Ch73 - Fear of the Full Moon

The crunching sound of the snow cracking rang all the way from far to near. It was step by step with a bit of inquiry. The other person had a minimum of vision and senses. Sure enough, it wasn’t purposeless roaming.

After making a simple judgment, Jiang Fang gently took out the Swiss army knife. He picked out one of the flat blade knives, slowly opened it and carefully covered the thin light refracted by the blade with his fingertips. 

He had just moved halfway through when Nan Zhou lightly poked him in the side. He pointed a bit to the position of the legs and raised a finger to point at his eyes.

Jiang Fang raised an eyebrow. There was nothing wrong with Nan Zhou’s idea.

Legs couldn’t have vision. In light of the fact that the half-body woman they encountered before could run and jump, Nan Zhou had thought these monsters could be active after being damaged. The subtle parts might have their own activities.

In order to verify the guess, Jiang Fang touched his index finger and thumb together and blinked at Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou knew what this person wanted to do. He hesitated for a moment before giving a slight nod of approval. 

Jiang Fang gripped the handle of a knife with one hand. He raised his finger to his ear, found the right time and snapped his fingers beautifully.

There was a tailwind. Based on this distance, the wind was enough to send the sound of the snapping fingers to the legs.

However, the legs had no intention of speeding up to give them a scissor kick after confirming the presence of prey, nor did it have the intention of running away quickly to report the news. It walked calmly, step by step toward the mirror reflecting the strong moonlight.

Understood. It didn’t have ears.

The two people quickly changed their course of action. Nan Zhou fastened the light finger chain to his right hand. In order to avoid attracting the attention of the other person, he turned his palm slightly to the side and let the moonlight refract on the snow. The snow swallowed it.

In the bright place of the moonlight, the function of the light finger chain was brought into full play. Countless silver threads moved on Nan Zhou’s palm. He moved his fingers gently like he was manipulating a puppet. However, the level 0 item was like a level 0 item. The refracted light wire was solid but it took less than a minute to collapse.

Nan Zhou inserted the silk threads into the soft snow in front of him. It wasn’t known what he was doing. The other side might have no ears but they considered the white fog that would occur when talking. It was something that the eye could see.

Jiang Fang softly wrote on Nan Zhou’s leg. “Is this your first time using it?” 

Nan Zhou glanced at him with a cold expression but the reply wasn’t so serious. “I played secretly with it in the middle of the night.”

The sound of stepping on the snow was within 10 meters but Jiang Fang couldn’t help laughing. He leaned against the rock and his eyes swept over Nan Zhou with tenderness and happiness.

Nan Zhou was a bit surprised. Why did Jiang Fang always smile at him? He was cold and fierce and it was hard to get close to him. It was normal for others to not get too close to him, like Yinhang, or to simply ignore him.

Nan Zhou gently licked his lips and thought about how Jiang Fang had just rubbed there. He secretly licked it twice but only tasted the snow and ice. The warm feeling was taken away by the wind. However, Nan Zhou knew it was real. 

The legs finally got close to them. One eyeball was dangling from the multi-purpose belt of the legs like an ornament tied by thread. The gray pupil with a faint circle of red moved as the legs trudged. It stared intently at the mirror reflecting the thin light.

Fortunately, the legs didn’t have a nose or it would smell raw meat. The eye numbly collected the surrounding information. There were shallow footprints not far from the mirror. They might be covered by the wind and snow but the remnants still existed. Someone had passed by here. The eye looked around for more footprints when snow and fog rose and obscured its vision.

Nan Zhou quickly weaved the light threads into a simple snow shovel that had reached deep into the snow layer. As it approached the rock, he exhausted all his efforts to splash it over the legs.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Ktlr jmalbc vgjlcfv jii atf ragfcuat Rjc Itbe tjv pera jmmeweijafv. Lf ofii ab atf ugbecv jcv ujnf atf olfiv bnfg ab Aljcu Mjcu. 

Ktf fsf kjr mbnfgfv klat rcbk jcv atf nlrlbc yieggfv jcv ibra lar vlgfmalbc. Snfc rb, atf ifur kfgfc’a abb oierafgfv. Pa tjv agfxxfv bc atfrf rcbk olfivr wjcs alwfr jcv kjr ojwliljg klat fnfgs rabcf jcv agff tfgf. Pa kjr jr rajyif jr jc biv vbu.

