This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 195 Night Operation
A warm breeze swept across the land, rustling the leaves like an echoing countdown, making people restless.

As the sun sets in the west, it resembles a giant, molten bronze furnace, slowly sinking towards the jagged outline of the distant mountains.

The sky was dyed a vibrant yet eerie orange-red, and the clouds hung stickily on the heavens like congealed scabs. The sunlight was no longer warm, but rather carried an unsettling, dying heat, casting long, distorted shadows on the bullseye-like, strange outline of Xunshan Mountain.

The wind in the forest seemed to have stopped, and the air became thick and heavy, filled with a faint, fishy smell that was like rust or some kind of putrid substance.

The chanting in the distance sounded clearer and more frantic in the twilight, intertwining with the unsettling sunset to create an indescribable atmosphere of oppression.

"Are they going to keep reading forever?" someone muttered under their breath.

A profound silence filled the air; no one answered. As weary birds returned to their nests, the world grew quiet to a melancholy degree.

The advance team members returned to the designated assembly point one after another. Their movements were still swift, but each of them wore a look of exhaustion and solemnity. Speed ​​was their advantage, allowing them to complete large-scale reconnaissance in a short time, but it also meant that they felt the despair pervading this land more deeply.

Countless people died in the deep forests surrounding Xunshan. What's even more terrifying is that, knowing it must have been a large number, not a single body was found.

Many people subconsciously avoided looking directly at the excessively crimson sunset, as if its light carried some ominous curse. Some muttered curses about the weather, while others silently checked their equipment, trying to dispel the inexplicable awe and fear rising in their hearts with their busyness.

People have always felt that the sunsets in the new world are too dazzling. The crimson color is not like the magnificence of nature, but rather like a huge, bloodshot eyeball, coldly watching the suffering of life on earth.

Nie Weiyang leaned against a protruding rock, casually crushing a scorpion that crawled out from under the rock, and also looked at the setting sun.

His profile was sharply defined in the blood-red afterglow, expressionless. The subtle unease among his teammates rippled through his senses, but he offered no words of comfort.

Because what was hanging in the sky was not a sunset at all.

That is another form of the Blood Moon Phantom.

Its light was more subtle and diffused, concealing its eerie nature beneath the natural phenomenon of sunset. But the chilling aura it contained, emanating from a deeper level, and the alienation it exuded over life force, were exactly the same as every blood moon rising in his memory.

This is merely the shadow that looms over the world, revealing different faces at different times—the sun during the day is an illusion formed by combining the light effects of the world's barrier, while the moon at night is the main body of this celestial body; this is the new world.

Nie Weiyang remained silent, simply watching the sunset over the New World's specialty, until the last ray of dazzling red light disappeared into the mountain ridge. From pale pink to an unusual purple, the sky was quickly replaced by inky blue, and the suffocating unease subsided as the light disappeared—replaced by the unique, deep, and deathly silence of the wilderness night, teeming with countless dangers.

“Report the situation.” Nie Weiyang turned around, his voice calm and even, as if the unsettling sunset had never touched his eyes.

The squad leaders immediately stepped forward and quickly and clearly reported the final reconnaissance results: a detailed map of the outer ring area, the guard shift change pattern, several possible weak points, and the hidden path leading into the mountains discovered by the third squad.

"Very good." After listening, Nie Weiyang glanced at all the team members. "Rest for half an hour, eat, and do a final check of the equipment. Five hours later, proceed as planned."

"Remember our objective: clear the perimeter, create chaos, and draw attention. Note that we must never approach the central peak."

"Yes!"

The group responded in hushed tones, quickly dispersed, and disappeared into the deepening night, beginning their final preparations for the upcoming operation.

At this moment, only a huge, dark silhouette remained of Xunshan, with scattered prayer lamps flickering like will-o'-the-wisps within it.

The Bone Ritual Court exuded a repulsive, foul aura, yet it remained unlit, only emitting a faint, flickering candlelight, presumably from the lampstand of the hollow skull statue.

At midnight, all was quiet; even the chirping of insects seemed to be suppressed by some invisible pressure.

Just before the team members responsible for keeping time were about to raise their hands to check their watches or wake their companions, Nie Weiyang, who had been sitting in the shadow of the rock with his eyes closed, opened them without warning. In the extreme darkness, his scarlet eyes were like two faint but incredibly conspicuous embers, showing no trace of the confusion one might experience upon waking, only a clear and calm demeanor.

A golden light surged deep within his pupils—the power of the paladin, the power of his conviction.

Nie Weiyang didn't look at anyone. He stared at Xunshan's silhouette, tilted his head slightly, and listened intently to something.

Then, his extremely soft voice reached the ears of each team member:

"Time is up."

The team members, who were preparing to move, were startled and quickly entered combat mode.

"Act according to plan."

With a simple command given, dozens of dark figures, like startled night owls, silently slipped into the forest, stealthily making their way towards the flickering prayer points on the outer ring of Xunshan Mountain.

Their mission was to ambush lone or small groups of believers on the periphery, disrupt the prayer array, create maximum chaos and panic, and keep the enemy's attention firmly on the periphery.

Nie Weiyang himself remained where he was.

As a paladin, his energy is as unpredictable as a light bulb in a secret room, impossible to hide.

Flashbangs can't be thrown out all the time. His power needs to be used at the most critical moments—for example, when the Sun Lord, due to the chaos in the outside world, acts strangely and leaves the Bone Temple with the mental trap of the Voidwalker.

As for why he didn't approach the Bone Sacrifice Court and asked others not to approach either—he's not in his second administrator state now, so it would be too stupid for him to knowingly enter the enemy's territory in his original form.

Nie Weiyang concealed all his aura, making even his breathing barely audible. His gaze pierced through the darkness, locking onto the central mountain peak, sensing every subtle change in the energy there.

From the darkness in the distance, extremely faint muffled sounds, like a sharp blade slicing through a throat, or short, choked sobs, can be heard.

The flames of prayer began to flicker erratically, then went out one after another. Chaos, like ripples created by a stone thrown into still water, began to quietly spread throughout the outer ring area.

Soon, the enemy reacted, and shouts erupted from the mountain. Gray spirits emerged from all directions, fighting fiercely in the darkness...

Everything is going according to plan.

Nie Weiyang patiently watched the mountain, waiting for his prey to make a mistake, or... for the hunter who was hiding even deeper to lose his composure first.

The murderous intent of the night had already spread.

"Keep an eye on the surrounding area. If any cultists approach Xunshan from a distance, kill them immediately," Nie Weiyang ordered in a low voice. "Let's see who gets impatient first—"

'Buzz-Buzz-'

A faint sound emanated from the neck brace, and a dim white light flickered, illuminating Nie Weiyang's chin.

Vibration, screen light, notification sound—why does this new message notification look so familiar? What did Xu Fu reference when she created this thing?!
Nie Weiyang was a little speechless. Instead of taking out the Phantom Spirit, he turned his head and touched it with his skin to read the message sent by his companion behind him.

(End of this chapter)