As the sweeper of the Riverfront Area, Su Chen had now dutifully returned to his domain.
After clearly spotting the Night Monkeys rummaging through the wreckage by the riverbed with his night-vision goggles, he avoided using his flashlight so as not to alert them. His figure moved toward the riverbank, using the terrain to his advantage to stay out of their line of sight.
"Go. Let’s see what you’ve got."
After Su Chen gave the command to Xiaoye, the Shadow Hound kicked off its hind legs and scurried away like a puff of black smoke.
Midway there, its silhouette rapidly faded, vanishing into the night.
Of course, even while it was invisible, Su Chen, as the summon’s master, could feel Xiaoye’s presence in real time through their Soul Contract.
He could even communicate with it remotely through this link.
By the time it silently closed in on the middle of the riverbank, the two Night Monkeys ten meters away were still oblivious to the approaching danger, continuing to rummage through a box of apples inside an overturned car.
These Night Monkeys had prominent eyeballs, giving them a unique visual advantage. But when it came to their sense of smell, like other primates, it was thousands of times inferior to that of canines.
The two Night Monkeys inside the car were essentially fish in a barrel.
’If these were startled, the other monkeys in the vicinity would quickly flee.’
’To maximize the yield, I need to get into position first.’
SWISH!
SWISH!
The Shadow Leap Rune activated twice in quick succession. Wreathed in the power of Shadow, Su Chen performed a spatial jump, appearing next to the public restroom on the riverbank.
He wasn’t sure if this energy disturbance was enough to alert the Night Monkeys.
So...
"Now!!"
The moment he was in position, the golf ball he already had clutched in his hand flared with frenzied flame energy. Without pausing to aim, he hurled it directly at the distant Night Monkey that was busy eating.
BOOM!
The explosion of fire instantly engulfed its entire body. Its small, crouched form was blasted into a heap of charred remains on the spot.
Startled by the massive explosion, a sharp screech came from inside the public restroom. As a panicked creature tried to dart out of the men’s room door, Su Chen, who was waiting outside, swung his fire axe in a backhand motion and cleanly lopped its head off as if splitting firewood.
The other Night Monkey inside was scared out of its wits. It turned and fled deeper into the restroom, trying to escape through a broken ventilation window.
Su Chen channeled his inner Warrior, throwing the axe with thunderous force. It accurately struck the monkey’s silhouette in the window frame, pinning it to the broken window like a ragdoll.
At the same time.
That "Now!" had, of course, been issued to Xiaoye through their Soul Contract.
The Shadow Hound pushed off with its legs, leaping through the open car window and landing directly on top of one of the Night Monkeys.
Before the creature could struggle, the hound’s fangs sank deep into the nape of its neck. With a savage twist and pull, it ripped away a large chunk of flesh, tearing out the spine along with it.
The other Night Monkey, horrified, scrambled toward the gap in the car door, trying to escape.
But just as it crawled halfway out, Xiaoye was upon it, biting down on its ankle and dragging it back inside.
The monkey tried to resist, but the hound’s fangs had already clamped down and snapped its neck. With a violent shake of its head, the hound flung the little monkey around like a broken, stringless puppet.
In a short span of time, master and pet had simultaneously completed their kills.
Penta-kill secured!
The previously scattered troop of monkeys panicked even more, frantically fleeing the area. Many of their kind had already retreated across South Bridge.
These Night Monkeys were inherently weak, with a nature to bully the weak and fear the strong—not unlike the infamous monkeys of Mount Emei. Since the campsite wasn’t their territory, they had no instinct to defend it and would naturally flee home when threatened.
Su Chen didn’t waste any time, immediately starting to take stock of his loot.
One thing was clear: not all Night Monkeys had the invisibility ability, and they weren’t guaranteed to drop a Dark Element essence.
Luckily...
...they all dropped something.
The Night Monkey he had killed with a downward chop from his axe dropped one.
In the middle of the road, a gleam like Obsidian shone from within the pile of bloody paste.
The one pinned to the restroom wall had also coughed up a black pearl.
’Picking up two should be enough to level up.’
As Su Chen picked them up one by one, he allowed his Summon Rune to devour and absorb them.
HUM!
A ripple spread through the depths of his consciousness as the Summon Rune completed its upgrade and transformation.
[Shadow Summon] Lv1 → Lv2! Upgrade successful!
Pet Skill Unlocked: Shadow Claw
(Shadow Claw: Claw attacks will be imbued with 100% Dark Energy. On hit, it inflicts Continuous Bleeding, Attribute Weakening, and Mental Panic.)
Trait Enhanced: Damage Amplification
[Shadow Summon] (Lv2): The Spellcaster summons one Shadow Hound from the Netherworld. Its maximum duration on the field is determined by the Rune Energy Bar.
Contract Slots: 1/1
Promotion Requirement: Shadow Summon Runes 0/2.
’It strengthened Xiaoye’s damage and added a new Skill.’
Su Chen took a closer look at the effects of Shadow Claw. The incredibly sharp claw attack would inflict three types of debilitating curses on hit.
’So the damage comes with debuffs.’
’Extrapolating from this, I’ll definitely be running into these kinds of negative effects in the future.’
’And this requires a direct hit. If a monster could inflict a curse on me from a distance, I don’t think I’d have much of a defense against it.’
’As expected, it all comes down to my Physique attribute. I need to be able to directly nullify these negative effects.’
In addition.
One thing was clear: Xiaoye’s summoning duration depended on the Rune Energy Bar. If he could find a more efficient means of Recovery, he might be able to keep it active 24/7, achieving a permanent summon.
Su Chen looked within his Sea of Consciousness to check the status of each Rune’s Energy Bar.
The Water Mirror Refraction Rune was back to full.
After being used at its maximum frequency, the glow of the Flame Burst Rune had dimmed by almost half.
Logically, he should have consumed far more Rune Energy, but his family’s heirloom Jade Pendant was acting like a giant power bank, constantly absorbing Plant Energy to recharge him.
It was like playing on a phone while it was charging. If the power bank was more efficient, the phone could probably stay at 100% battery all the time.
But at his current rate, with intermittent fighting, he should have no problem lasting the entire night.
His stamina was also abundant, and he didn’t feel much fatigue.
Elsewhere.
Following its master’s command, Xiaoye rummaged through the two Night Monkey corpses but only managed to find one Dark Element essence, which it promptly brought over in its mouth.
After leveling up, the Shadow Hound hadn’t evolved, but it had grown slightly larger, and the pitch-black ripples undulating around its body had become denser.
"Now, I’m just four Dark Element essences short of another upgrade," Su Chen sighed to himself. This efficiency was truly god-like.
’For the next upgrade, an evolution would be best, but unlocking another contract slot would also be great.’
He raised his night-vision goggles to look at South Bridge again. Zooming in, he could only see the figures of the Night Monkeys disappearing completely into the distance.
Generally, these nocturnal monkeys probably slept in tree hollows during the day. If the ancient trees weren’t so massive, tall, and densely packed, he would have been tempted to climb up and search for their nests.
’I’m not going to chase them.’
Su Chen had no intention of rushing into the Mysterious Forest at night. Even with the Shadow Hound guarding him, it would still be risky.
Right now, the best way to kill monsters was to either wait and ambush them at the bridge or return to the campsite.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a massive explosion echoed from the campsite behind him.

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