Infinite Hunter

The spears were useless. Cheng Yijiu, half draped in a lion's skin, blocked most of the thrusts, and rolled his body directly along the spear shaft to close in, and with a flick of his blade, he began to cut down the soldiers. His killing speed was extremely fast, and even those sword and shield knights who came up were just a matter of fighting and killing. When the opponent swung his sword, Cheng Yijiu flipped his sword and slashed the opponent's neck. After all, it was a real combat heavy sword, far from the thin and unsharpened swords used in competitions.

He fought his way through a gap on the city wall, and the assault swordsmen following him also climbed up, fighting left and right to expand their position. Cheng Yijiu, wearing the lion skin, directly killed six Frankish knights and a dozen soldiers. No one dared to stand before him and challenge him anymore—because they all fell to his sword in a single blow. Cheng Yijiu's fighting prowess greatly inspired the champion warriors, who roared and continued to push back the Franks.

The city wall was captured, but Cheng Yijiu didn't participate in the subsequent battle. The two sides fought for a long time around the city gate, but Cheng Yijiu never intervened again. The numerical advantage was absolute, and how could Reynard have warriors with superb martial arts skills? In Cheng Yijiu's opinion, his own skills were only average, and Cheng Yijiu was absolutely confident that he could defeat him. His cold iron sword was a first-class weapon, and with his lion-like strength, it could easily penetrate armor.

Cheng Yijiu sat on the battlements of the city wall, looking down at the castle. The gates had been opened, and a large number of Saracen soldiers poured in, aggressively besieging the Frankish soldiers. Don't say that Reynald was a powerful figure in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. His soldiers were almost all professional soldiers, not many farmhands. He was able to gather thousands of such soldiers, and he was actually quite "loved" by his vassals.

Unfortunately, at least two of his vassal knights had been killed by Cheng Yijiu. Both of them were known for their bravery, but they easily lost their lives in the battle with Cheng Yijiu.

Someone approached Cheng Yijiu, the lion-skinned warrior sitting upright, his hands resting on his chin. "Reynard is probably going to run. I don't think he'll hold out in the castle to the end," Cheng Yijiu said. Next to him was, as expected, Saladin's messenger. "The Governor wishes to see you," the messenger said.

Reynald had indeed escaped. Escorted by a handful of elite knights, he left his castle and territory and fled to Jerusalem. Crucially, he had managed to escape. "I think Saladin's military capabilities are limited," Cheng Yijiu remarked, completely unconcerned. Saladin met with the soldiers who had made contributions in the battle, including Cheng Yijiu, whose pseudonym, the Lion, was known to everyone to be a lie.

"Then, Mr. Lion, the champion warrior." Saladin gave Cheng Yijiu the impression of someone from the Kingdom of Heaven. Even his appearance was about 80% similar to the actor. Saladin looked at the warrior before him. This was a rare true champion warrior he had ever seen in his life. This wasn't just a champion warrior from the "game" of fighting, but a champion warrior who had truly proven himself on the battlefield. Saladin remembered this man's record. He was the first to climb the city wall and in a short period of time killed six noble knights and seventeen soldiers. Even in terms of the number of kills, he was second to none.

It was also said that Cheng Yijiu did not participate in the subsequent battles and looting, so Saladin had to make amends to him, to compensate this powerful warrior so that he could continue to fight for Saladin. Saladin gave Cheng Yijiu a leather bag of gems and two beautiful slave girls. Saladin also made a promise that if Cheng Yijiu could continue to prove himself, Saladin would not hesitate to give him fiefdoms, honors, and even make him the leader of Saladin's personal guards.

This was almost enough to qualify as a high-ranking official in the Saracen Empire, but Cheng Yijiu had no interest in this. He politely accepted Saladin's reward and reiterated that he would serve under Saladin - as long as the governor could provide sufficient commission... Saladin was not angry at all. This kind of behavior of mercenaries was very normal, and this outstanding commander had a generous character. He knew very well that as long as he could continue to provide salary, a strong warrior like Cheng Yijiu would not leave.

Because he could see through Cheng Yijiu, he knew what kind of person this warrior was and would never give up his promise easily. In fact, Cheng Yijiu did not have a good impression of the Franks. In comparison, the Saracens were more civilized.

The loss of Raynald's territory meant that Saladin's army could advance directly into the heart of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. If the Crusaders hadn't arrived in time, Jerusalem alone would have struggled to withstand Saladin's forces. This was especially true given the reigning king, like Baldwin IV; anyone else would have surely lost. However, the young and brilliant commander had contracted leprosy and was nearing death.

