Everything returned to silence. Aside from Zhou Kai gulping down ragged breaths, it was as if nothing had happened at all.
But the Moonlight Orchid amulet, now shriveled and worn, and the throbbing pain that stabbed through his mind from time to time, were both telling Zhou Kai—
He had indeed experienced something just now…
“Occultism… got stronger again?”
Zhou Kai’s face was as dark as ink.
This skill originated from that most exquisitely bound Morning Star notebook. Inside were fragmented records of the ancient rites of the Church of Light, incoherent and jumbled, like the ravings of a madman.
Because the system’s prompt had been so vague, Zhou Kai had never once thought of actively touching this hot potato.
The only time this skill had leveled up before was when he dealt with the “paper man.” Back then, he had nearly been dragged into an illusion and died without even knowing how.
And now, just moments ago.
Just looking at the surge in experience points this time made a wave of lingering fear rise in Zhou Kai. A chill crawled up his spine all the way to the back of his skull.
“If I hadn’t had the Moonlight Orchid amulet, I would’ve been done for just now. This experience gain is even higher than when I faced the paper man last time, which means the danger level was even greater!”
“Restore the amulet’s durability to full.”
Zhou Kai clenched the amulet, for the first time feeling grateful for that sudden flash of inspiration he had had back then.
This thing was an absolute bargain. Not only could it dispel the blood tide, it was miraculously effective against this kind of invisible mental contamination as well.
He vaguely felt that the blood tide and this sort of terror on the spiritual level might perhaps share the same origin…
But the thought flashed by and vanished. He had no leads whatsoever.
【The Moonlight Orchid amulet’s durability has been fully restored. Because you spent additional experience points, the amulet’s material quality has undergone a change.】
【You have spent 3 points of general experience.】
【General experience points: 15 → 12】
The amulet’s appearance became visibly more refined.
Originally, it had been as rough as some straw-woven handicraft from a roadside stall. Now, however, it had become neat and tightly woven, and he could even faintly feel a frame made of metallic threads inside.
It should be much sturdier now.
Its durability limit and effects had probably both improved.
Zhou Kai’s gaze returned to the small desk. That eerie notebook had already vanished, as though it had never existed.
Huff…
He clearly hadn’t fought any monster head-on, yet Zhou Kai’s heart was pounding uncontrollably, and every hair on the back of his neck stood on end.
He kept feeling as though a pair of eyes in the darkness was staring at him.
“Fuck.”
He cursed under his breath and quickly withdrew from the bedroom.
After making a round through the other rooms and finding nothing, he strode downstairs.
He planned to leave through the back door of the house, cross the rear courtyard, and search the other buildings.
However, just as Zhou Kai’s hand was about to touch the back door handle—
Amid the sound of wind and rain outside, he picked out an abnormal noise.
It was the sound of metal scraping against stone slabs.
“There’s something outside.”
Zhou Kai’s gaze sharpened, and he made his judgment instantly.
Take another route?
No… It had delivered itself to his door.
Just what he wanted!
Zhou Kai tightened his grip on the axe in his hand, lowered his body, and silently moved beside a window that overlooked the rear courtyard.
A bolt of lightning tore through the night sky. The scene in the courtyard flashed into view and vanished.
A dark figure was wandering in the rain, its outline and build similar to a normal person’s.
Zhou Kai immediately had a rough idea.
“If it’s not a parasitic corpse, then it’s that other kind of monster I saw that day… Let’s do it!”
He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and adjusted his physical state to its peak.
But before pushing open the door, his gaze involuntarily drifted toward the skill panel.
【Prompt: By upgrading Occultism, you will gain more in exploration/combat.】
To be honest, if he had a choice, Zhou Kai absolutely did not want to touch this damned skill again.
This thing was like the Inspiration stat in a Cthulhu tabletop game. The higher the level, the more one could perceive those mysteries beyond ordinary human comprehension—and the easier it was to lose one’s sanity and die faster.
But… the current situation was that as long as he did not stop exploring, these bizarre encounters would only grow more frequent. His Occultism experience would rise on its own sooner or later.
“Since the experience is going to increase sooner or later, why shouldn’t I take the initiative and level it up now in exchange for greater rewards?”
Zhou Kai exhaled a long breath of stale air. Once this thought came through clearly, his whole body instead felt lighter.
“Occultism, add points to Lv2!”
