I built a safe house in the eerie night.

"call out--"

"Whoosh—"

The sound of something cutting through the air continued to echo in the darkness, intertwining with eerie roars to create a symphony of the night.

The two bone arrow towers were still firing, continuing to shoot.

Jiang Ning listened to the sounds outside and found them more beautiful than any music. Unfortunately, these enchanting sounds of slaughter could not last.

He regretted it somewhat; if he had known the arrow tower was so effective, he should have had the villagers collect more strange skeletons for future use.

However, there weren't many recent deaths or strange occurrences in the area near the village; most of the remains were old bones. If you wanted more, you'd have to risk going deep into the woods to scavenge, but you couldn't find much more, and you couldn't keep shooting all night long.

However, looking at the strange corpses falling outside, Jiang Ning felt a surge of excitement. With so many experience packs falling, surely one or two "treasures" would drop?

Moreover, it's best if it greatly helps in resource extraction; otherwise, having only building blueprints or other treasures without the materials to build or craft them would be quite awkward.

The two "Devouring Flowers" also demonstrated value far exceeding expectations, not only successfully attracting a lot of firepower, but also proving to be much more resilient to chewing than imagined.

Jiang Ning observed the whole process and saw that the plant on the left had successfully swallowed the third strange creature. Even though the petals were somewhat damaged, they were still swaying stubbornly.

The one on the right is in a similar situation.

This investment, at least in terms of functionality, has already been worthwhile.

However, the attack frequency of the Bone Arrow Tower is indeed gradually and noticeably decreasing.

The intervals between the skull's shots grew longer, and the eerie light in its eye sockets dimmed considerably.

Jiang Ning sighed. Limited resources were a predictable outcome; he had no choice but to accept it.

Time slipped away bit by bit amidst the torment.

Finally, the last piercing whistle subsided.

Shortly afterward, there was the crisp cracking sound of plant fibers being torn apart, accompanied by the increasingly ferocious roars and thrashing of the monsters.

Jiang Ning silently withdrew his gaze from the crack in the door, turned around, walked to the simple bed, and lay down.

He could hardly bear to watch any longer.

"The planning was inadequate, and resources couldn't be allocated properly..."

He stared at the dark ceiling, pondering to himself, his fingers tapping on the edge of the bed.

"If there were more Black Tai Sui, more bones... if we built more walls, more defensive towers..."

Jiang Ning shook his head, forcing himself to ignore the dull thud of the wooden wall being hit outside, and instead carefully planned the future allocation of resources and the order of construction.

Wang Fu remained stubbornly behind the door, gripping the hoe tightly in his hand. His wrinkled old face was filled with heartache and a fierce, almost impulsive, eagerness to try.

He watched helplessly as those ghostly things outside frantically attacked the protective wooden wall surrounding the arrow tower, feeling as if they were smashing his young master's hard work, which was even more painful than being beaten himself.

"Uncle Fu," Jiang Ning's deep voice came, "Don't do anything foolish. Human lives are more valuable than those two towers. If the towers are destroyed, we can rebuild them..."

Wang Fu's body stiffened, and he choked up.

He was unaware that Jiang Ning possessed an extraordinary ability, and subconsciously assumed that building such a miraculous arrow tower must have required Jiang Ning's immense effort and sacrifice, just like the ordinary craftsmen outside.

Legends about shortening lifespan or depleting one's life force would be too much of a pity to destroy, and might even be impossible to recreate.

In a moment of folly, he came up with the incredibly naive and foolish idea of ​​rushing out to draw fire and protect the arrow tower.

You must understand that in the face of an endless, bizarre, and raging tide, a person is as fragile as sand, scattered by a gust of wind, and can do nothing.

"If I...if I go out..." Wang Fu's voice was hoarse.

"If you go out and the eerie creature rushes into this house, I won't survive either."

Jiang Ning's voice was calm, "So, forget about those ghosts outside. Now, get some sleep if you can."

Wang Fu calmed down completely and felt ashamed of his impulsiveness.

How insignificant and laughable an individual is... He took a deep breath and stopped talking.

