"You!! Cough! Cough!!" Zhang Zhi wanted to say something more, but a mouthful of bloody froth caught in his throat, sending him into a violent coughing fit.
Zhang Zhi had originally thought Wei Fan was a lamb awaiting slaughter. He had never imagined Wei Fan was a vicious dragon wearing sheepskin, only baring his savage fangs at the final moment.
He had thought himself the hunter, only to find that he was the prey being toyed with.
Fear, regret... all sorts of emotions flooded his mind.
"Do you have any last words?" Wei Fan stared at him with great interest.
"Don't kill me, don't kill me!" Zhang Zhi hurriedly begged once he had caught his breath.
"That's all? Then die!" Wei Fan severed his head with a single slash.
Afterward, Wei Fan tossed Zhang Zhi's corpse beyond the stone wall. The powerful scent of blood drew in the ferocious beasts hunting in the darkness.
Before long, Zhang Zhi's body had been gnawed down to nothing but gleaming white bones.
"I never wanted to kill you. You forced my hand!"
Only after seeing that Zhang Zhi was truly dead did Wei Fan ignite a signal flare and launch it into the night sky.
A few breaths later, Shi Meng emerged from the darkness with a steel saber in hand, his eyes warily fixed on Wei Fan.
"Where's the monstrosity? Where is it?" Shi Meng asked.
"It's already been dealt with!" Wei Fan stuck the Monstrosity Detection Talisman onto himself, proving that he was not possessed by a monstrosity.
"Then where did Zhang Zhi go?" Shi Meng was somewhat surprised.
"He's dead!" Wei Fan walked to the edge of the stone wall and pointed below. "He perished together with that monstrosity!"
Shi Meng looked down and indeed saw a humanoid skeleton beside the corpse of a massive bat.
"It was actually a Black Marsh Bat!" Shi Meng's pupils contracted.
This kind of monstrosity was exceedingly troublesome. Even he would have to pay the price of injury to kill it.
With Zhang Zhi and Wei Fan alone, it should have been nearly impossible for them to slay a Black Marsh Bat.
Shi Meng turned to look at Wei Fan. Seeing that he was completely uninjured, a cloud of suspicion immediately rose in his heart.
"Xiaofan, how exactly did you kill this Black Marsh Bat? Tell me quickly," Shi Meng asked.
"When we encountered the Black Marsh Bat just now, Zhang Zhi used the explosive secret technique of the Three Yuan Battle Art. He and the Black Marsh Bat fought until both were grievously injured, and in the end, they perished together!"
Wei Fan made up an excuse.
"An explosive secret technique?" Shi Meng frowned tightly, then relaxed and sighed. "Zhang Zhi must have already reached the threshold of the Divine Strength Realm. What a pity."
Then Shi Meng patted Wei Fan on the shoulder and laughed. "You brat really are lucky. You've encountered Black Ghost Level monstrosities twice in a row, yet escaped danger both times!"
"Brother Zhang saw that I was new and protected me. Uncle Shi Meng, please give him a proper burial!" Wei Fan said with a sincere expression.
"I understand!" Shi Meng nodded heavily as well.
After glancing at the remains below the wall, Shi Meng leaped down and gathered Zhang Zhi's bones with a large piece of coarse cloth.
Shi Meng had carried such a large piece of coarse cloth with him, clearly having long expected things like this to happen.
With the bundle of bones on his back, Shi Meng gazed into the deep darkness in the distance and said in a grave tone:
"Recently, monstrosities have been appearing more and more frequently! It isn't just our eastern district—the Night Watch Teams in several other districts have suffered heavy casualties!"
"Is there some reason behind this phenomenon? Has anything similar happened before?" Wei Fan asked.
"This situation has indeed appeared in Wushan Village's records. It is called a Calamity of Strangeness." Shi Meng sighed. "We still can't be certain whether a Calamity of Strangeness is about to descend. If it truly is, it will be a catastrophe that wipes out Wushan Village!"
"What exactly is a Calamity of Strangeness?" Wei Fan asked with a frown.
"A Calamity of Strangeness is a disaster brought about by bizarre monstrosities. But what can truly be called a Calamity of Strangeness is when many Blood Ghost Level monstrosities, normally difficult to encounter even once, along with White Wraith, Black Wraith, and Blood Wraith Level monstrosities, begin appearing frequently. Wushan Village's defensive forces alone would find them difficult to withstand, and countless people would die."
"Doesn't Wushan Village have the Monster Suppressing Stone? Can't it hold back these monstrosities?" Wei Fan was somewhat puzzled.
After all, it was said that the Monster Suppressing Stone could ward off most bizarre monstrosities. Weaker monstrosities would have their souls scattered the moment they approached it.
"You don't know this, but the Monster Suppressing Stone's power needs to be accumulated. If there are only one or two monstrosities, it can easily repel them."
Shi Meng paused, then continued, "But if monstrosities invade one after another, the Monster Suppressing Stone's effects will grow weaker and weaker, until it ultimately becomes useless.
That is why, even with the Monster Suppressing Stone, we still need the Night Watch Team to guard the city walls."
Hearing this, Wei Fan's heart tightened.
It seemed that Wushan Village, which appeared safe, had barely any ability to resist when true disaster struck.
Still not strong enough!
I have to become even stronger!
Wei Fan clenched his fists, and a sense of crisis rose in his heart once more.
Whoosh... boom!
Another distress signal blossomed in the night sky.
Wei Fan turned to look, and his heart could not help sinking.
Because the signal flare launched this time was the red one!
It meant that multiple monstrosities had appeared, or even Wraith Level monstrosities!!!
Before you continue