Chapter 25: Dance of the Malevolent Spirits

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Dachun followed the bat underwater. Just as he watched it fly into a corner of the wall, the glowing orb blurred along with it.

There was a hole at the top of the wall! Sure enough, there was a cavern.

Dachun immediately surfaced, only to be greeted by a swarm of buzzing cockroaches. Fortunately, the pressure aura of the holy artifact was still active, so they merely veered around him instead of crashing into him.

Dachun suddenly realized that everything around him was pitch-black. Aside from being able to see the bat’s glowing orb through the wall, he could see nothing at all. His previously enhanced vantage point, which had allowed him to survey the entire area and spot the dense masses of rats and cockroaches, was completely gone.

Was it because the bat had entered the tunnel?

Dachun abruptly understood. “Ailian, does this bat count as your avatar? Were we sharing its vision earlier?”

Ailian gave a soft “Oh.” “And what do you plan to do about it?”

Could that really be the case? Dachun grew anxious. “It would be a waste to kill it!”

Ailian snorted. “I never said we absolutely had to kill it. You decide! Aren’t you supposed to be lucky?”

That was true. The mission was to “deal with” the vampire bat. Killing it would satisfy her grudge, but completely subduing it would bring far greater benefits. No matter how he dealt with it, she would be pleased.

Dachun suddenly noticed that the bat’s glowing orb had stopped moving. “Has it gone back to its lair to rest?”

Ailian laughed. “Or perhaps it got so fat from all the blood it drank that it’s stuck in the tunnel?”

What the hell, stuck? If that was really what had happened, his luck was almost too good to be true!

Dachun immediately climbed ashore. His foot was still injured, but fortunately, it had not become infected.

He touched the wall. It was covered in slick moss. With only Level One Climbing, there was no way he could scale it into the hole above. He would have to find something to stand on—but in the surrounding darkness, where was he supposed to look? Even if he managed to feel his way to a few scattered stones or bricks, they would be of little use.

Then Dachun suddenly thought of the Dog King’s corpse and the Corpse-Eating Fish King’s corpse. Both were large enough to be floating in the water and could be dragged over. With his own carrying capacity of four hundred points, he might even be able to haul them ashore and use them as stepping stones.

So he turned back to drag the corpses over.

Dachun trudged along the water’s edge while his pets followed through the water. The pressure aura of his holy artifact and the Fish King’s pressure formed a double barrier, driving away every flying insect and rat. Even if the Rat King or Cockroach King appeared, his purification warning would alert him in time, allowing him to jump into the water and hide.

The sensation was practically that of being the King of the Sewers!

Once he became stronger, he could team up with Shirley and take down a wanted target—

Shirley! Right, there were no players watching now. He should let her know he was safe.

Dachun took out the Retainer Badge and put it on. At once, a series of messages from Shirley came through.

“Are you all right?”

“Are you in danger?”

“Where are you?”

Needless to say, after the citywide announcement, she had seen that he had done something major.

Dachun was excitedly preparing to reply when Ailian said coldly, “According to our contract, you are forbidden to reveal anything about me. Otherwise—”

Dachun froze. “Does the contract actually say that?”

Ailian sneered. “I have the final say in how it is interpreted. Still, this is a mage’s retainer badge. Surely you feel honored?”

Dachun was puzzled. “Why?”

Ailian laughed. “Do you know that the spell diagram in my diary was bought from an old witch? In her lifetime, she had more than a hundred retainers, and every single one died as cannon fodder. You’re nothing more than cannon fodder yourself.”

I’m a player. I’m not afraid of dying. Besides, she’s my long-term meal ticket. I’m perfectly willing!

Dachun was growing impatient. “Do you have to start stirring up trouble the moment you show up?”

Ailian became even more enthusiastic. “I’m an evil spirit. Nothing bothers me! You say you’ve fallen in love with that bitch Vivian. Is it true love or false love?”

Dachun was furious. “Don’t insult her!”

Ailian burst out laughing. “See? You didn’t answer directly. You hesitated!”

Dachun could only shift the subject back to her. “Could it be that everyone else is using me, while you, an evil spirit, are the one who actually treats me well?”

Ailian chuckled. “Try looking at it from another angle. Perhaps I’m the only person in this world you can truly rely on.”

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What kind of twisted logic was that?

Dachun was speechless. “What kind of bizarre angle would I have to use to arrive at that conclusion?”

Ailian chuckled. “Then think about it slowly. I’ll let you think in peace.”

At least she had finally quieted down.

But after that interruption, Dachun no longer felt like assuring Shirley that he was safe. How could he possibly claim to be safe in his current situation? Calling for help would be more accurate. He would only be wasting her precious day of study in the Mage Tower. It would be better to wait until he dealt with the bat and escaped before saying anything.

Now, Dachun found himself pondering the meaning behind Ailian’s words. Although she had not given him a mission reward, that single statement clearly represented a substantial increase in her affection for him.

Given his current predicament—having offended the consortium, with both Vivian and Shirley under the consortium’s watch and their missions potentially being intercepted—even if he had an avatar, that avatar still had a false angel acting as its supervisor. Once the consortium reached Hell, it could intercept that mission as well.

Nothing was secure.

Dachun asked, “Ailian, does that mean no one knows you exist?”

Ailian laughed. “I’m an insignificant dead nobody. You are the only person who knows I exist.”

Dachun suddenly understood.

That was her value. She possessed only him. She belonged exclusively to him, and there was no possibility of the consortium intercepting her.

Ailian asked with a smile, “Have you figured it out?”

Dachun was exceptionally humble. “I have. I was a little loud just now.”

