211: Hunt in the dark, Wailer!

Night devoured the last vestiges of light.

A chilling night wind swept through, and a thin layer of black mist inexplicably rose from the street.

The mist didn't seem like naturally formed water vapor; it was more like countless resentments and despair condensed into a Soul, slowly flowing along the deserted street.

Within the mist, the "clatter" of chains dragging on the ground could be faintly heard, along with intermittent weeping and wailing.

"Beware of the darkness…"

The innkeeper's deranged words echoed in Idora's mind.

She peered through a crack in the window at the eerie black mist outside, her face pale, her body trembling uncontrollably.

"Gulu?" Gun Gun sensed her tension and gently patted her hand with his small paw, his eyes full of comfort.

Idora forced a smile, stroking Gun Gun's fluffy head.

With this little guy by her side, much of the fear in her heart was indeed dispelled.

At the same time, on the first floor of the inn.

The seven or eight mercenaries quietly pushed open the main door and, like ghosts, merged into the black mist outside.

The phantom that Bai Lingyue had transformed into followed behind them, like a part of the night.

These desperadoes showed no fear of the black mist; instead, they seemed quite excited.

The One-Eyed Dragon leader took out a fist-sized black lantern from his 懷. The lantern's shade was not paper, but a translucent crystal, inside which a constantly struggling ball of light was imprisoned.

He ordered in a low voice, "Old rules, light the lamp and hang it up, quickly. We need to gather enough goods tonight, or we'll all be in trouble."

A scrawny mercenary took the lantern and skillfully hung it on a long pole, holding it high.

The light within the lantern seemed to contain a strange attraction. As it appeared, the faint wailing in the surrounding black mist became noticeably clearer and more urgent.

Some blurry, distorted humanoid black shadows slowly gathered from every corner of the street towards the direction of the lantern.

"Prepare the Soul-binding Chainss!" the One-Eyed Dragon ordered again.

Several mercenaries unfastened bundles of black chains, shimmering with silver runes, from their waists.

Bai Lingyue stopped on a distant rooftop, her figure concealed in the shadows.

She looked at the equipment, her Phoenix eyes slightly narrowed.

Soul Guiding Lantern, Soul-binding Chains...

They were using malicious Magical Artifacts specifically designed to deal with spiritual entities.

By using pain to stimulate intense resentment, they then used these Souls as Materials.

Their methods were even worse than those of the Demonic Path.

"Captain, look over there!" a mercenary suddenly pointed to a nearby alley.

A translucent Soul, completely entangled in chains, was seen stumbling out of the alley, drawn by the light of the Soul Guiding Lantern.

Its face was contorted with pain, only able to emit a silent wail.

"Damn it, finally something decent," the One-Eyed Dragon's eyes were full of greed.

"Third Brother, Fourth Brother, you two go! Capture it alive, don't break it. Those white-robed guys from the church are very picky about the quality of the goods!"

Two mercenaries understood, moving silently to encircle it from left and right.

The Soul-binding Chainss in their hands, like two living venomous snakes, drew cunning arcs in the air, coiling around the wailer's limbs.

The wailer sensed danger, let out a shrill shriek, and turned to flee back into the alley.

"Trying to run?" one of the mercenaries sneered, yanking the chain hard.

Clatter!

The silver runes on the Soul-binding Chains instantly lit up. The wailer shrieked in even greater pain, as if branded by a hot iron, and its entire spiritual body trembled violently.

At that very moment, the other mercenary's chain also ensnared it.

Both pulled with force, binding the wailer tightly in place, then dragged it, step by step, towards the One-Eyed Dragon, who held a specially made black crystal bottle.

Bai Lingyue watched this scene calmly, without a ripple in her eyes.

She was more interested in what they intended to do by collecting so many resentful Souls.

Inside the inn room, Mo Yan sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes closed tightly.

He hadn't gone out, but the entire town's energy flow was within his perception.

He could feel streams of resentment, like creeks, converging from all directions of the town towards a single point, then being roughly cut off and captured by some external force.

At the same time, there were several life energies, mixed with blood and greed, moving back and forth in the most concentrated area of resentment.

Mo Yan slowly opened his eyes, a hint of coldness flashing within them.

He looked towards the direction of the densest black mist outside the window—that was the town's graveyard.

"Tonight will likely not be peaceful."

In the black mist, the mercenaries' hunt continued.

In less than an hour, they had successfully captured seven or eight wailers. The crystal bottle in the One-Eyed Dragon's hand was already filled with struggling, pained Souls.

"That's enough, let's call it a night!" the One-Eyed Dragon said with satisfaction, looking at the crystal bottle in his hand. "Good haul tonight, we'll get a lot of money for this when we go back."

Hearing this, the mercenaries all showed relaxed smiles and put away their tools.

Just as the One-Eyed Dragon was about to grin, the ground beneath his feet trembled slightly without warning.

The black mist throughout the entire town grew denser.

The previously intermittent wails now converged into a deafening roar, as if hundreds or thousands of people were screaming in their ears simultaneously!

"What's going on?!" the One-Eyed Dragon's face changed.

"Captain, look… look at the sky!" a mercenary pointed to the sky, his voice distorted by fear, his teeth chattering.

Everyone looked up and saw the black mist above Black Crow Town gathering towards the graveyard at a visible speed, forming a massive black vortex that obscured the stars and moon.

In the center of the vortex, a pair of gigantic, crimson eyes suddenly opened!

This was an energy far surpassing any wailer they had encountered before!

As those crimson giant eyes opened, the temperature of the entire Black Crow Town plummeted by dozens of degrees. The biting cold penetrated their leather armor, invading their bodies directly.

A terrifying pressure descended from the sky, making all the mercenaries feel their legs weaken, almost forcing them to their knees!

"Damn it, it's a Body Integration! We've startled the big guy!" The greed and relaxation on the One-Eyed Dragon's face vanished instantly.

These Body Integrations were monsters formed when countless wailers, nourished by resentment, devoured and fused with each other.

It was no longer a mere spiritual entity, but a vengeful spirit with nascent intelligence and terrifying power.

This kind of thing was simply not something their level of mercenary squad could handle!

"Retreat! Quickly retreat to the church!" the One-Eyed Dragon made an immediate decision, roaring.

He grabbed the crystal bottle filled with Souls and turned to run.

However, it was too late.

The gigantic vengeful spirit Body Integration in the sky let out a Soul-shaking roar.

It extended a claw, made of countless twisted arms, from the black mist vortex and slammed it down towards the mercenaries on the ground!

The terrifying gust of wind pressed down on everyone, making them gasp for breath.

"Disperse!" the One-Eyed Dragon's eyes were bloodshot.

The mercenaries, after all, were desperadoes who lived by the sword; their reactions were swift, and they instinctively dove in all directions.

Boom—!

The massive claw smashed into the spot where they had just been standing. The stone-slab ground was pulverized like tofu, and a crater several meters deep appeared.

Around the edge of the pit, circles of black resentment lingered, constantly corroding everything around them.

One mercenary, whose reaction was slightly slower, was merely grazed by the resentment. Half of his body shriveled and withered at a visible speed. After a short, tragic scream, he turned into a skin-and-bones corpse and fell to the ground.

"Seventh Brother!" a mercenary roared in grief and indignation.