The late summer night breeze should have carried the lingering heat of the day and the fresh scent of grass and trees, but at this moment, what hit Furina's face was only a thick, choking smell of burning, mixed with an indescribable, foul stench of scorched protein.
She couldn't help but wrinkle her nose, dispelling the last lingering thought of "hot food" in her mind.
The dirt road underfoot was uneven, making her soles ache. Huo Yuner was fast asleep in the soft sedan chair woven from water bubbles by Mademoiselle Crabaletta, while Huo Yuhao walked beside them, his brows slightly furrowed. A faint golden light occasionally flashed in his eyes as he concentrated fully on practicing his Spiritual Detection Spirit Ability, like a child with a new toy, tirelessly sensing every inch of space around him.
Suddenly, his footsteps paused, his nostrils flared rapidly, and his young face instantly turned grave.
"Something is wrong ahead..." He lowered his voice, displaying a vigilance beyond his years, "It's not just the smell of fire, there is also... a very strong scent of blood."
Furina's heart sank, and she followed his lead, standing on tiptoe to look toward the mountain hollow in the distance.
In the deep night, a mass of flickering orange-red firelight was particularly eye-catching. In the dead of night, an ordinary village would have long since extinguished its lights and fallen asleep; how could such a large fire break out?
As she was pondering, a gust of wind happened to sweep by, bringing something far more heart-wrenching than the smell—a scream that was extremely short, yet heart-rending! The sound was filled with extreme fear and pain, and then was immediately swallowed by dead silence.
"Something's happened!" Huo Yuhao's expression changed abruptly.
Furina pursed her lips: "I can tell."
She turned quickly to the members of the Salon Solitaire beside her, speaking fast and clearly: "Surintendante Chevalmarin, please open a water mist barrier to isolate the scent and sound. Gentilhomme Usher, please protect Auntie and Yuhao, and do not leave their side. Mademoiselle Crabaletta, be ready to provide support at any time."
The three members acknowledged the order, and the pale blue power of the water element surged quietly.
"Sister Furina! I am also a Spirit Master, my Spirit Ability can..." Huo Yuhao stepped forward anxiously.
Furina raised her hand and gave him a light flick on the forehead: "Are you trying to help or hinder? Your mother is still here! Do you want her to watch her son risk his life against an enemy whose strength we don't know? Stay put and protect your mother—that is your task right now!"
After saying this, she did not delay any longer, took a deep breath, and her figure suddenly plunged into the darkness ahead. Her hand tightly gripped the hilt of the "radiance of the flowing still water" at her waist.
The closer she got to the village, the more suffocating the anomaly in the air became. The rust-like smell of blood was so thick it almost solidified, sticking stickily in her nasal cavity and throat. Furina did not take the main path, but instead nimbly flipped onto the roof of a thatched cottage at the village entrance, intending to observe from a high vantage point.
She crouched low, stepping on the slippery thatch, moving carefully. The moonlight barely outlined the tragic scene below: collapsed fences, scattered farm tools, large dark stains on the ground... Just as she was concentrating, her foot suddenly slipped, and she nearly lost her balance.
She looked down—aided by the pale moonlight, she saw clearly what had tripped her: a section of dark red, greasy intestine, hanging under the eaves, swaying slightly.
"Ugh..." A strong wave of nausea rushed to her throat, and Furina held onto the cold brick chimney beside her, barely managing to suppress it. She forced herself to look away and breathe deeply, only to inhale even more air mixed with the stench of blood and burning.
This slight movement alerted a figure below who was dragging a corpse.
It was a person wearing a dark red robe. He slowly raised his head, revealing a pale, twisted face, with wet bloodstains on the corners of his mouth. Under the moonlight, the four spirit rings rising beneath his feet were blindingly bright—two yellow, two purple, a standard Soul Ancestor configuration. But the color of those spirit rings exuded an evil air, especially the purple, which was so deep it was almost black.
"Oh?" The red-robed man licked the corners of his mouth, revealing a ferocious and greedy smile, his eyes locked onto Furina on the roof, "Where did this little bug come from? Tsk, and a female Spirit Master too? The Soul Power fluctuation is strange... so tender and delicate, just right for nourishing my body..."
Furina's hand gripping the sword trembled slightly. It wasn't all fear; it was mostly extreme physical discomfort and anger. She saw clearly the so-called "weapon" in the opponent's hand—it wasn't a scythe at all, but a terrifying object made by cruelly stringing together seven or eight villagers' heads, their expressions twisted and eyes wide open in death! Thick blood was still dripping from the tips of their hair.
What made her scalp tingle even more was that the empty sleeve on the man's left side was now wriggling violently as if it had a life of its own. Then, with a "whoosh," a scarlet, greasy tentacle as thick as a baby's arm shot out violently! At the tip of the tentacle grew a twisted, baby-like face, which was emitting a weird "cackle-cackle" laughter at her!
