Whatever the situation was.
Since they had already come looking for him, Bai Shi had no intention of having a pleasant chat with them.
There were ways to deal with humans.
But for these Kindred of Rot, the best method was to kill them all.
If it were humans who had come to his door, Bai Shi would certainly try to distinguish right from wrong, good from evil, to avoid any misunderstandings or conspiracies.
Although Bai Shi had always advocated for peaceful coexistence among all races.
But this applied to normal races.
These Kindred of Rot, who lived in the Scarlet Rot, were clearly incapable of coexisting with other normal races.
They were terrorists who wanted to cover the entire world in Scarlet Rot, dreaming of turning the Lands Between into their paradise.
There was nothing to say to them. The only good Kindred of Rot was a dead Kindred of Rot.Unless one day, they could abandon the Scarlet Rot and become a race that lived normally in the Lands Between.
Only then would Bai Shi perhaps consider treating them normally.
In the brief moment that Bai Shi's thoughts drifted, the Kindred of Rot had already launched their attack.
The Kindred of Rot at the rear raised their hands, row by row, and shot pest threads at Bai Shi from the organs in their chests.
Those strands of pest threads shot toward Bai Shi as fast as tracking missiles.
The Kindred of Rot at the front, wielding glaives, also swarmed forward.
Driven by the dense mass of tiny limbs beneath them, they crawled rapidly along the ground, almost as if they were gliding.
The Kindred of Rot quickly surrounded Bai Shi, who had just stepped out of the cottage.
They swung their glaives, crossing paths as they aimed for Bai Shi's vitals.
Against an ordinary opponent, such an assault would likely leave them with no power to resist.
Attacks came from all directions, with ranged and melee forces coordinating with each other.
But to Bai Shi, this didn't even count as a warm-up.
Swept up by the storm, the pest threads were of course blown away before they could even get close to Bai Shi.
Because Hilbert's cottage was behind him, Bai Shi worried he might accidentally destroy it, so he didn't increase the storm's intensity, using it only for defense.
Bai Shi wielded his swordspear in an impenetrable defense, blocking all the glaives.
Those glaives, crafted from ground shells and bone, were nothing more than the lowest-grade weapons.
Upon clashing with the swordspear, they were all effortlessly shattered.
After their weapons were broken, the Kindred of Rot surrounding Bai Shi did not give up.
They suddenly burst forth with pest threads from their bodies, scattering them toward Bai Shi at extremely close range.
Because they were fired in a sudden burst, they weren't as powerful as those released by the Kindred of Rot from a distance.
Unfortunately, these surprise pest threads were equally useless against Bai Shi.
Bai Shi's current control over the storm was truly befitting of the title Stormhawk King.
As long as it was a tangible ranged attack, it could be intercepted by the storm without exception.
Not only that, but he could also change the flow of the storm to turn the attacks to his own advantage, especially with something as light as pest threads.
The pest threads were thrown into chaos by the churning storm, deviating from their original targets.
Diverted by the storm, they rained down on the other Kindred of Rot, riddling them with holes.
Bai Shi wasn't idle either, slaughtering the Kindred of Rot beside him with his swordspear.
A casual swing of the swordspear could cleanly slice their bodies in two.
Some Kindred of Rot tried to launch a sneak attack from the left as Bai Shi swung his weapon.
But Bai Shi casually threw a punch, and the creature's carapace shattered and cracked as it was sent flying.
Seeing their guards at the front dying one by one, the Kindred of Rot at the rear, who had been firing pest threads, instantly lost their will to fight.
Seeing how powerful Bai Shi was, these Kindred of Rot began to retreat.
But how could Bai Shi let them escape?
These Kindred of Rot at the rear were still some distance from the cottage.
This left enough space that he didn't have to worry about damaging Hilbert's cottage.
Bai Shi swung his swordspear, and with each horizontal sweep, blades of wind flew from the weapon, hurtling toward the fleeing Kindred of Rot.
The retreating Kindred of Rot were easily sliced apart by these wind blades, splattering viscous fluid everywhere.
After dealing with all the enemies, Bai Shi acted as if nothing had happened.
He walked back into the cottage, sat down in his original spot, and continued to wait for Hilbert to finish packing.
The Kindred of Rot weren't strong, probably about the level of an ordinary human soldier.
Although their own carapaces weren't as tough as a soldier's armor.
But they had the ranged attack of pest threads, which had many advantages over arrows.
And the mobility afforded by their agile, crawling limbs was something ordinary soldiers couldn't match.
