Chapter 35: Transforming the Demon

Wu Chang held the Square Year-Fire Lantern, his gaze sweeping across the ancestral treasury a few times, yet he failed to find anything suitable to serve as lamp oil.

The ice mist had already drifted into the treasury; he could not delay any longer.

His eyes finally settled on a corner of the vault, where a sheathed sword lay.

He drew the blade; it shone with a piercing, icy light. He plucked a hair from his head and let it drift onto the edge—the hair was sliced cleanly in two.

It could cut a hair blown against it.

This sword was undoubtedly the finest in Chen Village.

Clutching the "Village's Best Sword," he slowly approached Chen Peng and bowed with cupped hands.

"Brother Chen, the situation is dire; I must borrow your head for a moment. Since you aren't refusing, I shall take your silence as consent."

Three breaths passed. Chen Peng did not undergo a corpse-transformation, so it seemed he had no objections.

"My thanks."

Wu Chang raised his hand and brought the blade down, severing Chen Peng's head.

He found a piece of cloth, wrapped the head securely, and strode out of the treasury.

Before leaving, he took the incense burner from the ancestral hall's altar and moved it to the doorway.

He then unwrapped the cloth and placed the head beside the burner.

Having done all this, he retreated into the hall and waited quietly.

Before long, a wind rose on the mountain top. The thick mist swirled into a vortex, condensing once again into the true form of the Mist Demon.

The human skin, buoyed by the mist, appeared in the clearing. It shrieked as it rushed toward the head, wrapping itself entirely around it.

A moment later, a gruesome crunching sound echoed through the silent mountain top, mingled with the brittle snapping of bone.

Wu Chang watched this with a blank expression, feeling not a hint of fear.

What a joke. He had already seen the true form of an Evil God and had even traded blows with one using his own treasures; could a mere minor demon gnawing on an icy skull truly intimidate him?

When he gnawed on rabbit skulls, he enjoyed the meal even more than this.

He only hoped that in this dungeon plane, "you are what you eat" held true, and that after consuming this offering, the Mist Demon might become a little smarter.

A few minutes later, the human skin "stood" up. It mimicked a human gesture and bowed toward Wu Chang.

Then, the entire skin, along with the deep red resentment attached to it, dissipated into nothingness.

Without the skin, the remaining misty body of the demon stood like a puppet with cut strings, motionless.

The transcendence was complete. Wu Chang’s stamina and energy each increased by one point, and his inspiration increased by two.

The increase in energy felt different from other attribute boosts. As he gained energy for the first time, he felt his internal organs trembling violently, as if someone were performing construction inside his body, carving out a compartment for a "new tenant."

Fortunately, the energy gain was small, and the pain did not last long.

When his body returned to normal, he felt a new flow of "Qi" within him.

This Qi rested quietly in his Dantian, moving through his body at his will, as responsive as his own limbs.

He tried to project the Qi outside his body, but it was too weak—less than the flame of a disposable lighter.

Before he could even see it clearly, a mountain breeze blew it away into nothingness.

As his energy was exhausted, his organs began to rhythmically contract, spontaneously converting his physical stamina into energy.

Feeling the changes within, Wu Chang took a deep breath and threw a punch.

From this moment on, he could consider himself an extraordinary being.

Beyond the attribute gains, the deep red resentment had left behind a piece of translucent glaze.

The glaze was soft in texture, feeling almost like human skin to the touch.

[Item Name: Mist Guide]
[Item Description: The remains of a demon with special powers. Items crafted using Mist Guide as a raw material have a 60% chance of possessing mist-control abilities and a 10% chance of possessing hallucinogenic abilities.]

Wait.

Wu Chang frowned. Did the Mist Demon cut off a piece of its own skin as a reward?

Although he was in the Abyss Game and shouldn't be so squeamish, he still felt a strong resistance to using human remains to craft items.

He pondered for a moment, then placed the Mist Guide into the Square Year-Fire Lantern.

As the Mist Guide entered, it quickly melted into lamp oil.

[Current lamp oil burn time: 1800 seconds.]

The essence of the Mist Demon was only enough to keep the Square Year-Fire Lantern burning for half an hour; it certainly had a large appetite.

