I built a safe house in the eerie night.

After encountering a series of unusual events, Jiang Ning was shrouded in confusion, feeling bewildered and at a loss, as if he were trapped in deep water, unable to reach the shore or see what was floating on the surface.

But the journey must continue.

"Let's go take a look," he said in a deep voice.

The five of them were on high alert, carefully approaching the dark and narrow cave entrance.

Jiang Ning observed carefully and found that the strange skeletons scattered outside the cave entrance were exactly the same as those he had seen inside the cave before.

Apart from the stark white bones, there was nothing else. Even the remaining gray spirits had completely vanished, let alone any other debris.

"Young master, this place...it's a bit eerie."

Even the usually bold Yu Niu sounded a little nervous as he looked at the various shapes and empty skeletons on the ground.

The other three instinctively moved closer to each other, their expressions wary.

"It's broad daylight, it's alright," Jiang Ning said, trying to calm himself down.

He knew that these villagers had been struggling to survive in the mountains for nearly two years and were already filled with fear, with a deep-seated dread of strange things.

It was only through my recent arrival and a series of actions that the suppressed courage in their hearts was gradually awakened.

But faced with this obviously bizarre scene, that instinctive fear of the unknown still quietly resurfaces.

Hearing Jiang Ning's calm voice, the group finally calmed down a bit.

Yu Niu straightened his back again, walked at the front, and used his bone spear to push aside the dry bones blocking his way.

In the past, he would never have dared to offend these strange corpses in this way.

But now that Jiang Ning is by his side, he feels he has a backbone and confidence, and that stubbornness in his bones has returned.

The others were mostly the same.

Jiang Ning approached the largest first-tier monster skeleton and bent down to examine it carefully.

The bone structure was indeed much denser than that of the lower-level strange creatures, but apart from that, no further discoveries were made.

Unlike the several strange corpses found here last time, this one didn't even have any lingering eerie aura, as if it had been purified and stripped away by some kind of power.

Last time, at least we were able to extract Black Tai Sui or even rare treasures from the corpses of these Tier 1 monsters.

The things before us, including this first-tier monster, were unsettlingly clean. This was a sight that should only be seen upon entering the cave, but now it seemed especially eerie.

Jiang Ning stood up and looked around.

This clearing, tightly surrounded by withered trees, is only illuminated by sparse branches overhead, creating an eerie stillness and emptiness.

The open ground was littered with a dozen or twenty low-level, bizarre skeletons, with even more piled up near the cave entrance, extending inwards, indicating that there were also new deaths inside the cave.

"Chop some wood on the spot and make two simple trailers to haul this big one back later."

Jiang Ning gave the instructions.

The two young men followed orders, took off the axes they were carrying, and without saying a word, found suitable dead wood nearby and began chopping.

Jiang Ning, accompanied by Yu Niu and Er Hu, carrying the fluorescent stone, stepped into the deep cave once again.

As soon as I entered, that familiar chilling aura surged in, enveloping my entire body, even more biting than last time.

At this moment, the passage inside the cave was almost filled with strange skeletons of all sizes. They were all in a state of skeletal decay, with no material residue, but they were all basically intact.

"Young Master, the road seems to be blocked. Should we still go in?"

Yu Niu had been here before, and although he felt even colder this time, he remained calm.

Jiang Ning used the dim light to look into the mountain of bones deep inside. After searching around, he found one or two skeletons that were significantly larger in size, which should also be first-tier monsters.

"Go in and drag out the two big ones. The others... we don't need them."

Jiang Ning said decisively.

The skeleton of a Tier 1 monster is a key material for crafting bone spears; if you have the ability, you should take it with you.

As for those low-level, bizarre skeletons, they are unnecessary; the village already has mountains of them, and they are not of much use for the time being.

The three then worked together to painstakingly clear and drag the bones through the narrow passage filled with them.

It took quite a bit of effort to separate the two relatively intact first-tier monster skeletons from the pile of bones and slowly drag them out of the cave.

At this moment, the two young men outside had already used the cut branches and vines to quickly tie together two simple but sturdy planks, and fixed the largest skeleton of the monster outside the cave entrance onto them.

Afterwards, the group tied up the two skeletons that had been dragged out of the cave together.

As for the countless low-level skeletons inside and outside the cave, they can only be left aside for the time being.

Before leaving, Jiang Ning stood at the edge of the open space and gazed deeply at the dark cave entrance.

The doubts deepened, but with our current capabilities, exploring further would be tantamount to an adventure into the abyss.

We can only mark this evil place in our hearts for now, and leave it for the future.

"Let's go, this place is a bit eerie, let's go back first."

Jiang Ning withdrew his gaze, turned around, and led the team back.

Only after leaving the area affected by the eerie cave and stepping back into a relatively normal withered forest did the strange corpses scattered on the ground return to normal.

Gray residue of the Tai Sui began to appear.

Jiang Ning walked back, looting corpses along the way, but his luck was so-so that he only managed to find two low-grade spirit stones.

