"No, nothing, I just had a nightmare," I said, getting up from my seat.
It was already evening, so after grabbing our things, we headed off to find a place to sleep. Xu Zhaoting kept looking at me with suspicion and worry in his eyes. I probably would have acted the same if I had been told that a person I thought I knew well had killed someone. I walked in a daze, coming to my senses after the nightmare. Am I really that kind of person? But what worried me even more was why this nightmare affected me so much. I thought I had come to terms with having killed people, accepted this fact for myself, and treated it indifferently, as if it were some unique but not earth-shattering event.
I am more than sure, I know for a fact that I will have to kill many more people. So why did this nightmare literally knock the ground out from under my feet and penetrate me to the depths of my soul? And another thing, I'm not sure if I don't have that kind of smile when I kill, like the silhouette in the nightmare had, a devilish, otherworldly, fear-inducing smile. Why am I not sure? Because it can appear involuntarily, and I can't see myself from the outside!
We found a place to sleep with some difficulty, somewhere on the edge of the city, at a relatively low price. Almost immediately after dinner, I dropped my things and went to bed. Xu Zhaoting, on the other hand, began cultivating with the help of his new tool. Unfortunately, my sleep could not be called peaceful in any way. The nightmare I had during the flight repeated itself, further undermining my moral state.
Only this time, at the moment when the pseudo-me stood opposite me, he didn't shake me, but instead, with a devilish smile, he began to look at me. He stood as if mocking me, with his arms folded at chest level. This sight made me even more uneasy. Imagine looking at yourself, but in the next moment, a devil in your likeness is looking at you. It was very strange and frightening; his gaze was like that of a seasoned killer and filled me with terror.
He just stood there and did nothing, but his very appearance, his smile, his eyes, all froze me and prevented me from moving. Around us was a bloody sea, perfectly smooth, without ripples or signs of land, and he stood like the ruler of this watery expanse stretching to the horizon.
I woke up in the morning, all wet, although I no longer felt the obvious horror as in movies. I was even surprised at myself for how I could be scared of him. He just stood and smiled; yes, his gaze was that of a killer, but wasn't I a killer myself? However, as soon as I remembered him, goosebumps ran down my spine. It was some kind of inner fear; it expressed a pure and genuine desire to kill, and at the same time, it was me! The realization of this fact led to another wave of goosebumps; I clearly don't want to become such a monster.
Of course, I am not a saint, as I said before, but I am not a monster who kills everyone indiscriminately. I quite like my life as a hunter; although it cannot be called peaceful, for me, it is quite so. I want to become stronger so that no one can take it away from me. Right now, although I am not afraid of many mid-level mages, not all of them, and what about high-level and supreme-level mages? And curse mages? Monsters of the leader, commander, general, and emperor levels, or even stronger? Now there are too many who can kill me with a snap of their fingers, and for that not to happen, I must become stronger!
Also, I don't want anyone to harm Lin Yun'er. Of course, we parted ways, but as it turned out, this is not the end. But unfortunately, there is no time now to resume a relationship with her. To be able to live with her without worrying about anything, I first need to deal with the guardians, and for that, I need to become stronger.
With these thoughts, I went to wash up. Xu Zhaoting was still asleep and didn't see all my inner torments, so he shouldn't worry. After he woke up, we packed our things and headed into the jungle surrounding Lake Taihu. Although it was almost the end of September, it was still quite warm, so not much differed from the summer period.
However, the forest near Huzhou was different from the forest near Suzhou; it was a more dangerous place. If the Suzhou area was inhabited by not many dangerous species of animals, and pack leaders were rare, then in the Huzhou area, the situation was completely different. There were a large number of quite dangerous monsters here. To say nothing of it, even ordinary insects could poison you, and you would die a couple of days later if you couldn't find an antidote.
But this also played into our hands; a greater variety of species gave hunters the opportunity to obtain a large number of different resources and sell them on the magical market, earning a substantial sum of money. In addition to the monsters we had already encountered near Suzhou, giant newts, red foxes, and giant alligators. But also species that evolved from the first into pack leaders, namely red-eyed newts, fire foxes, and earth or water alligators. The strength of these creatures varies from low or junior leaders to high or senior leaders, although they are encountered less frequently. And there are also other types of monsters that are even more valuable than these leaders.
Naturally, Xu Zhaoting and I were not going to kill leaders; we couldn't handle them. Although I wanted to test my strength on a red-eyed newt, only its eyes are valuable, in which a large part of the magical energy is concentrated. Moreover, for this, I would have to use all my strength, and my companion should not know about them yet. So we went for the alligators; we can handle killing them, especially since my daggers made from the teeth of three-eyed wolves should now easily cut through their skin.
