The Wolf in Front Feigned Sleep to Lure the Enemy, Catching a Turtle in a Jar!

Chen Fan stood atop the City Wall. He withdrew his gaze from Crippled Monkey and the others below, then looked at the Ghosthide Map in his hand. A complicated expression crossed his face as he fell silent.

The map had been given to him by the man in blue robes who had been the first to stay overnight at the station.

Rain fell onto his eyelashes, blurring his vision slightly, yet he could still clearly see that ninety percent of the stations that had once glowed like stars on the map had gone dark. Only seven or eight remained, standing lonely and forlorn upon the Wasteland.

Tonight was the second night of the Rainy Season.

But—

The stations across this Wasteland had already been almost completely wiped out.

Before nightfall, he had specifically checked the Ghosthide Map. At the time, there had still been twenty-eight stations, all near the depths of the Wasteland. They had not been able to retreat in time and could only grit their teeth and endure the Rainy Season.

And now—

Before even half the night had passed, twenty stations had already fallen.

That included the "temporary station" he had built in the wilderness yesterday. Before leaving, he had even placed an Eerie Stone into the Eerie Fire, intending to continue hunting there tonight according to plan. But plans could not keep up with changes. That station had also been swallowed by the Strange Tide.

Just then!

A flash of white light suddenly flickered across the Ghosthide Map. When it faded, another white dot representing a station had gone dark.

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

No one could sleep.

He did not know how the people at the other stations were getting through this night. Just imagining that despairing sense of helplessness was enough to make his chest feel stifled.

Soon enough—

Crippled Monkey returned to the City Wall carrying a porcelain vat on his shoulder. There were too many Eerie Stones for the sacks to hold, so he had simply used the vat instead.

"Young Master."

Crippled Monkey, slightly out of breath, pulled three white-glowing items from his robes and handed them over. "I counted them. There are four hundred and eighty-four Eerie Stones in total, along with three Exotic Treasures."

"Good."

Chen Fan quickly scanned the information on the three Exotic Treasures before standing on the City Wall and continuing to watch the gray mist outside the camp.

The Meatworm Wraiths had retreated.

But the danger had not passed. That female wraith with the eerie laughter would definitely return.

However—

This time, he was no longer afraid. Surviving the Meatworm Wraith Tide head-on had greatly strengthened his foundation. He had not immediately used the Eerie Stones to raise the camp's strength.

Right now, he needed to show weakness.

The female wraith sitting in the sedan chair, whose appearance he did not know, clearly possessed a certain degree of intelligence.

If she discovered that the camp was too strong, she might give up on revenge. That was not what he wanted to see. Once that female wraith died, she would definitely drop something good.

The instant she charged into the camp, he would raise the camp's strength in an instant.

He would pull the trick of the wolf in front feigning sleep to lure the enemy, then catch a turtle in a jar!

Time trickled by.

The Meatworm Wraith Tide had passed, and there were no signs of it returning for now. Not a single Strange Entity could be seen in the gray mist either. Clearly, even for Strange Entities, facing the Meatworm Wraith Tide meant nine chances of death and only one of life.

Yet none of them dared relax in the slightest.

Tonight's Strange Tide had made them truly understand what the words "when the Rainy Season descends, the Strange Tide runs rampant" meant. Those simple eight words concealed enough despair to suffocate a person.

Just then—

"They're here!"

Crippled Monkey spotted them first and lowered his voice.

It was already the latter half of the night. Nearly a hundred Strange Entities finally emerged from the gray mist once more, all familiar faces.

Bamboo Pole Entities, Mantis Entities, Monkey-Head Entities.

And a sedan chair carried by four Bamboo Pole Entities.

"They really are a lingering ghost that refuses to disperse."

Chen Fan wiped the rain from his face and deliberately pretended to know nothing. He lowered a section of the City Wall into the ground, luring them into charging into the camp in one fell swoop. The Arrow Tower could not attack Strange Entities outside the camp's range.

If they did not enter the camp's range, he had no way of dealing with this batch of Strange Entities.

Yet after waiting patiently for about the time it took an incense stick to burn, this group of Strange Entities showed no intention whatsoever of attacking the camp. They merely stood quietly in the gray mist like wax figures, utterly motionless.

"..."

Chen Fan frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "Little Qiu, leave the city and pretend to pick up an Eerie Stone. Don't actually pick one up, just put on a show. The moment I tell you to come back, come back immediately."

The four hundred and eighty-four Eerie Stones Crippled Monkey had collected were only those dropped after killing the Meatworm Wraiths.

The corpses of the Strange Entities left behind from the initial battle were still lying quietly outside the City Wall. He had deliberately saved them until now.

Little Qiu did not hesitate in the slightest. He immediately descended the City Wall's stone steps and walked outside, pretending to know nothing as he prepared to dig through the corpses for Eerie Stones. Normally, this group of Strange Entities should have seized this opportunity to launch their charge. After all, that female wraith possessed a certain degree of intelligence.

However—

When Little Qiu stepped outside the city, the Strange Entities not only did not charge, but slowly backed away. They retreated until they vanished from the gray mist and disappeared into Eternal Night.

Little Qiu, his face full of bewilderment, turned helplessly toward Chen Fan on the City Wall.

"Come back."

Chen Fan sighed softly. There was no need to waste the effort. That female wraith was a little smarter than he had expected.

After all—

A camp capable of withstanding the Meatworm Wraith Tide already said everything. It definitely was not something nearly a hundred Strange Entities could take down. That female wraith had thought of this as well. Even when he deliberately exposed a weakness, she made no move and instead chose to retreat.

For now, he did not know whether she had given up on revenge.

Or whether she was preparing to proceed slowly and deliberately.

All he could do was remain vigilant.

Throughout the rest of the night, not a single Strange Entity stepped into the gray mist near the camp. The Meatworm Wraith Tide was terrifying, but as long as one could withstand its assault, a temporary Safety Zone would form around them, keeping other Strange Entities from approaching.

The next moment!

The heavy darkness high above, like a layer of molten rock, rapidly receded like the ebbing tide, revealing rolling dark clouds blanketing the entire sky.

Dawn had come.

They had survived another night.

Inside the Wooden Hut.

Zhou Mo sat beside the stove. He had long since changed into dry clothes and sat cross-legged on the floor, writing stroke by stroke upon the parchment in his arms.

"Today is the third day since the Rainy Season descended."

"Not a single person has died."

"Last night, we endured the Meatworm Wraith Tide's assault and the probing attack of high-level Strange Entities, surviving by sheer luck."

After finishing this passage—

He looked at the thirty circles he had drawn on the Wooden Hut's wall, his expression complicated. Two of those circles had now been crossed out.

According to the patterns of previous years, the Rainy Season lasted around thirty days. During that time, Strange Tides ran rampant, making it exceedingly dangerous.

After those thirty days, winter would not be so hard to endure. At the very least, there would not be large-scale Strange Tides ravaging the Wasteland.

Two nights had passed.

To survive this Rainy Season, they still had twenty-eight days to go.

Just then—

The Wooden Hut door was pushed open.

Zhou Mo hurriedly stood and set the parchment in his hand aside. "Station Master."

"Mm."

Chen Fan nodded lightly. He casually dried his soaking wet hair with the towel hanging nearby, then sat beside the stove. Picking up the parchment from the floor and glancing over it, he asked casually.

"Writing a diary?"

"Uh." Zhou Mo nodded awkwardly. "Just writing for fun."

"I don't usually write things like diaries either."

(End of Chapter)