"Well, at least he excelled here." Cheng Yijiu remembered that Baldwin IV in history was generally considered a declining ruler, weakened by leprosy and unable to control power. But here, Cheng Yijiu learned that Baldwin IV was more like the young commander in the Kingdom of Heaven. He actually led a weak force to defeat Saladin in several battles. Transjordan was lost, the Saracen cavalry plundered everywhere, but as a mercenary, Cheng Yijiu stood out.

He never went out to plunder, but simply marched daily and stayed in camp. He would spend money to buy some meat for himself and his two slave girls. In every sense, he was an honest and good man. Saladin admired such people, so he gave Cheng Yijiu another 150 gold coins at once. Saladin also thought that such people did not seem like mercenaries, but were likely nobles from the East who had drifted here for some reason.

So Cheng Yijiu's troubles came. Saladin kept inviting him to his tent, and even did not avoid him when discussing military affairs with other generals. "I will give you a higher salary, and you will serve as my guard." This is what Saladin said. You must know that Saladin's guards are almost all his tribesmen, and Cheng Yijiu, who joined as a mercenary, is the only one.

Chapter 21

The counterattacking swordsmen contained the knights' charge, and many of them died in the process—if only in terms of charging the knights, the Franks were more ferocious. Cheng Yijiu, however, wielded his sword, slashing at both riders and horses, like a raging lion, slaying one renowned English knight after another. When the champions had nearly slain all the charging knights, the situation returned to its original state.

Cheng Yijiu wasn't the commander; his only responsibility was to kill people. So, he returned to his starting point and sat on the ground to rest, drinking the cold water brought by the servants and eating some meat patties. He didn't know the overall situation, and honestly, there was no need to worry too much—killing people was tiring, especially killing people and armored people at the same time. Thanks to the lion skin, he was unscathed, having killed seven knights, but now, sitting down, he felt his arms ache and his breathing was a little rapid.

Killing people on the battlefield is much more tiring and difficult than killing seven people in a one-on-one duel.

For about an hour, Cheng Yijiu didn't attack again. The long-range attacks were sporadic, and for a while, both sides stopped completely. A roar like a tsunami erupted from behind Cheng Yijiu to his right. He turned and saw a cloud of dust. Had the Lionheart's tactics worked? This was a flanking attack. The Crusaders in front also began to advance, ignoring the still-moving Saracen cavalry and advancing slowly but steadily.

A horn blew, signaling Saladin's retreat. The Saracens retreated relatively smoothly, having suffered a flanking attack, but luckily they held their ground. Saladin withdrew his forces from the front to deal with the flanks. Cheng Yijiu mounted his own warhorse and followed Saladin's center. Cheng Yijiu was unaware of the specific command; he only knew that he did not fight a second time, but instead withdrew from the battlefield with the main army.

After a day and a night of fighting, the Saracens' losses were roughly equal to those of the Crusaders. This was true numerically, but in the actual confrontation, Cheng Yijiu felt the Crusaders suffered greater losses, as the heavily armored knights capable of charging had suffered more casualties. Saladin's soldiers, standing on the front lines with their spears, were mere cannon fodder; the loss of a few hundred was insignificant. Meanwhile, at least thirty Crusader knights had perished.

Back at camp, they could still threaten Jerusalem, but the situation had become less favorable—perhaps Saladin needed to call in more troops from Egypt. The Crusaders camped outside Jerusalem, forming a pincer attack with the Kingdom's forces within the city. For the next seven days, Saladin remained inactive, presumably awaiting a change in the situation. During these seven days, Cheng Yijiu accepted Saladin's commission.

He challenged the Crusaders daily. He and several other champion warriors rode their horses to the Crusader camp, loudly demanding duels with the Crusaders. Cheng Yijiu, draped in a lion skin, stood out the most—because beneath the skin he wore a simple linen short-sleeved shirt and shorts, with calf-binding leather sandals. His attire resembled that of a barbarian warrior. "Nonsense! It's so hot out here, why are you wearing a full set of armor?"

The challenge on the first day actually received a response—even the Lionheart couldn't control all the Crusaders. At least some of the German Crusaders, Italians, and French would obey his orders during battle. But in this situation, like a one-on-one duel in a story or legend, it was impossible to stop them. So someone immediately responded to Cheng Yijiu's challenge.

The opponent was also a sturdy man, wearing half-armor and wielding a long-handled battle axe. Both sides announced their names loudly in a rather "classical" manner. There were actually bards and other knights watching, making it look like a tournament. However, this was a tournament with a death penalty; one of the combatants would inevitably die. Of course, perhaps this was also a strong thrill—for the spectators.

