The Ghost Blood Pattern on the City Wall looked like a mischievous child’s random scribbles.

You could faintly make out some kind of pattern, but at a glance, it was utterly chaotic.

It was a dark red.

It looked as if a craftsman had carved it with a slanted blade dipped in red clay.

...

The caves were gradually taking shape, which meant they could finally get a peaceful night’s sleep.

"Food’s here!"

Zhou Mo strode toward the City Wall, a wide smile on his face as he carried a platter. Lame Monkey and the others followed, also carrying various platters as they ascended the wall. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The food wasn’t exactly a feast.

Qi Chong had stir-fried a few hot dishes and warmed up some dry biscuits.

But compared to the dry rations they had been gnawing on for the past few days, it was quite a treat.

Eternal night fell, and a thick darkness blanketed the entire Wilderness. The light from the Level 5 Ghost Fire inside the cave spread out, covering the entire canyon Deep Pit and carving out a pocket of peace in a chaotic world.

...

Chen Fan sat on the City Wall, gazing at the light beyond. He picked up a piece of a hot dish with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, then took a bite of the warm, soft biscuit in his hand. Behind him, Zhou Mo and the others were drinking and chatting happily. He listened with a faint smile, saying nothing.

’Even for the most formidable people, life is mostly made up of mundane and uninteresting moments. It’s the few highlights that define their legacies.’

’And right now... this counted as one of those highlights for him.’

The Earth Dragon Migration was a success. He was eating his first hot meal in his new camp, holding a Moving Banquet with no guests to welcome.

Zhou Mo and the others were drinking. Chen Fan didn’t care for alcohol himself, but he enjoyed watching others drink.

’He was savoring this moment.’

He felt...

’This Moving Banquet is a reward for all my hard work these past days.’

’I painstakingly built a camp that could shelter everyone, bit by bit, in a Wilderness where no one else survived the rainy season. That’s pretty incredible, isn’t it?’

’At least, that’s what I think.’

Night had fallen.

But tonight, the entire canyon Deep Pit was illuminated by the Ghost Fire, clearing up their view. There was less fear and a greater sense of security.

Just then—

"THUD!"

A dark shadow plummeted from the cliff above, landing heavily in the canyon’s Deep Pit.

The sound instantly shattered the harmonious, celebratory atmosphere. Everyone instinctively turned toward the noise.

That sound was like a switch.

More dark figures came raining down from the cliff into the canyon Deep Pit. Because the Ghost Fire illuminated the entire Deep Pit tonight, they could clearly see what was happening: Ghost Corpses were smashing onto the ground out of the darkness.

There were twenty or thirty of them in total.

They were completely motionless.

Deader than dead.

"Is that crocodile back again?"

Zhou Mo murmured, "Didn’t it just get dark? It’s already this eager for dinner?"

They had learned from the station master that a giant crocodile had been coming to the canyon’s Deep Pit to forage for the past few nights.

...

Chen Fan watched the scene, his expression calm and untroubled. He had grown accustomed to this crocodile over the past few days. Besides, he now had a Level 3 City Wall; he highly doubted the creature could knock it down.

He glanced at the stacks of Copper Pipes placed in the Natural Ghost Fire Zone.

They had spent the last two days carving out the caves.

They hadn’t gone on any expeditions.

The Copper Pipes hadn’t been laid out as planned. However, not wanting to waste the daily production quota, they had crafted them all and piled them in the Natural Ghost Fire Zone outside the caves, planning to lay them once the excavation was complete.

Based on the past few nights, the crocodile would appear in about the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn.

Sure enough.

An incense stick’s worth of time later,

there was a stir at the edge of the camp’s light, where it met the darkness.

A huge crocodile’s front paw cautiously emerged from the darkness. It tentatively patted the ground within the Ghost Fire-lit camp, as if confused why the area, dark last night, was so bright tonight.

After testing the ground for a moment,

its body finally crawled into the lit area.

Its lantern-sized eyes stared fixedly at Chen Fan on the City Wall.

The man and the crocodile were once again locked in a standoff.

Dozens of breaths later,

the crocodile finally began to move. It crept forward cautiously, crawling slowly toward the Ghost Corpses that had fallen from the cliff.

...

Chen Fan’s lips trembled as he suppressed a laugh, not wanting the creature to think he was mocking it. ’In two lifetimes, this is the first time I’ve ever seen a crocodile scuttle sideways like a crab.’ The sight was utterly comical.

Perhaps it sensed Chen Fan’s amusement.

The crocodile suddenly froze, its eyes fixed on Chen Fan, and they were in a standoff once more. After another several moments, it resumed its advance, finally reaching the pile of Ghost Corpses.

One eye remained fixed on Chen Fan.

The other eye swiveled to locate the Ghost Corpses, and it began to quickly swallow them one by one, gulping them down whole without chewing, just like a python.

...

After the crocodile had swallowed most of the Ghost Corpses,

Chen Fan took a Ghost Stone from his clothes and threw it hard over the wall. It landed about twenty meters away and rolled to a stop. ’This crocodile seems quite intelligent,’ he thought. ’It doesn’t act like a Ghost Object, and it doesn’t seem malicious. Maybe we can coexist peacefully.’

But the sudden movement clearly startled the crocodile.

It didn’t even bother swallowing the last two corpses, instead turning and bolting down the canyon passage.

The ground trembled from its steps.

"So fast..."

Zhou Mo stood up and stared blankly at the crocodile’s disappearing back. "I can’t believe something that big can move so quickly. Uh, Station Master, why did you throw a Ghost Stone at it?"

"Feeding it."

"Uh, does this crocodile eat Ghost Stones?"

"It’s ninety percent likely."

Chen Fan shook his head, not particularly bothered by the crocodile’s flight. ’What a coward,’ he thought. ’It’ll probably get used to it after I feed it a few more times.’ He then explained to Zhou Mo, "Qian Hou, one of the Ghost King’s four lieutenants, was carrying five chests."

"Inside were various Ghost Materials and two large chests of Ghost Stones."

"This proves that Ghost Stones are important to other Ghost Objects. The frantic escape of Ghost Objects during the rainy season might be because more intelligent ones are hunting them down."

"When it eats the Ghost Corpses, it’s not after their flesh, but the Ghost Stones inside their bodies."

"That makes sense."

Zhou Mo nodded, the realization dawning on him.

Just then—

The crocodile, which had fled into the darkness, noticed there were no further disturbances. It cautiously crawled back to the edge of the camp, where it lay, lifting its large, lantern-like eyes to stare intently at Chen Fan.

Its pupils held a faint trace of confusion.

Then, it tilted its head to look at the few remaining Ghost Corpses at the base of the cliff.

After a moment of hesitation,

it quickly scrambled to the base of the cliff and swallowed the two remaining Ghost Corpses. Then, it began to creep cautiously toward the City Wall, keeping a wary eye on Chen Fan, a hint of anticipation in its gaze.

Before long,

it had crawled over to the Ghost Stone that Chen Fan had thrown.

Its huge snout moved closer to the small Ghost Stone and sniffed. It looked up at Chen Fan again, the confusion in its eyes now even stronger, and perhaps even tinged with a hint of anger.

By now, the crocodile was only about twenty meters from the City Wall.

This was the first time any of them had gotten such a close look at the creature.