The staff traced a sharp arc through the air, and a moment later, it struck the back of the Lv. 3 Assassin, piercing straight through him.
The Assassin let out a muffled groan and collapsed forward, his body twitching twice before his breath left him entirely.
The remaining Lv. 4 Assassin was the fastest; by now, he had already charged into the dense thicket, seemingly about to vanish from sight.
Bai Xuan raised his right hand slightly. With a flicker of thought, the staff that had skewered the corpse flew up from the ground, trailing blood as it landed steadily back in his hand.
The Lv. 4 Assassin sprinted with all his might, his lungs feeling as if they were about to burst. His mind was a chaotic mess, filled only with surging fear and confusion.
As he stumbled through the bushes, he screamed hysterically in his mind: How is this possible? He’s clearly just a Healer!
Aren’t Healers supposed to be weak and frail, only able to hide behind the team to heal? Why is he so ridiculously strong?
That power from just now was not something an ordinary Healer could possess; it was more terrifying than a mid-tier Practitioner Swordsman! What kind of monster is he?
He didn’t dare look back, thinking only of running forward with everything he had. As long as he reached the depths of this dense thicket, as long as he could escape that devil, he would be safe.
He could even imagine himself reporting this terrifying existence to his superiors after escaping, and how he would celebrate surviving.
But just as he thought he was about to break free from the devil’s grasp and a glimmer of hope rose in his heart, his footsteps suddenly halted. His blood froze instantly, and his breathing stopped.
Not far ahead, in a gap between the bushes, Bai Xuan was standing quietly.
He was covered in blood and bits of flesh. His pristine white robes were now a mess of stains, and his face and hands were splattered with blood.
He still held the blood-stained Staff of Guidance in his hand, his expression calm, as if he were looking at livestock waiting to be slaughtered.
The Assassin’s heart constricted, and even his scream was stuck in his throat.
He couldn't understand how this terrifying monster had managed to get ahead of him despite his desperate flight.
That calm gaze made his entire body go cold, and even the thought of running vanished.
Without waiting for the man to think, Bai Xuan raised his hand and struck the man’s lower leg with his staff.
With a crisp snap, the shinbone broke on the spot.
The Assassin let out a shrill scream. Losing his balance, he fell heavily to the ground. He propped himself up with his hands, trying to crawl forward in a final, desperate struggle.
Bai Xuan slowly walked up to him and looked down with a calm gaze.
The Assassin looked up with difficulty. In his eyes, Bai Xuan’s expression held no anger and no pity—only extreme indifference.
A fear that pierced to the bone instantly swept through the Assassin’s entire body.
He couldn't stop shaking, his teeth chattering. Even the strength to struggle disappeared as he slumped on the ground, staring at Bai Xuan with eyes full of terror.
Bai Xuan slowly crouched down in front of him, his fingertips gently wiping away the blood splatters on his face. His voice remained calm, yet carried an overwhelming pressure: “Now, I ask, and you answer.”
“Who sent you? Why were you following me?”
The Assassin opened his mouth, his voice trembling and his eyes darting away, not daring to look Bai Xuan in the eye. “We… we just saw you come out alone. You looked like an easy target… we thought you’d have money on you…”
“So, out of a momentary greed…”
Bai Xuan watched him quietly. There was no ripple in his eyes, yet they radiated an invisible pressure.
“Greed?” His tone was flat, yet filled with skepticism. “Following me from the entrance of Mora’s shop, all the way to the Information House, and then here… you call that a momentary whim of greed?”
The Assassin’s face turned deathly pale, his lips trembling, unable to utter another word of defense.
Bai Xuan didn't waste any more words. As he raised his hand, the golden glow of Holy Light Catalyst lit up, slowly covering the Assassin’s broken leg.
The wound healed at a pace visible to the naked eye.
But the Assassin’s body suddenly stiffened, an oppressed scream squeezing out of his throat. He jerked and convulsed as if he had been thrown into a pot of boiling oil, his face contorted in extreme agony.
Cold sweat instantly soaked his clothes, dripping down his cheeks and forming a small wet patch beneath him.
When the golden light faded, he slumped to the ground, his gaze unfocused as he gasped for air, his chest heaving violently as if he had just returned from the gates of death.
“You… what did you do…” His voice was incredibly raspy, filled with unmistakable fear.
