250: Am I the villain?

Xu Le rubbed his chest and asked cheerfully, "Old man, have you seen a girl who looks eighty or ninety percent like me? She should be accompanied by a girl with a timid expression and a physique far exceeding her peers."

The old man raised his hand again, and the heat in Xu Le's chest increased by another degree. With two Heat packs in his bosom, the coldness from his bike ride was dispelled.

Xu Le turned and continued his inquiry, and soon two more Heat packs were added to his back.

With four Heat packs on him, the coldness had completely vanished. Xu Le's expression changed, and he shouted sternly, "In broad daylight... er, darkness, under the watchful eyes of heaven, you actually attacked me without a word. Is there no king's law? Is there no justice? Ghost, kill her."

Ghost did not manifest. Instead, it condensed a long whip and swung it down casually. The whip struck the old man, but he vanished and reappeared on the other side.

The whip fell again, and the old man teleported once more, returning to his original position.

The whip fell yet again, and Xu Le hurriedly commanded, "Try hitting the lantern in his hand."

The whip changed course mid-air and struck the lantern perfectly. The light went out, and the old man vanished along with it.

Xu Le stepped forward and felt around, but he couldn't sense anything at all.

The screams vanished.

Xu Le continued running toward the source of the sound and saw two piles of ashes. An ill feeling arose in his heart; the old man's strength was even greater than he had imagined. The "Heat pack" was only a warming effect on him, but for others, it was a lethal attack.

"Ah—"

A scream came, and Xu Le immediately followed it, only to see four lantern-bearing old men chasing after someone.

"Make it quick, and remember to help me save Mental Energy!"

Xu Le reminded Ghost, fearing it would be like Xu Huan's Golden Dragon—looking majestic in battle but exhausting itself in just a few minutes.

"Master, with me here, don't worry!"

Ghost expressed its loyalty. It still didn't manifest, only reaching out an arm to lash out with a whip.

Snap snap snap snap!

The whip cracked, circling once in the air, and directly extinguished all four lanterns.

"Good job!" Xu Le praised and rushed toward the source of the scream.

He saw a Golden Dragon dancing among five lantern-bearing old men, the Dragon Pearl in its mouth attacking incessantly; a Snowman was brandishing Ice Cones and occasionally throwing snowballs, looking quite formidable.

The five lantern-bearing old men seemed to be in a sorry state, but they were actually quite leisurely. They were fast, every step quick, and the two girls couldn't catch them at all.

Wang Xueting also realized this and directed the Snowman to turn around and besiege one Lantern-bearing old man together with the Golden Dragon.

The other four old men immediately stopped in place, their hands slowly beginning to rise.

Wang Xueting was startled and hurriedly directed the Snowman to continue the pursuit.

Clearly, the opponent was draining the two girls' Mental Energy.

The two girls knew this as well, but they were helpless and could only follow the opponent's rhythm.

"Ghost, kill them!"

Xu Le, wearing a motorcycle helmet, approached the two.

The five lantern-bearing old men also noticed this and two of them immediately split off toward him.

"Run quickly, don't let them raise their hands!" both girls warned at the same time.

Unfortunately, their warning was too slow.

The two old men raised their right hands, and Xu Le felt his chest warm up again.

A whip appeared out of thin air, striking the lanterns in the two old men's hands, causing them to vanish instantly.

A second whip lash went out, and the lanterns in the hands of the remaining three lantern-bearing old men were all extinguished, and the three figures vanished along with them.

The two girls stood dazed; beings they couldn't catch no matter how hard they tried were wiped out by the other party in an instant.

"So strong!"

Both girls saw the shock in each other's eyes and immediately recalled their ancestral spirits back to their spaces; they were also reaching their limits.

Xu Huan looked at Xu Le, her gaze filled with doubt; the more she looked, the more familiar he seemed.

Xu Le felt a bit uncomfortable and said muffledly, "Follow me."

The doubt in Xu Huan's eyes deepened. She looked at her best friend and found that her eyes held the same suspicion.

Xu Le secretly breathed a sigh of relief. When he left, he had specifically worn leather clothes and pants he had never worn before, plus the helmet on his head; he was confident the two girls wouldn't recognize him.

Xu Huan found him more and more familiar and suddenly blurted out, "Xu Le, it really is you!"

"..."

Xu Le's posture didn't change. He acted as if he hadn't heard and continued walking forward.

Xu Huan also breathed a sigh of relief and pulled her friend along to follow.

When the three reached the village entrance, a dense crowd of lantern-bearing old men blocked their way, their lanterns illuminating a large area of darkness. At a glance, there were no fewer than 2,000 of them.

Even though he had expected it, Xu Le still felt it was a bit terrifying. "Stay back a bit, be careful of accidental injury."

"Brother, you be careful too." Xu Huan nodded and pulled her friend back a bit.

Xu Le: "..."

The lantern-bearing old men closed in, the dense lanterns filled with scorching killing intent.

Xu Le communicated with Ghost in his mind: "Have you seen where its original body is?"

They were all Clones. If it were before, he would have easily eliminated them, but now he was afraid his Mental Energy wouldn't hold out. He could only wait for the opponent to get a bit closer so every move would deal maximum damage.

Of course, it would be best if he could find the original body and kill it in one blow!

When they were a meter away, the lantern-bearing old men stopped advancing and instead raised their hands to launch the "Heat pack" attack.

Xu Le charged straight at them, but the lantern-bearing old men retreated as a whole. Helpless, Xu Le could only order Ghost to act.

Snap snap snap snap... With one whip strike, seven lanterns were extinguished. More old men raised their hands simultaneously, and Xu Le felt as if he had jumped into a bathtub, his whole body feeling warm and cozy.

Ghost continuously swung the long whip, and more and more lantern-bearing old men fell, while Xu Le's Mental Energy consumption also increased.

Seeing that they couldn't take down Xu Le, the lantern-bearing old men dropped their lanterns and vanished.

The dense lanterns formed a Giant over ten meters tall, like a deity.

The Giant waved its hand, and a large ball of scorching fire smashed down. Xu Le hurriedly dodged, and a pit the size of a washbasin was blasted into the ground, scorched earth splattering and stinging as it hit him.

"Brother, run!" Xu Huan's voice carried a sob.

She was already certain the person in front was Xu Le. Although he wore a helmet, a person's habitual movements couldn't be hidden.

The Golden Dragon flew out from the space, appearing alongside the Snowman holding an Ice Cone... they had to fight for their lives!

The two girls' eyes were full of determination.

Xu Le saw the change in the lanterns but was pleasantly surprised rather than alarmed. Ghost extended an arm from the space, and with a lift and a roll of the whip, it directly extinguished over a hundred lanterns.

This was just the beginning. As one whip crack ended, a second one coiled up, then a third, a fourth... The lanterns along the way were like paper, unable to stop the whip's progress at all. In less than three seconds, the lanterns below the Giant's waist were all destroyed.

The Giant's upper body began to fall, and then more lanterns were extinguished.

Flee, flee, flee... The lanterns didn't have much intelligence, but they still had a fear of death, and they scattered to try and escape.

Ghost moved the whip like the wind, continuously exploding the lanterns that tried to float away, wiping them out completely.

The two girls, who had originally prepared to fight to the death, were now stunned in place. They had no idea what they could do, and they could even barely distinguish between the human in front of them and the lanterns in the sky—who exactly was the villain?

They even felt that those lanterns were a bit pitiful.