I become stronger by sacrificing my lifespan, becoming invincible in the world.

He and his men slunk away, without even picking up the buckets of water from the ground.

The crowd gradually dispersed, but many eyes remained on Lin Chen, whispering among themselves.

Sun Cheng walked up to Lin Chen and whispered, "You've gotten yourself into trouble. Zhou Qing is Wang Meng's cousin, and Wang Meng is Chen Hong's confidant."

"I know." Lin Chen looked in the direction Zhou Qing had left. "It's a bit troublesome; there's no escaping it."

Sun Cheng paused for a moment, then patted him on the shoulder: "Get ready for the evening patrol."

As night fell, Lin Chen stood on the city wall once again.

Outside the pass, it was pitch black, with only the howling wind.

In the distance, there seemed to be a few green lights, flickering uncertainly in the darkness, like the eyes of a wild beast, or something else entirely.

Further away, on the horizon, there was a faint, extremely dim red light that flashed by so quickly that it seemed like an illusion.

However, Lin Chen's divine jade emitted an extremely faint, icy tremor.

Something... opened its eyes in the darkness.

The night was as dark as ink, and the cold wind was as sharp as a knife.

Lin Chen stood in the shadow of the "Iron Gate" arrow tower on the west city wall, his gaze like a nail driven into the heavy darkness beyond the pass. Sun Cheng, three steps to his left behind the crenellation, stood like a stone statue; only the occasional movement of his eyes when he glanced at the wilderness proved that he was a living person.

The four-hour night watch has already passed more than halfway.

At the beginning of the Yin hour, it is the time when people are most tired and the world is coldest. The breath exhaled instantly condenses into frost, hanging on the eyebrows and the edges of leather armor. The bricks of the city wall underfoot are so cold that you can feel the chill that drains away your heat even through the soles of your boots.

The area outside the pass was deathly silent.

But this deathly silence only tightened Lin Chen's nerves even more. According to the divine jade's perception, only a few ground squirrels were weakly wriggling beneath the frozen ground within twenty feet. Further away, there was only an empty void.

Not right.

It's too clean.

Yesterday, we could still sense some traces of small groups of animals, but tonight it seems as if something had swept them away in advance.

Suddenly, a faint, icy tremor emanated from the divine jade.

Not from directly in front, but from the left front, about thirty feet away, in a depression half-hidden by rocks and dead trees.

There, something is moving.

They weren't groundhogs; their aura was deeper, more... stealthy. There was more than one, and they were slowly crawling towards the city wall.

"Squad Leader Sun," Lin Chen said in a low voice, without moving his head or turning his eyes, "thirty feet to the left front, a pile of rocks."

Sun Cheng's body stiffened almost imperceptibly. He hadn't noticed anything unusual, but Lin Chen's tone was too certain. He squinted, straining to look in that direction. In the darkness, there were only blurry stone shadows and swaying withered branches.

"Are you sure?" Sun Cheng asked in a very low voice.

"Confirmed." Lin Chen's hand slowly rested on the hilt of the knife at his waist. "Three, maybe four. They're moving very slowly, crawling."

Sun Cheng no longer hesitated. He quietly drew a whistling arrow from his quiver, nocked it on his bow, but did not draw it fully; he merely loosely pulled it back, adjusting the arrowhead slightly to aim at the area of ​​scattered rocks.

Time passed in a suffocating silence.

About half a cup of tea later, a dark shadow, even darker than the night, suddenly appeared at the edge of the pile of rocks.

Next, the second point, and the third point.

The shadowy figures were indistinct, but their hunched human forms were still discernible. Their movements were stiff and slow, like zombies crawling out of a graveyard. They avoided the areas directly illuminated by the moonlight, clinging to the ground and shadows, inching their way towards the base of the city wall.

It's not a monster.

Is it... a person? Or something else?

