Ever since demons started to appear, the entire town seemed to have fallen into an endless abyss.
Even fleeing was impossible; they could only shiver and hide in their own homes, counting their final moments.
Perhaps, once their stored food ran out, they would leave the town and frantically run outside.
Then, like those who had already fled, they would be captured by the demons.
Or maybe, they would take out the handgun hidden in their bedside drawers and aim it at their own heads.
Alternatively, they could go mad and desperately fight against those monsters.
But no matter which option they chose, the outcome might just be death.
However, today, they saw a glimmer of hope for survival.
If it wasn’t necessary, who would wish to die?
They had once killed a Chupacabra; they knew that these monsters weren’t unkillable, just very hard to kill.
Moreover, when the number of these creatures reached a certain level, with the abilities of these residents, they simply couldn’t fight back.
After all, they were just ordinary people.
With Ning Wangyang and a troop of Nether Army, he arrived here.
In front of them all, with the strength of just over a dozen people, he killed dozens of what they saw as ’demons’ and showed through action that these so-called ’demons’ were incredibly frail!
This was not legend, but what they had witnessed with their own eyes.
Those monsters and demons that had driven them to despair in the past were like lambs to the slaughter in the hands of these people, easily killed.
They were excited; they went crazy.
"Thank you! Thank you for saving us!"
Many were so moved that they even cried, locked in their own homes, having experienced untold despair, and finally, they saw the dawn.
Li Chen smiled and did not stop these residents who had been repressed for a long time from finally releasing their emotions.
"It’s all right now; you are safe,"
After a while, when everyone had mostly calmed down, Li Chen took out a photograph from his pocket.
"Have any of you seen this woman?"
The photograph in Li Chen’s hand was of their primary objective.
One of the three Wise Generals of the Palace of the Nether King: Catherine!
The people around him heard Li Chen’s words, quieted down immediately, and crowded around to take a close look at the photograph in Li Chen’s hands.
"This woman... I think I’ve seen her!" a woman suddenly spoke up: "She seems to be the one who came to Blotto a few months ago."
"But, after the demons appeared, she hid in her house just like the rest of us," the woman continued.
"Which house?" Li Chen asked.
The woman stretched out her hand and pointed to a house not far away.
Li Chen turned his head to look at the broken door and windows of that house, his expression growing dark.
He thought for a moment; Catherine’s call for help had still come through a day ago, which means it had only been a day since something had happened to Catherine.
"Has anyone noticed what exactly happened to her?" Li Chen asked, surveying those around him.
"I remember!" an old man spoke up: "I live next to this house, and yesterday I heard a woman scream from inside, it seemed like a woman was taken away by a monster to the forest. But it was too dark at the time, and I didn’t see the woman’s face."
Li Chen nodded and quietly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
Catherine was the wisest among the leaders of the Nether Army, and in just a short day, Li Chen believed Catherine should still be alive.
"She must be alive!" Li Chen reinforced his confidence in his mind.
At that moment, Ning Wangyang, who was by Li Chen’s side, suddenly spoke up, "Do these monsters eat their victims right after killing them?"
Maybe because Ning Wangyang’s question was a bit too gruesome, everyone around fell silent for a moment.
After a while, the man they had rescued spoke, "They just kill people, eat them on the spot, that doesn’t seem to really happen. However, the Chupacabra does suck blood, and there have been instances of it drinking blood after killing its victims. The Jersey Devil seems to only take people away..."
Hearing the man’s words, Li Chen turned his head and exchanged a look with Ning Wangyang, both discerning something different in each other’s eyes.
"Okay, everyone can rest assured now, the monsters have all been killed by us, the town is safe now," Li Chen looked around and then spoke, "Everyone can sleep peacefully tonight."
Upon hearing Li Chen’s words, the emotion among the crowd was somewhat stirred, and some even couldn’t help covering their faces, with tears streaming through their fingers.
How long had such a heart-wrenching life been going on?
They could finally get a good rest!
Watching the crowd gradually disperse, Li Chen spoke indifferently, "Did you notice?"
"Yeah." Ning Wangyang nodded, "Most of the residents here have disappeared, and even if they died, their bodies were taken away."
"Clearly, these monsters need these bodies for something," Li Chen nodded.
"When do we set out?" Ning Wangyang asked.
After sending Lisa back to her house, Li Chen left a member of the Nether Army to stay with Lisa.
And the rest of the people were all led away by Li Chen.
They didn’t have much time; the more they delayed, the greater the danger to Catherine, so Li Chen decided at the first moment that tonight, he would explore the forest.
Ning Wangyang clearly understood Li Chen, so he grasped Li Chen’s intentions immediately.
They reached the outskirts of the town.
It must be said that Blotto’s scenery was indeed quite good, with a large number of trees surrounding the town, the air was very fresh due to the encasing forest.
And with the backdrop of green trees, the town seemed like a bright spot amid a vast expanse of green.
This was a holiday paradise.
But now, this holiday paradise had been occupied by monsters.
During the day, it truly was beautiful, but it was different at night.
The dark forest was filled with a sinister and terrifying atmosphere that could stop even the boldest of the bold in their tracks.
Li Chen and the others, holding strong flashlights, stepped directly into the forest.
Perhaps for others, this forest was unspeakably terrifying, but for them, it was nothing.
How could this forest be more frightening than the Relic?
At least for the time being, these so-called Chupacabras, Jersey Devils, and such were weaker than even the minor monsters in the Relic.
Not to mention, there were Yellow Rank Monsters in the Relic, and even powerful beings like Seven-Colored Beings.
This bit of danger didn’t pose any impact to people like Li Chen.
"However, this smell..." Li Chen sniffed and suddenly frowned.