yasinovel Chapter 8: Disaster Appears, the Huai River Changes Again; Recruitment, the First Follower
Chapter 8: Disaster Appears, the Huai River Changes Again; Recruitment, the First Follower
Ji Lin swayed from side to side as he struggled to walk out of the room, where he saw that the bearded man was already faintly awake.
"Something's wrong! Hurry, Big Beard!" he shouted.
Huang Yu had no idea what was happening, so he hurriedly ran after him. As soon as he stood up, he was knocked to the ground again by the shock. After falling two or three times in a row, he finally got used to it.
The two hurriedly went downstairs, and as soon as they stepped out the door, the outside world transformed into a magnificent palace. On the main hall sat a golden chair engraved with dragon patterns, and a middle-aged man dressed in a dragon robe sat upright.
"General Ji, you have quelled all the abnormal events within the territory of my Great Qian and brought an end to the era of abnormality. I hereby bestow upon you the title of Prince."
The Emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty ordered someone to bring over a blue imperial robe, which Ji Lin accepted with both hands, his heart filled with excitement.
Have I finally fulfilled my mission?
He is extending his hands to end the era of anomalous behavior and be crowned king.
Just then, a system notification sounded:
[System detected a disaster]
Mirage
[Level: Calamity]
[Characteristics: Causes hallucinations and triggers floods]
Upon seeing the system's notification, Ji Lin realized that it was all an illusion, and the scene before him was fake.
But it felt so real that I didn't realize it was an illusion.
"General Ji, why don't you answer?" The Emperor of Daqian's tone became serious.
"Your Majesty, he can be overthrown and replaced."
Ji Lin bit his palm, where nerve endings made him feel the pain more intensely.
The ground gradually sank, the walls slowly collapsed, and the main hall crumbled. In an instant, the view was restored.
He opened his eyes, but the people on the boat had vanished. He saw the river level rise rapidly, creating a raging storm. Looking down, he saw no palace at all, only the edge of the bow of the boat. If he took another step forward, he would be swallowed by the giant wave in front of him.
The bearded man standing to the side was extremely angry, as if he was about to fight someone, and he looked like he was about to take a step forward.
Ji Lin grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back sharply, slamming him against the ship's hull. Only then was the bearded man awakened.
"Don't stop me!! I'm going to kill it!!!" Huang Yu roared angrily.
"Big Beard, wake up! We're in big trouble." Ji Lin reached out and pulled him up.
Huang Yu was shocked to see this.
In the Huai River, a huge black shadow stood, several meters tall, with countless tentacles extending out, churning the river waves, and giant waves were rushing towards it.
"No good, jump quickly!!" Ji Lin did not hesitate. He immediately transformed into his demonic form, leaped up, crossed the river, and jumped to the riverbank.
Huang Yu followed closely behind.
The floodwaters surged over the riverbanks and began to spread to the surrounding areas. No houses or villages along the Huai River escaped being submerged, resulting in countless deaths and injuries...
"Brother, what is this thing? Why is it so terrifying?" Huang Yu asked, covered in sweat.
"A catastrophic creature called a water mirage, capable of creating illusions and causing floods," Ji Lin said urgently.
"Wow, bro, you know a lot! That weird thing just now, could it be... you killed it?" Huang Yu looked at him with admiration.
"We'll talk about it when we get back."
The two walked through the streets and alleys, and returned to human form.
Suddenly, they saw a large group of people carrying torches coming towards them, numbering over a thousand.
The county magistrate rode slowly up on a tall white horse. "Young Master Ji, are you returning from the direction of the Huai River? Are you injured?"
"That's right, I'm fine, it's just..." Ji Lin told him everything he had just seen.
The magistrate, sweating profusely and trembling slightly, uttered his harsh words:
"This monster dares to harm my people! I will surely eradicate it and rid the people of this scourge!"
Although it was just empty talk, the people's morale was immediately boosted when they heard the magistrate's determination.
The magistrate wanted Ji Lin to return to his residence first, because he couldn't bear the responsibility if anything happened to the young master of the Ji family.
Ji Lin said with righteous indignation, "As a member of Xiong'an County, especially a member of the Ji family, how can I be afraid of death?"
He was determined to obtain these extraordinary resources from this disaster, so why would he give them up so easily?
He followed closely behind the group and was surprised to find that there were many top-notch experts and grandmasters in the group, and even other awakened individuals were also involved.
The water level is still rising, and if the devastation is not stopped in time, the flood will soon inundate the entire Xiong'an County.
The magistrate mobilized the county's only two warships, each over ten zhang long.
And dozens of other fishing boats, large and small,
Everyone boarded the ship in an orderly fashion. The county magistrate, along with his own troops and the Ji family's well-equipped hundred armored soldiers, as well as skilled warriors and awakened individuals, boarded the warship first, including Ji Lin and Huang Yu.
"sail!!"
At the magistrate's command, the two warships immediately set sail, with the other fishing boats following closely behind, steadily heading towards the disaster area.
The massive black shadow loomed before them, and everyone frowned, their nerves on edge.
"Wait! We can't go any further!" Ji Lin suddenly shouted.
"Why...why?" The people around him were startled by his sudden shout.
"That monster has many tentacles, can attack with water waves, and can also cause hallucinations. If you rush at it directly, it's tantamount to suicide," Ji Lin explained.
"So what do we do now?" the magistrate asked urgently.
Ji Lin only said one word: "Wait."
