Drip...
Drip...
Grayish-white bodily fluid flowed down through the gaps in the stairs.
Zhou Kai had already grown used to the bloody, gamey stench of monsters. In his olfactory system, that smell was no different from medium-well wagyu beef.
After hacking the monster into pieces on the second floor, he carried it downstairs in batches and piled it beside the fireplace.
The fireplace was not large, but when it came to stuffing in fuel, it seemed like a bottomless pit.
Zhou Kai moved quickly, shoving most of the corpse chunks into the hearth, yet the fireplace showed no sign of being filled.
[Burning Duration: Five Hours and Forty Minutes]
Roaring flames rose up. Under the glow of the firelight, the chill clinging to Zhou Kai’s body was slowly driven away.
Those invisible insects and fungi carried in the rainwater were also reduced entirely to ash amid the humming of the flames.
Zhou Kai finally let out a breath of relief.
...
“It lasts even longer than Lanze and that pile of bugs combined. It can burn for more than five and a half hours!”
Looking at the countdown emerging in the firelight, Zhou Kai’s expression was calm.
This was breathing room he had traded his life for.
As long as the monsters did not begin actively attacking the shelter as time passed, then for the next five-plus hours, he would be temporarily safe.
There was no harm in staying by the fireplace. The soreness in his shoulder had yet to completely fade, so Zhou Kai planned to rest a little longer while also considering his next move.
Just now, aside from the usual experience points, he had also obtained an additional memory.
This mattered greatly to Zhou Kai.
“The effect of Occultism...?”
Looking at “Occultism” on the skill panel, Zhou Kai had not really wanted to actively add points to it before.
After all... the subtitle prompt had made it very clear. Knowledge was a curse, a double-edged sword.
But now, when Occultism could be directly tied to combat gains, the benefits outweighed the risks.
“I can add a little to it later.”
As for now, it was time to look at that memory.
The icon for [A Memory] was a crumpled paper ball, automatically appearing in Zhou Kai’s item bar.
It could be used with a silent thought.
“Use.”
The next instant, the paper ball appeared out of thin air before Zhou Kai, then exploded violently, turning into a mass of gray light that brutally rushed into his eyes...
Zhou Kai’s consciousness was forcibly stuffed into a fixed perspective.
He became the protagonist of this memory.
‘Looks like I’ll have to wait until the memory finishes playing before I can get out. Might as well keep watching.’
...
“The fog is too thick. The merchant caravan from the foot of the mountain still hasn’t come this month.”
A woman with a blurred face sat by the window, spinning coarse cloth, glancing now and then at the curtain of rain and thin mist outside.
“I’ll go ask the Solaka lords.”
Zhou Kai’s perspective moved. He took a postman’s satchel from the coat rack nearby and slung it over his body, grumbling, “The letters can’t be delivered here, and the ones already written can’t be sent out either.”
“What rotten luck lately.”
The scene shifted.
The postman appeared near Solaka Town’s No. 1 Manor... precisely the enormous building by the lake that Zhou Kai had previously seen from the balcony.
He hesitated by the roadside for a long while, but in the end, he gritted his teeth and rushed toward a carriage heading for the manor gates.
“Mr. Vichester! Honorable Lord Solaka! I am your faithful postman...”
“Get lost!”
The answer he received was a horsewhip that lashed through the air, carrying a sharp whistling sound.
Zhou Kai cursed inwardly... Damn it, the whip had struck the postman, yet he actually felt that burning pain too!
The coachman reined in the startled steed, then raised the whip again and lashed him several more times.
The postman screamed and curled up in the muddy water.
The noble inside the carriage lifted the curtain, glanced at him contemptuously, and spat out two words: “Filthy peasant.”
Afterward, the carriage drove away without another look.
The postman limped back home.
His wife asked, “What happened?”
He mumbled, “I fell.”
Then he suddenly noticed a blurred bottle on the table and exclaimed softly, “What’s that?”
