Dunn was pulled back by an old comrade behind him. He knelt on the ground, his face pale. A small patch of skin and flesh had been torn from his right arm where the mycelium had brushed against it, and beads of blood began to seep through.
The resident was in even worse shape. A large chunk of flesh had been ripped from his calf as the fungal threads dragged him, and blood gushed out as he trembled in agony.
The veteran Nightwatcher who had pulled Dunn back lowered his head and glared at him.
“You reckless rookie, did you forget the Nightwatchers’ code? You’re just an ordinary person; how dare you charge in like that?”
Dunn didn’t dare talk back, merely gritting his teeth and nodding.
The Nightwatcher immediately crouched down, pulling out first-aid supplies to treat their wounds. Lu Yuan stepped forward to help as well, retrieving a small bottle of antidote from his waist pouch, unscrewing the cap, and pouring it over the wound on Dunn’s arm.
The pale green liquid washed over the injury, and the fungal fragments remaining in the flesh hissed and bubbled as they were forced out bit by bit.
He then treated the resident’s leg in the same manner.
Just as Lu Yuan was about to stand up, his gaze inadvertently swept over the collapsed carriage.
Something was wrong.
The people inside the carriage were huddled together. He scanned their faces, counting them one by one. There was one too many.
His eyes settled on a “face” in the corner, and grey-white text immediately floated into view.
【Target detected: Sinking Ones (Puppet)】
In his eyes, the contours of that face were nothing more than a mass of twisted mycelium, barely disguised in the shape of human features, shrinking into the crowd without a word.
It was a fungal body split off from the Sinking Ones, which had taken advantage of the chaos to slip inside.
Lu Yuan’s expression turned cold, and he raised his hand to fire.
Bang.
The copper-cased incendiary round streaked across the interior of the carriage. The “figure” collapsed instantly, its disguise melting away in the fire to reveal a mass of charred yellow mycelium beneath.
The people in the carriage screamed and recoiled in terror at the shot. When several of them turned to see the mess on the floor, their faces turned white.
Lu Yuan holstered his gun and swept his gaze over the crowd in the carriage.
“This thing isn’t human. Be careful. If anyone is contaminated or injured, remember to speak up immediately.”
He paused, then tilted his head toward the nearby Nightwatchers.
“Clean it up.”
Everyone scrambled to drag the carriage out of the sinkhole. The bottom of the vehicle was covered in greyish-yellow fungal residue, and the floorboards had cracked in two places, but fortunately, it was still functional.
Dunn’s arm was bandaged, and the resident’s leg had stopped bleeding. The Nightwatchers helped the man back into the carriage. Lu Yuan scanned the area to ensure nothing had been missed, then prepared to call for the convoy to move out.
His gaze swept over the distant woods, and his footsteps faltered.
The Lost Ones were coming.
Countless pale figures flickered and swayed between the tree trunks, watching from a distance. The recent gunshots and the scent of blood had drawn them in.
Lu Yuan watched them for a moment but didn't pay much mind. The danger level of the Lost Ones was low, and the carriages were protected by inscriptions. Unless every Lost One charged at once, there was nothing to fear.
Just as he was about to look away, another line of grey-white text suddenly jumped out.
This one was significantly longer than the previous short, low-level prompts.
【Strong pollution source detected... Please stay away.】
Lu Yuan’s entire body tensed.
He jerked his gaze away from the Lost Ones and scanned deeper into the forest. Something was approaching—something far larger than a Lost One, and it was moving much faster.
“Everyone, get in the carriages!”
He turned and shouted to Bo Er and the surrounding Nightwatchers, his voice low and urgent.
“Something is approaching. Be on alert.”
Before his words could even dissipate, a commotion erupted in the distant forest.
A massive figure burst violently from the dense woods, its four limbs hugging the ground. Grey-white flesh covered a bloated torso that was significantly larger than any bear Lu Yuan had ever seen—nearly as wide as two or three adults standing side by side.
A low, viscous roar rumbled from within its body, a dull and tuneless sound. A muffled gurgling echoed from deep within its throat, clearly blocked by something rotten.
The most skin-crawling part was its back.
The entire spinal column had been flipped open in reverse from the tail. As it ran, the upper half of the flesh opened and closed. In the moments it shut, one could see a dense array of twisted, jagged teeth inside; when it opened, tentacles probed out from the gaps in the meat, lashing at the air.
As it charged, blackish-green slime overflowed from the gap in its spine, dripping onto the ground. The rancid stench could be smelled from dozens of paces away.
Lu Yuan’s heart sank at first.
His eyes scanned the grey-white text prompt: “Strong pollution source.” He then looked at the creature’s size and momentum, and he felt more confident.
He could handle this.
The Nightwatchers’ reactions were even faster than his.
Several comrades had already scrambled onto the ammunition wagon, dragging out alchemical heavy crossbows and mounting them on the edges. The dark crossbow arms were aimed directly at the giant beast charging from the woods.
Before Lu Yuan could even speak, the first bolt was released.
The bolt was a full palm’s length, carrying the cold glint of an alchemical alloy. The sound of it cutting through the wind was sharp and piercing. The arrowhead buried itself in the giant bear’s shoulder blade, instantly opening a hole the size of a bowl. Grey-white shredded meat and black-red blood sprayed out.
However, a hole of that size was hardly fatal given its massive proportions—or rather, whether it could even be considered “alive” was debatable.
The giant beast was only further enraged by the shot. Ignoring the hole in its body, it lowered its forelimbs and roared as it lunged toward the convoy.
