Chapter 36: Hatred Points

Ye Tao managed to block the soul corpse's axe and most of the creature's saliva, but a small amount still splattered onto Ye Wenjing and Ye Qiuyue. Yun Qing watched as Ye Tao's health bar dropped by a quarter, Ye Qiuyue's decreased slightly, while Ye Wenjing's remained unchanged.

Behind them, Ye Xiaolang and Ye Mao had already caught up with the soul corpse. Ye Tao's strength was inferior to the soul corpse, and having just been injured, he was likely poisoned as well. Ye Mao stepped forward to help, intercepting the soul corpse's attacks, while Ye Xiaolang gathered his strength, preparing to strike from behind with a fatal blow.

Ye Xiaolang's explosive power was famed throughout the village. Seeing this, Ye Qiuyue released her grip on Ye Wenjing and lunged toward Ye Xiaolang. The first time had caught everyone off guard, nearly putting herself in danger; the second time, with her motives unclear, Ye Wenjing was the one at risk; the third time, if Ye Qiuyue succeeded again, Yun Qing would never forgive herself.

A stone, already primed in Yun Qing's hand, was hurled toward Qiuyue's lower leg. Years of experience tossing stones at roaming monsters allowed Yun Qing to hit her target even without aiming. Qiuyue, level eighteen, felt a sharp pain in her calf and her leg buckled involuntarily, sending her crashing to the ground.

If anyone wondered why Yun Qing always had small stones ready, it was her habit for stealing experience points. For the past half month, she had always done this. Even though she had the stone in hand, she hadn't thrown it at the soul corpse—at the village entrance, where lives were at stake, tossing stones might only create chaos or even injure the villagers.

Ye Xiaolang finished charging his attack, and his spear thrust toward the soul corpse's neck. Sensing the wind from behind, the soul corpse in its berserk state twisted its body, dodging the spearhead which instead pierced through its shoulder, a testament to Ye Xiaolang's formidable strength.

The soul corpse felt no pain; even with its shoulder impaled, it continued to move unaffected. Ye Xiaolang, gripping the spear with both hands, was spun around with the creature, unable to withdraw his weapon, locking the two into a brief stalemate.

Ye Xiaolang's attack knocked out a third of the soul corpse's health bar. Qiuyue, seeing the creature impaled, was frantic and red-eyed, yet utterly helpless. Furious at being struck from behind, she turned to glare at the crowd atop the village wall, determined to identify who had prevented her from rescuing her father.

Although Yun Qing now had a fresh stone in hand, she had already withdrawn her arm. There were certainly witnesses to her throw, but she was confident Qiuyue hadn't seen her. Yet when Qiuyue turned to look, Yun Qing noticed the name above her head changed to yellow.

"Ye Qiuyue's hatred toward you +20."
"Ye Qiuyue's hatred toward you has increased to suspicion."

Yun Qing saw the hatred value notification. She had always hoped to accumulate some hatred, but hadn't expected it to happen like this. The first person to harbor hatred toward her—unexpected yet understandable—turned out to be Ye Qiuyue.

Qiuyue suspected the stone came from Yun Qing, and Yun Qing wanted to say: Be confident, there's no need for suspicion—it was me. It wouldn't take long for Qiuyue to confirm, since she'd thrown the stone in plain sight. While many villagers were focused on the battlefield, some surely saw her.

Besides, Yun Qing was a 'well-known' expert at tossing stones in the Seventh Hunting Squad of Ye Family Village.

Qiuyue’s suspicion toward her had generated a hatred value, and the hatred was so intense, unlike the slow accumulation of favor from others.

"Sliu Sliu, now I finally have a hatred value. Tell me, can hatred be used for the lottery?"

"Hatred value cannot be used for the lottery. When hatred accumulates to a certain level, monsters will besiege your sanctuary. Please prepare for defense."

Monster siege on the sanctuary! Yun Qing was shocked. She had only just begun to manage her sanctuary, and already monsters would attack!

"Sliu Sliu, you mean my sanctuary—the one invisible to everyone else?"

"Yes, and isn't the hatred value invisible to everyone else as well?"

Yun Qing focused her thoughts on her sanctuary: two machines, a few floor panels, and farmland with trees soon to be harvested. She couldn't let monsters ruin everything.

She hurried to check the details of a monster siege.

When hatred value reaches a certain number, it triggers a monster siege. There would be a warning before the attack. During the siege, the sanctuary owner can defend; successful defense brings rewards, while failure brings none—and at worst, soul corpses will destroy crops, buildings, furniture, and everything breakable before leaving.

Different levels yield different rewards. One can adjust the siege difficulty based on personal strength and sanctuary defenses; each difficulty requires a different hatred value threshold.

The lowest level monster siege is triggered at 100 hatred value.

Limited by Yun Qing’s level and sanctuary defenses, the siege cannot be adjusted and will default to the lowest level.

"Sliu Sliu, are the lowest level monsters strong? Can I—given my current level and sanctuary—successfully defend? Should I prepare ahead?"

"The lowest level monster siege is within your capabilities."

‘Crack!’ While Yun Qing communicated with Sliu Sliu in her mind, the battle at the village gate raged on.

The stalemate between Ye Xiaolang and the soul corpse lasted only a moment. With a sharp crack, the spear, already damaged by the soul corpse, snapped at its weakest point.

The crisis on the battlefield drew both Qiuyue and Yun Qing’s attention.

Ye Xiaolang sprang high and leapt at the soul corpse. Ye Mao and Ye Tao regained control of the creature that had just broken free, and Ye Wenjing joined them.

Ye Xiaolang moved with astonishing speed, landing atop the soul corpse. He gripped the broken spear in both hands, his legs braced against the creature.

"Ah!" With a shout, Ye Xiaolang yanked the embedded spear free from the soul corpse’s body and landed nimbly on the ground.

Yun Qing saw that with this move, the soul corpse's health bar dropped by nearly half, leaving only a quarter remaining.

Captain Ye Wei of the Guard also noticed the sudden crisis in Ye Wenjing’s squad. Ye Wenjing was the village chief’s treasured daughter; if something happened to her, Ye Wei’s relationship with the chief would suffer.

He charged up, unleashing several powerful attacks to clear the soul corpse from his team, then rushed toward Ye Wenjing, leaping high and swinging his sword with full force at the soul corpse’s neck.

Amid Qiuyue’s scream and the crowd’s anticipation, Yun Qing watched as the captain of the Guard sliced away the soul corpse’s remaining quarter of health in a single blow.

It was said Ye Wei had reached the Innate Realm, though by the time he achieved it, he was already past the age limit for recruitment by the sect. He could only serve as the village Guard Captain, whose authority rivaled the chief’s.

As the number of soul corpses dwindled, the battle became increasingly manageable. In less than half a cup of tea’s time, the soul corpses were completely wiped out.

At this moment, dawn had not yet broken, and the sun had not risen.