"It's moving! It's moving!"

"..."

Chen Fan paid no attention to Crippled Monkey's excitement. Instead, he looked at the Eerie Fire before him, preparing to bind it with his blood. He glanced down at his thumb, then his little finger. After a brief pause, he put 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 his blood.

With that done...

This area became his base, too.

He had transmigrated several days ago, but he still hadn't quite adjusted. Not only had he been sleeping poorly, his gums were bleeding as well.

"We're not going back tonight."

He took the Beast Traps out of the handcart and tossed them onto the ground, speaking as he got to work. "We'll work here tonight."

He believed the strange entities were constantly moving through the darkness, meaning there was no such thing as killing every strange entity in an area. But that was only a guess. Only practice could reveal the truth.

He would see how things went tonight.

This place certainly wasn't as safe as his Headquarters, but normally, judging by experience, there shouldn't be any particularly powerful strange entities on this Wasteland, and they wouldn't recklessly attack the Eerie Fire. A large strange entity like the one that had attacked the Eerie Fire that night would only appear under special circumstances.

"Understood!"

Crippled Monkey nodded excitedly, his eyes gleaming, and started setting up the Beast Traps outside the Camp. Despite his limp, he worked quite efficiently.

To be precise...

Very few people in this world were inefficient workers.

Those who were had all died...

In a world where people could die at any moment, it was hard to live a pampered life.

"Phew..."

Squatting on the Wasteland, Chen Fan gazed at the dry, cracked brown earth in the distance. He shifted his backside until he found a comfortable position to take a shit. The wind was strong today, stinging a little as it struck his body.

The weather was gradually getting colder, too. Winter was approaching.

Before leaving, he had ordered the Arrow Towers to fire a warning shot at any creature entering the Camp. If it refused to leave, they were to shoot it dead.

He wasn't worried about anyone raiding his base.

With two Level 2 Arrow Towers standing there, who could raid it?

A while later...

He carefully plucked a handful of weeds from beside him. Only after making sure they had no tiny, fuzzy prickles did he wipe his backside, then wash it with water.

The conditions were a little crude.

But they were all right. He could live with them.

He didn't particularly like wiping his backside with leaves. Mainly because he had used nettles once as a child, and that had left him with quite a psychological scar.

Night fell.

The instant the sun set, an impenetrable darkness swept rapidly in from the horizon, engulfing the entire world.

Not a glimmer of light remained.

The only light came from the Eerie Fire beside them.

Aside from the Eerie Fire, this hastily constructed Camp had no structures at all. It didn't even have a crude Wooden Hut, let alone somewhere to shelter from the wind.

"This won't do."

Chen Fan huddled on the ground, his face slightly pale.

The Eerie Fire at Headquarters had run out of eerie stones. Before leaving, he had added one eerie stone to the Eerie Fire at Headquarters. Creating the Eerie Fire at the New Camp had consumed three eerie stones, and he had added another as fuel.

Now he had only three eerie stones left in his pocket.

In all honesty...

He really didn't want to spend two eerie stones building a Wooden Hut. It was too extravagant. But for some reason, the temperature had plunged tonight, and the wind was fierce. If it kept blowing on him all night, he seriously suspected he might develop hypothermia.

And freeze to death.

Even if he didn't develop hypothermia, he would definitely fall seriously ill. If he caught a chill out on the Wasteland, there would be nowhere to get treatment.

As for the Eerie Fire, it gave off no heat at all. It wasn't a real flame and offered not the slightest warmth.

Beside him, Crippled Monkey gripped his Spear, his body trembling uncontrollably as well.

Tonight was simply too cold.

"..."

Chen Fan gritted his teeth slightly. These three eerie stones were his last margin for error. The Eerie Fire at Headquarters only had enough fuel to burn for one night. He really didn't want to use up this final buffer.

Just then—

"Drip."

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

He froze for a moment, then looked up into the pitch-black darkness overhead and held out his palm to feel it. It was raining, and... the rain was coming down fast.

Almost in the blink of an eye, scattered drops became a downpour, and it was still growing heavier.

This time...

He didn't hesitate. He immediately took out two eerie stones and tossed them into the air. The outline of a Wooden Hut, formed from white lines, rapidly appeared in midair. With the aid of the milky-white liquid, it quickly solidified and settled inside the Camp.

"Crippled Monkey, get inside!"

As Chen Fan plunged into the Wooden Hut, he turned toward Crippled Monkey, who was still out in the rain, gripping his Spear and staring at the Hemp Rope on the ground, and shouted.

He had been hesitating before.

Wondering whether he could tough it out.

Now there was no need to hesitate.

If it had only been the drop in temperature and strong wind, they might have avoided hypothermia. But with Torrential Rain added to the mix and nowhere to shelter from the rain, the two of them would definitely freeze to death here tonight.

He could no longer worry about preserving his margin for error.

First, he had to make sure they didn't freeze to death tonight.

If...

If they gained nothing tonight, then this attempt would end in failure.

Chen Fan stood at the entrance to the Wooden Hut, gazing at the Hemp Ropes lying motionless in the Camp beneath the Torrential Rain, and sighed silently. He couldn't say his decision tonight had been wrong. After all, he was experimenting.

It was just that he had too little room for error.

A single failure had almost completely exhausted it.

"Young Master..."

Crippled Monkey stood helplessly beside him, gripping his Spear. Everything that had happened tonight was completely beyond his expectations. He wanted to do something, but there was nothing he could help with, leaving him with an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.

"It's all right."

Chen Fan shook his head and said softly, "There'll always be a way. If worse comes to worst, I'll swallow my pride and go see Stationmaster King tomorrow."

Actually, if he could just reach North River Market, his low-cost Eerie Fire would allow him to acquire a great fortune quickly. It was just that he currently lacked the ability to protect that wealth. If he went, he would most likely be forcibly kept captive.

Just then—

"It's moving! It's moving!"

Crippled Monkey's excited voice suddenly rang out beside him. Chen Fan instinctively looked over and saw one of the Hemp Ropes on the ground shaking violently. That meant the Beast Trap at its far end had caught something.

Chen Fan's face lit up with joy. Before he could act, the other four Hemp Ropes began shaking violently as well.

Five creatures had stepped into the traps almost simultaneously!

"Quick!"

His voice urgent and excited, Chen Fan rushed into the downpour. No longer caring about getting soaked, he quickly seized one of the Hemp Ropes and gave it a sharp yank, dragging a Beast Trap into the Camp. Clamped in it was a strange entity with an extremely bizarre appearance.

It looked like an oversized silkworm pupa.

It was enormously fat, about the size of a human infant, its plump body rather unnerving.

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

He had no time to examine the strange entity's appearance closely.

Crippled Monkey had also rushed into the rain. Like Runtu spearing a zha, he raised his Spear and leaped into the air.

Straight at the head, piercing it in a single strike!

Clean and decisive!