Astral Apostle

  Chapter 7 Today I only know I am who I am

   In the next few days, Zhou Jing followed the hunter team in the forest looking for hunting targets.

   Zhou Jing practiced while rushing on the road. He seemed tireless. Whenever he had time, he would ask Griff for all kinds of knowledge. When other hunters were free, they would come to give pointers from time to time in order to relieve boredom.

   In addition to the skills of using daggers, Griff also briefly pointed out the skills of hunting knives and some wild survival skills, which are displayed on the panel as [Weapon Mastery - Hunting Knife] and [Wild Survival].

   Zhou Jing also turned on the training acceleration function, and the cost is 30 astral points and 20 astral points respectively.

   As for bow and arrow skills, the hunter did not intend to teach him.

   Zhou Jing didn’t mind either. Accelerating practice is not multitasking and energy is limited. In just a few days, he learned three skills in a crammed manner, and his knowledge was full.

   The level of these skills is Lv0, which means that they have not been learned yet and will not be counted in the skill column.

He tried his best to spend as much time as possible to practice the three abilities on the way, and on the fourth day, he finally got rid of the whiteboard attribute—[Weapon Mastery-Dagger], [Weapon Mastery-Hunting Knife], and [Wild Survival] one after another. Reached the level of Lv1, the suffix is ​​displayed as "beginner".

  The accelerated effect of practice ended, Zhou Jing thought about it, and did not choose to renew.

   On the one hand, when you reach a higher skill level, the cost of training acceleration has increased, and you only have 305 astral points left in your hand, so you need to save some points. Another reason is that the panel's expected stay is five to seven days, and it has been four days since its arrival.

   Speaking of which, I don’t know how to calculate the number of days to stay, and how to determine the standard of “one day”. Even the length of a day on different planets is different, not to mention the main world and the current plane... I don't know what formula it is.

   Maybe it is based on the time spent by the body? After the consciousness is cast, convert the time spent in the main world body with the time flow difference, and finally get the stay time in the astral world, and then convert it into the number of days?

   Zhou Jing lacked information in this regard, so he could only guess at random, but in the past few days, he roughly estimated the length of a day in this world, which was similar to the planet where the main world itself lived.

   In contrast, he was more curious about what form the return would take after his stay expired. Whether his body suddenly disappeared, or something else... He did not receive this information.

   I knew it when I returned, and Zhou Jing didn't get too entangled.

   After the three skills were upgraded, he did not show it out of caution.

The level of a beginner is nothing to a hunter, but he feels that in the cognition of these people, it is impossible for a person to make such a big improvement in such a short period of time, so I am afraid he suspects that he has concealed something before. , was suspected by others.

  Because before, in order to inquire about information, I had to slap on the side. Now I am quite suspicious, and it is better to have less than one thing.

   Zhou Jing himself is used to keeping a low profile, which is similar to the "prudent" trait of this astral apostle.

   Along the way, apart from having to talk, he maintained a cautious attitude in most cases. The synchronization rate of this astral apostle gradually increased to 26%, but he did not feel any change for the time being.

   All the way last week, Jing had a safe and fulfilling life, and on the afternoon of the fourth day, the hunter team finally approached the hunting target of this trip.

  …

   "We are very close, the white spider is not far ahead."

  Balon squatted on the ground, picked up a branch, stirred a pool of white marks on the ground, and stirred up the brushed mucus.

   There was more white mucus on the forest floor ahead, intermittently, forming a meandering trail that extended into the woods.

  Baron threw away the branches, stood up, and ordered in a deep voice:

   "All the weapons, prepare the bait, we have to set up traps and ambush circles in front."

  The other hunters looked serious, took off the quiver to check the status of each arrow inside, and then took out pieces of tightly wrapped beast viscera from their luggage.

   These were all taken out from the bodies of the dozen snakes and wolves four days ago, and they were all rotten at this time. The hunting at that time was to obtain these baits.

   "The White Spider Monster is a scavenger and likes animal viscera the most. As long as we can use these lures to lure it into the trap, we can get a head start, and maybe we can easily solve this goal."

  Griff stood beside Zhou Jing and explained casually, rummaging through the soft and rotten animal entrails in his hands, his face was as usual, as if the pungent stench did not exist.

   Zhou Jing tried his best to resist the urge to cover his nose, and asked in a muffled voice, "What does the white spider monster you're talking about look like?"

   The goal of this hunter team is to kill this alien beast. He has heard hunters say that alien beasts are dangerous all the way, but he has never actually seen it, and there is no intuitive concept in his mind.

