Chapter 51: Chapter 51: "I am a Night Watcher.
Night was about to fall.
The continuous, gloomy rain showed no sign of stopping. In the damp air, Chen Fan rested his hands on the crenelated wall, gazing toward the horizon.
He had been young once, too.
He could completely understand the boy’s actions.
But understanding was one thing.
As a leader, he still had to prevent future trouble, especially since Qi Chong was watching to see how he would handle it.
When a leader gave orders, their subordinates would often present them with difficult problems in return.
They would observe how the leader handled things and use that to determine their own future conduct.
Whatever the leader is like,
so too will be his men.
It was like...
...in his past life, when a new teacher came to class, some students would always deliberately act up to test the teacher’s tolerance, which would then determine how they’d behave in that class for the rest of the year.
’Kill? Scold? Punish?’
"..."
After a long silence, Chen Fan finally made up his mind. He then looked toward the altar in a corner of the city. It was from a Building Blueprint he had acquired a few days ago, and he had already constructed it and placed it within the city.
It possessed a healing effect.
He had experimented on the wound on Zhou Mo’s hand. The effect was quite good, and it consumed very few Ghost Stones.
The principle was using the energy within the Ghost Stones to repair wounds.
’Ghost Stones really seem to be omnipotent; they can do anything.’
It would be dark soon.
He didn’t know if there would be a Ghost Tide tonight. An idea had just occurred to him: if he used a Copper Pipe to connect the altar and the City Wall, could the City Wall be repaired by the altar?
If so,
the City Wall’s defenses would be greatly enhanced.
Just then—
A commotion arose from outside the camp.
Zhou Mo had returned, driving that crude tricycle. Lame Monkey went to greet him and began the routine inspection. After it quickly passed, Zhou Mo led one of Wang Mazi’s subordinates into the city, preparing to report to him.
...
Inside the rain shelter on the City Wall.
"Chief."
Zhou Mo seemed very excited. "Chief, with the tricycle you built, I was able to visit several outposts I couldn’t reach before! I brought back a ton of supplies, and 578 Ghost Stones!"
"..."
Chen Fan tilted his head and looked at the tricycle outside the city. A flatbed cart was tied to the back of it with a rope, piled high with all sorts of supplies. For the camp, this was indeed a huge haul.
"In less than an hour, the endless night will fall."
"You cut it too close."
"Don’t stay out so long in the future. You need to be careful."
"Understood."
Zhou Mo grinned carefreely. He appreciated the Chief’s concern. Every Architect had their own guardian. It was common knowledge that Architects were physically weak and often needed a guardian to escort them when they went out.
If they encountered a battle, the guardian had to hold out until the Architect could construct a building.
Becoming an Architect’s guardian was an honor.
For someone like him, who had loved martial arts since childhood and dreamed of becoming a great figure, he was very fond of this career path.
"Good work. Go get some rest. We’ll take it from here tonight."
"Oh, right."
Chen Fan looked at Wang Mazi’s subordinate standing behind Zhou Mo. "You stay. I want to talk to you."
...
As night approached.
Everyone in the camp began to busy themselves, making preparations for the night’s Ghost Object invasion. During the day, Wang Mazi and Wang Kui had carried hoes and dug a trench around the outside of the camp, one specifically designed to deal with Meat Worm Ghosts.
When a Meat Worm Ghost fell into the trench, it would self-destruct and die.
Although this shallow trench was almost useless against a massive Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide, even if it helped just a little, it might allow them to hold on until the wind changed direction.
Miracles could happen.
It was just that most people didn’t last long enough to see one.
"What’s your name?"
Chen Fan stood on the City Wall, looking down at the boy in the rain with a gentle smile and a mild tone.
He wasn’t old, maybe eighteen or nineteen, and still had a boyish air about him. He was the youngest in the camp, usually quiet and reserved. He had a feminine face for a man—the kind of top-tier looks that could easily land someone as a male prostitute in a brothel. He was a head shorter than Chen Fan, with slender limbs.
"What’s your name?"
"Big Fish."
"And your surname?"
"I don’t have one."
The boy lowered his head, looking frightened and uneasy. "I was originally from a mountain village by the sea. We made a living by fishing. My father was a fisherman, and he hoped to catch a big fish every day, so he gave me this name."
