Chapter 103: The Seven-Headed Horse, Pei Yuanshao
Lone Boat and Black-Eyed Rui Ge continued their reconnaissance; both were Level 9 Rangers, equipped with maxed-out Gale Step and Shadow Step skills, and enhanced by Stealth Potions, making their stealth capabilities quite formidable.
“This place has more monsters than I expected!”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge estimated that there were over seventy Demonic Mountain Bandits, along with two to three hundred high-level Undead, plus various miscellaneous, grotesque Abyssal creatures.
This was indeed unexpected.
However, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
If they could eliminate them all, it would yield an astonishing amount of loot!
Black-Eyed Rui Ge sent a message to Lone Boat through the friend window: “The pollution level inside the stronghold is higher than outside; there might be a more powerful BOSS hidden within!”
Lone Boat replied: “Let's go in and take a look.”
The two cautiously entered. The stronghold wasn't very large, but the ground was littered with human bones, indicating that many had perished here. The Undead outside were likely the result of these deaths.
Lone Boat and Black-Eyed Rui Ge didn't cause any commotion, as the fog that obscured their vision gradually thinned, revealing a figure so unique it left them speechless.
“What the hell is that?”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge couldn't help but curse under his breath.
Even Lone Boat was shocked upon seeing the creature crouched in the center of the stronghold. They had anticipated a powerful BOSS, but this was beyond their expectations.
This BOSS resembled a grotesquely distorted knight.
Upon closer inspection, describing it as a knight wasn't quite accurate—it was a half-human, half-horse monster.
However, comparing it to centaurs from fantasy novels or games like Heroes of Might and Magic would be a grave mistake!
This wasn't a sentient half-human, half-horse being.
It was a fused monstrosity of man and horse.
What did that mean?
Literally!
The creature's entire body was a grotesque, gridded mass of flesh; its legs had transformed into numerous fleshy tentacles, merging with the body of the warhorse beneath it.
Man and horse had fused into one!
Though its upper body retained a humanoid shape, it was composed of gridded flesh covered by a layer of sturdy armor. A long halberd was affixed to its right hand by various tentacles and writhing flesh.
The warhorse beneath it was even more twisted and terrifying—several times larger than a normal horse, with over a dozen hooves, and seven horse heads sprouting from its neck.
Each horse head had a gaping mouth filled with jagged teeth, large enough to swallow a football.
This half-human, half-horse, seven-headed Demonic horse knight exuded an overwhelming sense of oppression, far surpassing the surrounding Demonic Mountain Bandits.
【Pei Yuanshao】, Level 7 Commander Unit... Description: Once a high-ranking general of the Yellow Turban Army, he later turned to banditry and became a bandit leader. Having fully submitted to the Will of the Abyss, he has become a Fallen.
At this moment, Pei Yuanshao, transformed into the Seven-Headed Demonic Horse, was crouched in the center of the stronghold, seemingly asleep. Lone Boat and Black-Eyed Rui Ge didn't dare approach, fearing they might alert him, and quickly retreated to regroup with the others.
“What?”
“Pei Yuanshao?”
“Why is it him?”
“Another named Fallen!”
“Are we lucky or unlucky?”
The players had intended to take a shortcut to bypass the area occupied by the Dragon Lizardmen, but unexpectedly encountered so many monsters here.
The Dragon Lizardmen had occupied Woniu Mountain for nearly a year, seizing most of the towns and polluted areas, leaving the Fourth Calamity Armyn with few first-kill BOSS resources.
Who would have thought the Dragon Lizardmen would overlook such an important monster spawning area?
And even miss such a significant Abyssal Fallen!
Little Bell asked, “Who is Pei Yuanshao? Is he famous?”
Chenxi replied, “Pei Yuanshao and Zhou Cang were both generals of the Yellow Turban Army. According to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, they became bandits at Woniu Mountain and later encountered Guan Yu, who took them in as retainers.”
Little Bell wondered, “Since he followed Guan Yu, why isn't he well-known?”
Salted Fish Thrust explained, “Because Guan Yu first took Zhou Cang with him, leaving Pei Yuanshao to manage a few hundred bandits and await incorporation.”
“But Pei Yuanshao had a flaw—he was obsessed with horses. Whenever he saw a good horse, he wanted to claim it. Unfortunately, he tried to steal one from Zhao Yun, who happened to be passing through Woniu Mountain, and was killed in a single round by my idol Zhao Zilong.”
So that's what happened.
No wonder his deeds weren't well-known.
Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao were the two major bandit leaders of Woniu Mountain.
