Chapter 68 Undead

The entire fight had lasted only moments.

The thin man had traded almost a single exchange with Xia Nan before realizing he was outmatched.

Then he had made his decision without hesitation.

Spit out the strange glowing mist.

Force Xia Nan to defend.

Run.

By the time the other adventurers rushed into Jeff’s room, the man had already reached the window.

And then he was gone.

Just as he had managed to slip past an inn full of experienced adventurers and enter Jeff’s room without alerting anyone, he seemed to possess some kind of concealment ability.

The moment he disappeared from sight, even his presence vanished with him.

Hummm…

The last note of Alton’s lute trembled in the air.

With the danger temporarily over, the halfling entered the room alongside the other adventurers.

The miniature lute strapped to his back still vibrated faintly from the music he had just played.

While everyone else crowded toward the window, Alton ignored the escape route entirely.

He went straight to Jeff.

From inside his clothes, he pulled out a small glass vial.

Gray liquid sloshed inside.

There was barely any left, perhaps one-fifth of the bottle, perhaps less.

Alton gave it a quick shake, tipped Jeff’s head up, and poured in every drop.

Almost immediately, blood burst from the stump of Jeff’s leg.

Perhaps the potion had taken effect.

Or perhaps the invisible force holding the wound closed had weakened once the attacker fled.

Either way, blood suddenly gushed from the cleanly severed leg like water from a spring.

Alton did not panic.

He produced a medical kit with practiced speed.

Disinfect.

Stop the bleeding.

Bandage.

His movements were crisp and efficient.

Within minutes, the emergency treatment was finished.

The strain gradually faded from Jeff’s pale face.

His breathing eased.

His chest rose and fell more steadily.

But his eyes stayed shut.

“What the hell was that thing?”

One adventurer stood by the window with his clothes still half-disheveled from being dragged out of bed.

He stared at the fading darkness outside with obvious fear.

That ability to sneak around unseen…

If the creature had chosen him instead of Jeff, he might have ended up exactly the same way.

Lying helpless in bed.

Completely unaware.

Unable to fight back.

“Tim! That was Tim!”

A voice suddenly rose from behind them.

One of the adventurers who had arrived early enough to see the attacker’s face was staring at the window in shock.

“Tim?”

Xia Nan frowned.

The name meant nothing to him.

“Yes!”

The adventurer’s face tightened as he searched his memory, comparing what he had just seen with the man he remembered.

Then he nodded firmly.

“I don’t know why his skin turned like that, and he looks a lot rougher than before.”

“But it was definitely him.”

“I used to play cards with him all the time. We’d stay up all night doing it. There’s no way I got the wrong person.”

As he spoke, more details seemed to surface.

“Tim used to be an adventurer too. He was pretty capable. Never reached the level of a class holder, but he was still a lot stronger than people like us at the bottom.”

Halfway through that explanation, the adventurer glanced at Xia Nan.

Xia Nan had already put away his sword and was listening with full attention.

The man swallowed unconsciously.

“Tim spent years adventuring. He should’ve saved up a decent amount of money. After he got married, he retired.”

“But I heard… things haven’t been going too well for him recently. His wife and daughter were even forced to move outside town.”

Then, perhaps realizing how suspiciously informed he sounded, the adventurer hurried to explain.

“I heard it from some friends who go to the Bagful of Gold a lot.”

Xia Nan had no interest in whatever private mess lay behind that sentence.

“Has Tim been acting strangely lately?”

“Strangely…”

The adventurer frowned in thought, then shook his head.

“Not that I know of.”

“I haven’t seen him around Kalanfor in a long time. I figured he’d started adventuring again and gone somewhere else on a job.”

“I didn’t expect…”

His voice trailed off.

Xia Nan quietly filed away everything he had heard.

Then he replayed the fight in his mind.

Bluish-white skin with no sign of life.

Dead, unfocused gray-white eyes.

And [Green Pine], which had never reacted like that before, suddenly burning in his hand…

[Looks like Tim has become some kind of undead.]

That conclusion immediately reminded Xia Nan of what he had seen when he first kicked open the door.

He turned toward the bed.

“Alton, how’s Jeff? Is he going to be all right?”

The halfling’s treatment had been far too smooth to be improvised.

He clearly knew what he was doing.

But instead of answering immediately, Alton rubbed his smooth chin and studied the bloodstained bandages wrapped around Jeff’s stump.

He gave his head a small shake.

“Hard to say.”

“There’s still something inside the wound.”

“It doesn’t seem corrosive, but it’s stubborn. Very stubborn. It’s like whatever it is has already fused with the flesh and is stopping the wound from healing properly.”

Then Alton looked up at Xia Nan.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

“But it’s not a big problem.”

“We just need a church.”

“Any priest should be able to handle something this minor.”

He paused.

“Of course, if our Old Jeff can’t bear to spend the money on treatment, he might have to spend the rest of his life helping his daughter in her tailor shop.”

That was enough for Xia Nan to relax.

If the injury was treatable, then fine.

He had only known Jeff for a few days, but the man had left a good impression on him.

Simple.

Honest.

Hardworking.

And he had two children waiting for him at home.

For someone like that to die silently in an inn room without even knowing what had happened would have been a miserable end.

Xia Nan turned toward the window.

The darkness outside was already thinning.

The sun was beginning to rise.

He looked back at Alton.

“I remember you saying Kalanfor has a church. We should…”

Hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the room.

Ingram appeared in the doorway with two guards behind him.

The sheriff had clearly not slept all night.

His eyes were bloodshot, and his handsome face looked exhausted beneath the rainwater still clinging to him.

“Jeff!?”

The moment he saw the caravan leader lying unconscious on the bed, Ingram rushed forward.

Then, when he actually reached the bedside, he froze awkwardly.

He wanted to check Jeff.

But he was afraid touching him might make the injury worse.

In the end, all he could do was look toward Xia Nan and the others, anxiety written all over his face.

“What happened to him? What happened here?”

One of the adventurers, still yawning after being dragged out of bed, quickly explained the entire situation.

The instant he finished, Ingram grabbed Xia Nan’s arm.

His palm was warm.

His grip was tight.

“Thank you. Thank you!”

“If it weren’t for you, my old friend might have…”

His voice caught.

Then he immediately waved at the two guards behind him and ordered them downstairs to search for any tracks Tim might have left.

Xia Nan was not used to being grabbed like this.

He quietly pulled his arm free.

“There’s no need for that. I only noticed something was wrong by chance.”

“How can you say that? I spent all of last night…”

Before Ingram could finish, Alton cut him off.

The halfling pointed toward the inside of the sheriff’s sleeve.

A golden sun pattern was visible there.

“You’re a believer in Amaunator, aren’t you?”

Alton jerked his chin toward Jeff.

“Take us to the church.”

Ingram blinked.

Then understanding hit him.

“Right. Yes, of course!”

He tugged his sleeve down almost instinctively and hurried out to find a stretcher.