The rain came down in torrents, as if the Heavenly River had overturned.
The narrow path leading to the edge of the village was a muddy mess.
Shan Renhu held his wooden staff high. The Brightness Gathering Talisman gave off a steady, gentle glow, illuminating the way ahead.
Jiang Yan's long sword was out of its sheath. He walked with steady steps, his expression serious as he cautiously watched their surroundings.
Meng Sheng followed his example, and even Ying Cong, who was usually talkative, had fallen silent.
Darkness—especially on a rainy night—was when shadow monsters most liked to stir.
Shadow monsters often blended into the darkness, making them impossible to guard against.
Shan Renhu led the group onward. It took them half an hour to reach the Patrol Team's orchard.
By now, the heavy rain was easing. Countless fine threads of rain drifted down, beads of water gathering on their exposed hair and brows before falling.
Plop!
A string of water droplets fell from the tip of a nose and disappeared into the mud below.
Shan Renhu glanced at Jiang Yan in puzzlement. Today, he'd noticed that apart from greeting him at the start, Jiang Yan hadn't said a word the entire way.
After a moment's hesitation, he suppressed his curiosity and said nothing.
Seeing the rain let up, Ying Cong and Meng Neng both looked a little relieved.
The most dangerous moment had passed.
Ying Cong opened his mouth, ready to make a few casual remarks. No one had spoken a word since they set out, and the oppressive silence was getting to the lively young man.
"Brother Shan, do you think Talisman Masters are stronger than martial artists? They can actually make such miraculous talismans."
Shan Renhu gave him a puzzled look. "If Talisman Masters don't make talismans, what do they do?"
Ying Cong: "..."
Meng Neng felt like speaking too. A curious look gleamed in his eyes. "Talisman Masters should be stronger than martial artists. Look at the talismans we use—they're amazing."
"Don't you think so, Brother Shan?"
Shan Renhu fell silent for a moment and didn't answer.
Damn it, I'm just a low-ranking gang member. How would I know whether Talisman Masters or martial artists are stronger? he thought silently.
Seeing that Shan Renhu wasn't answering, Ying Cong was still about to ask something else.
Before he could speak, Meng Neng suddenly stammered nervously, "B-B-Brother Shan, y-y-y-you..."
At Meng Neng's words, everyone else was still trying to react when Jiang Yan's brows lifted and his gaze instantly sharpened.
He swept his eyes across their surroundings.
The reason was simple: he'd noticed that when Meng Neng was on night watch, he stammered whenever he was nervous. That probably meant he'd been frightened and seen a monster.
Just then, wisps of cold crept over Jiang Yan's left hand.
His expression turned utterly serious. His left hand could absorb the black-gray currents and turn them into Weird Value. From his previous encounters with monsters, he'd realized that as long as they weren't too far away, his left hand would always grow a little colder.
A monster was here, close by.
He was about to warn them when he suddenly saw Shan Renhu's mouth wide open, pointing at him and saying something.
"You..."
He was just about to ask what was wrong when he realized he couldn't make a sound.
Silence!
The new monster's innate ability could actually silence them!
Water dripped from the leaves. Shan Renhu and the other two were shouting soundlessly in front of him, while the wind rustled through the trees, tossing the leaves back and forth.
Yet not a single sound could be heard.
The monster was behind him. Jiang Yan slapped the Blazing Flames Talisman into place, flicked his long sword, and swung it behind him without moving his feet.
Thud!
It was like striking a ball of cotton.
Jiang Yan used the impact to leap away, finally getting a clear look at the monster that had attacked them.
It was a shadow-type monster. Its lower half was a mass of pitch-black qi, while its upper half resembled an octopus. Thick, writhing tentacles ended in sharp points. Now they spread wide, trying to wrap around Jiang Yan and crush him.
Jiang Yan's expression remained calm, without the slightest hint of panic.
He turned, seized the long spear in Ying Cong's hands, and swung it with all his strength. The spear bent like a bow.
Smack! It slammed into the octopus monster, knocking it flat and sending it tumbling five or six meters away.
Shing!
