They would stay in the fort for tonight.
Chen Fan stood on the city wall, hands resting on the parapet as he gazed at the light above. The glow from the natural Eerie Fire zone here was brighter and taller than a constructed Eerie Fire. The main thing to watch out for tonight was that Eerie Creatures might leap from the surrounding cliffs into the bottom of the pit.
Tonight was also the most lightly defended night.
He had only built a few walls overlapping to form the fort and placed a Level 3 Archery Tower on the city wall.
The Level 3 Archery Tower could be moved within the camp's range; it wouldn't go to waste.
Once upgraded to Level 4 or above, Archery Forts could no longer be repositioned.
Better to save wherever one can.
He didn't build an Eerie Fire.
Walls could only be constructed within the camp, but this rule could be broken inside a natural Eerie Fire zone—such zones counted as a camp in a way.
Of course.
He needed to manually replace the Eerie Stones for this Archery Tower to power it.
Building a Level 3 Archery Tower only cost 80 Eerie Stones.
For a camp, especially one in the rainy season, such defenses were not enough.
So, Chen Fan was standing guard alone on the city wall, holding a dim green lantern. His plan was simple: if a powerful Eerie Creature broke in, he'd fight it with the lantern.
This green-grade Mourning Lantern was much more powerful than a Level 4 Archery Fort—two shots could destroy a wall.
He could still use it four more times.
The Archery Tower was meant to handle weaker Eerie Creatures; if they got numbers, he'd build a few more Archery Towers.
As for the others, they would take turns sleeping inside the arched niches.
They had barely slept last night, and after a busy day today, they were long overdue for rest.
But not including him.
He had napped a bit in the latter half of last night, so his mental state was barely holding up.
He'd switch with someone who woke up later.
...
Throughout the night, Chen Fan remained tense, gazing into the darkness outside the camp. Without a watchtower, there was no gray fog to act as a buffer zone, which made him feel somewhat insecure—especially in this still unfamiliar place. It was hard to relax.
On top of that...
Bang, bang, bang...
Amid the sound of rain, crackling noises erupted again like firecrackers. This sound had been heard several times tonight. He initially thought Eerie Creatures were leaping from the cliffs, but no Eerie Creature ever charged into the camp.
After a cup of tea's time(15 minutes), the sound of something scraping against the ground came from outside the camp. From the noise, it seemed to be just one Eerie Creature—and a big one at that.
But it never entered the camp.
It seemed to be observing.
From the sounds, it would stay in one spot and watch for a while, then move elsewhere and continue observing.
Feeling the chill of the rain, Chen Fan gripped the dim green lantern nervously. If the creature dared to enter the camp, he would activate the Mourning Lantern and strike a fatal blow.
The two sides remained locked in this stalemate for a long time.
Until late into the night, the creature still hadn't made any attempt to enter the camp—not even a probe. It had only watched.
By then, Crippled Monkey and the others had mostly slept enough.
They started taking turns on watch. After giving a few instructions, Chen Fan lay down in the arched niches. Exhaustion washed over him uncontrollably.
He didn't know how much time passed until the darkness overhead receded like a tide, and day broke.
Chen Fan, who had just woken up and was keeping watch with Crippled Monkey and the others, let out a long sigh of relief.
The most dangerous night had passed. The big creature that had been eyeing them all night had not entered the camp after all.
Tomorrow night, once the camp was properly set up, he could get a good night's sleep.
The past few days, he had only managed fragmented sleep.
It had left him feeling somewhat mentally worn.
His head even ached a little.
Right then—
"Station Master."
Crippled Monkey's voice came from beside him. Gazing in the direction Crippled Monkey signaled, he saw many Eerie Creature corpses at the bottom of the surrounding cliffs—seventy or eighty of them, each smashed and mangled beyond recognition, utterly dead.
Chen Fan was momentarily stunned. He looked up at the cliffs hundreds of meters high. He had wondered about this last night: Given how weak low-level Eerie Creatures were, wouldn't they die from falling from on high?
Now he had an answer: they would die.
They really could fall to their deaths.
"Dayu."
He turned to Dayu beside him. "Did this ever happen in your village before?"
"Yes," Dayu nodded. "But it only occurred during the rainy season. Every rainy season, at night, you could always hear the sound of Eerie Creatures falling to the bottom of the cliffs. But by daybreak, you usually couldn't see the bodies—only the sticky blood left behind."
"The night the village was destroyed, the Eerie Creatures that jumped from the cliffs didn't die from the fall."
Chen Fan nodded, landing a squinted gaze on the corpses. Perhaps, in the past, the Eerie Creature bodies had been eaten by the big creature that was outside the camp last night. But, upon discovering outsiders, it was too wary to do as before?
He didn't dwell on it further, turning to Crippled Monkey and the group. "Crippled Monkey, you come back to the old camp with me. The rest of you, clean up here."
"Deal with that batch of Eerie Creature corpses."
"Level the houses here."
"Understood."
Pockmark Wang and the others nodded in agreement.
The houses in this village were built from mud and stone, mixed with sap collected from a type of tree on the mountain as a binder. They held up well against rain, but not against hammering.
...
Day had just broken.
Chen Fan and Crippled Monkey operated the tricycle and set off again for the old camp.
The straight-line distance between the old camp and the new camp was 17 kilometers.
That was 17,000 meters.
Yesterday afternoon, before leaving the old camp, he hadn't wasted the day's free quota. As he traveled, he laid 10,000 meters of copper pipe. Today, he only needed to lay the remaining 7000 meters to connect the two camps.
The quota didn't carry over.
If unused that day, it expired.
Wasting was shameful.
With the load reduced, the tricycle's speed increased noticeably.
"Young Master."
Crippled Monkey, who was powering the tricycle from behind, suddenly asked hesitantly. "Are you going to establish a family of your own?"
Chen Fan, in front, glanced back at Crippled Monkey, paused for a moment, and then replied, "No."
"Families have a natural cohesion through bloodlines, as well as exclusivity."
"In our camp right now, not a single person shares my bloodline. Besides, special cultivators awaken randomly; they are born, not made. The family model isn't suitable for the Perpetual Night Continent. Even if you treat a Clan Guardian with sincerity, they would still feel like they're not part of the family—but an outsider with a different surname."
"I want to build a force of my own. It won't be bound together by bloodline. As long as someone is capable and loyal, and is willing to contribute to the camp..."
"The camp will take them in."
"That way, even those with different surnames won't feel like they don't belong to this force."
"In the future, as the camp develops, more and more people will join."
"There aren't many people I can trust completely."
"And you, Crippled Monkey."
"Are the only one I can trust completely. I hope you can train more with Zhou Mo, become a powerful cultivator, and protect me closely. I'll also favor you in terms of resources."
"I..." Crippled Monkey was slightly stunned, then realized what was said and replied with a mix of excitement and unease. "Me... Can I? But I'm just a cripple..."
"So what if you're a cripple? I've seen people who were blind or missing an arm still practice martial arts and become great heroes."
Chen Fan turned to beam at Crippled Monkey.
"Before the rainy season came, I saw your combat ability. They're quite good."
"I believe in you."
"You should believe in yourself, too."
"Remember, only those who believe they can change the world can actually change it."
"Yeah!"
Crippled Monkey nodded firmly, his eyes filled with excitement and determination. His movements became a bit more efficient.
A while later, Crippled Monkey's blurred, puzzled voice came through the rain again.
"Um... Young Master, I actually never thought about changing the world."
"I know. Just give it more weight."
"What does 'giving it more weight' mean?"
"Encouraging you."
"Young Master, I definitely won't let you down!"
"Go for it."