Chapter 1 Aftermath

After the shock, what emerged was not panic.

Some people collapse under extreme pressure, but some... awaken.

The moment Xiao Ling was snatched into the gate, Wang Tanzhi didn't break down. On the contrary, his fear value dropped rapidly, and his mind raced.

A second later, he took two more steps forward and pushed the copper handle on the door with all his might.

But the door... didn't budge.

"Something's not right..." Xiao Tan immediately activated [Eagle Eye Vision] to observe. The moment he did, he discovered... not only this temple gate, but the entire temple was shrouded in a misty, ghostly aura that was invisible to the naked eye. From this, he could tell... even if he chose to climb the wall now, he still wouldn't be able to get in.

"I see..." Xiao Tan muttered, "Logically speaking, this door can't be pushed open. Xiao Ling was able to push it open, presumably because the 'thing inside the door' did it on purpose. To put it bluntly... it's a trap."

Thinking of this, his mind moved, and in less than half a second, his spiritual energy weapon [Tan] was already in his hand.

Then, Wang Tanzhi didn't say a word and slashed repeatedly. Relying on the weapon's special effect "Flame Devour," he managed to cut out a rectangular "door hole" in the door.

As the thick door panel that had been cut fell down, a strong bloody stench also poured out from inside the door.

But Xiao Tan didn't care about these things at the moment. His mind was completely focused on how to rescue Xiao Ling, and this discomfort on the olfactory level could be completely ignored with willpower.

"She definitely hasn't run far... where is she..." Xiao Tan passed through the Sanmen Hall (also known as the "Shanmen Hall," which is the main gate of a Buddhist temple. It is usually three doors standing side by side, hence the name. Another saying is that the three doors symbolize "emptiness, formlessness, and desirelessness," which are the "three doors of liberation."), muttering to himself.

He maintained his Eagle Eye state, his gaze quickly scanning the courtyard behind the gate. Soon... he spotted the cloud of blood mist from before.

Because Xiao Ling, who was trapped in the mist, was struggling constantly, the movement of the mist was greatly affected. Therefore, by the time Xiao Tan broke down the door, the blood mist had barely moved to the incense burner in front of the hall.

*Chi—*

A sharp sound rang out, and a figure emerged.

Wang Tanzhi took a step, as fast as lightning, and in the blink of an eye, he had circled around to the front of the blood mist.

"Stop." The cold, frosty words and the firm, resolute eyes actually made the monster holding Xiao Ling unable to move for a moment.

After a brief standoff, the blood mist dissipated.

What appeared... in the mist was an extremely beautiful woman.

This woman had skin as smooth as condensed fat and a face like a peach blossom. Her teeth were as white as shells, her eyes were bright, and her lips were like cherries. The faint blush on her pale face made her features even more exquisite, so perfect that one couldn't find any flaws.

She was wearing a red dress, like a bride waiting to be married. Even though the dress didn't show off her figure much, her body still appeared exquisite and well-proportioned.

"Yo~ Where did this young man come from~ You're really handsome~" After the woman "manifested," she pinched Xiao Ling's neck with one hand, turned her body, and sized Xiao Tan up and down with a pair of beautiful eyes. "What do you want with me?"

Wang Tanzhi stared at her coldly, silent for a few seconds...

Through Eagle Eye Vision, Xiao Tan realized that this was a very strong monster (because of the special effect of [Shadow of the Mourning Bell], the effect of [Eagle Eye Vision] had been upgraded to S-rank)... at least a small Boss level, so in these few seconds, he had already prepared himself for an all-out battle.

A few seconds later, he responded with two words: "Let her go."

"Heh..." The woman smiled gently, "What... is this girl perhaps your lover?"

"Yes." Xiao Tan gave another concise response.

In that second, all the single people watching the live broadcast suffered a lot of real damage...

"I see..." The woman tilted her head slightly, pretending to look at Xiao Ling. "Looking closely... this girl is quite delicate, and she matches you quite well... hehe..." She smiled sinisterly. "I wonder... if she didn't have this face... would you still be fond of her?"

