Chapter 6: Intimidating the Pseudo-human
"pseudo-core?"
Looking at the two rhombus-shaped transparent crystals that had been decomposed, Lin An opened his panel to examine them.
[pseudo-core: Single-use item. Can be used to disguise oneself as another person. Duration: one hour.]
"It seems pretty good. It might be very useful in special scenarios."
"In fact, I might even need it right away!"
As if he had thought of something, Lin An's eyes lit up.
However, he didn't make a decision immediately. Instead, he first looked at the long saber he had just captured as spoils of war.
[long saber: First Revolution ordinary quality item. Has no other features besides being sharp.]
The long saber was just an ordinary weapon. Although it was also of the First Revolution realm, its quality was two grades lower than the cat face mask.
Therefore, it offered no attribute bonuses and had no skills available for use.
However, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, because Lin An remembered that the level three Pseudo-human only used a long saber of this style.
Since even its most commonly used weapon was only of ordinary quality, it meant the opponent likely had limited financial resources, and probably didn't have many items or hidden cards.
Furthermore, given his current constitution, clashing blades with this level three Anomaly would definitely put him at a disadvantage.
Therefore, Lin An's strategy was still to play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, trying his best to use the cat face mask to hard-control the opponent from behind the scenes.
Unfortunately, this ghostly thing's Spirit power was as high as eight points, which was incomparable to the level two Pseudo-humans whose Spirit was only five or six points—a whole half less than his.
Furthermore, the Pseudo-human species clearly possessed considerable intelligence. If the Illusory Realm wasn't realistic enough, there was a real chance of being seen through.
If it really came down to it, he could still make a tactical retreat, endure the situation for a while, and temporarily avoid the confrontation.
After all, having asked that big brother earlier, he already knew how to get to Little Stone Pool Village. Coupled with the Agility bonus provided by the cat face mask, it shouldn't be too difficult to flee amidst the chaos when the time came.
Planning before acting, Lin An put away all items except the cat face mask after finalizing his plan.
Currently, his backpack contained five types of items: primary recovery potion, Rabbit Hide, Rabbit Meat, pseudo-core, and long saber, perfectly filling all available slots.
"Tsk, is this the trouble of the wealthy? Well, I got to experience it once."
Looking at his full backpack, Lin An joked to himself, then sped up and ran towards Little Stone Pool Village.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
The original Refugee team of about thirty people now had fewer than twenty remaining.
Lu Cheng, leading the group at the front, looked at the exhausted Refugees and silently calculated the distance.
If they walked a bit further, they would enter the territory of Little Stone Pool Village.
If they encountered the village's Cleanup Squad then, his plan would be completely ruined.
"Why haven't those two guys, Chen Wei, arrived yet?"
Lu Cheng, feeling slightly irritable, muttered under his breath. After thinking for a moment, he decided he couldn't wait any longer.
Anyway, most of these Refugees were already at the end of their ropes, completely incapable of resisting him. Most importantly, even if they tried to run, they wouldn't get far.
Thinking of this, Lu Cheng shouted loudly toward the back: "There seems to be a problem ahead. Everyone stay put and rest while I go scout it out!"
"You, you, and you—the three of you, come with me."
As he spoke, Lu Cheng pointed randomly at three Refugees who looked to be in decent condition, telling them to follow him into the forest.
The three who were pointed at exchanged glances. Although they felt helpless, they could only follow.
After all, a level three Cultivator's constitution was nearly double that of an ordinary person, and those who specialized in cultivating constitution could even exceed that.
Moreover, the increase in combat power wasn't as simple as one plus one equals two; if a fight broke out, it would be one punch per person.
Stepping towards the depths of the forest, the sun was setting and the sky was gradually darkening. The tall, dense trees blocked most of the outside sunlight, plunging the area into darkness.
The three Refugees couldn't help but feel afraid seeing this. One of them looked at Lu Cheng and bravely asked, "Lord Lu, what seems to be the problem with the road just now?"
"The problem? You're about to find out now."
Hearing this, Lu Cheng turned around to face the three of them, letting out a sinister cackle.
The next moment, Lu Cheng's face began to change rapidly, finally transforming into a massive, blood-red maw large enough to cover his entire head!
"Ah!!!!"
The three Refugees were instantly dumbfounded by this sight. They never expected the Cultivator who had been leading them all along to be a Pseudo-human!
"Crunch!"
The nearest person was immediately devoured by Lu Cheng. The remaining two reacted instantly and desperately bolted in different directions!
But in front of Lu Cheng, whose constitution was in the double digits, this was clearly just a pre-meal exercise.
Thus, in just a moment, another person was swallowed whole.
Looking at the direction the last person was fleeing, the Pseudo-human curled its mouth into a sinister smile.
Running was exactly right. It loved seeing the struggling and despairing expressions of its food, which often made the meat taste much more delicious.
Lu Cheng walked leisurely toward the last person. However, what he didn't notice was that the sky seemed to have completely darkened at that moment.
A light breeze blew, making the trees sway.
In the forest, the shadows of countless objects intertwined and overlapped, forming strange and eerie shapes.
The forest, which had previously been filled with the chirping of insects and birds, had fallen into an indescribable silence at some point, with only occasional rustling sounds.
"Darling, stop struggling."
"I once said that someone like you, in front of a Pseudo-human, is merely a piece of... steak."
Lu Cheng, having returned to its faceless state, strolled forward, but as it walked, it gradually realized something was wrong.
Where is the person?
Looking back, Lu Cheng suddenly felt that this familiar forest seemed particularly strange.
"Did night fall early today?"
As if thinking of some great terror, Lu Cheng's heart skipped a beat.
At this moment, it no longer cared about the fleeing Refugee, instinctively wanting to return to the path it had just taken.
One step, ten steps, a hundred steps... Lu Cheng's speed increased. Just as it thought it could walk out of the forest, its expression instantly turned to horror!
"I... came back?"
Looking at the environment that was identical to before, Lu Cheng's pupils constricted in shock.
Ghost Wall?
Did I run into a ghost?
Before it could react, a sound suddenly came from afar.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."
It sounded like something was crawling, and its speed was increasing, making the sound clearer and clearer.
Lu Cheng couldn't help but swallow. It felt its own heartbeat clearly audible at this moment, and the roles of hunter and prey completed a seamless switch.
Just as it turned to run, something hanging on a tree instantly caught its attention.
A spider web—an incredibly huge spider web.
But the focus wasn't the spider web, but the corpse stuck to it, which had long since lost all signs of life.
"Chen Wei??!!"
Lu Cheng shouted, finally understanding why his subordinate hadn't followed him for so long.
It turned out he had already died by the mouth of an Evil Spirit!
At the same time, a shadow like a small mountain completely enveloped Lu Cheng.
Lu Cheng's body stiffened upon seeing this. Turning around, he discovered a house-sized Ghost-Faced Spider looking down at him with its countless eyes, letting out a terrifying roar!
"Haa!!!"