Chapter 834

Chapter 47 The Hell of Perception (2)

The sudden words seemed to startle the female swordsman. Her eyes sharpened instantly, and as she stepped back, her body reacted immediately. With a sharp “clang,” the sword in her arms was drawn out!

She held the blade at her side, the sharp edge pointing downward, with silver lightning arcs flickering on the white blade, twisting and densely wrapping around her fingertips that gripped the hilt. The female swordsman did not speak; instead, she slightly bent her body, her sharp eyes quickly scanning the surroundings, appearing ready for battle.

However, two seconds later, she turned her head with a puzzled look, staring at my face. After a moment, she tilted her head slightly, asking in confusion, “Hm?”

What do you mean “hm”?

“Open your eyes and look ahead.”

I stopped moving forward and stood there, staring at the scattered tents and shabby huts not far away. I took a deep breath, feeling somewhat confused.

Damn it.

“Ahead.”

While cursing inwardly, I heard the hesitant voice of the female swordsman beside me, “What’s wrong?”

“Do you not see?” “See what?” “The camp.”

What’s going on with this person?

With a stern expression, I pointed forward with my right hand, lowering my voice, “The camp outside the castle, all these tents, everything here looks different from when we saw them from afar just now.”

Such obvious changes, could she not notice them? Is she blind?!

In my line of sight, less than a few hundred meters ahead, on the spreading grassland, those shabby huts, which looked uninhabited from a distance, though seeming normal, had suddenly become ruins.

The old wooden houses, which were still standing, and the makeshift tents, some with burnt ashes, scattered bottles, empty barrels, and bones nearby, had all changed. Except for the absence of people, many scenes in the camp were exactly what I had seen recently.

But at this moment, all those scenes had changed.

When I noticed, the old houses had already collapsed extensively, without any warning or movement. More of the simple but habitable tents were now in ruins, looking as if they had been eroded by wind, with large and small holes densely covering the canvas.

Dark red, blood-like, strange patterns resembling tubes or roots, long yet familiar, spread from the dark brown ground, extending from a farther direction, attaching to the fallen wooden walls, broken pillars, and scattered tents. Though not dense, they were everywhere.

And such a scene, had not appeared before my eyes until less than a quarter of an hour ago—this terrifying change, I hadn’t noticed at all. When did it happen, and how?

It was as if

everything was corroded by some terrible force in an instant, silently.

“Sss—”

I couldn’t help but inhale sharply.

Dirty dust floated in the air, and a bloody and putrid smell, previously unheard of, began to permeate the air. What’s happening?

A chill ran down my spine, and I instinctively started to step back, then saw the surprised face of the female swordsman.

After hearing what I said earlier, she looked up again with confusion. But at this moment, she seemed to have just realized something. I clearly saw her pupils widen and then shrink rapidly, her face changing dramatically. Lightning arcs crackled around her, and she moved astonishingly fast, darting behind me in an instant. When I turned back, she had already retreated over ten meters away.

“This is…”

Moon Step—boom!

Before she could finish speaking, I had already taken a Moon Step, and the mud beneath my feet splashed apart.

At that moment, his figure appeared behind the female swordsman in the next second, touching her sword, raising his hand, and howling wind. A milky-white short blade swept down, aiming precisely at her exposed neck. However—!

After a huge clashing sound, the sword blade was forcibly stopped.

The Sword Ghost lady reacted extremely quickly. She didn’t have time to turn around, but the instant she heard the sound, she stretched her longsword to the back of her head without looking, blocking my attack with lightning speed and precision.

Then, the edge of the sword, full of notches, suddenly turned. With a “clank,” the metal grinding noise pierced the air. The sword blade turned around the ‘Dragon Claw’ in my hand and, amidst the flickering sparks, stabbed into my chest at an extremely tricky angle.

The sudden clash started in an instant and ended in the blink of an eye.

By the time the Sword Ghost turned around, she found that she had only hit an afterimage. I had already quietly appeared on her other side. The ‘Dragon Claw’ in my hand danced and reinserted into my waist. I stretched out my left hand like lightning, grabbing her head, then bent down and pressed hard—

Bang!

The female swordsman was directly pressed to the ground, her face smashing into the dirt with a muffled sound. “Puh.”

In a panic, she spat out the debris that had entered her mouth and then shouted, “What… What for?”

I released her before she could finish speaking, pulled down the cloak that had been flying behind me, straightened up, and looked at the somewhat bewildered Sword Ghost lying on the ground. In a calm voice, I said, “If you ever act as recklessly as you did just now again, I might not hold back anymore.”

Cough, cough!

She coughed forcefully and slowly sat up from the ground. “I, I wasn’t trying to escape.” “I don’t care what you think.”

I looked down at her for a while, then extended my right hand. “I don’t trust you, do you understand?” “…”

The Sword Ghost met my gaze for a moment.

She ignored my outstretched hand and got up on her own. Her face wasn’t good, but she didn’t say anything more. She wiped her face with her sleeve, tidied her messy hair, and patted off the dirt on her body. When she realized it couldn’t be cleaned properly, she gave up.

Throughout this process, she held tightly onto her longsword.

Seeing her seemingly angry expression, I didn’t feel particularly concerned. I shrugged, retracted my hand, thought for a moment, and then walked toward the castle gate, gradually becoming more serious.

A few steps later, I heard the female swordsman’s voice from behind. “Hmm.”

It seemed she wanted to say something else. She hesitated for a long time before finally asking, “The sword technique you used just now was from Master Lane.”

Heh.

This little person actually recognized it? “Have you seen him?” I didn’t turn around.

“No, I’ve only heard about his techniques.” She paused. “Can you teach me?” “What?”

Without thinking, I refused. “Besides, is this really the time to talk about such things? Have you noticed the strange changes in the camp outside the castle?”

After walking some distance further, when the color of the ground began to slightly turn red, I slowed down and heightened my alertness.

The female swordsman followed closely, saying, “I saw it.” “When did you notice the changes?” I asked. “Just now.”

She thought for a moment, feeling she hadn’t explained clearly, and added, “I only noticed the changes when you told me there were changes.”

I fell into deep thought.

So, before I told her about the changes outside the castle, were things still considered normal in her eyes?

What’s going on?

As I pondered, I walked to the roadside grass, squatted down, and grabbed a handful of soil mixed with a bit of crimson. I brought it close to my nose and sniffed gently.

Strange.

There was a burnt, bloody smell in the soil, and…

This scent was somewhat familiar.