As a bucket of milk went down his throat, a miraculous scene occurred once again.
The black hearts on the panel rapidly transformed back to red, and the debuff icons representing Poison and Wither vanished instantly with the ingestion of the milk. Lin Qiye's complexion grew ruddy at a speed visible to the naked eye, and his entire mental state was restored to its peak in an instant.
"This..." Zhao Kongcheng's jaw nearly hit the floor.
Immediately after, Lin Qiye produced a transparent glass bottle shimmering with a peculiar light; the liquid inside was a soft pink. Without hesitation, he smashed the bottle hard onto the ground between himself and Zhao Kongcheng.
[Splash Potion of Healing (Instant Health II)]
The sound of the glass shattering was crisp and melodious. As it broke, pink healing particles appeared out of thin air, enveloping their bodies.
Zhao Kongcheng felt a surge of warmth instantly erupt from every corner of his being. The sensation was so comfortable it was intoxicating—like soaking in a hot spring, or being gently caressed by sunlight. Even more unbelievable was that his wounds, some deep enough to see bone, healed at a visible rate. His broken bones emitted a tingling sensation as the intense pain receded like a ebbing tide.
"This... this isn't scientific..." Zhao Kongcheng stared blankly at his rapidly closing wounds, his eyes full of wonder.
Lin Qiye looked at Zhao Kongcheng's dumbfounded expression and let out a small smile.
"Are you sure we're in the same world?" Zhao Kongcheng asked, feeling an unprecedented sense of physical comfort as he looked at Lin Qiye, who appeared as if nothing had happened. He finally couldn't hold back the question he'd been harboring: "What kind of divine stuff was in that bucket of yours?"
Lin Qiye shook the now-empty iron bucket and replied calmly, "This? This is milk."
"Milk?!" Zhao Kongcheng nearly fainted. "You're sure that's milk? Ordinary milk can instantly cancel out a Ghost-Faced King's Forbidden Domain? It can remove the side effects of the Ghost-God Trigger? We Night Watchmen have researched for decades and haven't found a neutralizer! And you're telling me this is milk?"
Lin Qiye shrugged with a look of indifference. "It really is milk. It's just that..."
Just as Zhao Kongcheng's definition of "milk" was undergoing a severe crisis and his worldview was on the brink of collapse, the sound of hurried footsteps from afar interrupted their conversation.
Hong Ying arrived at the scene leading a squad of fully armed Night Watchmen. Every one of them was on high alert, clutching various weapons, clearly prepared for a bitter struggle.
"Prepare for battle!" Hong Ying shouted, the tip of her long spear glinting with a cold light.
However, the devastation they expected—the leveled battlefield, the traces of a rampaging Ghost-Faced King, and the potential sacrifice of their comrades—none of it appeared. The street before them was a bit messy, but overall, it was intact.
Though Zhao Kongcheng's clothes were torn and bloodstained, his mental state actually looked quite good; his eyes were just a bit vacant, as if his worldview had shattered. As for Lin Qiye standing beside him, aside from a slightly pale face, he looked like any ordinary boy next door.
The only thing that felt out of place was the massive area that had just been leveled, the material clearly different from the surroundings, making it stand out conspicuously.
Hong Ying lowered her weapon and stepped forward, looking at Zhao Kongcheng with concern. "Old Zhao! How are you? Where's the Ghost-Faced King? We received your distress signal saying it had broken through and the situation was critical!"
She noticed Zhao Kongcheng's hesitant expression and froze. "What's wrong? Where did that monster go?"
Zhao Kongcheng opened his mouth but didn't know how to start. He looked at Lin Qiye, then back at Hong Ying, his expression so strange that he seemed unable to describe what had just transpired.
"Uh... Hong Ying, you might not believe this," Zhao Kongcheng scratched his head, his eyes shifting. "The Ghost-Faced King... it... it was dealt with by Qiye."
"What?!" Hong Ying looked at Lin Qiye in shock, and the other Night Watchmen simultaneously fixed their gazes on this seemingly unremarkable youth.
"How is that possible?" a Night Watchman blurted out. "That was a River Realm Ghost-Faced King!"
Hong Ying looked Lin Qiye up and down, her eyes filled with disbelief. "Old Zhao, are you sure you didn't hit your head? What exactly happened? How could this kid deal with a River Realm monster?"
Zhao Kongcheng scratched his head, his expression a mix of excitement and confusion. "I can't believe it either, but I saw it with my own eyes. Qiye, he..."
He began to vividly describe the battle—Lin Qiye drinking milk to dispel the Forbidden Domain effect, creating stone blocks out of thin air to block the Ghost-Faced King, splashing lava to roast the monster, using a tiny wooden boat to trap the behemoth, and finally using countless TNT falling from the sky to blast the creature into ash.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Hong Ying interrupted him, furrowing her brows. "You said he drank milk to dispel the Ghost-Faced King's Forbidden Domain? And trapped the King with a tiny wooden boat?"
"Exactly!" Zhao Kongcheng waved his hands excitedly. "The boat was only that big, but as soon as the Ghost-Faced King stood on it, it couldn't move! It was miraculous!"
A female team member leaned into Hong Ying's ear and whispered, "Sister Hong Ying, did Old Zhao get beaten stupid?"
Hong Ying didn't answer but knelt down, seriously checking Zhao Kongcheng's pupils. "Old Zhao, how many fingers am I holding up?"
"I'm not crazy!" Zhao Kongcheng jumped in frustration. "What I'm saying is true! Qiye, you tell them!"
Lin Qiye simply smiled faintly and said nothing.
Hong Ying sighed and signaled the team members to help Zhao Kongcheng. "Let's head back to the base first and let the medical team check you over."
After returning to the Night Watchmen base, the medical team performed a full examination on Zhao Kongcheng. To everyone's surprise, although he looked a mess, he didn't have a single injury. This left the medical staff equally bewildered.
Zhao Kongcheng looked at Hong Ying triumphantly. "Believe me now? This was all Qiye's doing!"
Inside the lounge, Zhao Kongcheng wouldn't leave Lin Qiye alone, his eyes sparkling with a fanatical light. "Qiye, join us, join the Night Watchmen! We guard Cangnan City and protect the safety of ordinary people."
"Not only is the pay great, but it's very meaningful!" Zhao Kongcheng said with overflowing passion. "Look at our team; though there aren't many of us, we are all elites!"
Lin Qiye leaned against the back of his chair, his expression calm. "Why should I join?"
"Because you have the ability!" Zhao Kongcheng said excitedly. "Think about it, if you weren't there, I would have been dead today! There will be more people like me in Cangnan City who need help."
Though the other team members were half-skeptical of Lin Qiye's abilities, seeing Zhao Kongcheng so persistent, they also stepped forward to assist.
"Little brother, being a Night Watchman is indeed a very meaningful job."
"Our conditions here might be tough, but we really can help a lot of people."
Lin Qiye fell into hesitation.