"We're Dead, We're So Dead"

Not much time was left for him to think. The creature stood beyond the camp's boundaries, leaving the arrow towers completely unable to strike it. This was the first time Chen Fan had encountered a ghost creature capable of attacking the walls from outside the camp. Moreover, whether the thing suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder or simply lacked the reach, it hadn't attacked the wall beneath his feet. Instead, it had been relentlessly bombarding the four perimeter walls of the breeding farm. *Boom.* With another beam of green light shooting forth, the four walls of the breeding farm collapsed one after another. His breeding farm was gone. Immediately after, the creature shifted its gaze toward him and raised the eerie green lantern once more. A beam of green light shot out from within, slamming heavily into the wall beneath his feet as though possessing no cooldown at all. A violent tremor shuddered up through him. A massive crater was blasted into the wall below. In the blink of an eye, it finished repairing itself. The repair speed was undeniably fast. However... His damn ghost stones were limited! Repairing this single crater alone had consumed three ghost stones! With only eight hundred or so ghost stones, how many times could he afford to repair this! "Calm down." Chen Fan took a deep breath, doing his best to maintain his composure, and looked at the mourning ghost outside the camp as it raised its eerie green lantern once again. The next instant— He pulled ten Level 2 ghost stones from his robes and crushed them on the spot. — [Ghost Fire upgraded to Level 4. Safe zone diameter increased to 100 meters. Deterrence against ghost creatures enhanced.] [Please select an upgrade path.] [1: Safe zone diameter increased to 200 meters.] [2: Deterrence against ghost creatures moderately enhanced.] [3: Slightly reduce crop growth time within the camp.] — He quickly scanned the upgrade paths and, with hardly a second thought, chose the first option. The ghost fire's range expanded to a diameter of two hundred meters. The very next moment! The Level 4 Arrow Fort, which had long been primed, fired instantly. A crossbow bolt laced with flames pierced the curtain of rain, streaked over the heads of the swarming mourning ghosts, and struck the lantern-bearing mourning ghost with pinpoint precision. In his eyes, the scene played out as if in slow motion. He instinctively held his breath. Only when the mourning ghost fell heavily backward onto the ground did Chen Fan finally let out a smile. "Perfect." If the enemy wasn't within the camp's boundaries, then simply expanding the camp's perimeter was enough. To that end, before upgrading the ghost fire, he had deliberately halted the Level 4 Arrow Fort's operation. That ensured it could fire the instant the camp's range expanded without being delayed by its attack interval. Judging by the result, the tactic had worked splendidly. The creature had clearly failed to realize the camp's boundaries would expand in an instant. "Is it dead?" Quehou and the others nervously stared at the fallen mourning ghost. The moment it had appeared, everyone had realized that tonight might very well be their last night in the rainy season. Even Zhou Mo and Da Yu had been awakened by the commotion and rushed up to the wall to help. Yet... The smile that had just appeared on Chen Fan's face slowly froze. The mourning ghost clutching the eerie green lantern split—splitting into two mourning ghost leaders. This was normal. After all, other mourning ghosts also split upon death; it was an inherent trait of their kind. However— Why was each of these two mourning ghost leaders carrying an eerie green lantern?! When other mourning ghosts split, only the original body retained a lantern. "No way..." A flash of dread flickered in Chen Fan's eyes as he muttered, clinging to a final shred of wishful thinking. Yet when the two mourning ghosts raised their eerie green lanterns together and unleashed two beams of eerie green light that slammed almost simultaneously into the wall beneath him, that last hope vanished into thin air. *Boom...* A deafening crash erupted. The wall beneath him was utterly destroyed. His proud automatic wall repair system hadn't even had time to take effect. A Level 2 arrow tower collapsed along with the wall, crashing onto the rubble. A three-meter-wide breach opened in the wall. A swarm of mourning ghosts poured through into the camp. For the first time since the camp had been founded, the wall had been breached. "Young Master!" Quehou's anxious shout rang out from atop the wall. The instant the eerie green light had shot forward, everyone on the wall had instinctively fled toward either side. ... "..." Chen Fan wiped the rain from his face and looked across the breach at Quehou and the others. With no time to check for casualties, he could only strain his vocal cords and roar, "Hold the stone stairs!" Mourning ghosts could not climb walls. Even if the wall was breached, as long as they held the stone stairs leading up inside, they would be safe for the time being. "I want to see just how many damn times you can split!" The Level 4 Arrow Fort fired another crossbow bolt. The two mourning ghost leaders fell once more. Yet... Immediately after, they rose again as four. Each mourning ghost leader carried an eerie green lantern. Four beams of eerie green light merged into a single pillar of radiance, blasting once more toward the wall where Quehou and the others stood. The wall collapsed yet again. Having demolished the wall, the beam continued with undiminished force, crashing straight into the wooden cabin. *Boom...* The wooden cabin collapsed as well. "Fuck!" Chen Fan couldn't help but curse furiously. It was not just because the camp was hanging by a thread, but because every structure here had been built with his own hands, bit by bit. Seeing them destroyed so ruthlessly made his heart bleed with agony. Yet there was no time to dwell on emotion. Mourning ghosts were already raising their lanterns, swinging them toward the ghost fire inside the camp. Any building could fall. The ghost fire could not! If the ghost fire shattered, all structures would cease to function. That would mean certain death. "Shoot their limbs!" Chen Fan roared his command to the arrow towers. The arrow towers could follow simple instructions. Though pressed for time, he had swiftly devised a countermeasure: all he needed was to prevent them from splitting any further! He looked outside the wall. The arms of all four mourning ghost leaders were struck cleanly by bolts, pinning them firmly to the ground, unable to move. Fortunately, the creatures did not move; otherwise, landing such precise hits wouldn't have been so easy. Yet— The next moment, he saw the surrounding lesser mourning ghosts step forward and bash their leaders to death with their lanterns. The mourning ghost leaders then split once again. Eight beams of eerie green light blasted toward the wall beneath him. Yes, eight beams! This creature didn't follow the splitting rules of the other mourning ghosts—it was fucking exponential! ... "We're dead, we're so dead." Chen Fan's lips were pale as he scrambled along the wall through the rainy night, hurriedly crushing ghost stones in his hand to erect a ring of walls, shielding the Ghost Fire securely in the center while patching the breached wall. As the phantom outline of the wall swiftly solidified, the breach was sealed shut. The creature's might was enough to assault Jiangbei City! He was certain that even Jiangbei City would struggle to withstand an assault like this! "Brother..." "Brother..." Right then, a weeping female voice sounded beside his ear, mingling with the rain, seeming both far away on the horizon and right next to him.