Apocalypse Circular-Chapter 399: When You Encounter Something Eerie... Don’t Look Behind You (10,000 Words No Bullshit)

Chapter 399: Chapter 399: When You Encounter Something Eerie... Don’t Look Behind You (10,000 Words No Bullshit)

"Hello, I’m Lu Luo."

Lu Luo greeted Yang Di politely, regardless of whether she was odd or not.

In the coming period, Yang Di would be his partner.

Lu Luo could act haughty, but that wasn’t necessary.

He needed to fit into the Imperial, mingle with Imperial humans, and adapt to life in the Imperial.

Although Yang Di was a bit of an oddity, Lu Luo figured he might still learn some different insights from her.

What I need to do is mostly remain silent.

Yang Di wiped the drool from her mouth. As a female nerd, of course, she dreamed of handsome men appearing every day.

Now that a handsome man had appeared, she wondered if she could seize the opportunity.

"So you’re Lu Luo, eh? Indeed, quite a talent, just what Wings of Blazing Sky needs. Alright, from today on, you’ll hang out with me."

Watching Yang Di’s smug expression, Luo Yi directly interrupted her.

"Yang Di, you already know you’re partnering with Lu Luo. But in terms of the subordinate relationship, he’s the lead and you’re the deputy. You need to work around Lu Luo. Lu Luo is very capable, and you should learn from him."

Yang Di glared and said, "Why should I? He’s new here, and you want me to hang out with him? I’m a Second Tier Transcendent!"

"Can you resolve a Soul Body case in a matter of minutes, like Lu Luo can?"

A Soul Body, huh? That sounds troublesome.

Yang Di didn’t have an answer to Luo Yi’s question. Still, she pursed her lips in contempt.

"PFFT! What’s so great about that? My performance..."

"Bottom of the district?"

"Uh!"

"Alright, we’re very busy right now. None of the cases taken on by the association have been dealt with, and we’re short-staffed. If you, Lu Luo, don’t have anything else to do right now, you can start work for the association."

Lu Luo nodded slightly. He hadn’t even officially started the job yet and was already being asked to work.

The situation at Wings of Blazing Sky really doesn’t look very optimistic.

"Oh, by the way, Miss Luo Yi, could you help me with getting a new ID card? I’ve lost mine."

Lu Luo’s request slightly surprised Luo Yi.

Lost his ID card? Couldn’t he just go and get a replacement?

Luo Yi guessed that Lu Luo wanted to conceal his identity, and maybe his name wasn’t actually Lu Luo.

But these things didn’t matter; every organization had people like him.

So she quickly agreed with a smile.

"No problem, such a matter is a trifle. You and Yang Di go to work first. I’ll handle the ID card issue for you."

"Good."

Since Luo Yi could take care of his identity issue, Lu Luo naturally wouldn’t spend more time on it.

If I were to do it myself, not only would I not be familiar with the process, but I could also easily leave behind evidence. If someone else can do it, it’s better to let them.

Lu Luo turned to look at Yang Di. "Let’s check the archives and see what cases the Sect has that need dealing with."

"Work is the sort of thing you just muddle through to the end. Why so serious?"

Yang Di still had that laissez-faire attitude. Is there any need to be so earnest in a no-hope organization like Wings of Blazing Sky?

Lu Luo glanced at Yang Di without answering her question and directly headed to the office on the second floor where case files were piled up.

The backlogged files and cases at Wings of Blazing Sky were all complex Transcendent cases.

After picking up a few files at random, Lu Luo turned to leave.

"Hey, not going to look them over and choose?"

"There’s no need."

Lu Luo walked out without looking back, followed by Yang Di, who wore a look of defiance.

"Pretend, just pretend away. I want to see how long you can keep this up."

Yang Di muttered something Lu Luo actually heard, but he really had no reason to take such a female slacker seriously.

Standing at the door, Lu Luo glanced coolly at Yang Di.

"Let’s go, Sister Yang Di."

"Heh, I’ll see what you’re capable of."

The first case that Lu Luo and Yang Di took on was about a cat demon in a high-end community in Dong’an City.

The community had been troubled by the cat demon for three weeks already.

In those three weeks, a total of 15 people suffered attacks by the cat demon, which mostly involved stealing human food.

