12:40 a.m.

Manjing tossed a bundle of firewood to the canyon exit and said, "Brother, we've almost run out of dry branches around here. I'm going to go and bring back a tree!"

I disassembled the firewood I brought back from Manjing and threw it into the campfire in front of me, saying, "No need! Jiang Man just received a call; her people will be here in half an hour. This firewood is enough. I've already had Monkey and Lin Que stockpile a large number of stones on the cliffs at both ends. The supporting wooden frames are connected by ropes. As long as the frames are removed, the stones will fall. They'll be in charge of one side, and you'll be in charge of the other. Once we receive the signal, we'll lower the stones and seal off both ends of the canyon!"

"Brother, are you trying to stop these things?"

Looking at the Gu creatures crawling all over the canyon, Manjing scratched his head: "They seem to move very nimbly. Even if we drop stones, I'm afraid we won't be able to stop them!"

"I'm not trying to stop them, but to clean them up in one go!"

I paused for a moment: "Moreover, the falling rocks weren't just to prevent these things from escaping; they were also to stop others from entering the Golden Rooster Cave. There are many experts in this mountain, and if someone discovers the altar inside, they might be able to deduce something. I did this to keep the news under wraps!"

Not long after Manjing left, the Jiang family arrived.

A total of eight security personnel from the town arrived, six of whom were carrying a gasoline can on their backs.

The security guard leading the team walked up to us, panting, and said to Jiang Man, "Miss, we have brought everything you asked for. We originally took double the amount of gasoline, but because you asked us to march at full speed, we abandoned half of the supplies."

I noticed Jiang Man turning her gaze to me, and asked the security guard, "Besides gasoline, what else did you bring?"

"There's nothing there except gasoline."

The security guard shook his head and said, "The young lady told us on the phone to prepare something like rat poison, but there are no such things for sale in Qingyun Town, and our team doesn't have any of those things on hand!"

I continued, "Did you bring flares?"

The security guard shook his head again: "In order to make the forced march, we left almost everything on the road except for gasoline."

"We've run out of flares. Without flares, we can't drive away those Gu creatures. Leave a few men here, and we'll all throw torches and charcoal together to gather them up!"

I looked at Jiang Man and the security captain and continued, "Go to the top of the cliff and pour gasoline down!"

Upon hearing my order, the security captain asked, "Mr. Duan, if I may ask, are these things inside afraid of light or heat?"

I replied, "It's not certain yet, all we know is that flames can stop these guys!"

"If they're afraid of light, I have a solution!"

The security captain turned to one of his colleagues: "Do you still have the Sun God with you?"

"I'm here!"

Hearing the call, another security guard quickly came over carrying a large travel bag.

I thought what they brought out would be some amazing equipment.

In the end, all that was taken out was a flashlight.

I looked at the security captain with great disappointment: "This is the Sun God you were talking about?"

"The Airmen NEXT mS18 is a top-ranked civilian outdoor flashlight in the world, with a brightness of up to 100,000 streams and a lighting range of up to 1.4 kilometers. People who like camping all know this brand."

Seeing my skeptical expression, the security captain pressed the switch directly onto the canyon.

"brush!"

A burst of bright light shot out from the lamp head.

The instant I turned on the flashlight, only three words came to mind.

It's dawn!

The lighting effect of this flashlight is amazing!

Under the intense light, the canyon was as bright as if it were being directly exposed to the midday sun, with no blind spots in sight. In just two or three seconds, I could even feel the scorching heat emanating from the lamp.

"Squeak!"

As soon as the flashlight was turned on, the Gu creatures in the canyon were as if they had been electrocuted, and were immediately blinded. Many of them turned white on the spot, while the rest squeaked and ran in the opposite direction.

"Damn! If I'd known you guys had this kind of equipment, why did I even bring gasoline!"

Looking at the incredibly bright canyon, I pressed the security captain for an answer: "Do you have any more of these flashlights?"

The security captain shrugged: "No more! This flashlight uses a direct-drive circuit, so its brightness decreases as the voltage drops. We use it as an emergency light source!"

I pressed further, "How long will this flashlight last?"

The security captain explained, "The ultra-bright mode can only last for one minute. After that, the flashlight gets extremely hot and will activate a down-brightness protection mode. It needs to cool down before it can be turned on again!"

I pressed further, "Will the flashlight turn off when the extreme mode ends?"

The security captain shook his head: "No, the lights will just dim!"

"Come with me!"

I heard that this powerful light could only last for a minute, so I stopped talking nonsense, picked up two oil drums, and jumped over the fire.

"Duan Shenxing, are you out of your mind?"

When Jiang Man saw me making such a dangerous move, she shouted something from behind and then ordered security to follow.

Under the bright flashlight beam, the Gu creatures on the ground seemed to be blown around like foam with a hairdryer, all rolling in the opposite direction.

Soon, we drove all the Gu creatures to one side of the canyon. These disgusting monsters were blocked by the campfire behind them and could only keep spinning around in place, howling incessantly.

In the bright light, their translucent bodies wriggled, their mouths filled with a terrifying array of sharp teeth.

I didn't want to look at these disgusting creatures anymore, so I used my dagger to poke many holes in the plastic gasoline can before throwing it into the swarm of Gu creatures.

I repeated this process twice, and all six gasoline cans were thrown into the canyon.

After we left, I raised a torch and started drawing circles wildly in the air.

"Boom!"

The monkeys and Manjing above the cliff received the signal and rolled the stones they had collected over the past few hours down the cliff, smashing them into the group of Gu creatures.

As the light was blocked, the Gu creatures in the canyon became extremely restless. I took out the last flare, lit it, and threw it into the depths of the canyon.

"call!"

A raging fire erupted, and the gasoline-covered Gu creatures were ignited by the flames, darting about like fireworks exploding in the darkness.

Jiang Man stood at the tunnel exit and smelled the stench emanating from inside, immediately gagging: "Why does this stuff smell so bad after it's been set on fire?"

"They weren't normal creatures to begin with, and they've been sealed inside those golden eggs for who knows how many years. No wonder they taste bad."

I was also feeling nauseous from the stench coming from the tunnel, but I still put on the gas mask despite my disgust: "I'm going into the cave to get something. You guys wait for me outside. Once I get it, we'll leave!"

"Who knows if there are still those disgusting things inside? You're in too much danger!"

Seeing that Manjing and the others had not yet come down, Jiang Man waved to the security guards and said, "Go in with him and make sure to protect his personal safety."