned around.
"I dug a tunnel to the outside in the corner of my cell. You should escape through there first."
"What about you?"
Froy looked puzzled.
"I have other things to do. Besides, with me drawing their attention, you'll have an easier time escaping."
Chen Lun crouched down and used Beast Speech to summon a large black rat, then sent it outside the basement to take a look.
Soon, the large black rat scurried back and reported with a couple of squeaks.
Chen Lun stood up and looked at Froy.
"There are only two guards outside right now. You can slip past them easily."
Froy stared at him in silence for a while before saying:
"...All right. I'll go first, then."
"Okay. Be careful."
With that, Chen Lun plopped down on the altar and lowered his head, considering his next move.
The prison map the rats had pieced together for him slowly surfaced in his mind, along with the guards' patrol routes and positions.
"I still don't know your name. Could you tell me?"
Froy's ethereal voice reached him.
Chen Lun raised his head and found her standing in the doorway, looking back at him.
He paused briefly, then smiled.
"You can call me Chen Lun."
"Mm... My name is Froy."
"I know. That's what they all call you."
Froy smiled for the first time. Before leaving, she took one last, lingering look at the man sitting on the altar.
"You be careful too."
After Froy left, Chen Lun deliberately waited a while, his plan gradually taking shape.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the basement door.
The man with the small mustache walked alongside another guard, and they cautiously pushed open the iron door.
"Monk Will?"
Will's furious face greeted them, blocking their way.
"You two idiots! Didn't I tell you not to come in?!"
The mustached man and his companion jumped, immediately bowing their heads and stammering submissively.
"I'm terribly sorry, Lord Will! We only came because..."
The mustached man suddenly realized something was wrong.
Monk Will's voice has changed. And... why is he facing away from us?
"Oh, no...!"
Before the mustached man and his companion could draw their swords, they looked up to find Monk Will's corpse already hurtling into them.
Thud!!
The tremendous impact sent both men stumbling, and Chen Lun's figure darted nimbly out from behind the door.
He thrust out both hands, his arms transforming into winding serpents that coiled tightly around the two guards' necks.
Their eyes bulged and their faces flushed crimson, but neither could make a sound. Helplessly, they watched their bodies being dragged slowly into the basement.
Bang!
The basement door slowly closed.
A while later, when the door opened again, a figure wearing a leather coat and a brimmed hat emerged.
[Killed a Red Apple Church prison guard. Gained 10 experience points.] [Killed a Red Apple Church prison guard. Gained 10 experience points.]
The guards weren't particularly strong. Perhaps because they had the [Prison Guard] class, their stats were a tiny bit higher than Chen Lun's current ones.
But they were still only ordinary people, no match for a supernatural being who had stepped into the realm of mysticism.
Chen Lun took out the key ring he had just stripped from the mustached man and headed straight toward the cells holding the sacrifices.
The ring held keys to every cell in the prison.
On the way, he opened his status panel and poured all the experience he had accumulated-over a thousand points-into his main class, [Beast Tamer], gaining seven levels on the spot.
[Main class level increased. You feel your body grow stronger. Maximum HP +140, maximum stamina +70, maximum sanity +1, strength +2, dexterity +7, intelligence +4.] [You have gained 7 skill points and 7 attribute points.]
Chen Lun then spent four skill points to raise [Animal Mimicry LV1] to its maximum level of five.
Chen Lun's status panel now looked like this-
Name: Chen Lun Race: Human (eastern continent) Template: NPC (countdown to version 1.0 open beta: 401 days, 11 hours, 12 minutes, 25 seconds) Level: 11 Experience: 10/190 HP: 180/180 Stamina: 110/130 Sanity: 6/6 Main class: [Sequence 9 Beast Tamer LV8] (Fate Faction) Secondary class: [Fisherman LV3] Attributes: Strength 6, dexterity 13, endurance 5, intelligence 7, faith 3 Special attributes: Charisma 7 (+2), willpower 5, insight 3, luck 3 Remaining points: 4 skill points, 9 attribute points Skills: Quick Hands and Sharp Eyes LV1 (passive), Sea Legs LV1 (passive), Beast Speech LV1, Animal Mimicry LVMAX, Friend of Animals LVMAX (passive) Combat power: 17 [Assessment: A newbie who has just entered a mystical pathway, scraping the bottom of the barrel among supernatural beings. Apart from a gorilla in heat, perhaps no one would take an interest in you...]
Chen Lun ignored the assessment.
Then he nodded in satisfaction.
Just as he rounded a corner, another pair of guards approached him.
As they drew closer, one turned his head and gave Chen Lun several puzzled looks. Chen Lun pulled the brim of his hat lower.
"Hey, hold on, buddy..."
The man walked up to Chen Lun with his torch and stopped in front of him, while the other placed a hand on the hilt of the short sword at his waist.
Chen Lun noticed that both men kept staring at the unmarked backs of his hands and immediately understood why they were suspicious.
He didn't have that simple red apple tattoo on the back of his hand!
"An intruder! Kill him!"
Chen Lun sighed inwardly.
He knew he couldn't keep up the disguise for long, but he hadn't expected to be exposed right after stepping outside. Still, he had never planned to clear this place through stealth and assassinations.
The guard drew his sword with a metallic ring, but Chen Lun was faster. He had already pulled the standard-issue short sword from his waist and swept it sideways.
Cold steel flashed across both men's throats.
[-97] [-98]
Two bright red damage numbers popped up.
Rrrip-
Blood sprayed, and the burning torch fell to the ground alongside the guards' bodies.
Clang!
Only then did the sword the guard had just drawn fall after him.
"Hey! What's going on over there?!"
"Hurry, go check!"
Loud calls came from beyond the corner, followed by a flurry of footsteps heading his way.
Chen Lun remained unhurried. He simply waved a hand, his index finger glowing as a shrill cry escaped his mouth.
At once, dozens upon dozens of large black rats surged from every direction in the dim passage, squeaking as they rushed madly forward.
On the mottled, firelit wall, the shadows of three or four guards arriving as reinforcements were instantly knocked to the ground.
Then, amid the rats' squeaking and gnawing, horrifying screams filled the passage.
"-Aaargh!!"
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