But a week ago, there was a cat demon murder case.

The victim was a middle-aged woman, 45 years old.

After an evening of square dancing, she was heading back to her home.

Around 9:30 PM, she was attacked near building number 4, unit 3, within the community.

After the attack, the middle-aged woman was still alive, but part of her body was missing.

This indicated that during the attack, some creature had begun eating her alive.

This was a fairly rare phenomenon.

Most bizarre killings or cannibalistic incidents happen after the victim is killed.

But this time, the person died from excessive blood loss after being gnawed on while still alive.

Such circumstances had left the entire neighborhood panicking.

The conflict between two groups of people had escalated dramatically.

One group comprised cat lovers, while the other consisted of cat haters.

The police had already looked into this case and had searched for several nights to no avail, which was why it had now been handed over to Wings of Blazing Sky.

After going through the case file, Yang Di looked at Lu Luo curiously. "Aren’t cat demons supposed to appear at night? What’s the use of us coming here now? We might end up with nothing for our efforts, and I wouldn’t even get to cover my cab fare."

Lu Luo didn’t have time to withdraw money, so the cab fare was borrowed from Yang Di.

But that didn’t matter; such a minor case should be resolved quickly.

"We’re here. Let’s go."

"Hey, Lu Luo, I’m talking to you. Don’t you know what politeness is?"

Lu Luo still ignored her, having already entered his case-investigation rhythm.

He began to wander aimlessly around the neighborhood.

This behavior might seem foolish, but in reality, Lu Luo was scanning the environment for clues.

Scanning in progress. Found something, 41 degrees to the left, near the wall—there are urine stains and blood traces.

Upon hearing this, Lu Luo quickly walked to the spot indicated by the Observer.

A patch of urine stains, no longer very distinct, mixed with blood remnants in the corner of the wall.

What followed were continuous prompts from the Observer.

Left... Right... Ahead...

A lot of cat’s blood, a small amount of Exotic Species’ blood, and a very small amount of human blood.

"What’s this?"

Yang Di looked at the traces on the ground. Although she was lazy, she wasn’t stupid and naturally knew that these must be the clues Lu Luo had found.

However, she wasn’t quite clear on the usefulness of the clues that Lu Luo had discovered.

"Urine stains and blood traces."

"Urine stains and blood traces? What can they do?"

"The urine stains and blood traces are mixed together, and there are clear signs of trampling and dragging. In simple terms, it means that there has been animal abuse here."

"Animal abuse?"

Yang Di was somewhat surprised. Because she was too lazy, she didn’t have pets.

She was afraid that if she did have one, it might starve to death due to her laziness.

So, she decided against it—she could barely feed herself, let alone a pet which would have to endure hunger with her.

Although she didn’t have pets, she still liked small animals.

Thus, she couldn’t understand why anyone would abuse cats.

"Cats are so cute, why would anyone want to abuse them?"

"One man’s weed is another man’s treasure."

"What does that mean?"

"Read more books."

"Hey, I graduated from college, okay?"

Yang Di felt indignant; she felt looked down upon by Lu Luo, but she was still curious about the answer to animal abuse.

"Hey, what exactly did you find? Tell me, are we partners or not?"

Lu Luo glanced at the woman who lacked self-awareness. Her only use as a partner seemed to be paying for the cab ride over.

"The one that was abused was a stray cat, most likely a kitten or a juvenile."

"And then?"

"This place is where people often feed stray cats."

"Can you not tell me everything at once?"

Lu Luo was somewhat helpless. Yang Di wasn’t just lazy; she was also slow to catch on. He had made it so obvious, and yet she still didn’t understand.

"Feeding stray cats is the root of all these problems."

"Why? How can feeding stray cats be the root of the problem?"

"Because cats defecate and mate, and when they have offspring, they become very aggressive."

Lu Luo went silent again after saying this.

"Alright, I admit I don’t understand, so could you please explain everything at once?"

Yang Di also felt helpless and chose to compromise.