This scene far exceeded any description she had ever seen in novels or games; the intense visual and olfactory impact made her stomach churn violently.
"Courting death!" Seeing that Furina seemed frightened, the red-robed man gave a strange laugh, and the tentacle struck like a venomous snake, bringing a foul wind with it.
Furina shuddered, relying on instinct to roll sideways in a sorry state, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow, but her cheek was scratched by a thin bloody line from the strong wind brought by the tentacle. She could feel the cold breath exhaled by the face on the tentacle.
"What the Hell!" She cursed under her breath; this thing was even more disgusting and troublesome than she had imagined!
The red-robed man missed his strike and seemed a bit annoyed. He waved his empty right hand, his Soul Power fluctuated, and dozens of sharp blood spikes instantly condensed in the shadows behind him, covering the area like a sudden storm! "Puff, puff, puff, puff!" The granary wall where she had been standing was instantly riddled with holes like a hornet's nest.
I can't fight here! Must lure him away, the further from Yuhao and the others, the better!
With thoughts racing, Furina did not hesitate, turned, and rushed toward the threshing floor at the other end of the village.
"Little beauty, don't run! Let big brother love you properly..." The red-robed Evil Soul Master swung that disgusting tentacle, chasing slowly, his tone full of the playfulness of a cat playing with a mouse.
Furina turned a deaf ear and ran with all her might. The threshing floor was relatively open, piled with haystacks and abandoned stone mills. The moment she swept past a huge haystack, a flash of light appeared in her eyes, she stopped suddenly and turned, pouring her Soul Power into the sword without reservation!
"Hum—!"
The radiance of the flowing still water emitted a clear sword hum, and a bright blue light flared! She gripped the sword with both hands and swung it vigorously from bottom to top! A huge, condensed, crescent-shaped water blade appeared out of thin air, whistling as it tore through the air, heading toward the pursuing Evil Soul Master!
This was the Move she had just created—'Water Moon Slash'! Although it was not a Spirit Ability, it was one of the abilities of the radiance of the flowing still water to manipulate water elements.
"Bang!!"
The water blade collided fiercely with the blood spikes the Evil Soul Master had hurriedly condensed again, exploding into an energy impact mixed with blood mist and water vapor, sending grass scraps and dust flying.
Taking advantage of the momentum, Furina tapped her toes and leaped lightly onto the high haystack beside her, occupying the high ground. Then, she slashed out two more consecutive swords, and two slightly smaller but faster Sword Qi flew toward the enemy in a cross shape!
However, the Evil Soul Master was only shaken by the impact. A layer of blood light permeated his body, actually neutralizing most of the subsequent Sword Qi. Even more heart-wrenching was that a small section of the tentacle severed by the water blade fell into the dust, immediately turned into a pool of filthy blood, and then, as if it had a life of its own, "slithered" quickly back to the stump, restoring itself to its original state in the blink of an eye!
"Is that all you've got?" The red-robed Evil Soul Master shook his regrown tentacle, a disappointed and cruel expression appearing on his face, "Looks like you're just a showy vase, not even enough to scratch an itch for me..."
"Shut your mouth!" Furina interrupted sternly, "It's not over yet."
"Look at your complexion, pale and sickly, with dark marks on your forehead—a classic sign of blood and Qi deficiency, and evil spirits entering your body." She said slowly in a tone bordering on pity, as if she were truly a physician saving the world.
The Evil Soul Master was stunned by this sudden change, then flew into a rage: "Stinking girl, what kind of nonsense are you spouting!"
"Not nonsense." Furina's smile remained unchanged as she held the glowing radiance of the flowing still water horizontally in front of her, "This physician specializes in treating all kinds of intractable diseases, especially those like you who... have fallen deep into Qi Deviation!"
"Threads, interweave!" Borrowing this for a moment, Miss Yelan.
Before her voice had faded, the sword body vibrated to the extreme! The next instant, countless deep blue water threads, as thin as hair and hard to see with the naked eye, like tentacles with a life of their own, exploded out at a speed that surpassed vision, instantly enveloping the Evil Soul Master! These water threads ignored the blood-colored shield he had hurriedly condensed and precisely pierced into every part of his body!
"Urgh!" The Evil Soul Master let out a painful roar of shock and anger. He was horrified to discover that after these water threads pierced into his body, they did not cause direct physical damage, but... were frantically extracting his blood! His blood-stained Soul Power, cultivated for many years, along with his own vitality, was uncontrollably flowing away rapidly along the water threads!
In the blink of an eye, in mid-air between Furina and the Evil Soul Master, a huge blood ball, condensed from pure blood and the size of a millstone, had already formed and was constantly expanding! The surface of the blood ball rolled and wriggled, emitting a rich, bloody, and evil Soul Power fluctuation.
