Wang Cangyun was truly worthy of Master Zheng’s praise as the greatest saber wielder in the world.

When the Late-night Butcher instantly transformed into something inhuman...

Wang Cangyun, who had never seen such a spectacle, didn’t just stand there dumbfounded.

The moment Zheng Xiu yelled, "Run!", Wang Cangyun had already shot forward a dozen paces, scooped up the illegitimate son who had collapsed to the ground trembling in fear, and started frantically escaping toward the edge of the forest. It all happened in the span of a few breaths.

However, Master Zheng had no such baggage and ran even farther, leaving Wang Cangyun to eat his dust.

When he had sliced off the Late-night Butcher’s arm, Master Zheng had noticed something.

’Logically, if this was an opportunity I could exploit, shouldn’t severing an arm—such a major event—cause my Experience Value to skyrocket?’

Unfortunately, it didn’t.

’This must be the limit of being Human!’

Zheng Xiu was quite regretful.

’Otherwise, he felt he could have put his grand speedrunning project on hold for a few days.’

SWOOSH!

The three-meter-long blade-arm extended and retracted freely, then shot out several more meters, carving a gleaming arc through the forest with a swift slash.

It nearly grazed Wang Cangyun’s rear end.

A moment later.

Dozens of trees crashed to the ground, their severed trunks as smooth as mirrors!

Wang Cangyun glanced back and ran even faster.

’A monster!’

’In the prosperous Daqian Empire, in this just and orderly world, how could such an evil abomination exist?!’

After a few leaps and bounds, Zheng Xiu was the first to reach Baili Village.

A hundred meters away, countless white scales in the river moved frantically like shifting beams of light, stirring up the sound of massive waves.

Just as Zheng Xiu emerged from the forest, the thick stench of blood drifted toward him on the wind.

At first glance, the brutal scene before him made Zheng Xiu’s pupils shrink.

The village was in shambles. The doors that should have been shut tight were all wide open. The villagers, who should have been holed up inside for the night, had been hacked to pieces. Flesh, severed limbs, and decapitated heads were scattered across the village.

It was truly the first time Master Zheng had witnessed such a gory scene. He was stunned for a moment before the sound of Commander Wang’s footsteps and a boy’s crying reached him from behind.

"Old Wang, didn’t you say you left? Why are you back in the village?"

He casually used [Scouting], but it failed. Not bothering to try a second time, Zheng Xiu turned and asked the Treasure King behind him.

"I wish I could have!" Wang Cangyun replied quickly, still shaken. "This forest is cursed! I led them into the woods, but we just kept going in circles and ended up right back where we started!"

’Ah! So it really is a Ghostly Realm!’

’Quite the ghost!’

The "inability to leave" wasn’t special treatment for Zheng Xiu; even Old Wang couldn’t get out.

’Maybe it was because of the strangeness of Baili Village that Old Wang died here twenty years ago?’

’Should I reload and start over?’

For a moment, these unexpected changes made Zheng Xiu, who was accustomed to dying and restarting, subconsciously consider that option.

’But would the next attempt be any better?’

’The Treasure King, Old Wang, couldn’t escape, yet he insisted on courting death. This didn’t seem to be a part of "history" that could be changed with a few simple words.’

He had managed to build a good rapport with Old Wang in a single meeting, quickly made progress with Feng Bei, found a hiding spot, and even got Old Wang to proactively anger the Late-night Butcher...

One by one, these key event nodes replayed at high speed in Zheng Xiu’s mind.

Master Zheng felt that his logical thinking was exceptionally clear now, perhaps because his [Scholarship] had reached the realm of "Vast Learning."

"HOHOHO..."

Behind them, the sky, which had been shrouded in gray mist, had at some point become tinged with a faint bloody hue.

A pitch-black, dark light flickered in and out of existence in the forest, like a spreading spider’s web—deep, cold, and tainting everything around it black.

It was rapidly approaching their position.

’The Late-night Butcher’s special effects are maxed out.’

"The village massacre."

Zheng Xiu fell silent. This was all history, set in stone. No matter what had happened twenty years ago, he couldn’t change the past.

’Besides, the stage is already set.’

Zheng Xiu was eager to give it a try.

Thinking of this, Zheng Xiu’s gaze calmed, and he said to Old Wang, "Commander Wang, I surmise that this evil creature fears the sunlight. As long as we can survive until dawn, we have a chance to live!"

"Is that true?"

The Treasure King, Cangyun’s, cloudy eyes lit up.

Evidently, his trust in ’Younger Brother Zheng Haoran’ had increased after they fought side by side.

"I am ninety percent certain!"

Zheng Xiu nodded forcefully.

"Then, Younger Brother Zheng, what’s your brilliant plan?"

Behind them, a bloody aura surged. That thing was clearly not Human, and it was getting closer.

Zheng Xiu glanced at the forest, then stated his idea: "We split up and leave it to fate!"

Wang Cangyun was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. "Alright!"

Zheng Xiu turned and said calmly, "Wealth and honor are decreed by Heaven!"

Wang Cangyun understood. He laughed heartily. "Life and death are determined by fate!"

With that, Wang Cangyun, carrying the illegitimate son on his back, darted off in another direction, vanishing into the night in the blink of an eye.

After parting ways with Wang Cangyun, Zheng Xiu moved quickly through the village, using [Scouting] again and again.

The village was a river of blood, littered with corpses.

They were all villagers’ bodies.

The thick stench of blood wafted over.

