I have an Apocalypse City

Chapter 437: The Hippogriff Beast

“Is that a player?” Song Jian looked at the monk with a surprised expression on his face.

“Zhang Hong, level 19, occupation: Martial Monk, vitality points: 800/800” This player didn’t hide his name and attributes, which were boldly displayed above his head.

As Zhang Hong intoned scriptures, each mutated ghost, covered in golden light, eventually awakened its self-awareness. With tears streaming down their faces, they bowed gratefully to Zhang Hong before gradually disappearing.

As each mutated ghost was reincarnated, sweat began to bead on Zhang Hong’s forehead. The strains of chanting took their toll, his voice growing lower and lower. Half an hour later, the surrounding mutated ghosts were all reincarnated and vanished, with no new ghosts arriving.

Zhang Hong sighed softly, then took out a bottle of mineral water and a compressed ration from his bag and started to eat.

After eating, Zhang Hong brushed the crumbs off himself and called out in the direction of Song Jian: “Dear donor, you’ve been watching for so long, why not come down and chat?”

Song Jian was taken aback. He was currently in a state of black mist, how did he get detected?

However, there were countless scouting skills in the game. For a martial monk capable of reincarnating level 30 ghosts, it was possible that he had some special scouting skill.

Song Jian floated down slowly. After cancelling his black mist state and returning to human form, he made a gesture of salute to Zhang Hong, smiling: “I’m sorry, I came to grind levels in the graveyard up ahead. I noticed some unusual activity from several mutated ghosts, so I followed them here. It was not intentional, my apologies!”

Zhang Hong slowly stood up, shaking his head with a smile: “Amitabha, you are too polite. As I chant the scriptures and promote the Dharma, naturally the more listeners the better!”

Song Jian looked puzzled. He had a gut feeling that the man before him was acting quite oddly. It seemed as if he was a monk in the real world too. He couldn’t help but probe: “Are you a monk in the real world too?”

Zhang Hong pressed his palms together and bowed to Song Jian: “I’m a monk at Qingquan Temple in the real world, my dharma name is Hongyi.”

Qingquan Temple is a temple on Wangyue Mountain in the outskirts of Coastal City. There is a tens-of-meters-tall seated Buddha statue there, said to be constructed during the Southern Song Dynasty. It is considered a local attraction, and Song Jian had visited it with friends before.

Song Jian knew that there were only two or three real monks in Qingquan Temple. The majority of the staff were local villagers who also ran small businesses selling incense and souvenirs.

It was said that the real monks in Qingquan Temple seldom showed themselves. He never thought he’d meet one in a game.

“Are you leveling up here too?” Song Jian asked curiously.

“To level up, this humble monk not only needs battle experience, but also merits. Helping these lost souls can earn merits, but their levels are too high. I can only help a few at a time…” Zhang Hong said with a furrowed brow.

“The occupation of martial monk needs merits to level up? How peculiar is that!” Song Jian thought to himself.

After some casual conversation and adding each other as friends, Song Jian turned to return to the graveyard.

Watching Song Jian dissapear, the smile on Zhang Hong’s face faded and he stared expressionless towards denser part of the forest.

Rustle-

Several semi-transparent souls emerged from the surrounding trees, surrounding Zhang Hong. These souls emitted a faint golden glow, their bodies robust and possessing meter-long wooden sticks in their hands.

One of the souls drifted over and whispered something in Zhang Hong’s ear. Zhang Hong slowly shook his head: “This man is capable of hunting in an area with level 30 monsters. He is probably one of the top three players on the level honor board. Attacking him rashly, the odds of success are low, and it may just alert him to our presence…”

That soul whispered a few more sentences, making Zhang Hong smile and nod: “Indeed, he is indeed the ideal candidate for the Dharma Protector Vajra. Hehe, we can observe slowly, there is no need to rush. He will likely be leveling up in this graveyard in the coming days, we still have a lot of time…”

Song Jian was on his way back to the graveyard, he looked serious. All the way back, he held his sword tightly in his hand. The monk gave him a feeling of extreme peace, and if he hadn’t felt that something was spying on him, Song Jian would not have suspected him.

“From the looks of it, that monk was affecting me somehow all this while, trying to get me to like him. There is no harm in this influence, hence my innate ability couldn’t detect it…” Song Jian thought to himself.

This man is too dangerous. Even though his level is lower than mine, I don’t know why I feel a sort of apprehension towards him!” Song Jian shook his head, looking back at the forest. He suddenly felt a sense of urgency.

Just as Song Jian was about to continue leveling up in the graveyard, he suddenly felt something rapidly falling from above. The whipping wind made him look up, and what he saw made him jump.

There was an enormous shadow overhead, like a giant bird, swooping down rapidly.

Crash!

Like a falling meteor, this monstrous bird landed in the graveyard. The aura that it emitted made Song Jian shiver.

This creature had a head that resembled an owl, but its body and limbs were like those of a lion. It had a pair of large wings on its back and a tail that looked like a snake.

As soon as this creature, which seemed to belong to a mythical story, appeared, Song Jian immediately hid behind a tombstone, cautiously peeking out.

Hippogriff, elite boss, level 30, first-order combat power, vitality: 8000/8000, characteristics:??, skills:??”

“An elite boss with first-order combat power?” Song Jian jumped with surprise. This was his first encounter with a first-order monster.

As soon as the Hippogriff landed in the graveyard, it started gobbling up the mutated ghosts like a baby chick pecking at grains. The level 30 mutated ghosts stood no chance against the Hippogriff, they were like insects being swallowed one by one.

Song Jian dared not make a sound. If it was just a level 30 elite, he might have taken a risk. However, he knew that once a monster possessed first-order combat power, even if it was the same level, the power it had would be drastic. He was no match for this Hippogriff.

“I’m definitely not its match. Looks like I can’t level up to level 22 today.” Song Jian regretfully glanced at his experience bar, which was already at 97%, and slowly began to retreat.

Just then, Zhang Hong appeared at the edge of the forest. He was also attracted by the commotion made by the monster. Upon seeing the Hippogriff, which was taller than three meters, a look of joy appeared on Zhang Hong’s face.