Dad... Dad...

The fake [Hunter] raised his stiff neck. Zhu Yan could vaguely see his pale skin and bluish features hidden in the shadow of his hood.

The muscles between his brows strained to furrow, forming a reluctantly sorrowful expression.

“I’m sorry…” the terrifying creature said slowly, “I can’t give the key fragment to you directly. It has to do with my body structure.”

Damn.

What body structure?

Zhu Yan said respectfully, “Dad, please go on.”

Xu Tongguang’s eyes went wide beside him.

In his view, this Tu Shan had completely lost his mind!

He truly didn’t understand a word these two were saying, but that didn’t stop him from being terrified.

He could barely tell that this Tu Shan didn’t dare make a move against him.

But… but this Hunter in a cloak, a senior, seemed to have endless strength and tricks!

Was he really going to die?

Xu Tongguang slowly backed away. Under extreme tension, he didn’t dare take his eyes off the hooded man.

But the fake [Hunter] didn’t pay Xu Tongguang any mind at all.

It simply mimicked a “doting” expression toward Zhu Yan, using one hand to support its hood as if to reveal its whole face.

“Wait!” Zhu Yan hurriedly stopped it.

Revealing its true face now?

That wouldn’t be good, with Xu Tongguang still around!

If Xu Tongguang found out the real nature of this terrifying creature, then his own fake identity as “Tu Shan” would also be at risk of exposure.

No.

This burden of blame had to be pinned firmly on Tu Shan.

Seeing the fake [Hunter] pause, Zhu Yan immediately raised his hand and pointed at Xu Tongguang.

“Boss, knock him out. Better not to create any more complications!”

Xu Tongguang shuddered: “What?!”

The color drained from his face.

His mind went blank as he turned around, looking for an escape route.

But the stone wall behind him had somehow sealed shut. Behind him, the [Hunter] dragged itself closer with a slow but rhythmic, stiff step: thump, thump.

Xu Tongguang’s hair stood on end.

The moment that greenish-white hand swung down toward him, he suddenly erupted into a shout at Zhu Yan.

“Tu Shan!! You and your companion will die a miserable death—”

The hand struck heavily on his neck. Xu Tongguang swayed, then crashed to the ground with a thud.

Zhu Yan stifled a laugh.

Thanks for the curse from a brother, huh.

Tu Shan had already died horribly. As for Tu Shan’s companion…

He glanced at the fake [Hunter].

Tu Shan’s companion probably wasn’t far from death either, though he wasn’t sure what that death would look like.

“Alright.”

Strangely, after Xu Tongguang fell, the fake [Hunter] didn’t seem affected at all.

It only twisted its neck, then turned back to look at Zhu Yan. The face hidden in the shadows seemed to be smiling.

It slowly lowered its hood, and Zhu Yan finally got a full look at it.

Sure enough, it was a male corpse.

One side of its skull was missing, as if smashed off with a hammer.

Zhu Yan shifted to look at the wound and saw that half the brain was gone; the other half drooped limply, the bloody membrane on it still fresh.

Around the neck was a purple-black mark, exactly where Xu Tongguang had been struck.

So, this corpse was just a puppet?

“Oh, Dad.” He pretended to admire it. “Dad, this body you picked is perfect.”

“This is the best kind of death to cover up.”

The terrifying creature, controlling the corpse, puffed out its chest, looking very proud and delighted.

“I have a lot more. But look.”

It jerked its stiff chin toward a fog that looked like cotton in the corner of the room.

Zhu Yan looked over a saw that thick, cloud-like fog quickly dissolved into the air, revealing what had been hidden.

Zhu Yan’s heart jumped.

Corpses—

They were stacked two by two, piled up like goods against the wall.

Many of these dead had died in horrific ways.

Zhu Yan stepped closer and saw shredded flesh and intestines still dripping. The stench of blood and excrement sharply hit his nose.

The chest and abdominal cavities of the top two corpses seemed to have exploded; Zhu Yan could see ribs sticking out after being completely deformed.

“My son is pretty impressive, making them die like fireworks.”

The vibrating, stiff vocal cords of the corpse behind him praised everything Tu Shan had done.

“Too bad, though. Dying like that, I can’t use their bodies.”

The terrifying creature’s tone took on a hint of grievance.

“Without a body, I can’t talk, can’t grab things, can’t communicate with anything else.”

“And I can’t craft what I need.”

“Alas, why am I just a mist?”

Zhu Yan understood.

The mist was the true form of this terrifying creature.

He immediately thought of those “sunset clouds” in [Old Wolf, Old Wolf, What Time Is It?]—they were also flowing mist but scattered when stirred with a knife.

If he used this Level 8 military knife to deal with this mist…

He forced his gaze away from the pile of corpses and asked, “Dad, is this parasitism? Why can’t you just give me the key fragment?”

At the same time, Zhu Yan’s knife shot out quickly, plunging into the nearest patch of thick mist!

No reaction—

The corpse’s expression stayed normal, and the mist didn’t disperse.

Zhu Yan awkwardly withdrew the knife.

“Dad, your defenses are really strong.”

The corpse even raised a hand, rubbing its head a little shyly.

“Well… isn’t that right?”

It didn’t know what was wrong with itself.

Seeing this player named Tu Shan swing his knife at its core form, it even felt a bit excited.

It was almost like having the illusion that its precious son had grown up…

Wait, why was calling it an “illusion” wrong?

It tried to shake its head, but a wonderfully pleasing call of “Dad” quickly snatched its attention away.

“Dad, why can’t the military knife affect you? Dad, where’s your weakness?”

Two calls!

Two whole calls!

All the condensed fog in the room trembled, as if it were extremely thrilled.

“Weakness?”

The voice spilling from the corpse’s throat was excited to the point of distortion.

It stood even straighter: “I have no weaknesses! Good son, you need to know, I’m very special.”

“My level is just level 0. I have no level, but I can parasitize puppets of any level.

Once I succeed, I gain that puppet’s level and abilities…

And if the puppet gets hurt, it has nothing to do with me!”

Damn.

Zhu Yan cursed.

He knew it—something as simple as this? A terrifying creature guarding the [Key Fragment 3] in the [Rapture Land]?

This basically meant it was an untargetable enemy.

Can’t kill it, and it can parasitize infinitely.

“Oh, there is one rather embarrassing problem, though.”

The corpse tilted its head, its unfocused gray eyes staring blankly at Zhu Yan.

“Son, use your high-level item to help me.”

How am I supposed to get the corpse of a powerful player or a terrifying creature all by myself?