Zheng Xiu suddenly realized. The night he had stayed in the village house, he had smelled the same thick stench of blood before the Late-night Butcher snapped his neck.

Apparently, before killing him, the Late-night Butcher had gone on a killing spree, just like tonight.

As he scouted, the Dice in his forehead spun almost nonstop.

All sorts of information began to sketch out the "truth" in Zheng Xiu’s mind.

’Where are the bodies of the other sword-wielding Guards? Could they still be alive?’

That Butcher’s sanity was low, bordering on Madness. Even with how things had developed, Zheng Xiu was confident he could survive until dawn.

This was the confidence his "thirty" points in Step Technique gave him.

’If I can’t beat it, can’t I, Zheng Xiu, at least run?’

Walking through the village, stepping over the villagers’ corpses, Zheng Xiu followed a set of footprints back to "Feng’s Meat Shop."

From a distance, the ground around Feng’s Meat Shop was, as ever, clean and quiet.

There were no bodies.

The stench of blood hung over the entire village, but here, it was fainter.

"Quick, use Scouting!"

Roll the dice!

[Fourteen.]

[Scouting successful.]

[Baili Village is littered with dismembered corpses, yet the area here is unnaturally clean, making you sense that something is odd.]

[Small footprints are scattered about. You’ve noticed a clue.]

[The main door of Feng’s Meat Shop is open, and it is pitch-black inside. You don’t dare to enter through the front.]

[But by the wall, in the dirt beneath a wooden barrel, there are drag marks.]

[You deduce that there must be a secret door behind the barrel.]

[You have successfully discovered the back door to "Feng’s Meat Shop"!]

After the scouting was complete.

The lines of tiny, mosquito-like text showed no signs of stopping.

[You are certain that this place is strange.]

[But now, your high skill has made you bold. Believing that "nothing ventured, nothing gained," you decide to brave it.]

[Even if what awaits you ahead may be Hell itself.]

[You have made your decision.]

’Don’t spout nonsense, you damn GM.’

Master Zheng’s mouth twitched, but he paid it no mind. He prepared to circle around to the riverside to get away from the Butcher. While he was at it, he could enjoy the view under the moon, watch the fish, and feel the river breeze.

’With his death-courting personality, the Treasure King is sure to attract the Late-night Butcher’s attention.’

’It just depends on whose luck is worse.’

’I, Zheng Xiu, am planning to speedrun this!’

As he thought this, Master Zheng listened for the sound of scraping metal, carefully circling around the village to the east, planning to double back to the tree hollow.

But then...

[You take a few steps closer and hear the faint sound of sobbing from inside.]

[It’s like a lonely, helpless child, waiting in a dark mire for a hero.]

[In her dreams, her hero will be clad in shining armor, riding on a seven-colored cloud, to shatter the darkness and bring the first ray of light into her life.]

Zheng Xiu’s footsteps faltered.

"So the damn GM is trying to give me a guilt trip, huh?"

Zheng Xiu stepped forward and moved the wooden barrel. Behind it was indeed a simple secret door that could just be pushed open.

After hesitating for a moment, another thought occurred to Zheng Xiu. ’If Feng Bei is really inside, maybe it’s actually safest to be near Little Feng Bei?’

’It’s highly likely.’

At this thought, Zheng Xiu’s conscience was soothed. He lifted open the secret door and squeezed into Feng’s Meat Shop.

’Of course, he had to be a good person.’

’And there was no conflict between being a good person and gaining some benefits at the same time.’

’It soothes the conscience and might also be safe—killing two birds with one stone.’

The secret door was barely a few inches wider than Zheng Xiu’s shoulders. If Master Zheng had rolled just a tiny bit higher for his [Physique], or gotten a [Cunning and Deceitful] result, he wouldn’t have been able to get through at all.

After squeezing inside.

A smell like expired, pickled salted fish assaulted his nostrils.

The stench was so foul it seemed to have a color.

A rainbow-colored halo appeared in Zheng Xiu’s vision, and he nearly threw up.

This smell-with-a-color reminded Master Zheng of the legendary surströmming.

BLEGH~

"What is that smell?"

BUZZZZZZ.

The noise Zheng Xiu made opening the door disturbed swarms of flies inside, and the sound of buzzing insect wings became a continuous drone.

As his eyes adjusted slightly to the darkness, a faint light filtered through the cracks in the boarded-up windows, allowing Zheng Xiu to vaguely make out the room’s interior.

In the center of the dancing swarm of flies, Zheng Xiu frowned, held his breath, and pushed them aside.

Zheng Xiu’s pupils contracted slightly, but he wasn’t frightened.

He saw a corpse leaning against the corner of the wall, one that had clearly been dead for a long time.

The body was already badly decomposed. Judging from the tattered clothing, it was a woman.

’A rotting corpse isn’t scary. The scary part is if it moves.’

Zheng Xiu’s gaze swept over to the side of the female corpse, where there was a shriveled "thing."

When Zheng Xiu swatted away the swarm of flies with one hand and crouched down to get a closer look, the moment he saw it clearly, he lost his breath. The stench rushed to his head, and he was so horrified that his scalp tingled and he fell back onto his butt.

It was the skin of a child!

Master Zheng’s scalp went numb. He desperately reached up to scratch the lump on his forehead, instinctively about to use [Scouting], as he stared wide-eyed and exclaimed, "What the hell is this!"

Just then, Feng Bei’s cold voice came from the opposite side of the room:

"That’s Mother, and..."

"Feng Bei."