"The whole body is white, it will secrete white mucus, and the key is in the abdomen... Well, I have never seen it before. It is also the first time I hunted this species of alien beast. The information was all told by Captain Baron. Before he came to Frostwood Village , is a free hunter, hunting exotic beasts everywhere, is well-informed, and is a senior exotic beast hunter."

  Baron heard the conversation between the two, looked back and waved his hand to deny:

   "I'm not a senior... I may have enough experience, but my strength is far behind, and I don't have the guts to take the second medicine of different blood."

  Alien blood medicine can be taken multiple times to strengthen, but each time you take it, the chance of surviving is lower... Zhou Jing had already heard Griff say it on the way.

"As for you..." Balon looked at Zhou Jing and said, "You don't have to hunt with us, you can find a hidden place nearby to hide, or you can climb up a tree and come back to you after we finish hunting. ."

   "I'll go with you guys to help set up traps, and when there's a fight, I'll go up a tree to hide."

   Zhou Jing didn't plan to stay, it was too passive.

   If this group of hunters fails, they will not be able to walk out of the forest even if they hide themselves. With their lips and teeth cold, they might as well follow the big army and don’t fall behind.

   And he also wanted to collect information and see what the beasts were like, so that he could have a clear understanding of the dangers of this world, so that he could arrange actions in the future.

   Dean heard the words and shook his head in disapproval:

   "I don't think so, it's fine to take him along the way, but we don't have the energy to take care of him when we are officially hunting."

   "This is not a problem, you don't need to worry about me when you fight, I will hide on the side. And maybe I can help, such as guarding the edge of the battlefield, and if there are other beasts entering by mistake, I can also notify you." Zhou Jing strives.

   Dean wanted to say something, and Baron raised his hand to signal him to shut up.

Balon stroked his beard, considered for a few seconds, and nodded: "That's fine, it's already evening, we will most likely hunt in the middle of the night, your observation skills are really good, then you will be hiding in a tree farther away. When we fight, just help us pay attention to the situation around us, and don't have to do other superfluous things."

"good."

   Zhou Jing immediately agreed.

   During these days, he has discovered that the values ​​of these hunters are subtly different from those of the interstellar age, and at least they are more likely to trust others.

   This is also the main reason why a guy of unknown origin can be accepted.

   If you change to modern, it will not be so easy.

   Seeing this, many hunters did not express any more opinions, and started preparations in silence.

  Baron took the team forward for a while, found an area suitable for ambush, arranged it as a trap, and then dropped the rotten animal entrails to make an induction route, and the end pointed here.

  It was not until it was dark that everything was ready, and everyone climbed the tree and waited quietly for the prey to come to the door.

  …

  The night was dark, and the forest became quiet, except for the rubbing of leaves swaying in the breeze.

   Everyone hid in different trees, no one talked or chatted, tried not to move, and the breath almost disappeared.

   If it wasn't for knowing where they were hiding, it would have been difficult for Zhou Jing to distinguish them.

   He also hid in the tree, hiding in the farthest position, from time to time to watch the wind and grass around him, and kept silently estimating the time in his heart.

   "We've been waiting for almost three hours, shouldn't they plan to stay here all night, and they'll freeze up..."

   After an unknown amount of time, a strange crawling sound sounded, gradually approaching.

   rustling—

  A huge silhouette emerged in the darkness, shuttled quickly through the forest, and headed towards this side, stopping and stopping on the road, as if it was swallowing the bait arranged by the hunters.

   It didn't take long for this creature to step into this woodland. Zhou Jing saw its appearance clearly and took a breath.

  The torso of this monster is divided into upper and lower parts. The lower body is like a spider abdomen, and eight furry limbs are extended to support the body and walk. The upper body is an upright and slender torso with a ferocious beast head on top, and its mouth is chewing rotten internal organs that serve as bait. There are slender human-like arms on the left and right sides, but the ends are huge and asymmetrical in proportion. claws.

   The body is five or six meters long and about four and a half meters tall. The upper body is covered with pale skin, like a layer of thin film. Occasionally, blue blood vessels can be seen bulging under the skin. The lower body is covered with black carapace. When walking, white mucus is left from time to time on the tail. The overall look is very ferocious, and it belongs to the style of painting that can scare children to tears at a glance.

   "Is this the white spider monster they are hunting, the so-called alien beast?"

   Zhou Jing was shocked.

  Small chic, looks really exciting!

   is only a little worse than me playing games!

   The white spider picked up the animal entrails and stuffed it into its mouth, walked into the center of the trap, picked up the last piece of bait, and the ground collapsed suddenly.

  Boom!

   The White Nebula was short and fell straight into the crypt trap.

  Intensive rattling sound suddenly sounded, and the spikes hidden in the crypt trap were crushed by the tough lower carapace of the white spider monster.

