I build a shelter in the eternal night.

Chapter 15 "You really have a keen eye for things."

The grotesque creature, resembling a giant maggot, was pinned to the ground by the spear and struggled almost without moving. It soon became still and died on the spot.

"Well done!"

There was no time to dissect the corpses. Chen Fan pulled the remaining ropes again, pulling in the animal traps in the darkness. They were filled with maggots and other strange creatures. The lame monkey, once again holding a spear, shot them one by one!
Quite efficient.

After doing all this, Chen Fan threw the empty animal trap outside the camp again, then led the lame monkey back into the wooden house, his eyes filled with anticipation as he looked into the darkness.

The strange creatures seem to be quite active tonight.

About three breaths later, a hemp rope began to sway again.

Another prey has taken the bait.

An hour later.

Chen Fan stood naked inside the wooden house, took off his soaking wet coarse cloth coat, wrung it out with both hands, letting the icy rainwater flow onto the ground, and then hung it above the stove inside the wooden house, letting out a long breath.

In the past half hour, the harvest has been plentiful, with prey taking the bait every now and then.

But the number of monsters around him seemed to be decreasing rapidly. Two incense sticks' worth of time had passed, and not a single monster had stepped into a trap. He also had time to tidy himself up so as not to catch a cold.

The wooden hut built with two mysterious stones is more sturdy and occupies a larger area than the one in his main camp.

It provides sufficient protection from the cold and wind.

Inside the house, several oil lamps were embedded in the walls for lighting, and there was a stove in the center of the house to maintain the temperature. No firewood was needed; a strange stone could be inserted into a recess in the wall of the wooden house to sustain it for a year.

Although it consumes Strange Stones, the duration is long enough, making it much more economical than Strange Fire.

"Lame Monkey, you've studied a lot before, do you know what kind of strange creature this is?"

"never seen it."

The lame monkey frowned and pondered for a long time before shaking his head: "I've never seen this kind of monster in the book of strange creatures in the private tutor's hands. The strange creatures the tutor taught us to identify are all common in the wasteland, unless..."

“These strange creatures didn’t exist in the wasteland before. They only appeared recently, or rather, their numbers are quite small, and they are rarely discovered.”

"."

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes slightly and didn't say anything more.

For now.

Aside from its disgusting appearance, this kind of monster has not shown any special characteristics and is almost powerless, belonging to the weakest group of monsters. However, tonight's actions have confirmed one of his guesses.

That is, the "strange creatures" in the wasteland may indeed each have their own territory.

The area near his base was the territory of the Monkey Head Ghosts. After he killed all the Monkey Head Ghosts, there were no other monsters around for the time being.

Another half hour passed.

Still, not a single monster stepped into the trap. In a daze, the two of them lay on the bed and gradually fell asleep.

Until the sky clears.

Chen Fan groggily opened his eyes, pushed open the wooden house, and a cool, refreshing breeze rushed in. The darkness had faded, and the heavy rain outside showed no signs of letting up, pounding against the ground and seeping into the parched wasteland, injecting a glimmer of life into it.

"gone."

He looked at the lame monkey busily working in the courtyard in the heavy rain. The lame monkey had woken up at some point and was digging out all the strange stones from the strange objects from last night and putting them into baskets. He was also piling up the corpses of the strange objects and moving them onto a cart.

"Young Master, you're awake."

The lame monkey braved the heavy rain and ran all the way to the wooden house to report: "Last night we killed 47 monsters and dug up 47 monster stones. They've all been put into baskets. We can take these monster corpses back to the camp to use as fertilizer, but the cart is too small."

"I put all the bodies on a cart and tied them with hemp rope, which made them much more secure."

"That's good." "You really have a keen eye for things."

Chen Fan looked at the cart piled high with the corpses of strange creatures, took the clothes that had dried off from the stove and put them on, and couldn't help but sigh, having such a subordinate really makes things much easier.

He didn't need to say much; he finished the work himself.

"Hehe." The lame monkey scratched the back of his head a little embarrassed: "We servants are not afraid of having a lot of work, we are afraid of having no work to do."

"Let's go home."

The rain wasn't going to stop anytime soon, and they couldn't wait for it to stop before going back.

The lame monkey led the way, pulling the cart, while Chen Fan followed behind, supporting the several-meter-high pile of strange corpses to prevent them from falling. The cool rain seeped into his neck, and the slight chill instantly sobered him up.

The clothes that were just dried last night were completely soaked in just a few steps.

Not only was the rain heavy.

The wind was strong.

With visibility greatly reduced, the two of them would have been lost in the wasteland if it weren't for the ghostly map guiding their way, and would have had no way to find their way home. Before leaving, he added a ghostly stone to the ghostly fire in the camp to ensure that it could continue to burn.

The journey is quite long.

It took them an hour to get here yesterday, and today, with the heavy rain and them pulling such a heavy cart, it took them almost two hours to get back to the camp.

"Lame monkey, you've worked hard."

Looking through the heavy rain at the campsite that was barely visible, Chen Fan patted the lame monkey on the shoulder, feeling a little embarrassed.

He felt really bad that a cripple had pulled the cart for two hours. He thought they could take turns, but he was exhausted after only a few steps. Despite being a cripple, the lame monkey was actually more physically fit than him.

That means the lame monkey has to finish the whole race.

"It's okay."

The lame monkey wiped his rain-soaked cheeks, panting heavily as he struggled through the downpour. Pulling the cart, he quickened his pace towards the camp, grinning as he said, "I don't know why, but even though I used to follow the young master around, I always felt lost about the future."

"Now, as soon as I get close to the camp, I feel like I'm coming home."

"Just thinking about it makes me feel less tired."

"I still feel full of energy."

As the two talked, the campsite became clearly visible.

"Ok?"

Chen Fan glanced at Wang Kui and his two men standing in the pouring rain outside the camp. A hint of confusion flashed through his mind. He narrowed his eyes slightly, clasped his hands in greeting, and said with a smile, "Station Chief Wang, I went out to take care of some business and am not at the station. What brings you two here?"

"."

Standing in the torrential rain, Wang Kui's gaze passed over Chen Fan and lingered on the cart full of strange corpses. A look of astonishment flashed in his eyes. He stood there for a long time before remembering the purpose of his visit. His throat bobbed slightly, and he spoke in a somewhat hurried tone.

"Station Chief Chen."

"The situation is urgent, so I'll keep it short: the rainy season has arrived a month early this year!"

“In previous years, the rainy season would begin in November. This heavy rain will last for a whole month, followed by winter, then heavy snow, and spring will not come until March of the following year.”

“Starting from the rainy season, the wasteland will be sealed off, entering a period of five months of no human habitation.”

"During this period, all stations on the wasteland will be abandoned and no one will be able to pass through."

"It will be put back into use after the spring."

(End of this chapter)