Seizing the King (8)
Two tall horses were suddenly hoisted high into the air by tentacles that appeared from the side. The tentacles pierced through over a dozen parts of their bodies—their eye sockets, chests, abdomens—causing torrents of blood to pour onto the grass below, only to be instantly absorbed.
One could easily imagine the fate of the rabbit inside the carriage.
Before Chen Li had time to feel sorrow, he was scooped up in the arms of the werewolf, who dodged several tentacles as they came at them.
Fu Moyang’s expression shifted slightly. Muscles on his arms and lower limbs suddenly bulged, bones cracked audibly, and his entire body grew in size.
Before Chen Li could even react, he found himself landing on a broad, furry back. He let out a small gasp and instinctively wrapped his arms around the neck of the wolf beneath him.
His hands sank into thick fur as he clutched at the coarse neck hair.
A few rumbling sounds came from the throat of the silver-gray wolf, who then opened its mouth and spoke in human language: “Don’t be afraid.”
Chen Li was already stunned by the sudden transformation. All he could do was hold on tightly as the wolf leapt and dodged again and again.
The countless tentacles lunging toward them were all either evaded or shredded to pieces by the wolf’s sharp claws.
The severed tentacle fragments on the ground continued to squirm for a while before gradually withering into small clumps of dried, black, unidentifiable matter.
When Fu Moyang finally came to a stop, all the purplish-red tentacles in the area had been reduced to charred remains scattered across the ground.
Chen Li also finally snapped out of his shock from witnessing his teammate transform into a giant wolf. He shifted, intending to climb down, but Fu Moyang stopped him with a warning: “Don’t get down. It’s dangerous here.”
If it had been a real wolf, Chen Li might not have felt so uneasy.
But this was Fu Moyang. Fu Moyang had become this creature!
Fu Moyang didn’t give him any time to get flustered. He lifted a paw and started walking inward, explaining as he went: “Those tentacles just now were part of the Elven Mother Tree.”
Those disgusting, grotesque, red-bumped, fleshy purple-red tentacles were part of the source tree from which elves were born. Chen Li couldn’t help but shudder, a sudden, ominous feeling rising in his chest.
And sure enough, the moment he stepped into the elven territory, he knew his premonition had been right.
The peaceful, harmonious forest scene he had imagined was nowhere to be found. What should have been a vibrant elven sanctuary was now nothing but charred ruins, reeking of death and decay.
A drop of thick, foul-smelling liquid suddenly splashed beside them. Chen Li stiffened and slowly looked up—only to see a grotesque creature hanging above them, grinning at him with jagged, yellow teeth: “Graaah—”
Before it could make another move, Fu Moyang turned and swiped its eyeball out with one claw, tearing out the attached nerves in a single, brutal motion. The creature writhed in agony on the ground, and every place touched by its blood hissed and melted as if doused in strong acid.
Looking down at it from above, Fu Moyang said coldly: “This is what elves have become.”
Chen Li’s heart clenched. He stared in disbelief at the creature on the ground—roughly the size of a black bear, completely hairless. The only thing remotely elven about it were its pointed ears.
Fu Moyang made no attempt to hide his intentions: “Where is the traitor?”
Surprisingly, the seemingly mindless elf reacted strongly to those words. It raised its head in fury and, with its remaining eye, glared intensely behind them.
Chen Li turned—and saw the last remaining “player,” now standing ghost-like behind them. He didn’t know when the man had appeared, but it was clear he was no longer human.
The figure was a patchwork elf, crudely stitched together, barely maintaining a humanoid shape. Dozens of bloody seams crisscrossed his body, and each patch of skin was a different color—clearly from other beings. Organs and flesh that didn’t belong to him had been sewn together.
There was no longer any sign of life in him. He was now just a puppet under someone’s control.
In just a few seconds, Fu Moyang grasped the situation: “He failed.”
“What?” Chen Li, terrified, buried himself deeper into the wolf’s fur.
Fu Moyang explained calmly: “He tried to usurp the throne—and failed. That’s why he ended up like this.”
Chen Li asked: “Failed as in… the Elven King discovered he was the traitor?”
What a miserable end—not only did he die, but he was also turned into that thing.
“No,” Fu Moyang said. “It’s worse than that. He probably brought this on himself—by triggering the hidden boss of this instance: the Fallen Elf King.”
“You’ve finally arrived.”
Two voices spoke almost simultaneously.
Chen Li turned toward the second speaker, his heart pounding. A tall figure stood like a flawless statue carved from stone. His skin was a natural shade of ash-gray, and his appearance resembled something out of Greek mythology—like a Medusa, with a head full of writhing snakes. His gaze was fixed intensely on Chen Li, eyes burning with a strange fervor as he sighed: “I’ve waited for you a long time.”
