Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“You don’t even know what a Human Soul Lantern is? How did you come out here and not die?
“A Human Soul Lantern is a lantern that lights up using the most important thing in your soul, which is your Lifespan. A Human Soul Lantern has a lot of uses. It can keep you sane, expel low-level Wickeds, and so on, but there are some Wickeds who use the lanterns to make terrible things.
“Most importantly, a Human Soul Lantern can protect you from [Cold Night’s Corruption].”
Then, Lord Han noticed that Fang Yue’s legs were covered with black gooey slime. He frowned slightly.
“Your legs have already been corrupted by [Cold Night’s Corruption], but it’s not that serious. Warm them up beside a Human Soul Lantern and they will recover. But if it’s as serious as mine…”
Lord Han smiled bitterly and put his hands out. His hands were covered with a thin layer of frost.
“…then you won’t live for long now.”
“Uh…K…” Fang Yue was speechless. He instinctively looked at his legs and touched them. His legs felt cold as if he had just come out from the freezer. They were hard, and he could barely feel them.
Fang Yue thought that it was because of the weather that his legs turned hard and cold, but it was actually the [Cold Night’s Corruption].
He was afraid. According to Lord Han, if he had arrived at the village any later, given his mortal body, he would have to cut his legs off or end up dead.
Regardless of which ending it was, Fang Yue could not accept either. Both being crippled and dying would render this character completely useless.
Then, he asked several more questions to clear his doubts. He found out that people would normally never go out into the wild at night. Even if they had to, they would bring a Human Soul Lantern to keep them safe.
As for the villagers, they had countless Human Soul Lanterns to keep them warm, thus it would not be a problem for them.
Normal fire could not burn in the dark night.
It was the reason why Fang Yue had been unable to start a fire back in the broken temple. It was not his technique’s fault. Instead, it was because the normal fire could not burn in the dark.
“Wait, that’s not right. I remember that the little Wickeds back in the temple had a fire to boil that pot of poisonous soup over…”
Fang Yue lowered his volume and told Lord Han about his encounter at the broken temple.
Lord Han’s strength was unpredictable. At least, Fang Yue was no match for him. The man could easily kill a Wicked if he wanted to, so he should not care about what Fang Yue got from the Wickeds.
“You’ve killed a Wicked before?!”
Lord Han widened his eyes in shock. He suddenly stopped walking and stared at Fang Yue in astonishment.
“Y-yeah.” Fang Yue then showed Lord Han his spoil, [Black Ashes].
“The real ashes?! Incredible! Incredible! A normal man like you killing a Wicked? And you can even move freely in the rain…”
The longer Lord Han looked at Fang Yue, the more surprised he was. Fortunately, as a knowledgeable elder, Lord Han was able to quickly calm his excitement.
“Night, try to keep a low profile and keep this to yourself.”
“Why?”
“Men are unpredictable. The ashes from the Wickeds are incredibly valuable. It might not be useful to people like me, but it is lethally attractive to a certain party. You will find out more in the future.”
Fang Yue found Lord Han’s advice reasonable. He quickly kept the ashes away.
A slight pause later, Lord Han added, “As for the fire you mentioned, it should be the Human Soul Fire.”
“Both the villagers of Guyue Village and the neighboring village went missing frequently. I suppose they were captured by the Fingereater and had their life force sucked away. Then, their life force was transformed into the Human Soul Fire for cooking.
“Once the Human Soul Fire goes off, it means the life of that boy should have come to an end. The Underworld Guards should have taken his soul away, but it seems like he chose the other path…”
Fang Yue immediately remembered something. “You mean the ashes as dinner? I mean…the Fingereater’s ashes?
“Correct. The boy ate the [Black Ashes]. He had a certain chance to turn a normal human being into a Wicked. The boy put up his last struggle before his death and became a Wicked. He’s no longer human. We usually call newly transformed Wickeds Newborns, meaning the weakest among all Wickeds.
“Even so, a normal human being is no match for a Wicked. Even a trained martial artist might not win in a fight against a Newborn Wicked.
“I see…” Fang Yue finally got an in-depth explanation of the situation. He got a hold of a lot of new information through the questions.
Lord Han and Fang Yue talked on the go, and they soon arrived at the village entrance.
Lord Han signaled the patrolling guards, so the alarm was called off.
A dozen pairs of cautious eyes stared at Fang Yue. They were curious, hostile, and afraid at the same time.
The heavy rain got lighter by the time they arrived at the village entrance.
Suddenly, a loud voice came from behind. “HEY!”
Fang Yue turned around curiously. He saw someone from the shed emerge with a body above his head to shelter himself from the rain.
He ran towards Fang Yue, but the rain still got to him. A large number of damage numbers popped up above his head.
A dozen more [-1] appeared above his head when he got close enough to ask the question. He shouted, “Hey, are you a player as well?”
Fang Yue scratched his head awkwardly. “Yeah.”
“D*mn! You really are a player! Bro, my name is Shi Wuliao. Please take me into the village with you! Please!”
The third in line to Shitian Corporation was begging someone in-game, but he could not care less about his dignity anymore.
He finally saw a chance for him to get into the village, so he did not want to just let it slip.
The other refugees, or players, also came out.
“He’s not a Wicked? You should have said so! You scared me!”
“F***, he’s really a player!”
“He said he’s a player, but you guys didn’t believe him!”
“We were misled by that b*stard!”
“D*mn it! We are all players but why is the gap between us so big? Why is he able to move freely in the rain? He’s still losing HP. How much HP does he have?”
“Who knows? Is that a priority now? The thing is…Brother! Please, bring me in! Take me into the village as well!”
“Yeah! Me too! I have contacted a potion master in the village who can teach me how to identify herbs! Brother, bring me in and I’ll support you by selling potions and medicines in the future!”
“To hell with your potions and medicines! Brother, bring me! I have a lucky gift! My talent is Superstrength! I have 3 points of Control while others have only 1! Bring me in. It’s definitely worth it!”
Shi Wuliao was annoyed by the others’ reactions. He shouted, “Enough! You bunch of garbage! You are not worthy to compete with me to get into the village!
“Superstrength?! Carry him by selling potions? Bullsh*t! What are those?
“Brother, remember me! I’m telling you I am a lategamer! What is a lategamer, you may ask? As a lategamer, I will be online for the next 24 hours from now on! I am a man of my word!”
“If you bring me into the village, you will be my life savior, and whenever you face any trouble, I will put my life on the line for you!”
Gasp!
The others gasped in astonishment.
24 hours online? His words were challenging the limits of the human body! He might be a beast at this!