Lu Luo pointed to the surrounding area and said, "This area should be where some people have been feeding stray cats. Because only here there is no cat feces, yet some spoiled food can be found. Cats are clean animals, but as carnivores, their waste smells. This fact can make those who dislike cats very annoyed. Of course, if it were just annoyance, incidents of animal abuse wouldn’t occur. Cats are highly vigilant creatures, and stray cats have a strong sense of territory. If they have kittens, this sense of territory increases significantly. During the time they have kittens, stray cats’ aggressiveness will be at its peak."

Yang Di seemed to grasp something, yet also not quite.

"If their aggressiveness is at its peak, what happens?"

"It’s fine with adults; they generally won’t conflict with these howling feral cats. The fear is that young children could easily be scratched by these aggressive stray cats if they were to play in the yard. Once scratched or bitten, a range of issues can arise. For example, pet diseases, and even potentially fatal ones like rabies, etc. If such incidents do occur, humans will inevitably engage in retaliatory actions. That’s the reason behind cat abuse."

Yang Di was already somewhat dumbfounded, not quite understanding how Lu Luo could know so much.

But looking at Lu Luo, it seemed he was quite accustomed to such matters.

"How did you figure that out? What should be done if such a thing happens? How do we avoid it?"

"Actually, it’s quite simple. To avoid it, just take the cat home and take good care of it."

Uh... Yes, that does seem quite simple.

Yang Di fell silent, and Lu Luo continued his search uninterrupted.

"What are you looking for?"

"Looking for anomalies!"

"Didn’t you just say something about the problem of cat abuse? How did it get to anomalies?"

"Abusing cats is just a conflict between humans and humans, humans and small animals. Surely not a big issue, but if the bodies are not properly disposed of and then eroded by Spiritual Energy, it can easily lead to deformities, which is no small problem."

As Lu Luo spoke, he parted the thick underbrush in the neighborhood.

Target confirmed, too weak, take care of it casually!

GRRR!

A low growl kept coming from this location!

A pair of golden eyes were locking gazes with Lu Luo.

But what was Lu Luo’s level now? He came here to collect societal information and, incidentally, to complete a task for the club.

To him, a First Tier anomalous species was no different from an ordinary human.

"Lu Luo, an anomaly!"

THWACK!

Before Yang Di could finish speaking, the anomalous species made of cat corpses was pinned to the ground and killed by Lu Luo’s Sword Qi.

Instant kill, no doubt about it.

Done calmly, without any pressure at all!

Lu Luo’s ease left Yang Di somewhat at a loss; from investigating to explaining and then killing the anomalous species, Lu Luo had used no more than 40 minutes in total.

The efficiency was terrifying.

"Leave the body at the gatehouse for them to sign and record."

"Uh? Then what?"

"Then? Let’s go, the case is closed."

"Oh, okay."

At this moment, Yang Di finally understood what Luo Yi meant by "very strong"—this was beyond strong; this was downright abnormal, wasn’t it?

In the following hours, Lu Luo led Yang Di in continuously solving and closing cases.

Of the six case files, five were completed in less than a day.

Sitting back in the taxi, Yang Di looked numbly at Lu Luo.

"Lu Luo, where are we going next? Still investigating cases?"

"Yes, to Half-Mountain Villa."

Before Yang Di could respond, the taxi driver, with his heavy accent, was the first to speak up.

"Young man, that place is haunted. You sure you want to go? Be careful not to get possessed by a ghost!"

Lu Luo, acknowledging the driver’s well-intentioned warning, nodded. "Thank you for the advice, but we’re heading there precisely to address the haunting."

Seeing Lu Luo’s confidence, Yang Di seemed to gain some courage herself.

"Yeah, driver, we’re pretty capable."

She made a point of emphasizing "we." Yep, we’re partners after all. The two of us are indeed capable.

"Sigh, whatever you say. Lately, people just rush in seeking thrills, truly ignorant of death’s approach."

Lu Luo tilted his head, looking out the window, humming a tune from a past life with a smile.

"I fear ghosts, yet ghosts have not harmed me; I do not fear people, yet people leave wounds all over..."

"What are you singing?"

"A folk song."

"Folk songs are like this?"

"Yep, folk songs from my hometown are quite unique and indeed like this."

Up in the northern part of Dong’an City, Dong’an Mountain was adorned with rows of villas.

