Run-Hit-Run

They encountered several more venomous snakes and Brown Bears along the road, all of which were dealt with by Ren Wo Xing and Ren Fei Fan.

Ren Fei Fan finally worked up the courage to use a wooden stick to directly pierce through a brown bear's body. Who said you couldn't stab something to death without a spearhead?

What was interesting, however, was that Ren Suo, as the player, could not control Ren Fei Fan and could only control Ren Wo Xing.

Ren Suo figured it might be because he had selected Ren Wo Xing as his character before the game began. But according to the game's settings, Ren Wo Xing could only live to the age of twenty-four at most. Once he died, wouldn't Ren Suo have no one left to control?

Setting aside Ren Suo's doubts, the tigers, bears, wild boars, and other prey the Ren brothers killed gave them a proper feast—they had brought twenty portions of rations, but by the time they reached Tai Bai Plain, they had only used four.

Ren Fei Fan said, "Big Brother, your cooking is awful... Such good meat... How could you ruin it like this...?"

Ren Wo Xing said, "There's culinary knowledge in our inherited memories. Why don't you learn it too?"

"You enter Tai Bai Plain and suddenly see a young girl hurriedly fleeing toward you. Behind her are several strange soldiers, laughing loudly, neither quite human nor ghost."

"Ren Fei Fan shrieks, 'Xiao Cui!' and rushes over. He leads the girl away along with one Ghost Soldier, leaving the other four Ghost Soldiers to his beloved big brother."

Ren Suo silently cursed this brother who loved dragging his big brother into trouble, then watched the screen shatter as it entered the battle scene. His controlled character, Ren Wo Xing, was alone, while the other side had four Ghost Soldiers in tattered armor, like zombies!

"Ghost Soldier. Attack 0.9, Defense 0, Reconnaissance 0, Reconnaissance 0, Movement 0, Healing 0."

"This is bad, this is bad..."

Ren Suo had no idea what to do and could only pick a Ghost Soldier at random to attack.

The wooden sword transformed into a streak of light, killing one Ghost Soldier before returning to Ren Wo Xing's hand. When it was the Ghost Soldiers' turn, they all stepped forward together.

"Hmm?"

Only then did Ren Suo realize that the turn-based battlefield had movement ranges. Melee characters like Ghost Soldiers had to get close to Ren Wo Xing before they could attack.

Ren Suo was overjoyed. "Hahaha, eat shit! Biubiubiu!"

Using the Sword Control Technique, he easily shot the Ghost Soldiers dead. Only then did Ren Fei Fan return with the girl, saying righteously, "Big Brother, this is Xiao Cui, whom I met at a market before... Her family lived in a village near Tai Bai Plain, but those Demon Soldier Ghost Generals have already massacred the village... I want to avenge Xiao Cui!"

Ren Wo Xing rolled his eyes. "You didn't even dare fight a tiger before, and now you're rushing to fight Demon Soldier Ghost Generals?"

"Battle concluded. You search the Ghost Soldiers and obtain 1 intact Straight Sword, 1 portion of gold and silver, and 6 Aura Crystals. Ren Wo Xing immediately equips the Straight Sword. Combat power +0.3."

"You continue onward. A day later, you see Demon Soldier Ghost Generals entrenched in a ruined village."

"Will you lure out individual Ghost Soldiers, or charge directly in?"

Ren Suo naturally chose to lure them out. The game then asked, "Please select the lure: Ren Wo Xing, Ren Fei Fan, Xiao Cui."

After thinking it over, Ren Suo decided that Ren Wo Xing was a ranged combat unit and needed to maintain optimal distance, so he chose Ren Fei Fan to do the luring—he was not so heartless as to send Xiao Cui.

There were at least thirty Demon Soldier Ghost Generals in the village. Ren Fei Fan lured out one or two at a time, and those Demon Soldier Ghost Generals did not have much intelligence. Before long, they had killed more than a dozen demons on the west side of the village.

However, when Ren Fei Fan entered the center of the village to lure them out, he drew out all eighteen remaining demons at once!

Ren Wo Xing roared, "Are you trying to get me killed?!"

Ren Fei Fan cried, "Big Brother... Big Brother, I'm sorry. I saw them eating, eating... I couldn't stop myself from charging in to kill them... I..."

"The game asks: Please select a battle plan. Abandon Ren Fei Fan and Xiao Cui and flee, or have Ren Fei Fan stand in front of Ren Wo Xing and resist while retreating."

There was no question that he chose the latter!

Once they entered the battle scene, Ren Wo Xing and Ren Fei Fan were both at the edge of the battlefield, while eighteen Ghost Soldiers charged toward them. Ren Suo immediately employed the run-hit-run strategy, having Ren Wo Xing retreat while using the Sword Control Technique to kill Ghost Soldiers. By the time he had killed eight Ghost Soldiers, the enemies had finally drawn close!

