Against a single Level 3 Witchcraft Master, even with 90% experience, the Official Walkers could overwhelm them with numbers, though capturing them alive would be difficult.
But facing four formidable enemies changed the game entirely. It was now uncertain who was the hunter and who was the prey.
Zhang Yuanqing felt a growing sense of unease, recognizing the gravity of the situation. Yet he remained calm, quietly moving closer to Li Dongze and Guan Ya. He had numerous trump cards at his disposal, and if things turned dire, his priority would be protecting them.
Captain Green Vine's face grew serious as she scanned the four Gu Beasts. Her voice rang out with authority:
"White Dragon, Big Muscle, you two coordinate to restrain Unbridled. Li Dongze, your agility is high—take on the Spider Woman. I'll handle the Insect Man. Tang Guoqiang, the snake is yours.
"Guan Ya, your marksmanship is excellent—provide covering fire. Primordial, you're on stealth duty—improvise as needed. Everyone else, pair up with a Captain and assist them, focusing on team composition.
"Once we've eliminated the three monsters, we'll focus our combined efforts on Unbridled."
The team responded in unison: "Understood!"
Big Muscle struck first, conjuring a fireball in his palm. He gripped it tightly, stepped forward, and hurled it with all his might.
Unbridled stood motionless, tilting his head slightly as the scorching fireball grazed his neck and shattered against the wall behind him.
Sparks erupted with a boom, but instead of dissipating, they coalesced into a hulking figure—Big Muscle.
This was the active skill of a Level 3 Fire Master: Fire Walk!
Within a twenty-meter radius, Fire Walk allowed the user to travel through flames, achieving an effect similar to teleportation.
Closing the distance with the skill, Big Muscle's body erupted in searing flames, his aura instantly turning berserk. He unleashed a rapid barrage of punches against Unbridled.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A rain of fists hammered into Unbridled's chest, abdomen, and face, sending sparks flying and forcing the Witchcraft Master to stagger backward.
Thump, thump, thump. Unbridled regained his footing, seized Big Muscle's wrist, and grinned.
"Not bad, your punches sting a little!"
With that, he kicked Big Muscle in the gut.
Like a soccer ball under a national team player's boot, Big Muscle flew sideways, crashing heavily into the wall at the end of the corridor, causing the structure to shudder violently.
This wasn't a matter of skill, but a raw disparity in power. The Gu Insect Unbridled had assimilated specialized in defense and strength.
As Big Muscle was sent flying, White Dragon stepped onto a pool of water, riding the surging currents to ascend to the second floor.
She didn't draw the long blade from her back. Instead, she conjured two orbs of water in her palms and hurled them at Unbridled.
"You're asking for death!"
To Unbridled, White Dragon's attack was riddled with flaws, practically suicidal.
He drew back his fist, briefly gathering power, then unleashed a punch with every muscle in his body tensed, aiming for White Dragon's head.
Pfft!
White Dragon's head exploded into a shower of water droplets, only to reform instantly. Undeterred, she slammed the water sphere in her palm against Unbridled's chest.
Hiss! Hiss! The scales, still glowing red-hot from Big Muscle's earlier assault, hissed as white steam billowed from them.
Bang! Bang! Two gunshots followed in quick succession.
Unbridled felt a sharp pain in his chest. The supposedly indestructible scales had cracked under the impact of the bullets. The alternating heat and cold had made them brittle.
"You damned woman!"
Enraged, he glared at Guan Ya, who stood in the living room.
Guan Ya ignored him, ceasing her gunfire. She needed to provide cover for the others.
Meanwhile, chaos reigned in the spacious living room.
The lone Nightwalker lurked in a corner, calmly observing the battle, biding his time with the patience befitting an assassin.
On the west side of the room, Spider Lady faced Li Dongze and two Earth Fiends and two Wood Spirits.
Spider Lady reared up on four legs, her remaining four limbs transforming into spear-like appendages that stabbed with blinding speed, leaving afterimages in their wake.
Li Dongze directly confronted her, using his cane to parry, swing, and stab, remarkably blocking the Spider Lady's four "spear" attacks from all angles with just a single cane.
He seemed to anticipate her attack patterns, and when parrying was impossible, he relied on agile footwork to evade.
Though the situation appeared perilous, he consistently managed to turn near-disasters into narrow escapes.
The two Wood Spirits, renowned for their agility, circled the Spider Lady, firing at her abdomen and head. Each shot tore through her pitch-black, swollen abdomen, releasing yellowish-green fluid.