This place was meant to be the most luxurious suburban villa area, but due to haunting incidents over the past two years, the once idyllic Half-Mountain Villa area had turned into a picture of desolation.

Time is the least durable of all things.

In just two years without maintenance, the roads of the Half-Mountain Villa area had accumulated a thick layer of fallen leaves.

The smell of rotting roots and weeds spread among these leaves.

If this place was left for a few more years, it might turn into a completely uninhabited area without any trace of human existence.

But it hadn’t yet. As Lu Luo and Yang Di walked on the highway, they could see scattered furniture everywhere on the ground, even things like broken safes.

These items were obviously dragged out from the Half-Mountain Villa.

After all, it was a luxury area, and Scavengers would be more than happy to rummage around here to see if there was anything that could be sold for money.

"Let’s go, we’re almost there!"

"Lu Luo, what’s your strength level now?"

Yang Di knew that asking someone about their strength was very impolite.

But everyone usually asked since the Wings of Blazing Sky in Dong’an City were normally at the First to Second Tier level.

So, it was no big deal when they asked each other casually.

However, Lu Luo’s situation was obviously different, and Yang Di had already started guessing his level.

She herself was Second Tier, a Second Tier Transcendent. It would be hard for her to kill a First Tier Exotic Species as easily as Lu Luo did just now.

Could Lu Luo be Third Tier? Like Luo Yi? That’s fierce!

"Just a little higher than yours."

"Huh?"

"I said, my strength is probably just a little higher than yours."

"Can’t you be more specific?"

"It’s not appropriate to say."

"Whatever, forget it."

In the Half-Mountain Villa area, a group of seventeen or eighteen-year-old boys and girls were wandering at the entrance of the largest villa on the mountaintop.

The walls of this villa were very high, and they had already circled around the entire villa without finding an entrance. The gate was firmly locked, and now, if they wanted to get in, they would have to climb over the railings.

One of the girls, Xin Yi’s girlfriend, said, "Xin Yi, I’ve heard this place is haunted. Shall we leave?"

The boy known as Xin Yi shook off his girlfriend beside him.

"It wasn’t easy to come here; how could we not go in and take a look? There might be treasures, you know? I’ve heard that wealthy families like this usually hide gold. If we find some, we’ll make a fortune."

"What are we waiting for then? Let’s go in!"

No sooner had they spoken than a plump boy began to climb the tall railings.

Unfortunately, he was too fat. Just as he managed to clamber to the top and was about to climb over, the railing’s spikes pierced through his pants.

RIP!

Red underwear and blue woolen pants were exposed, and the remaining half of the trousers were still hanging on the railing.

The laughter of his friends echoed around.

Only the fat boy himself was somewhat embarrassed and angry. "What the hell are you laughing at? Help me out!"

RIP!

Xin Yi ripped the fat boy’s pants even further, revealing the woolen pants underneath, which was quite comical. "There," he said, "now you don’t have to wear any pants."

The boy blushed and raged, pointing at Xin Yi and cursing, "Just you wait. I’ll go in and find some pants first; don’t let me catch you off guard."

Having said that, the fat boy dashed toward the house.

After the others laughed for a while, they looked at one another.

"What if he really finds something good?"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go in!"

A bunch of kids scrambled over the railing and headed towards the mountaintop villa.

Only the girl called Li Wenge, who had questioned Xin Yi earlier, was left behind.

She stood in front of the railing, very hesitant.

Although the villa in front of her didn’t seem to have any problems, she had a strong feeling that something dangerous could happen here.

After hesitating for a while, Li Wenge was ready to back out.

Just as she was about to leave, Xin Yi suddenly popped his head out. "Wenge," he called, "what are you waiting for? Hurry up and come over."

"But..."

"I told you to come here!"

"Oh, okay."

It was clear that Xin Yi was very domineering in front of Li Wenge. Although she was pretty, she was mixed-race.

In the Imperial, mixed-race individuals, though somewhat higher in status than Caucasians, still faced discrimination from others.

It was for this reason that Li Wenge was so insecure.

As she was climbing over the railing, she suddenly heard some faint noises.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The sounds were like someone knocking on the door, but Li Wenge couldn’t determine where they were coming from.

She looked around but found nothing.

