No one knew where demon beasts came from.
The books only recorded one thing.
On that day, rifts appeared across the world, demon beasts descended, and humanity lost more than half of its territory.
No one could close the rifts.
No one could put an end to this chaotic era of demon beasts.
Xie Litang stopped dwelling on it and tightened the pack on her back. “Why overthink it? Pushing forward is what matters.”
Once outside the city, no one could be trusted.
Even the closest classmates and dearest friends required absolute vigilance.
This was one of the lessons taught in school—and it would be tested.
First, wealth could corrupt hearts.
Second, demon beast corruption could silently replace the people around you without anyone noticing.
Xie Litang's destination this time was an abandoned old city: Antong City.
Rumor had it that deer beasts and demon foxes frequented the area.
The former were a vital additive for Vitality potions, while the latter possessed extremely valuable pelts.
Barely a dozen kilometers into her journey, Xie Litang wrote on her list: “Vehicle: Absolute necessity.”
It was already sparsely populated here, but still far from leaving Jianghai City's safety perimeter. At this distance, the Jianghai City Defense Force conducted regular sweeps.
Xie Litang's goal today was to cover at least a hundred and twenty kilometers.
Her baseline Vitality of over three thousand four hundred had drastically altered and strengthened her physique, allowing her to travel almost without feeling tired.
By evening, after seven hours of walking, Xie Litang had reached her target. Checking the time, she pushed forward another thirty kilometers.
She arrived at a desolate small town.
Gnarled old tree roots intertwined, and houses lay in ruins.
With all traces of human activity gone, even the sturdy walls were covered in wild weeds.
Xie Litang didn't start a fire—there was no need to.
Crunch.
Xie Litang bit into a military ration biscuit, muttering as she chewed, “Tastes like sawdust... Horrible.”
Gradually, fog began to rise in the town.
At first, it was just a thin layer.
Slowly, the mist grew thicker.
This tested Xie Litang's knowledge from school. She poured some ants out of a glass jar, stacking Steel while pondering, “Is this fog due to the town's terrain, or something else?”
“Too few clues.”
“Impossible to judge.”
“Whatever, I'm too lazy to think. I'd rather stack Steel.”
【Clang, clang, clang, clang...】
Vitality +10.2.
Vitality +10.2.
Vitality +11.
Vitality +12.
Now, every time Xie Litang procced Steel, her Vitality increased by double digits. After stacking Steel on several hundred ants, her Vitality finally broke through the 4,000 mark.
Suddenly...
Dong, dong...
“Holy crap.”
Xie Litang jumped in startle.
The fake met the real deal! That sound was unmistakably the chime of Steel, sounding like an old-fashioned grandfather clock somewhere in town—and it happened to be the midnight hour.
Xie Litang instinctively looked toward the sound, only to see what looked like a figure waving at her through the fog.
Xie Litang knitted her brows and muttered, “Who's knocking at this hour? I really did run into a ghost.”
She searched her memory for her high school lessons.
Tenth grade, second semester.
Demon Beast Compendium, Volume 2.
Chapter 6, Section 3 recorded:
A beast arrives with the fog and departs when it clears. Nine feet tall, arms reaching past its knees. It is named the Tapir, extremely vindictive, fighting unto death. (Required reading: read thoroughly and comprehend.)
Xie Litang crossed her arms and pondered, “Did I bump into an Old Tapir?”
Her luck was pretty rotten to run into something nasty right after leaving town.
Still, the Old Tapir was just a One-Star Demon Beast, so it wasn't a huge problem.
You could tell from the textbook notes: anything under "read thoroughly" could generally be handled, whereas "must memorize" entries were definitely troublesome, capable of capsizing even experts.
Xie Litang closed her eyes to rest her mind.
Out in the wilderness, sleeping soundly was out of the question.
As the night deepened...
Dong, dong, dong~
“Sister, Sister, open the door! It's Linling...”
“Sister, I came to find you.”
“Sister, are you inside?”
Xie Litang opened her eyes, an annoyed look in her gaze at having her rest disturbed.
Listening to the voice outside the door, Xie Litang couldn't help but roll her eyes. “This dumb-ass Old Tapir doesn't even know Linling has a leg disability. How could she roll a wheelchair a hundred and fifty kilometers out here to find me?”
Some powerful demon beasts could create illusions.
Clearly, a One-Star Demon Beast like the Old Tapir couldn't pull that off.
It could only produce auditory hallucinations. If an ordinary person encountered it, they might actually be scared half to death.
“The white fog must be the cause.”
“Though it's not a big deal.”
Xie Litang slowly drew the longsword from her back and walked to the door.
The voice outside fell instantly silent. One person and one beast stared across the door.
The next moment...
The wind stirred.
The rotten door was smashed open with a heavy bang. A pair of thick, long arms reaching past the knees grabbed violently toward Xie Litang. Yet everything had already been exposed under the trajectory of the wind.
Xie Litang turned sideways and dodged with ease.
The Old Tapir possessed immense strength.
It tore off a large chunk of brick from the wall and hurled it at her.
Xie Litang moved as if strolling through a garden. She ducked, stepped forward, and swung her longsword: “Steel Tempest!”
【Clang!】
The Old Tapir's right arm, struck by Steel Tempest, instantly fractured and snapped, hanging limply.
“Awoo~”
The Old Tapir howled in agony, yet its ferocity only flared brighter.
With a furious roar, its massive body over three meters tall lunged straight at Xie Litang to bite her.
Xie Litang crouched and whipped her sword around, smacking the Old Tapir right in the chest. With a loud crash, the Old Tapir crashed through the wall and flew backward out of the building.
In Xie Litang's vision...
The Old Tapir's health bar was over four hundred points.
“Final blow.”
“You can rest in peace.”
Out of habit, Xie Litang twirled her sword, preparing to step up and deliver the finishing stroke.
Realizing disaster was imminent, the Old Tapir suddenly turned and began fleeing frantically toward the edge of town like mad.
Xie Litang: “?”
“Wait, it just ran off?”
Slap, slap!
Xie Litang slapped herself twice.
If she had known, she would have crippled its legs first or struck it directly on the head. Why did she have to show off like an idiot?
Xie Litang immediately gave chase, but it proved far from easy.
Once the Old Tapir dove into the forest under the cover of night, Xie Litang could only stare helplessly at the overgrown mounds, even if they were only dozens of meters high.
She returned to her temporary shelter.
Until dawn broke in the east, Xie Litang didn't get much peace all night, vaguely feeling a pair of eyes watching her from the dark.
Even without thinking, she knew it was the Old Tapir—that thing was notoriously vindictive.
The textbook had mentioned it: if a hunter injured an Old Tapir in the mountains, the creature would hold a grudge across three generations and wouldn't rest until it wiped out the hunter's entire family.
“Whatever.”
“I'll find another chance to finish it off.”
As dawn broke, Xie Litang set off once more.
By noon, after another eight hours of travel, she had advanced another hundred kilometers.
However, having a tail behind her—with the Old Tapir's shadow occasionally appearing in the woods—annoyed her to no end.
Standing on a slope, she looked off into the distance. An old timberland from a bygone era appeared before her eyes.
Faintly, the calls of deer echoed in her ears. Xie Litang spotted two stags the size of elephants with red eyes clashing horns, slamming into a mountain rock and sending shattered stones cascading down.
Xie Litang's eyes widened. “You motherfucker tell me this is a deer? If you said it was a deer-type tank, I'd believe you! Getting rammed by that would probably scatter a person into pieces!”
“Well, since I'm already here...”
“I'll just stack Steel on it and call it a day.”
Rate on N.U.
