Monarch Night

"First, deal with the cliff."

Yuan Zhenjiang's face was as cold as ice.

He then walked up to Fang Che, praised, "Steward Fang, very impressive."

In the recent attack, Fang Che's reaction was even quicker than his own as the War Hall Master, which greatly surprised Yuan Zhenjiang.

Fang Che rushed forward the moment the cliff collapsed, seemingly anticipating an attack.

Yuan Zhenjiang only reacted after seeing the cold glint.

That was the essential difference.

"It's nothing," Fang Che said indifferently. "I just felt it was strange for the cliff to remain intact after cracking like that, yet collapse immediately after Master Yuan issued a command. It seemed unreasonable. Someone must have manipulated it to create chaos, intending to attack in the upheaval. So I acted a step ahead."

His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear, and they all nodded silently, their expressions suddenly alert.

Yuan Zhenjiang appreciated him even more.

Because he knew this was Fang Che's way of reminding everyone how to defend themselves. One shouldn't underestimate that single sentence—it was invaluable life-and-death experience!

...

Continuing forward, they bypassed a mountain pass, only to find the path ahead blocked. The road was buried under piles of rocks, with a deep chasm beside it.

Everyone began clearing the way together.

People were on guard on either side.

After clearing that portion, they were already exhausted. Having traveled a long distance and continuously cleared debris, even with high cultivation, this was dealing with the collapse of several mountains, with each large rock weighing tens of thousands of pounds.

They kept clearing until now, utterly fatigued.

"Rest here," Yuan Zhenjiang ordered.

The female stewards, including Jing Xiuyun, were so tired they plopped down upon hearing that, only to cry out and jump back up to find something to sit on, realizing the ground was burning hot.

Zuo Guanglie and Fang Che sat together, took out their water pouches, and drank water. "On this trip, we've truly seen a lot, Steward Fang. What do you think is going on? Nine volcanoes erupting simultaneously... it can't just be to create disaster."

Fang Che remained silent, not answering, his gaze constantly scanning the surroundings of the forest, examining every corner before finally saying, "I don't know."

Zuo Guanglie sighed. He didn't know either. Lately, Fang Che had been very aloof.

Initially, they had developed a brotherly rapport, but suddenly it had regressed.

It seemed like everything had returned to when they first met.

This puzzled him, and he tried to mend things, but whenever he took a step forward, Fang Che stepped back.

This left Zuo Guanglie very frustrated.

Clearly, Steward Fang was still the Steward Fang dedicated to slaying demons, but why had he become so distant from his brothers?

But thinking of the twenty Points reward for advancing to the second level, Zuo Guanglie sighed again.

No wonder, such an event was a massive blow.

It's normal to feel unable to face everyone.

He could only be patient and slowly repair the relationship.

...

Just at that moment...

Fang Che suddenly jumped up again, shouting loudly, "Everyone, stand up."

His gaze was rigid as he stared at the dead leaves on the ground, which were moving.

Earlier, when everyone sat down, they had first swept the ground beneath them clean, removing the dead leaves and branches. But now, the dead leaves they had swept away were moving.

Everyone stood up obediently, looking confused.

Clang!

Fang Che drew his sword from its sheath.

Everyone watched in bewilderment as he used the sword tip to flip over a seemingly ordinary dead leaf.

Underneath, they found several small worms, the same color as the dead leaf, slender and tough, like threads, but crawling swiftly. Their appearance was ugly, revolting.

When the dead leaf was lifted, these worms instantly sprang up, heading toward Fang Che's face!

A flash of the sword, and the few worms were immediately cut by Fang Che.

Everyone sprang into action at the same time.

"Gather all the dead leaves and burn them!"

Fang Che was in a cold sweat. "These are Fire Worms! They can burrow into the body, extremely toxic!"

Everyone acted together, but there was one person sitting on the ground, motionless, his face rigid.

His complexion slowly turned the color of dead leaves.

He had already died.

This was a deacon from the Guardian Hall, usually sloppy, careless about details; as soon as rest was called, he didn't even clear beneath himself and sat directly on the ground.

Fang Che's face changed. He ordered everyone to step back, turned the deacon's body over, and with one slash, tore open the clothes on the buttocks, only to see a patch of charred blackness.

"The Fire Worms got in..."

Fang Che's face changed, muttered an apology, and used the back of his sword to sweep the deacon's body into the fire.

Instantly, it blazed fiercely.

Everyone watched, mouths agape, as the deacon's body quickly burned down to white bone. But then the stomach suddenly burst open, and clusters of Fire Worms surged out, yet under the flame's high temperature, they twisted in the fire.

Emitting faint sizzling sounds, they were reduced to ash in the flames.

The sight left everyone shivering, hair standing on end.

They never imagined encountering such bizarre poisonous insects.

"Fire Worms enter the body and instantly reproduce; within moments, there can be hundreds or even thousands. This is a tactic of the Demon Sect, using high-temperature places to spawn Fire Worms. Nurturing them with corpses... Master Yuan!"

Fang Che said, "If there are more bodies, they must be burned on the spot, not buried."

Yuan Zhenjiang was sweating profusely, "Indeed."

The female stewards like Jing Xiuyun, who had just sat down then jumped up, were now sweating as well.

They couldn't help but constantly pat their clothes at their behinds.

Muscles tightened, face drained of color.

They were truly petrified.

Thinking they almost had Fire Worms burrow into them, they couldn't help but feel nauseous; the intense fear made their legs weak.

Still feeling itchy all over, as if Fire Worms were crawling on them, making them indescribably uncomfortable.

But now, no matter what, they dared not sit down again, only able to support each other, trembling.

How could there be such disgusting things in the world!

...

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