However, as she walked towards the house, she heard the same noise again.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

The sound grew more urgent, and Li Wenge became frightened. She dared not look any longer or think any further, but could only head towards the inside of the house.

"Xin Yi, wait for me."

While calling out, Li Wenge rushed towards her boyfriend inside the house.

Xin Yi grabbed her hand in a firm grip, and the warmth of his touch immediately soothed Li Wenge’s emotions.

"What took you so long? Let’s go."

"Okay."

Although Xin Yi had a bit of a temper, Wenge always felt at peace when she was by his side.

The group stopped in the villa’s hall, which was somewhat different from the other villas in the Half-Mountain Villa area.

The other villas showed very obvious signs of having been searched, but here, things were basically untouched.

Apart from a not-too-thick layer of dust, there were hardly any signs that other people had been here.

"Great, no one’s been here, there must be some good stuff."

"Where is the fatso? How come I don’t see him?"

"Maybe he’s upstairs. Let’s split up and search; whoever finds something gets to keep it, no sharing."

"Yay!"

The crowd scattered, and just as Xin Yi was about to leave, Li Wenge pulled him back.

"Xin Yi..."

"What’s wrong now?"

"Have you ever thought about why no one has been here?"

"How would I know? What do you mean?"

Xin Yi was about to scold Li Wenge, but after careful thought, he too felt something was strange.

That’s right, why have other houses been looted, yet this one has not?

"Perhaps the railings here are too high, and those people thought they couldn’t carry the stuff out?"

Xin Yi couldn’t finish his sentence, as even he didn’t believe this reason.

"Ah, forget it, what’s there to be afraid of with so many people? Come with me."

Xin Yi took Li Wenge by the hand, starting to head towards the second floor.

He said he wasn’t scared, but his grip on Wenge’s hand was tighter than usual.

After they reached the second floor, Li Wenge suddenly felt as if the temperature was lower here than on the first floor.

"Xin Yi, where are the others?"

"The others..."

Just as Xin Yi wondered why so many people had disappeared after going upstairs, a rather tall and strong man appeared in front of them.

"Oh, Wang Qiang, where are the others?"

"They’re all busy looking for stuff, but look what I found."

Wang Qiang took out a gold-plated pocket watch from his pocket and showed it off in front of them.

The pocket watch was still ticking, with diamonds on it, clearly not a cheap item.

"TSK TSK TSK, nice find."

Xin Yi said with a hint of envy, and Wang Qiang also looked smug.

"Of course, it’s a nice find; just this makes the trip worthwhile."

As Wang Qiang gloated, Li Wenge noticed his fingernails had a grayish-blue hue.

Before Li Wenge could say anything, Wang Qiang had already left with his pocket watch.

Obviously, stopping him now would be like delaying someone’s chance to make money.

Wang Qiang’s findings made Xin Yi even more eager.

"Let’s go too. When it comes to finding things, they’re all novices. The most valuable things in a villa like this are antiques and paintings, and they don’t know squat about that."

Li Wenge nodded, letting Xin Yi lead her to a bedroom to start searching.

"Someone has lived here," Xin Yi said with certainty.

"So what if someone has lived here?"

"If someone has lived here, they’re likely to have hidden stuff, especially the woman who owned the room. If it’s a woman’s stuff, there are likely to be pieces of jewelry here that I can find and give to you."

Xin Yi was trying to cheer up Li Wenge, but she couldn’t muster a smile.

Feeling bad about letting Xin Yi search alone, she too began to search.

Soon enough, Wenge found a jewelry box in a drawer under the bed. Because of its placement, the box was very clean. Finding it brought her a pleasant surprise.

"Xin Yi, look!"

"Holy crap, you actually found something?"

The two of them excitedly examined the jewelry, which felt heavy, suggesting it was all made of gold and silver.

A box full like this, how much money would it be worth?

As Xin Yi was caught up in his excitement, a ring accidentally fell to the ground and rolled under the bed.

Wenge, immersed in her joy, naturally bent down to retrieve the ring.

But under the bed... it was too dirty!

Wenge, who was a bit of a clean freak, recoiled after picking up the ring as her arm was covered in dust.

As she took out the ring, she suddenly noticed that there was someone standing behind Xin Yi.

