Chapter 244 Bat Shadow Night Raid

As the night deepened, the silence grew heavier.

In the western wing, the oil lamp had long been extinguished. Ling Xiaoning lay on the bed fully dressed, eyes tightly shut, but his right hand firmly gripped a dagger hidden beneath him.

Chen Mu and Shen Suning were hidden in the shadows of the room's corners, almost merging with the darkness. Neither spoke. Chen Mu leaned against the wall with his eyes half-closed, but every subtle change in the room's airflow was reflected in his mind.

Wan Chongshan was hidden behind a woodpile, his palms gripping his hook-sickle spear slightly sweaty. He stared intently at the doors and windows of the western wing; though his eyes felt sore and swollen, he didn't dare blink. On the roof, Feng Qing lay flat against the tiles, his iron bow held before him, three fingers of his right hand resting lightly on the string, his entire body like a stone sculpture.

Time trickled by.

Past midnight, amidst the dead silence, the first strange sound arrived.

Chen Mu immediately opened his eyes, his gaze clear and sharp.

It's here.

"Squeak... creak..."

The sound was very light, like a mouse's claws scratching at an old wooden door. It was intermittent, coming from the doorway as if something was trying to find a gap.

Finally, the thing found its target: the gap beneath the door, slightly warped from years of neglect.

"Hiss... crack... creak..."

Next came the sound of something hard squeezing against wood, mixed with the tooth-aching sound of shifting joints.

Below the door, the line of the gap that had been letting in a sliver of faint light suddenly darkened. Then, a mass of black shadow squeezed inside.

The shadow wasn't large, about the size of a fist, with irregular edges. It wriggled, seeping inward bit by bit. Then came a second mass, a third...

The process of them squeezing in was slow and eerie. From time to time, there was a "crack" sound as bones were forced to compress and deform to pass through the gap.

Finally, with a soft pop like a cork being pulled, the first shadow squeezed completely into the room. Immediately, there was an extremely faint fluttering sound as the shadow took flight, silently soaring toward the roof beams.

Then came the second, the third...

Chen Mu counted silently in the shadows.

Six. A total of six shadows had squeezed in from under the door. They circled at low altitudes in the room, their wingbeats creating weak air currents that stirred the stagnant air.

By the extremely faint moonlight filtering through the window, Chen Mu finally saw what they looked like.

They were indeed bats, but not the ordinary kind.

These bats had a wingspan of over a foot, significantly larger than normal bats. Their flight was exceptionally agile, weaving through the small room without any hindrance.

One of them was noticeably larger than the other five, with a wingspan nearly two feet wide. It circled in the center of the room, its head turning slightly. It didn't strike immediately but observed, as if confirming whether the prey was asleep and if there was danger nearby.

Suddenly, it folded its wings and dropped straight down like a stone, heading directly for Ling Xiaoning's neck.

Ling Xiaoning's entire body was tense, fine beads of cold sweat seeping from his forehead.

His night vision was average at best, and with the dim light in the room, he could only barely see several shadows circling overhead without discerning their specific movements. It wasn't until the largest bat demon dove down, the resulting air current brushing against his cheek, that he was suddenly startled.

"Watch out!"

Chen Mu's sharp shout and his movements erupted simultaneously.

The moment the soul-slaying blade was unsheathed, there was no blade light, only a sharp sonic boom. Chen Mu lunged from the shadows, the blade edge sweeping upward from below, aiming straight for the bat demon's chest and abdomen.

This strike was fast, accurate, and ruthless!

The bat demon clearly hadn't expected an ambush. A flash of shock crossed its eyes, but its diving momentum couldn't be fully halted. It jerked its body to the side, its fleshy wings snapping open to narrowly avoid the peak of the blade's edge, but its left wing was still caught by the Saber Qi, which tore a half-foot-long gash in it.

"Hiss!"

A piercing shriek immediately erupted from the bat demon's mouth, unlike any sound an ordinary bat would make.

Ling Xiaoning's eardrums throbbed from the shriek, but in this life-or-death moment, his survival instinct overrode all fear. He rolled to the side, tumbling from the edge of the bed to the floor, his right hand already finding the short sword he had been lying on.

But he was still half a beat too slow.

Although the bat demon was injured, its diving momentum hadn't dissipated. Its sharp fangs grazed Ling Xiaoning's left arm, which he had raised to block.

"Tear!"

Ling Xiaoning felt a chill on the outside of his left arm but didn't feel much pain. The wound wasn't deep, but the blood flowed exceptionally fast, the warm liquid instantly soaking his sleeve.

"Light the lamp!"

Chen Mu forced the bat demon back with one strike and shouted in a low voice.

Shen Suning had long been ready. Hearing this, she flicked her left hand, sending a spark accurately toward the oil lamp on the table. The wick caught fire, and the dim yellow glow instantly dispelled the darkness in the room.

With the sudden appearance of light, the bats' movements noticeably faltered, clearly wary of the illumination. But in that same instant, Chen Mu, Shen Suning, and Ling Xiaoning finally saw the full appearance of these monsters.

They were six brownish-red bats with wing membranes covered in fine vascular patterns. Their snouts protruded, fangs were exposed, and their eyes gleamed with a dark red, murderous light.

The largest bat had its wing membrane sliced open by Chen Mu, and black blood continued to seep out, but it hissed, its ferocity only increasing.

Shen Suning's expression changed as she recognized the bats, and she shouted a warning.

"Be careful! They are Blood Bats!"

But before her voice could fade, the battle erupted.

Stimulated by the lamplight, the five smaller Blood Bats let out piercing shrieks. They stopped circling and dove straight toward the three people in the room.

They had a clear division of labor: two pounced on the blade-wielding Chen Mu to disrupt his offense, two went for Shen Suning who had just lit the lamp, and the last one charged at Ling Xiaoning.

A cold light flashed in Chen Mu's eyes as he activated the Divine Void Step. His figure flickered within the small space, the soul-slaying blade tracing several dark-gold arcs.

"Thwack! Thwack!"

The two Blood Bats pouncing on him were sliced into two pieces.

[Slayed a Low-grade Blood Bat, seized Martial Dao Lifespan: 26 years]

[Slayed a Low-grade Blood Bat, seized Martial Dao Lifespan: 20 years]

Facing the pounce of two Blood Bats, Shen Suning snapped her soft whip with her left hand. The whip tip was like a venomous snake's tongue, accurately striking one Blood Bat's head. Its skull instantly shattered, and it died on the spot.

The other Blood Bat took the chance to lunge closer. Shen Suning dodged to the side, but with her right hand still unhealed, her movements were slightly slower. The Blood Bat's sharp claws grazed her shoulder, but then a blade light appeared, and the bat was pinned to the wall by Chen Mu.

[Slayed a Low-grade Blood Bat, seized Martial Dao Lifespan: 34 years]

Seeing another Blood Bat pouncing, Ling Xiaoning swung his dagger. His Wind Chasing Steps had reached Minor Achievement, making his movements agile. He narrowly avoided the bite and slammed the dagger deep into the Blood Bat's abdomen.

"Squeak!"

The Blood Bat let out a dying shriek and struggled frantically. Ling Xiaoning gripped the dagger tightly, pinning it to the ground and crushing its head with his foot.

In just a few breaths, the five small Blood Bats were all dead.

Seeing that it had fallen into an ambush and knowing it was outmatched, the largest Blood Bat let out a shriek. While the three were busy fighting its companions, it flapped its wings violently and charged toward the door.

It wanted to escape!

It was the only one left in the room. Although the door was tightly shut, the gap was still there. As long as it could squeeze out and merge with the night, it would have a chance to live.