After Zhou Cang was essentially ruled out as the core source of pollution, many players and cloud players suspected Pei Yuanshao. Now it seemed Pei Yuanshao couldn't be the ultimate BOSS—at most, he was a secondary pollution source.
So then.
Who was the ultimate BOSS of Woniu Mountain?
Could it really be Guan Yu or Zhao Yun, who had once passed through here?
Midnight Pig Slayer: “So, are we going for it or not?”
Street Slayer: “Go for it, definitely! Why not? So many elite monsters—it's a treasure trove!”
Chimera Wraith frowned and said, “The risk is too high. Although Pei Yuanshao's level isn't high, he's an Abyssal Commander!”
Chenxi nodded, “Ma Yuanyi was also a Level 7 Commander, and we all saw his strength. Even though we've become much stronger since then, facing such an entity gives us little chance of victory.”
At this moment, Zhou Ji spoke up, “Although my strength is limited, if you need me, I will do my utmost.”
Upon hearing this.
The players felt reassured.
“That's great. As long as Uncle Zhou is willing to help, we might be able to take down this stronghold,” Little Bell said excitedly.
Ye Li Meng: “Hahaha, indeed. Brother Zhou is a Tier-Two expert; it's wonderful to have him with us this time.”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge: “Then let's give it a try!”
Artistic Faction Leader: “Absolutely!”
Ye Li Meng suggested, “Just in case, we should make full preparations. I propose we distribute the Essence sealed in our contracts in advance.”
In this operation, the players had slain twenty-four Dragon Lizardmen and numerous Undead and monsters, accumulating over 130,000 Essence in their Essence Contracts.
If divided among twenty players.
Each would receive at least 6,500 Essence.
Level 6 players required 2,000 Essence to level up. From this level up to Level 10, each subsequent level required only 1,000 more Essence than the previous.
This meant that even Level 9 players needed only 5,000 Essence to level up; 6,500 Essence was more than enough for everyone present to gain at least one level.
However, this Abyssal Essence didn't belong solely to the twenty main players.
A total of sixty-one people participated in today's operation. Without the selfless sacrifices of the other four squads, who distracted the Dragon Lizardmen, the main squad wouldn't have made it this far.
Therefore, a portion of the Essence had to be allocated to the others.
Even so, the distribution was substantial. Based on contribution and level, and with some voluntarily giving up part of their loot, several top Level 9 players still received around 4,000 to 5,000 Essence, enough to level up.
【Ding, you have reached Level 10. Health +10, Essence +10, Strength +2, Agility +3, Spirit +1, Will +1!】
Black-Eyed Rui Ge successfully became a Level 10 player.
Besides him, Lone Boat, Ye Li Meng, Mad Blade Old Wang, Chimera Wraith, and Artistic Faction Leader also reached Level 10.
Additionally, Midnight Pig Slayer, Chenxi, Little Ma, Niu Shisan, and several other players advanced to Level 9.
Other players generally gained one level as well.
The impact of leveling up wasn't just attribute growth; it also enhanced skill effects and reduced the negative influence of Abyssal aura.
While a single level-up might not drastically improve individual strength, a collective level-up significantly boosted the team's overall power.
NPC Zhou Ji was astonished by the players' transformation.
“So this is the growth capability of the Chosen Ones? Such potential is unheard of and truly astounding!”
After leveling up.
The players began their operation.
The key to successfully eliminating the stronghold lay in whether they could defeat most of the Demonic Mountain Bandits before Pei Yuanshao awakened, thereby reducing the threat of the Abyssal creatures to a manageable level.
Otherwise, facing over seventy Demonic Mountain Bandits simultaneously.
Seventeen players alone couldn't withstand it.
Even with the powerful NPC Zhou Ji assisting them, the most likely outcome was still a pyrrhic victory—especially with so many Undead nearby, and the BOSS Pei Yuanshao present as well!
Fortunately, whether it was the Demonic Mountain Bandits or the Undead, due to being trapped in endless nightmares and suffering the whispers of the Will of the Abyss, they had long since lost their sanity and intelligence, making them no different from ordinary monsters.
The players’ strategy was simple: Rangers would pull the monsters, lure them into the safe zone, then Warriors would hold them off while Warlocks picked them off one by one with Fire Arrow Spells.
