Killing Monsters at Night

Liu Guanan's steps faltered—something felt off.

At the edge of the graveyard, dozens of rotting corpses shuffled through the mist, their mouths releasing sharp, low-pitched whimpers that echoed hauntingly across the dark night. Liu Guanan frowned. Normally, these creatures stayed dormant unless provoked. But now, they were stirring on their own.

Cautiously, he crept forward. The stench of decay was overpowering, thick as fog. Though the Corpse Dan he'd taken made him immune to the toxins, the sheer foulness still churned his gut.

"Disgusting…"

Forty meters… thirty meters.

Suddenly, one of the corpses twisted its head unnaturally and stared directly at him. Half its face was a blur of rot. With a guttural growl, it charged. The rest followed like bloodhounds sensing prey.

"Shit!" Liu cursed, pivoting on his heel and sprinting away. One or two he could handle—but thirty? No way. Worse yet, these corpses were faster and more perceptive at night. During the day, they only sensed movement within fifteen meters. Now it felt like double that.

The sound of feet pounding behind him grew louder. Panic clawed at his chest, but he forced himself to breathe deep. No good comes from losing your head in a crisis. The terrain here was flat and open—no cover, no ditches. If he wanted to survive, he'd have to rely on his skills alone.

Focusing his senses, he nocked an arrow onto his Iron Birchwood Bow. The arrowhead, forged from carrion nails, glowed with a wicked red hue under the blood moon.

Five meters. Three.

Liu spun, his body moving with the precision of muscle memory. The bow bent into a full crescent—then snapped forward.

Thwip!

The arrow sang into the night—missed.

"Damn it!"

He didn't have time to reload. The undead were on him. Dropping low, he leapt like a toad between snapping jaws and clawing hands. In the same motion, he loosed another shot.

Thunk!

An arrow struck a corpse square in the eye socket. It dropped, twitching.

"Could've been a brow shot…" he muttered, annoyed at the drop in accuracy.

Spinning again, he fired a third arrow—this time with full force.

Crack!

The shaft pierced through another corpse's brow, exiting cleanly through the back of its skull. The creature fell without a sound.

"Yes!" Liu's chest surged with triumph. His first clean kill in months. Efficient. Satisfying.

But no time to celebrate. Five or six more surrounded him. A claw raked across his back. Blood splattered. Pain flared.

"Damn!"

No room to retreat. Gritting his teeth, Liu crouched and fired in rapid succession.

Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!

Three arrows. One missed, one hit wide, one struck true—but lacked the force to finish the job.

Another swipe. Claws skimmed his ear, tore into his shoulder. Liu froze, drawing the bowstring taut, his veins bulging with strain. As the corpse lunged—he let go.

Crack!

The arrow embedded itself deep into the creature's skull. Half the shaft jutted from the back of its head. The corpse collapsed.

No hesitation—Liu grabbed the body and threw it over his back like a shield. As he crawled low, the surrounding corpses tore into their fallen kin in a frenzy. Blood splashed. Rotten meat flew. He bit back his nausea and crawled until he was free of the encirclement. Then rolled away, snatched his bow, and fired while retreating.

Several arrows launched—only one found its mark, another eye socket shot.

"This won't do…"

Darkness ruined his aim, and the speed of the carrion didn't help. Worse still, he'd rushed, let panic creep in. Rookie mistake.

He calmed his breath.

Buzz.

A bowstring snapped.

Three meters away, a carrion dropped—arrow clean through the brow. Perfect.

But they were flanking him now. Sprinting like a track star, Liu weaved through them. Claws narrowly missed him. He reached the graveyard's outer rim, where corpse-gas thinned. Normally, carrion didn't stray this far, but bloodlust had overridden their instincts.

He reached for his quiver—only four arrows left.

"Damn…"

His heart sank. He'd lost count. Should've had a double-arrow setup like real archers. Would've made this horde a joke.

A fresh corpse charged—barely rotted, with intact clothes and a single blood-red eye gleaming in the night.

No more running. Surrounded. He had to make this shot count.

Breath in. Focus. The moment the corpse's movement entered his mind, his fingers let go.

Whump!

Dead center brow—except the arrow only sank an inch before bouncing off.

"What?!"

A side-lunging corpse crashed into him. Reflexively, Liu kicked it in the chest. The impact launched him six meters away. His leg screamed in pain—maybe fractured.

As he tumbled, he spotted the failed arrow on the ground—and understood. It lacked carrion nails or beast bone. Just plain Iron Birch. Too soft.

"Stupid!"

Know your enemy, know yourself. He'd forgotten the basics.

Still kneeling, he nocked another arrow and fired.

Thwip! Eye socket hit. Still alive.

Thwip! Second corpse down, hit dead-on in the socket. He realized the key—behind the eye socket was likely the carrion's control center.

Momentum shifted. The remaining corpses hesitated. Liu dashed, ignoring the pain. Fifteen meters… ten… five…

The stench overwhelmed him. One corpse was less than a meter behind.

With a final leap, he twisted mid-air, back to the ground, one last arrow nocked.

It gleamed—carrion nail-tipped, sharp as a blade.

Thwip!

The charging corpse jerked, the arrow bursting through its brow. It fell instantly, blocking the path behind. The rest stumbled, hesitating.

Liu hit the ground hard, dizzy, but crawled away. He reached a massive lotus-leaf-shaped plant he'd seen during previous observations. Its leaves, over 1.5 meters wide, held pools of water.

He dumped the cool liquid over himself, washing away the blood scent.

The moment the blood smell vanished, the carrion grew confused. Their rage subsided. Within minutes, they returned to their graves.

Liu lay flat for five minutes, sore but alive. Thankful.

He'd set up this water trap days ago. It had just saved his life.

Dragging himself to the last fallen corpse, he retrieved the arrow. It was already warped—corpse poison really was vicious. Thankfully, the nails held. He used one to dig out the precious white crystal from its skull and swallowed it.

A rush of energy surged through him. The cold vanished. Pain receded. His wounds healed.

"White crystals… amazing."

Nine corpses slain. Four clean kills, five eye socket shots. He looted them all, harvesting white crystals and internal meat sacs.

Three bodies were too close to the others. He didn't dare risk them yet. So he waited—two whole hours. Finally, under the fading blood moon, the remaining carrion retreated.

He quickly finished the job.

Nine meat sacs. All copper coins. A total of 121.

No gold. Not even a silver.

Disappointing.

But the real prize? Nails. Ninety of them.

"Now I won't run out of arrowheads anytime soon."

It took two trips to haul the corpses back to Stone City. Each was lighter than a living human, but still heavy. Thankfully, those nine white crystals had boosted his strength considerably.

By dawn, everything was done.

Nine silver coins gained. A full night of battle survived.

And Liu Guanan? Stronger than ever.