"My father didn’t have a surname either. He was an orphan from birth and had no idea what his own father’s surname was."
"My father said that if I ever made a name for myself, I should choose a surname I liked and pass it down. But if I didn’t amount to much, this name was good enough. A humble name helps you live longer."
"A fisherman?"
Chen Fan looked out into the rainy night. "The sea north of the Wilderness?"
"Mhm."
"Who built your Ghost Fire?"
"It was a Natural Ghost Fire Zone. There aren’t many Ghost Objects there. It’s surrounded by steep cliffs, and the village was built at the bottom of a ravine in the middle. Normally, during the rainy season, we could just move stones to block the only way out and get through it safely."
"So you left the village to make your own way because you didn’t want to follow in your father’s footsteps?"
"No." The boy shook his head, his spirits sinking. "During one rainy season, countless Ghost Objects flew down from the steep cliffs on all sides and fell into the village. The village was wiped out. I escaped."
"..."
Chen Fan looked at the boy with a calm expression. He wasn’t lamenting the boy’s past; he was just a little curious how he had survived under those circumstances. But the boy now seemed to be having a traumatic response, his body trembling nonstop, his eyes filled with intense fear and pain.
He was on the verge of an emotional breakdown.
Fear was a contagious emotion.
Just looking into those eyes, he faintly felt a chill run down his spine.
On the day of the Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide attack, when the female ghost struck, this boy’s eyes hadn’t shown this kind of fear—only panic and unease.
There weren’t many people in the camp.
Although he hadn’t known the boy’s name before, he always made a point to observe everyone during major events in the camp to see their true nature. It was difficult for people to put up a front in those situations.
That was precisely why he hadn’t immediately made an example of the boy.
Based on his observations, the boy wasn’t selfish to the point of foolishness.
He had a vague idea of what was going on, but he didn’t press the matter.
"You’re safe here."
Chen Fan placed a hand on the boy’s head, ruffling his hair, which was messy and matted from the rain. He smiled and said, "What’s in the past is in the past. You have to look forward. This is your new home now. As long as we work together, we’ll definitely get through the rainy season and build a camp of our own."
"Alright."
"Go on and get some rest. It’s almost dark, and you have to go on another mission with your big brother Zhou Mo tomorrow."
The boy’s mood seemed to improve slightly, but he was still in a bit of a daze as he turned to walk down from the City Wall. Just as he set foot on the stone steps, however, he suddenly turned back to look at Chen Fan. "Chief, my father said that too—that people have to look forward."
"But why do people always have to look forward?"
"Because the future will be better."
"But who’s to say the future will definitely be better? And not an even greater tragedy?"
"..."
Chen Fan was silent for a moment, then chuckled as he looked at the boy, whose face was somewhat blurry in the rainy night.
He could tell the boy’s emotional state was a little abnormal, as if he were struggling with something. This wasn’t the time for lectures.
Reasoning things out doesn’t always work, and it isn’t always right, either.
The boy stood there stunned, as if he hadn’t expected the Chief to say something so crass. After a long moment, he suddenly let out a laugh, tears glistening in his eyes.
"Chief, aren’t you going to kill me?"
"Why would I kill you?"
Chen Fan smiled calmly, his fingers slowly stopping their motion of stroking the rain-slicked blue stones of the battlements.
"I overheard your conversation with Qi Chong. He told you I was hiding Ghost Stones. I thought you would kill me."
"..."
A Thunderbolt split the rainy night.
Darkness, like a tide, surged in rapidly from the horizon.
In a flash of lightning, he saw the tear-streaked smile on the boy’s face—ghastly white and full of despair.
"How did you know?"
Chen Fan asked softly.
"I can look back."
"I can *only* look back."
"I’m not a normal Cultivator. I’m a Night Watcher."
Another Thunderbolt flashed before the darkness completely took over.
The boy shook his head, and a cascade of black hair, sparkling like starlight, instantly fell loose. His voice became fragile, his eyes red-rimmed and tearful, and an inexplicable aura of sadness emanated from him.
He was like an injured stray puppy, making one want to step forward and pat his head.
He lifted his head to look at Chen Fan and forced a heart-wrenching smile.