Bai Xuan didn't answer. He simply raised the Staff of Guidance and shattered the man’s other leg without hesitation.
“Argh—!” A shrill scream pierced the silence of the woods, even more heart-wrenching than the last.
Once again, the Holy Light Catalyst lit up, and once again, a piercing, bone-deep pain followed. The Assassin’s screams echoed through the forest, growing weaker with each iteration, yet filled with despair.
Expressionless, Bai Xuan shattered the man’s left arm. Then, the holy light enveloped him again, repeating the torture of healing and destruction.
Next was the right arm—another healing, another experience of extreme pain.
After three rounds of torture, the Assassin could no longer make a sound. He lay on the ground like a pile of mud, his eyes hollow and unfocused, his body only twitching occasionally to prove he was still alive.
Yet the wounds on his body were all healed; his physical condition was even healthier than before.
Sweat had long since soaked the earth beneath him, and his messy hair clung to his sweat-covered face in a pathetic state.
Bai Xuan slowly crouched down and looked at him with a calm gaze, his tone devoid of any emotion.
“Now,” Bai Xuan said, “tell me who sent you.”
The Assassin’s lips trembled for a few moments before he finally managed to speak, his voice intermittent as if being squeezed from his throat: “The… Information House…”
“Why does the Information House want to kill me?”
“Because of that dwarf… he touched something he shouldn’t have, and he was looking for you everywhere.”
His voice grew weaker, his eyes filled with terror. “Blackcreek Town… has its rules… they are the rules of the Cross family…”
Bai Xuan fell silent for a moment, the aura around him turning even colder.
“And the dwarf?” he asked, his voice carrying a hint of tension. “Where did he go after he left the Information House?”
The Assassin’s eyes flickered, and he instinctively lowered his head, biting his lip and refusing to speak.
Bai Xuan didn't ask further; he simply raised the Staff of Guidance.
“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”
The Assassin broke instantly, screaming as tears mixed with cold sweat ran down his face. “He’s dead… he’s dead… we sent people to follow him, and once he left town… we did it at Gray Ridge Canyon…”
Bai Xuan froze, the aura around him instantly solidifying.
Barend is dead?
That dwarf who had chatted so congenially with him in the tavern, the one who had specifically looked for him out of concern for his safety.
He just died like that?
His hand gripping the Staff of Guidance trembled uncontrollably from the force, and even his breathing became heavy.
“I don’t believe you.” His voice was calm, but it hid an irrepressible agitation. “How could people like you possibly kill him?”
“We knew how strong he was…” The Assassin’s voice grew weaker, his eyes filled with dread, fearing he would provoke the devil before him.
“We sent… many people. It took a lot of effort, but we still killed him… You’re different. The intel said you were just an ordinary Healer, so they only sent the few of us…”
Bai Xuan’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper, the chill around him almost freezing the air.
“Where is the body?”
“Thrown down… Gray Ridge Canyon is full of monsters. Even if the dwarves come looking, not even a bone will be left…”
The Assassin’s voice carried a hint of hope mixed with deep fear; he thought that by saying this, he might trade it for a chance at survival.
The woods fell silent instantly, with only the rustling of wind through the leaves sounding particularly harsh.
Bai Xuan stood there, quietly looking at the Assassin for a very long time. His gaze was dark and unreadable; no one could tell what he was thinking.
The Assassin felt his skin crawl under that gaze, his heart pounding wildly. He hurriedly propped himself up to kowtow and beg for mercy: “Sir! I’ve told you everything! Please, spare my life!”
“I won’t do it again! I’m just a lackey; it was all orders from above. I didn't dare refuse!”
As he kowtowed and wailed, his forehead quickly began to bleed. His tone was filled with humble pleading and extreme terror, his body shaking incessantly.
Bai Xuan didn't speak; he only slowly raised the Staff of Guidance.
Seeing this, the Assassin’s pupils constricted, and the color drained from his face. He continued to cry out for mercy: “No! Sir, spare me! Please—”
Before he could finish, the staff fell. The Assassin’s cries stopped abruptly, his body twitched once, and then he moved no more, the lingering fear and resentment still visible in his eyes.
Bai Xuan stood in place, motionless for a long time.
Barend was dead, because of him.
