As the blood beetles surged, the curtain of rain shrouding Soraka Town gradually came to a stop.
The occasional thunder and flashes of lightning also fell silent.
The entire region sank into boundless darkness amid the rustling friction of insect limbs.
Except for…
Crack!
The crisp sound of shattering glass rang out, especially grating amid the monotonous hum of the insect tide.
A speck of幽 blue light lit up in the endless darkness, flickering, instantly drawing every gaze capable of perceiving it from the surroundings.
And under the scrutiny of countless hidden things lurking in the dark, beside that speck of light, Zhou Kai fell heavily to the ground along with shattered glass and viscous blood slurry.
Boom!
The cushion made of rotten flesh and bone smashed into the insect tide, splattering black fluid everywhere.
Using the force of the impact to roll, Zhou Kai landed amid a dense series of brittle cracks as carapaces were crushed beneath his feet.
With his current physical condition, using the parasitized corpse as a buffer to jump down from the second floor allowed his body to immediately proceed to the next stage of the plan.
So he did not pause for even a single frame, dragging the corpse that had nearly been stomped flat as he sprinted madly onward.
“Seventy meters. I’m going for it!”
The warning in Morning Star’s notes had made Zhou Kai extremely vigilant. He knew very well that it was best not to court death lightly just because he could revive.
In any case, at this very moment, he might not necessarily be in a certain-death situation.
The Moonlight Amulet was clenched tightly in Zhou Kai’s hand. Its originally faint blue glow blazed brightly under the stimulus of the blood beetles!
That ice-blue radiance spread outward like a ring of scorching-hot oil being splashed all around.
Any blood beetle that touched the light let out shrill squeals, white smoke rising from its body as it curled into a lump of charred coal.
A few that had been clinging to Zhou Kai and had no time to flee were illuminated until white vapor gushed from their bodies, shriveling up and dying on the spot.
This wasn’t a hopeless situation… As long as he returned to the shelter before the amulet burned out!
With a sudden exertion of strength, blue veins bulged on Zhou Kai’s arm, his muscles swelling as he flung the corpse high up and slung it onto his back.
Then he strode toward that sole hope.
Step!
Step!
Under each footprint, eight or nine beetles were crushed on average.
The dense insect tide was like the Red Sea before Moses, parting to open a path for Zhou Kai toward No. 777.
In the mixture of mud and insect corpses, Zhou Kai’s mind was stretched taut, adrenaline surging, and the entire world seemed to slow down.
The hum of the insect tide, his own heartbeat, the sound of the wind…
Everything became distant. Only the door before him was incomparably clear.
In stark contrast, his speed was astonishingly fast.
His body seemed no longer to belong to him, every movement as precise as if it had been calculated.
Carrying a corpse that weighed as much as he did on his back, he actually managed to run through the mud with the swiftness of someone flying on foot!
The final second.
At the instant the amulet began to flicker and was about to burn out,
subtitles flashed before Zhou Kai’s eyes.
【A marvelous flow-state experience. Light Footwork EXP +5】
【The power of the blood tide makes way for you… General EXP +1】
In that instant, the speed beneath his feet abruptly increased by a notch.
And it was precisely that slight increase that caused a giant hand reaching out from the darkness—covered in blue-black scales, its nails long as short blades—to grasp only empty air!
Bang…
Zhou Kai slammed headfirst through the shelter’s front door and tumbled inside in a scramble.
The door stood wide open.
The firelight from the hearth inside suddenly flared up, and a wave of scorching heat mixed with warm red light rushed toward him!
Hiss—
That giant hand seemed as if it had been splashed with concentrated sulfuric acid. Its surface instantly blistered, charred black, and released wisps of green smoke.
It paused for a moment, then slowly withdrew into the darkness, filled with unwillingness.
Zhou Kai threw the corpse to the floor, drew his greatsword, and turned back with a ferocious expression.
“This is my territory. Get lost!”
Along with a hoarse growl,
Bang!
The heavy wooden door slammed shut, cutting off the cold night and despair outside.