   But there is still a part of the thorns, inserted into the key point of the lower abdomen of the white spider, which is its soft belly.

   "Zi Ya-"

   A mournful howl suddenly pierced the silence of the night forest.

   This was like a signal, and the many hunters hiding in the tree immediately polished their flints and threw them into the crypt.

   Not only did they put spikes in the crypt traps, but they also smeared them with animal grease and set them on fire.

  Hoo!

  In the crypt, the fire burst into flames.

  The flames engulfed the howling White Spider Monster, making the dark forest suddenly brighten up. Like a huge bonfire.

   "Shoot the arrow!"

   With a loud shout, a rain of arrows poured out, instantly shooting the struggling figure in the crypt into a hedgehog.

   An arrow follows an arrow, as if the quiver won't stop until the quiver is shot in the air... It's hard to miss such a big target!

   On the other side, Zhou Jing hid in the treetops and observed in secret.

   He knew what traps the hunters had prepared, so he was not surprised at this time, his eyes fixed on the figure that gradually stopped struggling in the firelight, and he muttered in his heart.

   "Even if this battle didn't burn to death, it was shot into a hedgehog... Should it be killed?"

  While thinking so, Zhou Jing suddenly saw Baron jump off the tree and walk towards the crypt.

  Baron had a small bottle full of green liquid in his hand at some point, bit off the cork, raised his head and gulped.

   Blue veins quickly appeared on his bare forehead, and Baron's expression became hideous, as if he was in great pain, but the muscles all over his body seemed to swell in a circle.

The empty bottle rolled from his hand, and Baron took off the giant axe on his back, held it in both hands, and dragged it diagonally to the ground, gradually changing from walking to trotting, and finally to sprinting. Man bear!

   At this moment, the flames in the crypt exploded!

   Countless sparks scattered out, and the white spider monster bounced into the sky and flew out of the crypt.

  It was covered with burn marks, exuding a pungent burnt smell, and dozens of arrows were stuck in its upper body, which were also burning together.

  Balon was looking for this opportunity, and before the White Spider Monster landed, he approached.

   The sprinting momentum suddenly stopped, and the strong strength and the kinetic energy accumulated in the charge drove the giant axe across a round of meniscus.

   The wind howled and the momentum was heavy!

   The white spider monster was still in the air, and two slender arms slammed to meet the axe blade.

  Clang!

  The iron axe collided with flesh and blood, but the sound was like metal!

  The white spider monster had nowhere to borrow, its huge body flew out seven or eight meters, rolling on the ground, leaving a trail of burning.

   But it climbed up in a hurry, looking horribly injured, but there was no sign of dying at all. Instead, it roared in anger, sharp and ear-piercing, and the air shook.

   At this moment, Zhou Jing's pupils shrank slightly.

   He found that the two seemingly slender and fragile arms of the White Spider Monster received Baron's heavy slash, leaving a not-so-deep wound, which did not affect the movement at all, and was unusually tough.

   On the other hand, Balong staggered back, endured the same shock force, a large number of capillaries were ruptured, and nosebleeds sprayed out.

   "Huh...ha!"

  Baron wiped his nosebleed indiscriminately, his round eyes roared angrily, dragged the giant axe and rushed up again, fighting the white spider monster head-on.

  The other hunters still stayed in the trees, shooting arrows with bows and protecting Balon. They were all ordinary people who had never used alien blood medicine before, and they were hit by the terrifying force of the White Spider Monster, and they were not killed or seriously injured.

   Only official alien hunters can face alien beasts.

  The tonnage of the alien beast brings enormous power. Baron's physical strength is already strong enough, and it seems that he has drunk some kind of enhancer, but he is still rolled around by the white spider monster.

   But his axe skills are superb. The giant axe is both a weapon and a shield. In addition to slashing and stabbing, he also has skillful blocking and evasion.

Baron kept rolling and unloading, spinning around the White Spider Monster like a whirlwind, waiting for an opportunity to leave axe wounds on the opponent's body. As a seasoned alien hunter, his hunting experience was fully revealed, and some actions seemed simple and unpretentious. But it is very practical, and it can contain the White Spider Monster for a while.

   "Zi Ya-"

   The white spider monster screamed angrily, but because of its body structure, it was not flexible enough. A pair of giant claws kept waving in the air, just like slapping a gopher, digging out claw marks and dirt grooves on the ground.

  Zhou Jing could see it clearly from the tree. More than once, Baron wanted to find an opportunity to get under the crotch of the White Spider Monster and attack the opponent's belly, but the White Spider Monster paid great attention to protecting the vital points that had been injured.

