Why is my anime art style so weird?

This lantern has a very simple design; it consists of a bamboo stick holding a bowl of lamp oil, covered with a layer of white paper to protect it from the wind.

But strangely, the lantern emitted a faint red glow.

"This soul-guiding lamp can lead you to the third level."

Lady Red Butterfly pointed to the lantern.

Xu Ming thanked her and took the somewhat eerie-looking lantern from Amei's hand.

Amei listened for a while through the hidden door, then nodded to Xu Ming.

"That monster isn't nearby."

"Madam, I'm setting off."

Xu Ming nodded to Madam Red Butterfly.

Have a safe journey!

Lady Red Butterfly bowed again.

Xu Ming ducked and slipped out through the hidden door.

It was quiet outside. The monster seemed to have had its fill of mischief and had disappeared somewhere.

The paper doors and walls that she had previously damaged were all restored to their original state.

As soon as Xu Ming left the secret room, Amei immediately closed the hidden door.

With the soul-guiding lamp in his left hand and his phone in his right, Xu Ming carefully crossed the room, then gently pulled open the paper door and peered out through the crack.

The entire second floor was silent, and the monster was nowhere to be seen in the corridor.

Xu Ming tiptoed through the corridor, hid around the corner, and carefully observed for a while, only to find that the monster was not in the central courtyard either.

Xu Ming is quite confident now that the Sheling phone can take photos at any time.

He hesitated only for a moment before walking directly to the covered bridge in the central courtyard and beginning to observe the entire second floor.

This time, the staircase leading to the third floor was 'refreshed' to the due south.

Strangely, he never found any trace of the monster; it seemed as if she had vanished into thin air.

Xu Ming kept his questions to himself, noted down the location of the stairs, and started heading towards them.

Leaving the central courtyard and entering the south corridor entrance, Xu Ming appeared quite casual, not even bothering to conceal his footsteps.

His shoes creaked and groaned as he walked on the rotten wooden floor.

Upon closer inspection, however, it becomes apparent that Xu Ming's gaze was subtly scanning his surroundings; he remained fully vigilant.

To Xu Ming's surprise, the journey went very smoothly. He did not encounter any monster attacks, and the Soul-Guiding Lamp did indeed work, guiding him to the entrance of the stairs leading to the third floor.

But the fun and relaxation ends here.

Hanging from the ceiling at the entrance to the stairs was a large, black, cocoon-shaped object.

When his 'spiritual vision' dispelled the darkness, Xu Ming discovered that the black 'silk' was none other than strands of black hair wriggling back and forth like earthworms.

The red light of the soul-guiding lamp seemed to have aroused the monster.

Her black hair instantly came loose, revealing a woman dressed in a tattered twelve-layered kimono, resembling a giant spider.

However, compared to before, her condition at this moment is definitely not good.

His body was covered with numerous burn marks, and several of his hands were either withered, twisted, or broken off, making him look incredibly pitiful.

The Spider Woman let out a strange roar at Xu Ming, then jumped down from the ceiling and pounced on him.

Xu Ming immediately and decisively raised his phone and shot her.

Click!

The sound of the shutter, accompanied by a dazzling flash, instantly filled the entire second floor.

The monster let out a shrill scream and collapsed to the ground, convulsing.

Xu Ming immediately drew his 'Dragon's Dagger', strode over, and then coldly raised the dagger, stabbing it viciously at the immobilized Spider Woman.

One, two, three...

Perhaps because she was seriously injured, Xu Ming only stabbed her five times before the Spider Woman was covered in a thick layer of dark green. Soon she let out a scream and turned to ashes.

It was only then that Xu Ming suddenly realized what was happening.

Lady Red Butterfly told him to go up to the third floor to find reinforcements to deal with the monster, but he ended up killing the monster directly, solving the problem at its source.

'It shouldn't be like a game where you get stuck...'

Xu Ming thought to himself with a guilty conscience.

After considering it for a while, Xu Ming decided to stick to the original plan and go to the third floor to ask Lady Red Butterfly's husband for help.

Under the illumination of the soul-guiding lamp, the second layer did not rearrange or recombine as before.

Xu Ming made it up the stairs without any problems.

Swish!

However, the moment Xu Ming stepped onto the third floor, an arrow shot out from nowhere and embedded itself in front of his foot.

If he had taken just half a step more, the arrow would have pierced his foot.

Then a cold, arrogant male voice came.

"Who are you? How dare you trespass into the castle tower! Do you want to die?"

Xu Ming stopped and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

A warrior in armor stood there, staring coldly at Xu Ming.

Beside the samurai, a handsome young man (?) dressed in a dark blue samurai uniform, with red lips and white teeth, was half-crouching. He held a red lacquered longbow in his hands and glared at Xu Ming with anger in his eyes.

Xu Ming frowned immediately.

His arrogant attitude, disdainful gaze, and condescending tone left Xu Ming with only one impression: disgust.

Before Xu Ming could answer, this guy stroked his chin and started talking to himself.

"Not going to answer? Those who dare to barge in here must be ninja from some clan..."

Ashina is at a critical juncture, and we cannot afford to let any information leak out, so we have no choice but to ask you to die here.

As the samurai spoke, he took the bow and arrow directly from the page (who was also a sword-wielding guard) beside him, drew back the bowstring, and aimed at Xu Ming.

To everyone's utter surprise, this guy was about to kill her after only a few words!

However, he was fast, but Xu Ming was even faster.

Click!

With a soft sound, a dazzling flash of purple, gold, and white light illuminated the night sky outside the observation tower.

The samurai, who had been calm and composed with an imposing aura, suddenly clutched his face and screamed in pain, staggering back several steps.

His seemingly sturdy and magnificent black armor was instantly covered with cracks, looking as if it was about to shatter.

The beautiful maidservant beside the samurai couldn't help but cover her face with her sleeve and let out two painful groans.

However, he still managed to stand up, dragging his weak body, and stood in front of his lord.

Xu Ming has never hesitated to assume the worst about others, especially since 'weird' is itself a combination of negative energy.

So as soon as the samurai showed any intention of making a move, Xu Ming immediately launched the first attack.

Having vented his anger, Xu Ming was preparing to retreat to the second floor to regroup.

Unexpectedly, before he could even take a step out...

Suddenly, the samurai shouted:

"Wait! Hold on! I was just testing the guest's strength. Now I'm sure the guest is the helper I need."

Let's sit down and have a proper talk!

Chapter 118 All of this was for Ashina!

Xu Ming was instantly dumbfounded.

In both of his lives combined, he had never seen such a shameless person.

They shout for war one minute, and then immediately beg for peace the next when they realize they can't win.

The samurai, however, acted as if the previous unpleasantness had never occurred, and introduced himself with a warm smile:

"I am Genichiro Ashina, the lord of Ashina Country."

Then he pointed to the young man beside him.

"He is my attendant, Kikumaru."

May I ask who you are?

Xu Ming's eyes flashed, revealing a hint of understanding.

After learning the guy's real name, Xu Ming became even more wary of him.

So he casually introduced:

"Xu Ming is just an ordinary high school student."

Like Lady Red Butterfly, Genichiro Ashina also showed a hint of doubt when he heard the unfamiliar term 'high school student'.

However, he hid his emotions even more deeply.

"May I ask what brings you here, Mr. Xu Ming?"

"Entrusted by Lady Red Butterfly, I have come here to seek help."

As Xu Ming spoke, he observed Ashina Genichiro's expression.

To his surprise, Genichiro Ashina's expression remained completely unchanged after hearing the story.

He simply replied with a curt statement.

"I see."

That's it.