Chapter 22: A Confusing Victory

Chapter 22: A Confusing Victory

22

A Confusing Victory

I

Duo Lan stepped into the clearing, Tian Jin beside her. She felt the warmth of the sun settle on the little skin her robes exposed as she left the shade of the canopy. She breathed in, and among the many scents of the forest, she could discern the thick, deep stench of the monster on the other side of the clearing.

She wrinkled her nose, deciding to avoid breathing too much.

The glistening horn rhinoceros hadnt noticed them yet, its head still lowered as it drank from the river. She and Tian Jin were silent. Monsters descended from rhinoceroses had a strong smell and sense of hearing, but poor eyesight, much like their mundane counterparts. The wind was against them, coming in the direction of the monster, so as long as they didnt make too much noise, it wouldnt notice them as long as it was still busy drinking.

Duo Lan channeled some spiritual power into her spatial ring, and the next moment, a sword appeared in her grasp. It wasnt the sword she normally usedjust a common red-grade magical swordbut she had no choice but to make do with this one right now.

Out of the corner of her eye, there was a dim flash of red. Turning around, she saw that Tian Jin now had red gauntlets on his armsextending from his fists all the way to his elbows.

The Zenith Nullification Gauntlets, she guessed. Duo Lan narrowed her eyes. They didnt look like muchjust plain, segmented gauntlets, without any intricate designs or carvings. It was her first seeing a spiritual skill that manifested as physical objects. Maybe it only looked so uninspired because this was only its first form?

Appearances aside, Duo Lan had to admit that Tian Jins spiritual skill was powerful if it was indeed capable of magical nullification. In fact, thatd make it one of the most powerful spiritual skills she knew.

It wasnt as good as hers, though. And it didnt match Tian Jins blue robes at all. She wrinkled her brow. The combination was nothing short of jarring.

Still, she couldnt help but wonder where Tian Jin had gotten it. She was familiar with the signature skills of all nearby organizations, and his skill wasnt one of them.

Duo Lan caught a flash of movement at the edge of her vision, and she immediately shifted her gaze back to the other side of the clearing. The glistening horn rhinoceros had raised its head, and it was looking straight at them with its small, beady eyes.

Duo Lan pushed her thoughts about Tian Jins spiritual skill and its origin to the back of her mind. She had other priorities right now.

The monster didnt make any abrupt movementsit only stared at them, frozen in place.

Duo Lan tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword. She narrowed her eyes as she glared back at the monster. This would be her first time going up against a monster. Maybe in this situation, a normal cultivator would have felt apprehension, if not fear, but she felt none of those things. They werent like herthey didnt have her talent.

It didnt matter that this was her first time facing a magical creature. So far, she had excelled at everything she had ever tried to do, and hunting monsters would be no exception.

Whenever youre ready, she said to Tian Jin while keeping her gaze fixed on the monster before them. There was a distance of almost a hundred feet between them, but a second-grade monster could cover that much ground in the blink of an eye. She couldnt let her guard down.

Because of their roles, they decided that Tian Jin would have the first move in order to draw the attention of the monster. His job was to keep the monster distracted and neutralized so that she could deal the killing blow, after all.

The monster was still observing themwary, apprehensive. Monsters had spiritual sight active at all times, so they could tell, based on their aura, that she and Tian Jin were both second-level redsoulsthe same level as it.

Its reaction told her it had probably never fought a human before. If it had, it wouldnt have been so wary, as itd know that it was much stronger than a human at the same level. Well, a normal human, at least.

Duo Lan was anything but normal.

She had underestimated the thickness of its hide. If she wanted to deal a killing blow, shed have to target a more sensitive area, and the one she had in mind was one of its eyes.

Maybe, but

Tian Jin cut himself off mid-speech as he jumped out of the way. The moment the monster finished turning around, they realized too late that its horn was glowing, and he only narrowly managed to avoid the ensuing Glistening Horn Beam.

The monster then lowered its head, preparing another charge.

Hao Zhen! Tian Jin called out.

The monster suddenly went still. Tian Jin charged toward the monster, and Duo Lan, realizing his intentions, followed a beat later. Tian Jin reached the monster in an instant, his hands grabbing onto its horn and pulling it down.

The monster then started struggling, but at that moment Duo Lan reached it, jumping upwards just as she was nearing it, and striking out with her sword into its right eye. The sword pierced through it, but before Duo Lan could bury it all the way, the monster reacted by snapping its head to the side.

Duo Lan had no choice but to let go of the sword as she brought her feet upward and pushed herself off against his head, putting some distance between them as she jumped away.

She quickly scanned the area and saw that Tian Jin had also retreated, having probably let go of the monsters horn when it started shaking its head.

Right now, the glistening stone rhinoceros was crying out in pain, her sword still sticking halfway out from its eye. It was moving its head too much, howevershe couldnt get close. Tian Jin wouldnt be able to hold it down, either.

Just as she was trying to think of a plan, she saw Tian Jin grow still. A moment later, she heard Hao Zhens voice in her head, Prepare yourself. Tian Jin will hold it down.

The glistening horn rhinoceros abruptly went still. Before she could understand what was going on, Tian Jin threw himself at it and just as he had done before, took the horn into his arms while planting his feet on the ground.

Not even thinking, Duo Lan sprung into action. She ran over to the monster, which still appeared rather dazed. As she drew near, she jumped, her fist cocked back, and then punched the hilt of her sword that was still sticking out of its eye. The sword plunged deeper in, disappearing into the monsters eye socket.

Duo Lan landed back on the ground, her gaze fixed on the monster, which was still perfectly still. Tian Jin then let go of its horn, taking a step back, and the monster collapsed onto the ground, dead.

Duo Lan stared blankly at the corpse in front of her. Then, hearing footsteps from behind, she turned around and saw Hao Zhen walking over. He looked tired. Sweat was pouring down his forehead, and his entire body was trembling a little. Despite that, there was a grin on his facean expression she had never seen him wear before.

She had no idea what exactly had happened at the end, but it was clear that Hao Zhen had something to do with it. He shouldnt have had enough willpower to overpower a monster at a higher level using Ethereal String Puppetrylet alone a raging monster. Yet she couldnt find any other explanation as to how the monster had suddenly fallen into a daze.

What did you do? she asked him.

Hao Zhen glanced at her, still grinning. Instead of answering her question, he asked, Out of curiosity, do the words nervous system mean anything to you? He looked at her expectantly, his eyes twinkling.

Duo Lan blinked. She had absolutely no idea what that was supposed to mean. No?

What did that even have to do with her question?

Hao Zhen laughed, his smile growing even wider. He didnt seem quite right, as if his mind was far away, only barely aware of what was going on. Yeah, I thought so. Then, without elaborating any further, he walked over to Tian Jin, who was still standing in front of the glistening horn rhinoceross corpse, unmoving.

Her head filled with questions, Duo Lan followed him.