Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Miniature House, Pretty Good.

"Not bad."

Chen Fan said nothing, handing the Kraft Paper to Zhou Mo. "It’s good to keep a record. If we can survive the rainy season, this will be the best medal to prove our tenacity. How did you rest last night?"

The danger had mostly passed late last night, so he had Zhou Mo, Qi Chong, and their respective men all go inside to sleep in preparation for today’s operation after daybreak.

"I slept very well. I’m full of energy now and ready for the mission at any time."

"Good."

Chen Fan pulled the Ghost Map from his robes, pointed to a few marks on it, and gave his orders. "Last night, nearly all outposts in the Wilderness were wiped out. None survived. Only two outposts made it through."

"One is our outpost, Jiangbei Chen Family Outpost 37."

"The other is nine kilometers from us in a straight line."

"Your mission today is to take your men to that outpost, bring back any portable resources, and bring their people to our outpost."

"They were lucky to survive last night, which means they have good fortune, but luck can’t protect them forever in the rainy season."

"We need to band together for warmth. One more person is one more bit of strength."

"Understood."

Zhou Mo nodded firmly in acknowledgment. He pulled out his own Ghost Map and looked at the location of the lucky outpost. If he remembered correctly, it was Hill and Valley Royal Family Outpost 16.

He had met the leader of that outpost a few times, but they hadn’t interacted much.

"Traveling in this downpour will be difficult. Your top priority is your own safety. If you encounter any uncontrollable situations, abandon the mission immediately and return to camp."

After giving this final instruction, Chen Fan turned to Qi Chong, who had been startled awake and was now hastily getting dressed.

"Qi Chong."

He stood up, looked at Qi Chong, and said seriously, "Your mission is to go to the nearby outposts that were destroyed last night and bring back any usable supplies. There’s no specific number; just scavenge as many as you think you can manage."

"But remember to keep flipping the hourglass."

"When you’ve flipped the hourglass eight times, no matter where you are, return to the camp immediately."

"Yes, sir!" Qi Chong, having scrambled into his clothes, opened his bleary eyes and shouted.

During the rainy season in the Wilderness, the deadliest thing was the inability to get a sense of time from the sky. The ceaseless downpour meant that if they didn’t make it back to camp within the allotted time, the only thing awaiting them was... the arrival of eternal night.

And the hourglass was one way to tell time in the Wilderness.

When the sand ran out, it meant half an hour had passed. After eight flips, there would be less than two hours until dark, at which point one had to return to camp immediately.

...

A section of the City Wall slowly retracted into the ground.

After a few quick bites of dry rations, Zhou Mo and Qi Chong, holding their Ghost Maps, led their men out of the camp and into the downpour, their figures gradually disappearing into the mist with each step.

In the Wilderness, no outpost had rain gear like raincoats or bamboo hats.

After all...

In this Wilderness, it only rained continuously during the rainy season, so such items were useless on normal days. And during the rainy season, they were completely useless anyway...

"Once you’re all done here, go get some sleep."

Chen Fan called out to Wang Kui and the others, who were dissecting Ghost Corpses on the desolate land outside the City Wall. He then walked over to Lame Monkey, who was carefully righting the young sprouts by the Farmland. Last night, the Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide had swept across the Farmland.

The damage was not insignificant.

"Young Master."

Lame Monkey spoke with a pained expression, "Seven of the seventeen Monkey Head Mushroom sprouts were trampled to death, and four of the twelve Ghost Stone Vein sprouts were crushed."

"The losses are considerable."

"It’s alright. It’s much better than I expected."

Chen Fan said with a sigh of relief.

"For this many to have survived is already great. Seeing what happened last night, I thought this whole Farmland would be uprooted. Alright, you should head back to the house and rest. I’ll take a look and then get some sleep myself after I finish the inventory."

"Young Master, do you remember that seed I found in the Wooden House and planted in the Farmland?"

"Of course I remember. Why, did it sprout?"

"It just sprouted!"

Lame Monkey excitedly pointed to a few flower buds in the corner of the Farmland, barely bigger than sesame seeds, that had just broken through the soil. "It’s a flower! At this rate, it’ll bloom before long."

"Oh?"

Chen Fan crouched by the Farmland in surprise, looking at the few brown buds on a new stalk in the corner. He had originally thought it was some kind of moldy wheat seed, but he never expected it to be a flower seed, let alone for it to actually grow. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

’This thing has some serious Life Force!’

One had to understand, the Monkey Head Mushroom and Ghost Stone Vein seeds were special seeds dropped by Ghost Objects, which was why they could sprout successfully. For an ordinary crop to survive in this kind of torrential rain was truly remarkable.

"Alright."

Chen Fan smiled and patted Lame Monkey on the shoulder. "Go back to the house, eat something, and sleep. There’s more work to be done when you wake up this afternoon."

"As you say, Young Master."

Lame Monkey, clutching the Godslaying Spear, didn’t argue further and walked toward the Wooden House inside the City Wall.

By now, Wang Kui and his men had finished dissecting all the Ghost Corpses outside the City Wall. They had collected a total of 41 Ghost Stones, no Exotic Treasures, and a good amount of dismantled Ghost Materials.

He had them leave the carcasses outside the City Wall for now, to be dealt with after they woke up, and told them to go back to the house and sleep as well.

He began to take inventory of the camp’s assets by himself.

He originally had 4 Ghost Stones on him. Adding the 484 Ghost Stones dropped by the Meat Worm Ghosts and these 41 Ghost Stones, he now had a total of 529. There was also one used Ghost Stone—the one he had pried from the Arrow Tower at the beginning—which he had pushed back into the tower’s recess after daybreak.

’529 Ghost Stones...’

Chen Fan stood by the Farmland, facing the downpour and gazing at the unbroken overcast sky in the distance. After a long, dazed moment, he suddenly let out a soft laugh.

’The heavens are fair.’

’Along with crisis, they also bring opportunity.’

If it weren’t for last night’s Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide, it would have taken him a very long time to save up these 529 Ghost Stones.

An ordinary outpost leader’s monthly stipend was only 10 Ghost Stones.

This was equivalent to nearly five years’ income for an outpost leader.

It was also about a third of Wang Kui’s total income from his thirteen years with the Wang Family.

He then pulled his thoughts back and looked down at the three Exotic Treasures in his hand, all of which had dropped last night. He wasn’t in a hurry to use them; that could wait until he woke up. His nerves had been stretched taut all night, and his mind was a bit foggy.

Decisions made in this state were often not the best.

’I’ll deal with it after I sleep.’

Just as he was about to turn back to the Wooden House, his eyes caught sight of the flower bud swaying gently in the heavy rain. He hesitated for a moment, then picked up a few suitable broken Wooden Boards from near the Wooden House inside the City Wall. He walked over to the Farmland and built a simple, crude little shelter for the flower bud.

It was only about the size of his palm.

A miniature house.

’Not bad.’

Satisfied, Chen Fan stood up and walked back to the Wooden House. He stripped off his soaked linen clothes, glanced at Lame Monkey who was already asleep clutching his Long Spear, and then, smiling, lay down on the bed beside him and gradually drifted off to sleep.

’Another night survived.’

’The rainy season has its benefits. At least it helps me avoid trouble from all sorts of monsters and gives me enough time to develop.’

’For example...’

’When day breaks and word gets out that Jiangbei Chen Family Outpost 37 is still holding strong, things should get quite lively over at the Chen Family in Jiangbei City.’

’When someone who is supposed to die doesn’t, it always makes certain people feel like they’re sitting on pins and needles.’