Chapter 13: Three Men Make A Tiger
【Current area unlocked: Aragawa Ghost Village（One-Star）】
【Main Quest One: Explore Ghost Village at least 80%, current Exploration Progress: 0%】
【Main Quest Two: Exorcise One-Star Supernatural Phenomenon·Severely Injured White Hannya.】
【Side Quest One: Damage to the Ksitigarbha Statue——When was the Ksitigarbha Statue offered to the south of the Village damaged?】
【Side Quest Two: White Scarecrow——In the fields eroded by chemical wastewater, the Scarecrow sways in the wind.】
One-Star map.
It’s actually a One-Star map that’s almost the same level as his current grade.
Shangshan Che took a deep breath, immediately noticing that the pungent sulfur smell in the air had become pleasant.
The Main Quest is just to exorcise a mere One-Star Supernatural Phenomenon, whereas Edo Castle on the other side requires him to kill an Oni Warrior who has achieved the Ten Thousand Kills feat.
In that case, the minibosses in this Ghost Village must mostly be Half-Star or even Zero-Star minor demons, right?
This place is full of Walker Soul Ash now, perfect for saving up a ten-pull for the One-Star Gacha Pool in a couple of days.
Shangshan Che rubbed his hands excitedly and pulled out the rotten Woodcutting Knife he had drawn earlier.
Although this Woodcutting Knife is no match for the Daito and Tachi of Wandering Samurai in Edo Castle, and the length isn’t ideal, it’s still very handy for bullying weak enemies—better than no weapon at all.
Also, the “White Hannya” in the Main Quest is the Super Evolution state of his own “Laughing Hannya”—he wonders if there will be any extra rewards after taking her down.
Without thinking further, Shangshan Che took out the Walker Token and hung it on his waist.
This time, he didn’t open the door first; instead, he used the Woodcutting Knife to chisel a small hole at the bottom of the Thatched Cottage, then quietly rolled the Hundred-Eyed Ghost Eyeball out.
Accompanied by faint Spiritual Power Fluctuation, the Hundred-Eyed Ghost Eyeball silently flew up and circled the Thatched Cottage once.
Shangshan Che’s eyes narrowed, spotting a Humanoid Creature lying horizontally on the ground at the Doorway of the Thatched Cottage.
It was wearing a raincoat, looking very much like a farmer but definitely not human.
He sneered. Good grief, it was indeed waiting for him here.
If he had walked out defenseless because it was a One-Star map, he would probably step on this thing and get hit by another door-opening kill.
Shangshan Che recalled the Hundred-Eyed Ghost Eyeball, quietly stepped to the side of the door, and silently recalled the position of the Humanoid Creature’s head.
He gripped the Hilt tightly, circulated the Ki-Gong Technique, and thrust out fiercely with the knife!
Thrust!
The rusted Blade Tip pierced through the wooden board without hindrance; the feedback from the Woodcutting Knife told Shangshan Che that the Blade had already deeply embedded into the Humanoid Creature’s skull.
But no Kill Prompt appeared.
Such strong Vitality?
“Roar… roar…”
A creepy, hoarse roar began to echo slowly outside the door. Shangshan Che frowned slightly, his cyan-black left hand exerting force as he yanked the Thatched Cottage door off its hinges.
The Laughing Hannya’s face suddenly thrust out from inside the room, flashing a ghastly smile at the demon struggling with its mouth open.
Terrifying Smile!
The roar stopped abruptly. Taking advantage of the gap, Shangshan Che pulled out the knife, unhesitatingly severed its neck, then thrust the Blade into the Heart area and twisted viciously.
Black-red blood spurted out, splattering onto the icy-cold Hannya Mask.
【You killed Half-Star Grudge “Polluted Stout Farmer”, gained 30 Soul Ash.】
This door monster was pretty tough to kill; a sneak attack stabbing into the skull still didn’t finish it off.