This thought was like a needle, stabbing ruthlessly into his heart. His hand gripping the staff loosened and tightened repeatedly, his aura so oppressive it was suffocating.
Only after a long time did he slowly begin to move.
He crouched down and searched the coin pouches of the men, pouring out the gold and silver coins to count them. There were six gold coins and one hundred and forty-five silver coins in total.
It was less than expected; they likely kept most of their money in a bank.
He didn't touch their weapons. They would be hard to sell, and if recognized, they would only cause more trouble.
He dragged the bodies together and piled them behind the dense thicket. Although it wasn't a clean disposal, it would at least delay them from being easily discovered.
After finishing this, he stood there in silence for a moment longer, his expression still dark.
He took a look at his status panel. Killing those four had not increased his EXP at all, nor had his Pleasure changed. Only when he was healing the Assassin did it jump by three points, and only that one time.
Killing one's own kind yields no EXP or Pleasure, and healing the same person only grants benefits once. It seemed he couldn't repeatedly exploit loopholes.
Bai Xuan closed the panel and took a deep breath, suppressing his emotions.
He then turned and walked into the goblin nest. The interior was dark and damp, and the stench of rot mixed with the fishy smell of mud hit him, making him feel slightly unwell.
He slowed his pace, letting his eyes adjust to the dim light inside the cave.
Bones picked clean and unidentifiable rags were scattered along the sides of the passage. The things he stepped on were squishy, though whether it was rotting meat or something else was unclear.
He had only walked a few steps when the first goblin lunged out from a corner.
It was short, only reaching Bai Xuan’s waist. Its gray-green skin was covered in filth, and it clutched a wooden club with a stone tied to it, screeching as it pounced.
Bai Xuan stepped aside to dodge, and the Staff of Guidance swept out, the staff slamming heavily into the goblin’s head.
The crisp sound of bone shattering was particularly loud in the narrow passage. The goblin didn't even make a sound before falling straight to the ground, motionless.
【EXP +2, Pleasure +1】.
He continued forward expressionlessly. A second and third goblin lunged out one after another, only to be dealt with by a single strike of his staff without suspense.
Occasionally, a Lv. 2 goblin would be mixed in.
Though they were slightly larger and more aggressive, they were no different from insects before Bai Xuan, who was Lv. 5 with attributes boosted to Lv. 7. A single strike was equally fatal.
Yet he felt no sense of ease, only mechanically stepping and swinging his staff, mechanically watching the system prompts flash before him.
He had no heart to count how many goblins he had killed or how much his Pleasure had increased.
He slaughtered his way to the deepest part of the nest. The surroundings finally turned completely silent, with only his own footsteps echoing in the empty cave.
In the furthest corner of the cave lay a dense pile of bones—remains of wild beasts and humans alike. Skulls, ribs, and leg bones were scattered everywhere.
Many bones still bore clear bite marks, and a few tattered pieces of fabric lay nearby, their original appearance long gone.
Bai Xuan stood there, staring down at the skeletons for a long time without moving, the oppression in his heart growing heavier.
Barend had been thrown down Gray Ridge Canyon, which was full of monsters. If he had truly met with disaster, would he also be nothing but a pile of cold bones like this by the time Bai Xuan found him?
He jerked his gaze away, not daring to look any longer, yet the image of the skeletons refused to leave his mind.
Just then, heavy footsteps echoed from the depths of the cave. Thud, thud—steady and powerful, accompanied by a slight tremor in the ground as they drew closer.
Bai Xuan’s expression sharpened. He slowly turned around as a massive dark figure emerged from the end of the passage, instantly occupying most of the space.
This Giant Goblin stood nearly three meters tall, its body a mass of knotted muscles. Its deep gray skin was covered in a crisscross of old scars, making it look exceptionally hideous.
It held a massive wooden club thicker than Bai Xuan’s thigh. The club was covered in dried, dark-brown blood, emitting a pungent, metallic stench.
It lowered its head slightly, staring intently at Bai Xuan with its murky, ferocious eyes. A low, threatening growl rumbled in its throat, and a wave of malevolence washed over him.
Bai Xuan immediately activated his inspection, and an attribute panel appeared before his eyes:
【Giant Goblin Lv. 5】
【Status: Hungry, Angry】
【HP: 750/750】
【Mana: 35/35】
【Potential: 2-Star (Squire)】.
Rate on N.U.
