Night

The sky was completely dark, and the entire Frost Forest fell into silence.

There was no noise, only the sound of the wind and the inherent dullness and oppression of the forest at night.

After reaching the Black Iron Tier, his physique gained a slight night vision ability. At night, his vision was not bright or clear; all objects were covered with a faint gray shadow, and details were blurry. However, he could barely distinguish the terrain, the area of open space, and the boundaries of soil layers, which was enough to support nighttime construction without making mistakes.

Lu Heng drew his Bronze Hunting Blade from his waist, bent down, and, using the dim moonlight, compared it with the dimensions of the blueprints in his mind, painstakingly carved lines on the open ground in front of the door. Water interception ditches, outer ring drainage channels, and foundation anti-seepage pits—neat lines spread out along the terrain, precisely defining the excavation area for the entire drainage system. There were no superfluous movements throughout the process; he simply meticulously marked the lines to avoid blind excavation that could cause structural deviations.

Once all the markings are done, don't put the Hunting Blade back at your side for now.

He bent down, picked up the small shovel he used for planting, and began digging along the pre-carved marks.

The actual condition of the soil layers was somewhat beyond his expectations.

The surface soil, constantly moistened by melting snow, is soft and easy to pry up with a shovel; a large chunk of wet mud can be easily lifted with a gentle pry. However, after digging down only about ten centimeters, the feel changes abruptly.

The original soil layer below was too hard, compacted and denser than he had anticipated. He often had to poke it in, getting stuck, and had to exert all his strength to pry and gnaw at even a small piece of soil. Each step was incredibly difficult. Between the cracks in the soil, there were several dark, dried bloodstains, black in color, traces left from some past battle with ferocious beasts, silently embedded deep within the earth.

Lu Heng worked diligently and unhurriedly, repeatedly using a knife to loosen the soil, smoothing the edges of the trenches, and then clearing away the loose soil from inside the trenches.

In the stillness of the night, the forest was utterly silent except for the muffled thuds of his digging. The continuous digging sounds carried far through the quiet woods. The activity continued for the entire night, from dusk until midnight. Despite his Black Iron Tier physique and endurance far exceeding that of ordinary people, several hours of intense physical labor still left him noticeably fatigued.

The main outline of the entire trench has been excavated and formed, and the slope, width, and depth all meet the standards of the drawings. The remaining tasks, such as laying gravel, laying the seepage prevention layer, and edging the stone, are delicate processes and there is no need to force ourselves to finish them overnight.

Lu Heng stopped using his tools, let out a long breath, and wiped the sweat streaming down his forehead.

His chest rose and fell slightly, and his arm muscles ached and stiffened in waves. He decided to leave the rest of the work until dawn.

Just as he paused, he glanced at the trees beside him.

A dark figure was watching him.

Lu Heng's gaze instinctively locked onto the treetops.

A dark shadow landed on a high branch, came to a steady stop, and looked down at the newly cleared open space at the entrance of the stone cave.

He raised his wrist, Wristband glowed with a faint blue light, quickly completing the scan.

[Species: Midnight Owl]

[Rank: Black Iron Tier]

[Description: A top nocturnal predator in the Frost Forest, possessing exceptional night vision and adept at stealthy ambushes, it is the most active hunter in the dark forest.]

The simple camouflage originally set up to conceal the cave entrance was completely ineffective against Midnight Owl's exceptional night vision; he spotted the humans in the open space at a glance.

But it did not swoop down to launch an attack.

The Midnight Owl's prey are mostly small rodents and weak animals in the forest. Lu Heng is tall and has a heavy aura, so he is not on its hunting list. Launching an attack rashly would only increase the risk of injury.

The two briefly looked at each other from a distance.

Just seconds later, the Midnight Owl gently flapped its wings, turned silently, and plunged back into the dark, deep forest, quickly disappearing from sight.

The surroundings fell silent once more.

Lu Heng withdrew his gaze, not expecting the forest at night to be even more dangerous than during the day.

He didn't intend to expend any more energy on deep digging; he only planned to do some simple, minor reinforcement. He bent down and moved a few flat stones, scattering them on the road in front of the cave entrance to raise the ground and prevent it from becoming muddy and slippery after the soil softened by the dew the next morning.

Several stones had just been placed in place.

The Storage Necklace hanging on her chest emitted a subtle, cold tremor as a warning without warning.

Lu Heng felt a sudden tightness in his back.

The mountains and forests remained quiet; there was no sound of footsteps, no rustling of grass or trees, and even the sound of the wind was barely perceptible.

Unlike the rustling of grass and trees when a wild beast approaches, this chill came without warning, cold and sticky, silently seeping out from the darkness.

He immediately turned to the side, his gaze fixed on the dark edge of the forest, and raised his wrist, the blue light of his Wristband sweeping into the depths of the shadows.

The scan information popped up quickly.

[Species: Night Ghost]

[Rank: Black Iron Tier]

[Description: A supernatural creature born only in the dense forests at night, possessing sharp, Ghost Claw, moving silently and stealthily, specializing in ambushing creatures that roam alone at night.]

Supernatural monsters.

Lu Heng subconsciously gripped the Hunting Blade at his side.

These kinds of things cannot be judged by common sense; they are completely different from ordinary wild animals in the forest.

He dared not relax or take any chances. He gripped the Bronze Hunting Blade tightly in his hand, took a light step back, and leaned his back firmly against the stone wall of the Stone Cave Shelter.

With a solid backing, it eliminates blind spots for attacks from behind.

Lu Heng's gaze was fixed on the dark shadows at the edge of the forest, his whole body tense, silently confronting the unknown monster hidden in the darkness.

A chilling coldness crept in little by little, not the natural chill of the mountain forest at night, but a kind of coldness that clung to the air and carried a corrosive quality.

Lu Heng's actions just now made Night Ghost cautious, and he immediately hid.

He couldn't find it. Lu Heng remained expressionless, but felt a little embarrassed; he had overreacted.

But then he suddenly remembered the Geothermal Talisman dormant within his body.

This strange object is exceptionally sensitive to changes in the surrounding temperature; it might even be able to detect fluctuations in cold air that are invisible to the naked eye.

Lu Heng did not rush into an attack. He focused his mind slightly inward and actively sensed the physical signals transmitted by the Geothermal Talisman.

At first, only a faint warmth emanated from the stone walls of the cave, which canceled out the low temperature in the forest at night.

A moment later, a sudden drop in temperature came from the deepest shadow at the edge of the woods on the right.

The temperature in that area was significantly lower than the surrounding area.

It wasn't the shade from the trees that caused the temperature drop; rather, it was a small, relatively concentrated area of cold, dampness that was slowly moving along the edge of the woodland.

Found it.

His gaze followed the location of the abnormal temperature back to that spot, but with his naked eye he could only see layers upon layers of dark tree shadows, unable to discern any physical outlines. He simply couldn't grasp the other person's exact shape with his eyes alone.

He was only able to pinpoint the approximate location of the Night Ghost by relying on the temperature sensing of the Geothermal Talisman.

Lu Heng tightened his grip on the Hunting Blade slightly, his fingertips pressed against the cold blade surface.

The other party was still in the shadows and didn't rush to pounce.

In the darkness, a human and a ghost stood at a distance, locked in a stalemate in an open space late at night.