"This is an ancestral secret method, bloodletting therapy." Furina controlled the hair-raising blood ball in the air, her tone as relaxed as if she were introducing a home-cooked dish, "It specifically treats symptoms like yours of blood and Qi stagnation and Qi Deviation. Don't worry, the treatment course is very fast, guaranteed to be cured."
This was precisely the unique ability of the radiance of the flowing still water as a Divine Artifact—Waters of Judgment, which could control water through these water threads; blood is also water, after all!
The Evil Soul Master finally showed true fear on his face. He tried to use a life-saving Spirit Ability to turn his body into blood mist and escape, but despairingly discovered that the deep blue water threads stuck in his body were like the toughest shackles, able to firmly bind even his atomized state! He felt like a flying insect that had fallen into a spider web; the more he struggled, the faster he was devoured!
"No! You cannot kill me! I am..." He screamed in terror, trying to use his identity to deter her.
"I don't care who you are!" Furina's eyes turned fierce, and she was about to urge the sword energy to completely suck this scourge dry!
Just at this decisive moment—
"Wuu... wuu-wuu..."
A faint, suppressed sound of sobbing came intermittently from the other end of the village, mixed in with the wind and the remaining sounds of the fire, weak but clear.
Furina's attention was inevitably diverted for a moment, and the controlled water threads experienced a slight stagnation.
It was this fleeting flaw!
That Evil Soul Master was also a ruthless and decisive person. A crazy blood color flashed in his eyes, and he did not hesitate to use his right hand to forcibly tear off his left arm, which was tightly entangled by the water threads, right at the shoulder!
"Puff—!" Black blood splattered.
"Little bitch! You wait for me! If I don't avenge this, I, Blood Fiend, swear I will not be a human!" Accompanied by a shrill and venomous curse, the armless Evil Soul Master "poofed" and exploded into a thick rain of blood. This rain of blood did not scatter everywhere, but like it had a life of its own, quickly seeped into the cracks and shadows of the ground, and his aura instantly fled far away, disappearing without a trace.
"Damn it!" Furina stomped her foot hard, a strong sense of unwillingness and annoyance surging in her heart.
To think this scourge actually ran away! She dissipated her Soul Power, and the huge blood ball in the air "splatted" to the ground, shattering into pieces, and the thick blood stained a large area of land red.
She looked in the direction of the sound and saw Surintendante Chevalmarin slowly drifting over, carefully wrapping five or six unconscious, ragged children in several huge transparent water bubbles. Those children were as young as five or six, and the oldest was only about ten. Everyone was pale, covered in dirt, and some had traces of burning on their clothes. The crying came from a little girl curled up in a water bubble; she seemed to be sobbing in a half-dream, half-awake state.
Huo Yuhao ran over panting at this time, his face full of anxiety and lingering fear: "Sister Furina! We found them at the entrance of the cellar... inside, inside there are many more..." He couldn't continue, his face pale; he had obviously also seen the Hell-like scene.
In the Spiritual Sea, the voice of Tianmeng Ice Silkworm rang out with lingering fear: "Oh my god, you humans, these Evil Soul Masters are truly a hundred times more disgusting and cruel than the most vicious things among us Soul Beasts! Simply devoid of humanity!"
Furina looked at the surviving children, her heart relaxing, but the rich smell of blood and the tragic scenes of the battle just now flooded her mind again. She looked down at her hands, which were covered in dust and specks of blood, especially when she thought about how she had controlled that huge blood ball condensed from human blood... intense physical discomfort finally overwhelmed the support of adrenaline.
"Wa... ugh..." She could no longer hold back, bent down to support herself against a broken earthen wall, and started to retch violently, her stomach twitching, and acid rising.
"Sister Furina! Are you okay?" Huo Yuhao rushed over to support her swaying body, patting her back gently. The boy's face was full of worry; he himself had also vomited messily just now when he discovered the layers of corpses and the only surviving children in the cellar. He said hoarsely: "It's... it's okay, I also vomited very badly just now."
Furina vomited until tears streamed down her face. After finally catching her breath, she took the water bag handed over by Huo Yuhao to rinse her mouth, and then took a small sip of water to suppress the nausea in her throat.
She straightened up, walked to the side of the children who had been placed in a flat area by Surintendante Chevalmarin, and squatted down beside the smallest, sobbing little girl, wanting to wipe her dirty little face with her sleeve. But when she reached out, she found her fingers were still trembling uncontrollably; after wiping a few times, she instead made the little girl's face even messier.
Only then did she belatedly feel a deep exhaustion and the collapse of surviving a disaster spread throughout her body. She hadn't felt it during the fully focused battle just now, but now that she had relaxed, she felt her limbs and bones going weak.
"Damn it!" Furina looked in the direction the Evil Soul Master had fled, clenching her fists in unwillingness, her nails almost embedding into her palms, "He still managed to escape!"