Data-Driven Daoist

“Kill as many as you can!” Yu Han shouted, lunging forward with a Swift Hoof Lunge. The halberd tip pierced the skull of the foremost ghoul, and a Heavy Ox Swing to the right took care of another. “They’re still stunned from the light!”

“Don’t need to tell me twice, tubs!” Li Yao took the other side. His swords danced between the ghouls, separating arm from body and head from neck.

Fang Zhao followed suit. He jumped, kicking the face of one ghoul, then kicked out around him like a hurricane. The ghouls fell, but they weren’t dead yet. Using his falling momentum, he stomped one on the head. The little round ball burst like a watermelon.

The ghouls were stirring now. Growls rang out, followed by screeches.

“Retreat!” Yu Han shouted. There were still around thirty left, not to mention the big one at the back. He kicked one ghoul away. Then, using defensive forms to parry the coming claws and fangs, he reached near Huang Niuniu.

“T-The shrine—” Huang Niuniu wheezed. Blood dripped from her nose and eyes. They no longer glowed.

“Can you see?”

She nodded. “W-We must go to the shrine. Senior Wen said it could buy us some time!”

“We can get to the donkey cart—”

“We can’t! If we leave it like this, these ghouls will scatter. We’ll get severely punished by the Sect.”“Better than dying!”

“You will in one year if you get held back by this. We can do it.” Huang Niuniu squeezed his hand. “Think of an idea.”

Yu Han didn’t know if he should feel pleased by her trust and concern, or panicked.

“If the worst comes to pass,” he said, “we’ll break out to the donkey cart.”

She nodded while biting her lips.

Fang Zhao and Li Yao had fallen back. Li Yao was fine. He slashed his sword midair, splattering blood on the ground. But Fang Zhao bled from his right arm.

That’s going to leave an infection. Yu Han grimaced. The ghouls were laced with toxic waste. It would be okay if the poison wasn’t fast-acting. If it was, though, they’d be one man down.

But he’s a main character. Yu Han chose to believe that Fang Zhao wouldn’t fall so easily.

Wait a goddamn minute! He’s the main character! All other times when me and Huang Niuniu hunted these ghouls, nothing happened. Literally the first day he joined—

“We move back to the shrine,” Yu Han said, interrupting his own thoughts. He carried Huang Niuniu under an arm and dragged her to the small shrine dedicated to the god of underground spaces.

Li Yao and Fang Zhao held the rear, focusing on defence. If one ghoul stepped forward, Li Yao would leave a gash on its body, deflecting the claw of another with his left-hand sword. Fang Zhao would find perfect moments to hit the ghouls in the torso with kicks and punches, bypassing their claws. With their stumpy legs, it took time for them to get up after falling down once.

Finally, they were within a metre of the shrine. When the ghouls neared, they screeched out. One took a step forward, but then, as if afraid of something, scampered back. They were barely five metres away. Soon, the creatures had surrounded them.

“Fuck, this is bad,” Yu Han muttered. He let Huang Niuniu fall.

“Be a gentleman,” the girl joked. She seemed to have recovered a bit.

“Don’t spout negative stuff, tubs. We’re gonna get out of this.” Li Yao grinned.

“Just some common Monstrous Beasts. I can take on a hundred, even if I’m Level 0.” There was a savage glint in Fang Zhao’s eyes. His right fist clenched as blood fell from his upper arm. He held his left fist forward, the cat-engraved ring gleaming gold.

A large roar startled the four. The big one had come out.

It was two metres tall. Its proportions were similar to the smaller Filth Eating Ghouls, stumpy legs and long, gorilla-like upper limbs with huge forearms. It had three eyes, each embedded in uncanny places on its face. Its maw was wide open, square teeth jutting out in strange directions. �

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“It has to be Level 4 at least,” Fang Zhao said. “But not unbeatable.”

“The problem is these thirty other little ones,” Li Yao commented.

The big one roared again. Was it a sound attack? No, its belly didn’t expand. But with that roar, the smaller ghouls seemed to find courage. They crouched, jumped, teetered, and moved forward, inch by inch.

When one came in range, Yu Han pierced its head with the halberd. Another one was slapped away by Huang Niuniu’s ribbon whip.

“Fang Zhao!” Yu Han got an idea. “When punching the fiends or blocking, imagine you’re using their claws and fangs to cut off your hand.”

“What?”

“More specifically, your left ring finger.”

Realisation dawned on his face, and he grimaced. “This trashy ring had better be useful for at least one thing!”

“Niu’er,” Yu Han said. “You have the longest range. When you see a Filth Eating Ghoul preparing for their sound attack, disrupt it. Like that one!”

One ghoul three metres away started breathing in. A ribbon whip clashed with its expanding belly and it was thrown back, inflating like a balloon.

“I’ll finish off the ones that get too close. Li Yao—”

“Final line of defence? Leave it to me.”