Ailian burst out laughing. “Then complete my wish with a grateful heart. With my help, no matter what tricks that bitch Vivian plays or what airs she puts on, I can help you handle her!”

Uh… what?

Dachun suddenly remembered something. “Don’t you still have a mother and a younger sister?”

Ailian sighed. “Yes. They’re also buried under a mountain of debt, so we need to find a way to make the debts disappear. The only way would be to—”

What the hell? Was a mission to kill the creditors about to be triggered?

Dachun hurriedly cut her off. “Enough. Let’s deal with the bat first!”

Dachun found the floating corpses. The two were not far apart, and he decided to start by pushing the smaller corpse, that of the Dog King.

Before that, he ate some dry rations he had brought from the prison to restore his hunger and stamina. Fortunately, this was a game. Otherwise, what would it even feel like to eat in an environment like this?

Once his stamina had recovered, Dachun officially entered the water. The double pressure aura immediately drove away the dense school of tiny piranhas gnawing at the corpse.

He had to admit, the dog’s hide was remarkably thick and resistant to gnawing. If he had a small knife for practicing skinning, he might even have made a modest profit.

—System Notice: Congratulations! Your muscle memory has successfully recalled Beginner Swimming, Level Three… Health +1.

Excellent! Not only had he recovered a skill, but pushing the corpse was not as strenuous as he had imagined—

Wait. The piranhas had not actually gone far. They were churning at the edge of the pressure aura, and their movements were creating a current that pushed the corpse along.

There was actually such a convenient advantage?

Then he might as well use the dog’s corpse to push the Corpse-Eating Fish King’s corpse along with it.

That was what he intended, but in practice, things did not work out so neatly. It felt as though he were trying to balance a soccer ball on his head. He simply could not keep it steady.

After struggling for quite a while, Ailian grew impatient.

“Is that really how you’re applying force?”

Dachun was astonished. “You know how to do it?”

“I’ll take over!”

—System Notice: You have lost control of your body. You have activated the evil spirit possession skill, “Evil Spirit’s Dance”!

What the hell? This dance was actually useful?

In the next instant, Dachun swayed from side to side in the water like a loach. Two constantly shifting progress bars appeared over his hands as they pushed the dog’s corpse.

Dachun was stunned.

Weren’t these progress bars exactly like the ones that had appeared when he and the little demons had competed for a pickaxe on the first level of the Lava Dungeon, exhausting their stamina? Back then, he had comprehended Disarm and even upgraded Fishing.

Did that mean the Evil Spirit’s Dance also required alternating tension and release?

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Under the twisting movements of the Evil Spirit’s Dance, the dog’s corpse truly began to wobble forward, pushing the fish’s corpse along with it.

—System Notice: Your wisdom is extraordinary. By drawing parallels between related things, you have triggered the hidden skill “Modular Combination”!

What the hell! The skill notification he had failed to comprehend yesterday had finally appeared again!

Yesterday, it had been a whale pulling nine linked boats. Now, it was him pushing two floating corpses.

The common factor between the two situations was—

Bulk transport? Having an expert lead the way?

Ailian chuckled. “Now that you understand it, do it yourself.”

Dachun panicked. “I still don’t understand!”

“Then there’s nothing I can do. Do you know what it feels like to control your body? It’s like doing hard labor yourself. It’s exhausting. I might as well control a bat and experience what flying feels like…”

So her true wish had not been to kill the bat, but to control it completely?

In any case, he would first devote himself to comprehending Modular Combination.

Dachun concentrated fully, watching the progress bars on his left and right hands as he controlled the strength and direction. His pushing became smoother and smoother, but even after reaching the destination, he still failed to comprehend the skill.

Dachun was indescribably frustrated. “Can’t I practice a little longer?”

Ailian snorted. “Practice a little longer? Do you misunderstand something about dancing? Sometimes, a single movement requires a dancer to concentrate the weight of her entire body onto her toes. Do you think you could accomplish that after practicing for a while? Forget you—could any of those warriors do it?”

Dachun was baffled. “I’m a man. Do I really have to practice dancing?”

Ailian laughed. “You could become a circus performer!”

A circus performer? Wasn’t that the exclusive domain of Third Brother’s family’s God of Acrobatics?

Fine. The whale had not helped him master it, and the dancer had not helped him master it either. Modular Combination was clearly an extraordinarily difficult divine skill to comprehend. He would have to wait for another opportunity.

Dachun first climbed ashore and placed six stones on the ground to free up carrying capacity. He could feel his strength returning to its peak, and he successfully hooked his fingers into the Fish King’s gills and dragged it onto the shore.

That was the power of four hundred points of carrying capacity!

The Dog King was even easier. He dragged it ashore and pushed it on top of the Fish King’s corpse, stacking the two together.

Then he climbed onto the corpses and tried jumping.

Failure!

Ailian said, “You have an injured foot. You can’t jump normally. I’ll take over!”

—System Notice: You have activated the Evil Spirit’s Dance…

Dachun began spinning on one leg in a movement reminiscent of ballet.

What the hell? Spiral ascent? Wait!

Dachun hurriedly said, “My stones are still on the ground!”

Ailian snorted coldly. “If you had brought the stones with you, there would be nothing I could do. Throw them into the hole!”

Dachun was stunned. “Won’t that alert the Bat King?”

Ailian laughed. “Even if it does, don’t you still have five stones? Throw all five at it! Didn’t you say you were lucky?”

Could that really work?

It was the only option left. No matter how valuable the stones were, throwing them was what truly mattered. Whether the bat was so fat that it had become stuck, or whether its overstuffed belly was smashed to death, everything would depend on luck.

He had already planned for the worst-case scenario: dying in the boss’s lair and having his equipment drop there.