Don't disturb the sorcerer's scientific research

Chapter 169 Jia Xiu watches the performance quietly
"The vampires are here!"

Screams shattered the silence of the town at night.

In an instant, every household in the town reinforced their doors, sealed their windows, and blocked every possible breach by vampires with heavy, nailed wooden planks.

If you look closely, you can see that a few of the nails facing outwards are made of silver, which is a fairly effective way to deal with vampires.

However, as a "veteran" in the field of vampires who has studied vampires in all sorts of fancy ways, Jia Xiu can say with certainty that...

Silver's effect is so-so, similar to that of garlic and wooden stakes; at most, it might cause a moderate allergic reaction in vampires, but it's not a powerful weapon.

Instead of blocking up the small, dilapidated house where he was staying, Jia Xiu quietly took out a few flashbangs from Da Huang's mouth.

However, instead of attacking immediately, he opened the window, leaned out, and prepared to observe the situation.

Judging from the reactions of the town's residents, they have indeed been troubled by the vampire problem for a long time, and their response was quite skillful. There was no screaming or panic; they just kept going to the door.

From the direction the sound came, a ragtag adventure team could be seen fleeing while calling for help.

Behind them, an excessively powerful vampire clone was roaring and chasing after them.

Based on Jia Xiu's experience in studying vampires, he could tell at a glance that this derivative body was abnormal.

First of all, the derivative body shouldn't be this big. Vampires aren't like orcs; they're the type who rely on agility, speed, and magic. Tonight's vampire is like Arnold after using the bacteria for the first time, completely different from the ones in the bathhouse. The thugs in the bathhouse are only about half this wide.

For this reason, Jia Xiu uses the quantifier "只" (zhǐ), which is animalistic, and then uses "位" (wèi) to describe something strange.

What's contradictory is that the bloodshot eyes and crazed behavior of the derivative usually occur when their vampire master, who transformed them, is dead, out of control, and hasn't eaten for a long time, causing instinct to overcome the brain.

However, a severely ischemic organism will appear very weak, with its body in a state close to that of a dried-up corpse.

This is a conclusion mentioned in Gillianis's research. As for how this kind elf lady arrived at this conclusion, well, the wicked will always be punished by the wicked...

So, after some thought, Jia Xiu realized that the only possibility was the derivative body before him.

Someone, or a vampire, is controlling it to act like it's going berserk.

As for why it is so strong, it is not clear yet; it can't be that the bodybuilding trend has spread to remote towns.

"Boss!"

Upon seeing the derivative form, the most excited person was undoubtedly Bubu. Little Knight Bubu's chance to make a name for himself had arrived!
Should we make a move?

If Jia Xiu hadn't stopped her, Bubu probably would have already rushed out.

"Wait, no rush, let's take another look."

Jia Xiu told him to calm down.

"Bubu, remember, even if we make a move, you must not make the first move."

Bubu has a sad face.

"Because you are a trump card, trump cards should be used in the most dangerous moments to change the course of the battle. They are extremely important, so they cannot be used lightly."

Bubu has a happy face.

Jia Xiu had long since mastered the "method of using" Bubu to soothe the child.

The reason for not letting it appear first is mainly because we want to figure out what this town is actually doing.

If it makes a move, it will either raze the town to the ground without any warning, or it will play the game without paying attention to the plot, just clicking through and speedrunning.

Either you demonstrate overwhelming strength, enough to frighten the mastermind behind the scenes even if you don't flatten the town, causing them to go into hiding, which leads to the surface ending of the game and cannot be unlocked in the hidden ending.

Jia Xiu calmly stated that he would take another look, partly because he realized that the derivative was releasing water.

The amount of water released is probably as much as the lake at the San Teruo School.

It could have easily caught up with those adventurers, who were only level three on average, not as good as Jaxiu who was still in Riverwood. They were no match for the Transformation Body, and besides, they looked like they had run all the way out of the forest, panting and unsteady on their feet.

It's practically confirmed that this derivative entity is being controlled and putting on an act.

But why put on this show?

Having confirmed this, Jia Xiu silently stuffed the flashbang back into Big Yellow. There should be no danger now; he could just watch its performance quietly.

As the alien entity rushed into the town, the doors of several small houses were suddenly pushed open, revealing several small teams whose strength was clearly limited. They were still organizing their equipment, rushing to hunt down the vampires.

A quick glance suggests there are about thirty or forty people; this shabby quest is enough to attract quite a few adventurers.

The way they excitedly went into battle, well, it was full of "naivety".

The charging warriors and barbarians collided, the monks' punches and kicks did not even scratch the surface, and the few spellcasters' clumsy spells flew around wildly, completely missing their targets.

