Gacha games can't save this bizarre world.

As his psionic energy was depleted, he now felt his movements were incredibly fast, and the things around him were even slowing down a bit.

Zhao Hao also has the "Heavenly Capital Five Thunder Talisman" given to him by Uncle Tie as a trump card, but he doesn't want to use it unless it's absolutely necessary.

After all, this thing is precious, so we should try to bring it back if we don't have to. Besides, we don't know what we'll encounter later, so it's always good to have more options.

Zhao Hao dodged behind a stalactite, and the monstrous human-headed snake, enraged, recklessly crashed into it.

With a deafening roar, the stalactite was shattered, and the strange snake was also badly injured, with even one of its forked horns broken off.

However, Zhao Hao was not behind the rock at all.

"A hungry tiger pounces on a sheep!"

Zhao Hao suddenly pounced down from the top of the rock, his Dragon Slayer Blade surging with spiritual energy, a layer of bright blade energy visible to the naked eye!

A long, resounding metallic clang rang out. Zhao Hao's sudden decapitation strike was actually blocked.

This tactic had previously defeated opponents like Heidegger and the Pawn Killer, but unexpectedly, it failed this time!

Although the strange snake was fooled by Zhao Hao's illusion, it turned its head at the crucial moment and used the forked horn on its head to block the decapitation of the Dragon Slayer Blade.

The forked horn was of exceptional quality; although it was chipped in the clash with the Dragon Slayer Saber, it still managed to block the Dragon Slayer Saber amidst the flying sparks.

Zhao Hao was suspended in mid-air with nowhere to grab onto, while the monstrous human-headed snake opened its nearly two-meter-long mouth and lunged at him!

"Knot!"

A square, semi-transparent barrier enveloped Zhao Hao, tightly trapping his gaping mouth filled with sharp teeth!

But what surprised and disgusted Zhao Hao was that there was a huge, blood-red tongue in that big mouth, like a monstrous python, and at the end of that tongue was a human head!

The head was the size of a normal person's, and it looked like a withered old man!

The old man had vertical pupils like a reptile, and when he opened his mouth, a three-pronged tongue came out!

Can you even nesting dolls like this?! Is this the real thing?!

The human head and tongue lunged forward like a python, their mouths wide open, gnawing and making a squeaking sound on the barrier!

Without a second thought, Zhao Hao first used his [Magic Wand], which, already charged to 10 points, instantly restored a large amount of his spiritual energy. Then, he pulled out his powerful flashlight and shone it fiercely into the old man's eyes. The old man screamed and closed his eyes, turning away.

Taking advantage of the moment when the opponent couldn't see him and couldn't attack, Zhao Hao directly used another card, [FFF Fireball].

A fireball the size of a washbasin appeared in Zhao Hao's hand. The fireball was still expanding violently, and in the blink of an eye it became the size of a pot lid, and its color also turned dark red.

Zhao Hao felt an intense burning sensation as more than half of his spiritual energy was absorbed into the fireball, and he was starting to lose control. He quickly flicked his wrist, throwing the fireball towards the monster's throat and the old man's head.

"Boom!" The strange snake was struggling to tear and grind, trying to shatter Zhao Hao's barrier, when suddenly its mouth exploded, spewing flames and thick smoke from its mouth and nose.

Zhao Hao was propelled more than ten meters by a tremendous force, crashing directly into a stalactite. The rock cracked upon impact.

The barrier was already on the verge of collapse after being hit by the fireball explosion, and this collision destroyed it completely.

Zhao Hao fell off the rock and landed hard on the ground, feeling dizzy and with a tightness in his chest. His back was throbbing with pain, as if his bones had cracked! If it weren't for his high-level armor, he would have broken his bones!

Looking at the strange snake again, its mouth had burst open, and it lay on the ground convulsing.

Suddenly, Orange shouted, "Where are you going!"