Is someone here?

Wenge quickly stuck her head out, but when she looked behind Xin Yi, she found that there was no one else there.

"Xin Yi?"

"What’s up?"

"Just now, behind you?"

Xin Yi, who was still packing up, glanced behind himself. Seeing nothing, he said with a hint of impatience, "Don’t spook yourself. Grab the stuff, and let’s hurry to the next room. If we’re slow, all the things will be taken by these guys."

Li Wenge looked at Xin Yi doubtfully. Although she felt it might be unnecessary, she bent down again and looked toward the entrance!

But when she bent down, she suddenly noticed that those legs were still there!

And this time, they were even closer than before.

Li Wenge quickly lifted her head, but as soon as she did, behind Xin Yi, there was still nothing.

But when Li Wenge bent down again, the legs had edged closer.

They were now standing right behind Xin Yi!

The gray legs, so close at hand!

Li Wenge covered her mouth to keep from screaming, just as she was about to caution Xin Yi from this angle.

Someone tapped her on the back.

"What~ are~ you~ looking~ at?"

This voice?

Li Wenge suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

This place... it’s under the bed! How could there be someone under the bed?

Li Wenge didn’t dare to turn around; her hair stood on end with fear.

But not turning around now, what’s the difference between that and an ostrich burying its head in the sand?

Li Wenge firmly shut her eyes and suddenly lifted her head.

When she opened her eyes, Xin Yi had disappeared.

Jewelry and trinkets were scattered all around, but Li Wenge no longer dared to pick them up.

She didn’t dare to look under the bed, didn’t dare touch anything there, and could only shout towards the doorway, "Xin Yi! Xin Yi? Fatty? Wang Qiang..."

But no one responded to her. The vast room was like an abyss.

Li Wenge struggled to stand up, her movements trembling as she walked towards the door, her breathing growing heavy.

"Where are you guys? Where are you all?"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Li Wenge’s pupils shrank as she heard that sound again, that knocking sound.

In her panic, it seemed like something was approaching her...

Li Wenge gasped for air. "Huff! Huff! Huff! The door! The door! Someone’s knocking at the door, I need to open the door! Where’s the door?"

She looked around in a daze. Most of the doors were closed; only one at the end of the corridor was locked.

Looking at that door at the end of the corridor, she suddenly revealed a smile. "A door," she murmured, "there’s a door here. Someone is knocking, and I should open it!"

After that, Li Wenge began to walk slowly toward the door.

Her movements were very slow, her limbs were contorted, and she would occasionally twitch as if she had taken too many drugs.

If Li Wenge looked in a mirror right now, she would definitely be scared by her present self.

Her face had completely turned a ghastly gray, the bloodless hue making her resemble a body about to die.

But even in such a state, some force still drove Li Wenge’s body, pushing her to get closer and closer to that door!

Until she finally reached the door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

The knocking came again. "I’m opening the door for you now," Li Wenge said with a smile, just as she placed her hand on the doorknob, starting to turn it.

A voice with a hint of sunshine appeared behind her. "Even Little Red Riding Hood knows not to open the door for strangers."

This voice, like a ray of light in an abyss, instantly pulled Li Wenge back from the endless darkness.

Her consciousness gradually cleared, but as memories returned, so did the fear!

"The face, I remember the face. When I looked up, there was a gray face behind Xin Yi, a ghastly gray face!"

"A ghastly gray face, you say? I understand. Try to calm down a bit."

The person standing behind Li Wenge was none other than Lu Luo, who had come to handle the case.

He turned Li Wenge around to face him. The power of Netherflame seeped into Li Wenge’s spirit, completely burning away the ghastly gray within her spiritual world.

Only then did Li Wenge’s complexion gradually return to normal.

"What did you do to her?" Yang Di was curious.

"Nothing much. She was spooked, and I helped her calm down."

Yang Di didn’t believe it. She knew it wasn’t as simple as Lu Luo said, but what exactly Lu Luo did was beyond her comprehension.

"This place is so eerie!"

"Heh."

Lu Luo smiled and didn’t speak. This place was more than just eerie.

Here, it had been completely eroded by Dark Energy.

The thick Dark Energy was almost tangible.