Then Cheng Yijiu also discovered that there were noble ladies watching the battle among the Crusaders. This was very funny. Were there women marching and fighting?

Both sides attacked simultaneously, but Cheng Yijiu was faster, ending the fight with a powerful uppercut—a life-or-death struggle was swift. This single strike chopped off two-thirds of his opponent's skull, and this burly man was a knight. Whistling echoed from the crowd; it seemed they were dissatisfied with the outcome, but were extremely impressed by the skill Cheng Yijiu displayed.

It is indeed very dangerous. Nowadays, most of the tactics are attack-block-counterattack. It is rare to see such thrilling scenes as a duel. If you are not careful, both of them may die.

Six such duels took place simultaneously, four of which the Crusaders won, leaving the four Saracen champions lying flat on the ground. Cheng Yijiu immediately faced his second opponent—he had just killed a Saracen warrior with a lance, and now the two victors were about to duel. The bards were already composing their lyrics, while the unruly soldiers on both sides began placing bets, and the noblewomen pretended to be on the verge of fainting.

Cheng Yijiu even spotted a tall man from the Crusaders watching the battle, quite excitedly. Of course, his focus was still on Cheng Yijiu's lion hide. "Richard the Lionheart? Maybe this guy wants to come up and challenge me to a duel?"

Thrust! The opponent's attack was so fierce that Cheng Yijiu had to use the strong blade of his sword to slide away the opponent's spear blade and rush into the inner circle - all thanks to his powerful feline vision. Then a simple sword strike once again defeated the opponent, this time Cheng Yijiu pierced the opponent's throat. After killing two knights in a row, Cheng Yijiu won the cheers of the Saracens and even some people in the Crusaders applauded - no tricks, pure combat.

The commander of the Crusaders sent a servant, hoping that Cheng Yijiu would leave his name, and rewarded him with a small bag of gold coins. After knowing that he was a mercenary, he even extended an olive branch.

When Cheng Yijiu returned, half the camp cheered. He lived up to his title as champion, having slain two Crusader knights without injury. This time, he was the only Saracen champion to return. The next day, Cheng Yijiu again slew two knights. From the third day on, no one responded to the challenge. Apparently, the Crusader commander had issued an order strictly prohibiting duels. From that moment on, Cheng Yijiu's reputation as the Golden Lion Skin Warrior became the focal point for both sides.

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"Champion Warrior..." Cheng Yijiu looked at the decorations in the tent—they were gifts given to him by Saladin and other chiefs, even Richard I and some European nobles across the way. Among them was a large gold medal with a lion's head embossed on it, and a very Frankish-style silver shield-shaped coat of arms, also with dragon and lion symbols on it.

The noble warrior from Peach Blossom Stone—this was now universally acknowledged by both sides, and Cheng Yijiu was considered the strongest warrior in both camps. Of course, many people disagreed, but at least at this moment, the honor of being a warrior belonged to Cheng Yijiu. "I'm afraid he can be called a swordsman," Cheng Yijiu himself laughed a little.

Another day of confrontation, but this time a fierce wind blew—a massive scorpion-lion flew across the battlefield. This scorpion-lion had a head that looked like a fusion of human and lion, a long lion's mane, and a pair of spiral horns like an argali sprouting from its forehead. Its scorpion-like tail was surprisingly small—it suddenly grew into this shape a little over a meter behind its buttocks, as if it had been amputated and then regenerated.

This monster, larger than an African elephant, swept across the battlefield with a gust of wind, startling the horses and throwing the knights off their mounts. Cheng Yijiu jumped off his horse and frowned at the monster. "This is a bad feeling! Could it be that I chopped off its tail?" He drew his sword and watched the monster's huge eyes stare at him.

The monster roared at Cheng Yijiu from the sky, folded its wings, and dived, its mouth open as if about to spit something out. The scorpion lion spewed out a toxic and corrosive liquid that would burn when exposed to air. Cheng Yijiu thought it was spitting white phosphorus bombs.

Cheng Yijiu rolled on the ground, avoiding the first round of breaths. Some unlucky creatures were caught in the attack, and their screams were unprecedented. Cheng Yijiu grabbed a bow and arrow, fully drawn, and fired an arrow. The arrow was ordinary, with limited power. As expected, it failed to penetrate the monster's fur, but it further enraged the scorpion lion.

