This adventurer is overly righteous.

"Next, we'll split up and proceed separately."

Two people dressed in heavy clothes walked through the snow. They were Tiki and Gus, each holding a three-headed hound. They sniffed out scents coming from different directions and tried to identify the parts that belonged to their prey.

The prey was something the hounds had never encountered before in the North, so Tiki and Gus spent a whole day temporarily training the hounds. They bought materials and fur from the prey and had the hounds sniff them out, familiarize themselves with the scents, and eventually memorize them completely.

"Okay," Tiki replied curtly, his face as stiff as a stone, remaining expressionless.

"We can have a race to see who can hit the prey first and get back to that town..." Gus's tone became more lively, but he didn't joke around much. "Lillian will be the referee, and I'll beat you."

The two men came from a tribe in the north and were renowned warriors and hunters. Each possessed considerable strength among elite adventurers, so passing the test was not difficult for them.

"Fine, you can win then." Tiki shook his head.

"You don't need to prove anything through me..."

"You always spoil the fun. I just want to make this hunt more interesting, okay?!" Gasra raised his voice.

The two made their own moves. Gus stood still, watching Tiki's figure disappear into the white snow, then suddenly turned his head and walked in the opposite direction.

After losing the mist that had always protected it, the Misty Forest seemed no different from other forests. Most of the trees here had lost their branches and leaves and become bare, but a small number of them still had leaves supporting the snow. Their branches would occasionally sway because of the movement of a small mouse or a bird, causing the snow to fall or the branches to break. Gus walked under these trees, looking up from time to time.

It's very quiet here; all the restlessness is suppressed under the snow.

Gus could see the tracks left by other adventurers, and the snow that had been trampled would turn into slippery ice. He bypassed those places and headed toward a quiet place where no one went. His three hounds followed their master faithfully until they stopped in front of a fallen tree.

It wasn't felled by a human axe; judging from the shape of the break, the tree was snapped by some creature with immense force—a powerful monster, no doubt...

"Alright." A second voice came from the snow, a cold and shrill voice that tore through the silence and made people feel uneasy.

"My friend is right here, you can leave now."

A dog stood up; it was the same dog that had nearly killed Smith that night. Its body structure began to change, as if its bones and muscles were being reshaped, until it finally became the same shape Smith had seen.

  

"I'll come back to you once I get what I need," the dog said to Gus. "Until then, go hunting and come up with any excuse to cover up my disappearance."

"Who is your friend?" Gus stared intently at the dog. "No one else was mentioned in our previous agreement, the evil spirit."

"Relax, you're so tense. Do you think I can't have my friends? Can't I go see them?" The evil spirit manipulated the dog's body, revealing a mocking expression that resembled that of a human. "Although I am an evil undead born in the ice and snow of the North, I still have friends."

"And I will not betray them."

The evil spirit added, and Gus glared at him, clenching his fists.

"Relax, Guss, I didn't mean to mock you, but I have to tell you, we need that friend's power. He can help us prepare some materials that only mages can obtain..."

"Our plan is beneficial to both of us." The evil spirit began stroking the other dog's head while keeping a constant eye on Gus's eyes.

"Don't even think about playing any tricks..." Gus said weakly at last, leading the other two hounds, who were already stunned by the evil spirit, in another direction.

"Heh..." The evil spirit sneered after Gaisley left. Then he searched around the broken tree and finally found a very hidden crevice in the rock. He went inside and found a cave filled with darkness.

"Adrian..."

The evil spirit began to howl inside the cave, its voice echoing and startling the bats that lived there. A gaunt figure emerged from the darkness, waving his hand to silence the evil spirit's howling.

"You're noisy."

"I think you must have received that guy's notification beforehand and prepared things for me," the evil spirit said mischievously.

"Yes, I have indeed prepared everything for you." Adrian looked at him coldly, "But this is a trade, and you are the one who needs my help, evil spirit. Straighten your attitude."

"I know you want me to join you." The evil spirit found a place to sit, staring at Adrian and scanning the entire cave. "Look at this place, there's not even a chair. Are you really Adrian?"

"The Adrian I remember was someone who always kept his place impeccably tidy. You're down on your luck now..."

"You love to mock people, you evil spirit." Adrian interrupted him with an unfriendly expression. "I don't want to waste any more time with you. You need to sign a contract and join us, then I'll give you the things, and finally, get out!"

"No problem, no problem, relax a bit. You've been in this dark place the whole time, how come you can't even take a joke?" The evil spirit shook its head and said flippantly, "But let me make it clear beforehand, I will not believe in the gods you worship, nor will I be a believer."

"For me, I also prefer a stable world where priests stay peacefully in their monasteries and don't wander around..."

"Peaceful, huh..." Adrian sneered. "Then you'll be disappointed. Our goal is to drag this world into chaos. Every member who joins us is working towards this. We travel all over the world. We want to open the gates that separate the dead from the living. We want to create giant waves in the sea that can permanently submerge the land. We want to cause mountains to crumble and the earth to tremble..."

"Stop talking big. You've never succeeded. You talk a good game, but have you made any progress?"

The evil spirit sneered, for he knew much about Adrian and the organization behind him, having existed longer than the vampire.

"Your goals sound so noble, but in the end, isn't it just about pleasing your God and asking Him for blessings?"