It turned out that the old man's head, with a long, bright red tongue trailing behind it, crawled out of the strange snake's mouth and was trying to sneak away!

Zhao Hao reached out from afar, and the mage's hand grabbed the latter half of the tongue, pulling it back.

The orange-skinned creature let out a strange cry: "You give me a damn!" and with a flick of its wrist, it unleashed the "Shadowless Boomerang," a sharp, invisible blade flashing past as the old man's head fell to the ground...

Zhao Hao sat wearily on the ground, recovering his physical strength and spiritual energy.

The battle just now, though brief, was extremely dangerous and drained us all.

If the strange snake hadn't tried to swallow Zhao Hao, causing him to unleash a massive fireball inside its mouth, he might not have been able to inflict fatal damage on the snake.

This thing is so tanky, it can withstand so much damage.

"These scales... wait!" Zhao Hao staggered over and examined them closely, his face turning deathly pale.

Those weren't scales at all; they were clearly layers upon layers of fingers!

This strange snake is not a snake at all, and certainly not a yellow dragon. Its body is more like that of an eel or a loach!

Orange didn't care about any of that, not even disgusting stuff. Cut and gather! These are ingredients!

A perfectly intact fork is good material, as are the meat and the springy tongue.

Soon, Orange Cat filled its backpack and happily transformed back into its orange cat form. The remaining corpses were Little Soft's; Little Soft never refused anything, believing that eating them was nutritious and would help it grow bigger!

Orange came over, clutching a long, white rope about the thickness of a thumb. "Look, this is the tendon of this loach! It's a good thing, it's a dragon tendon!"

"Tendon?" Zhao Hao questioned, and Ju Zuo was furious: "I, Ju Zuo, would never mistake an ingredient! If you don't want it, I'll just make a pot of dry-pot tendon!"

Believe it or not, the system's assessment confirmed it was indeed a Black Iron 5-Star Dragon Tendon! This strange snake-eel had grown dragon tendons. No wonder it's called the Yellow Dragon.

How could Zhao Hao not want this! There just happens to be a card that can use this.

……

After Zhao Hao finished resting, he left the cave and headed towards Linshui Town. It was already afternoon.

He was in a good mood after killing Huanglong, the mastermind behind the trouble, and felt that the problem was nearing its end.

But when he returned to town, he realized he was wrong.

Killing the eel that had grown dragon tendons did not improve the situation; in fact, the mutation and demonization of the town worsened!

It's as if the event has moved to the next step!

Zhao Hao discovered that at least a third of the people in the town had begun to exhibit some characteristics of water monsters.

For example, it grew sharp claws, scales, or gills and fins, and there was even a person with a very high degree of demonization whose head was very similar to that of a water demon.

Even more horrifying, he ate and skinned a pug alive right there in the street, but the people around him seemed not to have seen it!

"Damn it! Looks like it won't be long! Is killing that Yellow Dragon not enough?"

Zhao Hao thought for a moment and decided to start with the tombstone he saw in the cave to find Wang Youde!

------------

Chapter 75 Sacrifice at the Rumor River

"Li Tie, do you know who Wang Youde is?" Zhao Hao asked.

Li Tie pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "I've never heard of this person. What's wrong? Is he important?"

Zhao Hao nodded. "It's very important. Whether Linshui Town can be saved probably depends on whether we can find this person. However, he's not alive; he should be dead, and has been dead for many years."

Li Tie asked, puzzled, "A dead man? That can't be! We haven't heard of any water monsters lurking in the town lately."

Zhao Hao looked at Li Tie and knew that he, like the other townspeople, could not see that some people had been demonized.

He thought about it and decided to give it a try.

"Don't move..." Zhao Hao reached out and covered Li Tie's eyes, then used his spiritual energy to try and get some on his face.

Zhao Hao hadn't learned those techniques, since he could see them himself and also possessed demon-hunting senses, which were far superior to those eye-opening spells.