Despite its size, the manticore's fluid storage capacity was limited. After two unsuccessful attempts to exhale, the beast landed, ready for hand-to-hand combat. Both sides had distanced themselves, spears, shields, and crossbows ready. The Saracens had a set of strategies for hunting manticores, though the success rate wasn't high, according to the legends Cheng Yi had read.

It was said that there were no such beasts in Western Europe, so the Crusaders were obviously not as good as the Saracens when they saw this monster. In this area, only Cheng Yijiu faced this beast head-on, and there were also a few unlucky ones who did not escape and are now under the claws and mouth of this lion.

This was his second encounter with the same scorpion lion, and it was the same one. Cheng Yijiu didn't feel nervous at all, but rather a strange feeling, as if a background music had played. The scorpion lion charged forward, still half-aired, at breakneck speed. Cheng Yijiu swung his sword, sidestepping the lion's claws and fangs head-on. His broadsword clashed with the thick wing bone, slicing diagonally through the monster's wing membrane.

The wing membrane should have been as tough as leather armor, but under Cheng Yijiu's cold iron sword and his terrifying wrist control, it was easily cut open. Although there was not much blood, the scorpion lion still roared furiously, because it was not very convenient for it to fly now.

The subsequent battle was Cheng Yijiu's attack from the scorpion lion. This was too risky. The scorpion lion's claws and fangs were not ordinary objects, and this guy had terrifying power. If bitten by it, an ordinary person would be dead. Cheng Yijiu had a lion skin, but it couldn't protect his entire body.

Both the Crusaders and the Saracens were stunned. Had any human ever been able to fight a mantis lion alone? Such things used to be the stuff of legend. This champion warrior in the golden lion hide could actually fight the mantis lion alone, and seemingly hold his own. Such strength, skill, and courage were simply unparalleled.

Cheng Yijiu simply felt unlucky. If anything, he wouldn't have fought at all. Who could have imagined this monster would hold such a grudge? Considering it could speak human language, holding a grudge seemed understandable. Before long, the blood of both sides had dyed the sand red. Cheng Yijiu's chest and legs were scarred by the lion's claws, even after repeatedly using the lion's skin to block the attacks.

The scorpion lion's forelimbs, shoulders, and front half of its body were covered in wounds from the cold iron sword's slashing blows. The blood on the ground was mostly from the beast. Cheng Yijiu had Apollo's ointment on him, sealing his bleeding wounds and preventing further deterioration. Furthermore, the ointment seemed to bring him boundless courage and strength, and Cheng Yijiu was now fighting more bravely.

He even tried to climb the beast's body, forcing it to roll on the ground more than once, just to throw Cheng Yijiu off his body, which cost him multiple deep wounds on his shoulders. The scorpion lion was also ferocious, and seemed ready to fight to the death. Cheng Yijiu had never encountered a scorpion lion before, so he didn't know if this was a characteristic of this beast.

This kind of personality doesn't seem like that of a large carnivorous beast...

But now, it seemed the scorpion lion was becoming increasingly reckless in its fights. It no longer cared about getting hurt, and its fighting style shifted to one of exchanging injuries for injuries—even if it was seriously injured, it would still inflict damage on Cheng Yijiu, competing to see who had more health and stronger vitality. "Does this monster completely disregard whether it can escape alive?"

Cheng Yijiu couldn't think any more, as any further thought would surely lead to his own death. Combat required single-minded focus; anyone capable of splitting their attention between tasks was a genius, and Cheng Yijiu wasn't one. Soon, both sides were locked in a fierce, life-or-death struggle. The battle expanded, engulfing an entire Saracen regiment. Over a hundred men perished in the space of a few breaths.

The scorpion lion's powerful attack was terrifying. Although it was difficult to hit Cheng Yijiu... Cheng Yijiu was also extremely agile, like a giant cat. His blood had already soaked the hilt of his sword, making it even slippery to hold. The scorpion lion's body was already covered in blood, and its once magnificent black lion mane had become a stream of blood dripping down.

Finally, the two sides faced each other again. Cheng Yijiu finally felt his breath quicken, and fatigue caught up with him. Even with the ointment constantly sealing his wounds, Cheng Yijiu had lost too much blood by now, and his vision was a little black. The scorpion lion on the opposite side was not in good condition either, shaking its head frequently, probably because its eyes were also unable to see clearly...

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Each of them now had only one chance left to strike. After catching his breath, Cheng Yijiu tightened his grip on his sword, and the scorpion lion regained its composure. Their gazes met—a fierce charge began. Under the gaze of tens of thousands, the man and the scorpion lion rapidly closed in. Cheng Yijiu employed a thrust, aiming for the scorpion lion's throat. If he could penetrate the monster's jaws and slit its throat, the battle would be over.