“For me?” Chen Li was utterly confused. He had no idea who this person was.
There was nothing in the storyline that connected the Vampire Prince with the Fallen Elf King.
The Fallen Elf King extended a hand toward him: “Forgive me for not introducing myse—”
He didn’t get to finish.
The wolf struck first—Fu Moyang lunged directly for the elf’s throat, aiming to rip his head clean off.
The Fallen Elf King dodged swiftly, but Fu Moyang didn’t pause; with a second, relentless swipe of his claw, he managed to land a blow—three deep, bone-exposing gashes across the elf’s chest.
The Fallen Elf King frowned, clearly startled. For the first time, he took a serious look at Fu Moyang, visible shock in his eyes.
Chen Li, who had been set aside for safety, watched as the two began fighting with lethal precision. He couldn’t help but hold his breath: “Be careful!”
Even knowing Fu Moyang’s strength was beyond any ordinary NPC, he couldn’t stop himself from feeling anxious.
To avoid harming Chen Li, the two quickly moved their battle farther away. The intensity of their fight was incredible, but they managed to keep the center clear.
Already powerful on his own, Fu Moyang had become even more fearsome in his werewolf form—practically in berserk mode. At first, the Fallen Elf King had fought with a casual air, but after getting hit several times and failing to land a single blow in return, his expression turned grave.
Even Chen Li could tell who had the upper hand—and who was falling behind.
But just as he let out a breath of relief, the long-silent system voice suddenly rang out: [Behind you!]
A pair of stitched-together hands suddenly reached from behind and clamped down over his mouth, reeking of blood. The grip was brutal—he was yanked straight into a pit that had appeared in the ground behind him.
Like a small stone, he tumbled helplessly downward. Dizzy and dazed, he surprisingly felt no pain—his body was unharmed.
[Where is this place?] Chen Li asked nervously, shoving away the player who had fallen down with him.
Or rather—what was left of the player. It was a corpse now. Not even Fu Moyang had expected that someone who had already died and failed would be puppeted back into motion.
The Fallen Elf King NPC had known from the beginning that Chen Li would come—and had planned to separate him from Fu Moyang from the start.
System 001: [This is an underground world. There’s no real danger here.]
Chen Li was silent for a moment, then suddenly called out, “001.”
It was the first time System 001 had heard its host call it by name in such a serious tone. Nervous, it flickered slightly: [What is it?]
Chen Li: [You knew about the hidden boss all along, didn’t you?]
System 001’s mind froze for two seconds. Faced with the choice between lying or telling the truth, it ultimately chose the latter.
It spoke hesitantly: [I’m sorry… Joker told me. When you entered this instance, he wanted to come with you—but his colleagues beat him to it.]
It was only then that the system had detected the presence of this NPC.
The system didn’t try to lie anymore and instead came clean. The heavy weight on Chen Li’s heart eased a little. He clenched his fists and stood up, doing his best to ignore the corpse that was sharing the room with him.
[Joker’s colleagues? So they’re also guide NPCs with self-awareness?]
System 001: [Yes.]
[Then why did you hide it from me?] Chen Li asked.
System 001: [Because I wanted you two to meet.]
“Meet?” Chen Li was so surprised he said it out loud.
Seeing that its host didn’t seem angry, System 001 perked up again, its tone regaining a bit of its usual cocky flair: [After this lord’s careful calculation, this lord has decided that interacting with other guide NPCs would be beneficial to you.]
Chen Li replied bluntly: [That’s not what you said before.]
He had asked System 001 about this before, and back then, System 001 had sworn up and down that it wasn’t necessary—because guide NPCs were all extremely dangerous, lacked any sense of camaraderie, and should be avoided at all costs.
Feeling slightly slapped in the face, System 001 toned it down a little: [Ahem… That’s because I underestimated how ghost-attracting your constitution is. Plus, they… don’t seem hostile.]
“Hostile” was putting it mildly.
According to Joker’s description, it was like bees seeing a blooming flower—desperate to crowd around and get a taste. Of course, Joker was very much on board with that plan.
If it weren’t for Fu Moyang, the powerful ghost watching them like a hawk, they probably would’ve swarmed him already.
Like cats getting high off catnip.
But no matter how many precautions were taken, one still slipped through the cracks.
[If they’re not hostile, then why did he drag me away?] Chen Li asked, confused.
“Hello.”
A voice echoed from above, interrupting the internal dialogue between Chen Li and System 001. The sudden noise startled him so much he nearly lost his footing.