Unfortunately, we couldn't find a single specimen, and until Xu Zhaoting breaks through to the intermediate level, I don't want to risk fighting even two at once. By evening, we found one such alligator. It came ashore to rest in the rays of the setting sun. The plan was simple: Zhao Ting would attack its leg with lightning wrath, after which I would cut it off using wind step, and while this was happening, my partner would continue the attack.
The first part of the plan went perfectly; Zhao Ting easily hit the alligator's leg, after which it ran towards him. At this moment, I jumped out from behind the bushes and, at high speed, dodged its teeth and cut off its paw. The alligator was distracted by me, trying to crush me with its tail, from which I jumped aside, dodging, while Zhao Ting unleashed lightning wrath into its head, significantly disorienting it and drawing its attention to himself.
Meanwhile, I didn't hesitate and jumped to its head, piercing both eyes, causing it to roar and open its mouth with a powerful movement. I recoiled backward along its back and was knocked over by its tail, which it swung indiscriminately from pain. Fortunately, I didn't suffer serious injuries, only a slight bruise, and was able to regain my balance and jump away using wind step.
Meanwhile, the alligator died from another lightning wrath. The blow landed directly in its open mouth, incinerating all the monster's internal organs. As I said earlier, this monster had two valuable things: its skin, from which armor is made, and its fangs, from which weapons are made. After catching my breath, I went to dismantle the alligator, which would bring us about three to four hundred thousand. Quite a lot, isn't it? But if divided by two, it's not so much, only one hundred and fifty, at best two hundred thousand. And if you consider that teams usually consist of four to ten people, how many such alligators do they need to kill to be in the black? One would barely be enough for a modest life for a month, and what hunter wants that? Is that why they risk their lives?
And such a sum is obtained thanks to the fact that the alligator's skin is practically undamaged, and can a team of beginner mages kill this monster like that? And would teams of intermediate mages covet such a trifle? It's easier for them to kill someone stronger than to suffer with these alligators. So it's not all that expensive and rosy for us.
"Jiaxing Yun, I think we should return to the city and sell everything we can from this alligator tomorrow," said Xu Zhaoting, approaching me.
"And you don't want another one and to earn more, as well as to train your skills?" I asked with a smile.
"I don't mind, but you got injured, and besides, most alligators here walk in groups, not alone. And there are plenty of other monsters," said Xu Zhaoting, lost in thought. "If we want to hunt successfully here, we should go every couple of days and hunt not only alligators but also those giant spiders. I heard their poison and chitinous shells are also worth a lot. And we've been around about a dozen of their dens."
"A very good idea, but we can also go for a couple of days," I shrugged, distracted from butchering the alligator. I need to be in nature for my cultivation to be effective.
"Yes, but I need more time for cultivation," Xu Zhaoting said with a sigh. "I can't cultivate in the forest like you, so my development suffers because of it. Before I had a magical tool, it wasn't such a big problem. The effect I got from hunting monsters significantly surpassed what I could get by cultivating all this time. Now, it's not quite like that. I can get a greater effect with less intense hunting. I hope you don't mind such a selfish act. I can lend you my tool for a while; you also have lightning magic, and even the stars are not subject to it."
"Ye-e-es..." I drawled, lost in thought. He is right in many ways, although I can only cultivate effectively in nature, but he doesn't know that. So the situation is that for the sake of meager profit, I am dragging him into mortal danger and at the same time not allowing him to cultivate fully. "Alright, we'll go to the forest twice a week, and cultivate the rest of the time. And yes, I don't need your tool, thank you. It's yours, and if I also start using it, its effect might decrease," I said after a minute of thought. Why so rarely? Because I decided to go to the forest alone without him; it will be even easier, no need to worry about him. Also, such a long cultivation time will allow him to break through to the intermediate level soon, and we will be able to kill more alligators.
"Thank you, but isn't that too rare?" he asked me, lost in thought.
"No, it's quite normal; many go even less often, once a week or two. Besides, I plan to kill many more monsters at once, not just to make a living," I replied, returning to my work.
Soon I finished, and we returned to the city. There were no problems with lodging; we stayed where we were yesterday. This time I didn't go to bed immediately but sat for a long time studying the books I took from Pin Zhoulun. The ability to create my own artifacts is worth a lot; I can create artifacts that will perfectly suit me, tune them to the smallest details with the highest precision.
I fell asleep imperceptibly. I had almost forgotten the nightmare that tormented me all day, but at night it reminded me of itself. There were practically no differences; the same visions that didn't affect me well. This time, a scene of killing today's alligator was added. It was analogous to the one in reality, only the devilish smile, instilling fear, was on my face the whole time.
If everything was really like that, then Xu Zhaoting must have seen it? But then why didn't he tell me anything about it? Or do I always have such a smile, and he just doesn't pay attention to it? Be that as it may, the nightmare ended the same way as the previous one; the pseudo-me stood opposite me with his arms folded on his chest, instilling terror with his appearance.