Murong Shanshan said in a quiet voice while looking nervously at the gra.s.s and trees inside the forest: "The way I see it, we should probably leave this place because if we stay any longer I really will not be able to get any sleep tonight as I am alone in my house."

"That"s a good idea."

I wiped some sweat from my palm and then was about to pull Murong Shanshan to run away when right at that moment the mutation regenerated. [1]

A thick tentacle abruptly rushed out of the ground beneath our feet. By the time I realized what had happened, one of Murong Shanshan"s legs had already been tightly entangled by the tentacle. What surprised me even more was Murong Shanshan"s health bar was shrinking at such a rapid pace that it was even visible to the naked eye. [2]

"Oh shoot! What is this?"

Murong Shanshan spoke in a panic: "I don"t know either. However, I received a message saying that I received a nature-based magic attack. The attacking monster is called an Element Controller. See if you can find where it is."

I looked around nearby but there was nothing.

"I can"t endure any more. At this rate, I"m definitely going to end up hanging here like one of those corpses from earlier." Murong Shanshan said anxiously while drinking a health potion.

With no ideas, I spoke dispiritedly: "Since there is no other option I will help you pay this month"s Party members.h.i.+p dues. You can rest in peace."

"You can still joke at a time like this!" Murong Shanshan said in an angry voice. At that moment, the tentacle beneath her feet disappeared. It seems like the duration of the skill"s effect had ended.

"What happened?" I said in a daze. However, just as I finished speaking, a tentacle had already instantly tied me securely to the ground. A system notification quickly appeared:

You have received a natural-based magic attack from Element Controller, -150 health points.

You have received a natural-based magic attack from Element Controller, -150 health points.

You have received a natural-based magic attack from Element Controller, -150 health points.

I was losing 150 health points approximately every two seconds. Not good, even an iron man would be sucked dry.

Murong Shanshan said while looking coldly around at our surroundings: "Did you see anything just now?"

"See what?" I asked in surprised.

"I"m also unsure if there was anything." Murong Shanshan"s voice was panicked: "However, moments ago I definitely felt there was something undulating opposite us. It was like the air was distorted for a moment."

"Regardless of whether or not there was anything just now, we just have to see it clearly the next time it attacks."

"En."

Just as Murong Shanshan"s voice faded a tentacle had already firmly caught her. However, it was just at this moment that I saw the gra.s.s in front shake gently. As if it had been refracted by a lens, the general shape of it changed for a moment.

"It"s 45 degrees north!" I yelled in a loud voice.

"I saw it!"

A few dark blue lights flowed rapidly on Murong Shanshan"s sword of light. After a second, the sword of light emitted a dazzling light. Murong Shanshan"s very destructive level 6 sword skill descended overwhelmingly from above. The dust cleared up after a while and I could see that the shrubbery for several tens of yards in front of us had been destroyed and turned into ashes. Amidst the smoke, a grey figure turned around and moved backwards. [3]

"Element Controller" was conspicuously written in big letters above the grey figure"s head. The tentacle beneath Murong Shanshan"s feet suddenly vanished without a trace.

"Shanshan, what is this thing?" I pointed at the slightly ridiculous monster in front.

Strictly speaking, this should be in its own cla.s.sification of monster types because it has two feet, can walk upright, and a head that still can be considered complete while also having its limbs covered with thick vegetation. Even after receiving Murong Shanshan"s powerful sword skill earlier, the vegetation was not cut apart. Instead, the monster only fell to the ground where it showed two fangs under the vegetation.

Murong Shanshan examined it for a long while before saying a sentence: "Bring it back to the National Security Agency for dissection."

I almost had my jaw drop. Speechlessly, I said: "This is neither a boss nor a normal monster. It should be an NPC; however it"s probably a hostile NPC."

"Then why waste words on it? Let"s just get rid of it."

The Element Controller said with fear on its face: "Don"t! I haven"t harmed anyone."

"It can speak?" Murong Shanshan and I looked at each other.

The Element Controller continued: "I am not a monster. I was originally just a normal person. However, the village was destroyed two years ago."

"This might be a task. Let him continue speaking." Murong Shanshan said joyfully.

The Element Controller looked at us with its black, hole-like eyes. After confirming that we held no hostility it finally said: "Two years ago, a drunkard from this village slept in the mountains for a night. When he returned to the village the next day something bizarre happened - all of the poultry and domestic animals in the village unexpectedly disappeared. The villagers searched for around ten days but did not find anything. It wasn"t until afterwards when the drunkard"s house started emitting an incomparably disgusting odor…"

"What happened?" Murong Shanshan asked with interest.

"Inside the drunkard"s home, everyone found the remains of all of the poultry and domestic animals. They had all been sucked dry of blood prior to death and had begun to rot. The drunkard was nowhere to be found. Everyone thought the drunkard had stolen the domestic animals and that they had all died because they had been neglected. Thus everyone did not treat it like a big deal until the day the drunkard came back to the village."

