This Eerie Creature, resembling a large maggot, was pinned to the ground by the spear. Without any struggle, it soon fell still, dying on the spot.
"Nicely done!"
There was no time to dissect the body. Chen Fan pulled the remaining ropes, retrieving the traps from the darkness. They were all maggot-like Eerie Creatures. Again, Crippled Monkey killed them one at a time with the spear!
Clean and efficient.
After all this, Chen Fan tossed the now-empty traps back outside the camp. He and Crippled Monkey hid in the wooden hut again, their eyes filled with anticipation as they gazed into the depths of the darkness.
Eerie Creatures seemed to be unusually active tonight.
After about three breaths, a rope began to shake again.
Another catch was hooked.
...
An shichen(1 shichen equals 2 hours) later.
Chen Fan stood naked inside the wooden hut, having removed his soaked rough cloth coat. He squeezed it with force, and cold rainwater trickled onto the ground. He hung it above the stove, heaving a long breath.
In the past half shichen(1 shichen equals 2 hours), the harvest had been plentiful, with catches hooked from time to time.
However, the Eerie Creatures around seemed to be decreasing rapidly. Two incense sticks' worth of time(1 hour) had passed without a single Eerie Creature stepping on a trap, so he took the opportunity to tidy himself up, fearing he might catch a cold.
The wooden hut, built with two Eerie Stones, was different from the one in his main base. It was sturdier and larger, providing enough protection from the cold and wind.
Inside, several oil lamps were mounted on the walls for lighting, and a stove in the center maintained the temperature. Instead of devouring firewood, insert an Eerie Stone into a recess in the hut's wall, and it could sustain for a year.
Although it required Eerie Stones, the duration was long enough, making it way more economical than the Eerie Fire.
"Crippled Monkey, you've learned a lot. Do you know what kind of Eerie Creature this is?"
"Haven't seen it before."
Crippled Monkey frowned, thinking for a long moment before shaking his head. "In the private school teacher's illustrated book of Eerie Creatures, I've never seen this one. The teacher taught us to recognize Eerie Creatures that are common on the wasteland, unless..."
"Perhaps this kind of Eerie Creature didn't exist on the wasteland before and only arrived recently, or it's simply rare and seldom discovered."
"..."
Screwing up his eyes, Chen Fan said nothing more.
For now, aside from its disgusting appearance, this Eerie Creature seemed to have no special features. It was almost powerless, belonging to the weakest category of Eerie Creatures. However... tonight's activities had confirmed a suspicion of his.
That is, each group of "Eerie Creatures" might have a stretch of territory on the wasteland.
The area near his main base was the territory of the Monkey Head Ghosts. After he wiped out that group, there were no other Eerie Creatures in the vicinity for the time being.
Another half shichen(1 shichen equals 2 hours) passed.
Still, not a single Eerie Creature stepped into the traps. In a daze, the two of them lay on the bed and gradually drifted into a deep sleep.
Until dawn.
Chen Fan groggily opened his eyes, pushed open the hut door, and was met with a refreshingly cool breeze. The darkness had faded, but the heavy rain outside showed no sign of letting up, pounding the ground relentlessly and seeping into the cracked wasteland, infusing it with a hint of life.
"Let's go."
He looked at Crippled Monkey, busy in the yard despite the rain. Crippled Monkey had woken up at some point and was digging out Eerie Stones from the bodies of the Eerie Creatures slain the previous night, placing them one by one into baskets. He then stacked the bodies neatly on the cart.
"Young master, you're awake."
Crippled Monkey rushed through the rain to the front of the hut, reporting, "Last night, we killed 47 Eerie Creatures in total and dug out 47 Eerie Stones. They're all in the baskets. The bodies can be taken back to the camp for fertilization, but the cart is too small."
"So, I loaded all the bodies onto the cart and tied them down with rope. That should hold them steady."
"Good job."
"You really put your heart into work, don't you?"
Chen Fan glanced at the cart stacked with the Eerie Creature bodies, took his now-dry clothes from above the stove, and put them on. He couldn't help but sigh. Having such a subordinate really made things a lot easier.
He didn't even have to say much before he had done all there was to do.
"Hehe..." Crippled Monkey, looking sheepish, scratched the back of his head. "We servants aren't afraid of hard work; we're just afraid of having nothing to do."
"Let's go back home."
...
The rain showed no signs of stopping anytime soon, and they couldn't afford to wait for it to end.
Crippled Monkey pulled the cart, leading the way, while Chen Fan followed behind, steadying the pile of Eerie Creature bodies stacked several meters high to prevent them from falling. The cool rainwater seeped into his neck, the chill instantly refreshing him.
The clothes that had just dried the night before were completely soaked in just a few steps.
Not only was the rain heavy, but the wind was strong as well.
Visibility was greatly reduced. If not for the Eerie-hide map, the two of them would surely have gotten lost in the wasteland, unable to find their way back. Before leaving, he added another Eerie Stone to the Eerie Fire in this camp to ensure it continued burning.
The journey was long.
It had taken them a shichen(1 shichen equals 2 hours) to arrive yesterday. Today, with the hard rain and the heavy cart, it took nearly two shichen to return to the camp.
"Crippled Monkey, you must be tired from working this hard."
Through the downpour, Chen Fan caught a faint glimpse of the camp. He patted Crippled Monkey's shoulder apologetically.
Having a lame man pull a cart for two shichen(1 shichen equals 2 hours)—honestly, he felt truly sorry about it. Midway, he had suggested taking turns, but after just a few steps, he went limp all over with exhaustion. Crippled Monkey might be lame, but he was actually more athletic than Chen Fan.
So, Crippled Monkey ended up pulling the cart the entire way.
"It's fine."
Crippled Monkey wiped the rain from his face, panting heavily as he trudged through the storm. He picked up the pace toward the camp, grinning, "I don't know why, but in the past, even though I was with the young master like now, I always felt uncertain about the future."
"Now, whenever I approach the camp, it feels like coming home."
"It makes me feel like I'm not tired anymore."
"Instead, I feel full of energy."
As the two talked, the camp came clearly into view.
"Huh?"
Chen Fan looked at Wang Kui and his subordinate standing outside the camp in the pouring rain. Something confused crossed his mind. He squinted his eyes slightly, then stepped forward, cupping his hands as a salute with a beam. "Station Master Wang, I had to attend to some matters outside the station, so I wasn't here. What brings you two...?"
"..."
Wang Kui, standing in the rain, looked past Chen Fan and fixed his gaze on the cart piled high with the bodies of Eerie Creatures. A flicker of surprise flashed in his eyes, and he stood there for a moment before remembering the purpose of his visit. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he spoke with urgency,
"Station Master Chen."
"The situation is urgent, so I'll keep it short. This year's rainy season has arrived a month earlier!"
"In previous years, the rainy season started in November. The heavy rain would last for a full month, followed by winter, and then heavy snow until spring arrived in March of the following year."
"And as soon as the rainy season begins, the wasteland would be sealed off, entering a five-month period of no human activity."
"During this time, all stations on the wasteland would be abandoned, with no traffic."
"Only after spring arrives would they be reopened."