Chapter 30

Dancing? Ou Xiangrong was taken aback, his mind unable to process the situation for a moment.

This spirit-type item actually invited him to dance.

Ou Xiangrong sneered. Of course, he wouldn't dance with the enemy's shoes during a battle. He immediately bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood onto the white blade of the willow sword.

As an experienced spirit realm traveler and a practitioner of evil, he had fought against night spirits many times and was well aware of their skill characteristics.

Spirit-type items were known for their eerie nature. Ou Xiangrong had once been plagued by a spirit-type item for several days, which was very difficult to deal with.

However, their weakness was also obvious: their actual killing power was somewhat lacking.

Moreover, spirit-type items generally feared things with strong yang energy. A single mouthful of blood from the tip of the tongue could suppress an item suspected of being inhabited by a vengeful spirit.

No big deal.

The red dancing shoes, rising and falling, waited for a few seconds. Seeing that the human in front of them was unwilling to dance, they seemed to get angry. The shoes glowed with a dark red light and rushed toward Ou Xiangrong with a rapid "tap-tap" sound.

Ou Xiangrong stood firm, waiting for the red dancing shoes to approach. As they leaped toward the car hood to attack him, he calmly swung the willow sword, trying to deal a heavy blow to the vengeful spirit inside the shoes.

However, the blade cut through the dancing shoes without the sensation of hitting a solid object. This eerie pair of red dancing shoes seemed to exist in another dimension, not in reality.

"Bang, bang!"

In the next moment, Ou Xiangrong's chest and face were kicked hard.

He experienced the same pain that Zhang Yuanqing had felt earlier, with his heart stopping and difficulty breathing. At the same time, his face burned with pain, and warm liquid flowed from his nostrils.

This isn't a night spirit's item, Ou Xiangrong's face was full of shock and confusion as he said uncertainly:

"Void?"

The characteristics of this item seemed a bit like those of a certain profession from abroad. How could a level 1 night spirit possess an item from a foreign profession?

There was no time to think more. In Ou Xiangrong's line of sight, the eerie dancing shoes changed direction and came stomping toward him again.

He didn't have time to wipe the blood from his nose. With his arms crossed in front of his chest, he was kicked off the car roof with two "bangs."

Ou Xiangrong either lunged forward, sprinted, rolled, or used the cars to dodge, maneuvering in the spacious underground garage. He avoided most of the stomps from the red dancing shoes.

But he was still unfortunately kicked several times. Each stomp caused him excruciating pain, and the wounds from last night's battle flared up, causing his organs to bleed.

Good, good, this owner is really useless, Zhang Yuanqing watched the battle of the red dancing shoes, stunned.

He once again deeply realized the terrifying nature of rule-based items.

Their pursuit could not be destroyed or interrupted; the target could only passively endure the attack. The only way to stop it was to dance.

But that was unrealistic. Even if Ou Xiangrong submitted to the red dancing shoes and endured the shame to dance the tap dance, Zhang Yuanqing would intervene to make him make a mistake.

And if the dance steps were wrong, everything would be in vain.

However, Zhang Yuanqing also gained a clear understanding of the strength of the bewitching demon. Despite the force of the red dancing shoes, Ou Xiangrong could withstand it.

His physical resilience was terrifying.

"Ou Xiangrong won't foolishly wait to die. Once he realizes he can only passively endure the attacks and cannot retaliate, he will definitely choose to flee."

Zhang Yuanqing was clear-headed. He must ambush before the other side fled.

He didn't aim to kill, but to hold back this murderer.

"Bang, bang!"

Ou Xiangrong failed to dodge again and was kicked in the face, causing him to stagger backward, his vision going black and his head spinning.

An opportunity!

Zhang Yuanqing darted out like a cheetah, gripping the demon-subduing staff and running in a curved parabola to circle behind Ou Xiangrong.

He fiercely thrust the demon-subduing staff at Ou Xiangrong's back.

"Buzz!"

Suddenly, a dense, mist-like white light blocked the three-pronged tip of the demon-subduing staff.

This force came from the bronze waistplate in Ou Xiangrong's left hand, an ancient waistplate covered in cracks and blood, like an item belonging to a veteran soldier who had been through many battles.

This was Zhao Yingjun's defensive item.

"Defensive item?"

Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank as he failed to ambush. He quickly circled around Ou Xiangrong, repeatedly striking the white light barrier with the demon-subduing staff, creating ripples of light.

This time, with the red dancing shoes covering him, he was not "one-shot" by the bewitching demon and narrowly avoided several sword strikes and punches.

"Crack!"

Finally, under the high-frequency attacks of the demon-subduing staff and the red dancing shoes, the bronze waistplate shattered into pieces, and the white light dissipated into light fragments.

