Six members formed a single patrol team.
Usually, during the first half of the night, even a veteran patrol member like Brother Yong would keep the Human Soul Fire Torch away in order to save some Lifespan, except if he faced an unexpected situation.
However, during the second half of the night, most of the patrol teams would light the torch. They exchanged their Lifespan for the sake of safety and visibility in the dark.
After all, Wickeds tend to get more active after midnight.
Wickeds would also appear during the day, but the odds were slimmer compared to nighttime.
Someone had conducted a study on this phenomenon before and they believed that Wickeds liked the dark more.
"But I thought Lin Ling said we don't usually have to light the torch," Shi Wuliao stated nervously.
Lighting the Human Soul Fire Torch would consume one's Lifespan. Given their current Lifespan, they would not make it to the end of the mission.
When they handed in the mission to the village guard and got the Lifespan as a reward, they might be able to live longer.
However, if they lit the Human Soul Fire Torch, which consumed their Lifespan, they might not make it to the end.
If they were to light the torch, it would be either Fang Yue or Niu Niu because the two of them had gotten the Bronze Life Token from Lin Ling.
"Given Captain Lin's strength, he might not need to light the torch during normal circumstances, but petty guards like us are different. If we don't light the Human Soul Fire Torch and we end up running into a Wicked, we might be killed before we get a clear look at the Wicked. We might not even know how or when we die."
Fang Yue had gotten this nugget of info from Brother Yong, and he found it reasonable. The visibility at this time was already so poor that it was dangerous, and it was just the first half of the night.
"Must we light the torch?"
The others hesitated.
"It's still the first half of the night. Why don't we do it later?"
"Yeah. Let's try to save our Lifespan as much as possible."
Fang Yue shook his head. "No, we must light the torch now."
"B-but why?"
The group was confused.
Fang Yue was patient in his explanation.
"Brother Yong has had several years of experience in patrolling the village. He was able to lead his team during the first half of the night even with poor visibility, but we are not in the same boat. We are all newbies, so we can't compare ourselves to them.
"If we had run into a Wicked just now and not Brother Yong, all five of you might already be dead. If we light the torch, we will know what happened and we can prevent this from happening. We can either fight or run for it instead of waiting for the opposite to discover us."
Fang Yue's explanation silenced everyone.
They knew he was right, but they did not want to waste their Lifespan like this.
If they lit the torch during the first half and the second half of the night, they would run out of Lifespan before the patrol was even over!
It was a realistic and harsh problem.
Fang Yue pondered about it. He said, "Okay, how about this? I'll light the torch with my Lifespan for the night first. After we finish the patrol, and you guys get the reward, you can give me back what I consumed. There are six of us, and we have to light the torch for twelve hours, meaning that every one of us will just have to fork out two hours of Lifespan."
Albeit two hours sounding short, the others had not gotten their rewards. Simply giving two hours away felt painful to them.
Shi Wuliao rolled his eyes. "Brother Night, the Bronze Life Token can give others Lifespan, right? I want to buy two hours' worth of Lifespan from you!"
His suggestion gave others an idea and everyone followed suit.
The offer started from 1,000 and swiftly grew to 10,000. Fang Yue was deeply moved but had to reject the offer.
While he had a considerable amount of Lifespan to spare, his martial arts consumed a lot of his Lifespan as well.
On top of that, he had yet to figure out a way to earn a large amount of Lifespan. If he could consume less of his Lifespan, he would. Given that it was a scarce resource, he had to keep some for himself.
Only when his character grew stronger, he could earn more money. He knew the saying from the bottom of his heart.
The others turned to Niu Niu since Fang Yue insisted on keeping the Lifespan for himself.
The offer soon grew to 20,000.
Niu Niu was moved and eventually sold two hours of his Lifespan.
Fang Yue subtly shook his head but did not comment on the matter. He was in no position to determine whether it was the right move or not.
Shi Wuliao bought himself two hours' worth of Lifespan. The others tried to persuade Niu Niu to sell more.
In the end Niu Niu was convinced once more. Since he would get a reward at the end of the mission, he sold another eight hours of Lifespan, keeping only two hours to himself.
Fang Yue was rather shaken because Niu Niu had gotten rich overnight.
However, considering his bright future and the potential of earning more when his character got stronger, he held the urge back.
"Since everyone has got a little boost in Lifespan, is it okay for you guys to fork out two hours to light the torch?"
"Yeah, sure."
The Human Soul Fire was ignited when the torch lit up.
Swoosh!
The torch burned in the dark and shed light over the darkness. It was just an ember, but for the first time, light felt like a luxury that they could barely afford.
The Human Soul Fire Torch required the bearer to consume his Lifespan to maintain the light.
Fang Yue was the first bearer. The torch would be passed on to the next after two hours, and the next bearer could keep the fire alive.
With the torch in his hand, Fang Yue continued forward as the others behind him were a little excited.
With light, they felt braver.
It was said that the Human Soul Fire Torch could expel Wickeds. Even if there was a Wicked attacking the village, the odds of the group being attacked would be slimmer as well.
The patrol route that Fang Yue's party took was a little north of the village center. The route passed by Chen Mu's house and was considered relatively safe compared to the other routes.
The party would eventually pass by Chen Mu's house. Even though he would be asleep if something happened, he could come out to support them in the shortest time.
Fang Yue did not choose this route himself; it was assigned to him by Lin Ling.
It was obvious that Lin Ling was a lot friendlier to him after he became 'crippled'. The man could be considered a caring senior for now.
Lin Ling's kindness made Fang Yue hesitate. He wondered if he should tell Lin Ling the bad news of his full recovery.
As for Brother Yong's team, there was a certain path in his patrol route that overlapped with Fang Yue's team.
However, each team moved at a different pace and speed. Usually, even if there was an overlapping route, the two teams would meet each other twice or thrice, at most.
Fang Yue took the lead. He pressed forward steadily, and his torch shed light over a large area, which fueled his party's confidence.
The group was afraid at first, but they slowly adapted to the situation, and there were even occasional chats among them.
The first two hours were gone, and the group had completed two loops of the route.
It was Shi Wuliao's turn to bear the torch. The group had always loosened up, thus they looked relaxed as they chatted with each other.
"So, is this the night patrol? It's nothing special."
"I know, right? I thought we were going to run into a Wicked. I was so scared at first."
"The villagers said Guyue Village has had fewer Wicked encounters compared to other villages because of Lord Han. I don't think we are that lucky to run into one."
"Other than that, I heard that the central core of the village is bigger than the neighboring villages. Other than resisting the [Cold Night], it could even expel low-level Wickeds. It disgusts the Wickeds and prevents them from going into the village. Of course, there may be some who could slip under the radar. That's why the village patrol is here."
Fang Yue already knew the second part of the conversation but was surprised by the first part.
Lord Han?
'Lin Ling said Lord Han went to the neighboring village to get medicine for me. He should have left the village by now…It's fine. It's going to be fine. He's only been away for a day.'
While Fang Yue was pondering about Lord Han, he noticed the change of lighting in the surroundings.
Surprised, he looked up and saw Shi Wuliao on his knees.
Shi Wuliao was terrified as he pointed ahead. His mouth was shaking, but no words came out from him.
It was said that a person could not speak under intense fear. Shi Wuliao was definitely one of those people.
"What happened?!"
"The fire is dying! Someone, pick it up!"
"A Wicked? Come on! Come get me!"
Niu Niu was the confident one. He strode forward, picked up the torch, and swung it ahead of him.
The motion shed even more light ahead of them, and everyone got a clear look.
There was a head on the ground in front of them.
It was Brother Yong.