Now that the oil was replenished, he had to test its effects.

He lit the Square Year-Fire Lantern, and a flame ignited within the red lantern. Wherever the light shone, it gave off a wonderful, vibrant sense of vitality.

He shone the light toward the Mist Demon's remains. Under the serene glow, the misty body rapidly melted, dissipating just like the human skin and the resentment that had been transcended.

"May you be reborn into a better family in your next life."

As if in response to Wu Chang’s blessing, a clatter sounded where the Mist Demon had vanished, and something fell to the ground.

It was a tarnished brass dagger, covered in layers of resentment that quickly faded as the dagger hit the floor.

[Item Name: Demon Transformation]
[Item Status: Damaged]
[Item Description: An object refined through special techniques, housing the core of a demon. Using it allows one to transform into a demon. However, due to immature craftsmanship, the effect is highly unstable.]

Demon Transformation.

Wu Chang toyed with the dagger, lost in thought.

He had found it strange earlier that nearly half the people in Chen Village had died at the hands of the Mist Demon, yet the demon had carried only its own resentment.

It turned out that all those resentments had been absorbed into this "Demon Transformation" dagger.

With the Mist Demon gone, the thick fog shrouding Chen Village slowly dispersed, revealing the rising moon.

Since he had entered Chen Village to explore, it had become completely dark.

Traveling after dark was dangerous, but staying in Chen Village wasn't safe either.

Not to mention the frozen goods in the cold storage at the foot of the mountain—this was a dungeon plane where demons existed, and if he stayed the night with them, there was no guarantee he wouldn't be entangled by something filthy.

Even if he relied on the Square Year-Fire Lantern and the Soul-Cleansing Banner to fear no frozen goods, he still had to worry about the Mist Demon's allies.

Judging by the arrangement of the cold storage, the demons that had conquered Chen Village intended to use it as a long-term nest.

If they sensed the Mist Demon's death, other demons would likely come to investigate.

The risk of staying in the village was too high; it would be better to leave overnight.

Before departing, Wu Chang made a trip to both the ancestral treasury and the cold storage.

When others went on business trips, they brought back souvenirs; surely it wasn't unreasonable for him to take some "local specialties" after ridding Chen Village of such a formidable demon.

Once he left Chen Village, he mounted his horse and returned at full speed, without a moment's delay.

The information regarding night road conditions in the resentment was sparse, so to be safe, he took detours around overly dangerous areas, doubling his travel time. It wasn't until the following afternoon that he finally returned to Huaigu Village.

Along the way, he kept wondering: if Chen Village were indeed the bandits running rampant in recent years, then what was the true identity of Liu Wei, who had insisted on lending the palace lanterns to Chen Village and frequently targeted players?

Recalling their previous encounters, although Liu Wei called Liu Shan "Uncle," his tone lacked respect.

He had even mentioned several times that Liu Shan was too old and afraid to take risks, suggesting that the position of village chief should be handed over to him.

As the head of the Huaigu Village hunters, Liu Wei had many supporters, all of them young and strong men in the village. His voice carried weight, and whenever he made a proposal, many echoed him.

When he had previously asked about the origin of the evil spirits, Liu Shan had told him to ask Liu Wei, stating plainly that Liu Wei knew the most about the affairs of the mountains.

When major events occurred in the mountains, Liu Wei never consulted Liu Shan, showing that the two had been at odds for a long time.

Given the current atmosphere, it wouldn't be a surprise if a "forced coronation" happened one day.

Could it be that Liu Wei wanted to seize the position of village chief and then, like Chen Village, turn the entire village into bandits?

Or was it that Liu Wei had been a bandit all along, and wanted to drag Chen Village into the mud to expand the bandit organization and increase his own influence?

Looking at the silhouette of Huaigu Village in the distance, a flash of inspiration hit Wu Chang.

According to the villagers' understanding, it took at least six days to travel to and from Chen Village; no one would suspect he had already returned.

Wouldn't this period be the perfect time to investigate Liu Wei?

He needed someone familiar with the village's situation who wouldn't betray him.

Who should he choose?