【You have spent 10 points of general experience. Your skill “Occultism” has leveled up.】
【Occultism Lv1 (5/15) → Lv2 (0/25)】
【You begin to demand more from the nightmare…】
In an instant, the needle-like stabbing pain in his mind vanished without a trace, replaced by an unprecedented clarity.
This feeling was far stronger than the clear-minded state. It was as though even the world itself had become more vivid and real in his eyes.
“I hope tonight’s first prey doesn’t disappoint me.”
Zhou Kai licked his dry lips and slowly pushed open the back door of Residence No. 454.
The moment the door opened, a spray of water came smashing toward him head-on.
That spray of water was both fast and heavy, carrying the sound of something tearing through the air. It was absolutely not rainwater swept up by the wind!
“I’ve been discovered?”
Zhou Kai’s pupils contracted. Without even thinking, he abruptly swung the axe in his hand down toward the direction the spray had come from!
Clang!
A sharp, ear-piercing screech of metal friction tore through the rainy night!
Zhou Kai’s axe blade struck precisely against the blade of a two-handed greatsword.
Screech…
The force transmitted from the sword was astonishingly great. Zhou Kai’s grip jolted violently, and the muscles in his arm instantly tightened to their limit.
Following the momentum, he slid the axe downward along the sword’s edge to shed the force. Only then did he withstand that heavy, powerful blow.
Boom!
Lightning flashed in the distant sky, illuminating the courtyard in a ghastly white.
Zhou Kai saw his opponent clearly.
A full suit of rust-speckled silver armor. Nearly two meters tall. Its face was completely wrapped inside an airtight helmet, leaving only a pitch-black viewing slit.
It was that new enemy he had discovered that day!
Zhou Kai snorted coldly. Among the monsters that had torn him apart that day, several had been just like the silver-armored swordsman before him.
Under the surge of rising fury, he suddenly exerted force, twisting his waist and abdomen as he poured all the strength in his body into his arms.
Instead, his axe blade viciously knocked that heavy two-handed sword aside!
Taking advantage of the opening as the longsword lost control and hacked toward the ground, Zhou Kai flipped his wrist, swept the axe out horizontally, and went straight for the swordsman’s neck!
That was the junction between the helmet and the breastplate—the only weakness in this iron can!
Bang!
A dull impact rang out. The axe smashed solidly into the gorget, denting the interlocking plates there inward.
If there had been a living person inside, this blunt strike alone would have rattled his brain and knocked him unconscious on the spot.
But what Zhou Kai faced was a monster.
This full-force blow merely made its body stiffen for a moment, its neck unable to turn like a rusted mechanical part.
“If I had the two-handed sword, that strike would’ve chopped off your damn head!”
With that blow failing to achieve complete success, Zhou Kai immediately retreated and began a brief melee with the armored swordsman.
He was more agile, and he was also more familiar with this body’s method of fighting.
Zhou Kai was like a starving wolf circling a bull, constantly moving, searching for openings, and barely taking any injuries.
As for the armored swordsman, its movements were visibly growing slow and sluggish.
Whoosh!
The longsword tore through the rain curtain and came crashing down with tremendous force, smashing the courtyard wall of Residence No. 454 to pieces and sending bricks and stones flying everywhere.
Yet in the darkness, relying on muscle memory and battle instinct, Zhou Kai dodged this fatal strike a step in advance.
This thing was using Soraka swordsmanship!
Then it was very easy to predict.
Zhou Kai’s thoughts flashed like lightning. After avoiding that sword, he closed in, and the axe in his hand rained blow after blow upon the armored swordsman’s helmet with clangs, clangs, clangs, clangs!
His stamina was being consumed rapidly.
But the surging adrenaline and his extremely calm mind allowed him to ignore his body’s fatigue for the time being.
In contrast, the damage to the swordsman’s armor seemed to have seriously affected its movements. Every action carried an ear-piercing screech of metal scraping metal.
Now!
Zhou Kai planted one foot on the swordsman’s longsword before it could lift it, leapt high into the air, and pressed the full weight of his body down onto the axe in his hands.
With a bang!
The axe blade finally split open that sturdy helmet.
The immense recoil numbed both his arms, and the web between his thumb and forefinger split open in an instant, fresh blood flowing freely, but he did not care at all.
Just like when he had fought the Wanderer, the bloodthirsty desire in Zhou Kai’s heart had been fully ignited.
The more he fought, the madder he became; the more he killed, the more ruthless he grew.