The Hunt Begins

The two men insisted she eat a bit more, so Lily Grace reluctantly took a few more bites before grimacing and declaring she couldn't eat another morsel. Matthew Long, seeing no point in further persuasion, collected the remaining, now cold, fried rice. 

Lily Grace sighed in relief. By now, night had fully fallen. Matthew Long lit a candle, which became the sole source of light in the darkened room.

"Rest for a bit. We'll head to the rooftop shortly," Matthew Long said, as he retrieved the steel shovel and a dagger. He meticulously wiped both with a cloth before solemnly handing the dagger to Lily Grace.

She took the dagger, noting that it was far sharper than the kitchen knife she had used before.

"I've sharpened this dagger. It's very sharp, so be careful not to cut yourself," Matthew Long cautioned.

Lily Grace nodded and softly murmured her agreement. She glanced at Simon, feeling it would be unfair to neglect the hammer he had given her, so she decided to take it along as well.

The trio rested for a while, understanding that strenuous activity right after eating would not be wise.

Matthew Long glanced at the clock on the wall, which showed seven o'clock. Estimating that they had rested long enough, he extinguished the candle on the table and said, "Let's go."

Grasping the steel shovel in one hand, he opened the door with the other. Lily Grace followed closely behind him, while Simon, armed with an iron rod, took up the rear. Together, they dragged the corpses of the previously slain creatures from the hallway, ascending the stairs toward the rooftop.

Leading the way, Matthew Long guided them up to the rooftop. There, Simon saw numerous bodies piled up, evidence of the recent days' battles. It was clear that all the slain spirit beasts had been transported here by Matthew Long. Simon counted at least twenty or thirty bodies, most of them low-level corpse beasts, with a few water rat beasts among them. The most striking was a giant water rat beast, several times larger than the ordinary ones.

One glance told Simon that this must be the Water Rat King, an elite spirit beast evolved from a water rat beast. Matthew Long had gained his special ability, "Soul Devourer," by slaying this formidable creature.

"The moon is exceptionally large and bright tonight," Matthew Long remarked, looking up at the sky. Despite the lateness of the hour, the moon's gentle light illuminated the scene, casting enough glow for them to see each other's shadowy forms.

"The saying goes that the moon is fullest on the sixteenth night, yet even tonight, the seventeenth, it remains splendid," Simon remarked, glancing up at the sky. He watched as Matthew Long, gripping a corpse in each hand, approached the edge of the rooftop and hurled the bodies over with a powerful swing.

Simon leaned over slightly, observing the corpses plummet into the water below with a resounding splash, sending up sprays of water. He noticed four thick ropes hanging from the rooftop, each secured at one end and trailing into the water at the other.

"What are those ropes for?" he inquired.

"You'll see soon enough," replied Matthew Long, tossing another pair of corpses over the edge.

Simon, accepting this, refrained from further questions. He watched as Matthew Long methodically threw down a total of eight corpses. Finally, Matthew Long paused and said, "Throwing down eight corpses in one go should rouse them. We'll wait here for them to surface."

"So this is how you lured the creatures before, drawing them up to be killed?" Simon asked.

"Exactly. But it's a delicate balance. Too few corpses, and the effect is minimal. Too many, and you risk attracting something far worse. That giant water rat is a case in point. Back then, we didn't know better and threw all the corpses down at once, inadvertently summoning that behemoth. We barely escaped with our lives. I got lucky and managed to kill it, but survival was pure chance."

Matthew Long still seemed to shudder at the memory of slaying the Water Rat King. Simon made a sound of acknowledgment but remained silent, his gaze fixed downward. Under the moonlight, he observed the eight corpses sinking into the water, which soon began to ripple with unusual disturbances. Shadows swiftly emerged from the depths.

"Wouldn't they appear if we didn't throw the corpses into the water?" Simon asked quietly, reflecting on the past two days when Source Beasts had appeared sporadically without him casting any bodies into the water. It seemed the presence of these creatures wasn't strictly tied to the act of disposing of corpses.

Matthew Long, his eyes trained on the commotion below, explained, "Of course not. Even without casting corpses, they would still appear, but their appearances are unpredictable and random. This unpredictability puts us at a disadvantage, forcing us to remain vigilant at all times. By tossing the corpses at once, we can lure them out, making them surface all at once at a specific time. This way, we can hunt them more efficiently, and their appearances at other times become significantly less frequent."

Listening to Matthew Long's explanation, Simon nodded in understanding. This method indeed had merit, using the corpses as bait to draw out the Source Beasts at a time of their choosing, allowing for concentrated hunting efforts. As a result, the probability of these creatures appearing at other times would be greatly reduced.

Simon then noticed figures emerging from the water below. In the moonlight, he saw their bloated, pale faces, recognizing them as low-level Corpse Beasts.

The Corpse Beasts emerged from the water, reaching out to grasp the hanging ropes and begin their ascent. Simon took a quiet breath, now understanding the purpose of the four ropes: they were meant for the Corpse Beasts to climb up to the rooftop.

"Although these zombies have simple minds, they can utilize the ropes to climb up," Simon remarked softly. "We can easily deal with them just by staying here."

Matthew Long, holding his shovel, smiled and said, "But there's no point in us killing these zombies. Let's leave them to Xuehui to handle and let her level up to Tier 2 sooner."

Lily Grace stood beside Simon, craning her neck to look down below like him. Her pupils contracted slightly, focusing keenly like a hawk's eyes. Suddenly, she spoke up, "There's one down there with three hands."

"Three hands? Among these Corpse Beasts?" Simon was puzzled, scanning the creatures climbing up the ropes, but he didn't see any with an extra hand.

Lily Grace nodded affirmatively.

The Corpse Beasts climbed steadily up the ropes, not slow in their ascent. Soon, they appeared before the three of them.

Matthew Long didn't move forward to attack, fearing he might knock them off the ropes. Instead, he let them reach the rooftop before swinging his shovel forcefully down.