When Lu Chen spurted the boiling blood on the drum, a cry of pain could be heard from it.
It was as if his blood were sulfuric acid when it was splashed on the little drum. Its face and limbs corroded upon contact.
In mere seconds, all the odd features on the little drum were corroded away, and all that was left behind was an ordinary-looking little drum that was painted red by Lu Chen's blood.
After that, a system message rang in Lu Chen's ears.
Ding~!
[System Message: Host has killed a White Wander Evil and has earned 200 Mastery Points.]
"Phew…"
Once the system confirmed the little drum's defeat, Lu Chen heaved a long breath of relief and sat down feebly.
The rapid beating of his heart had already placed a great deal of stress on his body, and when it suddenly came time to stop at the very last moment, it nearly killed him.
Even now, Lu Chen was still feeling the shadows of death lingering in his mind.
Just a little bit more and I'd… If I had passed out, then I'm finished.
Haha, Constitution is the most useful attribute when it's the real world. As long as my body is strong enough, I can endure and pull through any kind of odd and perilous situation.
Lu Chen thought. His body was still extremely weak, but he only gasped for some fresh air and quickly stood up.
It's not safe out here, I need to get back to the totem.
Lu Chen struggled as he stood up and turned to head back. But before leaving, he saw the bloody little drum and somehow, reached his hands for it.
Then, Lu Chen's eyes opened wide in surprise.
Ding— Ding—
[System Message: An Uncommon Item has been detected, do you wish to identify it with the cost of Mastery Points?]
[System Message: The item is graded as Uncommon, it can be sold to the Store for Spirit Orbs.]
Lu Chen was surprised to hear the system messages. He never thought the body left behind by the dead Evil was an Uncommon item.
But what really gave him a shock was the game's top-up function which he initially thought would not work in the real world was still working.
Although in this world, top-up required sacrificing Uncommon items, it's still fine as long as it worked. With the Spirit Orbs, I can exchange the skills drawn to me that I'm unsatisfied with for another skill the next time.
Lu Chen couldn't hold back his smile when he thought about the benefits of topping up.
But soon, Lu Chen regained his usual composure and quickly made his way back to the totem pillar's protection.
It was still not safe yet.
After he entered the totem pillar's protection, the two barbarians rushed to Lu Chen's side apologetically before Lu Chen had the time to inspect the Uncommon item in his hands.
"We are sorry, Ah'Chen, we didn't help at all!"
"You can scold me, I'm the one that stopped Ah'Niu from going out to help you."
Lu Chen shook his head at the apologetic men, he comforted, "You can't be blamed, I'm the one that insisted on heading out. You are right to follow Master Wuzu's instructions of not leaving the border."
Although they didn't help at all, Lu Chen wasn't angry at them as he understood clearly that it was his own decision to hunt the Evils outside of the border, they had nothing to do with it.
Therefore, when a problem occured, Lu Chen was the only one expected to bear the consequences. The two barbarians had no part in the mess he made.
At the same time, the experience enlightened Lu Chen even more on their culture. Even though Wuzu and the chieftain took a conservative approach against the Evils, their approach was the only right choice.
Sure enough, how could Wuzu and the chieftain be idiots if they were able to preserve the village in the Wilderness for so long?
They were right, the ordinary barbarians shouldn't hunt outside of the border. Not to mention the amount of Vigor needed to hunt and kill the Evils, just the sheer number variety of Evils out there could easily kill the barbarians. If a village's men were to die too fast, it's almost certain that this village would soon perish in the Wilderness.
As he thought, he said to the barbarians, "Next time, when I go out and hunt, please stay further away from me. I don't want you two to get hurt from the battle."
Lu Chen was asking this for their own good as well as trying to prevent them from affecting him in battles in the future.
The Evils were peculiar, if there were Evils that could manipulate heartbeats, then there'll also be Evils that could manipulate minds or even do possessions. When that happened, not only would these two be unable to provide any help, they would even become burdens to me. I better hunt alone from now on.
"You still want to go out?"
"Ah'Chen, it's dangerous out there. Please just stay in the village!"
Lu Chen didn't want them to follow, but they were even more shocked to hear that Lu Chen still wanted to hunt outside of the border after his near-death experience.
Lu Chen only smiled back at them.
Of course, it's a must!
Sure, Lu Chen could just remain in safety and patrol close to the totem pillar just like the rest, but if he had done so, he would turn himself into one of the ordinary barbarians, weaklings who could only scream in despair when the true danger descended upon them.
After all, the totem pillar was not invulnerable.
Lu Chen didn't forget that there were often Evils that could infiltrate into the totem pillar's protection and harm the villagers. Which was also why the night patrol was established.
Most of the Evils could only infiltrate the outer rims of the border and all of them are greatly suppressed by the totem pillar's aura, but what if one day an Evil powerful enough to resist the totem pillar came?
The sense of danger made Lu Chen made up his mind.
I will never stop going out to hunt. Even if I die out here one day, I don't want to die helplessly in despair!
After he thought to himself, Lu Chen brought the two barbarians and returned to patrol close around the village.
After all, even though he wanted to continue hunting the Evils, the previous battles had already taken a toll on his Vigor and energy. For now, he had to rest.
Let's rest first. After a feast in the morning tomorrow, I'll come again tomorrow night!
After that, Lu Chen took a rest closeby to the village while the two barbarians continued to patrol their route.
Frankly speaking, the arrangement was against the rules, Lu Chen should be joining in the patrol too.
But to the barbarians, there was no higher representation of justice than strength. Lu Chen's dominating power and his success in killing the Evils had made the barbarians shut their mouths on his decision.
The night passed just like that in Lu Chen's rest.
Throughout the night, Lu Chen gained a lot of insights about the world.
Most Evils would not enter the totem pillar's protection, therefore, most of the time, the patrollers were safe from danger.
However, that's only assuming that nothing else happened. Most of the time when something comes up, people died. Evils, even when suppressed by the totem pillar's aura, could still do great harm to humans.
Furthermore, Evils that dared to enter the totem pillar's protection were also stronger than usual. This was why there were still so many patrols dying at night.
Sometime later, the first light of dawn broke the darkness of the night sky, and the Evils roaming around the village started to slink away.
Seeing them disappear, Lu Chen squinted his eyes.
They just disappeared right on the spot instead of hiding back somewhere. This world, these Evils, their secrets are deeper than I thought!
After some time thinking to himself, Lu Chen shook his head and stopped thinking so much.
Their depth's are beyond my reach. I should focus on myself first.
When the sun rose, the night patrollers gathered together and entered the plaza. Then, they lined up in front of the totem pillar.
After that, Master Wuzu awakened the power of the totem pillar and checked each and every one of them. When they were cleared, they all cheered happily in joy.
There was no death today. This was worthy of celebration for to the barbarians.
"Ah'Chen, how was the patrol?"
Master Wuzu walked to Lu Chen's side and asked.
Lu Chen smiled back and replied, "It's all fine. I'm going to take a rest."
Because he had his own plans to do, Lu Chen didn't plan on staying for a conversation with Master Wuzu.
After Lu Chen left, Master Wuzu didn't leave the plaza, instead, he called for the two barbarians.
Then, he asked about their night patrol as well as Lu Chen's performance.
It should have just been a casual query, or so he thought. Master Wuzu didn't think Lu Chen would come across anything special in his first night patrol. Therefore, he never expected to get any surprising answer.
But soon, Master Wuzu discovered that his predictions had come true earlier than he expected.