Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely Chapter 1288 - 423: Shadow Demon Insect, Xiang Liang Takes First Credit, Cheng Ping’s Regret

Thud...

The firelight's shadow sprawled across the ground cracked open at its top, twisting into a mouth with a savage grin like some humanoid fiend.

The white-clad youth discovered the laughter emanated from that ground shadow; his frame locked rigid, quivering without control, eyes brimming with sheer terror and dread.

"Heh heh heh heh..."

The ghostly cackle rang out anew, as a second humanoid silhouette brandishing a long blade rose behind it, wordlessly laying the edge on the first shadow's neck.

The youth in white appeared utterly frozen, delaying his draw of the waist sword and instead fumbling into his chest pocket.

Whoosh...

Evidently unwilling to dawdle, the ground shadow slashed its blade with haste. Though just a silhouette of man and weapon, the stroke whipped the nearby air into a sharp whistling gale.

Sizzle!

But in that pivotal instant, the white-clad youth yanked out a specially prepared Yellow Candle from his bosom, one designed to blaze instantly on exposure.

"Ah..."

Once the Yellow Candle flared to life, the ground shadow unleashed a miserable howl, its form starting to warp chaotically.

Beep...

Bathed in the Yellow Candle's glow, a clear, piercing Bone Whistle blasted through the air nearby. The youth had simultaneously retrieved the Bone Whistle with the candle.

"Finally caught you, you wicked beast!"

The youth snapped his head up, unveiling himself as Xiang Liang, Vice Chief of Punishment in Hongmen.

No trace of inebriation lingered on Xiang Liang's features; the terror in his gaze flipped in a flash to keen acuity and savagery. He kept blowing the Bone Whistle while swiftly drawing the Knife from his waist and thrusting it straight into the writhing shadow.

Clang...

Still, the Solidified Fire Oil-smeared Knife plunged through the shadow without the lethal strike Xiang Liang anticipated, merely sparking on impact and worsening the shadow's contortions.

Nevertheless, pain clearly shot through the shadow, igniting its rage anew as it hoisted its blade once more, hacking toward Xiang Liang's shadow's head to finish its interrupted assault.

Whoosh...

However, this time the shadow's once-unfailing beheading fell flat!

Blanketed by the Yellow Candle's radiance, it reverted to an ordinary shadow; the blade's silhouette sliced harmlessly past, leaving Xiang Liang untouched.

Whizz...

Awareness dawning, the shadow contracted swiftly into a fist-sized black speck before darting away into the closest building's shadow.

"Everyone, light the Yellow Candle, surround this filthy creature!"

Sizzle...

Yet right as it fled into the shadow zone, a massive Great Han clad in golden armor gripping a Big Saber charged out from an adjacent alley—he was Zhu Xing, Colonel of the Cloud Dragon Army’s Reconnaissance Camp.

Zhu Xing lit his Yellow Candle the moment he arrived, claiming the shadow zone, and gestured for the troops trailing him to ignite theirs as well.

With the shadow zone lit up, the shadow found no refuge and bolted toward other dark patches.

Sizzle sizzle...

Zhu Xing led the charge; spurred by Xiang Liang's Bone Whistle, hundreds of Cloud Dragon Army soldiers surged from every side, Yellow Candles in hand, quickly flooding the gloomy alley with light.

Shadow zones shrank progressively, squeezing the shadow's maneuver room until it got pinned in the final dark spot by the wall.

Whoosh...

A Silver Sharp Arrow streaked through the night, striking true in the shadow zone, yet like Xiang Liang's knife, it only sparked without inflicting deadly harm.

"Shriek..."

Unlike prior cries, this piercing wail from the shadow zone carried raw agony; the black speck zipped wildly like a fly sans head inside the zone, too scared to venture out.

"This black dot shouldn’t be its true form, but it’s certain it can only move within shadow areas, we’ll find its real body!"

Lin Kai in crimson robes vaulted from far rooftops, landing atop the wall to glare down at the raging black speck in the shadow, face dark with menace.

His freshly loosed arrow, forged from pure silver and slathered thick with Solidified Fire Oil, elicited just a weak flicker from the black speck—marking it apart from typical Deceitful Monsters.

Whoosh... whoosh...

Two additional silhouettes arrived in quick succession, positioning beside him: Yuwen Dao and Yuan Cheng from different angles.

"Five consecutive nights, finally caught it, this wretched thing sure is cautious!"

Yuan Cheng peered at the shadow beneath, drew a silver dagger, skewered a chunk of Solidified Fire Oil, and hurled it at the shadow zone.

"Shriek..."

Just as with Lin Kai's earlier arrow, the black speck in the shadow flared on dagger impact, shrieking piercingly yet unscathed, still zipping about in panic.

"Can only move within shadow areas?"

Yuwen Dao sized up the scene and grasped the truth at once.

"Everyone gather, trap it in the middle!"