Zhou Mo naturally understood what Wang Kui was feeling. Patting Wang Kui on the back, he consoled him, "Don't dwell on the past."
"The stationmaster is extraordinarily generous to us. It almost makes me feel that if I don't die in battle tomorrow, I'd be letting down all the nurturing he's given me."
"A green martial technique."
"In an ordinary clan, that would be an absolute heirloom secret—a technique only those of the direct bloodline would have the right to learn. Didn't you see how casually the stationmaster tossed it into my arms just now?"
"I saw it," Wang Kui replied with a faint, conflicted sigh. "I saw it as clear as day from down below. It made me a little jealous of you. Shouldn't this sort of thing be stored in the warehouse under my care...?"
"Forget it. Let's not talk about the past."
"Put your heart into comprehending it."
The better the camp developed, the more miserable Wang Kui felt whenever he looked back on his thirteen years as a worker bee. What a wretched life he had lived back then!
"Understood!" Zhou Mo grinned broadly and immediately headed toward the stone houses, eager to wash up and dedicate himself to studying the technique.
Before long, a loud shout echoed from within the stone house.
"Who stole my bedsheet?"
"Wang Mazi, did you steal it?"
"Why the hell would I steal your bedsheet? Have you gone mad?"
"Then where did my bedsheet go?"
...
Darkness fell as scheduled.
"The thirteenth night of the rainy season."
Sitting in the rocking chair on the wall, Chen Fan muttered under his breath. After staring blankly into the pitch-black void above the sinkhole for a while, he stretched and got ready to head back inside to sleep. Over the past few days, no one had kept watch at night in the camp.
On one hand, he had confidence in the camp's defenses; even if ghost creatures attacked, the commotion of assaulting the wall would certainly wake everyone.
On the other hand...
They were simply too shorthanded. Leaving one person on night watch meant one less worker the following day.
A chill drifted into the cave on the night wind.
The weather was growing colder and colder.
After the rainy season came winter.
*Thud.*
The familiar sound of an impact from the cliffs echoed in his ears. Chen Fan froze slightly. Frowning, he turned toward the sinkhole at the sight of a ghost creature that had plunged to its death, then glanced at the crocodile feasting inside the cave.
For the past two days, the crocodile hadn't returned to its lair, sleeping inside the camp every night.
Since Weiwei wasn't the one hunting, was some other presence doing the hunting?
The next instant—
Ghost creatures plunged off the cliff to their deaths one after another.
Sprawled on the cave floor, the crocodile seemed to sense something as well. Releasing the food in its jaws, a flicker of panic flashed through its lantern-sized pupils. It scurried deeper into the cave, flattening itself tightly against the wall in the deepest recess.
*Skreee—*
A shrill ghost creature shriek suddenly pierced the rainy night outside the wall.
A ghost creature that had tumbled from the several-hundred-meter-high cliff had miraculously survived the fall, though it was critically wounded and on the verge of death. Completely ignoring Chen Fan's wall, it looked back toward the canyon, shrieking in desperate terror and bluster as it struggled to drag itself backward, trying to get as far from the canyon as possible.
"..."
Chen Fan looked toward the canyon shrouded in darkness, his brow furrowing slightly. All these anomalies clearly indicated that enemies were at the gates, and formidable ones at that. Those ghost creatures falling into the sinkhole had most likely lost their footing while fleeing in sheer terror.
"Wang Kui."
"Tally the camp's ghost stones."
"Yes, stationmaster!"
Wang Kui, having also realized what was happening, dashed straight to the warehouse to count the ghost stones brought back today.
The tally of ghost stones known to him in the camp stood at 1,335.
However, Quehou and Zhou Mo had both brought back batches of ghost stones today that had yet to be counted. With a formidable enemy about to strike, the exact count of ghost stones had to be established as quickly as possible to prepare for what was coming.
Amidst the rain, the muffled sound of countless stampeding footsteps drifted in, punctuated by shrill shrieks that tore through the rainy night like lightning.
The noise drew closer and closer.