The Spider Lady lacked robust defenses but possessed terrifying regenerative abilities and impressive agility. Wounds inflicted by bullets healed completely within seconds.
The Chief's close-combat skills are this strong? I'm sorry, Chief, I shouldn't have called you a 75-gold-coin eye, Zhang Yuanqing thought, nearly dumbstruck.
To the south of the living room, Level 3 Wood Spirit Green Vine led two Water Ghosts and two Fire Masters in a fierce battle against the Insect Man. Their clashes shattered furniture, cracked the floor, and shook the room.
The qipao-clad beauty possessed terrifying brute strength, holding her own in the physical contest. With the support of her teammates, she even managed to suppress the Insect Man.
The quietest struggle unfolded between Tang Guoqiang and the human-headed serpent monster. The middle-aged man, wearing a miner's helmet, gripped the serpent's tail, his feet planted firmly on the ground, drawing continuous power from the earth. He remained utterly motionless.
The Great Serpent coiled around him in fury, its body slowly tightening, muscles bulging as it tried to crush the Earth Fiend's bones. But the Earth Fiend's thick hide was like a lump of iron, impervious to the serpent's crushing grip.
The serpent lunged to bite, its venomous fangs striking again and again. Yet each time, the Earth Fiend's miner's helmet conjured an earthen-yellow barrier, blocking every strike.
The two remained locked in a stalemate.
Guan Ya spread her arms wide, alternating her fire between the Spider Lady and the Insect Man, constantly shifting positions to support the entire battlefield.
Even the combined might of Big Muscle and White Dragon was being suppressed. They couldn't hold out much longer. The three Gu Beasts had to be eliminated quickly.
Zhang Yuanqing observed the enemies' characteristics, considering which artifact to use.
The Dream-Entering Jade Talisman was a last resort, summoning a Sovereign-level Evil Class. It shouldn't be used lightly except in the most dire circumstances.
The Red Veil had limited uses, making it another trump card to be saved for emergencies.
As for the Red Dancing Shoes, these monsters were either heavily armored or possessed regenerative abilities. While the shoes could suppress them, they wouldn't guarantee a swift kill. Moreover, using them would reveal his possession of a Rule Item.
When Zhang Yuanqing killed Ou Xiangrong, the Red Dancing Shoes had relentlessly suppressed the Seductive Demon, gradually grinding it down to death.
The most terrifying aspect of this Rule Item wasn't its destructive power, but its relentless, inescapable pursuit.
He hadn't seen them use any items yet. That made sense—not every Spirit Realm Walker possessed such tools. His own items had been earned with his life. Xie Lingxi had three items, but she had also survived an S-Rank mission and was the heiress of a major Spirit Realm Family.
Something else struck him as odd: these monsters were clearly Spirit Realm Walkers, yet they hadn't used any skills. Was this a side effect of their transformation, or had they lost their minds and become unable to control their abilities? As Zhang Yuanqing pondered this, he suddenly noticed Li Dongze in danger.
Li Dongze saw the Spider Lady's abdomen convulse as she reared her head high.
Sensing the danger, he instinctively dove sideways. A sticky web covered the spot where he had been standing moments before.
Li Dongze continued rolling, dodging volley after volley of spider silk. Finally, a strand struck his legs, pinning him firmly to the ground.
The Spider Lady's crimson eyes blazed as she raised her two iron-spike-like spider legs and lunged downward.
Bang! Bang!
Two Wood Spirits aimed at the Spider Lady's head and fired.
The Spider Lady's head snapped sideways as if struck by a heavy wooden club, causing her entire body to stagger.
This saved Li Dongze's life. One spider leg pierced his shoulder, while the other stabbed into the ground beside his waist.
Hiss!
Enraged, the Spider Lady abandoned Li Dongze and lunged at the Wood Spirit who had shot her in the head, driven by her primal instinct for vengeance.
The remaining two Earth Fiends dragged Li Dongze backward.
Hiss! Li Dongze gasped. If the pain in his shoulder was excruciating, the sensation in his ankle felt like being repeatedly doused with scalding oil.
The spider silk was highly corrosive, even poisonous.
"Chief, are you alright?" Zhang Yuanqing rushed over.
Li Dongze surveyed his battered, blood-soaked appearance and sighed helplessly.
"Of course I'm not alright. This is terribly undignified.
"I can't fight anymore. Second-tier Earth Fiends can't withstand her thrusts, and Primordial, your evasion skills are a bit lacking. We can only rely on ambushes; we can't hold her off in a direct confrontation."
