The most shameless alchemist in history

“Since even Miss Wenli says so, it seems we have no choice but to take the route through Spring Breeze Town.” Bee Sting nodded. More than half of the people in the group had chosen to go through Spring Breeze Town, so she had no other option but to agree.

"Then let's go. If we get to Spring Breeze Town sooner, we can rest for the night." Hu Che looked at the road on the right and took the lead.

Just after they completely disappeared, the old hunter, who should have already left, suddenly reappeared at the crossroads.

"So you really chose this path after all? What a bunch of reckless fools, hehehehe, go on, go on, I warned you, but you still insist on seeking death. Then let Spring Breeze Town become your graveyard!" A sharp laugh rang out.

The man, who was originally supposed to look like a hunter, suddenly changed, enveloped in a layer of black smoke.

This is a vampire with sharp teeth!

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414 Spring Breeze Town

About three hours later, Wenli and her group finally arrived at Spring Breeze Town. Before coming to Spring Breeze Town, just hearing the name made Wenli feel happy. She thought it must be a good place. Spring breeze, spring breeze, like a gentle breeze. She thought she could finally rest well here.

However, after listening to the stories told by Leopard Tail and the unknown old hunter, Hu Che and the others began to realize that this place was not as beautiful as its name suggested. This made them travel with heavy hearts. When they arrived at Spring Breeze Town, they finally understood why Leopard Tail and the old hunter had said those things.

Because the town of Spring Breeze, as far as they could see, was in ruins. Although the houses at the town entrance still stood, they were dilapidated. This was not like the warehouse that Du Lei had lived in as a child. In fact, the houses were very tall and the exterior walls were carved with exquisite patterns.

However, the house was severely corroded, with its walls riddled with holes and cracks, indicating that it had been uninhabited for a long time. When the group entered the town, they also noticed a pungent odor in the air and dark green liquid scattered on the ground.

"What are these things? And this town... is there no one here?" Wenli followed carefully behind Bailing. Her hopes for Spring Breeze Town were shattered when she saw the scene of devastation. Large amounts of liquid were piled up by the roadside.

We had been in town for more than ten minutes and hadn't seen a single living person. Occasionally, we could see rats running around on the ground, unafraid of people. One rat accidentally fell into the dark green, viscous liquid, and soon hissed white smoke rose from it, accompanied by a scream.

“This is all… venom. What’s wrong with this town? It’s a dead town. There’s not a single living person in sight. What happened to turn this perfectly good town into this?” Bee Sting frowned and found a twig to stick into the liquid.

The branches quickly withered and died, demonstrating the strong corrosive power of the venom. The pungent smell in the air made Wenli cough incessantly; she was just an ordinary person and didn't have much resistance to the venom around her.

"Miss Wenli, are you alright?" Bailing asked with concern when she saw Wenli coughing.

"Cough cough, it's nothing, I'm sorry for causing everyone trouble." Wen Li's face was a little pale, but she shook her head to indicate that she was fine.

"Look over there, there are lights over there, it looks like there are people." Just then, Du Lei pointed to the distance. In such a large and desolate town, the appearance of lights was a very eye-catching thing.

"Someone? Someone actually appeared in such a dead town? Could it be a ghostly fire?" Bee Sting frowned. It wouldn't be strange if there were lights elsewhere, and they might even cheer. But the appearance of lights in Spring Breeze Town was particularly eerie.

"Let's all be careful and go take a look," Kotetsu instructed the group before walking towards the light.

With Bai Ling's help, Wen Li slowly moved over, and soon they found a house with lights on. The words "Spring Breeze Inn" were written on it. It was clear that the inn had been around for many years, as the writing had become mottled from the erosion of time.

"Hello, is anyone here?" Bee Sting was the first to walk over and knock on the inn's door. Although they had many questions about the inn, in such a desolate town, probably no strangers would enter for a month or two, so how could someone open an inn here?

But even with so many questions, they still needed to find clues, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and come forward to check the situation.

"Is nobody here? Why don't we break down the door and go in? It's not a very sturdy door anyway." Du Lei looked at the door. The door panel was thin. Even if it were someone as big as Hu Che, let alone someone like him, breaking down the door would be no problem.