As for what would happen to him after being hit, there was no time to think about it now.

During his charge, Cheng Yijiu suddenly felt his left leg go limp, and he paused. "Damn it!" the hunter cursed inwardly, having unexpectedly suffered a cramp in his left leg at this moment. Now he could only dodge, hoping for a chance. The shadow of death loomed over him. The scorpion lion pounced, noticing Cheng Yijiu's misstep, but unfortunately, it couldn't capitalize—the monster wasn't as swift as before.

Cheng Yijiu successfully rolled sideways to the back of the scorpion lion's wings. He stretched out his left hand and grabbed the monster's hair. With the force, he flipped over and used the long sword in his right hand to stab it down to stabilize it. Cheng Yijiu climbed the scorpion lion's body. This was very dangerous, because the scorpion's tail could attack enemies on its back. Sure enough, the smaller scorpion's tail quickly bent and began to stab Cheng Yijiu.

Cheng Yijiu released his left hand, using his weight to pull the longsword in his right hand downward, and then he shoved it under the scorpion lion's belly. The scorpion lion also crouched down, ready to crush Cheng Yijiu to death, not caring whether Cheng Yijiu would use his sword to disembowel it. As dust flew, Cheng Yijiu was also shaken out, even the golden lion hide was covered with dust. He jumped over the monster's wings and successfully rushed to the side of the scorpion lion.

Beneath its blood-soaked mane, the scorpion lion's neck was within reach. Cheng Yijiu leaned heavily on his sword, preparing to plunge his sword prongs into it with a self-sacrificing technique. If he could then sever the scorpion lion's carotid artery, perhaps he would win.

The scorpion lion fell to the ground, then fell to the side, exposing its belly. It began to growl. "I give up," it said. Cheng Yijiu did not let down his guard when he heard this. At this time, several people came running over from the Saracens. They looked experienced. Cheng Yijiu also understood what they were shouting. "Contract?" Cheng Yijiu said to the scorpion lion, "What contract?"

The manticore's voice actually sounded quite youthful, not an old man's but the sharper voice of a teenager. "Arudimula, my name. This is the contract. Your name? Real name!" the manticore said, and Cheng Yijiu looked into those huge orange eyes. "Cheng Yijiu, is this a signed contract?" The manticore growled and licked with its tongue.

Only then did Cheng Yijiu finally sit down on the ground and breathe heavily. He took out some ointment and smeared it on the wound, of course, he also took a handful and smeared it on the deepest wound on the front of the scorpion lion. "The God of Light, Phoebus Apollo?" The scorpion lion named Arudimuola said in surprise after being smeared with the ointment, and then added, "No wonder..." It looked at the lion skin on Cheng Yijiu's back.

Today's battle was another standoff, and everyone witnessed a truly spectacular duel, a clash between man and monster, every bit as spectacular as the beast fights at the Colosseum. The Saracens cheered the champion warrior's nickname, and now Cheng Yijiu also had the nickname "Scorpion Lion Conqueror." This scorpion lion had become his property, but it hadn't been seen for at least several dozen or even hundreds of years, had it? Saracen scholars were still searching for information to determine the exact number of years.

But this was already a visible miracle. Unless someone on the Crusaders' side could control a dragon or a griffin, they would probably suffer heavy losses in this battle - a scorpion lion that had recovered from its injuries was not an opponent that could be easily defeated. Even if it only breathed once at a tight formation, it would probably cause the loss of hundreds of elite soldiers... Cheng Yijiu slowly stood up and slowly returned to the camp under the escort of the Saracen's thousand-man team, while the scorpion lion also struggled to get up and walked slowly.

The ointment was dug out, and the maid used the medicinal soup to clean Cheng Yijiu's wounds and applied the ointment. This box of ointment could only cover Cheng Yijiu's entire body. As for the scorpion lion Arudimuola, they would have to wait another day. For now, they had only cleaned its wounds—a task performed by the slaves, whose trembling and fearful expressions were quite amusing. They also gave the scorpion lion a camel as food; with enough food, the monster would recover a little.

Many Saracen warriors had come to see the manticore, all of them marveling at it, but none dared disturb Cheng Yijiu while he rested. Even Saladin hadn't done so, though he had certainly come to see it. Scholars had spent an entire night confirming that no one had tamed a manticore in two hundred years. Fortunately, there were records of contracting monsters, the most recent being a half-scorpion-man contracted a few years ago.

