Chapter 73: Night Creatures Venom (2/2)
Swhoos.h.!.+
The Night Banshee faded way, turning into a stream of light that flew into me, boosting my experience. It also dropped a 55 Quality Big Magic Stone. Tsk tsk, how shoddy. I would be lucky if it managed to fetch a price of 10 silver.
I opened my palm and shouted, ”Death Plunder!”
Ding~!
System Notice: You have obtained Ragged Cloth!
A rotten piece of cloth appeared in my hands, and I threw it away like the rubbish it was. The cloth landed beautifully atop of the Dark Wasp's head, causing it to struggle like its very life depended on it. By the time it finally tore the cloth to shreds and broke free, I had already absorbed the Night Banshee's soul spark and left to search for my next target.
I wandered around Crow Ridge for about an hour or so before the blazing hot sun finally dispelled the fog completely. It was a barren and rather uninteresting place with human skeletons littering the ground and rows of crows standing atop wilted tree branches. I spotted a couple of dilapidated houses atop a distant mound. They were literally wobbling due to the harsh wind that was blowing against their walls.
Hmm, if I have to guess, Suren's old friend probably lives in one of those houses!
I nodded confidently to myself before fighting my way toward the house with my pet. Hordes of Level 45 banshees or Level 45 skeleton mooks stood in my way, but their end was one and the same—death, and their undead sparks taken by yours truly.
Bang!
I kicked open the wooden door of the rightmost house and looked inside. Manners? I'm a Night Creature, not a gentleman.
The little house was completely empty. This probably meant that my target was in the next building.
I went to the second house and gave its rotten door a gentle push. To my surprise, it fell inward and split in half on the floor!
d.a.m.n, the door had crumbled at the slightest touch. Does it mean I'm a jinx or something?
A terrible stench a.s.saulted my nose the moment I entered the building. I even heard a strange swallowing noise coming from inside. What I saw stunned me into silence—
A corpse that barely qualified as an undead was tied to a long table. The reason I said this was because the corpse was struggling quite visibly against its binds. Its stomach was covered in st.i.tches, and its face was that of a middle-aged man. Its eyes were completely rolled to the back of its skull, and it was screaming with a face filled with pain. A test tube filled with some sort of green liquid was secured right above his chest.
Working beside the corpse was an old man with white hair and a rosy complexion. He was shaking the green liquid inside his gooseneck flask, and the line of text floating above his head read ”Court Alchemist, Shuy”.
Shuy turned purple when he saw my arrival. He murmured, ”Are… are you a high-rank Night Creature? How… how did you find this place?”
”You seem quite afraid of Night Creatures?” I asked.
Shuy uttered through gritted teeth, ”Those d.a.m.n monsters are responsible for turning the living into the living dead! I would burn their bodies and scatter their ashes in the abyss if I could!”
I replied, ”Relax, I'm not a Night Creature. I'm just an aimless undead searching for the courage to live on despite having lost my living body.”
Shuy finally relaxed and nodded. ”Alright, young undead. How did you find this place?”
”My teacher, the Undead Swordsman Suren asked me to come over and help you out.”
”Aha, that old fellow? Now that I think about it, he's been dead for over 50 years, hasn't he? I didn't think he would still remember me. In that case, student of Suren, I have a very difficult quest that I would like you to accomplish for me!”
”Mn. Tell me.”
Shuy put down the flask he was holding and pointed at the undead on the table. ”As you can see, I'm performing an experiment. Night Creatures have the ability to transform humans into destructive beings that are neither living nor dead. Hmph! In that case, I, the Court Alchemist, will attempt the opposite and return a Night Creature to the realm of living!
”Is that so?”
I put my hand over the undead's nose to see if he was well and truly dead. But to my surprise, the d.a.m.n thing tried to take a bite from my hand!
Clank!
However, the metal covering my hands was more than adequate protection against the sudden attack. Instead of biting off my fingers, the undead lost two of its incisors instead.
I looked at Shuy and asked, ”Esteemed master, is this the result of your research?”
Shuy scratched his head and laughed. ”This is just a minor accident, young man. Although a Night Creature's bite can cause a human to catch the plague and transform into a Night Creature, you were already dead in the first place. Naturally, you have nothing to worry about.”
I nodded. ”What should I do?”
Shuy let out a cough before declaring, ”At a small town approximately 500 meters to the south of Crow Ridge, a group of vile Night Creatures has built a giant stove to cook the bodies of the dead and spread the plague. You will head there immediately, kill them all and fill this flask with the venom in their stove! If you can accomplish this without dying even once, I will bestow a generous reward upon you. Now, make haste, young undead!”
Ding~!
System Notice: You have accepted the quest [Night Creatures' Venom]! (Quest Rank: C)
Description: Head to the town to the south of Crow Ridge. Kill 1000 Vile Imps and collect one Night Creature Venom Sample for Court Alchemist Shuy. Be careful, imps boast great numbers and offensive power. They can tear you to pieces!
……