"This isn't bone ash, is it?" said Xu Heti, laughing uncertainly .
No matter how he looked at it, the stuff in the urn just looked like a pile of bone ash .
"It's not just bone ash . It's ash derived from the bones of Ghoul-type monsters," said Lin Xinrui matter-of-factly . She then opened the urn and began powdering her combat uniform with the urn's contents . She even put some on the backs of her hands and her cheeks .
Xu Heti's face spasmed as he did the same thing on his own body . Even if the ash wasn't human, it still gave him goosebumps .
Still, he rubbed the Ghoul powder across his body all the same .
They then applied the bone ash to some of their familiars . In doing so, they used up the two urns of bone ash in Lin Xinrui's backpack .
"Let's pick up the pace . The bone ash only lasts for four hours . When those four hours are up, it loses its effectiveness . "
The three humans and five familiars began moving forward at top speed . The surrounding scenery grew more desolate . The vegetation on the ground became more sparse, and the dark red earth beneath their feet seemed to be soaked with blood .
After a while, they came upon a clump of tall blood-red grass . Even their roots were the same shade of red . On the tips of the blades were tufts of black hair .
"Hemoblade Satintail Grass . They sell for around ten Alliance credits," said Lin Xinrui, as she bent forward to pick up a clump of grass and place it carefully in her backpack .
The other high-level combat officer who had followed them all the way there looked greedily at Lin Xinrui's haul . That's at least 100,000 Alliance dollars . This place is practically a gold mine .
Rather than rejoicing over her good fortune, Lin Xinrui looked at her surroundings warily . "There's much more to this place than meets the eye . "
"What makes you say that?" asked the high-level combat officer .
"There's treasure just sitting here untouched . Why hasn't anyone come to claim it? There's only one explanation: this place is much more dangerous than it seems," said Lin Xinrui, glancing back at him . Her gaze swept across her surroundings once more .
This was true . The people of Gao Ping city rarely came to Changping village . Only the desperate would be foolish enough to go that far for fame and fortune .
When Lin Xinrui became a World Hunter, she had trained herself to constantly be alert to her surroundings and never let her guard down for even a second . Danger could be lurking in any corner . Even a seemingly innocuous plant growing out of the sidewalk could be the appendage of a highly toxic Plant-type monster .
The place they were standing in just then wasn't exactly a boundless stretch of wasteland . All around them were hills and valleys undulating into the distance . Bunches of gnarly trees grew as they pleased, their branches twisted into the claws of ravenous beasts . Crows were perched atop the branches motionless like statues . Each of them had three legs and burning red eyes .
The branches waved about like ghostly limbs in the wind .
Squawk—
A shiver ran down all three of their spines . They turned around to see a crow take off into the air and fly circles above a withered tree .
After a while, it landed back on the tree branch, where it then remained, motionless .
Every now and then, they saw the same curious scene in their path .
A gentle downward slope came up before them . A stone tablet was planted in front of it . The words "Changping Village" had been carved onto it .
"We're almost there," said Xu Heti quietly, looking warily at his surroundings .
"This bone ash of yours is really effective . The previous two teams were attacked multiple times on this stretch of road . Who knew we would be able to reach here safely?" he added .
They began walking down the slope . Looking out from the high ground, they could vaguely see rows of houses concealed amid a forest of lush trees in front of them . Their dark green leaves were stacked on top of one another, making it hard to see what was beneath them .
Suddenly, a bony claw erupted from the ground and grabbed ahold of Xu Heti's ankle .
The Golden Dazzling Light Boxing Champion Kangaroo's eyes lit up . It raised its right foot and slammed it down on the claw .
Bam!
The bony claw instantly disintegrated .
The kangaroo stuck its foot deep into the ground until a dull boom sounded beneath them . All this happened in the blink of an eye . It was over before any of them could take a breath .
"Be careful now . We're only hiding our presence with the Ghoul powder . . . The monsters here can still sense us if we're too close . "
"Go back, go back…" From the distance came long, low wails that echoed across the empty wasteland .
Leaves rustled as a fierce wind howled across the ground .
The clang of steel and the clop of hooves could be heard in the fierce wind . A few moments later, a troop of ghostly blue soldiers in leather armor carrying dagger-axes in their hands passed through the forest from the west to the east .
"These must be the ghost soldiers," said Lin Xinrui, furrowing her brows . She then ordered the others to hide . Even though this was her second encounter with these ghostly entities, she still had no idea what their abilities were .
Better safe than sorry, she thought . There were too many of these ghost soldiers . Lin Xinrui estimated that there had to be more than a thousand of them at the very least .
"Thousand-Year Heart of Darkness, Commander Bone, Flames of Darkness . " Lin Xinrui silently repeated to herself the names and characteristics of the items that they had been ordered to find .
She had no idea how Gao Peng had come across such information . She had never heard of these items, let alone the strange ways to collect them .
"The Commander Bone and the Thousand-Year Heart of Darkness can be found at the center of the village . However, the Flames of Darkness spawn randomly . We may even find them outside the village . Let's start searching the vicinity . If we don't find anything in an hour, we'll just have to move our search to the center of the village . "
Forty minutes later, the three saw the Flames of Darkness floating in a pit not too far away . The blue flames bobbed in the air like fog .
The flames were a dark blue in the middle and a shade of light blue at the periphery .
Around the flames stood three withered trees in a triangle . In order to get to the flames, one would have to break through the three gnarled trees .
"Let's finish this quickly," said Xu Heti to his kangaroo . As a gentleman, there was no way he would let Lin Xinrui's familiar put itself in harm's way first .
The Golden Dazzling Light Boxing Champion Kangaroo narrowed its eyes at the three withered trees around the Flames of Darkness and the crows perched atop their branches .
Reluctantly, it hopped forward .
It began to move faster and faster as it bounced up and down on the balls of its feet . Then it propelled itself forward in a flash of golden light!
Its long, thick tail swayed about behind it, keeping it stabilized as it sprinted forward . Its feet and tail now formed the three points of a triangle beneath it .
The kangaroo took a great step forward with its left foot . Its tail drooped to the ground while its right foot aligned itself behind the kangaroo . Dirt sprayed up into the air as it stamped its left foot on the ground .
With its left foot firmly planted on the ground, it powerfully swung its right foot around .
Boom!
One of the withered trees exploded upon impact . Shards of its bark were sent flying into the air .
Chapter end
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