"The Villagers Called It the Mountain God"

The ghost creature that had vanished down the canyon path in the blink of an eye looked remarkably like a crocodile. A reptile. Yet it was vastly larger than an ordinary crocodile—at a glance, it resembled a tank, with short but thick, stout limbs, a long and powerful tail, and a body clad in brown scales. Its immense bulk. Its staggering speed. If it charged straight at him, he had serious doubts about whether the wall could withstand the impact. "..." Chen Fan looked down at the eerie green lantern in his hands. Before he had even had the chance to activate it, the thing had already bolted out of the canyon. It was the fastest ghost creature he had encountered to date, several times quicker than a monkey head ghost. Just then— He heard a voice behind him. Da Yu had woken up at some point. She walked up the steps onto the wall, stepped beside him, and hesitated before asking, "Stationmaster, did a big crocodile-like thing just come by?" Ever since Da Yu had voluntarily revealed that she had been cross-dressing as a man, she no longer disguised herself, and her voice had returned to its natural feminine tone. Even so, she remained quiet on normal days, just working in silence. Her form of address for him had also reverted to "Stationmaster." Originally, Da Yu had called him "Brother" last time, but he had put a stop to that—mostly because having a female voice whispering "Brother" in his ear sounded far too much like a vengeful female ghost coming to claim his life. "How did you know?" Chen Fan turned to look at Da Yu beside him, clad in coarse hemp garments with her arms crossed. He recalled that he had never asked her last time how she had managed to hear his conversation with Qi Chong ten thousand meters away while staying behind at the camp. "The villagers called it the Mountain God." Da Yu sniffled and recalled, "Villagers used to run into it when going up the mountain. It's massive, and when spooked, it sprints madly. The commotion from its running is so violent that the earth and mountains practically shake." "Going up the mountain?" Chen Fan's brow furrowed suddenly. After a pause, he continued, "You mean this crocodile appears in the daytime too?" "Mhm." "Near dusk?" "No. It was only spotted twice, and both times were in the morning. The villagers wouldn't go up the mountain near dusk. It seems very timid—every time it encounters humans, it hides." "The first time they ran into it, the villagers called it the Mountain Ghost." "Later, after discovering it didn't hurt anyone, they started calling it the Mountain God." "..." Chen Fan fell silent and said no more. Appearing in broad daylight. That meant there was a high probability it was not a ghost creature. The only ghost creature he had encountered so far capable of daylight activity was the pseudo-human ghost, which could move about around dusk; the rest were completely invisible during the day, with no telling where they hid. Of course, that didn't rule out the possibility that it was a ghost creature capable of operating in the daytime. "How did you hear Qi Chong and me talking last time?" "It's a special ability of Nightwatchers." Da Yu tightened her clothes around herself. "I have all-hearing ears, so I can hear sounds from ten thousand meters away. But I can't control the ability—sometimes I can hear, and sometimes I can't." "That day, I just happened to hear." "A good ability." Chen Fan gave a slight nod. "Go back to sleep. There's work to do tomorrow." ... During the latter half of the night. No more thumping sounds rang out, which meant no more ghost creatures were plummeting off the cliff. Nor did that crocodile return. This was indeed a relatively safe place. Dawn arrived swiftly. Chen Fan, who had rotated shifts with Zhou Mo during the second half of the night, stretched lazily. He walked out of the temporary wooden cabin built inside the cave and looked toward Quehou and the others busy working not far away. With so much to do during the move these past few days, he hadn't slept for long. Once everything was settled in the future, he would sleep comfortably until he woke naturally. A lot of supplies moved over from the old camp had yet to be unpacked and arranged. "Continue!" With an order given, the Level 5 cannon towers atop the wall began their furious bombardment once more. Blasting the temporary cabin to splinters in an instant, their lingering force carried into the cavern's depths without diminishing, continuing to expand the cave's depth. ... Outside the cave. Chen Fan stood at the base of the cliff, looking down at the corpse left behind on the ground when the crocodile fled the previous night. Clear puncture holes pierced right through the body—one could well imagine the immense bite force of that crocodile. At least so far, he had never encountered a ghost creature whose physical prowess surpassed that crocodile's. With that kind of strength, its first instinct upon encountering an enemy was to flee? He shook his head and didn't dwell on it. Crouching down, he dug the ghost stone out of the corpse, then handed the carcass over to Qi Chong, who was toiling in the nearby farmland. Inside the natural ghost fire zone, they had constructed a temporary plot of farmland to transplant the crops from the old camp. "How are things looking?" Chen Fan walked over to the farmland and looked at the sickly batch of Flesh Ghost Mother-Child Seeds. These were green-grade seeds, and the most valuable among all the transplanted crops. "Not good," Qi Chong shook his head, pointing at the cluster of Flesh Ghost Mother-Child Seeds in the field. "We couldn't meet their cultivation requirements over the past few days, so all the remaining Flesh Ghost Mother-Child Seeds that weren't ruined by the mourning ghosts have died as well." "There's good news, though. They're not completely dead." "They matured prematurely." "The other crops were all transplanted successfully." Chen Fan took the fruit Qi Chong handed him. One large and one small, they grew from the same stem and looked like bright red cherries. - [Exotic Treasure Name]: Flesh Ghost Mother-Child Fruit (Premature). [Exotic Treasure Grade]: Green. [Exotic Treasure Effect]: Divided into Mother and Child fruits. When swallowed by two individuals—one fruit each—they can communicate telepathically within a hundred li. The effect lasts for seven days. - "..." Chen Fan weighed the Flesh Ghost Mother-Child Fruit in his hand. If fully matured, the effect could last up to a month. Still, he didn't dwell on it, merely glancing at the field. "How many pairs are there?" "Twelve pairs." "Gather them and store them carefully. Once the warehouse is built, put them inside." "Understood." Qi Chong nodded heavily, but after a momentary pause, he hesitated before adding, "When I worked at the Pingtian Chamber of Commerce in the past, I learned that the raw material for voice transmission talismans is the Flesh Ghost Mother-Child Fruit. If we had an artifact refiner, we could use them as raw materials to craft voice transmission talismans ourselves." "That way, both the effective range and the duration would increase substantially." "We will." Chen Fan patted Qi Chong on the shoulder, then walked toward the wall at the cavern's entrance. ... Time always flies when one is busy. The day passed in no time. Only the time it took to drink a cup of tea remained before the arrival of Eternal Night. Wang Kui and the others sat exhausted on the wall, chewing on dry rations and drinking hot water to hastily fill their bellies. Reclaiming wasteland was always the most grueling work. "Hey." Amidst the crowd. Leaning against the wall with a dry flatbread between his teeth, Zhou Mo looked at everyone and suddenly chuckled. He pulled out a wooden board from under his buttocks, picked up his broadsword, and began carving carefully into the wood, mumbling indistinctly: "When packing up before we left the old camp, I found this in the ruins of the wooden cabin." "The Eternal Night Calendar." "I was too tired last night and forgot to keep track." "Guess how many nights of the rainy season have passed?" "Seven nights?" Wang Kui rolled the hot-water canteen between his hands to warm them, answering somewhat uncertainly, "Doesn't feel that long... Five nights?"