"..."
Chen Fan didn't pay attention to Crippled Monkey's excitement. Instead, he looked at the Eerie Fire before him, preparing to perform a blood pact. He glanced at his thumb, then at his little finger, pausing for a moment before putting his index finger in his mouth. He scraped a bit of blood from his gums and smeared it onto the Eerie Fire.
That was enough for a blood pact.
From then on.
This area became his base.
It had been a few days since he transmigrated, and he was still experiencing some acclimatization issues. He hadn't slept well, and his gums were bleeding.
"We won't go back tonight."
He got Animal Traps out of the cart and threw them on the ground, busying himself as he spoke, "We are going to work here tonight."
Although he believed that Eerie Creatures were definitely mobile in the dark and that it was impossible to completely clear an area of them, this was just speculation. Truth came from practice.
He'd see how it went tonight.
This place was certainly less safe than his main base, but normally, based on experience, there shouldn't be any powerful Eerie Creatures on this stretch of wasteland that could charge the Eerie Fire. As for the large Eerie Creature that attacked the Eerie Fire the other night, that was simply a case of a parent coming seeking revenge for its young.
"Understood!"
Crippled Monkey nodded excitedly, his eyes gleaming as he started arranging these Animal Traps outside the camp. Despite his limp, Crippled Monkey worked quite nimbly.
To be precise.
In this world, there were few to no people who were not nimble at their work.
Those who weren't had all died...
In a world where death could come at any moment, it was hard to live a pampered life.
...
"Hoo..."
Chen Fan squatted on the wasteland, looking out at the brown, cracked earth in the distance. He shifted his butt to get comfortable in a squat, preparing to relieve himself. The wind was strong today, stinging as it blew against his skin.
The weather was gradually turning colder; winter was approaching.
Before he left, he had given the Archery Towers an order: give any creature entering the camp a warning attack. If the creature refused to leave, shoot it on the spot.
He wasn't worried about his base being raided.
With two Level 2 Archery Towers stationed there, who could manage that?
A while later.
Carefully, he plucked a handful of weeds from beside him. After making sure they had no tiny, prickly hairs, he used them to wipe, then washed with water.
The conditions were a bit rudimentary.
But it was okay, still acceptable.
He didn't really like using blades of grass to wipe, mainly because once, as a child, he used nettle leaves and it left him with quite a bit of psychological trauma.
...
Night fell.
The moment the sun set, a jet-black darkness rapidly swept in from the horizon, enveloping the entire world.
Not a glimmer of light could be seen.
The only light came from the Eerie Fire by his side.
This hastily built camp had no structures other than the Eerie Fire, not even a simple wooden hut. They couldn't find even a windbreak.
"This won't do."
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, so, before leaving, he had fed one Eerie Stone to it. Building the Eerie Fire for the new camp had taken 3 Eerie Stones, and he'd added one more Eerie Stone as fuel.
Now, he only had 3 Eerie Stones on him.
To be honest, he didn't want to spend 2 Eerie Stones to build a wooden hut; it was too extravagant. But tonight, for some reason, the temperature had plummeted, and the wind was blowing fiercely. If he endured this for the whole night, he strongly suspected he might get hypothermia.
Frozen to death.
Even if it wasn't hypothermia, he'd fall seriously ill. If catching a cold, there was no place to get treated out here on the wasteland.
As for the Eerie Fire, it had no temperature; it wasn't a real flame and provided no warmth at all.
Nearby, Crippled Monkey, gripping a long spear, was also shivering uncontrollably.
It was just too cold tonight.
"..."
Chen Fan gritted his teeth. These 3 Eerie Stones were his last margin for error. The Eerie Fire at the main base only had enough fuel to burn for one night. He truly didn't want to use up this last reserve.
Just then—
"Drip."
A drop of icy, chilling rain fell on the back of his hand.
He froze for a moment, then looked up at the pitch-black darkness overhead, extending his palm to feel. It was raining, and... it was coming down hard.
In almost the blink of an eye, it went from occasional drops to a steady downpour, and it was still intensifying.
This time.
He no longer hesitated. He immediately pulled out 2 Eerie Stones and threw them into the air. The white lines of an illusory wooden hut popped out of thin air and, boosted by the milky-white liquid, solidified rapidly, landing within the camp.
"Crippled Monkey, inside!"
Chen Fan darted into the wooden hut while shouting toward Crippled Monkey, who was still standing out in the rain, gripping his spear and staring at the ropes on the ground.
He had been hesitating before.
Wondering if he could tough it out.
Now, there was no need to hesitate.
If it were just the temperature drop and strong wind tonight, perhaps there was a chance he wouldn't get hypothermia. But coupled with the heavy rain, without any shelter from the rain, both of them would definitely freeze to death here tonight.
Now, he couldn't afford to worry about margin for error.
First, he had to ensure they didn't freeze to death tonight.
If...
If there were no gains tonight, then this attempt would end in failure.
Chen Fan stood at the entrance of the wooden hut, looking at the ropes that didn't move at all out in the heavy rain, and sighed silently. No one could dismiss his decision tonight as wrong; after all, he was trying.
It's just that his margin for error was too small.
A single failure had nearly exhausted all of it.
"Young Master..."
Crippled Monkey stood nearby, gripping his spear, at a loss. Tonight's situation had far exceeded his expectations. He wanted to help it, yet there was nothing he could do, giving him a deep sense of helplessness.
"It's fine."
Chen Fan shook his head and said softly, "Whatever, there will be a way out. At worst, tomorrow I'll swallow my pride and go see Station Master Wang."
Actually, as long as he could get to the Rivernorth Marketplace, he could quickly gain a large amount of wealth by selling his low-cost Eerie Fire. It's just that he currently didn't have the ability to protect that wealth; if he went, he'd most likely be forcibly kept under someone's control.
Just then—
"It moved, it moved!"
Crippled Monkey's excited voice suddenly rang out from the side. Chen Fan instinctively looked over and saw one of the ropes on the ground shaking violently, indicating that the animal trap at the other end of that rope had caught prey.
Chen Fan's face lit up with joy. Before he could do anything, the remaining 4 ropes also began jerking in unison.
Five prey had nearly simultaneously stepped into the traps!
"Hurry!"
Chen Fan rushed into the heavy rain, his voice urgent and excited, no longer caring if he got wet. He quickly grabbed one of the ropes and yanked it hard, pulling an animal trap into the camp. The trap held a grotesque-looking Eerie Creature.
It looked like an oversized maggot.
Extremely fat, about the size of a small child, pudgy, and rather creepy.
Its mouthparts were especially disgusting, taking up nine-tenths of its head.
He didn't have time to examine the Eerie Creature carefully.
Crippled Monkey, who had also rushed into the rain, was now leaping into the air, raising his long spear.
Aiming straight for the head, he struck with one piercing blow!
Clean and neat!