The next moment—
A rotting wild wolf, tail tucked between its legs, sprinted along the canyon and into the sinkhole. Rather than charging the wall, it darted about frantically in blind panic, as though desperately searching for an exit.
Close behind, more and more ghost creatures surged from the canyon into the sinkhole like a tide.
"..."
Chen Fan looked on calmly. He knew a tough battle lay ahead tonight. These ghost creatures looked very familiar—they were all from Nameless Mountain. And judging by their panic, none of them had any intention of attacking his camp.
That was proof enough: these ghost creatures were being herded through the canyon by other creatures to deplete his strength.
Tonight's enemy possessed a degree of intelligence.
However...
A smile touched his lips. He was confident enough in the camp's current strength. The "Meat Grinder" had already taken shape; he believed that as long as a ghost king wasn't the one attacking, they could hold the line.
In fact, this played right into his hands.
Normally, tracking down these ghost creatures was no easy task; having them all driven straight to his doorstep made them convenient prey.
*Boom!*
Standing on the wall of Cave No. 1, the Level 5 cannon tower that had long remained silent roared to life. As its copper pipes engaged, the core inside the cannon tower flared brightly, countless eerie blue energy patterns spreading from the core and instantly crawling across the tower's cold exterior.
The next instant!
A pillar of blazing white light as thick as a forearm slashed through the rainy night, striking with pinpoint accuracy a ghost creature frantically fleeing across the sinkhole. Its body was pierced in an instant, rapidly melting outward from the wound before the naked eye.
A blood-curdling screech echoed through the rainy night, sounding the bugle call for tonight's battle.
Immediately after, three lightning-like arcs of light burst from the body of the struck ghost creature, arcing like thunder serpents at blinding speed toward the three closest ghost creatures.
*Crack—!*
The three struck ghost creatures were likewise impaled in an instant, dying gruesome deaths in the rainy night.
The remaining nine Level 5 cannon towers on the wall lit up in unison, swiftly slaughtering the ghost creatures that had invaded the sinkhole. It was a one-sided massacre; beneath the chain attacks, the ghost creatures fell in swathes like autumn wheat before the scythe.
Before long, the ghost creatures surging from the canyon dwindled, and fewer and fewer creatures were left scrambling in the sinkhole.
"..."
Standing atop the wall, Chen Fan gazed toward the canyon shrouded in darkness, waiting patiently. The eighteen Level 5 cannon towers installed along the four cliffs had not been activated; he intended to let the real enemy enter before wiping them out in one fell swoop.
The ghost creatures grew fewer and fewer.
These were merely basic ghost creatures, utterly incapable of withstanding the firepower of the Level 5 cannon towers.
The Ghost Blood Patterns on the wall's surface, which had never awakened since the wall was built, finally flared to life tonight. The blood of the ghost creatures across the sinkhole flowed uncontrollably toward the base of the wall. Greedily drinking in the ghost blood, the patterns on the wall shifted from their original dark red to a vivid scarlet, faintly radiating a hazy crimson glow.
It was extraordinarily striking in the night.
At last—
Perhaps believing the attrition had served its purpose, or perhaps because all nearby ghost creatures had fled far away—
A massive ghost creature, heavy and bulky as a giant turtle, emerged from the darkness of the canyon, stepping slowly yet relentlessly into the sinkhole.
Its four limbs were remarkably thick, and its back was armored with a massive carapace formed of pale bones, with countless twisted bone spikes jutting out unevenly. It spanned nearly two to three meters across.
Then came another, and another.
A full nine giant turtle ghost creatures emerged in a line from the canyon, stepping within range of the ghost fire. Behind them followed a vast swarm of ghost creatures: female ghosts in drenched white clothes with fish tails, human-faced crabs with massive pincers, and... even more sea snakes slithering rapidly across the ground.
"Quite lively."
"Looks like they all came out of the sea."
Chen Fan stepped down from the wall and looked at the crocodile shivering in the deepest recess of the cave, unable to hold back a chuckle.
"Hey, quit shaking."
"Tonight I'll treat you to some rare goods—a little seafood."
"You've never tasted that before, have you?"
Chapter 84