Dragon Baby hadn’t fully killed the evil spirit, so danger still lurked beneath the ruins. Ye Chui had spared the Blue Fox mercenaries earlier to use them as cannon fodder, uncertain of what threats lay ahead. Now, they were serving their purpose.
The greedy mercenaries, lured by the gold, rushed onto the ruins, believing the danger had passed and the evil spirit had perished in the dragon’s flames. But Ye Chui subtly shook his head at Debbie, Green, and Reisha, signalling that the threat remained. The stones shimmering with gold had indeed become genuine gold, but only temporarily. Once the dragon’s breath faded, they would revert to ordinary stones.
“Gold, it’s really gold! Hahaha, we’re rich!” shouted the mercenary whose arm Ye Chui had severed, clutching a brick-sized piece of gold, thrilled at the sight of wealth he’d never seen in his life.
Nick, the Blue Fox mercenary leader, was also stuffing golden stones into his arms. Mercenaries earned wages through missions, but even days of hard work brought only a dozen gold coins at most. This sudden fortune was enough to overwhelm anyone’s reason.
Dark thoughts stirred in Nick’s mind. He knew the gold appeared because of Ye Chui’s dragon summoning. Ye Chui might not care, but to Nick, it was a rare treasure. A spirit creature like the dragon likely couldn’t be summoned casually. The nun looked exhausted, and Debbie and Green didn’t seem particularly formidable. The four of them were vulnerable now. Perhaps this was his chance…
As he thought this, he glanced at Ye Chui, only to see Ye Chui, Reisha, Green, and Debbie, holding Ji Ji, standing at the ruins’ edge, seemingly indifferent to the gold.
A sense of foreboding gripped Nick. His expression shifted, and he shouted, “No! Get out of there!”
Too late. Blood-red tendrils shot up from beneath the ruins, weaving through the golden stones. With swift, slicing sounds, they tightly ensnared the four Blue Fox mercenaries. Amid their screams, their bodies were bound and dragged underground.
The sounds of snapping bones and splattering flesh echoed. Their bodies twisted into grotesque shapes. The strength and sword aura of the swordsmen were nearly useless against the blood tendrils’ power. Hoarse, terrifying roars, as if from the depths of the underworld, reverberated beneath the ruins.
Green, who had nearly stepped onto the ruins, turned pale and looked at Ye Chui with gratitude.
“Disgusting,” Debbie muttered, turning away.
“In the face of gold, even the craftiest lose their reason,” Ye Chui said, shaking his head, also averting his gaze from the gruesome scene. He glanced at his iPad magic book, where the four dots representing the Blue Fox mercenaries were rapidly vanishing.
Those dots had turned red, not because they realised Ye Chui had used them as cannon fodder, but the moment they saw the gold, greed had shifted them from neutral white to hostile red. This allowed Ye Chui to use them without hesitation.
During the conflict at the White Horse Inn, they hadn’t turned red. They might have been annoyed with Ye Chui, but not enough to harbour deadly intent. Now, driven by gold, they had quickly changed their stance, ignoring that Ye Chui’s group had protected them from the blood mist, intent on claiming the gold for themselves.
To this, Ye Chui could only say: farewell.
The ruins remained dangerous, best avoided for now.
Besides the Blue Fox mercenaries, the map navigation detected two other red dots. One was at the edge of the detection range, roughly at the outpost’s centre. The other was slowly moving, nearing the ruins’ edge. Ye Chui looked warily in that direction. Several stone bricks shifted, and a battered figure crawled out, old Bond.
Bond’s clothes were tattered, revealing terrifying blood-streaked skin. Dark believers offered their faith to evil spirits, sacrificing their souls for power. But now, Bond was clearly at his limit, frail and barely alive, covered in horrific wounds, his lower body nearly crushed.
In the blood mist, he had strong regenerative abilities, but with the evil spirit weakened and unable to grant him power, he reached out to Ye Chui, gasping weakly, “Wade, my boy, it’s me, old Bond, who raised you. Don’t you recognise me? The evil spirit controlled me, turned me into an evil follower, but my love for you never wavered. Oh, my child, help me…”
Ye Chui frowned and slowly approached.
Debbie and Reisha grabbed him, Reisha warning, “Be careful. Dark believers are cunning and have no limits.”
“I understand,” Ye Chui said to Reisha, then looked at Bond and continued forward.
The old man appeared utterly weak, his expression carrying the kindness from Wade’s memories of the man who raised him. It created a strong illusion that he was truly the father figure to Wade, merely corrupted by the evil spirit, now regaining his senses as its power waned.
“Oh, my child…” Bond called out, voice trembling, as Ye Chui approached.
Yet, on the map navigation, he remained a hostile red dot.
[Space Blade]
Without hesitation, Ye Chui unleashed the deadly spell once close enough.
Bond’s head fell from his body, his face frozen in disbelief. Black blood oozed from his severed neck. From the moment he embraced the evil spirit, he was no longer human. His attempt to manipulate Ye Chui with feigned affection only deepened Ye Chui’s disgust. With a swipe on his iPad magic book, flames engulfed Bond’s body, reducing it to ashes.
The map no longer detected Bond, but the red dot beneath the ruins still flickered, likely the evil spirit, radiating hostility. Weakened, it posed no threat unless they stepped onto the ruins.
“The evil spirit’s still alive. What do we do next?” Ye Chui asked Reisha, knowing as a nun she’d know how to fully eliminate it.
“Could Ji Ji kill it?” Debbie suggested.
“It’s not that simple,” Reisha said, frowning. “Evil spirits are essentially mages corrupted by demons. They use faith to persist as souls after death, at the cost of countless lives and blood. The sacrificed souls endure endless torment, fueling the evil spirit. I must purify those tormented souls, or even if we kill the evil spirit, they could become malevolent spirits, causing trouble.”
“Alright, how long will that take?” Ye Chui asked.
“I’m not skilled at purification. It’ll take about four days,” Reisha replied after a moment. “We need to act quickly, or the evil spirit might recover.”
“Then we’ll stay here for you to complete the purification,” Ye Chui nodded, sensing the matter wasn’t over. The dark cultists worshipping the evil spirit weren’t fully eradicated. Returning to Stan Town might bring more dangers, as Bond’s words suggested he was meant as a sacrifice for the evil spirit’s rebirth.
He thought of the old nun, Rosia. She was likely involved. And the maid, Sileth, who assigned them the bandit-clearing mission at Southwind Outpost, might also be tied to the dark believers. He hoped not.
For now, they’d stay to complete the purification. Four days would also let Dragon Baby’s cooldown reset, and conveniently, it would align with Saturday’s discount sale day…
“Let’s set up camp nearby,” Debbie said, patting Green’s shoulder, adopting her professional adventurer stance. “See? I told you preparing tents and food was the right call. I’m always prepared.”
Green was speechless.
Ye Chui and Debbie began helping Green find a spot for a prolonged stay. Reisha pulled out her Bible and started reciting a purification scripture, but her gaze occasionally drifted to Ye Chui with a hint of worry.
When a mage is corrupted by a demon into an evil spirit, their magic book becomes a dark magic book, the source of the evil spirit’s power. And now, that dark magic book might well be hidden within Ye Chui himself!
