Faced with Black Tiger's attack, Zhao Feng advanced instead of retreating, sweeping his great axe forward.

Ever since entering this instance, Zhao Feng has been feeling somewhat depressed by the eerie atmosphere, but he hasn't encountered any real danger, which makes him feel frustrated that he has energy but nowhere to use it.

Now, a monster has finally appeared to block his path. It's a typical, flesh-and-blood creature, so Zhao Feng isn't afraid. He just wants to kill it and turn it into experience.

Black Tiger showed no reaction to Zhao Feng's giant axe, charging forward recklessly and crashing into the blade. His head was slashed open, and his body convulsed to the side.

Zhao Feng revealed a cold smile and flicked the blood off the axe blade.

"That's it? Is this monster too weak, or am I too strong?"

Zhang Shi did not receive any kill notification from the system and looked at Black Tiger in confusion.

Countless tiny buds of flesh were emerging from Black Tiger's wound, intertwining with each other and healing at an extremely rapid pace.

Zhang Shi decisively drew his composite bow and unleashed a triple strike at Black Tiger's body. Ge Dalong also noticed the anomaly and followed up with an ice spike.

Black Tiger's body was blasted into countless pieces of flesh, but each piece of flesh seemed to have vitality, sprouting countless flesh buds that began to gather in one direction. Its body was also rapidly recovering. In less than a few seconds, Black Tiger had completed its reorganization and was approaching the four people.

Ge Dalong and Zhang Shi both realized how troublesome the black tiger was. After exchanging a glance, they attacked the black tiger's limbs in perfect unison.

Ge Dalong's ice spike hit first, severing one of the black tiger's front paws. The slowing effect was triggered, and a layer of frost began to spread across its body.

Zhang Shi's arrow followed, piercing its other front paw. Then came the second and third arrows. All four of Black Tiger's limbs were broken, and it immediately collapsed to the ground, unable to move.

Just as everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief, they saw the black tiger proactively tear off the severed limb and swallow it whole. Its movements were so practiced, as if it did this all the time.

"Damn! That's a ruthless guy."

Zhao Feng highly praised the black tiger's actions.

Seeing that the black tiger's severed limbs were healing rapidly, Zhang Shi had no choice but to aim his arrow at its head and shoot it to buy some time.

Ge Dalong rarely showed signs of anxiety.

"This thing is like an undead in a game; you can kill it a hundred times and it will still regenerate. We need to find a way to subdue it, or we'll be exhausted to death by it."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Feng immediately started thinking.

"Undead? Do we have any light magic users, or holy water? These things can suppress dark creatures and will definitely be effective against it."

Zhang Shi's face darkened, and he scolded him.

"At this critical juncture, what nonsense are you talking about?"

"Oh, um, I think I have one."

Wu Qing raised her hand and said in a charming voice.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on her, she quickly took out an arrow from her backpack and explained.

"This thing is called Holy Silver Crossbow Bolt. I got it from opening a treasure chest. According to its item description, it is a sacred object that can restrain evil creatures. I don't know if it will work on this black tiger."

Zhang Shi was surprised that his teammate actually had such a thing, and casually took the crossbow bolt and nocked it onto his bow. Although it was called a crossbow bolt, it was not much different from a bow and arrow, except that the bolt was shorter and thicker.

Not far away, Black Tiger had already completed its body reconstruction and was staring fiercely at Zhang Shi.

Zhang Shi aimed at Black Tiger and fired a triple shot. Black Tiger, without dodging or avoiding, took the arrow with his body.

The Holy Silver Crossbow Bolts were indeed extraordinary.

The arrow pierced Black Tiger's body like a red-hot iron sinking into ice and snow. Black Tiger's body seemed to melt away, leaving only a pool of dark black liquid in an instant.

A moment later, wisps of black mist drifted out from there, and Zhang Shi and the others hurriedly covered their mouths and noses and retreated.

The fog, unable to see the light of day, quickly dissipated completely into the air.

Zhang Shi had not received the system's kill notification for a long time, so he dared not approach to check. He could only watch the pool of black liquid from a distance, afraid that it might change again.

Just as they feared, the black liquid suddenly boiled. Countless buds emerged from the liquid, quickly coalescing into an outline. In a few seconds, the Black Tiger reformed once more, reappearing before everyone.

Ge Dalong raised his hand, wanting to launch ice spikes to control its movements, but Zhang Shi stopped him.

"Something seems off. Let's not act rashly."

Everyone looked at Black Tiger and indeed noticed something different.

The black tiger's expression was no longer ferocious and terrifying, but extremely calm. Although its body was still emaciated, its fur had a sheen and was full of vitality.

Most miraculously, the dark clouds over the village were gradually dissipating, and the howling winds were gradually subsiding.

"What's going on? Did you exorcise an evil spirit from it?"

Zhao Feng jokingly picked up the giant axe, but he remained vigilant.

Zhang Shi used a diagnostic tool to examine it, and the results showed that the information had indeed changed.

【Township Black Tiger (Green): Panel (Unknown) Ability Value: 45】

[A refined-level elite monster, the sacred beast of the Village of Doubt.]

Seeing the black tiger standing there blankly, Zhang Shi wanted to try to communicate with it. Since it was a refined-level sacred beast, it should be able to understand human speech.

Seeing Zhang Shi approach, Black Tiger came to his senses, stared at Zhang Shi's figure, lowered his body, and showed a hint of hostility.

"Outsiders, what is your purpose in coming here?"

A deep voice came from the direction of Black Tiger, startling Zhao Feng so much that he stumbled.

After confirming several times that there were no other living people present, Zhao Feng exclaimed in shock.

"Holy crap, this black tiger can talk!"

Zhang Shi stopped and tried to communicate with Black Tiger.

"We came here by chance and got lost. Please forgive us if we have offended you."

Black Tiger slowly got up, came to Zhang Shi and sniffed him.

Zhang Shi dared not make a rash move and stood upright in place. Behind him, Zhao Feng had already gripped the giant axe, fearing that Black Tiger might suddenly turn on him and launch a sneak attack.

"Hmm, you have a familiar scent on you."

Zhang Shi didn't understand what Black Tiger meant, but seeing that Black Tiger didn't make trouble, he felt relieved and then asked.

"Respected sacred beast, after entering the village, we found it deserted and many houses abandoned. We do not know why."

Black Tiger sat cross-legged on the ground, lazily yawned, and responded.

"I'm hungry, go get me something to eat first."

Ge Dalong kept a close eye on the team interface. No sooner had Black Tiger finished speaking than the quest interface updated again. Below the main quest, a new branch appeared, which read:

Hidden Quest 1: Provide food for the black tiger in the town.

Ge Dalong reminded everyone in the team channel.

Zhang Shi glanced at the dark underground staircase, the situation inside still unknown. Now that he had a better option, he decided to get some information from Black Tiger first.

Zhang Shi treated Black Tiger as an NPC, quickly switching to a fawning expression and taking out a large piece of fresh meat from his backpack.

"Noble sacred beast, this is a tribute to you."