If soldiers were to fight these Kindred of Rot one-on-one, they would generally win with ease.
If forces of equal numbers were to clash.
Although the pest threads would be troublesome, the human soldiers would ultimately be victorious.
However, it seemed the Kindred of Rot had a strong reproductive ability.
If the day ever came when humanity had to go to war with the Kindred of Rot, their numbers would probably far exceed that of human forces.
Hilbert, disturbed by the commotion, came downstairs belatedly to check.
But when she got down, all she saw was the missing front door and the ground outside littered with the corpses of the Kindred of Rot.
"What happened? Did they actually track us down?"
"Oh my, I'm so sorry. You came all this way as a guest, yet I've made you fight."
Bai Shi shook his head, telling Hilbert it was nothing more than a bit of a stretch and not to worry about it.
To Bai Shi, these Kindred of Rot were just too weak.
Then, Bai Shi asked Hilbert:
"What was that new research material you mentioned finding earlier?"
"The viscous fluid on your hands when you came out looked a lot like what's seeping from these creatures' bodies."
Hilbert answered truthfully:
"Yes, you guessed it. It's them."
"I used certain methods to steal some of their eggs and larvae."
"These creatures are actually quite interesting. There's a lot to study about them."
"Look at the limbs on their bodies. Each one is small, like a tendril, but if you look closely, they all look like human hands."
Hearing this, Bai Shi's expression turned strange.
Whether in the game from his past life, or seeing them now.
When it came to these disgusting creatures, Bai Shi always thought only of getting rid of them quickly or just ignoring them; he had never observed them closely.
Following Hilbert's words, Bai Shi walked outside to examine the limbs of the Kindred of Rot.
He found that it was just as she had said.
Their bodies were covered in tiny limbs, as pale as a doll's arms.
The ends splayed out into five distinct fingers, hanging down from their bodies like tendrils.
Bai Shi frowned.
"These things are pretty disgusting. I can't believe you could bring yourself to touch them."
These Kindred of Rot were as disgusting as cockroaches, appearing wherever there was Scarlet Rot.
In the past, Bai Shi had always equated them with cockroaches.
Hilbert smiled.
"To defeat an enemy, you must understand them."
"For someone as powerful as you, of course, this isn't necessary. After all, everything is meaningless in the face of absolute strength."
"But for craftsmen like us, we'll always want to use the materials at hand to create items that can inflict greater damage on our opponents."
Hilbert licked her lips, a look of longing on her face.
"Although I didn't experience the defense of the Royal Capital during the Shattering, the perfumed concoctions made by the senior Perfumers were of great use."
"Placed in Perfumer's Bolts and fired by the city's giant golems, they could spread poisonous gas and once repelled the attack of a great army."
"If possible, I'd also like to create a weapon specifically for these disgusting creatures. If not, I at least want to understand what kind of attacks they fear. These things are detestable. They are faithful believers of the Rot, and very aggressive."
"Where they exist, other normal creatures cannot survive. They will force other beings to accept the Scarlet Rot, and kill all those who refuse."
"Before you arrived, I had already fought them a few times, but my residence was never discovered."
With that, Hilbert suddenly propped her chin on her hand and began to ponder.
"Speaking of which, why did they track me down this time? So strange."
"Perhaps there's some kind of connection between them and the eggs and larvae, so they were able to find me... Interesting. I wonder what method they use to communicate."
As she spoke, Hilbert suddenly became interested in other matters and started thinking to herself.
Bai Shi listened to Hilbert and felt she was trying to create something like an insecticide.
But it felt unrealistic.
The Kindred of Rot were inseparable from the Scarlet Rot; ordinary poisons would be completely ineffective against them.
"Are you done packing?"
Bai Shi interrupted Hilbert's musings.
Since their location had been discovered, it was time to leave.
Bai Shi had no desire to stay here and act as a bodyguard forever.
After taking Hilbert to a safe place, it would be time to explore Caelid.
As for the safest place nearby, that would naturally be Redmane Castle.
As the main base of the Redmane Knights, who fought against the Scarlet Rot, it had sufficient troops.
Moreover, with the Radahn Festival approaching, experts from all over would be gathering there.
Hilbert cracked her knuckles and nodded.
"Yes, I'm almost done. We should get ready to leave."
"Just wait for me a little longer."
With that, Hilbert went back upstairs. A moment later, she came down carrying two enormous packages.
Bai Shi raised an eyebrow.
"How are you going to carry all this stuff?"
"Just so you know, Torrent can't carry this much luggage."
Hilbert blinked, curious about the name.
