"I Got It."

After the Bamboo-Pole Strange Entities that had rushed into the camp were wiped out to the last, no more Strange Entities charged into the camp.

That eerie, piercing laughter no longer rang out either.

Yet faint rustling still sounded beyond the darkness, whether because they loathed the Eerie Fire and detoured around it, or because they were gathering strength for another assault on the camp.

"."

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes slightly and stood behind the City Wall battlements, looking down at the scattered corpses of Strange Entities below. Beside one of them lay an object emitting a white glow.

That was an Exotic Treasure.

It had been a long time since an Exotic Treasure had dropped.

If it was an Exotic Treasure capable of increasing their immediate combat strength, then his chances of surviving tonight would be a little higher.

Only—

Strange Entities were far faster than humans.

If the Strange Entities suddenly launched an assault while someone was retrieving the Exotic Treasure, the person who went to pick it up would be extremely likely to die.

If the Strange Entities pursued too closely, it would also be difficult for him to open the city gate. Otherwise, the Strange Entities would rush through the gate into the camp, and the City Wall would become nothing more than a decoration.

"Young master."

Crippled Monkey, standing beside him with the Godslaying Spear in hand, stared fixedly at the white-glowing object beside the Strange Entity's corpse. "I'll go down and bring that Exotic Treasure back. My leg may be crippled, but I'm not much slower than an ordinary person when I run."

"The Strange Entities won't attack for the moment. It should be fine."

"."

Chen Fan did not turn around. It had to be said that those with physical disabilities often had more sensitive minds. He had not shown anything, yet Crippled Monkey had already roughly guessed what he was thinking.

As soon as Crippled Monkey finished speaking—

Little Qiu, standing on the other side, hurriedly said, "Station chief, let me go. I'm whole and strong in my prime, and I run fast."

He was Wang Kui's subordinate.

He had joined this camp alongside Wang Kui. If they could weather the Rainy Season, he certainly would not return to the Wang Family. He would follow Chen Fan from then on.

Tonight, he had finally seen things clearly. Chen Fan was obviously planning to focus on cultivating several station chiefs. As for subordinates like them, they were practically ignored as mere followers. The faction was still in its infancy; if he did not seize the chance to earn merit now, then he would remain Wang Kui's lackey for the rest of his life.

Although Wang Kui had treated him well.

But—

When an opportunity presented itself, who did not want to climb higher?

Moreover, that Strange Entity corpse was only seven or eight meters from the City Wall. He felt that it should not be much of a problem.

The opportunity had arrived. He, Little Qiu, wanted to gamble on it too.

"Fine. You go."

Chen Fan did not hesitate in the slightest. He glanced at Zhou Mo, who was about to speak, then silently removed a section of the City Wall. Patting Little Qiu on the shoulder, he said in a low voice, "Take care."

Time was tight.

This was not the time for too much conversation. The Strange Entities could launch another assault at any moment.

He could tell that Zhou Mo also wanted to volunteer. After all, he was a Level 2 Cultivator, with better physical attributes than the rest of them, and he had practiced martial arts since childhood. Logically speaking, he should have been the best candidate.

But Chen Fan admitted that he was being a little selfish.

This task was extraordinarily dangerous. If someone had to die, sacrificing Little Qiu was better than sacrificing Zhou Mo. In his heart, Zhou Mo was more valuable than Little Qiu.

"."

Wang Kui, atop the City Wall, looked at Little Qiu's retreating figure as he rushed out beyond the wall. His expression was complicated, and he remained silent. He definitely would not volunteer; he was old and could not run fast.

Still, Little Qiu's actions surprised him somewhat. Usually, Little Qiu had acted as though he was merely muddling through life in the camp alongside him. Wang Kui had never seen such courage in him. Inside the camp.

Having left the City Wall, Little Qiu quickly crossed over corpse after corpse of Strange Entities and sprinted at top speed to the Strange Entity's body. He picked up the white-glowing Exotic Treasure, then turned excitedly toward the people standing on the City Wall.

"I got it!"

However—

The next moment, he saw that the expressions of the people atop the City Wall seemed rather ugly. He reacted almost instantly, and his face turned deathly pale.

At that moment, time seemed to slow infinitely.

The torrential rain seemed to have been frozen in place.

He could vaguely see the station chief shouting something anxiously, but the movement of those lips had become incomparably slow in his eyes. He could not even make out what the station chief was saying. His mind had completely crashed.

A crossbow bolt shot past his scalp and into the space behind him.

"It's over."

That was the final thought that flashed through his mind. He did not even have time to look behind him before he felt a chill surge violently from his tailbone, racing up his spine and straight to the crown of his head. Every hair on his back stood on end, as though countless icy insects were crawling over him.

Run!

People really did see their lives flash before their eyes before death.

He desperately threw himself into a sprint. At the same time, scene after scene from the first half of his life flashed rapidly through the depths of his mind. He had watched his parents die at the hands of Strange Entities with his own eyes, then later sold his life to the Wang Family, spending his days in a muddled haze.

The city gate had not yet been closed.

Only—

He was seven or eight meters from the City Wall, while the Strange Entities were only two or three meters from him.

The Strange Entities were far faster than he was.

Before he could make it back to the City Wall, the Strange Entities would certainly catch him first. They might even breach the city and destroy the camp because of him.

Little Qiu understood this in an instant. Without even having time to wipe the rain from his face, he felt the fierce wind about to touch his back and screamed himself hoarse with all his strength, "Close the gate!"

Then, without the slightest hesitation—

His body came to an abrupt stop. He rolled across the ground in a miserable donkey roll, dodging the Strange Entity's attack from behind. Then, using both hands and feet, he scrambled and rolled toward the Farmland on the left, his eyes bloodshot. He knew there were traps there. It was his only chance to survive.

He had never imagined that he could run so fast.

Several crossbow bolts brushed past him. The Arrow Tower atop the City Wall was killing the enemy. He did not know what the Strange Entities behind him looked like, nor did he know how many there were. After only a few steps, he saw the Ground Spikes Trap stretching out in one connected expanse.

Nearly a hundred perfectly neat holes formed a continuous patch, arranged with uncanny precision.

Like a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate, he roared and sprang violently off the ground using both hands and feet, clearing the trap and falling into the Farmland.

The rain-soaked mud left him in a terribly miserable state.

But—

"Click!"

The sound of the mechanism being triggered behind him made him laugh.

Little Qiu rolled over and sat up in the Farmland, wiping rainwater from his face as he looked at the two Strange Entities that had stepped into the trap behind him. Two relatively small Mantisman-like Strange Entities, their arms transformed into blades, were instantly pierced through by dozens of thick, hard black wooden spikes and died on the spot.

There was no longer a single standing Strange Entity in the camp.

More than a dozen Mantisman-like Strange Entities had been added to the ground.

He could not help laughing again. His laughter gradually grew louder. The sudden surge of adrenaline and the feeling of surviving a calamity made him unusually exhilarated. Raising the Exotic Treasure in his hand high, he looked at Chen Fan atop the City Wall and shouted again, "I got it."

"Stop fucking laughing! I know you got it! Get your ass back inside!"

As the city gate opened, Chen Fan's furious curses rang out from atop the City Wall in the rainy night.