…
Du Meiqin practically stumbled as she ran back into the house. The panic in her eyes only eased slightly when she saw her daughter. She immediately pulled the girl into a tight embrace.
When the footsteps outside gradually faded away, Jiang Li crawled out from beneath the bed and met Du Meiqin’s wary, fearful gaze.
She understood.
She had arrived, and shortly afterward the patrol soldiers had appeared and delivered such a warning. Anyone with a brain would naturally suspect her.
Jiang Li offered no explanation and instead fell into thought.
The Defense Bureau patrol soldiers had said it was an evil wraith above Rank Five that had appeared in the mining area.
That reminded her of Mining Area 20.
Many people had died there, though the cause of their deaths had remained unknown.
Now she finally knew what had happened in Area 20.
But what kind of evil wraith was unafraid of Flame Star Stones and could even appear during daylight?
A specific type of wraith immediately came to mind.
A Skin-Wearing Wraith.
A Rank Five wraith that appeared during the middle stages of the game.
Like a plague, anyone killed by a Skin-Wearing Wraith would become a new Skin-Wearing Wraith.
Rather than a wraith, it was more like an epidemic.
It devoured both people and their memories, wore their skin, disguised itself as its victims, and hid among the living.
When people let their guard down, it would strike and devour them.
Those victims would then become its kind.
If even one Skin-Wearing Wraith was discovered within a crowd, it meant there were likely many more hidden among them.
Once they put on human skin, they became virtually indistinguishable from ordinary humans. They bled, sweated, and after consuming a person’s memories, could imitate them perfectly.
Their acting skills surpassed even the greatest actors.
However, they also shared a weakness with humans.
Unlike most evil wraiths, they could not kill through supernatural death conditions.
If you discovered one, you could kill it just as you would kill a human.
The only reliable difference was that they possessed no emotions.
And at night, they would shed their human skins, transform back into powerful wraiths, and begin slaughtering indiscriminately.
But this was supposed to be a mid-game enemy.
Why would such a creature appear in a beginner village during the early stages?
Even in the game, Jiang Li had only encountered them after entering a town.
These wraiths were not particularly difficult to deal with.
During the day, they were as fragile as ordinary humans.
The difficult part was identifying them.
Their appearance brought not only fear but also suspicion and distrust.
They shattered relationships and drove people apart.
They were among the evil wraiths that tested human nature the most.
“G-Guest, you…”
Du Meiqin wanted to ask him to leave.
She did not dare gamble.
If she were alone, she would not care about her own life.
But she had a daughter.
She could not risk putting her child in danger.
Jiang Li understood what she meant.
Without saying anything, he stood and left.
Several times, Du Meiqin wanted to call him back, but the words stuck in her throat.
In the end, she could only watch the young man’s figure disappear into the distance.
The girl in her arms spoke softly.
“Mom, where did big brother go? Will he come back?”
A closer look revealed that the girl had the facial features of someone with Down syndrome.
Du Meiqin rubbed her head and changed the subject.
“Xiaoxing, are you hungry?”
…
After leaving Du Meiqin’s house, Jiang Li wanted to return to his shelter.
However, just as the patrol soldiers had said, guards were stationed at both the front and rear entrances of the village, and no one was allowed to enter or leave.
Perhaps it wasn’t just Spark Village.
Every village near the mining area was probably under guard.
This was the most effective way to prevent the Skin-Wearing Wraiths from spreading.
Sometimes, if the situation became uncontrollable, more extreme measures would be taken.
The entire village would be slaughtered to completely eliminate any chance of the Skin-Wearing Wraiths spreading further.
Looking at the patrol soldiers standing guard with large blades in hand, it was obvious that no one would be leaving the village today.
Every exit had been sealed.
Unless Jiang Li could burrow underground, there was no way out.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered forcing her way through one of the exits.
The patrol soldiers blocking her path could be dealt with using her skills.
But every soldier carried a communicator.
If one encountered trouble, all the others would know immediately.
Her shelter wasn’t far from the village.
They could easily track her down.
For today, she could only remain inside Spark Village.
Jiang Li wasn’t particularly worried about her safety tonight.
With the clay statue at the village entrance, ordinary evil wraiths couldn’t enter.
Disaster beasts also became quiet after nightfall.
The only threats she needed to guard against were the Gray Mist and the Skin-Wearing Wraiths.
Judging by the vigilance of the Defense Bureau personnel, there was a high probability that Skin-Wearing Wraiths had already infiltrated Spark Village.
Once night arrived and they shed their skins, dealing with them alone would become difficult.
What a headache…
Jiang Li sighed inwardly.
Still, she did not regret coming here from her shelter.
Had she remained there, she would never have learned so much, nor discovered that Skin-Wearing Wraiths had infiltrated both the mining area and Spark Village.
However—
Jiang Li opened her side quest panel.
Since it was now confirmed that Skin-Wearing Wraiths were causing trouble at the mine, why hadn’t the quest been completed?
Most likely, the true reason behind the mine’s disappearance wasn’t the Skin-Wearing Wraiths at all.
…
After wandering around the village, she gained a rough understanding of the village layout and the number of Defense Bureau patrol soldiers.
Most of Spark Village’s residents had gone to work at the mines.
Many homes appeared empty.
However, the elderly and children had been left behind.
As for the patrol soldiers, there were at least twenty of them.
That was a conservative estimate.
Even Jiang Li could not handle that many people.
More importantly, she didn’t want anyone discovering the location of her shelter.
If she killed someone and escaped, they would search the outskirts of Falling Moon Mountain.
And that was exactly where her shelter was located.
Jiang Li found an abandoned mud-brick house and set down her half-bucket of jerky.
Taking out the Purification Mushrooms from her cloth bag, she examined them.
The mushrooms resembled cumin. Ground into powder, they were sprinkled over the jerky and rubbed thoroughly into every piece.
A notification appeared before her eyes.
[Purification in progress… 10 minutes remaining…]
Purifying an entire bucket of jerky required less than one-tenth of the mushrooms in the bag.
That alone showed how economical the mushrooms were.
They also had a long shelf life.
A single bag could last a very long time.
Jiang Li spent the next ten minutes warming up and exercising.
Once the jerky had been purified, she began meditating.
This time, she didn’t dare meditate as long as she had the previous night.
After estimating the time, she closed her eyes and sat cross-legged.
About two hours later, Jiang Li ended her meditation.
[Meditation Progress: 42%]
[Stamina: 15]
Her stamina had increased by two points.
Her Spirit had not increased.
Just as Jiang Li had suspected, the longer one meditated, the more energy it consumed.
Meditation inflicted extreme suffering upon both body and mind.
Enduring it depended heavily on having sufficient food reserves.
Jiang Li had already become accustomed to that pain.
When she opened her eyes and saw her improved stats, a sense of accomplishment filled her heart.
Getting stronger really does make people happy.
Jiang Li finished half a bucket of Withered Leap Frog jerky.
Compared to the previous night’s meal, the taste was noticeably worse.
The layer of Purification Mushroom powder had added a bitter flavor.
The powder was clearly better added while stewing meat rather than applied afterward.
That way it wouldn’t affect the taste.
But Jiang Li wasn’t picky.
As long as it filled her stomach, she could eat it no matter how unpleasant it tasted.
Time passed slowly during the day in the village.
Jiang Li would much rather have returned to her shelter to haul wood and stones.
Even that would have been better than sitting around in this mud house.
Still, she didn’t remain idle.
She exercised around the house, practicing one-handed handstands, doing push-ups, and going through several sets of health-preserving martial arts forms.
Sweat soaked her body, and her muscles gradually warmed…