   - Its abdomen was injured when it fell into the crypt, leaving a pool of white mucus and blood on the ground from time to time, as well as some fragmented organ tissue.

   Just then, the arrow rain stopped suddenly.

   Quiver...empty.

   Nine hunters jumped from the tree, took out hunting knives and walked up and down, rolling like Baron, and turned into nine skilled pedicure masters.

   Continuously attacked the eight arthropod legs that supported the body of the White Spider Monster, slashing out sparks.

   They came up to share the pressure on Baron, and were looking for an opportunity to shovel the White Nebula.

   It's just that these ordinary hunters have limited physical fitness, and the opportunity is fleeting.

  The White Spider Monster focused most of his attention on Balon, apparently feeling that Balon was the most threatening. Other hunters couldn't even cut off its lower limb carapace, which was like a nasty fly to him.

   is not very harmful, but extremely insulting.

   "Is this going well or not..."

   Zhou Jing watched the hunt with concentration.

   It seems that everyone can't help the White Spider Monster, but the White Spider Monster has been trapped and accumulated a lot of injuries. As long as it keeps delaying, it will become weak sooner or later.

   After a stalemate, the White Spider Monster suddenly swayed, and his movements finally tended to slow down.

   Flaws emerge.

A hunter seized the opportunity, resolutely slipped a shovel, swiped the ground and drilled through the gap between the two arthropod legs to the bottom of the white spider monster, the hunting knife stabbed into the soft abdomen, pulled the handle of the knife horizontally, and the blood spurted out. Immediately it covered his face.

   "Sigh—"

   The white nerubian howled miserably.

Pretty! Very slippery shovel!

  Others were instantly overjoyed.

   However, before they could finish being happy, the White Spider Monster suddenly folded its eight legs and sat down.

  Boom!

   The amazing weight of the White Spider Monster shook the ground, and the hunter who got under it instantly lost his voice and sat directly to death.

  This... This has to be a cake, right? !

   Zhou Jing felt a sudden shock.

   The next moment, the giant claws of the White Spider Monster suddenly swung out. Because of the injury and stimulation, he went crazy, and his speed was even three points faster.

  Rao is that other hunters are not stunned by the death of their companions, and they cannot escape.

  ! Bang!

   Two muffled noises, the two ordinary hunters were shot by the giant claw head on, flew more than ten meters, fell heavily on the ground, and a large amount of blood spilled from their mouths.

   Seeing the situation take a turn for the worse, Zhou Jing groaned in his heart and couldn't sit still.

   He hurriedly jumped off the tree and ran quickly to the side of a seriously injured hunter, wanting to see if he could save someone.

   "Hey, can you hold on?"

   Zhou Jing crouched down to hold the seriously injured hunter's head, and after a closer look, he found that it was Dean.

   Dean's mouth continued to drip with blood, and he was almost speechless, his eyes fixed on the white spider monster that stood up and danced frantically not far away.

  He picked up the hunting knife in his hand tremblingly, and with the last of his strength, handed it to Zhou Jing's arms.

   Grab the knife and fill my spot...

   Dean didn't say it, but Zhou Jing understood what he meant.

   Zhou Jing subconsciously held the hunting knife that Dean handed him.

   Dean's palm suddenly loosened and fell powerlessly.

   I can't feel my breath anymore...

   Zhou Jing looked down at Dean who stopped breathing, then turned to look at the crazy White Spider Monster not far away, his heart was beating violently, and his memory flashed back like a revolving lantern.

   His life for the past 20 years has followed the life trajectory prescribed by society and lived step by step.

  Reading, studying, exams, graduation, unemployment…

   Never like today, facing life and death at close range and experiencing the battle of life on the line.

  Rough, savage, bloody...but with some kind of inexplicable vitality.

   As if at this time, I feel that life is alive, not a walking corpse trapped in a gradually numb life.

   The monster that has the ability to take his own life is just a dozen meters away, so close, he is in danger at any time, and it seems that he should be afraid, timid or shrinking.

   But he suddenly found that he didn't have such emotions at all... Just like facing the Earth Skeleton a few nights ago.

  —Not only is he not timid, but he is even faintly excited!

  The most difficult thing in the world is to know oneself. No one dares to say that they know oneself completely until they have experienced all the things in the world.

   After experiencing different things, you may make actions that even you can't believe, and discover your potential to sleep quietly in a certain area.

   No fear, no cowardice.

   is just the simplest...don't be afraid.

   Without any reason, without any consideration... If you are not afraid, you are not afraid!

   "So this is me..."

   Zhou Jing whispered to himself.

   The hand holding the knife tightened sharply.

  The excitement pumped by adrenaline swept through every nerve!

   (end of this chapter)