With that level of skill, even one of my senior brothers, Juan, could take on ten.

Hays would be considered an elite company here.

Unsurprisingly, they were no match for the Derivative Body and were slapped away one by one.

Acting skills, whether real or fake.

Jia Xiu offered his evaluation.

One of the clones, its eyes bloodshot, didn't use its mouth directly, but instead struck the target, sending it flying. The strike wasn't too heavy; it injured the target but didn't kill it.

Jia Xiu was initially hesitant about whether to come out and rescue these inexperienced adventurers.

Although they were strangers, they were all young newcomers. Seeing dozens of vibrant lives die before their eyes, and wanting to do what he could to save them, Jia Xiu wasn't that cold-hearted.

Fortunately, the person controlling the clone did not intend to kill it.

The chaotic battle lasted for about five minutes, and the once bustling street fell silent again.

The adventurers lay scattered on the ground.

The claws of the derivative pressed down on one of the little girls, who appeared to be Mia's companion, a druid.

The poor little girl was so frightened that she was trembling and couldn't use any magic.

Her companion Mia was also trembling, not from fear, but from overheating.

The creature roared, as if celebrating its victory; the sound was more like that of a night demon than a vampire.

It opened its blood-red maw, revealing its fangs, and aimed at the carotid artery of its prey beneath its claws.

The terrified little girl closed her eyes, unable to face the cruel reality.

Ram, who was in the room, also took out his small hammer at Jashu's prompting.

A small hammer in the standard size of a half-ogre.

If that derivative creature really tries to bite, then Ram will use his flying hammer to save the day.

Physical sedation technique.

The fangs of the alien creature were getting closer and closer to the little girl's slender neck.

Even Jia Xiu, who had remained relatively calm, started to get a little anxious.

What's going on? Could he have misunderstood?

If someone is controlling a vampire invasion, it's time to save the day.

That doesn't make sense. If he wanted to suck blood, Gangcai would have had dozens of opportunities to do so.

It can't be that this derivative has OCD and doesn't like to be disturbed while "eating," so it knocks everything down before it starts biting.

Everything seems to be spiraling out of control.

"Ram, do it..."

Just as Jiaxiu said he would make a move, Ram had already raised his hand to swing his hammer.

Suddenly, a loud bell rang out.

From that dilapidated ancient castle.

The sound of the bell was like a horn of hope breaking through the darkness, sweeping over the city walls and bricks, and over the valleys and dense forests. Although it had no physical form, it struck the derivation's ear as if a heavy hammer had hit its head.

It clutched its head in agony, its strong body convulsing as if it were enduring some unbearable torture.

Jia Xiu breathed a sigh of relief.

It's confirmed now: the town is definitely related to the Derivative Body, and the person controlling the Derivative Body is hiding here.

They practically had to grit their teeth to save the day; putting everything else aside, the person who planned this is quite composed. They even seem to understand some plot design principles.

They're doing a last-minute rescue here.

It fully engages the emotions of the audience, specifically the wounded but conscious adventurers lying on the ground.

In this way, these adventurers who haven't experienced many crises should easily feel grateful and trusting towards the suddenly arriving "savior".

A guess popped into Jia Xiu's mind.

They create their own "stage," stage a crisis, then rescue the situation, systematically creating "miracles."

This seems to be the typical tactic used by a small, unorthodox cult to proselytize.

The castle bells rang one after another, and torches lit up the streets.

A group of people dressed in black robes walked towards the body, carrying torches as the bells rang.

He was reciting a language that Jia Xiu had never heard before.

Jia Xiu looked at Ram and Bubu with a puzzled expression, and the two of them shook their heads in confusion.

I've never heard of this language before.

Having spent half a year in Larvin, the City of All Laws had no shortage of any race. Jashu had heard a little bit of almost all common languages ​​and was also proficient in the swear words of various races.

I didn't really study it much; I just memorized it passively.

It can be guaranteed that no matter what race the other party is, even if they don't speak the common language, as long as they want to curse, they will definitely be able to understand it.

The language spoken by this group of men in black robes was quite different from the pronunciation of the various swear words that Jia Xiu had mastered.

If only I could see the text, the Eye of the Rune could help solve the problem.

The strange group attracted the attention of all the adventurers who were still conscious.

The sound of bells, the firelight piercing the darkness, the uniform black attire, the unhurried pace, and the strange, unorthodox language.

This group of people did a great job of creating an air of mystery, given their extremely limited budget.

Jia Xiu kept a close eye on this group of people, trying to figure out who they were.

Thanks to the elemental affinity he received from Bubu, he can keenly detect even the slightest elemental fluctuations caused by magic.

