"Are you hurt?"
Chen Fan looked towards Crippled Monkey, holding a spear beside him.
"No."
Crippled Monkey shook his head, panting heavily, still looking perturbed. "Young Master, that Eerie Creature is at least level 3. If it weren't for these two Archery Towers, we might die here today."
"Let's get to work."
He didn't say much, just motioned for Crippled Monkey to throw the traps into the darkness for tonight's hunt.
Since that big guy had been driven away, they could work tonight as before.
The Archery Tower could only attack Eerie Creatures within the range of the Eerie Fire, making them good for defense, but not for attack.
…
About an hour passed.
Chen Fan frowned slightly, paused, and then said, "I doubt we'll get any results tonight. Let's go back inside and sleep. Leave it until daylight tomorrow."
Another hour had passed, and not a single trap had been triggered.
Monkey-Head Ghosts were nowhere to be seen.
Something seemed off. It was unclear whether the Monkey-Head Ghosts nearby had all been killed off or called away by the big guy earlier.
He didn't know much about the Perpetual Night.
He was too ignorant about this world. He needed a school teacher and must snatch one here; information was crucial.
He'd just made five traps, and before he could even kick-start, he could no longer catch any Eerie Creatures.
But…
Weren't there supposed to be endless Eerie Creatures in the Perpetual Night? Even if he couldn't catch Monkey-Head Ghosts, there should be other Eerie Creatures. How could it be all empty?
In a daze, Chen Fan drifted into sleep on the bed.
He still had three Eerie Stones.
If he couldn't earn more Eerie Stones, even the Eerie Fire wouldn't last any longer.
Crippled Monkey slept on a makeshift bed on the floor of the hut.
…
"Young Master!"
"Young Master!"
Half-asleep, Chen Fan was awakened by Crippled Monkey's urgent calls.
"What's wrong?"
Chen Fan got up from the bed, rubbed his eyes, and walked out of the cabin. How did Crippled Monkey always wake up earlier than him? The guy looked thin and frail, but his energy and spirit were much stronger.
The next moment—
Stepping out the door, Chen Fan suddenly grinned.
About ten meters away from the camp, the Monkey-Head Ghost from last night lay quiet on the ground, already dead. It seemed that, after being severely wounded, it had fled into the darkness and collapsed after just a few steps.
A few glowing items were scattered nearby.
As expected, they were what Extraordinary Treasures the Monkey-Head Ghost dropped after death.
Crippled Monkey stood in excitement outside the shack, calling out. Dawn had just broken, the darkness having receded shortly before, and the sky remained hazy, half-lit. At this hour, it was unlikely anyone would pass by their camp.
"Coming!"
An uncontrollable broad smile took over Chen Fan's face as he strode over to the Monkey-Head Ghost, picking up the two glowing items and stuffing them into his robe. Good thing Crippled Monkey woke up early, or someone else might have taken them.
Surely, this possibility was slim, as few travelers passed through this area.
"I'll dig for the Eerie Stone."
Crippled Monkey looked excited, taking the knife off the stick and beginning to dissect.
Normally, low-level Eerie Creatures contained only one Eerie Stone, but this Monkey-Head Ghost obviously had more. Crippled Monkey cut open the monkey's brain and dug out one Eerie Stone after another from the flesh.
The whole process looked a bit like… digging out tonsil stones, one after another.
A satisfying sight for an onlooker.
Soon, all the Eerie Stones were extracted and neatly arranged on the ground.
A total of seventeen!
Along with the three he already had, that made twenty.
"Not bad."
Chen Fan nodded with satisfaction. "Stow away this Monkey-Head Ghost body in the haystack behind the hut like the others. It might be useful later."
Even if it wasn't, it was better to hide it first, lest any passersby see this obviously unusual Monkey-Head Ghost corpse and wonder if it had dropped something valuable. That would only invite unnecessary trouble.
Most Eerie Creatures didn't eat the corpses of their own kind.
Humans couldn't consume them either.
Apart from some body parts that could be used as "Eerie Materials," most corpses would be burned on the spot.
After that, he looked at the two glowing Extraordinary Treasures in his hand.
No Extraordinary Treasure could be made by hand, and their value was never too low. Especially after that mother and daughter dropped the Extraordinary Treasure yesterday---"Building Duplication Stone", he now had high expectations for these two treasures.
"If only these were the type that helps expand the territory, or steadily spawns Eerie Stones…"
Chen Fan clasped his hands and murmured a prayer.
He was a bit short on territory.
The safe range of a level 1 Eerie Fire was a diameter of ten meters, and with the Archery Towers, shack, and Eerie Fire within, there wasn't enough space for a farmland. If farmland wasn't arranged within the Eerie Fire's range, it would be ravaged by Eerie Creatures when the Perpetual Night fell.
He had originally planned to use traps to hunt on and on and obtain Eerie Stones.
But last night, no Monkey-Head Ghosts appeared, cutting off this source of Eerie Stones. Although he'd just gained a decent number of Eerie Stones, it wasn't sustainable. How to obtain Eerie Stones in the future was still a problem.
The first Extraordinary Treasure, like the monkey head mushroom seeds, was a seed-type Extraordinary Treasure.
Wrapped in a thin membrane.
Extraordinary Treasure Name: Eerie Stone Vein Seed.
Extraordinary Treasure Grade: White.
Extraordinary Treasure Effect: Must be planted in 'farmland.' Matures in three days. After maturity, produces Eerie Stones. Requires Eerie Creature corpses as fertilizer.
"Good stuff!"
Chen Fan smiled. Even if the other Extraordinary Treasure was junk, this one alone made it worthwhile. It seemed building farmland had to be prioritized from today on.
He wondered how many Eerie Stones it would yield.
Luckily, he'd kept all those Monkey-Head Ghost corpses, which could now serve as fertilizer.
He looked at the other Extraordinary Treasure.
Extraordinary Treasure Name: God-Slaying Spear.
Extraordinary Treasure Grade: White.
Extraordinary Treasure Effect: Deals significant damage to low-level Eerie Creatures. Can change size as desired.
"Not bad."
Chen Fan focused his mind, and the miniature spear in his hand immediately grew, turning into a majestic spear. The so-called "change size as desired" only meant it could switch between its normal form and a miniature version.
It couldn't transform into something tens of meters long.
It was still far from 'changing size at one's whim'.
Compared to the makeshift spear they'd crafted from a stick and a knife, it was definitely way nicer.
"It's yours."
Chen Fan tossed the spear to Crippled Monkey, then strode back toward the Eerie Fire. Even though Crippled Monkey was lame, both his physical condition and combat experience were slightly better than Chen Fan's.
This spear would be more effective in Crippled Monkey's hands.
Back in the camp.
He took a deep breath, placed the twenty Eerie Stones on the ground, and slowly closed his eyes.