By this point, the two Wood Spirits were in dire straits. Though exceptionally agile, they lacked the predictive abilities of a Scout. Their survival thus far was entirely due to Guan Ya's covering fire.
"Go help them immediately," Li Dongze ordered, his brow furrowed in concern.
The shift in the battle drew the attention of Tang Guoqiang, Green Vine, and the other Official Walkers, their hearts sinking.
Without Li Dongze, a Level 3 Scout, to contain the enemy, the remaining Level 2 Walkers would inevitably fail to hold their ground. This would shatter the balance of the fight, forcing them to contend not only with their current foes but also to guard against the Spider Woman's ambushes.
A successful ambush, resulting in casualties, could tip the scales of victory.
Moreover, the fierce fighting on the second floor left White Dragon and Big Muscle's endurance uncertain.
"Chief, leave it to me," Zhang Yuanqing declared confidently. "I've already seen through the enemy's tactics."
Zhang Yuanqing opened his Inventory and drew a slender Yanagiba blade, its forty-centimeter length gleaming with a cold, metallic sheen.
Under Li Dongze's astonished gaze, Zhang Yuanqing reversed the blade and stabbed it into his own thigh.
Instantly, the Rule Item originating from the Seductive Demon awakened, greedily draining its Master's lifeblood. Zhang Yuanqing felt his strength rapidly draining away.
Spider Woman possessed regenerative abilities, rendering ordinary attacks largely ineffective against her.
The Blade of Bloodlust's bleeding effect, however, proved an excellent counter to her regeneration.
"Guan Ya, cover me!" Zhang Yuanqing shouted, entering Night Roaming State as his form gradually faded into the shadows.
Guan Ya, who had been firing at Unbridled, pivoted on her heel, twisting her torso to align her arms. She aimed her gun at Spider Woman and decisively pulled the trigger.
Compared to the Wood Spirits' haphazard marksmanship, Guan Ya's shooting accuracy was legendary. Bullets struck Spider Woman's head, shoulders, and chest with pinpoint precision, sending blood splattering and flesh tearing.
The barrage staggered her.
The two Wood Spirits, relieved, scrambled away in disarray, barely holding on.
As they fled, they glanced back to fire at Spider Woman. Suddenly, they saw a ghastly fissure split open along her slender, pale neck, as if severed by some razor-sharp blade.
Thud-thud-thud! As Spider Woman tilted, her eight legs churned with dizzying speed, forcing her body sideways by a mere ten centimeters, narrowly avoiding decapitation.
A figure soared into the air, appearing before the Spider Woman.
Guan Ya slid her feet, adjusting her angle, ready to fire and cover Zhang Yuanqing.
Just then, the Spider Woman, her carotid artery severed, opened her crimson mouth wide, the gash stretching to her ears, and tilted her head back to unleash a piercing roar.
The sound waves reverberated through the villa. Everyone inside, including the three Gu Beasts, felt their minds buzz, their expressions blank, their thoughts wiped clean.
The Spider Woman reared her upper body high, raised her two front legs, and slammed them down with brutal force.
Damn it! This woman had been a Musician all along! In the nick of time, Zhang Yuanqing had transferred the dizziness and disorientation to the Little Goofball within him.
The curled-up, slumbering Infant Spirit kicked its legs as if having a nightmare.
Trapped mid-air with no escape, Zhang Yuanqing calmly opened his Inventory and summoned the "Steadfast One" orb.
The sharp spider legs struck his body, only to be blocked by the earthy-yellow aura radiating from his skin.
Zhang Yuanqing landed, immediately retrieved the pearl into his Inventory, rolled sideways, and vanished, entering Night Roaming State once more.
He confirmed one thing: these monsters still possessed their original abilities, but stripped of reason, they could only rely on instinct to wield them, incapable of precise maneuvers.
Springing to his feet, Zhang Yuanqing circled behind the Spider Woman and plunged the Blade of Bloodlust into her bloated abdomen with all his might, ripping it open with a violent slash.
The abdomen, covered in grotesque patterns, split open, spewing a torrent of yellowish-green fluid mixed with repulsive internal organs.
The Spider Woman shrieked and recoiled, throwing back her head to unleash another piercing roar, its sonic waves rolling outward.
Blood still gushed from her severed artery. Her abdomen convulsed and writhed, desperately trying to repair the wound, but the bleeding effect suppressed regeneration. She could only watch helplessly as her life force drained away.
After a final, desperate rampage, she collapsed by the window, convulsing weakly before finally dying.