At this moment, Zhang Yuanqing's night spirit time ended, and his body materialized.

Ou Xiangrong seemed to have been waiting for this moment. His eyes turned blood-red, and twisted, evil runes appeared.

Bewitching!

Zhang Yuanqing's mind went blank, losing his ability to think, as if he had forgotten he was in a battle. At the same time, a voice echoed in his mind:

"Put down your weapon, don't resist. Put down your weapon, don't resist."

Ou Xiangrong grinned maliciously, and the willow sword slashed toward the young night spirit's neck.

He was willing to endure the attacks from the terrifying dancing shoes rather than use the defensive item because he was waiting for the night spirit to attack.

This item from the scout profession was already half-damaged. If used prematurely, it would only withstand the dancing shoes for a moment before breaking completely.

He decided to endure, deliberately creating a weakness to lure the opponent into attacking.

As expected, this young night spirit lacked experience and couldn't control his temper, falling for the trap.

However, just as the blade was about to cut the young night spirit's neck, Ou Xiangrong saw the young man's body suddenly collapse. The willow sword grazed his scalp, cutting a few strands of hair.

The red dancing shoes, which had been relentlessly pursuing him, had somehow appeared on the night spirit's feet, forcing him into a split to avoid the throat cut.

At the same time, the night spirit, who should have been bewitched, had a radiant golden light in his eyes, instantly breaking free from the daze. He sprang forward, forcefully colliding with Ou Xiangrong.

Ou Xiangrong, completely unprepared for this situation, didn't expect a mere level 1 night spirit to break free from his bewitching.

He was still in the posture of swinging the sword and couldn't retract his force, only watching helplessly as the bronze staff pierced his chest.

"Thud!"

Flesh and blood tore apart, and the tip of the demon-subduing staff burst into a brilliant golden light, burning out the life force in his chest.

Ou Xiangrong's vision went black, and he nearly fainted from the pain. But he was a battle-hardened bewitching demon, and in the throes of death, he unleashed his potential. He pulled back his right arm, dragging the willow sword toward the night spirit's throat.

At the same time, he tensed his left arm muscles, using his elbow as a powerful spear, and thrust it at the enemy's shoulder.

Zhang Yuanqing suddenly tilted his head back, dodging the blade, and was then hit by Ou Xiangrong's punch, flying out like a broken sandbag.

"Clang!"

Zhang Yuanqing crashed into a minivan, shattering the window, and his falling body disappeared from Ou Xiangrong's sight.

He entered the night spirit state again.

Ou Xiangrong, however, didn't look at him and staggered toward Xu Yingying.

His heart was destroyed, and the only thing that could save him now was the essence of a living person. He needed to kill to enter a berserk state.

Then he would rush out of the underground garage, massacre the campus, and use the bloodthirsty nature of the bewitching demon to heal his wounds and reverse his fate.

But doing so would inevitably drop his morality below 60, making him a wanted criminal in the spirit realm, hunted by all spirit realm travelers in the city. But he couldn't afford to think about that now.

"Tap, tap, tap"

Two dark red glows appeared out of nowhere, transforming into a new pair of red dancing shoes, intercepting Ou Xiangrong.

To Ou Xiangrong, this footstep sounded like a death knell, a sigh of death, and a judgment from the underworld.

"Bang, bang!"

Ou Xiangrong's face was stomped, his flesh and blood mangled. He fell backward uncontrollably, but in his last moment, he threw the willow sword in his hand.

The 40-centimeter-long blade turned into a silver light, shooting toward the distant Xu Yingying.

Ou Xiangrong's eyes were fixed on the blade.

"Clang!"

Suddenly, sparks flew as the willow sword was deflected by a bronze staff extending from the void. A figure emerged beside Xu Yingying.

It was Zhang Yuanqing.

Seeing this, the hope in Ou Xiangrong's eyes turned to despair and unwillingness.

At that moment, the red dancing shoes descended from the sky, stomping on his face, crushing his nose, splitting his lips, and causing his eyeballs to burst out.

Ou Xiangrong's limbs twitched a few times before he died.

Zhang Yuanqing sat down beside Xu Yingying, taking a long breath, as if exhausted.

His chest was filled with a surge of anger, and his hands and feet trembled uncontrollably.

This wasn't fear but the mental excitement brought by the surge of adrenaline. When in danger and needing to save oneself, adrenaline would surge, making people truly capable of killing without hesitation.

Commonly known as "getting a head rush"!

The battle plan was successful.

Before the battle, he had thought it through clearly. The only thing he needed to avoid was the opponent's bewitching skill. Therefore, before deciding to ambush, he had already sacrificed the demon-subduing staff.