The Element Controller let out a breath and said: "There were people who were bitten by the drunkard. The events that day were truly terrifying. The drunkard was already no longer of human shape. Heaven knows how he could survive in his condition where he had already lost an arm. He was emotionally unstable and wantonly attacked all of the villagers. Afterwards, Silvermoon City sent a small team of priests to provide a.s.sistance. They said that the drunkard has already been affected by undead magic. In order to completely solve this problem, he must be burned."

I asked in surprise: "Was he burned?"

"Yes, he was burned." The Element Controller"s two eyes looked spiritlessly before continuing: "However, no one expected that the villagers who had been bitten by the drunkard all transformed into undead on that fearsome night. Within that one night, they bit all of the priests who were sent by Silvermoon City to death. The villagers were extremely alarmed. Lots of people rumored that the drunkard had been wounded by a black-robed mage on the mountain previously. Because the entire village would definitely become controlled by the undead, people started to run away. Yet, there were still some stout and strong males who wanted to stay to eradicate the evil zombies. Unfortunately, they later discovered that fighting these zombies was beyond their capabilities."

Murong Shanshan slowly opened her mouth in surprise and asked: "And afterwards?"

"Afterwards the village became an undead stronghold. There were many escapees who wanted to return for a short while to see their loved ones. Unfortunately, almost all of them were killed by the hands of their loved ones. Because Silvermoon City needed face the regular army of undead in the west, it was impossible for them to spare a significant force to purify this already contaminated village. So in the end, only a small squad of 50 mages was sent to this village."

The Element Controller"s face was full of sorrow. I asked again: "This small squad of mages should have some sort of relations.h.i.+p with you, right?"

"I am the captain of this small mage squad. A full squad of 50 mages was completely eliminated in just three days. Of the entire squad, only I managed to escape from the village. However, I have also been infected by the undead toxins. I never expected that I would be bitten by a little child."

The Element Controller gently opened up the vegetation on his left hand. Beneath it, we saw a shocking wound on his green skin.

"Then, how is it that you"re still alive? Isn"t it said that if you"re infected by the toxins you"ll definitely die?"

The Element Controller grinned: "I also thought that I would die. At that time, my head was already beginning to become confused and I knew that it was an effect of being infected by toxins. Afterwards, I felt an incredible need to sleep. Obviously, I knew that upon waking up I would truly have become an undead zombie. However, I had no means to suppress that desire to sleep. Without any other choice, I risked my life in the forest to eat a type of blue gra.s.s. Borrowing the bitter taste to stimulate myself, a miracle happened. I actually ended up surviving."

Murong Shanshan pointed at the Element Controller"s body in surprise and said in a quiet voice: "So that"s how you became like this?"

"I initially thought that this sort of gra.s.s had already eliminated the toxins in my body. However, it was only afterwards that I realized that the toxin in this sort of gra.s.s is far more terrifying than the undead toxins. It not only neutralized the undead toxins in my body, but it also changed my body into this shape that is neither ghost nor human. The good news is that it also gave me a mystical power involving the nature element. These days, I clearly feel that my magic power is unceasingly growing stronger. Also these green vines that should die have been showing signs of fading!"

The Element Controller suddenly had a dark expression and said: "However, the task that the Mage Union gave me is no longer able to be completed. My current magic power is not enough to defeat those fearsome zombies. Are you guys willing to help me finish this task?"

"Ding~!"

System Message: Choose to accept team task: Element Controller"s Exhortations?

Murong Shanshan and I have long been hoping for this task. Of course, there was no reason to refuse.

Task Accepted: Eliminate all of the undead creatures in the village, kill the zombie king, and retrieve his fangs!

The Element Controller happily said: "This way I can feel at ease. Here is an Adventurer"s Union Reward Token. It will record the course of you completing your task and after completing your task you can go to the Adventurer"s Union to receive the task reward! Furthermore, I still have something to request of you guys. Ever since I was infected by the toxins, I have been recording the detoxification and toxin formulas. Unfortunately, during a heavy rain a few days ago, my notes were taken by a group of zombies. By now, I can no longer clearly remember the formulas; so could you please help get them back for me? There are a total of 12 pages!"

Murong Shanshan hurriedly took out the pieces of paper we got earlier and asked: "Are these the notes you are looking for?"

"Yes, those are the ones. Please help me find all of them and I will reward you generously."

-:-

That piece of paper is marked with an "8" and thus should be the eighth page.

[1] I wasn"t exactly sure how to translate this. The raws are "异变又生".

[2] I translated "血条" as health bar.

[3] Is there a specific name for her sword? Raws call it "含光剑" which literally just means sword that has a glow.

-:-