"You really aren't holding back at all..." Zhong Mo's tone was less than pleasant.
Yue Shi beamed. A missed opportunity was a wasted one. He had no idea how long his cooperation with Zhong Mo would last, given that their relationship was built purely on mutual benefit. Both were looking to exploit the other; they might betray or even try to kill each other at any moment. Naturally, he had to seize every opportunity to squeeze out whatever he could.
"Do you know how many roaming supernatural creatures are in Amber City?" Yue Shi asked. "I need them."
"What do you want with them?" Zhong Mo looked puzzled, but before Yue Shi could answer, he added dismissively, "Never mind, pretend I didn't ask."
If it was a private matter, any answer Yue Shi gave would likely be a lie anyway.
"I do know the whereabouts of a few..."
...
An abandoned amusement park in Amber City sat in desolate silence. Its rusted iron gates stood half-open, the paint peeling away to reveal mottled metal.
A stone block sat by the entrance, its shape vaguely resembling a doll. Its colors had long since faded into a dull gray that blended into the surroundings, and its surface was crisscrossed with cracks and layers of dust.
The stone doll wore a smile, as if welcoming every visitor to the park.
No one knew that it was actually a supernatural creature.
A supernatural creature didn't necessarily have to look hideous or terrifying; they could also appear cute and harmless.
This stone doll was one such creature, appearing completely ordinary and benign.
It would appear outside "doors," and its favorite pastime was "guarding" them.
It didn't care where the door led or if it was even worth guarding.
It simply enjoyed crouching outside a door and posing as a statue, remaining perfectly still.
Only when someone tried to forcibly destroy the door would it react. There was a fifty-percent chance it would attack to drive the intruder away, and a fifty-percent chance it would simply find another door to guard.
Yue Shi brought a claw down on the doll, and his decaying aura quickly corroded it until it was tattered and worn.
The creature didn't move an inch, even as it rotted into a pile of debris.
If the tentacles of the mysterious stone tablet hadn't reached out to devour it, he would have suspected he'd targeted the wrong thing.
"I can't believe such bizarre supernatural creatures exist," Yue Shi muttered.
"If it weren't bizarre, you wouldn't be the one cleaning it up," Zhong Mo said. "The Investigation Bureau and those private agencies keep a close eye on any creature that actually causes trouble."
"This one is practically harmless. When it's still, it's more convincing than a real rock, and its supernatural aura is incredibly faint. I don't see the point in killing it."
"Alright, on to the next one," Yue Shi urged.
He needed to increase his strength as quickly as possible. Usually, it was hard to find so many easy targets; since Zhong Mo had offered his services, Yue Shi wasn't going to hesitate to exploit him.
Zhong Mo said nothing and simply continued to lead the way in silence.
The early morning wind of late autumn was biting. It whistled down his collar, making Yue Shi realize he had dressed a bit too light.
However, a transcendent's constitution was far superior to that of an ordinary person; the chill didn't affect him at all.
Zhong Mo led him further and further into the outskirts until they eventually entered a cemetery.
Zhong Mo then told him to unzip his jacket a bit to expose more skin and instructed him to stand perfectly still, like a wooden post.
Yue Shi followed the instructions.
Before long, a faint, barely audible sound came from the surroundings.
A small, earth-yellow monster with four short legs hopped between the tombstones.
It was secretly observing Yue Shi and Zhong Mo.
While people visited the cemetery, they were always moving and could run fast; it could never catch them.
Today, it had finally encountered two that didn't move. It was determined to take them down!
It hadn't eaten anything fresh in a very long time!
Fortunately, some humans would bury themselves in wooden boxes after they died, which was the only reason it hadn't starved to death.
It watched for a few more minutes, even tossing a small pebble at them to test their reaction. Once it was certain that Zhong Mo and Yue Shi truly wouldn't move, it finally couldn't help itself. It leaped high into the air, its mouth agape as it bared its teeth and aimed for the artery in Zhong Mo's neck.
If it bit through there, the resulting spray of crimson liquid would be most invigorating.
Unfortunately, before it could even get close to Zhong Mo, a black raven slammed into it. Its body hit the ground hard, and a hole was pecked into its chest.
Its vitality was tenacious, however, and the heavy wound didn't kill it instantly. It struggled to get up and flee, but Zhong Mo flicked a 【Kill】 card, severing its legs.
Zhong Mo had surmised that Yue Shi wanted to gain something from killing these creatures, so he didn't finish it off, merely disabling its ability to move.
Now, Zhong Mo was a bit puzzled. He couldn't understand why the creature had prioritized him when Yue Shi was clearly the more exposed target!
Yue Shi walked up to the creature, his cold gaze flickering with a hint of bone-chilling malice.
The legless, earth-yellow creature was terrified. It had miscalculated; these two weren't statues—they were baiting it!
It opened its mouth wide and emitted a foul, nauseating stench, attempting to drive its enemies away with the disgusting odor.
The tactic was slightly effective. Yue Shi frowned and pulled back his claws, opting instead to summon his Shadow Soldier ravens.
Several pitch-black ravens emerged from the shadows, tearing the earth-yellow creature into shreds before dumping the remains into a nearby trash can.
The invisible, ethereal tentacles weren't bothered by the stench and immediately began to feast.
"Supernatural corpses are quite valuable," Zhong Mo remarked. "Are you really just going to throw it away like that?"
Yue Shi's eyes flickered. "It's a waste of time and too much trouble. Let's find the next one."
Selling the corpse of a supernatural creature whose source had been devoured by his mysterious stone tablet might invite unwanted attention. It was better to simply dispose of it.
"Suit yourself," Zhong Mo said indifferently. He then immediately resumed the hunt, continuing to track down and kill more supernatural creatures.
The creatures he found were all relatively harmless, exhibited strange behavior, and were difficult to detect.
This was the city, after all; high-profile creatures were either hunted down or contained by the Investigation Bureau.
Those that hadn't been killed or contained were usually on the most-wanted list—creatures the Investigation Bureau couldn't find or kill. Zhong Mo naturally had no way of knowing their whereabouts.
Consequently, the remaining ones were all quite eccentric.
Zhong Mo and Yue Shi were incredibly efficient, their spree serving as a minor contribution to the safety of Amber City.
Finally, Yue Shi achieved his goal. On the animated tentacles of the mysterious stone tablet, the golden eye representing his seventh supernatural power fully opened...
Rate on N.U.
