Chapter 57: Vengeful Soul
“Phew…” Zane patted his little hill and looked at the alarmingly red health bar.
189/6590…
And the ghouls had all fallen.
Fortunately, Zane’s stamina growth was very high; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to withstand so many ghouls.
After this ordeal, everyone in the team leveled up, and Brother Shiu even jumped two levels to 17!
“These ghouls are way too scary… I thought they had run away; I didn’t expect them to take a detour,” Brother Shiu sat weakly on the ground, admitting that facing such ferocious undead creatures brought about inevitable fear.
“Yeah, we almost got wiped out,” Zane said, still haunted by the experience.
Hearing this youthful voice, Brother Shiu remembered something. “By the way, how did you turn into a little girl??”
“Hidden skill ~ hidden skill, I got it in the forbidden area of Grey Ridge Plain,” Zane replied dismissively.
“…No way, such an exaggerated hidden skill? Not only did your character model change, but you also got an additional hidden class?”
“Little sister, are you… a boy?” Youyoufen was petrified.
“Without a doubt, a real man!” Zane puffed out his chest confidently.
“…”
…
The ghouls were stingy and dropped no equipment, accumulating just 10 gold coins, which was pretty cheap, so they divided it up to two coins each.
This battle, although thrilling, resulted in no fatalities. If a regular team had encountered this group of ghouls, they would have surely faced a wipe. Not everyone could withstand so many fast-moving and high-damage monsters.
However, it also exposed a serious problem.
That is—healing!
Without a priest, even if they barely held off the first wave, they would have no resistance against another wave of monsters. The current state of their team was a Swordsman (Starry, untransformed), a Wishcaster (Zane, part-time mount), a Mage (in the water), a Summoner (Youyoufen), and a Knight (Endless Sea).
A deformed team with no healer!
It’s not that Zane disliked priests; it’s just that he didn’t want to easily call wild players into the team. Regardless of their strength, the most important thing in playing together is to get along, and he couldn’t be bothered to vet the quality of wild players.
While they were speaking, a completely gray-white ghost floated over.
“Zane, look at that!” Brother Shiu pointed at the ghost.
“What?” Zane focused his eyes, and the ghost’s attributes emerged.
Vengeful Soul · Feiya
Rarity: None
Level: 5
Description: A native of Holyflower Village, transformed into a vengeful soul after death, unable to dissipate.
A vengeful soul? Could it be that there’s a quest?
Sure enough, as the vengeful soul approached, a faint ethereal voice emanated from it.
“You actually defeated those despicable ghouls… Adventurers, did you come for the Holy Essence Water too?” Feiya’s voice had a slight tremor.
“What should we do?” Endless Sea exchanged glances.
“Who are you?” Zane asked, pretending not to know.
“I… am just a soul bound by this village. If you have come for the Holy Essence Water, you may leave now.”
“Why?”
“Because… this place has already fallen into the territory of the undead.” Her gaze reflected infinite sorrow. “The Holy Essence Water no longer exists.”
“Is the Fountain of Life polluted!?” Zane exclaimed anxiously; this was related to Starry’s job transfer, and he couldn’t miss any opportunity.
“…Little girl, you guessed it right.” Feiya nodded. “The Fountain of Life has been tainted. The water now emits a repugnant smell of decay; even ordinary people may become seriously ill just from the scent.”
“…Damn, these undead must have bathed in the Fountain of Life!”
After saying that, Feiya looked at the thoughtful crowd and shook her head, about to leave.
“Wait!” Zane quickly called out to her.
Feiya turned back, revealing a puzzled expression.
“You came all this way just to tell us this?”
“I just… don’t want to see more people die in vain.” Clearly, many NPCs and even players had lost their lives during the time that the village was occupied by the undead.
“That’s not right!” Zane denied. “Since you’ve become a vengeful soul, it means there’s something unresolved. We can help you!”
As if she had heard something funny, Feiya chuckled softly. “Even the imperial army has given up on Holyflower Village; what can you do?”
“Not necessarily! We are adventurers from the Otherworld, our strength goes without saying. You just witnessed it; even a small group of ghouls is no match for us.”
“This place is not only filled with ghouls…”
“Our lives as adventurers are infinite!”
“But…”
Brother Shiu grew a bit impatient, flames igniting in his hands.
Feiya jumped in surprise. “What do you want to do!?” As a level 5 spirit body, once she came into contact with the flames, she would likely be obliterated on the spot!
“Don’t hit me; I… I will take you there,” she said, biting her trembling lips, looking ready to cry.
“Nice one!” Zane gave a thumbs up!
“Bro, you’re ruthless! You can treat even a female ghost like this,” Endless Sea chuckled in praise.
“So pitiful…” Youyoufen said sympathetically.
…
Earlier, the ghouls had approached from downstream of the creek, indicating that there should be something connecting the two banks, or perhaps the creek had narrowed.
Though Endless Sea could jump across directly, Zane didn’t dare risk it, because… during physical testing, he hadn’t been able to exceed three meters. In his opinion, anyone who could jump over three meters was a god! Plus, there were two girls; at least he could control Starry.
Walking downstream, they did indeed find a log bridge.
It seemed to be naturally formed, as there was a tree stump nearby, clearly toppled by great pressure.
Was it from a typhoon? Or the aftermath of a battle between strong beings?
The tree trunk was at least half a meter wide and appeared to have fallen recently, as the roots had not yet been eroded by the current on the opposite bank.
No wonder the ghouls could easily cross over.
Visually, walking on such a log bridge required great courage. The other four quickly crossed, leaving Youyoufen and Lord Xisi on the other side.
“Do we really have to walk this?” She took a step but quickly pulled back.
The scene of the ghouls being eroded by the creek was no joke.
“Sigh.” Lord Xisi sighed, then—grabbed Youyoufen by the waist and lifted her up!
“Ah, ah, ah, ah—!”
Ignoring her cries, Lord Xisi confidently walked across, reaching the opposite bank in less than 10 seconds.
Under the weight, the tree creaked pitifully.
Finally, small cracks appeared and began to expand.
“Boom,” the retreat route had fallen away, swallowed by the undercurrent.
Moreover, the loud noise and the scent of the living attracted a new group of ghouls.
Endless Sea had only recovered half of his health, while Zane was down to a quarter.
Danger loomed.