The distance closed to twenty feet. Shenyu's senses became clear—a cold, chaotic, and malicious aura, mixed with the smell of blood and decay. It was a demon! And a "Shadow Claw Demon" skilled in stealth and espionage!

These demons are not strong individually in combat, but they have excellent stealth abilities, their claws and teeth are poisonous, and they specialize in infiltrating, spying, and assassinating sentries.

Their target was clearly the foundation of the city wall below the "Iron Gate" arrow tower—there was a section of the wall damaged by stones thrown a few days ago that had not yet been fully repaired!

Once they get close, they will either destroy the city walls or climb up to attack and kill the sentries!

"It's a Shadowclaw Demon!" Sun Cheng finally recognized it by the faint reflection of the light, and his expression changed drastically. Without further hesitation, he drew the bowstring taut!

Whoosh-!

A piercing whistle echoed through the night sky! The signal arrow, trailing a blinding red light, shot straight into the heavens, then exploded in mid-air into a dazzling burst of flames!

Almost at the same moment the whistle was fired, the three dark figures sprang up from the ground, their speed increasing dramatically! They no longer concealed themselves, landing on all fours, and rushed towards the breached part of the city wall like black lightning!

"Enemy attack—!"

Sun Cheng's roar and the alarm gong from the arrow tower rang out at the same time!

Lin Chen had already moved. The instant the signal arrow pierced the air, he leaped out from the shadows of the arrow tower, his feet landing on the crenellations, and he jumped down!

Instead of jumping off the city wall, he slid down rapidly along a narrow, protruding brick edge on the outer side of the wall, which was used for maintenance! Wolf Gaze Step showed amazing adaptability on the vertical wall. His body was almost parallel to the wall, and he slid down two zhang like a gecko, just in time to intercept the Shadow Claw Demon that pounced on the base of the wall first!

The Shadow Claw Demon was surprised that someone dared to jump down and intercept it. It looked up in astonishment, revealing a ferocious face covered with fine scales and protruding fangs.

Lin Chen's knife struck the moment it raised its head!

Bloodbath Slash!

Without any frills, the blade, imbued with the force of its descent and the power of its entire being, tore through the air from above!

puff!

The Shadowclaw Demon's raised claws to block were severed at the wrist. The blade's momentum continued, slashing down from the top of its head, almost splitting it in two!

Devour!

With his left hand pressed against the demon corpse's wound, Shen Yu thirstily sucked on it.

[Lifespan of the Devouring Shadow Claw Demon: 8 years]

Current lifespan reserve: 41 years

The warm air rushed in, dispelling some of the chill and fatigue.

The other two Shadow Claw Demons pounced forward, one on the left and one on the right, their sharp, eerie blue claws aimed straight for Lin Chen's chest, abdomen, and neck! They moved so fast that only two afterimages could be seen!

Lin Chen planted his feet on the base of the wall, leaned back, and narrowly avoided a claw aimed at his heart. At the same time, he swung his waist knife back to parry another attack aimed at his throat.

Sparks flew! The Shadowclaw Demon's claws were as hard as iron!

The moment the two collided, Lin Chen's left hand shot out like a ghost, not to attack, but to precisely grab the right wrist of the Shadow Claw Demon!

Devour! This time it's not a slow and steady approach, but a full-force explosion!

[Lifespan of the Devouring Shadow Claw Demon: 7 years]

Lifespan: 48 years.

The Shadow Claw Demon screamed in agony as its arm withered and shrank at a visible speed, its strength vanishing instantly. Taking advantage of the moment, Lin Chen stabbed it through the heart with his sword.

Upon seeing this, the last Shadowclaw Demon's eyes flashed with terror. It stopped attacking and turned to flee into the darkness.

But on the city wall, Sun Cheng's bowstring was already vibrating!

Whoosh! Thud!

An arrow pierced its neck precisely, pinning it to the ground.

The battle started quickly and ended even faster.

From the sounding of the whistle to the annihilation of the three-headed shadow claw demon, only a dozen or so breaths had passed.