Heavy Rain

"Numbered Brothers, are we really just going to give in like this?"

Daoist Number 323 glanced at the message on the Scroll and chuckled before replying, "What else can we do? We were in the wrong to begin with!"

Master of Cloud Stack Cave didn't reply, but he had already taken all the materials. He'd taken their money, so he'd spare them the trouble. Now that he'd taken their resources, the matter had to be put behind them.

He had just informed the others when messages began pouring in.

Journey Survival still didn't have a group chat function, so it was extremely inconvenient to chat with so many people.

"Several hundred resources per group! Isn't this just helping the enemy?" someone else sent him a message.

Daoist Number 323 glanced at the Scroll and replied, "Staying alive matters more than anything!"

How could that be called helping the enemy? They were just basic supplies!

Over the past few days, he had figured out that the Land God Temple and the Mountain God Temple were different.

The upgrade paths for lairs and vehicles were different, too.

The first step in every Demon Cultivator's lair upgrade was making the lair mobile. The second was shrinking it so it could be carried around.

Human vehicles could already do that!

He had estimated that even if Master of Cloud Stack Cave got compensation from every one of them, he could only upgrade his lair twice at most—nowhere near enough to count as helping the enemy.

He hadn't given them a single pill or special item.

One idiot had transferred some pills over, but he'd intercepted them.

How could he possibly do something that would truly help the enemy?

That Wild Boar had killed people without a second thought. He was clearly no easy opponent. They might run into each other again someday.

Helping the enemy was out of the question. Absolutely impossible!

But making peace for now was essential! It was the politically correct thing to do.

Clang, clang, clang!

A hammer automatically pounded against the lair, ringing with the crisp sound of a blacksmith at work.

The lair visibly shrank.

Zhu Jiusi didn't go back to sleep. He watched the lair without blinking.

There were traps in upgrading lairs and vehicles. The first upgrade was straightforward, so it was safe to sleep through.

The second time, unexpected things could happen. Some people even failed their upgrades by accident.

Sometimes, you also needed to add extra materials partway through...

Sure enough, the Scroll flashed, and a line appeared.

"Path Seeker, would you like to add leather to the lair upgrade to enhance its function? Yes/No!"

A countdown appeared after the choices. He had only fifteen minutes. If he didn't choose in time, he wouldn't be able to add anything.

Zhu Jiusi didn't hesitate. He chose Yes at once.

"Leather: 0/10"

It needed ten pieces of leather, but he only had seven!

He immediately switched the Scroll to the chat area and spammed the messages.

Master of Cloud Stack Cave: "Buying 3 pieces of leather."

Sparrow: "What does the big-shot Cave Master need leather for?"

Before Zhu Jiusi could reply, Sparrow sent another message.

Sparrow: "Sorry, I'm taking that back! I wasn't trying to pry into the big-shot's business."

Sparrow: "...How do you take a message back?"

A true, startled bird.

After Zhu Jiusi had killed two people, then openly admitted it, everyone had become wary of him.

Master of Cloud Stack Cave: "...It's fine. During the second lair upgrade, a message suddenly popped up saying I needed leather. Buying leather; trading food!"

Sparrow: "The big-shot is mighty! I've only rebuilt and upgraded once, and I'm already drowning in debt. You're on your second upgrade already."

Monkey Has Iron Rod: "The big-shot is mighty!"

Beaver Does Not Drink: "The big-shot is mighty!"

Then the chat filled with the same message, over and over.

Master of Cloud Stack Cave: "Time is limited! I won't buy after the deadline, so hurry if you want to sell!"

It was probably evening. Far fewer people were active than during the day.

A full five or six minutes passed before someone messaged him. Heals Stomach Not Body: "Big-shot Cave Master, I only have two pieces of leather. I've found four Bronze Gourds in total, and two of them gave me leather, but only one piece each—not the original batch of five."

"I'll take them!" Zhu Jiusi replied at once. "Steamed buns, Yellow Steamed Buns, or flatbread—which do you want?"

Heals Stomach Not Body: "Yellow Steamed Buns! Yellow Steamed Buns! They keep you full!"

Master of Cloud Stack Cave: "Two steamed buns for one piece of leather, or one Yellow Steamed Bun per piece. Leather doesn't just come from Gourds; you can also get it by dismantling vehicles after killing someone. It's not that rare."

Everyone: "...Horrified!"

You could get materials from killing people?

Heals Stomach Not Body: "...Then I'll trade for two Yellow Steamed Buns."

If he refused the trade, would Master of Cloud Stack Cave come and kill him?

Zhu Jiusi immediately opened the trade.

Just then, someone else spoke up.

White Beard's Fist: "I have two as well. I'll trade them for two Yellow Steamed Buns!"

He didn't know what Yellow Steamed Buns were, but Heals Stomach Not Body was a cook. He'd trust the expert on this.

Great!

Four pieces of leather arrived all at once. Zhu Jiusi immediately added them to the upgrade.

As the hammer clanged, needles and thread began darting through the lair.

The lair grew smaller and smaller. Leather straps extended from the bottom, making it look like a backpack.

Something even kept brushing back and forth over his body, molding the pack more closely to his shape.

At last, after who knew how long, the hammer and thread disappeared. With a thump, the backpack landed on the ground.

From the outside, it looked like a stone-and-wood gourd with half its body shaved away, fitted with four leather straps.

The Scroll offered him the option of controlling the lair.

Expand or retract.

When he chose Expand, the gourd-shaped backpack spread out in every direction, becoming a lair the size of a double bed.

It was like a broken bowl set on the ground. Zhu Jiusi stepped inside and rolled around.

It was crude, but surprisingly comfortable. The lair was no longer made of rough rock; a thin layer of something keratinous lined it, probably thanks to the leather.

Too bad it still had no roof. If the wind and rain came, he'd just have to endure them.

Or maybe he could flip the lair over and turn it into an upside-down cave?

Zhu Jiusi crammed all his unopened Gourds into the lair, then selected the backpack form on the Scroll. The lair shrank and automatically fitted onto his back, its straps buckling into place.

The bulging Gourds were squeezed together inside the lair.

The lair shrank and changed shape, but the Gourds didn't. Now it was just a fairly large backpack.

Still, it was much better than before.

Before they were opened, the Gourds' spatial properties clashed with those of the pack, so they couldn't be put inside. He could only carry them on his person.

Zhu Jiusi couldn't open them all at once, either—there might be monsters inside. He needed to wait until he was in good shape to open them, in case he got caught off guard.

He glanced at the Mountain God Temple to make sure he hadn't left anything behind. Then Zhu Jiusi swallowed the last two clumps of roots and stems, polished off all his steamed buns, and drained a Gourd of water. With his lair on his back, he set off, swaying his hips.

The second upgrade had taken a long time. It was already afternoon, with only five hours until sunset. Zhu Jiusi didn't dare dawdle, and jogged west.

Nothing happened that day. He found only four Gourds, and not a single Bronze Gourd.

He ran until dusk, covering the day's distance. After finding a place downwind to take care of business, he continued another two li before finding a sheltered spot and expanding his lair.

He had been in Journey Survival for more than five days. At last, he could sleep soundly in his own lair.

But it seemed the heavens had it in for him. Zhu Jiusi had barely fallen asleep when thunder boomed. The next instant, rain poured down in torrents.

Raindrops the size of beans came pelting down with a clatter.

A sudden mountain downpour made the already chilly air even colder.

In weather like this, in the mountains and forest, people were going to die...