Chapter 110: Firefighting

The other end of the walkie-talkie fell silent.

"Chen Ling, I still think you shouldn't overexert yourself," Xi Renjie said earnestly. "While the Asura Path grants extraordinary physical recovery, your stamina won't replenish... If you're tired, rest for a bit. No one will blame you."

Just as Chen Ling was about to speak, a "meat chicken" shrieked and charged at him through the dense fog with incredible speed.

Chen Ling's eyes lit up. He took a swig of wine, then, like a magician, sprayed it forward from his mouth onto the flaming staff. A ball of fire slammed into the "meat chicken," and a sharp shriek suddenly pierced the air.

"What was that sound?" Xi Renjie paused, puzzled.

Chen Ling didn't reply. He placed the wine jar on the ground, drew a dagger from his waist, and swiftly charged towards the burning "meat chicken"!

With his stamina recovered, Chen Ling's speed returned to its peak. The flaming staff and dagger swung in rapid succession, continuously carving off fragrant meat slices. Chen Ling bit onto a piece of meat skewered on his dagger, tore it off, and devoured it, chewing while continuing his assault!

His black trench coat billowed in the fog. Chen Ling was like an executioner and a gourmet rolled into one. His frenzied assault forced the "meat chicken" to retreat repeatedly, and it wasn't long before it was completely consumed by the flames.

"Chen Ling? Chen Ling?" Xi Renjie called his name through the walkie-talkie. "Are you alright?"

Chen Ling suppressed the urge to devour the entire roasted "chicken" on the spot. He went back, picked up the walkie-talkie, and replied while chewing,

"I'm fine... It's been dealt with."

"Are you eating something?"

Chen Ling quickly swallowed the meat. "No."

Although Xi Renjie was puzzled, he sighed and continued:

"The calamities are now mixed in with the crowd and constantly moving, making them difficult to track and hunt. I can hold on for a while longer. I'm heading east now; you should find a place to..."

Before Xi Renjie could finish, another "meat chicken" burst through the dense fog, shrieking as it charged at Chen Ling!

Chen Ling froze.

The "meat chickens" Chen Ling had encountered previously either knocked on doors to kill or ambushed from shadows. There were almost none that charged at him so frantically... If it were just one, it might be a coincidence, but two in a row within minutes—Chen Ling keenly sensed something was amiss.

In a flash, Chen Ling had no time to think. He drew his blade and engaged in close-quarters combat with it.

Half a minute later, Chen Ling, his mouth glistening with grease, put away his dagger.

He looked at the two mutilated roasted "chickens" on the ground and fell into thought... Roasted chicken... No, there had to be a reason why the "meat chickens'" behavior contradicted their previous patterns. Chen Ling meticulously searched everywhere on himself, finally focusing on two items.

One was the wine jar on the ground, the other was the torch in his hand.

After a moment's thought, Chen Ling ruled out the wine jar, because when the second "meat chicken" charged, the jar was several meters behind him, and the creature's target was clearly himself.

The only possibility, then, was the burning torch in his hand...

Do these "meat chickens" have an aversion to fire?

Why?

To test his theory, Chen Ling entered several houses one after another, gathered some flammable wood, piled it up, and lit it. A bonfire appeared in the center of the foggy street, burning silently.

Chen Ling himself stood by the bonfire, holding the flaming staff in one hand and his dagger in the other, his gaze warily sweeping the surroundings.

Ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds...

After a brief silence, three successive shrieks came from the end of the street. Three "shadow centipedes" rushed through the dense fog at astonishing speed, heading straight for his location!

Seeing this, Chen Ling's eyes lit up!

He knew he had guessed correctly.

Without hesitation, Chen Ling stomped out the bonfire, then darted like lightning towards the three "meat chickens."

Fire could attract these "meat chickens," and if it burned for too long, there was no telling how many would come all at once... With Chen Ling's current combat strength, dealing with eight or nine was already his limit. Any more, and he might end up becoming a meal for them.

Chen Ling had only lit this bonfire for an experiment. Now that the effect of fire was proven, multiple strategies simultaneously surfaced in his mind.

This time, Chen Ling didn't use fire. Instead, he cleanly and decisively killed the three "meat chickens" with his dagger, then turned and walked back in the direction he had come from.

In the dimly lit hut, the shopkeeper groggily opened his eyes.

He lay there disoriented for a while, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling. In a daze, he felt as if he saw the figure chewing centipedes again, holding a head and asking if he wanted a bite...

He gasped, abruptly sitting upright, a fine layer of sweat beading on his forehead.

"...Was that a nightmare?"

The shopkeeper, still shaken, patted his chest, trying to forget the terrifying image. Just then, the hut door was forcefully pushed open from outside!

Dense fog poured in from outside the door. The figure that had just appeared in his nightmare stood calmly in the doorway, a flaming staff in one hand and a jar of wine in the other, watching him.

The moment he saw that devilish face, the shopkeeper's heart skipped a beat, and his face turned ashen.

"I have a question for you," Chen Ling said, shaking the wine in his hand. "Do you have any more of this wine?"

Still trembling with fear, the shopkeeper nodded.

"...Yes, I have a warehouse north of the district. All the wine I brew is stored there."

"Give me the exact address."

Chen Ling obtained the address and keys from the shopkeeper, then turned and left, leaving the shopkeeper bewildered and motionless, unsure of what had just happened.

A few minutes later, Chen Ling entered an empty produce market.

"Brother Renjie, I'm a bit tired."

He pressed the walkie-talkie switch and spoke.

As he spoke, he took a plastic bag and began filling it with green onions, ginger, and garlic.

Soon, Xi Renjie's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"It's normal to be tired... Find a place to rest for a bit and recover your strength before continuing."

Xi Renjie's voice was also very weary, but hearing Chen Ling say he was tired, there was a strange sense of relief in his tone... He wasn't afraid of Chen Ling getting tired, only of him pushing himself too hard and collapsing on the battlefield.

Chen Ling suddenly stopped. He casually picked up a bottle of cooking wine from a nearby shelf, checked its expiration date, and put it into the bag as well.

"Alright," Chen Ling said, then put away the walkie-talkie.

Chen Ling walked around the market, selected a sturdier stick, wrapped its head with a piece of rag and towel, soaked it thoroughly in gasoline, and then lit it.

A fierce blaze erupted from the stick's tip, resembling a mobile sun in the dense fog. Chen Ling held the torch in one hand and the seasonings in the other, walking towards a deserted alley corner... His fingertip gently tore at his cheek.

When he emerged again, he had transformed into a stern-faced young man. His black trench coat had changed back into the grand red opera robe, which stood out strikingly and eerily in the dense fog.

Chen Ling licked his lips. With a gulp, his figure blurred into a phantom, quickly disappearing into the mist.