The Fallen Elf King, hanging upside down by his tail, was startled too—though in a very different way.
He hadn’t expected this human NPC to be so fragile.
He dropped to the ground, his tall frame casting a shadow over Chen Li: “Hey. Why were you with that other player just now?”
Chen Li eyed him warily: “Where is he?”
The Fallen Elf King had an unnaturally pale gray-blue complexion and a beautiful, divine, European-style face. Lowering his eyes, he answered with a smug smile:
“He got tricked by a little item I tossed out.”
Honestly, that player had been tough. If he hadn’t used a bit of underhanded strategy, it might have ended very differently.
“I’m the NPC ‘Nightmare.’ I came here for you.”
It was clear that this was his true name—not his identity within the current instance.
Chen Li took a cautious step back, looking like a bristling little cub: “Why are you looking for me? I don’t even know you.”
Nightmare tilted his head, as if puzzled: “Because I like you. You smell nice—and you carry a calming aura.”
The blatant flirtation nearly made Chen Li explode, but he quickly reined himself in.
Because Nightmare’s eyes were completely sincere. He wasn’t joking or playing around.
This Nightmare was ranked high on the NPC leaderboard. It had always acted alone and never paid any attention to humans or other NPCs—unbelievably arrogant and straightforward.
No wonder he came straight into this instance without saying a word to the other NPCs.
Joker and the other NPCs were practically dying of frustration because of him.
Chen Li: “Are you saying I have some kind of aura that attracts NPCs?”
He could only think of ways to stall for time.
The Nightmare grinned widely: “Yes, but not all non-human creatures can sense it—only the powerful ones with self-awareness.”
He took another step forward: “Can I take a sniff?”
It smelled so good. Just unbelievably good.
Chen Li quickly refused: “No way!”
He was now certain this NPC didn’t harbor any ill will toward him—but he still couldn’t accept it.
The whole situation made him feel like he’d turned into some kind of irresistible treat.
The Nightmare stopped and, surprisingly, looked a little hurt: “Why not?”
With no good answer, Chen Li and the Nightmare reached a stalemate—until, just as the Nightmare tried to approach again, a massive rumbling sound came from outside.
The shockwave made Chen Li stumble, and when he looked up, he saw blood spill from the Nightmare’s mouth.
The Fallen Elf King wiped the blood away expressionlessly and growled: “How dare he!”
Then he turned to Chen Li, his tone softening unexpectedly: “Don’t run off. I’ll be back soon.”
Then, as Chen Li watched the NPC vanish instantly via a teleportation array, he felt a little lost: [What just happened out there?]
Why did he suddenly get injured like that?
System 001 wanted so badly to shake him by the shoulders and shout: Because you disappeared, and someone went crazy, that’s why!!
But it held back and simply said: [Fu Moyang attacked the Elven Mother Tree. The Nightmare’s current identity is a Fallen Elf King—no elf can stray too far from the Mother Tree.]
Chen Li was shocked: [Then isn’t he in serious danger now?]
System 001 was confused: [Who?]
Who’s in danger? The Nightmare?
Surely he doesn’t mean that terrifying ghost… haha…
Chen Li found the system’s response strange: [Of course I mean Fu Moyang! I have to help him.]
And with that, he turned and ran toward the only source of light in the underground darkness.
System 001 gasped.
Light meant there was an exit. Without any hesitation, Chen Li sprinted forward. Five minutes later, he finally spotted a small opening.
Excited, he asked: [System, can I get out through here?]
System 001: [Yes, but it’s so small—how are you going to fit through?]
It was even smaller than a dwarf’s doghole, a human body definitely couldn’t squeeze through.
Chen Li gritted his teeth: [Then I’ll turn into a lamb!]
His true form—a little fluffy lamb—should have no problem crawling through.
Who would’ve thought he’d react so quickly this time… and even be willing to go that far?
System 001 knew there was no way to talk him out of it, so it gave up and just encouraged him instead: [Good luck.]
Turning back into a human from a lamb was difficult, but going from human to that soft, harmless little form only took a single thought.
With a soft pop, Chen Li turned back into a lamb. He stood up a little unsteadily, not quite used to the form, and clumsily shuffled toward the small hole.
Clearly, he had overestimated how coordinated his limbs were—each of his four little hooves seemed to move in different directions. Naturally, he got himself stuck halfway through the hole.
Chen Li kicked forward a bit, and the fluffy little tail behind him gave an incredulous shake.
“Baa?”
Stuck. He was actually stuck. QAQ
Author’s note:
Anyone who wants to see the little lamb snuggling with the big bad wolf, raise your hand!!
*raises my hand eagerly.*