The Ghost Hunter And The Terror!

Heartfelt Bow

At this point, Claude started to play dirty; as soon as he jumped out, he immediately pulled his bowstring taut, aimed, and fired an arrow. However, with such crude movements, he couldn't deceive her. Tiffany slightly shifted her body, dodging the arrow shot by Claude, and with a knife carrying a cool breath, quickly advanced towards Claude's face.

"My God, how is this crazy woman so fast?"

Previously dealing with the wild rabbits was quite easy, so now facing Tiffany's decisive and swift moves, Claude became disoriented, his steps faltered, and he accidentally tripped over a rock, falling to the ground. This allowed Tiffany's knife to only graze past his face, missing his body.

"Ah, save me!" Claude screamed in horror, then rolled several times on the ground to avoid.

Despite this, Claude's cries for help continued, making Tiffany both angry and amused.

"So, do you want to continue fighting or not?"

"Don't force me!"

Claude quickly stood up, clenching the bow in his hand, and shouted towards Tiffany.

"Ha ha ha, I'm forcing you, so what? Do you think you can beat me?"

"Don't... don't come any closer..."

Seeing Tiffany not only not backing off but also advancing a few steps, Claude couldn't help but raise his bow high, pulling the string taut, and loudly said.

"Hmph, what if I come over? Go ahead and shout all you want, even if you shout your throat raw, no one will come to save you."

"Ah, what kind of situation is this?" Images from a TV show flashed through Claude's mind, where a female character was harassed by a group of men until the male protagonist appeared just in time to rescue her.

"How did it turn into this situation?" Claude couldn't stop spitting in disgust.

"Hey, if you dare to take another step, I'll use my special move! It's very powerful, so don't blame me for not warning you in advance!"

"What special move do you have, so frightening, huh? Show me all you've got, let's see how powerful you are! Ha ha ha!"

Tiffany completely ignored Claude's words, her steps continuously moving forward.

"I'll count to three, if you dare to take another step, I'll really shoot!" Claude felt anxious inside: "Here, I start counting! One… two…"

"Well, why don't you shoot! Where's your special move? I want to see your special move!"

Tiffany, seeing Claude count for a long while without daring to shoot, couldn't help but smirk triumphantly.

"Thwack!"

Just when she was most complacent, the arrow on Claude's bowstring finally shot out. It flew like a meteor, piercing through space, rushing towards Tiffany. Tiffany was extremely shocked, she couldn't believe the arrow was moving at such a terrifying speed. She hadn't even had time to defend when it was already inches away. Fortunately, she had a family heirloom jade pendant made of a special material on her body, which emitted a pale blue halo at the critical moment, blocking the arrow.

However, the arrow's trajectory was hardly slowed, the light barrier only blocked it momentarily before bursting like a bubble. Even the jade pendant, considered by Tiffany as an invaluable treasure always worn on her body, now showed web-like cracks, ready to shatter into pieces with the slightest touch.

Thanks to this brief delay, Tiffany finally managed to react in time, crossing her two short swords in front of her to block the arrow's path.

"Clang!"

The arrow was stopped by the two short swords, sparking and numbing Tiffany's arms.

"Bang!"

A resounding shockwave erupted, finally knocking the two short swords away, while the arrow veered off, grazing past Tiffany's shoulder, tearing a large hole in the sleeve of her outer garment. The arrow continued its flight, burying itself deep into a tree trunk a few dozen yards away.

Mortimer, watching from a distance, nearly dropped his jaw in disbelief. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't have anticipated this outcome. The little white rabbit in Claude's arms was startled, its white fur standing on end.

At that moment, even Claude was terrified out of his wits. He himself had not anticipated the terrifying power of the "Heartfelt Bow." Fortunately, Tiffany had a treasure on her, so the arrow did not wound her. Had the arrow injured her even slightly, he would have been heartbroken to death.

 "You… you…" Tiffany looked bewilderedly at the jade pendant she wore around her neck, feeling both scared and sorrowful. It was the pendant her mother had personally handed to her for safekeeping. It was said to be a token of her parents' commitment, given to her when her family was torn apart. If it were damaged, she would have no face to seek her parents.

"What now, do you still want to continue the fight or not?" Claude, momentarily overjoyed, approached Tiffany with his bow.

