Preliminary Exploration

Chapter 6: Initial Exploration

When the first ray of true dawn light, carrying none of that terrifying oppressive pressure, gently spilled through the hole in the stone roof onto Chen An's face, he nearly wept with emotion.

He had slept on a relatively clean pile of dry grass in the corner of the main house. Though the ground was hard and the night slightly cold, this was the first real "sleep" he'd had since crossing into the Primordial World. No nerves constantly taut, no death-dealing roars lingering in his ears—only the reassuring, absolute stillness of the safe zone.

He sat up and stretched, joints popping faintly. Though his body was still weary, the mental relaxation was unprecedented. He walked to the door and pushed open the wooden planks.

The small courtyard in the early morning was shrouded in a thin layer of mist, the air as fresh as if it had been thoroughly washed. Dewdrops clung to the moss around the well platform, glistening with crystalline luster. The plot of land he had turned over showed dark, rich soil brimming with vitality. Everything appeared peaceful and calm, forming a dreamlike contrast with the silent yet danger-laden Primordial World beyond the walls.

"Alive... it's good to be alive." Chen An sighed once more from the heart. With this "Absolute Safe Zone" as his foundation, he could finally settle down and systematically, carefully explore this small courtyard that would become his long-term sanctuary.

Yesterday had only been a cursory glance. Today, he needed to act like a meticulous engineer, thoroughly understanding every inch of this land and assessing all available resources.

His exploration plan was very clear: from primary to secondary, from inside to outside, leaving no detail unchecked.

This stone-built house was the main structure of the courtyard and theoretically the most solid shelter. He stepped inside again.

He knocked on each wall carefully with his hand, especially at the corners and near the roof. The walls were exceptionally sturdy; the filler between the stone gaps—seemingly some kind of mixed clay—was mottled but still firm, with no signs of loosening. That was good news.

He looked up and carefully examined the several holes. The largest was about half a meter in diameter; the rest were small cracks. Rain and wind would pour in through these—a hazard that needed priority fixing. He would need materials to patch them.

He struck the ground with the handle of his woodcutter's knife; the sound was dull, with no hollow echo, indicating solid earth beneath—no cellar or hidden passage. The floor was tamped dirt, fairly level.

He nearly lay flat on the ground, checking every corner. In one corner against the wall, he found a few very broken pottery shards, almost fused with the dirt—likely remnants of a damaged vessel from before. Nothing else. The previous owner had indeed cleaned up "thoroughly."

The main house was structurally sound but needed roof repairs to stop leaks and drafts. It could serve as the primary dwelling and storage.

Beside the main house stood a smaller, separate stone hut with no door, only an opening. Yesterday he had thought it was a storage shed, but today he saw inside a simple stove built from stacked stones with a depression in the middle, and a small ventilation hole beside it.

"This is the kitchen!" Chen An's heart leaped with joy. A ready-made stove made cooking and fire much safer and more convenient, with no worry about sparks igniting a thatched roof.

He stepped into the kitchen. The stove was filled with dust and fallen leaves. He cleaned it out carefully and found the structure intact, the vent unblocked. In the corner were some completely carbonized wood remnants. He also spotted a badly damaged pottery container against the wall—only half a jar remained, unusable for holding water, but perhaps it could serve as a flowerpot or hold small items.

The kitchen facilities were crude but basically functional, solving the problem of where to start a fire.

The thatched shed, open to the wind on all sides, Chen An designated as a utility shed and workshop. He needed to organize it, store firewood and tools, and do some handiwork there to avoid cluttering the main house.

He thoroughly cleared out the rotten wood and fallen leaves piled in the shed, roughly leveled the ground, then neatly stacked the still-burnable firewood he had collected yesterday in one corner. The repaired woodcutter's knife and hoe were set against the wall. He also used a few relatively flat stones to build a simple workbench.

The utility shed now had a clear function, improving the courtyard's space utilization.

This was the hope for the future. Chen An walked into the garden again, this time with a more professional (in his own view) eye.

* He grabbed a handful of soil and rubbed it between his fingers. The earth was dark, fine, loose, rich in humus—very fertile to the touch. He could even see tiny insects moving in the soil, a sign of its vitality.

The garden plot was about thirty square meters, enough to grow quite a few crops. He mentally planned where to plant leafy greens, where to put root vegetables, and whether he needed to raise ridges for drainage and management.

Yesterday's clearing had only been preliminary; many weed roots were still buried deep. He needed to turn the soil thoroughly and pick out the roots, or they would quickly regrow and compete with the crops for nutrients.

The garden conditions were excellent; tilling and planting would be the next focus.

He went to the well again and pushed aside the stone slab. The morning well water looked even clearer. He found a small pebble, dropped it in, and listened.

"One, two, three... plop!"

The sound of it hitting water came, seeming deeper than yesterday? He wasn't sure. To measure the depth, he found a long, relatively straight vine, tied a small stone to one end, and slowly lowered it into the well. When the vine stopped sinking, he marked the spot at the mouth, pulled it up, and roughly measured the wet length with his stride.

"About... over fifteen meters deep," Chen An estimated. Very deep, but the water source was abundant and stable.

He drew up another half-jar of water and examined it closely. The water was crystal clear, with no impurities or odd smell. He took a big gulp—sweet and refreshing, it soothed his whole body and even lessened his fatigue. This well was definitely one of the most precious resources in the entire courtyard.

Just as Chen An was about to finish his survey and start actual labor, his gaze was again drawn to those faint scratches on the outer wall of the main house. In the clearer morning sidelight, he seemed to see, beneath those chaotic lines, several even paler marks—almost blending with the stone's color—resembling some kind of abstract symbols.

He crouched down, carefully brushing away the dust and moss from that area with his fingers. Sure enough! They weren't random scratches, but three extremely ancient, simple-stroked symbols arranged in an irregular triangle.

What did they represent? Numbers? Marks? Or some primitive rune?

Chen An's heart inexplicably began to race. These traces left by the courtyard's previous owner—or an even earlier presence—were like a silent riddle. This small courtyard might hide secrets deeper than "absolute safety."

He silently filed this discovery away. Now was not the time to investigate; survival came first.

Standing in the center of the courtyard, Chen An looked at his initially planned "home": the sturdy stone main house awaiting repairs, the usable kitchen, the clearly defined utility shed, the promising garden plot, and the ancient well—the source of life.

A clear survival blueprint unfolded in his mind: patch the roof, thoroughly till the garden, sow seeds, make more tools, try setting traps (practice within the safe zone), and perhaps... even try firing better containers from clay.

The road ahead was still hard, but hope had been kindled. This dilapidated courtyard was his sole and final fortress in this terrifying Primordial World.

He gripped his woodcutter's knife tightly, his gaze fixed on the fertile soil waiting to be tilled.

(End of Chapter 6)