Gao Wu: After transforming into a soft girl, I became a calamity?

Just as Jiang Mian perceived and "saw," in the village, villagers gathered in twos and threes by the roadside, working and chatting at the same time.

At first glance, there was nothing unusual about it.

But she soon noticed a detail: most of the villagers were men, with women and children making up only a small minority, and there were no elderly people at all.

Coupled with the surrounding misty environment, the whole village exudes an indescribable eeriness.

To be on the safe side, Jiang Mian did not reveal herself rashly, but instead focused her senses on the three men.

Carrying baskets full of "vegetables" on their heads, they hurried along, heading straight for the largest house in the center of the village.

The shadows inside the house were exceptionally thick, like a gaping maw ready to devour someone, making it impossible to see what was inside.

Jiang Mian tentatively extended a wisp of "wind" into it.

However, the instant she touched the shadow, it seemed to be awakened, releasing a silent mental shriek that traveled along her senses.

"Um?"

Jiang Mian was stunned.

This spiritual shriek carries an instinctive resistance, like the cry of some instinctive calamity whose territory has been invaded.

Strangely, apart from the villagers, she did not sense any obvious signs of disaster, only a faint smell of decay.

Before she could think it through, the entire village was instantly covered by a shield formed by the power of shadow.

Jiang Mian was particularly familiar with this force, having even seen it not long ago.

"The realm of the [chaotic] ​​path?"

No, it doesn't look like the complete version; it's more like a castrated version created using some special method.

What's going on here?

She withdrew her senses and looked towards the village.

The villagers had stopped what they were doing and quickly scurried into nearby houses.

Faced with this unexpected situation, they did not appear flustered at all; on the contrary, they were unusually skilled, clearly indicating that this was not the first time they had encountered such a situation.

In the center of the village, the door of the large house slowly opened, and heavy footsteps came from inside.

Then, a tall, bulky "person" emerged from the shadows.

When Jiang Mian saw what it was, she couldn't help but frown.

It's a bit disgusting.

The "person" was about six or seven meters tall, with eerie dark red skin all over its body, and its exposed belly was covered with pustules and ravines.

He was still chewing something, making a chilling chewing sound.

Even from half a village away, you could almost smell the stench.

Is this the source of the putrid smell?

Judging from the appearance, it should be a diseased person.

Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?

According to normal procedures, if the disease progresses to this stage, it should have become a complete catastrophe long ago. How can it still live a normal life among people?

Oh, no, these villagers aren't necessarily normal humans either.

Jiang Mian turned around, intending to forcefully break through this shadowy domain.

Having roughly figured out the situation here, there's no need to waste any more time.

She's always been pragmatic; dealing with this thing would only make her feel disgusted, offering no benefit whatsoever.

It might even trigger other chain reactions and attract some trouble.

I should have known better than to come in person; it would have been more important to find someone else.

However, as soon as she made a move, the dark red giant seemed to sense something, abruptly changed direction, and charged straight at her.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Mian's eyes turned cold.

Although this thing only exudes a third-level aura, its appearance is really not flattering.

A powerful gust of wind suddenly descended, instantly pinning the giant to the ground.

He struggled violently, muttering incomprehensible ramblings.

The next second, something strange happened.

Within the shadow realm, the polluted wind elements were drawn and manipulated by him, slowly gathering together in an attempt to resist Jiang Mian's suppression.

"It can even manipulate elements?"

A hint of surprise flashed in Jiang Mian's eyes.

Judging from the type of lesion, this dark red giant is clearly on the [Chaos] path, yet it can manipulate elements, which completely defies common sense.

However, it is destined to be futile for an outsider to try to fight against an elemental master using elements.

She only increased the output slightly before pressing it back onto the ground.

He let out a low growl of resentment, and his bloated body began to stretch and deform, as if he still wanted to struggle.

Jiang Mian decisively followed up with two more wind blades, cleanly and neatly severing him.

Dark red blood splattered on the ground, making a hissing sound, and in an instant, it corroded several sizable pits.

"【Dissolution】?"

Jiang Mian finally understood.

She had seen other patients with the ability to "dissolve" before, but this one looked like it had mutated, and she didn't recognize it at first glance.

It is truly astonishing that a purely chaotic path can manipulate elements.

After figuring out the thing's abilities, she casually added a burst of fire.

The feedback was a bit strange, yet somewhat familiar, like... the Red Inhibitor from the Mutual Aid Society?

A derivative of [formless]?

How is that possible?!

Since arriving in this godforsaken place, Jiang Mian's brow has never been relaxed.

For some unknown reason, there is no trace of [Glory] on this land, but it is filled with a large amount of [Chaos] power.

The people here may have taken a very extreme path:

Embrace the chaos, assimilate with the mist, and thus continue to survive.

Judging from the state of this village, the goal of continuing has been achieved, but the art style... is really hard to look at.

I don't know how they did it.

But how do we explain this strange patient who seems to have taken a hemoglobin inhibitor?

Could there be a second [Formless]?

Even the elements here have been "contaminated." If you think about it carefully, if [Formless] had completed the cross-path devouring and fusion, it might have been able to do the same.

If that's the case, this place might be much more dangerous than we imagine.

Of course, the above is just her guess.

After all, she had only seen the situation in this one village.

If this guess is correct, then going down the mountain might lead to a larger "human" settlement, or even a city.

In this unfamiliar place with a particularly strange art style, Jiang Mian was really worried about Ye Chenyang, who had "gone missing".

She wasn't interested in this godforsaken place; she just wanted to find him as soon as possible.

Of course, if I have the capacity, I will try my best to find Shen Qiuyu.

Judging from the situation in this village alone, the people here seem to be unusually "xenophobic".

If she encounters a high-level expert, she also has her Torrent Clone to protect her.

If Ye Chenyang were to encounter them, even with considerable combat experience, he might be able to handle a sixth-tier opponent, but a seventh-tier opponent or even higher...

Without even thinking about it, they definitely can't win.

Jiang Mian took out a small crystal sword from his spatial storage and infused it with his spiritual power.

It quickly swelled to its normal size.

With her right hand holding the sword, she lightly slashed across the shadowy curtain in front of her, creating a small but not insignificant opening.

Jiang Mian crossed the gap and then reactivated his glasses.

Although it was a bit chaotic at the beginning, the direction has become very stable since then.

If I'm not mistaken, the arrow is pointing... towards Ye Chenyang's location.

This time, it seemed to be closer to the target, and shortly after activation, it pointed to a new location.

Jiang Mian compared it and found that it flowed in the same direction as the black river not far away.

Then, she flashed and disappeared into the mist once more.