When that calamity comes of its own accord, there are several awakened beings standing here, and it will surely launch an attack on its own kind.
The magistrate was puzzled, but seeing that none of the experts present had any objections, he had no choice but to acquiesce to his plan.
With that in mind, Ji Lin decided to continue adding anomaly points to Agility.
Agility increased from 15 to 17 points, and the number of outliers decreased to 0.
If one were to fuse with demonic blood and reach a new limit, their strength would likely far surpass that of a grandmaster martial artist.
Just then, the giant black shadow slowly approached, and in the firelight, the monster's appearance could be vaguely seen.
Its entire body is a semi-circular lid, entirely blue and semi-transparent, several meters tall, with hundreds of tentacles growing from its body, making it look like a giant jellyfish covered with octopus tentacles.
"They're here. Be on guard!!"
One of the awakened beings activated the demonic ability [Entangle] first, sending out a dozen thick black strands like vines.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle"
The black stripe bound its tentacles in several bundles, and some even passed directly through its body, holding it tightly.
The soldiers behind then lowered the anchor rope to stabilize the ship.
"Now! Fire the arrows!!"
The soldiers drew their bows and nocked arrows, and hundreds of arrows flew towards the monster in unison. Most of them pierced its body, which seemed quite soft.
The monster didn't struggle at all, but instead let out a melodious song, like the playing of a zither and a pipa, followed by the sound of bells and drums.
Everyone was stunned and didn't know what to do, but Ji Lin knew very well that this guy was either creating floods or illusions.
A moment later, the soldiers' spears and bows scattered on the ground with a clatter, and then they began to do strange things: some jumped into the water, some danced with their hands and feet, and some sang loudly.
Ji Lin bit his own hand, while his other hand gripped the back of the awakened one tightly, his foot planted firmly on Huang Yu's...
The melodious singing lasted for a full quarter of an hour before stopping.
Only then did the monster begin to struggle fiercely, dragging and pulling at the awakened one's body, violently slamming against the ship's edge.
"Bang bang bang!!"
"Quick!! Come help!!!"
The dozen or so experts who regained consciousness first, along with Ji Lin and Huang Yu, clung tightly to the body of the awakened one, but it was still difficult.
Although the monster was not of a high level, its pulling power in the water was unparalleled.
"What happened? Wasn't I just working overtime all night? How did I end up here?"
"Don't you know? Young Master Ji just said it was all an illusion."
Most of the soldiers had come to their senses and the magistrate continued to order an attack.
"Shoot an arrow!! Shoot an arrow!!!"
The battle reached a stalemate. Seeing that the time was right, Ji Lin leaped up and quickly fell into the water with a splash.
The river water was icy cold, freezing his hands and feet until he was stiff and shivering all over.
"Young Master Ji is in danger!!" the magistrate exclaimed anxiously.
Ji Lin immediately transformed into a demon, and swimming in the water was still difficult. He continued to swim towards the core of the water mirage, while shouts from the ship could be heard incessantly.
"Found it, this is it." Relying on his own sense of the abnormal energy, he was quite certain that he had swum to the area close to the core.
He looked up and saw an eye more than three meters wide, glowing blue, staring intently at him, which was terrifying.
Ji Lin aimed at the core area above and activated [Demonic Aspect: Shadow Strike], half of his body disappearing into the giant eye.
*Pfft*
He stepped aside and took out a blue sphere about the size of his palm.
【Ding】
[Abnormal substance detected: Mirage core]
[Should it be devoured?]
"Yes." He wanted to finish swallowing the food in the water to avoid being discovered.
[Successfully devoured, obtained: Mark of Calamity - Water Illusion]
[Physical fitness breakthrough of 20 points]
Ji Lin felt his muscles become very firm, the cold sensation subsided considerably, and his body's resistance to cold and blows greatly increased.
After its core was removed, the calamity rapidly shrank, becoming only the size of a cotton blanket.
He surfaced and, in the process, tossed its carcass onto the boat.
"Plop"
The crowd gathered around in astonishment, eager to see what it was that possessed such power.
As the clams died, the floodwaters gradually receded.
"Thanks to Young Master Ji, you are truly a great hero of our Xiong'an County!!" The county magistrate complimented, and ordered someone to hand over a set of clean clothes for Ji Lin to change into.
"Hehehe, what are you saying, sir? Protecting our home is everyone's responsibility." Ji Lin grinned from ear to ear and replied happily.
He gained a lot this time; his physical condition increased by a full 10 points, and he also gained a calamity mark.
The soldiers cleaned up the battlefield, counted their numbers, and returned in triumph.
After everyone returned to the county town, Ji Lin gave Huang Yu a deep look.
"Big Beard, what are your plans for the future?"
"Continue to roam the martial world, slaying demons and monsters."
"What a magnificent display of demon-slaying, Big Beard!"
"I plan to build a team dedicated to handling anomalous events and collecting anomalous materials. We'll continuously grow stronger to cope with the resurgence of anomalous events, until... we end the era of anomalous events. Hmm... let's call it... Night Patrol! Would you like to join us?"
Ji Lin's eyes were firm as he extended his right hand.
Huang Yu's eyes lit up. After thinking about it carefully, he felt that what he said made a lot of sense. It was like a ray of dawn, illuminating the hope in his heart.
Wandering the world alone will never amount to anything.
"Hahaha, bro, I agree with that idea, I'll work for you from now on!!" He gripped Ji Lin's hand tightly, his blood surging, his heart pounding with excitement.