Even so, Cheng Yijiu still didn't notice the door. The next day, Cheng Yijiu applied the ointment directly to the scorpion lion's deepest wounds. He had wasted a lot of water to clean it, but at least the mane was fluffy and smooth again instead of being stuck together by blood. With the scorpion lion, he would have the opportunity to enter Jerusalem from the sky. "Then you can be free, right?"

However, the contract of employment had not yet ended, at least until the battle was over. Sure enough, after a standoff of two weeks, Saladin decided to withdraw his troops—he had already achieved victory, at least destroying the Frankish forces in the Jordan region. The treacherous Raymond had been punished, and he might have to be a landless noble for a long time. Of course, this also meant that he might have lost the political struggle within the kingdom.

Cheng Yijiu concluded the contract quite naturally. He promised to continue to be employed by Saladin if possible in the future. Now he had the opportunity to sneak into Jerusalem. It would be impossible to do it in broad daylight. After all, Jerusalem had enough armed forces and powerful crossbows, which would be quite threatening to the mantis lion. Cheng Yijiu himself thought that if he just went in, he might be able to see the door. "I can just jump down from a low altitude - I can even use the tall bell tower of the church."

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Sneaking into Jerusalem at night was best. Cheng Yijiu, riding on the manticore, was already circling above Jerusalem, his massive figure obscured by clouds—he was incredibly lucky to have clouds today. The manticore swooped down, dropping to within three or four meters of the rooftops, sweeping away many of the clothes hanging from the ropes. Of course, some people saw the massive manticore so low in the sky and let out hysterical screams.

The scorpion lion flashed by, then flew out of the city before the defenders could deploy their crossbows. Cheng Yijiu took advantage of this opportunity to land on a rooftop. After opening the door, it wasn't a small house, but something else made him feel uneasy. "Is that... the church?" Cheng Yijiu thought he had finally figured out why he couldn't return even after killing the ghoul.

"It's so strange. Why didn't I have this feeling when I approached it last time?" Cheng Yijiu didn't know why, but it didn't affect him from taking advantage of the night to get closer to the church that gave him a strange feeling.

The church was now very quiet. Cheng Yijiu did not approach from the front, but instead carefully used the shadows to approach the church. The windows here were tall and narrow, and ordinary people could not climb up from the ground. However, there was a side door on the wall, and Cheng Yijiu stabbed it with his long sword, silently cutting the latch with one force and pushing the door open. "Blood..." Cheng Yijiu smelled an ominous odor.

He didn't believe that a murder had occurred here, but he didn't see any corpses nearby. If that were the case, he could smell it. How many people could have died here?

Cheng Yijiu walked along the corridor. There were no candles, only moonlight illuminated the small area. The stained glass windows, cast by the moonlight, resembled gray human figures. Cheng Yijiu's footsteps were almost silent, but besides the smell of blood and the stench of exposed internal organs, he could hear the soft sound of "gerda".

"Is this the sound of hard claws touching the stone floor?" Cheng Yijiu thought after hearing the sound, "This place... I remember it's the Church of the Holy Sepulchre? The Holy Sepulchre... Could it be that Jesus Christ has become a zombie? Hey, this sacred church can't stop the dark monsters." Cheng Yijiu could roughly imagine that the priests inside might all die, so he stopped sneaking.

As he walked toward the back of the chapel, near the Holy Sepulchre, he saw piles of corpses. The mutilated remains included not only those of the church's priests, but also those of the knights and soldiers who guarded the church. At the very top of the pile was a ghoul, nearly the size of a horse, lying on all fours, its ribs protruding and bone spurs sprouting from its spine. Its head was also different from that of a typical ghoul, its snout elongated, but it still resembled a skeleton wrapped in skin.

There was still sparse, unrotten hair on its skull. Although the skin looked festering at first glance, it was actually dry and tough, and the stench was real. Now this giant ghoul was gnawing on the unfortunate man who looked like a priest. Cheng Yijiu looked up at the monster and said, "So it's this ghoul?" This thing should be stronger than the ones he had killed before - at this distance, he couldn't smell the stench that should have been there.

That could only mean one thing: this ghoul had transformed its otherwise unbridled stench into a foul aura, increasing its abilities and limiting its range to perhaps just two or three meters around it. This made it difficult to track the monster by smell, and close combat would be advantageous. Cheng Yijiu cursed silently. Combat with such a thing was a nightmare. Although he had never used the foul aura before, the stench from killing ghouls before was unbearable.

