At the start of the game, you have one equipment slot; the effects of unequipping the equipment rema

Upon seeing more than twenty strange "people" appear on the river and approach Zhou Yao, Lei Sai's eyes narrowed, and he immediately drew his arrow and nocked a bow.

The arrows pierced the wind, striking the throats, hearts, and lungs of the leading men.

However, the "person" whose neck and chest were pierced seemed unaffected and continued to quickly approach the girl and Zhou Yao.

"What the hell are these things?"

Lei Sai was filled with surprise and doubt.

This was the first time he had ever seen a "person" who had survived being shot through a vital organ.

"Dead things come back to life, bluish-black skin, body covered in fish scales..."

"It's a zombie apocalypse! These things are drowned zombies that have undergone a zombie apocalypse!" Zhou Yao, who was well-versed in medical books, frowned. After a moment, a series of information flashed through her mind, and she immediately understood and shouted.

"A zombie turned into a drowned corpse?"

Lei Sai frowned, trying to gather information about the drowned corpses in his mind, but to no avail.

Fortunately, Zhou Yao knew something about this and immediately shouted, "Leise, shoot the head! This thing only has its brain as a weak point!"

As she spoke, she raised her longsword and pierced the forehead of the nearest drowned corpse.

After the sword tip pierced the skull, it twisted violently, pulverizing the brain.

The drowned corpse swayed, then collapsed limply like a scarecrow that had been stripped of its support.

Having received the intelligence, Lei Sai immediately drew an arrow from his sleeve.

Hold the bow in your left hand, nock the arrow in your right, twist the bowstring, and the arrow flies out in a spin.

Spiral Arrow!

With a bang, the head of a drowned corpse exploded, and after staggering a couple of steps, it collapsed to the ground, motionless.

Soon, one drowned corpse after another fell to the onslaught of Zhou Yao and Lei Sai.

Although these drowned corpses look intimidating, most of them are actually quite weak, with the majority only at the first or second tier, and the highest-ranking few only at the third tier.

Even without Lei Sai's assistance, Zhou Yao alone with her sword would be enough to clear out all the drowned corpses.

Seeing that Zhou Yao was alright, Qin Yuan turned most of his attention to the man in black.

However, just as Qin Yuan stepped forward with his knife, the river suddenly surged again.

Another jet of water shot out, heading straight for Qin Yuan!

This time, the water column was as thick as a water vat, carrying a dense aura of demonic energy and coldness, causing the air temperature to drop several degrees wherever the water column passed.

Having experienced being ambushed, Qin Yuan naturally diverted some of his attention to the river.

However, sometimes, even when you know there's a problem, you can't prevent it at all.

It's like an ordinary person facing a crossbow that's only a few meters long. They know there will be arrows flying, but when the arrows are actually shot, they don't have time to dodge at all.

Qin Yuan was the same.

Seeing the water column become even more powerful and faster, Qin Yuan, with no way to avoid it, had his pupils shrink and could only parry with his sword once more.

"Bang!!"

This time, the force of the water jet was astonishing, far surpassing that of the first water jet.

Almost the instant he was hit by the water jet, Qin Yuan was sent flying more than a hundred meters away, as if he had been struck by a battering ram fired by dozens of people.

His back slammed heavily against the trunk of an old locust tree, causing the bright yellow withered leaves to flutter down from the tree.

At the same time, a chill that was more than ten times stronger than before began to erode the meridians in his body.

The once smooth-flowing true energy, like river water gradually freezing, began to become sluggish and difficult to circulate.

"Fifth tier..."

Qin Yuan stood up with one hand holding the knife, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. His tattered clothes were covered with a thin layer of frost, and his tone was full of disbelief.

The power of that water column could not possibly be that of a fourth-order demon; it must have been the work of a fifth-order demon comparable to the Meridian Opening Realm!

There's even a fifth-tier demon in Linhe Village!

"There's a fifth-tier demon, retreat!"

Qin Yuan shouted with all his might.

Upon hearing this, Lei Sai and Zhou Yao's expressions changed drastically.

A fifth-tier demon, that's a powerful demon that only a first-class demon-hunting captain can deal with!

Holding a sword in one hand and a little girl in the other, Zhou Yao casually smashed the brain of a drowned corpse before immediately trying to retreat.