One of the functions of the demon-subduing staff was purification.

The second form of the red dancing shoes was his reliance for close combat, indeed helping him avoid the fatal throat cut.

Marking, bewitching, berserking, close combat—Ou Xiangrong's all abilities, he had calculated and prepared for them. If he still couldn't win, Zhang Yuanqing felt he shouldn't be in this world.

After a few minutes of panting, Zhang Yuanqing calmed down and heard a spirit realm notification:

"Ding, you have killed a level 3 bewitching demon, gaining 30 morality points and 15 reputation points. Reputation system activated."

Zhang Yuanqing was surprised and quickly opened his character attribute panel, finding a new reputation bar.

Reputation? Killing an enemy spirit realm traveler rewards reputation? As an old gamer, he was familiar with reputation but didn't know what it was used for in the spirit realm.

Zhang Yuanqing thought for a moment and decided to ignore it for now, planning to check the official forum later.

Compared to the spirit realm's reputation reward, the real-world loot was more important to him.

He got up and walked to Ou Xiangrong's body, kicked the eyeballs under the car, and dragged the body to a corner in the shadows.

He carefully searched the body, finding a phone and a wallet.

The phone was an old model that could only make calls, and the wallet was bulging. Opening it, he found a stack of hundred-dollar bills and a fake ID.

Zhang Yuanqing counted carefully, "As a wanted criminal, carrying only a little over 1,500 yuan, is that normal?"

Confiscated! He took the money and put it in his pocket.

Then, he walked to a distance and picked up the sharp willow sword.

The moment he touched the weapon, a message appeared in his vision:

"Name: Bloodthirsty Blade"

"Type: Weapon"

"Function: Bleeding, Bloodthirsty, Armor-Piercing"

"Description: A powerful bewitching demon fed this sword with his own blood, and over time, it became extremely bloodthirsty. Its blade can cut through hard steel, and wounds inflicted by it are hard to heal. It absorbs the essence of its prey and feeds it back to the owner, making them stronger."

"Note: A sword that doesn't belong to its owner is not a good sword."

"This sword seems pretty powerful. If it had killed Xu Yingying just now, Ou Xiangrong would have received the sword's feedback. Good thing I kept an eye on Xu Yingying."

Zhang Yuanqing ran back to Ou Xiangrong's body, unfastened the scabbard from his waist, and equipped it on himself, then sheathed the "Bloodthirsty Blade."

The sword was currently unowned, and to make it recognize him, he just needed to put it in his inventory.

But Zhang Yuanqing didn't want to do that yet because the note in the item information made him a bit uneasy.

The Bloodthirsty Blade was likely a cost-based item, and the note was the cost of using it.

Based on the description, Zhang Yuanqing could guess the cost of the sword. There were two possibilities: one, anyone who obtained the sword would be cursed and die a terrible death.

Two, the sword required the owner to regularly feed it with blood. This was the most likely possibility.

Another blood-feeding item, the demon-subduing staff has already made me anemic. If I add the Bloodthirsty Blade, how can I survive?

At this moment, Zhang Yuanqing saw the red dancing shoes "tap, tap, tap" walking toward him, rising and falling, and a message appeared:

"Do you want to dance with me? If you do, please step in place."

He realized he hadn't put the item back in his inventory yet. Just as he was about to refuse and put it away, he received a spirit realm notification:

"Note: Each use of this item requires a dance. If you refuse, the red dancing shoes will no longer favor you and will initiate a pursuit."

Zhang Yuanqing's mouth slowly opened in surprise. This was his first time using the item in the real world after acquiring it, and he hadn't expected to pay such a price for using a rule-based item.

Not dancing with me means you'll kill me? That's too harsh! Zhang Yuanqing smiled and stood up, "I'd be delighted."

Soon, the quiet and spacious parking garage echoed with the crisp sound of tap dancing.

This time, Zhang Yuanqing didn't trigger his old injuries but completed the dance with his extraordinary physical condition, though he frequently made mistakes.

Fortunately, as the owner, he was not attacked by the red dancing shoes.

After the dance, the right foot of the red dancing shoes stepped back, and both feet pointed up, performing a curtsy.

Just as he put the red dancing shoes back in his inventory, he heard rapid footsteps coming from the steep slope.

Looking in that direction, he saw Li Dongze leading Guan Ya and about seven or eight unfamiliar spirit realm travelers rushing into the underground garage.

Some held guns, some held knives, and some carried cats, all fully armed.

Thank goodness, thank goodness I finished the dance. Zhang Yuanqing was incredibly relieved.

PS: Updated first, will revise later.