Dark Blood Path

Xiao Yu felt comfortable and rejuvenated as he emerged from his personal cavern. Finally, after nearly ten days of rest, his body fully recovered. He wore a “ghost cloak” wrapping around his neck, fully enclosing his black python-scale armor. The entire cloak was black, with delicate-looking purple patterns around the edges. For his feet, he was wearing a pair of metal boots with some magic patterns engraved on their soles that could effectively increase the user’s movement speed—they were precisely his newly acquired “wind boots”.

One of these two pieces of equipment could reduce his body weight, and the other could increase his movement speed. As a result, Xiao Yu felt much lighter after wearing them, and his speed increased significantly.

People were coming and going in the underground cave space, making the surrounding air feel very lively. These days, like before, a number of survivors have passed through their location on numerous occasions, but Du Tao did not accept them like he did in the beginning. Instead, he was pretty selective, allowing only a select few to come in and join them, as he was wary of the unknown troubles, strangers could bring with them; hence, he only chose people who seemed to have good character; his judgment was all based on the other party’s occupation, origin, age, gender, and first impression.

The cave currently had an exact population of 123 individuals, consisting of: one first-order warrior, forty-one elementary warriors, and nineteen peak zero-order warriors. As for the rest, they were all in the middle to late zero-order levels.

The team’s overall strength could be described as extremely powerful; I’m afraid in the entire forest, only a handful of groups could hope to match us.

People who saw Xiao Yu walking greeted him one after another, with some immediately asking him for his insight on combat techniques, putting on a highly respectful attitude. After all, he was not only the ultimate boss in everyone’s eyes but also the guardian and guide of the entire team.

Even in such a cruel world, everyone could yet get along well with each other. Xiao Yu was pleased; however, he had no idea how long this situation could last; all he could hope for was that it would continue in this fashion for the time being. The continent was just too cold and cruel for its own good. Humanity’s survival would be substantially improved if individuals could lower their selfishness, reduce the infighting, and just grow together in peace and harmony with one another. Because he had gone through this before, Xiao Yu knew very well how human beings might as well be much more dangerous than monsters in many different cases.

Jiang Xiaowen came from the entrance with a green spear in her hands, followed by her good sister Yunyun. The two were surprised when they saw Xiao Yu not far away and quickly lowered their heads, sneaking to the side.

“Yunyun, Xiaowen!”

Xiao Yu called them out.

“Ah! I… we’re here; what’s the matter?”

Jiang Xiaowen and Yunyun, who were stooping down, straightened their backs simultaneously, with a hint of nervousness in their tone.

Xiao Yu walked over slowly; the two dared not turn their heads, leaving only a slender, delicate, curvy back facing him. Their garments were ragged, and a number of parts had been slashed, revealing their creamy white skin. The wounds were still bleeding and were relatively fresh, clearly having occurred not long ago.

“What have you two been doing? Turn around and let me see.”

Xiao Yu’s tone was quite gentle, but it carried a trace of authority that could not be ignored.

Jiang Xiaowen bit her lower lip, sighed, looking quite frustrated, and, like a child caught doing something bad, she slowly turned around with her head down, not daring to look at him. Although she was in a similar state, Yunyun was not as nervous as her friend but still felt a bit guilty. Jiang Xiaowen’s gorgeous face was covered with scratches, and she had a serious cut on her shoulder that was still bleeding. Yunyun’s small and slender legs were also covered with wounds, and she had a scratch on her forehead.

Xiao Yu looked at the two of them for a long time, which made them feel quite uncomfortable, and then spoke lightly: “I had previously heard from Miss Han that recently someone was disobeying the group’s arrangement and kept going out to hunt monsters secretly. It turned out to be you two.”

Jiang Xiaowen blushed, grabbed Yunyun’s hand, and said quickly, “Don’t blame Yunyun; she just tagged along with me, and we’ve only gone out once or twice. I’m sorry. If you want to punish someone… punish me.”

“Why are you sneaking outside and taking such a risk?”

Jiang Xiaowen replied honestly: “I… I want to become stronger… So if we encounter a powerful monster once again, I can help you instead of holding you back…”

Xiao Yu changed his tone and asked, “Well, what kind of monsters did you encounter today? How did you guys get hurt?”

Upon hearing this, Yunyun replied excitedly: “We were lucky; we actually encountered two elementary monsters. Although they were a bit troublesome to deal with, we managed to defeat them both thanks to the cooperation of Xiaowen and me! “

“That’s good.” Xiao Yu nodded and said, “Xiaowen’s power is approaching the late stage of the elementary level, nearly matching that of Han Kexin. It’s now slightly higher than both Fatty and Stone’s. Yunyun has also made significant progress; you two, keep it up.”

Jiang Xiaowen’s eyes lit up, and she said with surprise, “Don’t you blame me for going out without permission?”

Xiao Yu shrugged: “It’s none of my business. Du Tao is in charge of the hunting plan. If you want to apologize, you can go to him.”

Jiang Xiaowen was very happy and said with a beaming smile, “Ah, really? Xiao Yu, You’re so kind; thank you.”

“Speaking of which, you’d better keep a low profile; otherwise, if someone else follows suit and sneaks out to hunt monsters, ignoring the orders, everything will be messed up.” Xiao Yu thought for a while and added, “Also, be safe.”

A warm current flowed through Jiang Xiaowen’s heart, and she nodded her head repeatedly like a chick pecking at rice: “Mmm! Mmm!”