【You looted battle spoils: Essence +2500, Abyssal Magic Stone Fragment +6000, Demonic Mountain Bandit Breastplate +1!】
【You looted battle spoils: Essence +2500, Abyssal Magic Stone Fragment +6000, Demonic Mountain Bandit Helmet +1!】
【You looted battle spoils: Essence +2500, Abyssal Magic Stone Fragment +6000, Demonic Mountain Bandit Greatsword +1!】
【……】
The battle progressed very smoothly for the players. Though the Demonic Mountain Bandits didn’t drop especially rich loot compared to other humanoid elites of the same level, the sheer number of them made the gains quite considerable when tallied.
In less than an hour.
They had wiped out all the Demonic Mountain Bandits and Undead near the stronghold.
Only about twenty to thirty elite units remained inside the stronghold, along with the Abyssal Commander Pei Yuanshao.
Without a doubt.
Even though multiple Level 10 powerhouses had emerged among the players.
A Level 10 player was still as fragile as paper before a Level 7 Commander.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge said, “Brother Zhou, we’ll leave Pei Yuanshao to you! If you can hold him off for just three to five minutes, we have a shot at winning this!”
Zhou Ji gripped the longsword in his hand with a serious expression. “Though I cannot say I’m fully confident against such a monster, I should be able to hold him for a short while without too much trouble!”
“Old Pig, don’t worry about us later—just focus fully on supporting Brother Zhou Ji!”
“No problem!”
The battle began.
Everyone charged directly into the stronghold.
Because the mountain bandits and monsters within were densely packed, it was impossible to pick them off like outside. The best solution was a full-on assault to eliminate them as quickly as possible.
However.
When the players stormed the stronghold.
The Demonic Mountain Bandits stirred for a brief moment, then fell eerily silent.
Instead of being pleased, Black-Eyed Rui Ge’s expression grew even more grim. These Demonicic monsters had no intelligence or thought processes—they acted purely on Abyssal instinct to spread corruption.
When they began suppressing their instinct and staying still.
The most likely explanation was that a higher-level will was interfering and controlling them.
“Careful!”
“Pei Yuanshao must’ve woken up!”
Under everyone’s grim and wary gaze.
That massive horse with seven heads and over a dozen hooves, which had been crouched in the center of the stronghold, slowly rose to its feet. As it did, a powerful aura radiated out, suffocating and stabbing at everyone’s spirit and soul.
Pei Yuanshao was on the same tier as Ma Yuanyi—a Lord-level unit. Though his aura was slightly weaker, he was still not someone an ordinary player could confront.
As the twisted monster horse fully stood up.
The players noticed the humanoid figure on its back.
This had to be Pei Yuanshao, but in his current state, he could no longer be defined by any conventional biological standards. The last time they saw something this grotesque was at the Luoshui Execution Ground—Ma Yuanyi.
“Dogs of the Stars?”
A deep, filthy voice came from within the lattice-like hollowed flesh of Pei Yuanshao’s body. Then, a torrent of black smoke surged from him, instantly blanketing the entire stronghold in darkness and gloom.
Hundreds of Undead and Demonic Mountain Bandits stirred into a frenzy.
Clearly, they were preparing for a quick and brutal assault.
“Fiery Tiger Roaring Slash!”
Zhou Ji unleashed a burning tiger-shaped blade aura, slamming it directly into Pei Yuanshao.
115 (Critical Hit!)
Chimera Wraith, Little Bell, Green-Clad Fox and the other Warlocks all grew spirited at the sight. Just as before, Pei Yuanshao, like the Demonic Mountain Bandits, was relatively vulnerable to fire attacks.
Against such a monster.
Charging recklessly would get them nowhere.
They needed to let the NPC hold him down.
And wait until the players had cleared the other monsters before focusing their full strength on him.
At this moment, Pei Yuanshao turned into black mist and surged forward. The long halberd on his right hand, fastened with countless tentacles and writhing flesh, now moved like an extension of his arm, unleashing furious attacks that radiated overwhelming pressure.
………………
At the same time.
Luoshui Headquarters.
Hang Yu had been monitoring the players’ operation the entire time.
“Abyssal Commander? The players really hit the jackpot this time!”
Hang Yu hadn’t expected the players to be this lucky, stumbling across a hidden monster zone and discovering Pei Yuanshao—a very critical mini-BOSS. If they could take him down, the loot alone would be tremendous.
Hang Yu continued to watch.
With no intention of stepping in.
The distance was too great and there was no teleportation point—he simply couldn’t help even if he wanted to.
Still, Hang Yu had confidence in the strength of these players. More importantly, they had an NPC like Zhou Ji fighting alongside them. This battle should go relatively well.
He was eager to see the players’ performance in this battle—and the generous drops from a Commander-level unit!