"That's not bad."

Jiang Ning tried to console himself.

The large number of monsters killed in the village's defensive battle over the past few days have also dropped some spirit stones, totaling seventy or eighty in total.

Although spirit stones are currently mainly used for building new structures and upgrading altars, and no other wide-ranging uses have yet been discovered, they are a potential hard currency, and the more the better.

Overall, this trip was very fruitful.

Not only did they successfully obtain four Ghost Eye Crystals, but they also unexpectedly acquired four Ghost Hand Vine, and the three Tier 1 Ghost skeletons were enough to forge three bone spears.

Although no new rare treasures were dropped, it was perfectly acceptable, and the process went smoothly.

As for the child's footprints and the unusual deep cave, Jiang Ning noticed them, but had no time to investigate further.

Right now, we still need to make way for defending against the eerie tides at night. No matter how amazing the secrets that this mountain may hold, we have to wait until the village has a firm foothold before we can talk about them.

Returning to the edge of the dead forest, the outline of the village came into view.

The area that was cleared of debris was now much more open.

Useful shady wood was transported back to the warehouse, while useless dead trees were piled up further away.

Seeing the open space that these young men had worked so hard to clear, Jiang Ning also began to make plans.

After the tree roots are cleared away, this land can be used to cultivate farmland.

The village's territory is limited, so stable planting in the surrounding areas would be of great importance.

But what to plant, and how to prevent the destruction of the strange tides outside the territory?

These are all issues that require careful consideration.

The most important thing right now is to weather tonight's most intense expected attack.

If things go relatively smoothly, it's not too late to consider farming on the outskirts.

Yu Niu and Er Hu worked together to drag the three enormous skeletons of the strange creatures outside the village and pile them up. Then they turned around and joined the team that was cutting down trees and clearing land.

Everyone understands that cutting down more dead trees that obstruct the view and might hide eerie creatures will make the village safer.

At this moment, Zhou Lei walked over, staring dumbfounded at the three enormous, bizarre skeletons that were far beyond the ordinary:

"Young master, should we burn these too?"

"Don't burn them, they have another important use." Jiang Ning smiled and then asked:

"How's the burning progressing today?"

"It's almost halfway done," Zhou Lei replied, his gaze still fixed on the skeleton, and he couldn't help but ask:

"Young master, may I...may I touch it?"

Jiang Ning was somewhat surprised, and nodded, saying, "If you're not afraid, then go ahead and touch it."

"Don't be afraid, they're all dead, they won't bite..." Zhou Lei muttered to himself, mustering his courage to approach, reaching out his hand and trembling as he touched the cold, hard bones.

Even though his body stiffened instinctively upon contact, he quickly adapted, his expression becoming focused, even showing a hint of research-oriented curiosity.

Jiang Ning saw this and felt gratified.

This transformation from numbness and fear to proactive engagement, and then to an attempt to understand, is exactly what he is happy to see.

The spirit of the village is changing little by little.

Without disturbing Zhou Lei, Jiang Ning entered the village and opened the [Heavenly Craftsman] interface.

First, bring up the architectural blueprint for the "Forging Workshop".

A large workshop made of stone and rough wood appeared in the distance.

Jiang Ning walked around the village measuring the land and finally chose a construction site next to the warehouse at the back of the village.

The only problem is that the stockpile of Black Tai Sui needed to create resources is empty.

Jiang Ning could only take out one leather lucky bag and open it on the spot.

A flash of light revealed a common resource of purple quality: [Gained: 1000 Black Tai Sui, 100 Yin Wood.]

"That's enough." Jiang Ning no longer hesitated, selected the resources, and confirmed the construction.

[Consumes: 200 Black Tai Sui, 50 Yin Wood, 50 Black Stones, 10 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.]

Familiar with the rising and swirling black smoke, which then quickly dissipates into the sky and earth.

On the ground, the wooden and stone framework of the workshop began to rapidly materialize and solidify from the bottom up.

Before long, a "forging workshop" that was nearly twice the size of an ordinary village house, with a rugged appearance and obvious ironwork decoration style, rose up in the open space at the back of the village.

After observing the surroundings for a while, Jiang Ning stepped inside.

The workshop is equipped with two or three forging furnaces, as well as bellows, anvils, hammers, chisels and other tools, which can basically meet the needs of conventional ironware making.

But his gaze was soon drawn to a peculiar stone platform on the right side of the entrance.

The stone platform is carved with intricate and unfamiliar patterns, which seem somewhat out of place with the surrounding rough environment.

View the interface in Jiangning:

[Star Casting Platform (an auxiliary facility of the Forging Workshop)]

[Description: A casting table imbued with special energy; by inputting specific basic raw materials, it may produce unexpected results.]

"Star Forging Platform... Special Forging?"

Jiang Ning looked thoughtfully at this unexpected ancillary facility.

It seems that this "forging workshop" may have even more potential than expected.