At this point, Cheng Yijiu felt rather unlucky that Apollo's blessing hadn't allowed him to bring a bow and arrow, thereby gaining Apollo's archery power. Otherwise, he could have easily shot the ghoul from a distance—without the ghoul staring at him with its yellow eyes and growling menacingly. Ghouls prefer to eat rotting corpses, though they also don't rule out fresh meat.

However, with so many corpses, the ghoul had no interest in Cheng Yijiu. It just wanted Cheng Yijiu to get out of here and not steal its prey. Cheng Yijiu was also thinking about how to fight. He felt that asking him to climb up the pile of corpses to fight was inappropriate and would be very disadvantageous to him. So at this time, it was necessary to use external force. Cheng Yijiu put two fingers in his mouth and blew a sharp whistle.

Almost in the blink of an eye, the high roof was smashed to pieces, and a large amount of broken bricks and tiles fell down. Amid the zombie's roar, a huge black shadow fell from the sky and directly knocked the guy from the top of the mountain to the foot of the mountain.

It was the ferocious manticore, Arudimurra. Cheng Yijiu signaled the manticore to leave—this relatively small space was not suitable for the monster to fight. After whipping up a fierce wind, tossing the corpses around, the manticore emerged from the massive hole. Now, Cheng Yijiu could face the ghoul directly. He took a step forward, and a substantial stench rushed over him, making the air seem thick.

Even blocking one's nostrils wouldn't help; the stench seeped through the pores. If Cheng Yijiu hadn't been covered in ointment, he would have collapsed within seconds. The golden lion hide had taken on a dark green hue, and it was unclear if its defense had changed. Cheng Yijiu could only fight quickly. The ghoul was incredibly agile and surprisingly strong, and his slashing blow was blocked by its claws.

"A greatsword made of cold iron can't even cut through this monster's claws?" Cheng Yijiu was also quite surprised. This ghoul's nails must be made of some extraordinary material. At the same time, Cheng Yijiu kicked out directly at the monster's protruding mouth. The sole of his shoe just happened to catch a fang on the monster's upper jaw. As his ankle twisted, the fang was directly pried off, tumbling in the air and falling to the ground.

Cheng Yijiu launched a series of thrusts and chariot-dance slashes. His claws pressed against his blade, sparking a burst of sparks before sliding down the blade—Cheng Yijiu tilted his sword to deflect the claws. Then, with a flash of light, the sword pierced the ghoul's mouth and exited through the back of its head. Cheng Yijiu's swordsmanship was inherently dangerous, a life-or-death struggle decided in just two or three rounds.

After the long sword pierced through, Cheng Yijiu quickly twisted his wrist, and at this moment, the powerful explosive force took effect—the upper half of the ghoul's head slid down directly...

Chapter 25

A ghoul is still just a ghoul, even if it's as big as a horse, its combat effectiveness won't improve dramatically. Having already sustained internal injuries from the scorpion lion's blow, and then having the upper half of its skull cut off by Cheng Yijiu, it simply fell to the ground, motionless. Only then did Cheng Yijiu cut off its claws, and with a sense of purpose, he saw the side door of the church. He walked over to the door and pushed it open...

Taking a long, relaxed breath, Cheng Yijiu threw his weapon aside and the lion skin on the table. Now Cheng Yijiu just wanted to take a good bath and have a good sleep.

When he finally woke up, he began to pack up. "Huh? What's going on here?" Cheng Yijiu brushed the lion skin clean and hung it up when he noticed an unusually large claw, like an oversized lion's paw. Putting the cleaned sword away, Cheng Yijiu walked to the trophy hall. Sure enough, there was no ghoul, but instead a miniature basilisk model.

"That's right. Besides the teeth and claws, it's impossible to taxidermy a ghoul—there's no way to get rid of the stench." Even the stinking ape was reluctantly covered with a fully enclosed glass case. For ghouls more outrageous than the stinking ape, they could simply use some trophies and a picture instead.

Cheng Yijiu pushed open the door, walked down the stairs, and prepared to open the shop. It really felt like another world. He turned his head to see the little black dog still frolicking in the back garden. "Really, it's useless," Cheng Yijiu sighed. This dog was indeed like that. It would probably only be useful on the next modern mission. If they had to face those mythical creatures again, this dog would probably be useless, just a waste of its head.

It's like when facing a zombie, this dog might even hold him back.