In other words, this villa had become an entirely Corrosive Item.

According to the Imperial definition, it was probably a case of Spiritual Energy erosion.

A villa of several thousand square meters, entirely eroded—this place was not simple at all!

"What do we do next?" Yang Di asked with some curiosity.

Of course, we claim this place for ourselves! So many Corrosive Items, they could sell for so much money.

*Cough, cough!*

Lu Luo cleared his throat. After sweeping a glance around the environment, he looked at the tightly locked wooden door before him.

"Let’s deal with the unclean things here first."

Yang Di suddenly felt a shiver!

"Are there really unclean things here?"

"By unclean, I mean anomalies," Lu Luo explained.

"Oh! That’s somewhat reassuring."

For some reason, knowing that the opponents were anomalies made Yang Di feel much more at ease.

Where did this inexplicable trust come from? Was it due to Lu Luo’s performance today?

But he hadn’t really shown his strength many times.

Why do I always feel like Lu Luo is very strong, incredibly powerful?

Alright, this was probably the blind faith one has in a powerful figure. *Cough, cough.* So mysterious, so very mysterious!

Li Wenge, who had gradually recovered, seemed a bit confused. She seemed to understand the conversation between Lu Luo and Yang Di.

Were they here to deal with the monsters in the villa?

"You guys? My friends have been taken by those monsters... Can you save them?" Li Wenge pleaded.

"Okay, okay, this kind of thing..."

Seeing Li Wenge crying, Yang Di immediately began comforting her, but she was at a loss.

So, she could only look towards Lu Luo. In her mind, Lu Luo was very methodical and just in his actions.

As a member of the Wings of Blazing Sky, he would surely help them.

However, Lu Luo glanced at Li Wenge and simply shook his head. "I can’t."

Upon hearing Lu Luo’s refusal, Li Wenge seemed to lose all her strength in an instant.

"Why?"

"Because they... they’re all dead!"

"What?"

Not only Li Wenge, but even Yang Di was surprised.

All dead...

Lu Luo pointed at the ceiling, and Yang Di hurriedly looked up, only to discover numerous spider silk bundles hanging there.

These spider silk bundles wrapped around humans, small animals, and even some low-level anomalies!

It was clearly the lair of some spider anomaly!

Everyone’s complexion turned ashen; they were in a state of irreversible poisoning.

Their bodily functions had been utterly destroyed, beyond any hope of rescue.

Actually, if it hadn’t been for Lu Luo’s timely arrival, Li Wenge would have died the moment she opened the door.

Anomalies were too powerful for ordinary humans, irresistibly powerful.

"They!"

"All dead, beyond saving. So, I can’t save them."

"How can that be! It’s impossible; they were all fine just before. They’re just students, how could they possibly die?"

At that moment, Li Wenge burst into tears.

Looking at her, Lu Luo really couldn’t muster any sympathy.

"Under Imperial law, you’re an adult at sixteen. So, you are all adults now, and adults need to make their own judgments and not use the excuse of being a student at every turn. Every adult needs to take responsibility for their actions. The guard office has repeatedly warned you that the Half-Mountain Villa area is extremely dangerous. You still chose to come here despite the dangers, so you have to face the consequences."

After finishing, Lu Luo no longer paid attention to Li Wenge.

He was here to complete an association mission. Saving people was something he’d lend a hand in if possible.

But if these people were dead-set on their fate, he wouldn’t interfere.

"Alright, Yang Di, you wait here for a bit."

"Eh? What do you mean, Lu Luo? We’re partners! As partners, we should stick together."

Lu Luo’s mouth twitched. Am I supposed to say that you going in means certain death?

"Forget it, just follow behind me."

"What do you mean by that? I’m a Second Tier Transcendent, you know. Reaching Second Tier at my age is one in ten thousand."

Looking at Yang Di’s cocky demeanor, Lu Luo was somewhat speechless.

CREAK!

He pushed open the door, which was completely wrapped in ashen-gray spider silk. Just as he opened it, a grayish-green poison arrow flew toward the two of them!

THWACK!

The poison arrow was caught single-handedly by Lu Luo and carelessly tossed aside.

The venom on it could even corrode the sturdy Obsidian floor.

