Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Mourning Ghost
"..."
After a long silence, Chen Fan finally let out a long breath, turning his head to gaze at the gray fog outside the camp. "This world is just too dangerous," he muttered. "And the camp’s defenses are still too weak..."
Besides Ghost Objects, all these different kinds of Cultivators weren’t easy to deal with either.
All this time, everyone had told him that Cultivators were weak. That even a Level 2 Cultivator could be instantly killed by a Level 1 Arrow Tower, and that a Cultivator’s strength was nothing compared to an Architect’s structures.
But...
That was only for ordinary Cultivators like Zhou Mo.
Special Cultivators like the "Night Watchers"... their strength was truly terrifying.
She was basically a walking nuclear bomb.
Ready to detonate at any time.
After a long while.
Chen Fan finally looked at Big Fish again. "So you can control it now? You won’t be forcibly activated."
"Mhm."
Big Fish nodded again. "Every time I activate it, I become more familiar with the Night Watcher’s abilities. I can control them more easily."
"Station Chief."
"I’ve already decided to treat this place as my third home."
"If the camp is in crisis, I will activate."
"Don’t even say it."
Chen Fan sighed. "Your first two homes didn’t exactly have happy endings."
"I will leave the camp, lure the Ghost Objects away, and then activate."
"Just focus on your work. Stop thinking about activating all the time. You’ve only got a few years left to live, and you’re still going on about activating."
"A Night Watcher’s value is in activation. A Night Watcher that doesn’t activate is worthless."
"That’s enough."
He cut Big Fish off. The situation was clear now. He finally understood why she had the temperament of a child. She hadn’t even been alive in this world for more than a few years—less than five or six, all told.
She really wasn’t any different from a kid.
He also finally understood the source of the fear and pain in her eyes.
’Destroying your own village with your own hands... that’s got to be painful.’
’The last person I remember doing that was... one of the Uchiha, wasn’t it?’
"Go get some rest. Tomorrow, you’ll be back on patrol with Zhou Mo. Just focus on your work."
"Okay."
Perhaps Big Fish had never told anyone all this before. Now that she had, she seemed visibly relieved. She looked up at Chen Fan and said earnestly,
"I will protect you."
"The meaning of a Night Watcher’s existence is to protect."
...
"..."
Chen Fan watched her retreating back and scratched his head. ’I think I forgot to ask her how she overheard my conversation with Qi Chong. We were out in the Wilderness, away from the camp. There was no one else around.’
’Oh well, I’ll ask her tomorrow.’
’This kid... she’s like a kamikaze unit.’
He finally understood why she’d said she could only look back.
’It’s true.’
’It makes sense. Even if she never activates it, she only has 18 years to live.’
’Without activating, she has no combat power. The next time she activates, she dies.’
’Isn’t that the definition of being born as cannon fodder? Her self-deprecation really did make sense.’
Lame Monkey and the others had also come up to the City Wall. They all watched Big Fish’s retreating figure. Though they hadn’t heard the conversation, they had seen her let down her long, jet-black hair, and they knew she and the Station Chief had been talking for quite a while.
"Station Chief..."
"She’s a girl," Chen Fan said, not mentioning anything about the Night Watcher. "Her whole family is dead. She’s the only one left."
"Oh."
Lame Monkey and the others nodded in understanding. They didn’t feel much sympathy, though. In this world, plenty of people had their families wiped out. They were more or less in the same boat.
At that very moment—
A familiar, scraping rustle echoed from outside the camp.
It was the sound of crawling Ghost Objects.
"They’re here!"
Chen Fan gazed into the gray fog outside the camp with a hint of excitement. ’Judging by the noise, there must be over a hundred Ghost Objects. We can finally get a decent meal.’ He desperately needed more Ghost Stones to fortify the camp, and killing Ghost Objects was the fastest way to acquire them.
However, in the next moment, his smile slowly froze.
From within the gray fog, a dozen or so men and women with deathly pale faces, dressed in long white robes, were slowly approaching the camp. Their feet never left the ground as they moved, creating a continuous, scraping rustle.
Humanoid.
’They look like Fake Human Ghosts, but I remember Fake Human Ghosts never enter a camp’s perimeter after dark.’
Each one carried a white lantern holding a red candle, making them look like a funeral procession.
The scene was utterly bizarre.
More and more of these lantern-bearing figures emerged from the darkness, stepping into the gray fog and slowly closing in on the camp. Their numbers were impossible to determine; they seemed endless.
"Do you recognize these things?"
He asked, turning to Lame Monkey and the others.
They exchanged glances and shook their heads. "They look like Fake Human Ghosts, but the ones we know don’t carry lanterns. They’re not a common type of Ghost Object in the Wilderness. Every rainy season, some new types of Ghost Objects tend to show up."
"Mourning Ghosts, then,"
Chen Fan said, giving the unknown creatures a name. He hated unknown Ghost Objects. It meant he was ignorant of their abilities, which left very little room for error. If they had been Monkey Head Ghosts, he would have been thrilled.
Just then.
The Mourning Ghost at the very front stepped within the camp’s perimeter.
"WHOOSH!"
The Ghost Fire within the camp flared, and energy surged through the Copper Pipes to the Arrow Towers on the City Wall. All the Arrow Towers activated at once. A Crossbow Arrow shot out, splitting the night air, and struck the Mourning Ghost squarely in the forehead.
The Mourning Ghost swayed, blood spurted from the wound, and it collapsed.
’Is that all the stronger they are?’
Chen Fan frowned. That Crossbow Arrow had come from the Level 2 Arrow Tower at the farm. ’If this is all the strength they have, then no matter how many Mourning Ghosts show up, they’re just here to deliver Ghost Stones.’
’But...’
’I still don’t know what those white lanterns do.’
’They can’t just be decorations.’
The next moment—
The fallen Mourning Ghost suddenly began to twitch and squirm. It split, and when it rose again, it had become two Mourning Ghosts.
It splits after death.
He instantly understood their gimmick.
But...
’Of the two new Mourning Ghosts, only the original one held a lantern; the copy was empty-handed. So the lantern’s ability is to split. I can see the light inside the lantern dimmed a bit after that.’
Crossbow Arrows shot out again.
The two Mourning Ghosts fell to the ground together.
The one that had been created by the split collapsed and didn’t move again. But the one holding the lantern, upon dying, split once more, producing another copy as its lantern dimmed further.
"I get it."
"I hope the copies have Ghost Stones in them too."
Chen Fan took a deep breath as he watched more and more Mourning Ghosts step into the camp’s range. All the Arrow Towers activated in unison. He roared at the top of his lungs, "Engage!"
’Tonight’s going to be a tough fight.’
’Fortunately, I have enough Arrow Towers and plenty of Ghost Stones left. These Mourning Ghosts don’t look like they can break through the City Wall quickly, either.’
’They seem much easier to deal with than the Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide.’
’Maybe we’ll get to eat our fill.’
’Of course, if we can’t hold them back, they’ll be the ones eating their fill.’
’Someone’s going to be eating well tonight.’
