In a daze.
Chen Fan's mind went blank, and the world seemed to have quieted down.
But just then—
A trickle of cool rain seeped into his neck, along with Zhou Mo's loud shouts from within the city walls, jolting him awake from his trance.
"Station Master!"
"Chen Fan!!"
Inside the city walls, Zhou Mo, holding the large blade, stood beside the hut, his face anxious as he shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to wake the few people on the wall.
From his perspective.
The Station Master and the others suddenly fell into a daze.
Even Pockmark Wang had already undone his pants and started jerking off.
Perpetual Night, rainstorm, Eerie Creatures, and masturbation.
These four unrelated terms wove the scene at this moment. Although he admitted that masturbation was something enjoyable, now was certainly not the right time.
This bizarre spectacle clearly indicated that the Station Master and the others had encountered an Eerie Creature capable of inducing hallucinations.
"Get down!"
The first to snap out of it, Chen Fan looked at the cascade of black hair behind the female Eerie Creature, which was already extending and thrusting toward them at lightning speed. He quickly pressed Pockmark Wang and the others to the ground, taking cover behind the parapet wall.
People could be subjected to hallucinations.
But buildings could not.
From the moment the female Eerie Creature stepped into the camp, the crossbow mechanisms on the Archery Towers had been operating.
One after another, crossbow bolts shot out, piercing through the rainy night and going straight for the female Eerie Creature standing out there. Although most of the bolts were deflected by the hair whipping through the air, with the sheer number of the Archery Towers, some still successfully hit their mark.
As long as they weren't instantly killed by the needle-like hair, this female Eerie Creature wouldn't withstand the damage from the Archery Towers.
Evidently.
The female Eerie Creature intended to endure the Archery Towers' attacks and cut off the head of the snake first.
If Chen Fan died, the Archery Towers would instantly stop functioning, and the Eerie Fire would die out.
However—
He woke up and avoided this onslaught.
All that awaited the female Eerie Creature was death.
That level 3 Archery Tower, imbued with fire elements and specifically built to deal with this female Eerie Creature, began to showcase its might. One after another, crossbow bolts shot toward the female Eerie Creature at such speed that she couldn't dodge them.
Her body was penetrated.
No blood flowed from the wounds, only charred flesh.
…
A few moments later.
The battle was over.
After the female Eerie Creature's most powerful method failed to serve its intended purpose, she became a lamb awaiting slaughter, being shot dead after sustaining a few volleys.
By now.
Wang Kui and the others had long since emerged from their hallucinations.
"Damn it."
Pockmark Wang, his face flushed with shame and fear, pulled up his pants. "This Eerie Creature's methods are truly terrifying!"
Fortunately, Zhou Mo was inside the camp and hadn't seen the female Eerie Creature outside the city walls, allowing him to wake the Station Master. Otherwise, something worse might have happened. This female Eerie Creature could induce hallucinations; truly formidable.
No more Eerie Creatures remained in the gray mist.
"You go to sleep first."
Chen Fan looked at Zhou Mo, who had climbed onto the city wall. "You still have to go out on duty tomorrow morning. Go rest now; we'll handle things here."
Only then did he turn to Crippled Monkey and the others.
"Quickly clean up the battlefield. We have a long night ahead of us; there might be more Eerie Creatures attacking."
After these past few days.
The people in the camp had more or less adjusted to each other.
Upon hearing his command, Crippled Monkey and the others rushed down to start digging Eerie Stones from the corpses of the Eerie Creatures and picking up the dropped Extraordinary Treasures. The Eerie Materials would be left down there until dawn.
As for Chen Fan, he immediately repaired the damaged city wall.
Repairing it required 78 Eerie Stones.
This time, the city wall was severely damaged, so mending it cost far more.
But...
Why even bother repairing?
Only a 4-meter section of the city wall was damaged. The Eerie Creatures had targeted a single spot. He simply dismantled the damaged section on the spot and built a new 4-meter section of the city wall, consuming only 40 Eerie Stones.
Repairing was more expensive than rebuilding.
Next.
They took turns standing guard in the wooden shelter on the city wall, avoiding prolonged exposure to the cold, damp environment to minimize the risk of catching a cold.
