Chapter 81: "Winter Is a Good Season for Killing.
Chapter 81: Chapter 81: "Winter Is a Good Season for Killing.
"Besides, as long as I’m alive, there are still people who deserve to die. Hiding away safely would just be boring."
The man in the green robe didn’t wait for her to reply, continuing on his own.
"You can’t beat them."
Seeing the man was completely unmoved, the woman started to panic. A trace of pleading and helplessness showed in her eyes as she reached out and grabbed the corner of his robe. "Stay, please? You’ll die if you go back."
"A man can’t say he can’t."
"I won’t know if I can beat them until I try."
The man in the green robe shook his head and laughed. "I came this time to say goodbye. Not many people have been good to me in this life. You’re one of them."
"Then why can’t you just forget the past and cherish someone who’s good to you?"
The woman started to grow anxious. She had a faint feeling that this goodbye would be their last.
The man was slightly taken aback, but the vicious aura that quickly surged from the depths of his eyes brought him back to his senses. He chuckled and gently moved her hand away. "If the past could be so easily forgotten, then the future wouldn’t be worth looking forward to either."
"It will all be forgotten in the end anyway."
"But you have reminded me of a little guy I once met. His experiences were a bit like mine when I was young."
"It’s just a shame..."
"A shame about what?"
"A shame that the Jiangbei rainy season arrived early. That little guy is most likely trapped, unable to withdraw from the Wilderness in time."
"His luck was bad. He’ll die in the rainy season before he can get his revenge."
"My luck is better than his. I have to get my revenge."
"I’ll go with you."
"Hmm?" The man raised an eyebrow, looking at the woman’s determined face.
"You can be the Jiangbei Old Demon, and I’ll be the Jiangnan Little Demon."
"You?"
The man started to laugh. "Don’t you people from Jiangnan look down on Jiangbei the most? Saying we don’t even have a single proper city, that when the rainy season comes, all we can do is wait to die."
"I want to follow you. A Jiangnan without you is boring too."
The woman looked up, her gaze fixed on the man.
"..."
The man gazed toward Jiangbei, remaining silent for a long time before speaking in a hoarse voice.
"Alright. I’ll take you with me."
"Winter is a good season for killing."
...
「Jiangbei Wilderness.」
「Nameless Mountain.」
It was said that this mountain had a name long ago, but it gradually became known as Nameless Mountain. Too much time had passed, and no related history was ever recorded, leaving only folk tales passed down among the common people.
Not many people had ever lived on this mountain.
The last group of people to live on this mountain was from Big Fish’s former village.
「Inside the Celestial Pit.」
Chen Fan had returned from setting up more outposts. He had established five new ones, consuming 800 Ghost Stones. Now, 1,335 Ghost Stones remained in the camp.
"Big Fish."
He was gently rocking in a chair placed on the City Wall. Looking over at Big Fish, who was staring blankly at the crocodile, he smiled and said, "You’ve been spacing out and staring at Hey Hey a lot these past few days. Is something on your mind?"
Hey Hey.
That was the name he had given the crocodile.
During their first few encounters, he had always called out "Hey!" to the crocodile, and the animal gradually started treating the sound as its own designation. So, he just decided to name it Hey Hey.
Big Fish sat to the side, hugging her knees. After a long silence, she couldn’t help but whisper, "Chief, Hey Hey is very well-behaved. It never hurts anyone and is very timid. It doesn’t even proactively attack Ghost Objects."
"It only hunts by driving Ghost Objects off the cliff."
"But..."
"But why did Hey Hey drive those powerful Ghost Objects off the cliff that day... Maybe... my father didn’t have to die..."
"..."
Chen Fan’s smile slowly froze. The rocking chair gradually came to a stop. He frowned slightly as he looked at Hey Hey lying in the cave. He’d been so busy these past few days that he hadn’t even considered this.
’From that perspective...’
’Is Hey Hey actually the one who killed Big Fish’s father?’
He didn’t want this kind of melodramatic situation happening in his camp; it would seriously affect its harmony.
He already considered Hey Hey a member of the camp and a great helper for digging.
After pondering for a moment,
He shook his head, rejecting the speculation.
"This probably has nothing to do with Hey Hey. It drives Ghost Objects off the cliff just to hunt. Any Ghost Object that can survive a fall from several hundred meters high is definitely not on its menu. Besides, didn’t you say at the time that those Ghost Objects landed directly in the Natural Ghost Fire Zone?"
"Yes."
"Then that’s it. The Natural Ghost Fire Zone is in the middle of the Celestial Pit. If they had just fallen off the cliff, they wouldn’t have landed directly in the Ghost Fire Zone. They would have had to actively jump from the cliff’s edge to have any chance of landing in the Natural Ghost Fire Zone."
"That’s true."
Big Fish tilted her head and thought for a moment before accepting his answer. She then realized she had been sitting there in a daze for a long time and quickly stood up. "Chief, I’ll get back to work."
"Go on."
After Big Fish left,
Chen Fan looked at the sleeping Hey Hey, his brow tightly furrowed in silence. He hadn’t just made up an excuse to deceive Big Fish; he felt there was some truth to what he had said. But the incident served as a reminder.
’I can’t let my guard down.’
’If they could come once, they can come a second time.’
’I have to be fully prepared.’
He looked at the Ghost Map in his hand.
This was a special item. It wasn’t an Exotic Treasure dropped by a Ghost Object, nor was it a Spirit Treasure crafted by a human.
Its effect was simple.
When created, it could mark the simple topographical outline of an area. Furthermore, all lit "Ghost Fires" within this area would appear on the map in real-time, including "Natural Ghost Fire Zones".
However, smaller Natural Ghost Fire Zones wouldn’t appear. For example, the "Natural Ghost Fire Zone" inside the Celestial Pit didn’t show up on the map. There was only one point of light, which was emitted by his Level 5 Ghost Fire.
For travelers passing through the Wilderness, a Ghost Map in hand could clearly determine the nearest place to stay for the night.
It was the equivalent of a compass in the desert.
On the Ghost Map, the Jiangbei Wilderness itself had no Natural Ghost Fire Zones. Only two places were visible: Jiangbei City to the east of the Wilderness and Ping City to the west. These were also the two largest Natural Ghost Fire Zones nearby.
Currently, there were only two Ghost Fires in the Wilderness.
One was the Ghost Fire at the old camp.
The other was the Level 5 Ghost Fire behind him.
A moment later,
He stuffed the Ghost Map back into his clothes, lay back in the rocking chair, and closed his eyes to think about the road ahead.
...
「The sky began to darken.」
Lying in the rocking chair, Chen Fan casually asked, "Where are you? It’s getting dark."
The next moment,
A voice echoed in his mind.
"Chief, I’m past the old camp. I’m clearing the Ghost Corpses from the unmanned outpost near the canyon. There are a lot, and it’s a bit difficult to carry them back."
"..."
Chen Fan glanced at the crocodile digging a hole inside the cave. After a brief pause, he walked down the stone steps from the City Wall, went into Zhou Mo’s Wooden House, picked up Zhou Mo’s duvet cover, and walked over to the crocodile. He tentatively waved it in front of the animal.
"Hey Hey, find him. Help him bring the Ghost Corpses back, and I’ll grill you some meat tonight."
The crocodile leaned in to sniff the duvet cover, then, with an expectant look on its face, crawled to the bottom of the City Wall and looked back at Chen Fan, signaling for him to open the gate. It was clearly impatient for tonight’s grilled meat.