Moreover, it wasn’t a unit with the eye. If the eye was attacked, it didn’t have any conditioned reflexes. It even took two steady steps forward. This was until Nan Zhou used a skill on its knees.

[The Consequences of No Skates]

[Function: Let the opponent slip 100%.] 

There were no hard and fast rules for this skill. The other party just had to have legs. Meanwhile, the monster in front of them just consisted of legs. The legs couldn’t stop it. It had just lost its eye and now it fell onto the snow. It fell with the two legs facing up.

Jiang Fang used this opportunity to roll out from behind the rock. He waved the cold blade and accurately cut the thread tying the eyeball to the belt. He snatched the eyeball falling in the air, pulled off the silk thread hanging from the belt in the process. He cupped the eyeball in his palm and covered it with snow. In a few seconds, a snowball had turned into a hard ice hockey ball in his palm.

He threw this ball to Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou caught it firmly and immediately rolled the eyeball in a few more layers of snow. He created a fist-sized snowball.

The eyeball, “……” 

You are all dogs.

Jiang Fang didn’t immediately run away even though the legs just needed to take two more steps to kick him in the knee. He was carefully observing the shape of the legs.

Now the legs were very confused. Their action of splitting up and joining together was convenient but it had disadvantages. They didn’t have a unified commanding brain. After suddenly losing its sight, the legs anxiously circled in place for a few laps. Then it leaned down and carefully used its toes to look for the eyeball.

Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou’s actions were wonderful but from the perspective of the legs, it was just unlucky. The eyeball found an unusual light nearby and it came to look at the situation. Then the snow fog covered the eyeball. Immediately after, it accidentally fell to the ground and lost the eyeball. 

There was no way. The hands were with the upper body and the eyeball was the only thing that came in handy when outside. In order to make it easier to see the way, it could only keep the eyeball on its trouser belt. It ‘looked’ for the eyeball nearby for a while but there was nothing. It was like a depressed trapped animal as it circled around and created a large circle of footprints.

Jiang Fang returned behind the rock and whispered to Nan Zhou, who was holding the immobile eye snowball. “Look.”

Nan Zhou lay on the rocks and studied the legs. The owner of the legs wasn’t hard to identify. They had dealt with the half body woman. The legs were similar in size to the woman and the waist section could be connected seamlessly.

The strange thing about the legs was that its waist was slim but the proportion of the legs was seriously disproportionate and bulging. In particular, the thighs and calves were bloated and almost cracked the mountaineering pants. They looked like a huge radish. The important thing was… 

Nan Zhou turned his head, holding the snowball in his hand as he asked Jiang Fang, “Whose eyeball is it?”

Jiang Fang’s face sank like water. “I was thinking the same thing.”

They had met three and a half ‘people’ at the camp. None of them had lost their eyes. The iris of this eye was also a bit different. It was a light hazel. Those they met before didn’t have eyes of this color. The light colored eyes never appeared in their vision from beginning to end, just like the legs.

Was it hiding in the tent where the mountain climbers were camped and just didn’t show itself? Or was it an eye that came out in another place with another person? 

Jiang Fang sat on the rock and his brow wrinkled with interest. He tapped on the surface of the rock with his fingers. “How many are there exactly?”

Nan Zhou quietly looked in the direction they had come from. Yinhang and the others didn’t know this information yet. They might be facing more than four pursuers.

The legs didn’t know about the culprit behind the incident. After turning for a while, it kicked a rock at its feet with a loud bang. If a normal person kicked the rock with this type of force, their toe would probably be broken. Meanwhile, the legs looked like it had found what it wanted and was very excited. It kicked twice more before becoming certain. It took a step forward, picked a direction and stumbled forward.

Nan Zhou’s fingers moved. A soft light shot out through the moonlight, passed through the multi-purpose belt and tied a knot. The legs didn’t have eyes and naturally couldn’t detect it. It just moved forward. 

Nan Zhou said, “Follow it.”

“Aren’t you afraid it will go to the woman with only half her body?”

“It’s possible.”

Nan Zhou continued, “However, if it could find the woman by relying on the senses between limbs then it would’ve left long ago. It wouldn’t have circled here to look for the direction.” 

Then Nan Zhou went to the area that the legs had just kicked and swept away the snow around it. Under the snow, there was a stone with a special shape. It was like an arrow that pointed straight to the south. The legs had been looking for this familiar marker.