Amid the endless tide of blood beetles, No. 777, where Moonlight Orchids grew, was like a lone island in the sea.
Sacred power sheltered this place, and flames blazed fiercely within the blessed hearth.
Evil and despair had temporarily been blocked outside a specific range.
Temporarily…
…
Huff…
Huff…
Zhou Kai panted heavily.
Only a door separated them.
Before him was the warm radiance of the hearth; behind him was the endless dark, cold night.
Zhou Kai had previously been hoping for the rain to stop, but when this damned rain truly stopped, he found himself missing that ceaseless patter of rainfall beyond measure.
“If the rain stopping means the blood tide is surging, then it might as well keep raining forever!”
Zhou Kai panted for quite a while before his wildly pounding heart and rapid breathing gradually calmed.
He listened closely through the door. Outside was the chilling sound of countless insects piled layer upon layer, their carapaces colliding and rubbing against each other.
Fortunately, perhaps because of the Moonlight Orchids underground, these insects always maintained a distance of one to two meters from the shelter.
But the insect tide was no longer what Zhou Kai was most worried about…
What he feared more now were the other monsters gradually gathering after detecting his trail.
Those things were very likely to break through the door!
Zhou Kai gripped his greatsword tightly, ready to fight for his life at any moment.
Several minutes passed, yet no impact sounded from outside the door.
Zhou Kai let out a breath of relief.
It seemed his earlier judgment had not been wrong. When the fire was blazing, the so-called 【Territorial Law】 was effective.
Some monsters would not rashly invade his shelter…
“But what about the Wanderer? The second floor… is it because the hearth’s light can’t reach it?”
“Or is there some other reason?”
Zhou Kai frowned and glanced at the dark staircase leading to the second floor.
There was no way he was going outside tonight.
Just in case, it would be best for him to keep watch over the second floor, where the hearth’s light could not reach.
“Now… I should go fertilize the plants.”
Dragging his sword with one hand and gripping the corpse with the other, Zhou Kai walked toward the basement.
The nursery was a brick bed raised above the ground, filled with the so-called “clean soil.”
The entire nursery was roughly fourteen square meters in area.
Zhou Kai’s Moonlight Orchids were only planted in a palm-sized patch in the lower-left corner.
After this ordeal, Zhou Kai had thoroughly realized the importance of the Moonlight Orchids and the nursery.
Because with the existence of the blood tide, the hearth alone was utterly incapable of withstanding this endless nightmare!
He dug open the soil and threw most of the monster’s corpse chunks into the nursery.
“Should I cut it up a bit? Make it easier to absorb?”
Just as Zhou Kai was hesitating over whether to chop the fertilizer into smaller pieces,
the Moonlight Orchids in the corner of the nursery quivered like sharks that had scented blood.
Countless brown roots like spiderwebs broke through the soil, twisting and crawling like living creatures, instantly wrapping around the corpse.
The tips of the roots pierced into the rotten flesh, and the corpse shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye.
【Fertilizer sufficient. Moonlight Orchid growth accelerated】
Before long, a dialogue box popped up above the nursery, and Zhou Kai nodded slightly…
It seemed he did not need to worry too much. As long as he threw the “fertilizer” onto the nursery, that would be enough.
…
Within the nightmare, there was no peaceful sleep.
This was an endless deathly predicament, and he had to remain awake at all times.
Zhou Kai moved back and forth between the hearth on the first floor and the nursery in the basement from time to time.
For the rest of the time, he guarded the stairway from the second floor to the first, practicing swordsmanship while listening carefully, wary of anything creeping over from some corner he could not see.
“Probably… a little over five hours left.”
Judging the time by the countdown of fuel in the hearth, Zhou Kai exhaled heavily through his nose.
Morning Star’s notes had mentioned that the blood tide would last three to six hours…
Judging by the situation tonight, Zhou Kai felt that it was most likely going to be six hours.
Even if it wasn’t, it would not be far off.
“I hope it ends soon… The Moonlight Orchids can hold on, but the hearth might not necessarily be able to.”