But the Soul Ash dropped is quite plentiful—equivalent to three portions of Soul Incense Ash.
Without wiping the bloodied Blade, Shangshan Che casually picked a direction and began exploring Aragawa Ghost Village, sticking close to Thatched Cottage after Thatched Cottage.
Under the 270° ultra-wide field of view, unless a demon suddenly tears through the wall of a Thatched Cottage for a sneak attack, Shangshan Che essentially has full map vision, able to detect any Danger in advance.
Aragawa Ghost Village was abnormally quiet, contrasted by the constant rumbling sounds coming from outside the Village.
Shangshan Che knew what that sound was; in his previous life, on the way to school, passing by factories or construction sites always produced such loud noises.
“But the density of these monsters is a bit low.”
After walking for over ten minutes, Shangshan Che encountered the second Polluted Farmer.
The farmer’s Strength was nowhere comparable to a Wandering Samurai; Shangshan Che, proficient in Backstab techniques, beheaded it in a few strokes, dropping Soul Ash.
【You killed Scattered Wandering Soul “Polluted Farmer”, gained 5 Soul Ash.】
5 Soul Ash… all it can be said is that even a mosquito’s leg is meat.
The more he walked, the more certain Shangshan Che became that the era of Aragawa Ghost Village was around the Meiji period, because the occasional advanced Farming Tools by the roadside were completely unlike anything Japanese people could make.
“In that case, doesn’t that mean there are gun-toting Western Adults standing at the Factory over there?”
Shangshan Che muttered inwardly, then suddenly spotted three Stout Farmers wearing straw hats and raincoats at a nearby intersection, wandering together toward the distance, holding broken Farming Tools.
He narrowed his eyes at their heads, and three【Polluted Stout Farmers】 popped up simultaneously.
Shangshan Che’s face lit up with joy, the Woodcutting Knife itching to go.
Compared to ordinary farmers, Stout Farmers are just a bit stronger and harder to kill; three together is somewhat tricky.
But only somewhat tricky.
He couldn’t let these 90 Soul Ash get away.
With that thought, Shangshan Che quickly approached, making no effort to conceal his presence.
For him, even dying here wouldn’t matter—as long as these three farmers died before him, it was a win.
“Big brothers, I’m right here!”
Shangshan Che shouted loudly, instantly drawing the attention of the three Stout Farmers.
“Roar! Roar roar!”
Upon clearly seeing the Western-style School Uniform on Shangshan Che, the three farmers seemed greatly provoked and charged at him like mad.
“Come on!”
Shangshan Che tried his best to suppress his upturned mouth, exhaling all the Ki in his body in one breath.
Laughing Hannya’s already robust Body climbed another level; muscles bulged on his cyan-black arms, and as Shangshan Che charged, he even brought gusts of whistling wind.
Before the three somewhat clumsy Stout Farmers could react, Shangshan Che crashed into them like a black shadow, using the momentum of his run to deeply embed the Woodcutting Knife into the neck of the middle farmer.
Wait, why does the feedback feel off this time?
Realizing he couldn’t pull out the Woodcutting Knife, Shangshan Che sensed trouble and noticed the three Stout Farmers had identical blood-red affixes above their heads.
【Three Men Make a Tiger: When the number of farmers in a certain range increases, all farmers’ Physique is enhanced. Current number: 3】
Shangshan Che felt no regret, just raised his face and drew an emotionless smile.
In the instant the three farmers were crowd-controlled, Shangshan Che pinned the one directly in front to the ground, then slashed with all his Power to sever the neck tougher than a tree trunk.
Before he could smash the skull, the attack from behind landed heavily.
Looking down at the Scythe Blade Tip piercing through his chest, Shangshan Che vomited blood, trembling as he stomped the skull to pieces and abandoned the now-useless Woodcutting Knife at close range.
The blue-faced, fanged Laughing Hannya opened its mouth, grinning ferociously as it pounced toward the nearest farmer.
“Die for me!”
