Parting in Last Year's Rain, a Year Has Passed Since This Year's Rain Ended

As for why the seed Crippled Monkey had picked up back then had not displayed a panel.

He vaguely guessed at the reason.

All seed-type Exotic Treasures were wrapped in a membrane-like layer, but that seed had been alone, with no membrane around it. Perhaps that was why no panel had appeared.

"Not bad luck."

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes slightly. Green-grade seed-type Exotic Treasures often had special planting requirements. For example, the "Flesh Wraith Parent-Child Seed" needed to be watered with Wraith Blood every hour.

Yet, without knowing the planting requirements of the "Human-Blood Wraith Flower," he had somehow managed to grow it alive. Luck was watching over him.

It seemed his luck in this life was fairly good.

There were millions upon millions of hardworking people in the world, yet less than one in ten thousand ever became famous.

It was not that those who failed lacked ability. Their luck was simply bad.

Luck alone could not bring success, but luck was one of the necessary conditions for success.

Right after that.

Using two wooden sticks, he picked up the flower at the edge of the Farmland and spread the Wraith Hide flat over the barren ground. With a slight squeeze, scarlet flower fluid, red as blood, dripped bit by bit down the stem onto the hide.

Before long, no more flower fluid flowed out. The flower, once brilliantly vivid, withered in an instant and lost its life.

Chen Fan crouched beside the Farmland, staring unblinkingly at the Wraith Hide. Once the flower fluid landed on it, lines of writing slowly emerged across the hide.

-

"Last year, we met in the rain and parted; today, the rain has passed, and a year is gone."

"At the bottom of the cold pool, white bones soak beneath the third-watch moon."

"Under embroidered robes, black silk hair tangles through the haze of nine autumns."

"I tear my skin to make you armor, cut my soul into silk to wrap your fresh scars."

"Then I hear umbrella ribs shake heaven and earth; the Strange Tide rises over the Wasteland, gradually forming ranks."

"It is an old friend stepping through the rain, yet when we meet, we do not recognize each other—faces white as snow."

"Rain corrodes a beauty a thousand, a hundred times; all my life, I wait for only one man."

-

Afterward, the panel for this Exotic Treasure changed as well.

-

"Exotic Treasure Name": Wraith Hide.

"Exotic Treasure Grade": Green.

"Exotic Treasure Effect": A special Wraith Hide personally crafted by a high-level Strange Entity. Kept close against the body, it can block a fatal attack.

-

"..."

Chen Fan looked at the lines appearing on the Wraith Hide in his hand. Expressionless, he fell silent for a long while before letting out a soft sigh. His head suddenly hurt a little. The sunk cost of this site was not that high anyway—maybe he should move out early.

This poem was not particularly difficult to understand.

Its meaning was roughly this.

The female wraith he had killed possessed no low intelligence. During last year's Rainy Season, she had met another male wraith, and the two had developed feelings for each other. During the time after they parted in the Rainy Season, she had torn off a piece of her own skin and, with other methods, crafted this Exotic Treasure.

A defensive Exotic Treasure.

And that male wraith.

"Then I hear umbrella ribs shake heaven and earth; the Strange Tide rises over the Wasteland, gradually forming ranks."

He sounded like a Wraith King at first listen.

Not only was he powerful, he also commanded a great force.

That woman had been waiting in this Wasteland for that male wraith. Perhaps in this Rainy Season, the male wraith would come with an army to marry her—and that female wraith... had already died by Chen Fan's hand.

When that time came.

When that time came.

Chen Fan turned to look toward the warehouse. He had peeled off the female wraith's skin and stored it in the garage. A Le's knife work was not bad; he had skinned her rather intact. Would handing over the whole skin work? If they sewed it onto another female wraith, it could barely pass.

Strange Entities with intelligence were exceedingly rare.

As for Strange Entities capable of crafting Exotic Treasures, this female wraith was the only one he knew of with that ability.

If that Wraith King did not care about this female wraith at all, they might escape this calamity. But with her looks and her skill, she could grace a hall and craft Exotic Treasures for the Wraith King. No matter how he looked at it, she did not seem like someone the king could simply not care about.

They were screwed.

"O devoted female wraith, if you were going to wait for your dream man during the Rainy Season, couldn't you have just curled up safely in some corner?"

"Why did you have to come looking for me again and again?"

"Now look at this."

"You've left behind a complete mess."

"Wasn't it just one dead subordinate? Was it worth charging into my camp to fight me to the death?"

Chen Fan rubbed his temples in irritation. The Wraith King would most likely return to the Wasteland during the Rainy Season. The other side was neither weak in strength nor lacking in power. If he wanted to deal with him, he had to make every possible preparation. At the very least, the camp's current defenses were definitely insufficient.

However.

The other side might not know where he was. After all, there had been no witnesses. Right, in that case—

Right my ass!

There was only one camp in the entire Wasteland, shining as brightly as the sun in the dark of night. Unless that Wraith King was an idiot, the moment he arrived in the Wasteland, he would come looking for Chen Fan first!

Forget it!

When soldiers came, generals would block them; when water came, earth would dam it.

He took a deep breath and adjusted his state again before looking toward the warehouse once more. The female wraith had been able to craft an Exotic Treasure like this from just one piece of her skin, while he had a complete set of skin stored in his warehouse.

Once he found an Artifact Refiner in the future, perhaps that skin could be used to craft him a full set of soft armor.

He casually tucked the Wraith Hide into his hemp clothes, close against his chest.

It felt warm.

Quite comfortable, actually.

When he had been young in his previous life, a girl had once knitted him a scarf, and it had kept his heart warm through the entire winter.

Who would have thought that in this world, a female wraith would use her own skin to weave him a breastplate to protect his heart? It was rather romantic.

How thoughtful.

Inside the camp.

Chen Fan stood atop the City Wall within the Breeding Farm, looking down at the Doppelganger Wraiths below as they shrieked wildly and bared their fangs in the torrential rain.

The wall stood five meters high.

These Doppelganger Wraiths had not climbed the wall by forming human ladders. It was unclear whether they had not thought of it or simply had no time to think. Ever since he had abducted them, they had been mating day and night without pause.

In the poem written by that female wraith, there was a line like this.

-

"Rain corrodes a beauty a thousand, a hundred times; all my life, I wait for only one man."

-

Corrode.

That was not a pleasant word.

Perhaps.

The Rainy Season was also painful for Strange Entities?

Perhaps the rain fell upon them like sulfur, and under that unbearable pain, they went wildly rampant during the Rainy Season?

Just then—

A Le, standing nearby, reported, "Station Master, there were no powerful enemies attacking the camp last night. I conducted an experiment and discovered that the infant Strange Entities do not contain Eerie Stones. Eerie Stones are only born inside them after they mature."

"And this rainwater may possess some kind of special energy."

"After I used wooden boards to shield several Doppelganger Wraiths from the rain, they immediately stopped mating and began snarling at me viciously, preparing to attack."

"But once I removed the boards, they immediately returned to mating."

"Mm."

Chen Fan nodded lightly. "Well done."

The reason he was raising these Doppelganger Wraiths was not just to obtain more Eerie Stones. More importantly, he wanted to learn more about Strange Entities. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat.

From the looks of it so far.

The Rainy Season had an enormous effect on Strange Entities, though the effects differed between types.

For Doppelganger Wraiths, it meant mating uncontrollably.

For Meatworm Wraiths, it meant their entire race migrating uncontrollably.

For the female wraith, it meant pain like sulfuric acid corroding her flesh.

Perhaps this.

Was also why the female wraith had made herself a sedan chair.