…
The night passed quickly.
In the latter half of the night, only a few dozen scattered Eerie Creatures intruded into the camp, not forming an Eerie Tide. They were easily dealt with.
With the current strength of the camp, unless it was an Eerie Tide or some high-level Eerie Creature joined the fray, ordinary Eerie Creatures that intruded into the camp were essentially delivering Eerie Stones, posing no threat.
Dawn broke.
The darkness was lifted like a curtain.
Inside the wooden hut, the "Perpetual Night Calendar" was marked with another cross.
This was the fourth Perpetual Night they had spent in the rainy season.
As soon as dawn broke.
Zhou Mo, along with his subordinate, carrying his large blade, set out once again, preparing to bring back resources from several nearby destroyed stations to the camp.
Only then did Chen Fan and the others relax and begin tidying up the battlefield from the previous night.
Because of their rotating night watch, none of them was very tired.
They could sleep a little later.
Qi Chong and A'le began skillfully dissecting the Eerie Creature corpses. Useful Eerie Materials, such as "Mantis Arms," "Monkey Skin," and "Bamboo Pole Eerie Creature Skeleton," were collected and piled up in the warehouse. Eerie Blood was collected using ceramic vats.
It was worth mentioning.
Even during the Perpetual Night, the "Eerie Flesh Mother-Child Seed" planted in the farmland required irrigating with Eerie Blood.
Qi Chong and the others hadn't forgotten to irrigate with Eerie Blood the previous night.
Fortunately, the battle didn't last too long; otherwise, he would have had to craft more copper pipes.
Outside the city wall.
Pockmark Wang stood in the drizzle, looking at the female Eerie Creature lying quietly on the ground with several holes in her body. He crouched down, pinching her forearm to feel the tautness of the skin, and remarked with slight emotion.
"Last night I was indeed a bit unbecoming."
"But I have to admit, this is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life, countless times prettier than the top courtesan at 'Osmanthus Tower' in Rivernorth City. Calling her an unrivaled beauty wouldn't be an exaggeration."
"A reminder," Crippled Monkey said expressionlessly. "She's a female Eerie Creature."
"I know, but she looks just like a normal woman without any mutations, doesn't she? What a pity."
"Another reminder: she's already dead."
"I know... why do you keep reminding me... as if I have other thoughts..."
"I saw you lick your lips."
"My lips are a bit dry."
Just then—
A'Le strode over from nearby, kneeling beside the female Eerie Creature. Then, using the Mantis Arm as a blade, he skillfully pierced the scalp and ran the blade along the joints. In no time, the complete Eerie Skin was peeled off.
That dense, black hair had also come off along with the scalp.
The female Eerie Creature, who had retained a touch of bleak beauty not long ago, turned into a mass of flesh in the blink of an eye.
"What are you... doing?"
Pockmark Wang was stunned at this sight.
"Peeling skin."
A'Le glanced up at Pockmark Wang, speaking in a muffled voice. "The Station Master ordered it. He said this hair is good stuff and needs peeling off. Do you want me to leave you the you-know-what? Should we ask the Station Master to make you a copper pipe of the right size?"
"Thanks, but no need..."
Pockmark Wang said somewhat sheepishly. "I was just chatting casually; you all make it sound like I'm that kind of person..."
"Last night, I was just hallucinating."
"But last night, you were the only one who took off your pants."
"You tied a tight knot; I tied a slipknot."
"I doubt that."
…
"All good stuff."
Chen Fan was happy, especially with the skeleton of the Bamboo Pole Eerie Creature underboss, which was extremely sturdy and would make a perfect car frame.
So many Eerie Creatures had contributed quite a sum of Eerie Stones, and also dropped three Extraordinary Treasures.
One came from the Bamboo Pole Eerie Creature underboss.
The other two were from the female Eerie Creature, one of which was a building blueprint, something fairly rare.
As for the Mantis Eerie Creature underboss, it had nothing to offer; it was quite poor.
Last night's harvest was quite substantial.
And with so many Eerie Creature corpses, the newly constructed Sacrificial Tower finally had a use.