NOVEL WEB Chapter 445: Boring and Cliché
Under Fang Zhou's emotional reasoning, Night Mouse was exceedingly generous and donated his Clothes of the Dead.
Fang Zhou, draped in a cloak, emerged from a hidden corner, slowly approaching the Headless Guard.
Though the Headless Guard lacked a head, it still shifted slightly, seemingly looking towards Fang Zhou.
Yet soon it was distracted by the Clothes of the Dead, resumed its motion, and continued its patrol.
Fang Zhou quietly followed behind the Headless Guard.
Indeed, he intended to use the Clothes of the Dead to ambush the Headless Guard, but unlike Night Mouse's reckless assumptions, he planned to use the precious gourd.
Originally, the combination of gourd and Illusion Technique was the best method, but the creature before him had no head, clearly, it was immune to the technique.
Therefore, Fang Zhou had to change his strategy, drawing out the gourd and simultaneously summoning Bi An.
Bi An used its natural concealment to silently approach the Headless Guard, engaging in a bear hug with both hands and feet.
The Headless Guard struggled instantly, but Bi An's strength was immense, leaving it unable to break free.
As Bi An acted, Fang Zhou also drew the gourd, aiming at the Headless Guard's body bound by Bi An, easily absorbing it into the gourd.
Night Mouse, hidden in the shadows, widened his eyes, shocked at how effortlessly Fang Zhou dealt with the troublesome guard.
Fang Zhou slipped back quickly, exciting Night Mouse who stood up: "You are truly amazing."
Fang Zhou gestured for him to sit down: "Standard procedure, no big deal."
It's not modesty but indeed not difficult, anyone could manage it.
But this method is quite limited, effective only against isolated enemies whose size mustn't be too large, and strength not exceeding Bi An, otherwise failure is likely.
Luckily, the Headless Guard perfectly met these criteria.
Fang Zhou immersed his consciousness into the gourd and saw the Headless Guard that had been absorbed.
Within this gourd, Fang Zhou is the ruler; anyone entering must obediently submit.
Fang Zhou dismantled the Headless Knight into pieces, finding a Wedge-shaped Stone Fragment, then exited the gourd and asked Night Mouse: "Is this the thing?"
Night Mouse was thrilled: "Yes, this is the key!"
Fang Zhou put the Wedge-shaped Stone Fragment away, then with Night Mouse began searching the perimeter of the watch hall for the remaining four guards.
These guards were indeed wandering near the watch hall, each solitarily, strangely, all the guards were missing parts, either lacking heads or limbs.
The five guards, the missing parts were precisely heads and limbs.
Fang Zhou utilized the gourd and Bi An, repeating the process to deal with the four guards, collecting five Wedge-shaped Stone Fragments.
With the closed watch hall ready to be unlocked, Fang Zhou didn't rush into action, instead, he planned to rest, restore his condition, and replenish the much-depleted True Qi within.
Night Mouse raised no objections, and the two hid in their refuge, awaiting Fang Zhou's recovery of True Qi.
Fang Zhou didn't enter the gourd to recover but directly consumed an elixir, not only restoring True Qi but also enhancing its quality briefly, boosting combat power.
"What's in the watch hall, any monsters?"
Fang Zhou suddenly inquired to Night Mouse.
This place, located at the fortress's center, is surely significant, and must contain monsters.
If it's like the group of bald ones encountered yesterday, Fang Zhou would need to prepare ahead accordingly.
Night Mouse hesitated for a moment, then slowly said: "It's the Abyss Watchers!"
"Abyss Watchers?"
Fang Zhou repeated, then asked: "Tell me, what kind of monster are they?"
He now considered Night Mouse as this world's encyclopedia, seemingly knowing most things.
But this time, Night Mouse slowly shook his head: "I'm not very clear; I only know Abyss Watchers oversee the Abyss's invasion of this world, clearing things mutated by Abyss corruption; however, the watchers themselves are transformed into monsters by the Abyss."
Fang Zhou curiously asked: "Then what is the Abyss?"
Night Mouse's eyes plainly showed fear: "The Abyss is just a nickname; no one knows its true name, no one dares speak it; if someone utters the Abyss's true name, the Abyss will sense it."
Fang Zhou slowly stated: "You gaze into the Abyss, and the Abyss gazes into you? Is that the point?"
Night Mouse trembled, incredulously looking at Fang Zhou: "That's something the Abyss Sect's fanatics often say; where did you hear it?"
Fang Zhou shrugged, having long forgotten where he heard it, just knowing it was quite famous.
Night Mouse remained silent, maintaining an eerie silence, as a cold wind blew from nowhere, making Night Mouse shiver.
The otherwise unaffected Fang Zhou even felt a chill, as if some ominous presence was enveloping him.
In a trance, Fang Zhou seemed to hear the whispers he previously encountered in the Sublime Church, close to his ear, yet upon close listening, there was nothing.
Night Mouse also sensed this ominous presence, hugging his shoulders and softly saying: "We, we better not speak further."
Fang Zhou nodded in agreement: "Sure, such matters are tedious and clichéd, nothing worth discussing."
"Yes, yes, let's talk about something else instead."
The two wisely chose to skip the Abyss topic.
Fang Zhou asked further about the Abyss Watchers' abilities, but Night Mouse didn't know much, apologizing: "I've never seen Abyss Watchers in action, so I'm unaware of their abilities; everything is up to you to explore."
Fang Zhou laughed: "No worries, I've faced mighty storms; this small place won't sink me."
Wait, did I just set a fatal FLAG for myself?
Fang Zhou paused then added: "Knowing nothing truly is dangerous, possibly life-threatening; this is unprecedented danger in my life, I must exercise caution."
Night Mouse: (￣,￣)
Did you forget your jinx?
At this moment, the sky grew dim again; night was drawing close, as this world's time flowed swiftly.
The elixir's effect was rapid too; Fang Zhou's True Qi returned to peak state.
The two left their refuge, standing before the watch hall.
Night Mouse took out five Wedge-shaped Stone Fragments, combined them into a key.
He inserted the key into the door's keyhole, slowly twisting it.
With the sound of mechanisms, the lock was opened.
Fang Zhou stepped forward, pressing his hands on the two black iron doors, pushing firmly.
With a loud noise, the doors slowly parted to the sides, revealing an interior scene—a straight rectangular corridor, with floor, ceiling, and walls made of large stone blocks.
Whenever seeing such corridors, Fang Zhou imagined whether it concealed traps.
Yet now, his attention was completely drawn to the corridor's end.