"It moved, it moved!"

"..."

Chen Fan ignored Crippled Monkey's excitement and looked toward the Eerie Fire before him, preparing to bind it to himself with blood. He lowered his head and looked at his thumb, then his pinky. After pausing for a moment, he finally stuck his index finger into his mouth, scraped a trace of blood from his gums, and fed it into the Eerie Fire.

That counted as binding it with blood.

From this point on.

This area had become his base as well.

He had been transported here for several days, yet he was still a little unaccustomed to the local conditions. He had not been sleeping well, and his gums were bleeding too.

"We're not going back tonight."

He pulled a Beast Trap from the handcart and tossed it onto the ground. As he got to work, he said, "We're working here tonight."

He believed that Strange Entities were definitely mobile in the darkness. There was no such thing as clearing out every Strange Entity in an area. Still, that was only a guess—practice was the sole criterion of truth.

Tonight would tell.

This place was certainly not as safe as his main base, but normally speaking, based on experience, there should not be any overly powerful Strange Entities on this Wasteland. None should attack the Eerie Fire. That great Strange Entity which had attacked the Eerie Fire that night had come purely because he had killed the young one and the old one had come seeking revenge.

"Understood!"

Crippled Monkey nodded excitedly, his eyes gleaming as he began arranging the Beast Traps outside the camp. Though he limped along, he was remarkably nimble when it came to work.

More accurately speaking.

There were very few people in this world who were clumsy at work.

The clumsy ones were all dead.

In a world where people could die at any moment, it was difficult to live pampered and spoiled.

"Huff."

Chen Fan squatted on the Wasteland, looking out over the brown, cracked ground in the distance. He adjusted his backside and found a comfortable posture before squatting down to relieve himself. The wind was strong today, and it even stung when it blew against his body.

The weather was gradually turning colder too. Winter was approaching.

Before leaving, he had given the Arrow Towers an order: any living thing entering the camp was to be given a warning attack first. If it refused to leave, it was to be shot dead immediately.

He was not worried about someone raiding his base.

With two Level-2 Arrow Towers standing there, who could possibly steal his home?

After a while.

He carefully plucked a handful of weeds from nearby. Only after confirming that there were no tiny fuzzy thorns did he start wiping himself, then washed up with water.

The conditions were rather crude.

But they were acceptable.

He did not like using grass leaves to wipe himself. Mainly because when he was little, he had once wiped himself with nettles, leaving him with quite a bit of psychological trauma.

Night fell.

The instant the sun dipped below the horizon, darkness so dense it was almost tangible swept in rapidly from the edge of the sky, swallowing the entire world.

Not a shred of light could be seen.

The only light came from the Eerie Fire beside them.

Other than the Eerie Fire, this hastily built temporary camp had no structures at all. There was not even a crude Wooden Hut, not even a place to shelter from the wind.

"No."

Chen Fan curled up on the ground, his face slightly pale.

There were no Eerie Stones left in the Eerie Fire at the main base. Before leaving, he had added one Eerie Stone to the Eerie Fire there. The Eerie Fire for this new camp had consumed three Eerie Stones, and he had added another as fuel.

That left only three Eerie Stones in his pocket.

To be honest.

He truly did not want to spend two Eerie Stones to build a Wooden Hut. It was far too extravagant. But for some reason, the temperature had plummeted tonight. Coupled with the fierce wind, he seriously suspected that if he endured it for the whole night, he might end up hypothermic.

He could freeze to death outright.

Even if he did not become hypothermic, he would definitely come down with a serious illness. Catching a cold on the Wasteland meant there would not even be a place to seek treatment.

As for the Eerie Fire, it had no temperature at all. It was not real flame and could not bring even a trace of warmth.

Crippled Monkey, gripping his spear nearby, was trembling uncontrollably as well. Tonight was simply too cold.

"..."

Chen Fan clenched his teeth slightly. These three Eerie Stones were his final margin for error. The Eerie Fire at the main base had only enough fuel for one more night. He truly did not want to use up that last margin.

Just then—

"Drip."

A drop of icy rain landed on the back of his hand.

He froze briefly, then looked up into the ink-black darkness overhead and stretched out his palm to feel it. It was raining, and it was coming down hard.

In the blink of an eye, the scattered drops became a pouring rain, and it only continued growing heavier.

This time.

He did not hesitate. He immediately took out two Eerie Stones and threw them into the air. A phantom Wooden Hut made of white lines swiftly appeared in midair, then solidified under the infusion of milky-white liquid and landed within the camp.

"Crippled Monkey, get inside!"

As Chen Fan dove into the Wooden Hut, he turned toward Crippled Monkey, who was still outside in the rain, clutching his spear and staring at the hemp ropes on the ground, and shouted.

He had originally been hesitating.

Wondering whether they could grit their teeth and endure it.

There was no need to hesitate now.

If it had merely been the sudden drop in temperature and the strong wind tonight, they might still have avoided hypothermia. But with a torrential downpour added on top, without anywhere to shelter from the rain, the two of them would definitely freeze to death here tonight.

There was no time to worry about margins for error now.

First, they had to make sure they did not freeze to death tonight.

If—

If there was no gain at all tonight, then this attempt would end in failure.

Chen Fan stood at the entrance of the Wooden Hut, staring at the few hemp ropes in the camp that showed no reaction beneath the torrential rain. He sighed soundlessly. He could not say that his decision tonight had been wrong; after all, he had been trying something.

It was simply that his margin for error was too small.

One failure had nearly exhausted it completely.

"Young master."

Crippled Monkey stood nearby with his spear in hand, utterly at a loss. Everything that had happened tonight had exceeded his expectations. He wanted to do something, yet he could not help at all, and a deep sense of helplessness rose within him.

"It's fine."

Chen Fan shook his head and said softly, "There'll always be a way. At worst, tomorrow I'll swallow my pride and go see Stationmaster Wang."

In truth, as long as he could get to North River Market, his low-cost Eerie Fire would allow him to quickly amass a large fortune. But he currently lacked the ability to protect that fortune. If he went there, he would most likely be forcibly kept like livestock.

Just then—

"It moved, it moved!"

Crippled Monkey's excited voice suddenly rang in his ear. Chen Fan instinctively looked over and saw one of the hemp ropes on the ground shaking violently. That meant the Beast Trap at the other end had caught prey.

Chen Fan's face lit up with joy. Before he could do anything, the remaining four hemp ropes began shaking violently as well.

Five prey had stepped into the traps almost simultaneously!

"Quick!"

Chen Fan rushed into the rain, his voice urgent and excited. He no longer cared about getting drenched. He quickly grabbed one of the hemp ropes and gave it a fierce yank, pulling a Beast Trap into the camp. Caught in it was a Strange Entity with an extremely bizarre appearance.

It looked like an oversized silkworm cocoon.

It was extremely fat, about the size of a human infant, plump and pudgy, yet deeply unsettling.

Its mouthparts were even more disgusting, occupying nine-tenths of its head.

He did not have time to examine the Strange Entity's appearance closely.

Crippled Monkey, who had likewise charged into the rain, had already leaped into the air with his spear raised, like Runtu spearing a badger.

He aimed straight for its head, piercing through it in one strike!

Clean and decisive!

(End of chapter)