“We’ll try to break free and head to the donkey cart if things seem dire. But otherwise, let’s kill these creatures.”

“Aye!” the other three shouted.

The ghouls inched closer. Yu Han poked the ones that got too close. One ghoul made a banzai charge, only to be cut down by Li Yao, while Huang Niuniu interrupted the sound attack of another ghoul. It growled and tried to stand up, but was grabbed by the larger one.

The boss roared, then threw the ghoul at them like a projectile.

“Fuck!” Yu Han tried to raise the halberd in time.

Fang Zhao was faster. He punched the incoming ghoul with his left hand. A metallic sound rang out, and a light film of white with black and orange hues appeared. The ghoul gurgled and flew back, hitting the floor. There was a large dent on its torso. It vomited blood, then went still.

“Holy hell,” Li Yao said. “That’s sick!”

Fang Zhao looked at the ring in surprise, then at Yu Han. There was wonder in his eyes.

“You have ideas,” Huang Niuniu said, squealing in joy. “Give us more.”

She whipped out, hitting ghoul after ghoul. At first, Yu Han was only defensive, using longer-ranged strikes to fight back. But with the ghouls disoriented by Huang Niuniu’s whip sounds, he and Li Yao would take the chance to go in and wreak havoc. Soon, ten more ghouls were down.

“The big one’s coming!” Huang Niuniu shouted. The blood on her face had dried. She didn’t use her Bioluminescence anymore. Was it Qi depletion? Or did she choose not to?

“Leave it to me,” Fang Zhao said, cracking his knuckles.

The ghoul boss snarled. It raised its mouth towards the sky and roared, thumping its chest. Then, kicking the ground, it charged towards them like an angry gorilla.

It stepped within three metres, Fang Zhao in its path. It raised a clawed arm and slashed. Fang Zhao dodged the first slash, but the boss’s other hand was coming. Fang Zhao wasn’t fast enough to move out of the way. So he punched out with his left hand.

The light film appeared, clattering against the ghoul boss’s claw like a shield.

“If you want this hand, take it!” Fang Zhao roared. He was pushed back five steps. Blood leaked out from the corner of his lips. Yet he grinned, a savage glint in his eyes. The ghoul roared as if insulted, following its attack with more. Fang Zhao dodged the ones he could, and blocked the rest with his left hand.

“I’m Level 0 and you can’t beat me,” the exiled young master yelled. “If I were you, I’d kill myself in shame!”

Yu Han and Li Yao weren’t standing still, either. With the ghoul boss breaking into the shrine’s area, the other ones seemed to gather their courage too. They came in one after another, and the fight turned into a melee.

These ghouls were stronger than the ones in the other tank. But Yu Han was stronger too! He’d gained stats, and the Coveralls weren’t for show.

Lifeforce -11

“Come get me!” Yu Han whirled with the halberd held low. The scythe-hook on one side nicked the stumpy legs of three ghouls.

Li Yao moved in. With two swift strikes, two ghouls were down. Yu Han finished the third off with a Stone Cutting Chop.

Lifeforce -25

A sound attack hit. Huang Niuniu tried her best, but her movements were weak. That one big Bioluminescence Nova must have drained her; it was admirable she could still move.

Within five minutes, they’d taken care of ten more. Now only eleven remained, including the boss. A glance at that fight showed a battered Fang Zhao. He had a large gash on his chest, and his right arm was a bloody mess. But the look in his eyes was savage, and his lips were stretched into a huge grin. He weaved between the ghoul boss’s attacks, laughing like a maniac.

That bastard’s enjoying this!

“We finish this quick!” Yu Han said. His heart was pumping, his muscles aching. He could vomit any second. The sweat stunk inside his Coveralls. He wanted a shower, a bath, and a nice sleep. But…

It’s fun?

Swift Hoof Lunge!

A ghoul’s chest shattered. He struck one with the handle, making it fall. A quick jump and a stomp, and it was dead. The halberd swivelled right, catching a ghoul under the armpit with the hook. He pulled and the arm came off. Li Yao finished it off with a left-handed slash, while his right hand deflected a claw with the other sword. He kicked, and the ghoul flew back. Yu Han chopped its skull in two.

Huang Niuniu hit one’s head with her whip. Li Yao threw a dagger he’d hidden who knows where, and the final ghoul was dead.

Without pause, they joined the fight with the boss. Fang Zhao had full aggro. He cackled as if today was his best day in life.

“I can fight! This cripple Fang Zhao, even with a cursed ring, can fight!” he roared, voice louder than the ghoul boss’s.

A chop by Yu Han caught it in its side, cutting deep. Li Yao slashed its outstretched wrist. It was too big to cut through, but the ghoul roared in pain. It jumped back, ignoring Huang Niuniu’s attempt to stop it.

“Don’t let it escape,” Yu Han shouted.

But it didn’t escape. It breathed in, belly expanding.