Ren Fei Fan, standing in front of Ren Wo Xing, was simultaneously besieged by three Ghost Soldiers from the front. Ren Fei Fan gave a mighty shout and swept his spear through all three! Then he shouted again and thrust forward, killing another Ghost Soldier!

"Holy shit, I thought this melee spearman was useless. So he can launch wide-range melee attacks and attack twice in one turn?" Ren Suo's eyes lit up. The tigers and Brown Bears had all been one-shot before, so the spearman had never had a chance to show what he could do. Ren Suo had no idea what traits a spearman possessed.

Most importantly, since Ren Suo could not control the spearman, there was nothing he could do about how Ren Fei Fan attacked...

Now he had flying swords at range and a spearman up close. It was the perfect battle formation, more than enough to grind this pack of demons to death!

The following battle was practically child's play. The only somewhat formidable enemy was a Ghost General with Attack 2 and Defense 1, but it still only took one spear and one sword.

Why did the battles between cultivators and demons feel like something out of a fantasy novel... Everyone showed off their stats—oh, you're at Foundation Establishment, I'm at Golden Core. You're dead.

"Battle concluded. You search the Ghost Soldiers and obtain 2 intact Straight Swords, 3 intact long spears, 4 portions of gold and silver, and 40 Aura Crystals."

Seeing that this expedition had finally ended, Ren Suo breathed a sigh of relief. The adventures within it, combined with the slow lure-and-kill tactics, had unexpectedly taken a lot of time. Even though it was a simple turn-based game, it had eaten up his entire afternoon.

"Ren Fei Fan brings Xiao Cui over. He hopes to take this pitiful girl home with them. Otherwise, she will be unable to survive in these chaotic times. Do you permit this?"

Ren Wo Xing said, "It's fine, but... I can't stop Second Brother from scolding you."

Ren Fei Fan blushed. "Saving people is my duty!"

However, when Ren Wo Xing and the others returned to the Ren residence, Ren Chang Sheng appeared on the screen... along with three women.

Ren Chang Sheng said, "Family Head, this is Miss Zhuo and her attendants. I heard their cries for help on the mountain and discovered that their carriage had broken down on the mountain road. They nearly died, but I happened to have learned healing spells... They wish to seek shelter here and live here for at least a year. In return, they are willing to pay 3,000 portions of gold and silver. Please decide, Family Head."

Three thousand portions of gold and silver was no small sum. Ren Suo naturally would not refuse, and this might also be an important part of the game's plot.

The beautiful young woman said, "Greetings, Family Head of the Ren family. My surname is Zhuo, given name Yu. I will rely on you immortal elders for protection from now on."

Ren Wo Xing said, "No problem. Second Brother, Third Brother, and I will build you a house right away. We also need to arrange a place for Xiao Cui."

The scene shifted to nighttime, with Ren Wo Xing and Ren Chang Sheng discussing matters.

Ren Wo Xing said, "We are cultivators, and there are many inconveniences. Second Brother, why did you let outsiders live here?"

Ren Chang Sheng said, "Family Head, this is for the long term. Going forward, aside from Slaying Demons and Eliminating Devils to gather Aura Crystals and communing with spirits to continue our bloodline, we must also travel the world, kill evil demons, and find more spirits—after communing with Tai Bai Plain Earth Spirit once, she must enter slumber."

"With only the few of us, our strength is truly insufficient. We should prosper the family and gain more subordinates, making them our eyes and gathering intelligence from every region. Then we will not need to waste time traveling, and we can learn about the demons and spirits in every place."

Ren Wo Xing asked doubtfully, "Prosper the family? How do we prosper the family? We cannot bear children."

Ren Chang Sheng said, "We cannot bear children, but this is a safe place while the outside world is in chaos. We can take in capable people from outside. We guarantee their safety, and they become our dependents. That can also count as the Ren family prospering. Big Brother, wasn't that why you brought Xiao Cui back?"

Ren Wo Xing said, "...That's right!"

Ren Chang Sheng let out a long sigh. "What a pity. If only we could seize control of some regime and support it with the power of cultivators, not only could we hasten the unification of the realm, we could also... Ah!"

Ren Chang Sheng suddenly collapsed to the ground as if possessed. Ren Wo Xing hurriedly helped him up. "Second Brother, Second Brother, what's wrong?!"

Ren Chang Sheng caught his breath and shook his head. "It's nothing... Emperor Guangwu's shackles merely tightened. We swore to protect the Han dynasty to the death and must never interfere with political power... Even if we can no longer fulfill the first part, the latter remains forbidden ground for us."

"Never mind that... I learned something from Zhuo Ji and the others. There are many wandering evil demons beneath Hulao Pass, and the demons entering Tai Bai Plain are only a small portion of the demons from Hulao Pass."

"Family Head, as long as we clear out the demons at Hulao Pass, we will have enough Aura Crystals to commune with Tai Bai Plain Earth Spirit and continue our bloodline!"