Before she finished speaking, a sudden change occurred!

The woman's cherry-like mouth suddenly opened and widened to an unbelievable size in a second. And her face, at this moment, became ugly and terrifying, no longer human, due to the expanding mouth.

"*Jia—*" She opened her bloody mouth and bit towards Xiao Ling's face.

At this moment, Xiao Ling was unable to make an effective resistance to this attack... because when Xiao Ling was swept into the blood mist, the status bar had already shown that she had a deBuff; unless the other party was willing to let her go, she couldn't take anything out of her bag, nor could she use her skills.

Moreover, Xiao Ling's close combat skills were already poor, and she was definitely not a match for this Boss-level monster in terms of brute force. Therefore... she could only withstand this face-biting attack.

However... Wang Tanzhi would not let this happen.

Although the monster's attack was sudden and fast, Xiao Tan's reaction and movements were even faster.

[Name: Soul of the Wolf - Speed]

[Type: Other]

[Quality: Perfect]

[Effect: When this magic item is in your bag, you can obtain a special ability of the Soul of the Wolf.]

[Note: This item can be activated once every ten minutes, consuming 300 stamina points each time. Within three seconds after activation, the user's speed can be increased to three times the original speed.]

This magic item was the second "treasure" that Xiao Tan had obtained from Blackbeard's treasure. This was equivalent to giving him an extra skill, and this skill did not occupy a skill slot and could be activated with 100% success.

Of course, since it was an item effect, this skill did not belong to any specialization, nor would it enjoy the effect bonus of [Shadow of the Mourning Bell].

*Whoosh—*

In an instant, a strong wind rose, and Wang Tanzhi's figure suddenly blurred, turning into a phantom that swept towards the monster's location.

Where the edge of [Tan] passed, black flames burst forth.

In an instant, the monster's head was directly split in two from the middle, the upper and lower parts of the lip line completely separated.

Seeing that most of her head had flown away, she naturally couldn't close her mouth anymore...

At the same moment, Xiao Ling suddenly felt the pressure on her body lighten, which was undoubtedly a sign that the deBuff had been lifted. She immediately twisted her body and pushed, breaking free from the monster's grip.

Immediately afterwards, the monster's body fell to the ground... This was also expected, because before her body fell, her soul was already gone.

"Are you okay?" Xiao Tan retracted his weapon and turned around, asking Xiao Ling with concern.

"I'm fine..." Xiao Ling replied, and then said somewhat dejectedly, "But... it's really embarrassing, one mistake... and I almost died at the hands of a monster."

"This isn't your fault..." Xiao Tan replied, "Measured by the standards of survival mode, the difficulty of this script should already be team nightmare level, so there are almost no warning signs when opening the door, it's a death event." He paused and glanced at the monster on the ground, "Don't think that I killed her easily, she's actually very strong..."

As he said this, the monster's "corpse" was slowly turning into blood and seeping into the cracks in the stone slabs on the ground...

"I know." Xiao Ling quickly replied, "Whether it's strength, speed, or ability... this guy has already caught up with the big Boss in a normal script." As she spoke, she seemed to have thought of something, and muttered, "And judging from her few lines and performance... her personality is quite nasty."

"Well... in short, we have to be more careful next time." At this time, Xiao Tan had unknowingly returned to his usual gentle and polite, silly and cute state, and the aura of madness and coolness had disappeared.

"Hmph... You're getting arrogant after saving me once~" Xiao Ling made a face at Xiao Tan, stuck out her tongue, and then said, "Then you go first this time."

Xiao Tan swallowed and showed an undisguised look of fear on his face: "Uh... but... I'm afraid of ghosts..."

"Hehe." Xiao Ling chuckled twice, "Then who do you want to lead the way?"

This was not a problem, but Xiao Tan really thought about it, and he really came up with an idea: "Hey~ I got it!" With that, he took out the [Dog Whistle] from his bag with shining eyes and held it in his mouth...