In the Wilderness.

The man in the blue robe, hiding behind a low, earthen hill, let out a long sigh. Only after making sure the young man couldn’t see him from that angle did he once again pull a Ghost Map from his robes, preparing to take a longer, roundabout route to the Jiangbei Marketplace.

According to his original route.

He should have headed straight east after leaving this station.

But...

This part of the Wilderness was extremely flat with an unobstructed view. He felt that as a powerful expert, walking such a long distance in plain sight of the two of them would be somewhat undignified.

’As a powerful expert, I should do a good deed, then flick my sleeves and vanish in the blink of an eye, leaving not a trace behind.’

"I’m so..."

He couldn’t help but shake his head, amused by his own childish thoughts. After a moment, the smile slowly faded from his lips. A look of violent frustration flickered in his eyes as he tilted his head toward Station 37 of the Jiangbei Chen Family and murmured.

"Why wasn’t there anyone back then willing to lend me a hand, like I did today..."

"If there had been... perhaps the Jiangbei Old Demon wouldn’t exist today."

...

Once he was sure the blue-robed man was long gone, Chen Fan quickly walked over to the Haystack behind the Wooden House. From it, he retrieved the Level 1 Beast Trap and the Ghost Object that had been caught last night.

The Beast Trap could be reused multiple times, but its drawback was that it could only activate once per night.

This Ghost Object was monkey-like, resembling a small primate.

Its mouth took up nearly two-thirds of its face, and its densely packed teeth were horrifying to behold.

Every Ghost Object contained a Ghost Stone within its body.

Ghost Stones were also the most important currency in this world.

"Young Master, this Ghost Object is called a Monkey-headed Ghost. It’s a common Low Level Ghost Object, typically between Level 1 and Level 3. It’s not very dangerous, but it’s characterized by its extremely high movement speed. The Ghost Stone is located at the back of its head."

"..."

Chen Fan looked at Lame Monkey with a hint of surprise. "How do you know that?"

’I don’t have any memory of this. How would Lame Monkey know, when he was just a servant in the Chen Family back then?’

"When we were assigned to you, Young Master, all of us servants underwent three years of training. That included some lessons at a Private School, where they taught us a lot about Ghost Objects."

"Is that so..."

Chen Fan glanced thoughtfully at the map in his hand. He had a vague memory of this. In fact, there had been a Private School specifically for the core members of the family, but his predecessor had been wallowing in self-pity at the time and would never have gone to such a place.

"I remember now. The family gave you a Ghost Stone back then and had you absorb it to become a Cultivator?"

"Yes."

Lame Monkey’s voice grew fainter. "After the training ended, all the servants received one Ghost Stone. A few lucky ones became special Cultivators and were personally taken away by the Patriarch."

"I never received another Ghost Stone after that. My physical fitness is no different than it was before."

"They call me a Cultivator, but I don’t have the slightest trace of a Cultivator’s aura."

Chen Fan nodded and said no more. He remembered now as well. Originally, while he had been targeted within the family, it hadn’t been too obvious. But after he absorbed a Ghost Stone at the age of sixteen and failed to awaken as any kind of special Cultivator, even the Patriarch, who had once held out hope for him, gave up on him completely.

After that, his status plummeted.

Soon—

Lame Monkey rolled up his sleeves, took a small knife from his robes, and cut open the Ghost Corpse. He dug out a blood-soaked Ghost Stone and wiped it clean on his burlap clothes before handing it to Chen Fan.

At this point.

Including the two Ghost Stones from the Ghost Fire, he now possessed a total of three Ghost Stones.

...

"..."

Chen Fan carried a chair out of the house and sat down by the Ghost Fire, pondering his next plan to earn Ghost Stones. He didn’t need to go to the Jiangbei Marketplace to find an Architect to construct buildings for him; he could build these basic structures himself.

He just needed enough Ghost Stones.

He had a way to acquire Ghost Stones quickly.

Mass-producing Ghost Fires.

This structure had widespread applications in this world, and the market for it was huge. Many Architects also produced Ghost Fires and took them to the Marketplace to sell for a marked price of around 60 Ghost Stones.

The cost was about 50 Ghost Stones.

Almost every Architect could make this structure, so the premium wasn’t very high.

But—

his cost was only three Ghost Stones. Even if he sold them for 50 Ghost Stones each, he could quickly amass a fortune.

It was just that...

it was a bit too conspicuous. It would also destroy the livelihoods of many people, and besides, this place was still a long way from the Jiangbei Marketplace. He couldn’t travel that far for the time being.

He should first focus on the Beast Trap.

The Beast Trap could only catch one Ghost Object per night at most, but that was mainly because it was a single-target trap. If he could retrieve and reset the Beast Trap after it caught a Ghost Object, it could continue working.

’Once the eternal night falls, I definitely won’t be entering the darkness to reset the Beast Trap.’

But he didn’t need to go in himself.

He just needed to make a small hemp rope. He could use it to pull the Beast Trap out of the darkness and into the safe zone, where he could reset it again.

"Lame Monkey."

Chen Fan looked up at Lame Monkey. "Do you know how to weave hemp rope from dried grass?"

"I do."

"You’re a genius."

He couldn’t help but exclaim, "Your task today is to use the pile of dried grass behind the Wooden House to weave a few hemp ropes. They don’t need to be too long, three or four meters will do. I’m going out to gather information. After you’re done, catch up on some sleep during the day. We have a mission tonight."

"Understood."

Lame Monkey’s reply was crisp and clear, without a single question about what the ropes were for.

...

After assigning Lame Monkey his task, Chen Fan took out a few pieces of hardtack from inside the house. He washed them down with water from a copper kettle, and once his stomach was mostly full, he left the camp, holding the Ghost Map as he headed toward the nearest Ghost Fire.

He planned to go check on the other stations.

The predicament he currently faced wasn’t just a lack of Ghost Stones, but also insufficient food and water.

The Ghost Map was very useful. Not only did it display the real-time status of nearby Ghost Fires, but a green dot of light representing the holder would also appear on the map, ensuring he wouldn’t get lost. Furthermore, a Red Ghost Fire, a different color from all the others on the map, marked his own camp.

He climbed over the small earthen hill.

And headed straight west.

After about thirty minutes, he saw the Ghost Fire camp closest to him.

He lay prone on the cracked ground of the Wilderness, observing carefully.

’It should be a Level 2 Ghost Fire...’

’Otherwise, the safe zone wouldn’t be large enough to accommodate so many Wooden Houses. There are seven in total: two large ones and five small ones.’

’But there’s no City Wall.’

’And a plot of cultivated Farmland.’

’Four people in total.’

He murmured to himself as he observed. All four people seemed to belong to this camp; there were probably no passersby. Just as the blue-robed man had said, this station’s environment did seem better than theirs.

With the overnight fee also being one Ghost Stone, his station had no competitive edge.