Arthur South knew his life was in jeopardy.

He and three team members tensed their muscles and pushed with shoulders and hands. Nevertheless, the massive tree lying on the ground remained unyielding, blocking the carriage's path.

Now it was getting late. The evil creatures that devour people were about to appear. If they couldn't reach the town in time, their group was doomed.

Arthur looked uneasily at the carriage.

Over the past ten months, he had been diligent and conscientious, hoping to renew his contract next year. But at this rate, let alone the second-year contract, he might not even see tomorrow morning's sun.

Turning around, Arthur was startled to find a black-haired and black-eyed man standing beside the carriage, staring directly at the curtain.

"Who are you?" Arthur drew his sword.

The man turned around and innocently stuck out his tongue. "The journey is long and lonely. Please allow me to tell a story to delight the ladies." As he spoke, he made a pretend movement of plucking the strings.

This guy indeed had the pretty face of a bard, but his build was like that of a robber. Just as Arthur was about to refuse, the maid lifted the carriage curtain.

"Madam?"

"Captain South," the woman in the shadows said. "Please let this gentleman stay and camp with us."

"Camp?" The black-haired man seemed to have just noticed the huge tree and rubbed his hands eagerly. "I can help."

The three team members chuckled softly, dusted off their hands, and walked aside.

Arthur didn't laugh. Instead, he regarded the man thoughtfully.

The black-haired man spat on his palm and then grasped the right end of the trunk and planted his feet on the ground.

As he exerted more and more force, two pits were formed in the soil. The seemingly immovable huge tree actually started to move slowly and was pushed to the side of the road, leaving a fan-shaped drag mark.

The man straightened up, looking extremely proud.

Arthur noticed that there had been a flash of red light in the man's eyes, but it vanished in an instant, like an illusion.

Was it the effect of banned drugs?

Arthur had heard that there was a strange witch drug in the black market, made from the flesh and blood of evil creatures, which could make the taker's strength soar. Perhaps this man's strange strength was the result of taking the drug.

This is not wise.

Arthur had heard that taking too much of the drug could drive a person insane.

When the carriage arrived at the city wall, it was completely dark.

The maid stuck her head out of the carriage window and couldn't help but gasp when she saw what was hanging under the city wall.

On the gallows standing at the foot of the wall, three corpses swayed in the wind. Several crows landed on the shoulders of the dead and pecked at their eyeballs.

The three were two men and a woman, with wooden plaques hanging around their necks, inscribed with the characters of the Ice Tis tribe. The handwriting was sloppy and wild.

"Who are they?" the lady asked. "Why were they executed?"

"They are murderers, rapists, and human traffickers," the man who called himself Hein eagerly explained. "According to the laws of Buhusodia, they deserve the death penalty."

The lady thought for a while and asked, "What if it's a rapist and murderer?"

Hein made a gesture at his crotch. "Castrate first and then kill."

The walls of Buhusodia were high and the ditches were deep, guarded by bastions and twin towers.

The city guards were burly and wore armor. More than half of them had the characteristics of the Ice Tis people - pale skin and straw-colored hair and beards.

Arthur didn't plan to have a conflict with the city guards.

Even when they claimed that "strangers are not allowed to enter the city after dark" and refused to lower the drawbridge, he decided to handle this matter in a more tactful way.

"Actually," Hein stared at the bulging money pouch in Arthur's hand. "I can take you all to a great place, which is more than ten times safer and more comfortable than the city."

Arthur pretended not to hear.

The land on the west coast is divided into two types. One is the God-Given Land. Here, the soil is fertile and everything is flourishing. The other is the Cursed Land. The fruits here taste bitter, and the water here will cause abdominal pain.

Whenever night falls, evil creatures will roam in the Cursed Land. Therefore, this place is also known as the Black Land.

What's even more terrifying is that the boundary between the two is not fixed but ebbs and flows like tides. Even locals who are familiar with the paths are at risk of straying into the deadly area.

The only safe places are towns.

Besides being guarded by high walls and guards, they are also under the protection of the gods. Whether it is the presence of the favored ones of the gods or sacred objects, it can ensure that the curse cannot invade.

"It's a pity," Hein jumped out of the carriage and muttered. "Now it's not on my way. My story hasn't been finished yet."

"Aren't you going into the city?" Arthur asked in surprise. "It's completely dark now. If you still stay in the Black Land, you may be attacked by monsters at any time."

Hein waved his hand, indicating that he didn't care.

Arthur still wanted to persuade him further. Hein turned around and put his arm around Arthur's shoulder.

"In fact," Hein whispered into his ear. "I've always been wondering. Since you couldn't move that tree, why didn't you unhitch the shafts and just ride the horses?"

"..." Arthur was speechless for a moment.

Hein patted his shoulder amicably. "Even if you leave the carriage behind, don't worry about it being lost. When the Black Rangers pass by, they will take care of it for you."

A minute later, the carriage passed through the drawbridge and entered the city gate.

Hein stayed where he was, loosened his right hand, and a thin stone charm lay in his palm.

This was a gift from the lady, a witch charm which can be activated by ordinary people. It is said that as long as it is fed with blood, the charm can burst out with power and destroy the evil creatures.

