Chapter 36: Chapter 36: So Direct and Simple?

After waking up, Chen Fan washed up and stood at the entrance of the Wooden House, gazing out at the dreary, endless drizzle.

The rain wasn’t too heavy today.

The rainy seasons he was used to just meant more precipitation, but this world’s rainy season was a literal 24/7 affair. At best, it was a light drizzle like this; at worst, it was a torrential downpour.

"..."

He looked at the cracked earth outside.

Even after several days of rain, there was no sign of flooding; the ground remained parched and cracked. The narrow fissures, like the calloused soles of a farmer’s feet, were like bottomless monsters, swallowing all the rain that fell.

There wasn’t even any standing water. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

In his memory,

the weather in this world was quite normal outside of the rainy season. A continuous downpour like this in the wilderness was clearly not normal. More importantly... when the rainy season arrived early, Ghost Objects tended to become unusually aggressive.

He didn’t dwell on it.

He looked at the two remaining Exotic Treasures in his hand. The Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide from the day before yesterday had left him three in total; the other one was the building module Blueprint for the "Copper Pipe."

The one in his hand was a small pocketknife, about the size of a keychain ornament.

-

[Exotic Treasure Name]: Big Saber.

[Exotic Treasure Level]: White.

[Exotic Treasure Effect]: Deals decent damage to Low Tier Ghost Objects.

-

"..."

Chen Fan frowned as he looked at the Exotic Treasure in his hand. This wasn’t the first Weapon Category Exotic Treasure he’d obtained; the Long Spear Lame Monkey always carried was one such item.

It was just that the name of Lame Monkey’s Exotic Treasure was extremely impressive: the "Godslaying Spear."

’How could this Exotic Treasure be...’

’Big Saber.’

’So direct and plain?’

’Besides, it has no special effects. The Godslaying Spear could even change its size at will.’

’Whatever.’

He set the Exotic Treasure aside, planning to give it to Zhou Mo when he returned. It was a Weapon Category Exotic Treasure, after all. It would still be more effective against Ghost Objects than a regular weapon.

As for the other Exotic Treasure,

it was rather special.

A small black lump wrapped in a membrane, it was a Seed-type Treasure.

-

[Exotic Treasure Name]: Meat Ghost Mother and Child Species.

[Exotic Treasure Level]: Green.

[Exotic Treasure Effect]: Must be planted in ’Level 2 Farmland.’ Matures in seven days. Upon ripening, it divides into a Mother-Child Fruit. If two people each consume one, they can communicate telepathically within a hundred li. The effect lasts for one month.

[Planting Conditions]: Must be watered with Ghost Blood every hour and fertilized with Ghost Corpses.

-

"Good stuff."

Chen Fan silently tucked the bundle of seeds into his clothes. This Exotic Treasure solved one of his biggest problems: the lack of communication methods. For instance, he currently had no way of contacting Zhou Mo, who was out on patrol.

The planting conditions were just a little troublesome.

It would require someone to be specifically assigned to watch over it at all times.

But that was fine.

He had his own professional farmers, the "Heng and Ha Generals," so it wasn’t a problem. The two of them could take turns watching it, a perfect solution.

This was the first Green Level Exotic Treasure he had obtained.

Its effect was also better than he had imagined.

A ripened Meat Ghost Mother-Child Fruit would likely be a hot commodity, even in the Jiangbei Marketplace.

...

He walked out of the Wooden House.

He immediately noticed a change on the City Wall. A simple hut built from wooden planks now stood there. A few discarded clothes were draped over its roof. It wasn’t large, but it could provide some shelter from the rain.

He had told the Heng and Ha Generals to build it before he went to sleep.

It looked pretty good.

Otherwise, being drenched by rain all night during guard duty was something no one could endure. They weren’t made of iron, after all.

"Chief."

Chen Fan walked past the City Wall to the camp’s periphery. Qi Chong, who had been busy with something in the Farmland, immediately jogged over. "It’s all harvested."

"The 10 Monkey Head Mushroom seedlings grew a total of 10 Monkey Head Mushrooms."

"The 8 Ghost Stone Vein plants produced 80 Ghost Stones."

"I put them all in the Warehouse."

"Mm."

Chen Fan nodded lightly and walked to the Warehouse outside the camp. Pushing the door open, he saw neat rows of Monkey Head Mushrooms and a layer of Ghost Stones on the shelves. The yield wasn’t very high. He picked up a Monkey Head Mushroom and sniffed it.

He took a bite.

An earthy, fishy taste mixed with sweetness assaulted his mouth.

"Huh?"

A trace of surprise flashed in Chen Fan’s eyes. He finished the entire Monkey Head Mushroom in a few moments. The taste was surprisingly good. Most importantly, it felt warm in his mouth, like a scalding current, completely unlike eating raw food.

And after he swallowed it,

he could faintly feel his physical constitution strengthen by a fraction.

Not bad at all.

There were 9 left.

There were exactly 10 people in the camp.

"Take the remaining nine and give one to everybody. This rain is going to last a while longer. A stronger constitution will also reduce the chances of getting sick."

The slight boost to his constitution would hardly affect his combat strength, but it could indeed lower the risk of illness.

Chen Fan glanced at the 80 Ghost Stones on the shelf, then took the "Meat Ghost Mother and Child Species" from his clothes and handed it to Qi Chong. "I’m going to upgrade the Farmland to Level 2 in a bit. After that, you and Ah Le will take turns watching over these seeds."

"They’re quite delicate."

"They need to be watered with Ghost Blood every hour."

"Lame Monkey buried a bunch of Ghost Corpses in the ground. You can dig some of them up when you need them."

"Understood!"

Qi Chong responded with great enthusiasm, carefully taking the membrane-wrapped bundle with both hands and cradling it in his palms.

"..."

Chen Fan gave Qi Chong a slightly strange look. ’Since when did he become so passionate about farming?’

’Just yesterday, he could clearly tell that Qi Chong wanted to go out on patrol like Zhou Mo and was resistant to farming. He’d even been thinking about having a chat with Qi Chong to ease his aversion to it. Why did that aversion suddenly disappear today?’

’It’s hard for someone to come to terms with something like this so quickly on their own.’

’Did someone talk to Qi Chong?’

He glanced at Ah Le, the rough, bearded man who was following Qi Chong, and nodded thoughtfully. Then, he patted Qi Chong’s shoulder and said with a smile,

"Keep up the good work."

"We’ll have more Farmland in the future. When that time comes, you’ll miss how easy things are now."

"Hehe."

Qi Chong grinned. "Don’t worry, Chief. I’ll take care of this plot of land perfectly!"

"Go on."

...

Facing the dreary rain, Chen Fan walked over to the Farmland. He consumed 10 Ghost Stones to upgrade the plot on the camp’s periphery to Level 2.

A panel floated up before him.

-

[Farmland upgraded to Level 2.]

[This building has no Upgrade Direction.]

-

’Looks like not all buildings have an Upgrade Direction to choose from.’

Chen Fan didn’t say anything else. He just looked at the Farmland before him. After the upgrade, the yellow soil had turned into dark, black earth, looking visibly more fertile.

The Farmland was small, but he didn’t have many seeds anyway. For planting just a dozen or so, this plot was more than enough.

...

After finishing all this, he walked to an empty area on the outskirts of the camp.

With the "1.0 Heating System" in place, he had slept quite comfortably during the day. The room was much warmer.

But...

after all, the hot water in the Copper Pipes didn’t circulate automatically. He had been woken up by the cold twice and had to get up both times to replace the hot water in the pipes.

It was rather troublesome.