'Wait. Hold on a second. The [Messed up meridians] status is still there! Not even [Night Breathing] can fix it?'
His sudden delight was killed instantly.
Regaining his stats was useless. As long as [Messed up meridians] was still there, he could not use the martial arts he learned and would still be crippled.
Other players could fight Wickeds with martial arts in the future whilst he would have to make it up to his shortcomings with raw stats.
How high must his stats be to be able to fight a Wicked effectively?
Upon a closer look, Fang Yue noticed the word [Slightly] beside [Messed up meridians]. Both his Postcelestial martial arts were no longer red as well.
'Could this be…?'
A quick thought later, Fang Yue channeled his internal energy throughout his body. Whenever his internal energy touched his veins, he would feel pain, and damage numbers would appear above his head.
[-1]
[-1]
Fortunately, the pain only lasted for a while before [Night Breathing] came into effect. The HP he lost was easily recovered by his outstanding regeneration speed.
'Slightly messed up meridians? Hmph! It's nothing!'
Fang Yue was delighted. He continued to channel his internal energy, but when his internal energy reached the last acupuncture point, which would complete a full loop, he felt intense pain throb throughout his body.
[-99]
Fang Yue's body froze. The number above his head shocked the others.
'F*ck! It's stuck at the last part?!'
It seemed like he could use his internal energy, but the last part was agonizing and the damage he received was outrageous.
The [-99] above Fang Yue's head was obvious, and it terrified Shi Wuliao and the others.
"Holy sh*t!"
"Brother Night, you are in danger!"
"Lie down! Lie down, Brother Night! You are badly hurt!"
Shi Wuliao and the others almost peed in their pants.
99 damage in a single hit?
Everyone only had 100 HP. If Fang Yue lost 99 HP in a single hit, he would merely be 1 HP away from dying.
They were worried and concerned about him, but he waved his hand like nothing happened.
"It's not a big problem."
"Not a big problem? Brother Night, there's a [-99] damage number above your head!"
However, if Fang Yue claimed to be fine, he would be fine. He easily freed himself from the others and continued forward with his sword, as if he was a healthy person.
"Uh…"
Everyone was shocked for quite a while before they recovered.
"What a pro! As expected of a pro! He doesn't even flinch after losing 99 HP!"
"This is what a pro gamer looks like! Despite losing 99 HP in an instant, he can still act like it was nothing! He's the man!"
"Woohoo! We got it this time! With a pro like him, we will be safe!"
Henceforth, everyone's respect for Fang Yue rose to a new high. Even Niu Niu, a proud man, was impressed and astonished by Fang Yue's reaction. If he was the one who had lost 99 HP in an instant, he would freak out, let alone continue patrolling the village calmly.
"A pro is a pro. He's something else."
Little did they know, Fang Yue had 200 HP instead of the common 100. While a 99 damage might be terrifying, it was not enough to scare him.
Besides, with the [Night Breathing] effect, his HP would recover fully in minutes.
Fang Yue believed the status [Messed up meridians] was not as serious as he thought.
With [Night Breathing], his meridians were recovering swiftly.
He tried channeling his internal energy from time to time, and the pain that he felt at the end would feel less unpleasant with each try.
When the group finally arrived at the charted path for the patrol, Fang Yue was greeted by a system notification.
[Messed up meridians (Slightly) has been withdrawn.]
Fang Yue was surprised at first before he was overjoyed.
'I knew it! [Night Breathing] is GOAT! Greatest of all time! Medicinal skills? Tactical retreat? Dr. Hong? None of them is worthy in the face of [Night Breathing]!'
Even though he could use his internal energy and saber techniques with the [Meridians messed up] status, the damage he had to endure at the end was discouraging.
He had [Night Breathing]'s outstanding regeneration speed to thank because it enabled him to sustain the damage after forcefully channeling his internal energy. If it was someone else, they would have died on the spot.
Fang Yue giggled in delight when he saw the [Normal] status in his character window.
The others did not question his giggle. They thought he was mentally tortured by the sudden damage.
It was then that Fang Yue picked up some movements with his ears, so he stopped walking.
The others were surprised for a moment before they quickly reacted to the situation. They stood back to back and looked around cautiously.
"A Wicked!?"
"Brother Night, what did you see?"
"Danger! Caution!"
Even though Shi Wuliao and the others had not encountered a Wicked before, they knew a Wicked was powerful, and they could not afford to be careless.
Fang Yue did not answer. He heightened his concentration and grabbed his rusty saber tightly as he stared ahead cautiously.
'No way. Are we this unlucky? Running into a Wicked on the first patrol?"
Fang Yue's reaction made the others nervous. The surroundings quickly quieted down and the air felt heavy.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Footsteps were approaching from the quiet street. There were around six figures coming closer to them from the dark.
The Wicked! They had finally appeared!
Everyone shared the same thought for a moment there.
Swoosh!
A ball of fire lit up and shed light over the dark street.
"Aaaaah!"
"Aaaaargh!"
"Ha! Come on! I'm not afraid of you!"
The moment the fire was lit, Shi Wuliao and the others screamed in panic.
The light from the fire prevented Fang Yue from having a clear look at the six figures ahead of them. He blocked the light with his hand and turned around to his party only to see Shi Wuliao and the others screaming like little girls.
Fang Yue was speechless. 'Is it really necessary? Are you guys that scared? Have you guys never played a horror game before?'
"Wicked possession? Men, be careful!" one of six figures said loudly though the voice sounded a little familiar.
It caught Fang Yue's attention.
"Brother Yong?"
Brother Yong was the village patrol guard who had almost killed Fang Yue because he mistook him as a Wicked.
Brother Yong was holding a Human Soul Fire Torch in his left hand as he raised his spear at Fang Yue and company cautiously.
He was surprised to find Fang Yue with the group.
"Brother Night? Why are you there? Come! Get over here. The people behind you have been possessed by Wickeds!"
'No, wait…They are just freaking out.'
After Fang Yue's eyes adapted to the intensity of the light, he recognized Brother Yong and his men behind him. They were the same patrol team from last night.
After some awkward explanations, they cleared up the misunderstanding.
While Fang Yue was explaining, Shi Wuliao and the others lowered their heads in embarrassment, not daring to even speak a word.
Niu Niu grunted and looked rather proud—he did not scream or freak out, but his legs were pinned to the ground in fear. He would have turned around and ran otherwise.
However, no one knew what he was thinking about if he did not say it out loud.
Niu Niu straightened his body and appeared proud when he noticed Fang Yue's impressed gaze.
After Fang Yue looked away, Niu Niu looked askance at the others. 'Bunch of losers!'
Shi Wuliao recognized the look on Niu Niu's face. He clenched his fist, aggrieved.
'Damn it! If I got the lucky gift, I wouldn't have to endure such insults! If Niu Niu shoots me that look again, I'll just stop this patrol mission!'
The others also felt the same way and were angry and embarrassed at the same time.
'Hmph! If I didn't pay for this, I wouldn't stay in this lousy party!'
"Brother Night is back!"
The group quickly adjusted their emotions when Fang Yue came back from talking with Brother Yong.
Fang Yue looked at his party in a strange way. He had a feeling that something had changed among them but could not quite put a finger on it.
With that aside, Fang Yue wanted to tell his party about what he had gotten from Brother Yong.