However, Uncle Tie possesses some magical artifacts that can easily open someone's eyes, temporarily enhancing their spiritual vision and allowing them to see things invisible to the naked eye. Zhao Hao could only try to simulate the effect.

Zhao Hao removed his hand and asked, "Where are you looking? Did you see anything?"

Li Tie squinted and frowned at the wall Zhao Hao was pointing at. Suddenly his eyes widened, then he rubbed his eyes and looked again, looking confused.

"Am I seeing things?" He quickly walked to the wall and touched the few blue bricks he had just seen.

"No? Could it be that I'm seeing things?" he muttered to himself.

Zhao Hao knew he had succeeded; he had used his spiritual energy to enhance Li Tie's spiritual vision, even if only for a second.

If we continue researching in this direction, we might be able to develop a spell that enhances spiritual vision.

Because Li Tie was constantly studying it, and on the blue brick he reached out to touch, there was a dead fish eye, and there were even some scales and a few tentacles growing around the fish eye.

That's right, now in Linshui Town, not only the people, but even inanimate objects like buildings and stone lions are starting to mutate!

When Zhao Hao activated his demon-hunting senses, he even felt like he was in a large-scale mutation site!

When Li Tie touched the blue brick, the eyes moved a few times, and the tentacles even wrapped around his fingers. But Li Tie was completely unaware of this and felt nothing.

The mutated blue bricks did not have any effect on Li Tie.

If his spiritual vision could still perceive the anomaly at this moment, then the eyeballs and tentacles would likely affect him.

Li Tie studied it for a long time but couldn't figure it out.

"Brother Zhao, was that some kind of magic trick? Why did I see things?"

Zhao Hao shook his head. "You're not seeing things. What you're seeing is real. The town is in great danger right now. One wrong move and it's all over. It's even more dangerous than when the water demon was around."

When Li Tie saw him, he was about to ask more questions, but Zhao Hao interrupted him: "Don't ask anymore. I can't tell you anything more. If your spiritual vision really improves, you'll definitely die in the town."

As he spoke, Zhao Hao punched the blue brick, instantly turning the eyeball and tentacles into a bloody pulp! But this method only treats the symptoms, not the root cause; these things will soon grow back, or even become more severe.

In Li Tie's eyes, Zhao Hao suddenly punched the blue brick and shattered it.

"Li Tie, you must find that dead man named Wang Youde for me as quickly as possible! This is very important!"

Li Tie was still a little confused, but he could tell that Zhao Hao was very serious, so he didn't dare to ask any more questions and quickly tried to think of a solution.

"Hey, I've got it!" Li Tie suddenly exclaimed excitedly. "Brother Zhao, if what you said is true, this Wang Youde is someone who has been dead for many years, and most young people probably don't know him. Then let's go find some older people!"

“I know a schoolteacher in town, Mr. Li, who is 76 years old. He is the oldest and most knowledgeable person in town. Moreover, he helps people in town record family genealogies and name their children, so he must know this Wang Youde! In fact, he is my great-uncle!”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hao immediately asked Li Tie to lead the way to find that old Mr. Li.

Mr. Li's home is on the edge of town, a small courtyard, and the town's ancestral hall is not far away across the bridge.

“Wang Youde…that name sounds familiar, but I can’t quite place it. However, he’s definitely from that town; I vaguely remember him…”

Mr. Li, who is 76 years old, is already a little confused. He sat in his chair, frowning and deep in thought.

He was emaciated, his eyes were cloudy, and his hair was very thin. Most importantly, Zhao Hao saw a tiny, worm-like tendril growing out of his cheek.

This old man has already started to mutate!

Zhao Hao had observed that this mutation could affect a person's reactions and cognition; the more severe the mutation, the more dull and listless the person became. Some people even became like walking corpses.

I'm afraid this Mr. Li will have a hard time remembering the owner of this name!

Zhao Hao couldn't help but feel discouraged. He had finally found a clue, but it turned out to be this kind of situation again!