Cheng Yijiu opened the door, fiddling with a giant lion's claw. Miss Tang arrived shortly after. The girl had naturally stopped practicing facelifts and even her daily exercise routine. She approached with a smile. "Ah, it smells like love," Cheng Yijiu muttered. It seemed the pretty girl had finally been caught up—looking at the corner of a luxury car peeked out from the corner not far away, Cheng Yijiu could certainly hear the girl getting out of the car.

There weren't many customers, but thankfully, the utilities and Miss Tang's salary were still within reach, and Cheng Yijiu didn't rely on the store for a living. He opened the website for the special department—even though he was a temporary employee, he should have this level of access. "Ah, this is getting more and more lively." The website was overflowing with news, with strange events appearing everywhere that had never occurred before.

Fortunately, compared to the human world, the number of incidents is still relatively low, and the vast majority of people aren't affected at all or are unaware of it. "Intelligence suppression? That's a good thing. Curiosity kills the cat, and there are plenty of people who don't know what's happening. If there were a rumor about a haunted place or a dangerous creature, there would definitely be a rush of people—that's why they say there are so few foreigners. Now, I'm afraid there are fewer Chinese people too."

The current buzz is about large carnivorous beasts appearing across North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Asia Minor, and even Central Asia. Sightings are sporadic, with hundreds of livestock being preyed upon. Reports indicate these beasts can fly. "At least four different kinds of beasts? Where did they come from?" Cheng Yijiu was curious about this, wondering when he might be asked to hunt one of these monsters.

By this time, rumors had already begun to spread—most online citizens had already vaguely heard various rumors, but the official authorities had consistently denied them. Even in the United States, some investigative journalists were told to shut up. There were also many things happening in the United States, but not much could be found on China's internal websites, as they also adopted confidentiality measures.

In any case, in the vast plains and low hills of the polluted central and eastern North America, there are "monsters" wandering everywhere. From the records that Cheng Yijiu has seen so far, some are wendigos, some are huge mutant carnivorous fish in the water, and there are even some monsters that look like mutants - in short, disappearances are commonplace. Anyway, the United States is a country with low human rights and has its own national conditions, so it is not a big deal at all.

The agencies responsible for these incidents were similar to the US, with multiple orders coming from different departments. As far as Cheng Yijiu knew, every federal law enforcement agency had its own special unit to handle these types of incidents, but overseas, there were only three: the CIA, the military, and the Department of Homeland Security. "The one in Japan last time must have been a military unit..." Cheng Yijiu muttered.

Miss Tang came over and verbally resigned from him, "Hey, you got a boyfriend, right? He should be a good one - let me see, rich, talented, good for you, and handsome... isn't that right?" Cheng Yijiu joked, "Well, just observe more. There's no need to rush, after all, you're still young." After saying that, Cheng Yijiu started to pay the salary. "Here, this Swift Sword is for you."

This is a lightweight swift sword, short and slender, but no less formidable. With its ornate scabbard, carved guard, and hilt, it's perfect for wall decoration. Cheng Yijiu had originally crafted it for Miss Tang, and now it's a gift to her—the cold iron blade, adorned with exorcist runes, makes it a great talisman to hang in your home.

Cheng Yijiu wasn't planning on hiring any more staff. He seemed to have a mission coming up—a series of field expeditions, with several teams heading out to explore Xinjiang and Central Asia. It seemed to touch upon the previous issue of large carnivores. Cheng Yijiu signed up, and Xiao Zhang seemed to have signed up too. Everyone else had requested leave. This time, several groups were combined to form a single expedition team, which now numbered nine, with Cheng Yijiu as one of them.

His position was that of a regular team member, but due to his extensive experience, he had become a veteran among the regular team members despite being a temporary worker. This time, they were chartering a 12-seat domestically produced ARJ21 business jet. The cargo hold contained some equipment and supplies, while other supplies would be delivered to the departure base by an Air Force transport aircraft. Captain Sun Xiaodong convened a meeting immediately after takeoff—business jets have long ranges, and this time, with a flight of at least 6,000 kilometers, there was plenty of time for a meeting.

A large LCD screen stood in front of each person, displaying a video. "The reason for this investigation is because the situation has become dangerous—there have been casualties. It's been confirmed that this is a man-eating beast... and it can fly."

Volume: Ordinary Life

Chapter One

"Flying beasts are always difficult to deal with," Cheng Yijiu muttered, echoing everyone else's sentiments. Initially, these beasts attacked livestock, but more recently, they've expanded their focus to attacking unlucky herders. Herders often disappear along with their livestock, and search personnel also disappear, leading several countries along the route to simply refuse to conduct search missions.