"Creak." Just as Du Lei was about to try, the door opened.

An old woman opened the door. She looked to be in her seventies or eighties, with white hair, a hunched back, and difficulty walking. Her face was covered with wrinkles. She held a candle in her hand, which looked somewhat ferocious and scary in the candlelight, just like the old woman in a ghost story.

"Ah!" Wenli, who was outside the door, was caught off guard by a terrifying old woman and exclaimed in surprise. She almost stumbled and fell to the ground, but luckily Bailing caught her and prevented her from falling.

"Who are you people?" The old woman inside the door glanced at Du Lei and his group by candlelight and asked in a hoarse voice.

"Um...we are travelers passing through, and we'd like to stay for the night," Du Lei calmed down and explained his purpose.

"A traveler? Spring Breeze Town hasn't seen a traveler in years. It's quite a novelty that someone is passing through." The old woman sneered. Her smile was particularly terrifying, which made Wenli's heart jump into her throat, fearing that she would suddenly rush over and devour her.

“If it’s not convenient here, then we will…” Du Lei also realized that this was not a good place and began to back out.

"Come in, you're the only living person in the whole town. You won't find anywhere else to stay if you leave here, and it's already night. You'll have to spend the night outside... hehehehe." The old woman's throat emitted a hoarse laugh, just like a night owl.

“In that case, we’ll take our leave.” Hu Che kept his eyes fixed on the old woman. He was the first to enter the inn, and with him leading the way, Du Lei, Wen Li, and the others had no choice but to follow behind, entering the inn one after another.

The hotel was small, and the furnishings in the rooms were old and clearly dated, but it was very clean. The only thing that made people uneasy was the presence of various sacrificial items and skulls in the hotel, which sent chills down one's spine.

"By the way, the hotel fare is..." Bee Sting found the old woman, who took out her purse and prepared to pay for the accommodation.

"No travel expenses are needed. There are rooms upstairs. Go find your own rooms and settle in. I'm an old woman living alone in town, and I don't have anywhere to spend money. I'm sleepy and going to bed. Please help yourselves." The old woman waved her hand, not accepting any money.

She pointed upstairs to indicate where the room was, then carried the lampstand and walked away with faltering steps.

"Oh, right." Just before she turned to leave, she seemed to remember something and turned back to say it.

"What?" Du Lei and the others looked over. The inn had a strange air about it, making them uneasy.

"No matter what you see or hear at night, do not leave the hotel grounds, understand?" the old woman solemnly reminded her.

"I...I understand." Du Lei nodded and watched the old woman leave completely.

"This is a really suspicious old woman. The whole town has become a dead town, and I don't know how long it has been like this. Even she herself said that no outsiders have come here for several years. So why is she still here? And why is she running this inn?"

After the old woman left, Bee Sting raised his own question, which simply didn't make sense.

"In any case, we should be careful tonight. I have a feeling something is going to happen." Bai Ling rarely expresses her opinions, but in this situation, her uneasy intuition reminds her, and her intuition is usually very accurate.

"Alright, everyone go find your rooms to rest. I hope tonight will be peaceful, and we'll leave Spring Breeze Town tomorrow," Hu Che added. Everyone nodded before going upstairs to find their rooms.

.

415 Dagger Space

This inn, the only one with lights on in the vast Spring Breeze Town, wasn't large, but it had at least a dozen rooms. Du Lei's group consisted of only seven people, so there was plenty of room for them. The seven of them stayed in six rooms, with Bai Ling and Wen Li sharing a room so that they could be protected.

Kotetsu originally wanted Hyo-o and Du Lei to share a room, but considering that the two usually didn't get along, and that Hyo-o had become eccentric since the Nightmare Mountain incident, he gave up on that idea. Du Lei chose a room to stay in, and after they ate something, they went back to their respective rooms.

Since they started their journey from Nightmare Mountain, they haven't had a proper rest. Everyone's physical strength has reached its limit, and they desperately need a good rest. Du Lei leaned against the window, pretending to sleep. He was in a semi-conscious state, but he could be awakened by the slightest sound.