Hein thought for a moment, finally, he stuffed the charm into his chest pocket and then walked towards the forest.

His steps were light and his figure was gradually hidden by the trees.

Ten seconds later, the witch charm exploded in his pocket.

When Elijah walked out of the black land, the moon had already risen halfway into the sky.

His timing was very precise.

Before midnight, the Cursed Land was not yet a forbidden area.

The rangers would patrol along the previous boundary to confirm the extent of the curse's expansion and rescue the attacked travelers.

In addition, there were also enthusiastic speculative monster hunters.

They smeared themselves with a pungent herbal mixture to cover up the human smell and set up ambushes in the evening to hunt some low-intelligence small evil creatures.

As for Elijah, he was neither the former nor the latter.

Standing on the low hill west of the city, he overlooked the Tassel River at his feet.

The river flowed murmuringly, reflecting the starry sky above, like a diamond-studded belt. On both sides of the river, there stood a tower respectively.

The tower was three stories high, with a drawbridge connecting in the middle. The walls were full of cross-shaped arrow slits.

There were docking ports at their feet, and thick steel cables were sunk underwater. Once they were raised, they had the power to halt ships in their tracks. This was precisely the place that Elijah had been seeking, the lair of a renowned mercenary band, Warlock's Guillotine.

Suddenly, a black shadow flew up from the top of the tower on the south bank.

It was as swift as an eagle, soaring straight into the sky, trailing thick black smoke behind it, and diving towards the northwest. In an instant, it disappeared.

Immediately after, Elijah smelled sulfur and blood.

Looking from the hill, the gate of the fortress on the south bank was tightly closed, and the figure in the sentry tower remained motionless for a long time, with a stiff posture.

Taking advantage of the cover of dark clouds, Elijah reached the foot of the wall and climbed over the wall by holding the brick joints.

The area of the fortress was nearly one hectare, with stables, granaries, drying rooms, and weapon workshops. It was quiet all around and there was no sound of living things.

He took out his crystal compass and observed the pointer.

The sterling silver probe on the bearing rotated by itself, aimlessly circling around and around without a definite reaction.

When he reached the lookout post, Elijah caught a drop of falling liquid.

It was sticky.

The liquid was black-red under the moonlight, slightly cold, and had a little rusty smell.

He climbed onto the high platform of the lookout post and found that the sentry had blood flowing from his seven orifices, his pupils were dilated, and there was a smell of sulfur all around.

He touched the corpse. Judging from the body temperature, the person had died a few minutes ago.

This outpost was still under the divine blessing and not polluted by the curse. There would be no evil creatures coming to eat the corpse, and the dead would not stand up again and turn into zombies.

After inspecting around, Elijah climbed onto the high ground and came to the front of the main tower.

This door was bolted from the inside.

He inserted his dagger into the door gap and slowly pried it. The frequently used bolt was already worn and loose and was quickly pried open, leaving only some shallow scratches.

Entering the tower, Elijah bolted the door as it was.

The first room facing him was the dining hall. A long table and two rows of chairs were placed crookedly in the center. The smell of inferior wheat beer and spoiled cheese was everywhere.

The moonlight shone through the gaps in the windows, with a dull color, making the indoor scenery look gray.

Elijah continued forward, passed through a pair of arched doors side by side, and found the kitchen of the corps. There was a door on the floor in the innermost room, but it was stuck so tightly that it couldn't be opened.

After confirming that the compass had no reaction, Elijah didn't linger and returned to the hall along the original path.

He guessed that the door led to the cellar, and there were only salted fish and potatoes below.

Following the spiral staircase in the hall, he soon reached the second floor of the tower.

The smell of blood came from here.

The floor was stained scarlet. Bedding was intertwined with human bodies. Blood-stained cotton wool and feathers were flying everywhere.

Elijah covered his nose.

The sulfur smell here was particularly strong, burning his trachea.

He looked around and found a strange thing.

Even counting the dead sentry, the number of beds and corpses didn't match. Three of the beds had clearly been used, but the corresponding people were nowhere to be seen, leaving only a shallow residual warmth in the bedding.

There was something fishy.

Elijah pressed his thumb against the sword blade to offset the noise of metal friction and silently drew his sword.

He quietly walked up to the third floor. After a corner, he found that the stairs began to fork.

The stairs on the right were shorter. At the end, there was a barred door with a lock. Through the gaps in the bars, the drawbridge made of steel cables swayed in the wind.

The bars here were too close together for Elijah to pass through, so he had to turn back.

The path on the left was long and winding, leading him into a strange room.

The whole room was perfectly circular. Four curtains were hung on the walls and connected in a circle. He didn't know what was hidden behind them.

Elijah used his sword sheath to lift one curtain and found that it was full of all kinds of clothes and there were various styles of shoes on the floor.

The remaining three curtains were all the same. In total, there were at least a hundred sets of clothes here.

Elijah belatedly realized that this was not a room at all, but an oversized wardrobe.

And judging from the sizes, all the clothes belonged to the same person.

Elijah lifted the last curtain and suddenly his heart skipped a beat.

A black-haired and black-eyed man was silently spying on him.