Niu Niu's idea startled Fang Yue.

If Gu Yue Village were to be breached by the strange creatures and completely fall…

Then their situation would be terrible.

Without the protection of Gu Yue Village, they couldn't possibly escape into the wilderness.

But on second thought, Fang Yue realized something was off.

Strange creatures attacking the village?

The game had only been open for a day!

Were the officials so eager to launch an event? Did they want the players to all die?

It shouldn't be that bad.

Fang Yue shook his head repeatedly and said, "That's probably impossible. Except for professional players like me, ordinary players aren't skilled enough to fight against the strange creatures. Arranging a strange creature attack now would be a massacre, right? How could ordinary players survive?"

Niu Niu nodded, "That's true. In other games I've played, monster siege events only happen after players have leveled up. But this game is so strange, and the difficulty is so high, you never know if they'd pull something like that."

"Don't think so much. If the strange creatures really launch a full-scale attack on the village, there's nothing we can do to stop it. Let's just try to save our own lives first."

After a pause, Fang Yue said, "Let's go find Captain Lin. He's the strongest captain in Gu Yue Village besides Chen Mu. We'll be much safer with him around. Besides, tonight's strange creature is beyond our ability to deal with."

Fang Yue didn't say something else. He felt that the strange creature in the Chen manor... even Captain Lin and the others wouldn't be able to handle it.

Fang Yue even suspected that what was hidden in the Chen manor wasn't a Black-level strange creature, but something above Black-level.

But Fang Yue didn't need to worry about verifying that. Captain Lin and the others would test it out themselves.

Like he said before, his own life was the priority!

If Captain Lin and the others couldn't handle it... then Fang Yue could only risk everything and try his luck in the wilderness. He couldn't just sit around and wait to die in the village.

Leading Niu Niu toward the nearest patrol team, Fang Yue noticed that Niu Niu's complexion was getting worse and worse.

"Brother Ye, save me! I, I think I'm about to die. My health is only at 5 points!"

Fang Yue stopped and held up his torch, his expression changing slightly.

The hole in Niu Niu's chest had corroded from the size of a palm to a large round hole.

Every time he breathed in and out, the areas around the empty hole in his chest would bulge, looking extremely terrifying.

Looking like that, he'd be killed as a strange creature in minutes.

"Hang in there a little longer. The patrol area of another patrol team is ahead. We'll wait there. We should run into someone."

Fang Yue helped Niu Niu up. Niu Niu coughed twice, trying his best to hold it in, afraid that the slightest movement would cause a drop in his health points.

In fact, as they walked, Niu Niu could feel bits of rotten flesh falling from his chest to the ground every so often.

He'd lost a lot along the way. Niu Niu felt like he'd gotten skinnier.

But he didn't dare to say anything, afraid that Fang Yue would abandon him.

He really couldn't hold on anymore, so he spoke up.

With Fang Yue's support, Niu Niu felt a little better. He wasn't bleeding as much.

At that moment, a light appeared ahead.

Where there was light, there was a patrol team!

Fang Yue and Niu Niu looked at each other, their faces lit up with joy. They waved their torches and shouted loudly, "Brothers! Brothers! Help!"

The light ahead paused, then quickly approached and... surrounded Fang Yue and Niu Niu.

Leading them was a middle-aged man with a hooked nose. He gripped his spear tightly, staring coldly at Fang Yue and Niu Niu.

Fang Yue was familiar with this situation!

Immediately, he took out a [Strange Detection Talisman], activated it with his lifespan, and burned it.

The [Strange Detection Talisman] immediately burned up and turned to ashes.

But Fang Yue and Niu Niu had no reaction.

The hooked-nosed middle-aged man relaxed slightly, gave his teammates a look, put away their weapons, and said, "Team 7 under Captain Lin of Group 3, Xin Jue."

"Temporary team under Captain Lin of Group 3..."

"I know you."

Xin Jue interrupted Fang Yue, frowned, and asked about the situation. Fang Yue naturally described everything as it was.

Listening to Fang Yue's explanation, Xin Jue's expression changed several times, his emotions fluctuated repeatedly, and finally, he gasped.

Hiss—

"How could this be... that's Captain Chen! Are you really sure that the head was his?"

He still couldn't believe that Captain Chen had died like that.

Apart from Lord Han, who was above everyone else, Captain Chen was practically the ceiling of Gu Yue Village's fighting power. Captain Chen dying at the hands of a strange creature... no one dared to imagine the consequences.

The other team members also discussed among themselves, their faces full of fear, and their morale wavering.

"It's absolutely true!" Fang Yue said decisively.

"This..."

Xin Jue was at a loss. He thought for a moment and said, "This matter is too serious. I need to report it to Captain Lin immediately. Come with me."

"Okay, but him..."

Fang Yue pointed at Niu Niu, who was almost half a foot in the coffin and looked like he was dying.

At that moment, Niu Niu only had 3 health points left, his breathing had become difficult, and it looked like he was only breathing in and not out.

"He's beyond help."

Xin Jue shook his head, "As you said, if this really is a [Strange Curse], even if Physician Hong came, or even if Captain Chen came back to life, they wouldn't be able to do anything. Only Lord Han might have a way to treat it. But Lord Han isn't in the village right now, and his condition won't last until then."

After a pause, Xin Jue continued, "Brother, go in peace. I'll take care of your wife and daughters."

Fang Yue: ?

Niu Niu: ?

Something's wrong with you!

Niu Niu's body stiffened, glaring at the guy. If he didn't want to live a little longer and didn't want to speak, he would definitely curse this guy to death.

"What's wrong with him? Why is he reacting so strongly?"

Xin Jue said in confusion. Wasn't it normal to take care of the family of a patrol team brother? If it was a heartless person, they wouldn't care about the brother's family after he died. He was kindly helping to take on the responsibility, so why did he have that expression?

Seeing this, Fang Yue quickly said awkwardly, "He's a vagrant like me. He doesn't have any family."

"Oh, an orphan! How pitiful."

Curse him again!!

Niu Niu's eyes were about to pop out, his little fists clenched tightly.

Fang Yue quickly pressed down on Niu Niu's coffin lid... ah, no, Niu Niu's body.

"Endure!"

《Endure》!

Niu Niu took a deep breath and endured it!

He deeply remembered Xin Jue's appearance.

Three days!

In three days, I'm going to scatter your ashes!

Of course, that was assuming Niu Niu could survive.

But Fang Yue didn't think Niu Niu would make it. He had gotten so angry just now that he lost another health point. According to what he said earlier, he should only have 2 health points left now.

"Brother Xin Jue, is there really no way to save him? Even if it's just to let him live a little longer, maybe he can hold on until Lord Han comes back."

Fang Yue planned to do his best, since he was a paying customer.

Fang Yue was just asking, and wasn't really sincere. Who would have thought that Xin Jue's eyes would suddenly turn and he'd say,

"It's not like there's absolutely no hope. I obtained a Heart-Locking Pill some years ago due to a lucky encounter. It can restore a large amount of health and save his life in the short term, but after that, he'll have to rely on himself. However, this medicine is very toxic. It's possible that he'll die on the spot after taking it. Is your friend willing to gamble?"