Yang Di looked at the cobwebs deep in the room and was momentarily at a loss.

She felt that whatever creature lurked inside must be difficult to deal with!

"Lu Luo, did you just use your hand?"

"It’s okay, my skin is rather thick."

Lu Luo glanced at the Observer’s hint.

Your Poisonous Resistance and Constitution are high, making you immune to this poison attack.

Well, he hadn’t even needed the support of Unbelievers—just the Poisonous Resistance built up over time, coupled with a Constitution of 350, was enough to make him immune to this attack.

However, the opponent’s attack was very sharp—this power level...

Probably Fourth Tier.

Lu Luo nodded and took the lead, casually tearing off the spider silk that actively entwined around him.

Yang Di, following behind him, felt strange because she had just gotten a strand of silk stuck to her foot, and no matter how hard she tugged, it wouldn’t tear off.

But this silk seemed completely ineffective on Lu Luo—what was going on?

HISS! HISS! HISS!

One poison arrow after another flew out, but all were effortlessly blocked by Lu Luo.

These poison arrows were made by bonding steel rods with spider silk and already fell under the category of tools.

It seemed the intelligence of this strange creature was quite low!

As Lu Luo led Yang Di further in, the monster lurking in the darkness finally revealed itself.

Eight compound eyes glittered with green light. Just as Yang Di was about to alert Lu Luo, the creature charged at them, wielding a massive scythe.

CLANG!

With a circular swing, the entire stone corridor was nearly cut in two.

As the corridor was cleaved apart, sunlight gradually spilled into the shattered passageway.

This allowed Yang Di, trailing behind Lu Luo, to catch her first clear glimpse of their opponent.

"Green-eyed Spider Demon! Lu Luo, it’s a Fourth-Tier Green-eyed Spider Demon. Run, Lu Luo! Huh? Why aren’t you running?"

Lu Luo picked up a piece of Obsidian from the ground, and his Qi He slightly burst forth from within his body.

Steam made PSH-PSH sounds.

Before Yang Di could realize what Lu Luo intended to do, Lu Luo had already thrown the Obsidian he was holding.

BOOM!

The Obsidian was just ordinary Obsidian, but when combined with Lu Luo’s steam Qi He, and the intent behind Soul Sunder Strike, it became something more outrageous than a missile.

Consequently, the Fourth-Tier Green-eyed Spider Demon was blown apart on the spot by Lu Luo.

Where the Obsidian passed through, the entire torso of the Spider Demon was completely severed.

The powerful impact tore apart its Fourth-Tier carapace and muscles.

Lu Luo covered Yang Di’s eyes with his hand. "Close your eyes!"

Eight Devourer tendrils shot out, consuming the corpse of the Green-eyed Spider Demon in just a few breaths.

Only half of a lonely spider head and a pair of exceedingly sharp fangs remained.

After the absorption was complete, Lu Luo let go of Yang Di, stepped forward to pick up the spider head, and turned back to Yang Di with a smile. "This thing should be enough to settle the matter, right?"

"Ah? Oh!"

Yang Di looked at Lu Luo and suddenly felt a sense of unreality.

Lu Luo’s strength...

She looked down, quietly pulled out her phone, and started searching online: What level of power is needed to instantly kill a Fourth-Tier creature...

The answers she found were confusing; some even claiming that a Second Tier could kill a Fourth Tier.

The description of one such battle went like this:

[I’ve once killed a Fourth-Tier Tiger King—here’s how it happened. In a fit of extreme anger, I slid under it with a slide tackle, slicing open its belly and spilling its entrails. It didn’t die immediately, but as my hand raised and the knife fell, I decapitated it—not a dog head, a tiger head. So, fighting above one’s level isn’t that hard after all—train more, and you can do it too.]

"What are you looking at?"

"No, nothing!" Yang Di quickly closed her phone.

She glanced at Lu Luo, then at the spider head he was holding, and wondered to herself, Could a slide tackle really kill a Fourth-Tier creature? Or maybe... I should try it sometime?

While Yang Di was lost in thought, a series of slight tapping noises reached her ears.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Was that... a knocking sound?

Lu Luo’s eyes suddenly narrowed, and he placed a hand on Yang Di’s shoulder. "Don’t look behind!"