This was a habit he had developed over a long period of time, but even though he was extremely tired, he couldn't fall asleep right now because he still had things to do. This was the matter that Kotetsu and the others hadn't fully resolved at Nightmare Mountain, and it was something that puzzled them greatly.

"Hey kid, what are you doing locking me up here? Let me out right now! Damn it, damn it, damn it! If you don't let me out, I'm going to set the house on fire!" A voice shouted, and such a sound was very jarring in the darkness. Normally, it would carry a long way.

However, Kotetsu and the others, who were staying in the room next to Durei, did not react at all. The reason for this was that they did not hear the sound at all. This was not because the hotel had good soundproofing, but because the sound did not occur in the real world.

It echoed directly in Du Lei's ears. To be precise, there was a space around Du Lei where the black smoke and the little black creature he had encountered before were active. As long as Du Lei closed his eyes and meditated, he could enter this space.

The voice came from within the space. Du Lei was both familiar with and unfamiliar with the speaker. They had only briefly crossed paths on Nightmare Mountain, when Du Lei shot her through the heart with an arrow, causing her to harbor deep hatred for him.

"Stop yelling, stop yelling, little girl. Do you think your grandpa Black isn't going to sleep? I'm telling you, do you want a beating? You were behaving yourself just now, why are you causing trouble while your grandpa Black isn't here?" Little Black yawned and slowly woke up.

Xiao Hei's true form is a giant black shadow. He is a creature from the Abyss and has made a pact with Du Lei, temporarily relying on Du Lei for survival.

"Huh? Lord Blackie, um...um, I didn't mean to disturb your sweet dreams, it's just that that shameless guy went too far, and he even injured me before. This can't be left like this, he has to give me an explanation!" The girl had a lot of complaints about this.

Knowing the power of the creature from the Void Abyss before her, she dared not offend it and could only vent her anger on Du Lei.

"Hey girl, if that kid hadn't saved you, you'd probably be eaten by those little bugs. Instead of thanking him, you're blaming him. You women are really unreasonable." Xiao Hei yawned slowly and pointed to a spot not far to his right.

"You guys?" The girl was puzzled by the word "you guys," because she was the only girl there.

"Huff, huff." In the direction Xiao Hei pointed, something was wriggling in the shadows, indistinct in appearance. It seemed to have heard Xiao Hei's words, turned around and glanced at the girl. In the shadows, only a pair of sharp eyes could be seen, which was quite startling.

"Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer! How can there be such a terrifying thing here!" The girl didn't care about the "we" anymore. She felt her whole body goosebumps from being stared at by those eyes, and subconsciously moved closer to Xiao Hei.

"Is it scary? Little bug, don't scare her. Since that kid has spoken, this little girl is now one of us. What if you frighten her? Also, she can't be eaten, understand?" Little Black said slowly and calmly.

Just then, in this place where only a faint light could make it clear that this was a narrow room, the door creaked open and a person walked in. There was only one person in this space who could open this door, and that was Du Lei.

"Hey kid, you've finally arrived. You'd better keep an eye on Little Bug, he's hungry again. How can he eat so much? If you had come any later, he might have eaten someone." Little Black waved to Du Lei when he saw him walk in.

"You shameless bastard, let me out of here right now! I don't want to stay with you. The air stinks! Let me out!" The girl launched into a tirade of abuse at Du Lei, her prejudice against him reaching its extreme.

"Let you out? Sure, Uncle Kotetsu and the others are in the room next to mine anyway. If I let you out, they'll definitely find out you're there, and then what they'll do to you... well, who knows." Du Lei didn't seem to care much about the girl's scolding and responded casually.

"This... Hmph, you bastard, don't think I'm afraid of you just because you say that." The girl was stunned by Du Lei's words. She recalled her encounter in Nightmare Mountain. Hu Che's eyes were like they wanted to devour people. If she had fallen into Hu Che's hands, she would have been completely wiped out.

"Aren't you afraid? Little bug, are you hungry, this woman..." Du Lei called out to the pair of eyes in the shadows.

Immediately, a "cooing" sound came from the shadowy figure, which indicated that the shadowy figure was moving closer. This terrified the girl.