The next instant, Jiang Yan whipped his arm around. The long spear, wrapped in fiery patterns, cut through the fine drizzle and shot straight toward the octopus monster.
Pfft!
In that instant, the world was clear again, and the realm of silence shattered.
With a thunderous boom, the spear pierced through the monster like a dragon. Fiery patterns flashed across its shaft, pinning the monster to the ground.
The spear quivered violently. Only three feet of it were visible; the rest had plunged underground. Jiang Yan's throw had been astonishingly powerful.
The monster shrieked.
Puffs of black smoke poured from the place where it had been pierced.
Its tentacles thrashed wildly, trying to break free of the spear.
Jiang Yan strode forward, splashing mud everywhere, and reached the monster.
His sword flashed like thunder and lightning, its silver light cleaving through the air.
The tentacles were severed, torn to pieces.
"Again? The same thing again?"
Ying Cong stared at the scene, stunned. He felt awful all over again.
The monster appeared, and Jiang Yan knocked it back with a single sword strike.
Then he took Ying Cong's spear and hurled it through the monster.
After that, he hacked away with his sword until the monster's tentacles were cut off!
Was this even a monster? Why did the things everyone feared get chopped down like melons and vegetables in Jiang Yan's hands, unable to fight back at all?
Shan Renhu watched with shining eyes. So this is a martial artist's strength. Their physical abilities and reflexes are several times better than an ordinary person's. Put it all together, and one of them could take on twenty or even thirty people.
He silently felt the changes in his own body and clenched his fist. "I'm almost there too... a Martial Apprentice!"
Jiang Yan had fought so smoothly that Shan Renhu hadn't even had time to fire his Whistling Arrow.
The monster had been overwhelmed by Jiang Yan. Now the spear had it pinned firmly in place, and it could only shriek. The Blazing Flames Talisman on the spear burned it, sending black smoke billowing from its body.
Its size kept shrinking.
It was only a matter of time before the monster died.
"Jiang... Jiang Yan."
Meng Sheng called to him. Jiang Yan's body stiffened, but he didn't respond right away. Instead, he sensed and scanned their surroundings, then carefully felt the temperature of his left hand.
Hmm... no other monsters!
Meeting Jiang Yan's gaze, Meng Sheng flushed red, but still forced himself to say, "I-I want to kill it."
"Fine." Without hesitation, Jiang Yan stepped aside to let Meng Sheng go forward.
Meng Sheng stepped up, but his legs suddenly felt a little weak. He took a deep breath, his gaze slowly firming as he looked at the monster in front of him.
He watched it closely for a while. Apart from its shrill cries, it was just a little black lump smoking and shrinking.
Gripping the spear, he turned to Jiang Yan and Shan Renhu. "You two, did you look down on me when I ran away last time?"
Shan Renhu froze, then said coldly, "What a load of nonsense. I don't have that kind of time!"
I don't have time for this either, Jiang Yan thought.
Meng Sheng tugged at the corner of his mouth and raised the spear. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Jiang Yan, you've got more experience. Where should I stab it?"
Jiang Yan's brows twitched, and his face spasmed. The stern expression he'd maintained all night fell apart in an instant.
"Stab it anywhere!"
"After all, once a monster is killed, it dies!"
Pfft!
The spear sank in as if stabbing into a lump of mud. The monster shrieked even louder, its body shrinking further.
After Meng Sheng began attacking, it was as if his fear of the monster had vanished. For the next quarter of an hour,
all that could be heard was Meng Sheng huffing and puffing as he stabbed away, while the monster went pfft, pfft.
At last, the shadow monster let out a shriek and turned to ash.
Weird Value: 5
After the monster died, Meng Sheng blinked and studied Jiang Yan closely, as if only now realizing how lucky he was to have such a powerful expert in their team.
Meng Sheng was drenched in sweat, but excitement and determination shone on his face. He shouted, "So it really does die when you kill it! I actually killed a monster!"
Shan Renhu: "..."
Ying Cong: "..."
Just then, a whistle sounded from the western side of the village, and a brilliant red light streaked into the sky.
A Whistling Arrow signal—a team had run into a monster!
It wasn't going to be a quiet night...
Before you continue