His wife answered, “Mr. Kailan from the church came by. He told us to plant these seeds.”
“In the future, we just need to pray to the flowers.”
The postman took the glass bottle and brought it under the oil lamp for a closer look.
The bottle went from blurry to clear.
The seeds inside were... Moonlight Orchids!
The memory ended there. Zhou Kai abruptly broke free from the first-person perspective.
Enduring the lingering discomfort in his head, he glanced at the fireplace and used the fuel countdown to estimate the time... He had probably only zoned out for less than two seconds.
“Not long. Acceptable.”
The memory was short, but Zhou Kai had still caught some key information.
First, the owner of the manor, that fellow suspected to be the one calling the shots in the town, was named Vichester Solaka.
Second was the source of the Moonlight Orchids.
“The Moonlight Orchids were spread by the church? That incomplete piece of information in the study has been filled in.”
Although this information could not bring him any direct benefit for the time being, the feeling of lifting the veil from this entire world bit by bit with his own hands was surprisingly good.
Soon, ten minutes passed.
Zhou Kai received the first wave of feedback from the fireplace.
[The lost one wandering in despair has turned to ash in the flames... You have received Jeff’s bequest.]
[... General Experience Points +1]
“So his name was Jeff...”
As for the fact that that terrifying, hideous monster had once been a diligent postman who worked hard many years ago, Zhou Kai felt a faint sigh of regret in his heart.
However, this sentimentality did not last long...
They were dead and had turned into monsters, but Zhou Kai had to keep living!
“Add points! Then go out and slaughter them!”
...
Killing the Wanderer had indeed brought an enormous positive impact to Zhou Kai’s state of mind.
Although this world contained terrifying existences whose palms were larger than mountains...
Among the monsters in the town, at least some of them were not so powerful as to be impossible to defeat.
As long as he chose his targets correctly and hunted quickly... he could absolutely farm monsters and level up without alerting the main force.
This was a positive cycle he had to seize!
“First strengthen the two-handed sword, then upgrade Comprehensive Combat and Swordsmanship!”
One breath later, Zhou Kai’s panel had completely changed.
[Character: Zhou Kai]
[Status: Corrosion]
[Skills: Comprehensive Combat Lv3 (0/50), Light Footwork Lv3 (3/50), Solaka Swordsmanship Lv1 (7/15), Occultism Lv1 (0/15), Falcon Strike Technique Lv1 (0/15)]
[Items: Residence Certificate, Brand-New Two-Handed Sword, Bloodstained Battle Axe, Oil Lamp, Rusted Chef’s Knife, Morning Star Notes, Moonlight Orchid Seeds (Plump)]
[General Experience Points: 2]
He originally had six experience points left. After killing the Wanderer, that became thirteen. Refilling the oil lamp had consumed one point, but it was quickly replenished by the fireplace’s gift, bringing him back to thirteen again.
Just now, Zhou Kai had spent two points to increase the sharpness and durability of the two-handed sword.
He invested six points into Comprehensive Combat, raising it directly to level three and completing a qualitative transformation.
He also allocated three points to Solaka Swordsmanship, which counted as a small improvement.
In the end, he left only two points in reserve.
Whew.
Zhou Kai felt the two-handed sword in his hand, its blade now so polished it could almost be used as a mirror. Beneath the firelight of the oil lamp, the edge flickered with a cold, chilling gleam, sharp enough to sever a hair with a breath.
He was extremely satisfied.
The investment of two experience points was more than worth it.
The blade was heavier, the edge sharper, and its destructive power stronger.
The qualitative transformation of Comprehensive Combat made Zhou Kai feel as though his strength had surged tremendously out of nowhere. His entire body was filled with explosive energy.
Add to that the sword technique instinct brought by Solaka Swordsmanship.
Zhou Kai’s confidence was more abundant than ever before.
“Then, let’s move out!”