"Torrent, is that the horse's name? What a fine name."
"Don't worry, I don't need your help. I have my own way."
"You can't survive in Caelid without a few tricks up your sleeve."
Hilbert walked outside the house, took a bone flute from her pocket, and blew into it.
Soon, a giant hound came running from the distant wasteland.
This giant hound was different from others of its kind. Its fur was glossy and looked much cleaner, with very few signs of Scarlet Rot.
Except for a large wound where its right eye should be, leaving the socket empty.
The giant hound came up to Hilbert and obediently lay down, allowing Bai Shi to see the saddle on its back.
Hilbert patted the hound's head and explained to Bai Shi.
"Giant hounds and giant crows are native species of Caelid. They're very adaptable and quickly adjusted to the Scarlet Rot environment."
"Although they are afflicted by the Scarlet Rot, they can still be tamed."
"Those bugs tame these giant crows and hounds to help them with their work."
"After I found this one injured, I treated it and tried to tame it. The process went quite smoothly."
"On a related note, I also tried treating its Scarlet Rot, and the results were surprisingly good."
"However, it can't be completely cured, probably because it has carried the Scarlet Rot from its parents since birth."
Bai Shi nodded.
Giant hounds and giant crows were indeed probably not species that mutated from the Scarlet Rot.
Because in the distant mountaintops, both of these species exist.
And both the mountaintops and Caelid show signs of giant activity. Perhaps they were once the giants' little pets.
Hilbert hung the two huge bags on the hound's sides, then picked up the small jar and sat on the saddle with it.
Bai Shi also mounted Torrent, ready to depart.
Bai Shi pointed back at the cottage.
"What are you going to do about this house? There should still be a lot of things inside."
Hilbert shook her head.
"Don't worry about it. I left a present for those bugs inside."
"If they come looking, it's sure to be interesting."
Seemingly imagining what would happen next, Hilbert laughed out loud before quickly stifling it.
Bai Shi shrugged. If the owner of the house said so, then it was time to go.
"Then let's set off."
"I'm more familiar with Caelid, so let me lead the way."
Hilbert led the way, riding the giant hound.
The giant hound wasn't very fast, so Torrent could easily keep up.
——
The Kindred of Rot saw the gruesome state of their comrades' bodies at the entrance and felt rage in their hearts.
Although they were insect-like creatures, they actually possessed surprisingly high intelligence and were highly socialized.
They gathered the bodies of their comrades, preparing to carry them away on their return.
Then they broke into the cottage where people had been active just a moment ago.
Following the pheromones left by their kin, they arrived at the second floor of the cottage.
There, they found the bodies of several of their unhatched eggs and larvae.
These were all the ones Hilbert had stolen earlier.
They lovingly picked up the bodies, but in doing so, they triggered a device that would bring about their destruction.
Connected to the bodies were the caps of Spark Aromatic vials. Upon contact with the air, the aromatics erupted in a violent explosion.
At first, it was just a few Spark Aromatics, but the ensuing chain reaction ignited all the other bottles and jars of perfumed remedies left in the room.
Fire, explosions, poison... all sorts of perfumed concoctions filled the room.
Hilbert had only taken a small portion of her perfumed remedies with her. She left the rest, the accumulation of many years, for the Kindred of Rot. They were things she was going to discard anyway.
Soon, the entire house became a roiling fireball.
Bai Shi and Hilbert, who were already a great distance away, heard a loud explosion.
"Haha, looks like it worked."
"Oh! Look, it's so pretty."
Hilbert looked back and shouted excitedly.
Originally, Bai Shi, adhering to the principle that a true man never looks back at an explosion, didn't want to look.
But in the end, he couldn't resist and glanced back.
He saw the cottage burning fiercely, with violent explosions still erupting. Green and purple poisons colored the blasts, making them look like brilliant fireworks.
"Oh, it really does look like fireworks."
"Fireworks, what are those?"
Bai Shi suddenly realized he had let something slip.
But it didn't matter.
"It's nothing, just something for viewing from my homeland. Gunpowder explodes in the sky to create all sorts of brilliant colors, not to harm anyone, but for people to enjoy."
Hilbert was surprised to hear Bai Shi's explanation.
In the Lands Between, such items for entertainment were rare. Even if they existed, they were probably exclusive to royalty and nobility.
But if, as Bai Shi said, fireworks exploded in the sky with brilliant colors, then countless people could probably enjoy them together.
"I see. An item not made to harm anyone... I like that kind of item too."
"If I get the chance, I'll try making them too, those things you call fireworks."