With some embarrassment in her tone, Yunyun hurriedly stated: “If our injuries are not healed in time, some ugly scars could be left. Therefore, let us first seek treatment from Teacher Han.”

Xiao Yu nodded: “By the way, inform Miss Han that my injuries has already being healed and I am going outside for a while.”

Jiang Xiaowen was taken aback, “You’re going out again? Where? Is it dangerous?”

Xiao Yu shook his head, “It’s just a trip back to the zombie coal mine. Since a ghoul was lurking in the depths, I believe the place should not be as simple as it looks. Perhaps we overlooked something; additionally, the most powerful monster has already been vanquished, so there should be no danger.”

Jiang Xiaowen’s eyes swirled, revealing a captivating smile on her face before she widened her pair of lovely big eyes, “Xiao Yu, I want to go with you, can I?” Stars were shining in her deep purple eyes, and her cute and charming appearance made it hard for others to refuse her.

Xiao Yu thought for a moment, then finally nodded, “Okay.”

Seeing this, Yun Yun hurriedly said, “Wait. ‘There won’t be more with me, and there won’t be less without me’, so just take me with you too.”

After Xiao Yu agreed, Yun Yun was overjoyed and pulled Jiang Xiaowen away. About ten minutes later, the two girls came hurrying back. Both of them put on new clothes and tied their hair into ponytails. Their skin looked clean again, without any trace of injury.

The three left the cave and headed towards the zombie mine, arriving at their destination in only ten minutes as they encountered no kind of trouble along their way. The coal mine was dilapidated; the ground was littered with zombie corpses, and there was a rotten stench in the air. Jiang Xiaowen’s heart was a little fuzzy after she entered the pitch-black mine; she clenched the spear in her hands and carefully studied her surroundings with her beautiful eyes.

Xiao Yu arrived back at the original location where he first confronted the poisonous zombie and plucked a purple fruit from the venomous vine that was growing there. The zombie’s presence here exactly near these vines was quite unusual, and he judged that the birth of the poisonous zombie was most likely related to them. So the fruits growing on the vines were definitely valuable, and Xiao Yu wasn’t going to be courteous; he immediately tossed them inside the space ring one by one after plucking them off.

Yun Yun, walking in front, noticed something and hurriedly notified the others, “There is another route over here; the ghoul must have emerged from below!”

“Let’s go down and have a look.”

They proceeded through a small and steep passageway, and about three to four minutes later, their field of vision abruptly cleared up, revealing an immense underground space. The traces of artificial construction here were very obvious. The area was the size of a basketball court, and a tall, altar-like structure stood in its center. Underneath the altar, bones were strewn all over the place. Moreover, there were seven to eight metal cages scattered around the site. Although every cage had been unlocked, nothing remained inside.

“This could be a secret research room, probably for the study of undead creatures,” Xiao Yu speculated, “I’m not sure why it was abandoned for so long. Some of the organisms used for research were also discarded, but among them, the ghoul’s strength was the greatest; it devoured all other undead creatures before falling into deep slumber, though it was jerked awake as a result of our arrival.”

Jiang Xiaowen picked up an ancient magic scroll on the ground beside the sacrificial table. She wiped the dust off it with her sleeves, and her spiritual power sunk in to gather informations about the item. A second later, she opened her eyes wide with a look of amazement on her face. “I found a good thing!” she shouted to Xiao Yu, waving her hands back and forth.

“Sealed Half-Abomination Scroll,” a peak white magic scroll containing a half-abomination that failed to synthesize!

“Abomination?” Xiao Yu was a little surprised, “This is a relatively advanced creature of the undead tribe, even more powerful than ghouls. That explains it; this place must have been used to produce abominations.”

Yunyun asked: “Monsters can also be produced?”

Xiao Yu nodded and said: “The so-called ‘abomination’ is actually a man-made monster synthesized with magic using the arms, feet, heads, and organs of various monsters. An evil ritual then is required to awaken it and turn it into an undead monster. The power of an abomination is difficult to assess. It is usually determined by the ingredients employed in the ritual. Even the weakest abomination, however, can have strength between the middle and late stages of the second order. Only, this sealed one is a half-abomination, so it’s probably no worse than a ghoul in strength.”

Jiang Xiaowen smiled: “I see… That’s a pity; it would’ve been great if it were a complete ‘abomination’.”

“Don’t be greedy; the scroll is already in your hands.” Xiao Yu thought of something and reminded her: “Also, you need to pay attention; there is a difference between sealed scrolls and summoning scrolls. The latter has a time limit, whereas summoned beings can be controlled by the summoner for a certain time before it vanishes. However, once the sealed scroll is unlocked, the monster will exist indefinitely, and it will not discriminate between friend or foe; it is more hazardous to use and is extremely difficult to respond against, so you must exercise caution.”

Jiang Xiaowen stuck out her tongue, “Okay, then I’m not going to be polite; with this scroll in hand, I can go out hunting without worry!”

“Well, good. If you two search hard, you may find something useful.“

Yunyun soon discovered a pile of soul gems, where they unearthed over a hundreds of lower soul gems, more than a dozen intermediate ones, and three upper soul gems as well. Xiao Yu was overjoyed with this large finding.

He also accidentally found a bracelet inlaid with gemstones on a bone hand under the altar, and he immediately walked over to take it off.

(TN: ‘There won’t be more with me, and there won’t be less without me’ this is another idiom, meaning adding one more person to the team doesn’t have much of an impact.)