It lay sprawled on the ground, like a breathing, dark green hill.

The most intimidating thing was its size.

It was several times longer than an Ordinary crocodile, its rough Scale Armor like ancient, weathered rock, layered thick.

Zhou Mo and the others held their breath unconsciously as the crocodile slowly approached, their bodies tensing slightly. The creature’s intimidating presence seemed far stronger than that of the Mourning Ghost leader. This was a primal fear, born from its sheer size.

No one would be unafraid of a mountain crawling toward them.

It wasn’t just enough to scare a child; a grown man would cry at the sight.

...

’Worthy of being the Mountain God.’

Chen Fan took a deep breath. Without breaking the crocodile’s gaze, he took a Level 2 Ghost Stone from his robes and tossed it out again. ’It seems it disdains the low grade of the Ghost Stones I’m feeding it.’

’If that’s the case, I won’t be able to feed it long-term.’

’I can’t afford to feed it Level 2 Ghost Stones.’

The next moment—

The translucent, dark green Ghost Stone traced a parabola through the air, landing squarely on the crocodile’s flat head.

The crocodile froze for a moment, as if in disbelief. Then, as it registered what had happened, its eyes filled with a mixture of anger and sorrow. After a soft whimper, it turned and quickly crawled away into the darkness.

He had only heard the crocodile make a sound twice.

The first time was when it had been roaring fiercely from below the cliff, its voice a deafening blast that drowned out the rain, though it was all bark and no bite.

The second time was now.

Its cry was extremely faint. You couldn’t even hear it if you weren’t listening closely, like the whimper of a bullied child.

"Wait!"

Chen Fan called out instinctively. The crocodile, as if it understood, actually stopped and turned to look at him again. A hint of expectation appeared in its enormous pupils as it stared intently at Chen Fan.

"..."

He had a vague idea what the crocodile was expecting. Glancing down at the hot food on the table, he hesitated for a moment before picking up a chicken leg from one of the warm dishes and tossing it tentatively over the City Wall.

The next moment!

RUMBLE...

The ground shook and the mountains trembled.

He saw the crocodile charge straight for the City Wall like a tank, braking hard just before impact. It looked up, staring cautiously at Chen Fan for a moment, before gingerly and with extreme gentleness, it used the Sharp Claws at the tip of its foreleg to pick up the chicken leg and deliver it to its mouth.

Its eyelids slowly closed.

It lay on the spot, its pupils filled with an expression of wonder and bliss.

Then, it opened its eyes again.

It opened its cavernous mouth, revealing rows of thick, heavily worn teeth that resembled stakes. A glistening line of drool dripped from the corner of its mouth. Expectation once again filled its lantern-sized eyes as it looked up at Chen Fan on the City Wall.

Its tail wagged in small, clumsy, ingratiating swings, slapping against the ground with a series of thuds.

"..."

Chen Fan stood there in silence, his face expressionless. ’I can’t believe it doesn’t actually eat Ghost Stones. It really eats meat. And it seems to prefer hot, flavorful meat over cold Ghost Corpses.’

’No wonder it stopped when I called out. It must have smelled the food.’

He then took a deep breath.

"Qi Chong."

"Here!"

"Set up the stoves and get a fire going. Roast all the Ghost Corpses the camp has collected these past few days and feed them to it. Let it eat its fill tonight."

"Understood!"

...

A Ghost Corpse, radiating the aroma of cooked meat, was thrown from the City Wall.

With its mouth wide open the entire time, the crocodile displayed an agility that completely belied its size. It leaned its head forward slightly to deftly catch the chunk of meat, tilted its head back, and swallowed. A satisfied, rumbling growl, like distant thunder, echoed from its throat. It then opened its massive maw again, staring eagerly at the City Wall, waiting for the next piece.

"There’s no more."

"You ate it all. Even a landlord runs out of grain eventually."

Chen Fan spread his hands and sighed helplessly at the crocodile lying outside the wall. The first half of the night was already over, and they hadn’t stopped roasting meat for a moment. All the Ghost Corpses collected in the camp over the past days had been cooked and fed to this creature.

Yet its stomach was like a bottomless pit; it was impossible to fill.

The crocodile’s flat mouth, which had been open the whole time, finally closed slowly. A flicker of confusion crossed its eyes as it looked at Chen Fan on the City Wall. Then, as if it had thought of something, it turned without the slightest hesitation and quickly left the camp, disappearing into the darkness.

"It’s definitely not a Ghost Object."

Wang Kui stood on the City Wall, watching the crocodile’s retreating back. "Ghost Objects wouldn’t be this docile towards humans, with the exception of Fake Human Ghosts," he remarked. "But Ordinary beasts aren’t this large, nor do they have such a massive appetite. It’s strange. I wonder what it is."

Chen Fan shook his head but offered no opinion.

"I think I know why the crocodile was so upset when you threw a Ghost Stone at it, Chief..." Zhou Mo said quietly, rubbing his nose. "If it can’t digest Ghost Stones, then to it, a Ghost Stone is just... waste."

"It’s like..." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Getting hit with shit. Yeah, I’d probably be a little angry too."

"But it wasn’t angry. It ran off crying," Wang Mazi said with a slight cough.

"It’s too timid. It didn’t even dare to show its anger. It’s like it’s still a kid."

"Wait!"

Lame Monkey suddenly realized something and looked at Chen Fan. "Young Master, if it can’t digest Ghost Stones, doesn’t that mean... there are a lot of ownerless Ghost Stones on the mountain?"

"It’s possible, but they’ve likely been picked up and devoured by other Ghost Objects. It might not eat Ghost Stones, but other Ghost Objects probably do."

Chen Fan nodded lightly, pondering the matter.

’Not long after I first arrived in this world, a Monkey Head Ghost leader died outside the camp’s perimeter. Its body was still there at dawn, the Ghost Stone untouched by other Ghost Objects. Perhaps... it’s because other Ghost Objects subconsciously avoid the territory of a creature that exudes such a powerful aura. Ghost Objects must have some sense of territory.’

He stopped thinking about it and looked out beyond the wall. "Everyone, go get some sleep. We have more work to do tomorrow. No need to stand watch for the second half of the night."

"The City Wall has been upgraded to Level 3, so there shouldn’t be any problems for now. Everyone can get a good night’s sleep tonight."

Just then—

THUD.

The sound of a Ghost Object falling off the cliff came from the bottom of the valley again.

Immediately after.

An extremely dense, firecracker-like patter of falling Ghost Objects echoed nonstop. Ten, fifty, a hundred, hundreds...

Ghost Objects fell into the chasm one after another like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

It was even denser than the previous nights.

More frenzied.

This went on for the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn. The bottom of the cliff was piled high with Ghost Corpses—at least five or six hundred at a glance. Standing on the City Wall, Chen Fan could even faintly see a white light twinkling among the bodies. It was the glow of an Exotic Treasure!

Everyone stood frozen on the City Wall, staring at the scene in a daze.

The ground began to shake again as a sound rumbled from the canyon passage. The giant crocodile burst out of the darkness at a full run, returning to its usual spot below the City Wall. It flopped onto the ground, opened its cavernous mouth once more, and looked up at Chen Fan on the wall with pure expectation.

Drool trickled from between its teeth and pooled on the ground.

Its tail tapped excitedly and ingratiatingly on the ground from side to side.

Kicking up splashes of misty rain.