"This is bad, that thing is spreading!"
A middle-aged woman drew a short sword, fine frost condensing on the blade.
She stepped beside Kite and swung the blade down with a grit of her teeth.
Kite's entire right arm was severed from the shoulder joint. A large amount of black pus flowed from the wound, emitting a rotten, foul stench.
The severed arm fell to the ground, twitching frantically as appendages and eyes sprouted from it. Bone fragments pierced through the flesh, bending and deforming as the limb writhed.
The severed arm had actually transformed into an independent aberration!
The creature was covered in bone spurs of all sizes, possessing eyes and legs, and was extremely aggressive.
It launched itself into the air, lunging toward a nearby middle-aged man. A crack that could barely be called a 'mouth' split open, letting out a series of whistling shrieks.
"Kill it!"
Everyone present struck at once, the light of spells flashing through the basement.
The aberration was quickly blasted into fragments, but even those fragments continued to squirm. It only stopped completely after the middle-aged woman encased them in ice.
Kite leaned against the wall as his companions performed emergency treatment on his stump. His face was deathly pale, his lips purple, and his entire body was soaked in cold sweat, but he had managed to keep his life.
The basement fell silent. The middle-aged woman wiped the sweat from her brow with her sleeve and sheathed her short sword, her heart still racing. "I almost died just from talking through a puppet."
Another man added with lingering fear, "That guy is too dangerous. We haven't even met him, and we were being friendly, yet he attacked without any reason, nearly killing Kite."
Kite's voice trembled. "Luckily, my reactions were fast enough to sever the link. Otherwise, this entire stronghold would have been compromised."
The group fell into a heavy silence.
The middle-aged woman sighed. "No wonder he dares to oppose the Ximen family. If I had that kind of power, I'd be just as arrogant."
"Our previous plan was too naive. We cannot contact him directly. We absolutely cannot contact him directly again!"
"Then what about the intelligence? If we don't cooperate with him, what do we have to use against the Ximen family?"
"We change our methods. Use letters, use dead drops. Either way, we must be extremely cautious."
The pain from Kite's severed arm throbbed in his mind. He gritted his teeth and endured it, offering some comfort. "Think of it this way—having someone that powerful and vicious targeting the Ximen family is very beneficial for us."
"Perhaps he just doesn't like being watched. Next time, we'll be more careful and show even more sincerity."
The others nodded in agreement.
...
Thousand Faces City had already entered Yue Shi's line of sight. It was as prosperous as a garden in bloom, looking like an eternal sea of light from a distance. Blue and white artificial light rose from the city, staining the clouds a pale cyan.
"Little rats hiding in the shadows... trying to use me as their blade? They'll have to see if I'm willing first," Yue Shi said playfully.
He hadn't expected those people to offer anything of real value anyway. The result of his reverse tracking had been much better than expected; that group was likely busy dealing with an aberration right now.
Once he was finished with the Ximen family, he would find the time to clean them up.
"Let's go. We have people to kill."
The snow leopard let out a soft meow, rubbing its head vigorously against his chin.
...
At the same time, Little Red Riding Hood was frantically digging in the sand on a beach.
Her hands had turned into excavators, shoveling massive amounts of sand into her red cloak. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, her body trembling with joy.
The cloak was a high-level storage artifact, but at this moment, she felt the storage space was nowhere near enough.
Little Red Riding Hood prided herself on being a powerful supernatural creature. She considered herself well-traveled and had seen countless treasures.
But now, she realized her past perspective had been far too narrow. She had never seen a place like this—treasures were literally everywhere!
She casually picked up a conch. The shell vibrated slightly in her palm, playing a cheerful melody. When the tune ended, a crisp voice said, "Hello! If you have any questions, you can ask the Magic Conch."
Every single conch on this beach was a Magic Conch, carrying a faint attribute of omniscience. They were the finest of the fine!
Little Red Riding Hood grabbed every one she saw, stuffing them into her cloak.
She then picked up a seashell. Natural patterns flowed across its surface, and when she touched it, a Calming Charm emanated from within. After listening to it, she felt her mind become perfectly clear.
Another treasure. Into the cloak it went!
She grabbed a handful of sand and injected mana into it. The sand began to absorb it autonomously, forming a self-circulating miniature mana vortex. This was a natural magical medium; if she brought this back to the Deep Red Continent, it would surely fetch an astronomical price!
Little Red Riding Hood had completely lost it. She ran from one end of the beach to the other, leaving nothing behind. Everything in her path was swept clean, yet she couldn't stop herself.
"No wonder that old man Qin Sansi was so desperate to gather people for the God Realm. There really are treasures everywhere!"
In the distance, several local residents walked along the coastline.
Leading them was a middle-aged woman wearing a waterproof jacket, tall rubber boots, and carrying a red plastic bucket filled with small tools.
Following her were a young man and a young woman, dressed in similar attire and also carrying buckets.
Clearly, they were here for some beachcombing.
The middle-aged woman stopped and squinted toward Little Red Riding Hood's direction.
Little Red Riding Hood was squatting on the beach, stuffing sand into her cloak like a marmot rolling in the dirt.
"Hey, look at that girl. What is she doing?" the middle-aged woman asked, puzzled.
The young man said, "Looks like she's digging through the sand for shells. She's acting like a bratty kid."
The young woman giggled, covering her mouth. "Look at that red cloak; the material looks expensive. She's probably some rich girl from the city who's never seen the ocean before."
The middle-aged woman shook her head. "City folk just have too much time on their hands. There's nothing on this beach but rocks and broken shells. What's there to pick up?"
The young man chimed in, "Exactly. If there was gold, I'd pick it up too. Those stupid conches just spout nonsense to amuse people. What's the point of taking them home?"
The young woman laughed. "You want to find gold? We'll be lucky if we can catch a few fish today."
The middle-aged woman said, "Fish are better than those worthless shells. You can't eat shells, and you can't sell them. They just take up space in the house."
The young man glanced back at Little Red Riding Hood and noticed she was still at it. She even started using magic; with a wave of her hand, a large patch of sand vanished into thin air.
"City folk really know how to entertain themselves."
The middle-aged woman waved them off. "Alright, enough. She's just a silly kid from a wealthy family; it's none of our business. Hurry up to the tide pools. The tide is really far out today; we might even find a few Kun..."
The group stopped paying attention to Little Red Riding Hood and headed toward the distant rocks.
Little Red Riding Hood had long noticed them pointing at her. She had been wary of the locals, thinking they were here to steal her treasures.
She had found this beach first; no one was allowed to take anything!
She picked up the pace of her scavenging.
However, the locals quickly walked away without a single backward glance, showing absolutely no attachment to the treasures on this beach.
Rate on N.U.