The heavy crossbows didn't give it a second chance.
Bolts were fired one after another in a continuous stream. Blood holes exploded across the giant bear’s body. One of its front legs was pierced through; it knelt for a moment before forcing itself back up to continue the charge.
One heavy crossbow aimed for the flipped-open flesh on its back. With a single shot, the entire chunk of meat, along with half a ribcage, was violently knocked off.
The “mouth” on the giant bear’s back was completely exposed.
The opening was wider than a man’s embrace, filled with a dense thicket of teeth of varying sizes, twisted and embedded deep within the flesh, emitting a choking stench.
While everyone was focused on that mouth, something suddenly snapped out from deep within the gap. It was thin and long, moving so fast the eye could barely follow—a tongue, coated in slime, lashing toward the convoy with a whistling, cold wind.
Lu Yuan, standing at a distance, moved quickly.
The cylinder of the revolver “Flame” clicked as it rotated. The outer ring of copper-cased incendiary rounds was bypassed, and the bullet at the very center was chambered.
A small amount of Sanity was quietly consumed as a pure white alchemical fire bullet condensed in the barrel.
He raised the gun and pulled the trigger.
The gunshot was muffled, a low thud much deeper than the sharp crack of the copper-cased incendiary rounds.
Pure white flames erupted from the muzzle, striking the tongue lashing toward the group.
In an instant, the tongue was severed into two pieces. White fire curled around the severed ends, hissing as they smoked. The front half lashed against the ground, twitching twice before going still.
With its tongue severed, the giant beast’s body suddenly stiffened, its forward momentum abruptly collapsing. It stumbled forward two or three more steps before its forelimbs gave way, and its entire frame crashed heavily onto the ground, never to rise again.
The surroundings fell silent for a moment.
One Nightwatcher exhaled in relief, wiping the black blood from his face.
“Nice shot. Captain Lu, that was impressive.”
Lu Yuan didn't respond, instead holstering “Flame” back at his waist.
He scanned the area. The Lost Ones in the woods had mostly scattered, startled by the commotion, but shadows still flickered further away.
The gunshots, the blood, and the vibration of the giant beast hitting the ground were all carrying out in every direction.
“We can’t stay here any longer,” Lu Yuan raised his voice. “We have to leave quickly. That commotion was far too loud.”
The Nightwatchers moved fast, dragging the giant beast’s corpse to the side of the road in a matter of minutes.
Just as everyone was preparing to board the carriages.
A line of grey-white text suddenly popped up in Lu Yuan’s vision.
Unlike the previous short, low-level prompts, this text appeared with a noticeable tremor.
【High-level pollution source detected... Please leave immediately!】
Lu Yuan’s eyelid twitched violently.
A slight vibration traveled up through the soles of his feet. It was shallow at first, but it didn't stop; instead, it grew heavier and closer with every beat.
Further away, ancient trees were collapsing in swathes. The muffled sound of wood snapping echoed one after another as something began to crush its way through the center of the forest.
Lu Yuan froze, looking in that direction.
Deep within the dense woods, a figure was pushing aside the entire forest.
It was too massive.
From a distance, only a silhouette was visible. A dark grey carapace moved section by section between the shadows of the trees, and with every movement, the ground beneath them jumped. Its size had exceeded the scope of what the word “creature” could contain; it was more like a slowly shifting mountain peak.
Lu Yuan’s pupils shrank.
Hanging beneath that silhouette were countless heads—all of them female.
Each head dangled between the gaps in the giant creature’s carapace, long hair disheveled, faces a ghostly grey, and eerie luminescence glowing within their eye sockets.
They swayed with the giant creature’s movement. Some of their mouths remained open, frozen in the moment of a scream, never to close again.
Dunn was the first to react.
The color drained completely from his face, leaving him a terrifying shade of white. His voice squeezed through his gritted teeth.
“It’s an Ocular-Spine Centipede! Everyone, don't move! Don't make a sound!”
He had seen these things before—they existed in the ancient forests of Gubo Town—but he had never seen one this large.
The convoy erupted into chaos.
The muffled cries of the residents echoed within the carriages. Some tried to jump out, while others collapsed in their seats. The horses were completely spooked; even the well-trained mounts of the Nightwatchers began to paw the ground and circle, neighing as they tried to break free of their reins.
The Nightwatchers’ expressions shifted as well.
These men, who were used to the eerie, found their hands trembling slightly as they gripped their crossbows.
They knew all too well that while an alchemical heavy crossbow could open a hole in a Split-carcass Beast, a bolt hitting the creature before them likely wouldn't even crack its shell.
Everyone’s gaze fell on Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan’s mind was racing.
Run? His first instinct was to run, but he was leading over two hundred people and over a dozen carriages. Given the size of that thing, even horses at full gallop couldn't outrun the movement of a single section of its body.
They couldn't run, and they certainly couldn't fight.
His gaze fell on his waist pouch.
“No one is allowed to leave the carriages.”
His voice wasn't loud, but every word hit with absolute clarity. As he spoke, he reached into his pouch and pulled out the bag of ghoul brain cores—palm-sized, dark grey stones with fine inscriptions carved onto their surfaces.
He quickly distributed the brain cores to the Nightwatchers around him, one for each person.
“Hold onto these. One for each person, and one for each carriage. As soon as you’re on board, crush them and let the scent out.”
He looked at the faces of his comrades and added one final thing.
“Whether we live or die depends on this.”
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