"Hey, don't go over there, please, don't come any closer... Hey, don't let it come any closer!" the girl pleaded desperately. She was terrified of that thing; back in Nightmare Mountain, she had almost been completely devoured by it.

"Alright, little bug, stop scaring her. So, are you going to keep causing trouble?" Du Lei called to the little bug to go back. Although it was somewhat reluctant, it circled the girl once and then returned to the shadows.

"You... Hmph, don't think I'll compromise... Ah, I was wrong, I was wrong, I won't make a fuss, okay?" The girl originally wanted to say a few tough words, but seeing that Du Lei was about to send the little bug over again, her face turned pale and she immediately shook her head.

"Hey girl, you should have realized this sooner," Little Black said gloatingly from the side.

"Alright, now you can tell me what exactly happened on Nightmare Mountain, who you are, and what that green orb is." Du Lei finally had time to ask about the ins and outs of the matter, holding a wooden dagger in his hand.

This dagger looks plain and unremarkable. It has neither beautiful and exquisite patterns on its surface nor a handle inlaid with pearls and jade. Even if it were given to an ordinary child to play with, the child would probably dislike it. It does not even reach the level of the most basic craftsman.

But it was precisely this dagger that created the space where Du Lei was now, a gift given to him by the man named Xia Yi when he left.

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416 Master Baozhu

Neither Kotetsu nor Winry expected that the ghostly figures that disappeared on Nightmare Mountain would fall into Dure's hands. At this moment, while they were resting in the inn, Dure entered the space created by the wooden dagger that Xia Yi had given him.

Dure was very curious about the background of Nightmare Mountain and the green gem. Now that he had the chance, he could finally find out what happened in Nightmare Mountain from the ghostly spirits and how the broken green gem came to be.

“Alright, since we’ve come this far, I’ll tell you what happened. My name is Nico, and I was originally a rabbit living on Helm’s Peak… which is now Nightmare Mountain.” After hesitating for a moment, the girl knew there was no point in hiding it, so she decided to tell Durei.

"What? Little girl, you're actually a rabbit?" Xiao Hei became interested and carefully examined the girl from head to toe.

“Little Black, don’t interrupt. Your name is… Nicole, right? You should already know. My name is Dure, he’s Little Black, that’s Little Bug, and the guy lying there resting is the egg. She’s Little White. Go on.” Dure was also a little surprised by this answer.

However, he was much calmer than Xiao Hei. After introducing the identities of everyone in the space to the girl who called herself Nicole, he gestured for her to continue.

"So what if I'm a rabbit? All living things in nature are alive. Not just us rabbits, even a blade of grass or a flower is alive. I live on Helmet Mountain. If all goes well, I will grow from a little rabbit into a big rabbit, and then I will die and be buried in the earth."

Nicole already knew her fate, and she spoke calmly, with a hint of nostalgia in her words.

"You might also get eaten by wolves or something," Xiao Hei added from the side.

"Little Black, no one will think you're mute if you keep quiet." Du Lei glared at him. If it were anyone else, seeing Little Black's huge, menacing body, they wouldn't dare to speak to him like that. But Du Lei had his own backing. He knew that Little Black couldn't survive on its own without him.

“That’s right, we might get eaten by wolves, but that’s the cycle of nature, it’s our fate.” Nicole was quite open-minded about it and wasn’t angry at Xiao Hei’s interruption.

"So what happened next? Something must have happened to make you like this, right?" Du Lei continued to press. According to the normal course of events, Nicole should have died as a rabbit long ago, instead of becoming a ghostly figure wandering on Nightmare Mountain.

"Then Lady Jewel appeared," Nicole continued, recounting what happened next.

"Lord Baozhu? What is that?" Du Lei frowned, not quite understanding the meaning behind Nicole's words.

"It's that green gem. Actually, it wasn't like this at first. It was a stone at first," Nicole explained further. Now that she was in Dure's hands, she had nothing to hide and told him everything she knew.

"A stone? By the way, where did this stone come from? Was it originally on Nightmare Mountain... the former Helm's Peak, or what?" Dure nodded, and soon seemed to have thought of something, and asked about the origin of the stone.