Just then, the river surface stirred again.

On the shimmering river surface, a huge wave suddenly appeared, and a massive black shadow emerged from it.

It was a huge aquatic creature, nearly three zhang long, with dark brown skin all over its body.

Under the moonlight, two thick, long whiskers swayed slowly on the water's surface, and a head larger than a millstone opened its mouth, revealing a row of cold, sharp teeth.

If Cao Xiu were here, he would definitely recognize this demon as the fifth-order fish demon he controlled—the Catfish Demon!

It scanned the crowd on the shore with its tiny, beady eyes, and a hoarse voice squeezed out from its throat: "Looks like there are only these few people."

That's right. The reason it kept hiding in the shadows and launching sneak attacks was to find out exactly how many people Qin Yuan and his group had.

If it has helpers, and those helpers are strong, it will immediately flee.

Conversely, it will strike with lightning speed, just like it is now!

"Fan Lang, take them all down!" Nian Chang ordered.

The man in black nodded upon hearing this and spoke for the first time: "Yes, Master."

The voice was flat and monotone, like a marionette, hollow and numb, sending chills down one's spine.

"Fan Lang? You're the third leader of the Grand Canal Gang!?"

Qin Yuan's expression changed: "Your Canal Gang actually colluded with demons?!"

Fan Lang ignored Qin Yuan's question, simply re-establishing his stance, his hands surging with true energy, transforming into sharp claws, and grabbing at Qin Yuan.

At the same time, the catfish's mouth opened even wider.

Three nearly translucent, bluish-gray figures emerged from its mouth.

It was the silhouette of three human women, slender with long hair, their private parts wrapped in something that looked like seaweed.

Their eyes were gray and empty, devoid of life.

Even more terrifying is that they all float on the river surface, drifting in mid-air, with their feet not touching the ground.

Demon Blood Spell: Water Demon!

The innate magic of the catfish spirit.

Based on female drownings under specific conditions, the resentment and yin energy remaining after death are condensed into the form of ghosts.

Each fully formed Water Demon possesses characteristics similar to those of a demon, making it extremely difficult for ordinary martial artists to kill.

The only drawback is that these ordinary-quality Water Demons have a low power ceiling, only reaching the early stage of the fourth rank.

Even so, it still made Lei Sai and Zhou Yao look unpleasant.

Especially Lei Sai.

He had personally heard his older sister describe the horror of the ghost, and had also seen her pale face that night. He knew that without high-grade true qi or special mid-grade true qi, it was impossible to deal with this thing.

With only the early stage of the Qi Condensation Realm cultivation, he, and Zhou Yao with only the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation Realm cultivation, clearly did not possess mid-grade true qi.

Not to mention special mid-grade true qi.

"This is it!" Zhou Yao's heart tightened.

Lei Sai also felt despair.

For some reason, the image of Mu Yang's broad and powerful figure involuntarily appeared in his mind.

"If Brother Mu were here, that would be wonderful..."

He murmured to himself, then shook his head self-deprecatingly.

"Even if Brother Mu were here, so what? No matter how powerful he is, he's only at the Qi Condensation Realm. This river demon is at the fifth level. Even if Brother Mu were here, he would just be another dead soul..."

The night was as black as ink, pressing heavily on everyone's hearts.

An atmosphere of despair permeated the riverbank.

Three water demons attacked Lei Sai and Zhou Yao respectively, while Fan Lang's fingers quickly dug towards Qin Yuan's heart.

Just then, the sound of four hooves pounding the ground came from afar, growing louder and louder.

Lei Sai subconsciously turned his head to the side.

In the field of vision, a dark figure riding a jet-black horse burst out from the forest.

The man on horseback stood tall and straight, his all-black outfit fluttering in the night wind. The vermilion "斩" (slash) character on his chest glowed red in the moonlight, like a candle flame illuminating the darkness.

He held the reins with one hand, and the black BMW reared up high, letting out a long neigh.

Before the horse's hooves even touched the ground, he took a step, like an eagle soaring into the sky, shattering the night, and steadily blocking Qin Yuan's path.

It was none other than Mu Yang, who had rushed here after slaying the deer demon!