"I hate you!" But to his surprise, Tiffany reacted vehemently, storming off without waiting for him to say another word, even leaving her short swords behind.

"Hey…" Claude was dumbfounded, standing still, not knowing what to say. He had intended only to scare her; after using the "Heartfelt Bow." his energy was completely depleted, leaving him with no tricks up his sleeve.

"Brother-in-law, you're quite something!" Mortimer gave Claude a thumbs up, picked up the short swords, and ran after Tiffany.

Watching them leave, Claude didn't dare stay any longer and silently followed behind. At that moment, the system's voice finally rang out.

"Ding, congratulations on winning Tiffany's favor, gaining 50 affection points!"

Hearing this system notification, Claude finally breathed a sigh of relief, but he wasn't happy at all. If things continued like this, wouldn't he end up winning over "Lady" Tiffany? Yet why did she say "I hate you"? This wasn't according to the script.

"Khekhekhe, but thinking about it, this girl isn't bad, especially her shapely rear and her large, round breasts, touching them must feel great… Ah, tsk tsk tsk, how can I think such frivolous thoughts! Amitabha, I am still a righteous person!" Claude secretly chanted a mantra, laughing in a somewhat lecherous manner, startling the little white rabbit following behind him, almost causing it to turn tail and run.

…

Young House countryside, this is a village located on the southwestern edge of the Phantasia kingdom, a small realm under the dominion of the Arcanum Heights Empire. Within the vast, sprawling territory of the Arcanum Heights Empire, which spans millions of miles, a kingdom with a territory of less than ten thousand miles is indeed minuscule and insignificant. However, contrary to the smallness of Phantasia kingdom, the atmosphere in Young House countryside was incredibly bustling.

On the road towards Young House countryside, Claude's party encountered many villagers in groups of five or six returning home. According to Mortimer, these people mostly joined small freelance mercenary groups, venturing into the Beast Mountain Range to hunt magical beasts, gather materials, or escort merchant caravans.

Such jobs, despite their high risk, also provided them with a fairly good income and were extremely exciting.

Mortimer also mentioned that his dream was to join a large mercenary group, become a great hunter, riding beasts, and soaring freely in the sky. Unfortunately, with his current strength, even becoming the most ordinary member of such a mercenary group was hardly within his reach.

The elite members of a large mercenary group all possessed strength from Heaven’s Talent and above, with the lowest strength among them being from the late Advanced stage.

"Brother-in-law, look, that's Young House countryside ahead, where our home is currently located! If you don't mind, you could stay the night, and we'll figure things out in the morning?" Mortimer pointed towards a stone stele in front of them, turning to Claude with a smile.

Following the direction Mortimer pointed, Claude saw a stone stele about eight feet tall, inscribed with three large characters. Although Mortimer had never learned to read, strangely, he recognized the characters on the stele as "Young House countryside" without any mistake. Curious, Claude approached the stele and reached out to touch it.

"Ah, don’t touch!" Mortimer, seeing this, cried out in alarm.

But Mortimer's warning came a bit too late, as Claude had already laid his hand on the stele.

"Uuuhhh..."

The moment Claude's hand made contact with the surface of the stele, a stream of white light was immediately emitted, penetrating straight into his head. Claude felt his head buzzing, continuously ringing. When he came back to his senses, he saw Mortimer and his brother looking at him with curiosity and astonishment.

"Brother-in-law, are you... are you alright?" Mortimer looked at Claude, then back at the stele, seemingly in disbelief.

"No... no problem..." Claude, still feeling a bit disoriented, could only nod and answer vaguely.

"That’s good, that’s good!" Seeing that Claude really had no issues, Mortimer let out a sigh of relief and quickly pulled Claude's hand, leading him into the village, as if in a hurry.

But the three of them were completely unaware that shortly after they left, a hunched old man suddenly appeared in front of the stone monument. He held a wooden staff intricately carved and topped with a sapphire, while his other hand caressed the stone tablet, mumbling to himself: "Strange, who touched this stone tablet to cause such a violent reaction? Oh, the barrier inside is gone too? This won't do, I must immediately return to see King!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man's figure dissolved into the air and disappeared as if nothing had ever happened there. Of course, Claude was entirely oblivious to these events, his mind in turmoil. From the moment Claude's hand touched the stone tablet, a flood of chaotic images filled his mind, like some ancient memories, very vague and unclear.