Nan Zhou said, “The only place it can go now is somewhere it knows and trusts.”

Jiang Fang suggested, “It might take us back to the camp halfway up the mountain where we started.”

“That is possible.” Nan Zhou added, “However, we didn’t see the legs or the person with the eyeball in the camp.” 

He stared at Jiang Fang, eyes full of seriousness.

“If I were those mountain climbers and I was really afraid of the invasion of outsiders, I would arrange another person or group of people in the most important place to be guarded.”

The truth couldn’t be simpler. It was just that they were bound and influenced by the concept of ‘racing’. They took it for granted that everyone, including the NPCs, would start at the same level. At this point, Nan Zhou pursed his lips. “You are right. There are indeed many uncertainties.”

Of course, the legs might be going to find its upper body or it might be going down the mountain. If it was before then Nan Zhou would’ve followed it. However, things were a bit different now. He couldn’t do a good job of protecting his teammates. He couldn’t promise that he would protect Jiang Fang if sudden danger came. 

Jiang Fang looked at the other person’s annoyed, pursed lips and smiled. “Isn’t there still me?”

Nan Zhou glanced at Jiang Fang and seriously shook his head. “I always said that I would protect you. I can’t…”

Before his voice could finish, it was sealed by Jiang Fang. Across the soft hat, Jiang Fang dropped a gentle and polite kiss on his forehead. “It is okay to make an exception and rely on me once in a while.”

Nan Zhou’s mind didn’t return for a while. He raised his hand and pressed it against his itchy heart. “…What did you do to me?” 

Jiang Fang’s face was also slightly red. “Did I have an effect on you?”

“Yes.” Nan Zhou met this person’s eyes in a puzzled manner. “I want to hear from you. Why?”

Jiang Fang smiled brightly but there was a sincerity rarely seen in his smiles. “This is good.”

*** 

Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang weren’t too far behind the legs. It was like they were walking their dog in the backyard.

The scene was rather bizarre but both people looked like it should be this way. The legs had to explore the road so it walked slowly and very carefully. It bypassed many deep and difficult places due to its familiarity with the terrain.

It saved them a lot of effort. Even Nan Zhou could easily keep up. Nan Zhou had the leisure to put a small snowball on top of another big snowball. He created a palm-sized snowman and held it out to Jiang Fang to see.

Jiang Fang smiled and took it. He studied it before adding some vitality to it with a small branch and two small stones. They weren’t interested in knowing how many times the eyeball sealed in the snowball rolled around. 

Thankfully, the legs didn’t go down the mountain. It stumbled and groped its way up the mountain. The path was fairly flat and it was so wide that they could see everything with one glance.

This was indeed the route that normal climbers would choose but it wasn’t a route that players of this racing instance could easily control. Nan Zhou believed that according to conventional thinking, players would never choose this route when there was no shelter for several kilometers. It was easy but you could see someone from kilometers away. This was no different from looking for death.

After nearly four hours of stopping and walking in the wind and snow, the legs raised itself noticeably higher as it passed by a patch of bushes.

Nan Zhou wanted to keep up but Jiang Fang caught Nan Zhou’s hand and cut off the light projected by the finger chain. He grabbed Nan Zhou and took this person to hide with him in the dense, dead bushes. 

Jiang Fang was cautious. He planned for a retreat with every step he took. He sensed that the legs were passing through a transparent tripwire. There was an ambush nearby. This meant they had found the place they wanted to find.

Shortly after the two men rolled into the bushes, a tent in the distance was opened by one hand.

…It was just one hand.

Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou quietly poked their heads out. The thing that entered their eyes was a wide campsite that looked like it should be on the riverbank. 

There was only one fallen tent and it looked like an abandoned camp. In the camp, people’s body parts were scattered around it.

The moment they saw the legs stumble back, the split up body parts gathered and stacked up on each other from all directions. It started with the face and a human form slowly rose from the ground. It was a broken face with only one pale brown eye. The other eye was just a dark hole.

This person removed the lower half of his newly restored face. He pulled one ear straight off and casually tied it to the side of the legs with a string. It hung around the legs. It seemed that by hastily splicing them together like this, it would form a whole that could share information.

The withered black lips on the lower half of the face asked coldly, “What happened?”