But it didn't.

These people didn't cast any spells.

This shouldn't be the case. Jia Xiu couldn't quite understand it. If they were controlling the derivative body, there should be signs of casting spells. Even if they weren't casting spells, the special magical items they used would still produce the appropriate elemental fluctuations.

The sound of a bell is just that—the sound of a bell. They don't use it to restrict the derivative.

If it weren't for spells or props, only a vampire could control their clone like that.

Vampires have absolute control over their transformed forms and do not rely on magic.

There are many different theories about how to achieve control, and even the vampires themselves can't explain it.

Just like humans are born knowing how to crawl, they instinctively do it the moment they become vampires, but it's hard for them to explain how they learned it.

Jia Xiu guessed it might be something like biological pheromones, but it hasn't been proven yet.

He tentatively assumed that the group of black-robed "charlatans" were led by vampires.

The vampires themselves issue hunting commissions for other vampires.

This person is also somewhat seriously ill.

This clarifies the objective: the leader of the black-robed men is the one who possesses clues about the marks on Bubu's body.

The black-robed group didn't seem to be moving very fast, but they were quite quick. Before long, they arrived at the scene where the alien beings were fighting the adventurers.

The entities were still struggling in pain, while they began to chant a short, incantation in unison.

It was still that incomprehensible language.

Surface spell.

Jia Xiu could tell that this incantation did not invoke magic; it was simply a recitation.

However, under the influence of the "magical little spell," the pain suffered by the derivative seemed to intensify. It could no longer endure it and fled in panic, disappearing into the night in just a few seconds.

"It's been exposed."

Jia Xiu muttered to himself.

"What mistake was made?" Ram asked.

"He was running too fast. If he had been running at that speed when we were chasing him, we would have caught up much sooner."

Ram scratched his head, not understanding.

Over here, the men in black robes began their new round of performance. Several men stepped out from the group and used basic healing spells—proper basic healing spells—to treat the injured adventurers.

The person in the lead removed her hood, revealing the face of a beautiful middle-aged woman. Her middle age was reflected in the temperament she exuded, but in reality, she didn't have a single wrinkle.

In an era before advanced cosmetic "magic" and medical aesthetics, to maintain a face like this requires either immortality or exceptional transformation magic.

"Thank you for your hard work, adventurers who have come from afar."

She bowed slightly and offered a polite but not servile apology.

“I’m sorry to have dragged you into this dangerous situation. I am Julia, a priestess of the Cult of the Moon Mother.”

Jia Xiu, who was secretly observing from the small room, scoffed.

never heard of that.

But with such a bizarre name, "Mother Goddess of the Moon," it would be a disgrace to not be a cult.

The adventurers were still in a daze, not quite able to react.

It took a while for a few people to come to their senses after being healed.

"Priest, Your Excellency, was it you who banished that terrible vampire?"

"It's just a little effort."

"But if you can exorcise vampires, why would you need to entrust us with this task?"

A mage asked the question that was on the minds of all the adventurers.

Yes, if they have that kind of power, what's the point of having them? They can scare away vampires by reciting a few words. Are we just messing around with them?

Yulia looked sad. "The power bestowed upon me by the Great Mother Goddess can only be used to drive away the vampires, but it cannot effectively kill them. Moreover, it can only be effective here, so I had no choice but to ask you for help. I did not expect that I would misjudge its strength. I apologize again for hurting you."

This series of apology moves made the adventurers a little embarrassed.

"Um, I, I, yes, we're not really capable. If you really want to deal with the vampires, you can submit a new request to the Adventurers' Guild for a higher price, about a hundred times higher than what we offer. That way you can hire someone who can definitely solve the problem."

A hundred times might sound exaggerated, but that's the going rate for adventure commissions.

The diminishing marginal utility is very serious.

A level two or three roadside team only needs a few crowns, but if their strength increases by 10%, the price will more than double, becoming a hundred times higher than the current commission price. In reality, they are hiring adventurers around level ten.

"Okay, thank you, I understand. I'm just worried about not having enough time, and I don't have that much money. Lately, vampires have been appearing more and more frequently, and they're getting increasingly manic... sigh..."

The adventurers were terrified when they heard that things might be even more dangerous ahead.

"In that case, you should hurry up and place a new commission. Even if our commission fails, we'll leave tomorrow during the day and won't occupy the house in town anymore."

"That's fine, I'll send you away tomorrow."

Should we send them away?

Hearing the conversation, Jia Xiu frowned. Why were they being sent away? Shouldn't they be trying to recruit them into the religion at this time?
Why aren't you following the usual procedure?

very annoying.

He's now thinking of letting Bubu handle it...

(End of this chapter)