However, he did not lie down to rest, but instead stared intently at the door with wide eyes, as if trying to relieve some of the pressure on the two arrow towers that were bearing the impact with his gaze.

He wasn't the only one acting impulsively.

Inside the house where Yu Niu was, the dark-skinned boy was also gripping an axe tightly, his eyes red as he stared outside.

He could hear the sound of the wooden wall being attacked.

Those two arrow towers were built by Young Master Jiang Ning to protect the village and everyone. They must have come at an unimaginable cost, and now they're going to be destroyed like this?

In a moment of impulsiveness, he actually had the same foolish idea as Wang Fu.

It wasn't until the men in the room held him down tightly and whispered, "Do you want to kill everyone, kill Young Master Jiang?" that he felt as if he had been doused with cold water. His bloodshot eyes were tightly closed, and the arm holding the axe trembled uncontrollably.

A profound sense of powerlessness transformed into intense anger, which grew wildly in his heart—one day, Yu Niu would definitely kill all these bastards!

By the end of the long night, the Devouring Flower had long since turned to ashes.

Having lost their primary bait and arrow threat, the monsters shifted their focus to the low wooden wall.

The dull, relentless thuds, followed by the sickening cracking of wood, relentlessly tormented the nerves of everyone in the village.

The brief sense of security that came from the arrow towers wreaking havoc earlier has vanished like a bubble.

The familiar feeling of helplessness and fear gripped everyone's throat once again.

They huddled in the dimly lit room, listening to the increasingly clear and terrifying roars outside, and feeling the altar's protection weaken imperceptibly as it continued to weaken.

They were overwhelmed by the fear of the altar going out, as if they had fallen into the same cycle of fate where they could only wait to be devoured, until they were completely consumed and eaten by the monster, only then could this fear be stopped.

This seems to be their fate, the fate of this village.

Torment, numbness, half-asleep, half-awake...

Time has lost its meaning.

until.

A wisp of gray struggled to pierce the darkness of the sky.

The various eerie sounds receded quickly, like the tide going out, and finally returned to a deathly silence.

It was a deathly stillness, more unsettling than any clamor, a lifeless stillness.

It seems that this land was meant to be this way, and the eerie is what should exist here. It's just that the savagery of the daytime drives them away, forcing them to retreat temporarily, only to return again at night.

Its daybreak.

Jiang Ning immediately opened his eyes, rolled out of bed, walked to the door, and without hesitation, pulled open the door.

The stench and the light morning mist rushed into his nostrils, jolting his tense nerves and making his already clear mind even sharper.

He looked up.

At the village entrance, the two bone arrow towers still stand!

Although the tower has many scratches of varying depths and dents from impacts.

The wooden walls surrounding the tower base were almost completely destroyed, leaving only some remnants, but the two arrow towers did indeed stand until the very end.

Jiang Ning watched, the corners of his mouth involuntarily turning upwards, eventually turning into a relieved chuckle.

"Great tower!"

It was worth the ordeal of the night!

And they got through the night safely!

In truth, he knew that luck played a part.

In the latter half of the night, after those ghostly things destroyed the wooden wall, they obviously launched an attack on the arrow tower itself.

It's possible that the arrow towers themselves lack "life," or that in their mindless and crazy logic, the sturdy tower body is not a priority target. After attacking for a while, they turned their attention to the more "human" houses.

Otherwise, there would have been no chance of either arrow tower surviving.

"What's the logic behind these things' behavior? Is it just because of the protection of the altar's barrier...?"

Jiang Ning frowned in thought.

Why don't these things just demolish the house? Is it because their level isn't high enough to break through the altar?

Or is it the altar that is powerful, and comes with a set of rules?

Jiang Ning couldn't understand the reason for the time being, but perhaps this was the greatness of those sages who had long since disappeared into the long river of history, who had followed one after another and sacrificed themselves for the human race.

Without this, the human race would probably have gone extinct long ago.

He turned his head and looked towards the center of the village.

That faint, protective glow was now so dim that it was almost indistinguishable in the morning light.

A new day begins, bringing with it a chilling countdown.

"Remaining time to complete extinguishing: 3 days"