Chapter 13: The Scythe, The Hunger, and The Hiding Place

Perched on the tree branch, Qi Lin muttered to himself, convinced he could easily vanquish these massive, nameless turtle bastards.

True to his impulsive nature, Qi Lin immediately leaped down from the branch.

The colossal turtles, sensing the scent of an unfamiliar race, roared and fixed their gaze upon Qi Lin.

“Hey, there!” Under the turtles’ scrutiny, Qi Lin’s eyes narrowed, a faint crimson glow emanating from them as he met their stares.

Upon sensing Qi Lin’s undisguised hostility, the giant turtles trembled for a moment before instantly roaring and lunging towards him.

“Excellent!” Qi Lin murmured softly, watching the giant turtles charge.

Rapidly sifting through the Bloodline memories crammed into his mind, he quickly unearthed several spells.

Following the instructions, Qi Lin first bit his wrist, drawing a trickle of blood, then channeled the demonic energy within him towards a nail-sized spherical liquid that had coalesced and now hovered before him.

“Scythe of Blood!”

As he awkwardly chanted the incantation, the spherical orb floating before Qi Lin began to stretch and elongate.

Swiftly, a blood-red scythe, taller than Qi Lin himself, materialized horizontally, hovering before him.

A subtle gleam flickered in Qi Lin’s eyes as he gazed at the scythe.

Extending both hands, he firmly grasped the scythe, then, with an intuitive flourish, spun it in a dazzling arc.

“Now, it’s harvest time.”

A brilliant crimson light flared as Qi Lin, scythe in hand, fixed his gaze upon the nearest giant turtle.

The giant turtle, its fists clenched, trembled inwardly under the scrutiny of those crimson eyes.

‘That was… the gaze of a hunter upon its prey.’

Holding the scythe inverted, Qi Lin sprinted with light steps towards the giant turtle.

He swung the scythe, and with a sickening *splat*, vibrant green liquid splattered outwards in all directions.

Spattered with the viscous fluid, Qi Lin, his crimson eyes wide, calmly observed the corpse he had effortlessly cleaved in two, as if he had merely cut down a plant, not a living creature.

Indifferently wielding the scythe, Qi Lin pointed it towards the other stunned giant turtles.

Witnessing their comrade’s demise before them, the giant turtles erupted in fury.

One after another, the giant turtles opened their enormous mouths, bristling with thumb-long fangs, and turned them towards Qi Lin.

In an instant, columns of fire erupted from the turtles’ mouths, surging towards Qi Lin.

Engulfed by the fiery blasts, Qi Lin let out a piercing shriek.

When the fire columns subsided, Qi Lin had been reduced to a charred husk, collapsing to the ground, leaving behind only the perfectly intact blood-red scythe.

With the enemy’s form vanished, the giant turtles roared in what sounded like triumph.

Yet, their celebration was… premature.

Almost immediately, the charred remains began to crackle, then dissolved into a swarm of dark-red bats.

Flapping their wings, the bats scattered, soaring towards each of the giant turtles.

Like phantoms, the bats passed through the bodies of the giant turtles, then coalesced behind them, near the trees they had ravaged.

Qi Lin’s figure reappeared.

Sensing the familiar aura of their foe, the giant turtles spun around, their sharp eyes glaring at him.

Under their collective stare, Qi Lin, his expression unperturbed, beckoned with a hand.

The scythe, which had lain where Qi Lin’s charred form collapsed, now floated upwards, then began to rotate of its own accord, as if imbued with life.

Spinning, the scythe flew towards Qi Lin, yet as it moved, it passed through the bodies of each giant turtle, just as Qi Lin, transformed into bats, had done moments before.

Once more holding the scythe, Qi Lin propped it up with an impassive face, as a series of sickening *thwacks* echoed incessantly.

With a resonant *thud*, the giant turtles, who had been glaring furiously at Qi Lin, maintained their forward gaze even as they toppled to the ground.

Thick green liquid began to gush from their wounds, and within moments, the ground seemed to transform into a viscous pond.

The crimson glow in his eyes began to dim, and almost immediately, Qi Lin’s gaze no longer pulsed with that sanguine light; the scythe in his hand reverted to a spherical orb of blood.

After hovering lightly for a few moments, the orb drifted into Qi Lin’s slightly parted mouth.

Blinking his faintly reddened eyes, Qi Lin stared in bewilderment at the corpses strewn across the ground around him.

Moments ago, after chanting the spell, he had seemingly shed all emotion, transforming into an executioner.

He lowered his head to examine the nearest corpse, his nose twitching, then immediately turned away, clutching a ruined tree trunk as he retched.

After the dry heaves subsided, a dizzy Qi Lin slumped against the half-destroyed tree, settling onto the ground.

For some inexplicable reason, Qi Lin felt as though he hadn’t eaten in days.

With difficulty, he sifted through the common Bloodline knowledge stored in his mind, eventually finding the answer to his current state.

As a newborn Bloodline, prolonged use of demonic energy without energy intake—specifically, blood—would lead to dizziness, or even death.

A shiver ran down Qi Lin’s spine, and a sense of desolation filled his heart.

‘What should I do now? If I don’t consume energy soon, I might just kick the bucket.’

As his vision blurred, Qi Lin’s gaze fell upon the numerous bodies littering the ground. ‘These… they look like they could be eaten…’

The thought flashed through his mind, and Qi Lin licked his lips, swallowing hard.

Staring at the corpses, Qi Lin’s eyes, which had ceased glowing crimson, slowly began to flicker with that sanguine light once more.

After a brief internal struggle, Qi Lin weakly collapsed to the ground, then crawled towards the nearest body.

Opening his mouth to reveal sharp fangs, Qi Lin closed his eyes and bit down.

His fangs easily pierced the giant turtle’s skin, and copious green blood immediately began to flow.

Like a famished man, Qi Lin gulped down the blood in large mouthfuls.

After a few gulps of the giant turtle’s blood, Qi Lin instantly released his hold.

“Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! Why is this blood so bitter?!” Standing beside the giant turtle’s corpse, Qi Lin stuck out his tongue, spitting out some of the unswallowed, dreg-like blood.

He took a deep breath and exhaled, expelling the bitter, dreg-like taste from his mouth, and then felt as if he had come back to life.

Rubbing his stomach, Qi Lin felt only about a third full, but the dizziness had significantly lessened.

“I will never drink this dreg-like blood again,” he vowed inwardly, patting his chest after glancing at the blood on the ground.

Suddenly, a gentle breeze swept past, sending a chill through Qi Lin.

‘Something… feels amiss…’

His eyes narrowed slightly, Qi Lin slowly lowered his head, and then froze.

‘My clothes? Where did my clothes go?’

Qi Lin’s eyes widened like brass bells as he realized his clothes were gone!

Clutching at certain areas, Qi Lin felt an inexplicable surge of shame.

His cheeks slightly flushed, Qi Lin twitched his ears, then peered in the direction of Manda Town.

He heard a rush of hurried footsteps.

After a quick glance towards Manda Town and then at his naked body, he immediately dove into the nearby tall grass.

“Quick, move faster! Don’t let those demonic beasts enter the town!”

From within the tall grass, Qi Lin heard an incredibly familiar voice.

Manrot and Elder Sylph, leading a group of spear-wielding elves, arrived beside the pile of corpses Qi Lin had dispatched.

“What… what happened here?” Aali’s pupils contracted as she stared at the bodies, each neatly severed in two, littering the ground.

“The bodies are still warm; they couldn’t have been dead for long!” A male elf knelt, touching a corpse to gauge its temperature, then reported to Manrot and the others.

Elder Sylph frowned, scanning her surroundings, her gaze eventually settling on a patch of subtly rustling grass.

Pointing towards the grass, Elder Sylph gestured.

The others nodded, then raised their weapons and advanced cautiously.

Just as a female elf lunged with her weapon, a voice cried out from within.

“Stop, it’s me! Don’t stab!”

A head emerged from the grass, and Qi Lin, his eyes watery, looked at Elder Sylph, Manrot, and Aali.

“What are you doing here?” Elder Sylph asked Qi Lin, her brow furrowed in confusion, after instructing the others to remain vigilant for more demonic beasts.

“I…” Qi Lin began, instantly reciting the explanation he had prepared.

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