The "Eerie Blood Pattern" on the city wall looked a lot like graffiti by a mischievous child.
One could tell that there was something in the pattern, but at first glance, it appeared utterly chaotic.
They were a dark red.
As if a craftsman had carved them with a skew chisel dipped in red mud.
...
The cave had taken shape, allowing them to sleep peacefully tonight.
"Here we are!"
With a broad beam, Zhou Mo strode toward the city wall with a plate in hand, while Crippled Monkey and the others also climbed the wall carrying various plates.
The food wasn't particularly abundant.
Qi Chong had stir-fried a few hot dishes and reheated some dry flatbread.
But compared to the dry rations they had been chewing on for the past few days, it was already far better.
The Perpetual Night had now descended, thick darkness enveloping the entire wilderness. The light from the Level 5 Eerie Fire in the cave domed the pit, holding up a small sanctuary of peace amidst the tumultuous world.
"..."
Chen Fan sat on the city wall, gazing at the light outside. He picked up a bite of hot food with his chopsticks, took a mouthful of the warm, soft flatbread in his hand, and listened with a smile as cups clinked and people chatted behind him, staying silent.
No matter how capable a person might be, life consisted mostly of dull and ordinary moments, with only a few highlights shining with glory.
And for him, now was a highlight moment.
The "Earth Dragon Migration" had almost been successfully carried out. He was eating the first hot meal in his new camp, holding a housewarming banquet with no guests.
Zhou Mo and the others were drinking. He didn't like alcohol himself, but he enjoyed watching others drink.
He was indulging himself in this moment.
He felt...
This housewarming feast could be considered a reward for his efforts these past days.
In the rainy-season wilderness where no one else had survived, he had, little by little, built a camp that could shelter all of them. That sounded impressive, didn't it?
At least, he saw it that way.
Night had fallen.
But tonight, the entire pit was covered by the Eerie Fire, offering a far broader view. There was less fear and a bit more relaxation.
Just then—
"Thud!"
A black shadow plummeted from the cliff into the pit.
The original harmonious, cheerful celebration was instantly interrupted. Everyone instinctively turned their heads in the direction of the sound.
And that sound seemed like a switch had been flipped.
More black shadows clattered down into the pit like dumplings dropping into a pot. With the Eerie Fire covering the entire pit tonight, they could see what was happening: Eerie Creatures crashed to the ground from the darkness one after one.
A full twenty or thirty bodies.
Motionless.
Dead beyond dead.
"That crocodile is back?"
Zhou Mo murmured, "Didn't night just fall? It is already dying to start its meal, isn't it?"
They had learned from the Station Master that a huge crocodile had been coming to the pit to forage every night.
"..."
Chen Fan looked at the scene calmly, his face showing no ripples. He had grown accustomed to coexisting with this crocodile over the past few days. Moreover, with his now Level 3 city wall, he didn't think that the crocodile could ram through them.
He swung his gaze toward the copper pipes stacked in the natural Eerie Fire zone.
For the past two days, they had been busy opening up the cave here.
No field trips had been made.
These copper pipes hadn't been laid as planned either. But the daily quota couldn't be wasted. They had all been made and piled up out there in the natural Eerie Fire zone, waiting to be laid after the cave excavation was complete.
From his experience, in about a stick of incense's time(30 minutes), that crocodile would appear.
Sure enough.
After a stick of incense's time, disturbances came from where the camp's boundaries met the darkness.
A huge crocodile forepaw cautiously poked in from the darkness, lightly tapping the ground within the Eerie Fire's light, as if puzzled—last night this place had been dark, so why was it so bright tonight?
After probing for a while, the rest of its body finally crawled into the camp.
Its lantern-sized eyes were fixed on Chen Fan standing on the city wall.
Man and crocodile faced off once more.
A short while later, the crocodile began to move, slinking on its belly, inching toward the Eerie Creature corpses that had fallen from the cliff.
"..."
Chen Fan's tightly pursed lips twitched as he tried his best to hold back laughter, lest the other party think he was mocking it. Whether in his previous life or now, this was the first time he had seen a crocodile moving sideways like a crab. The sight was indeed somewhat comical.
Perhaps having sensed Chen Fan's amusement, the crocodile came to a sudden stop, its gaze fixated on Chen Fan, entering into another standoff. After another length of time, it finally began moving again, drawing close to those Eerie Creature corpses.
With one eye transfixed on Chen Fan and the other shifting only to lock on the corpses, it swiftly swallowed body after body, not chewing but gulping them down whole like a python.
...
After the crocodile had dispatched most of the Eerie Creature corpses, Chen Fan pulled an Eerie Stone from his bosom and flung it out. It flew through the air for twenty meters before rolling across the ground. He felt this crocodile was quite intelligent, not like a mindless Eerie Creature, and showed no malice. Perhaps they could coexist peacefully.
But this sudden action clearly startled the crocodile.
Without even swallowing the two remaining corpses, it turned and bolted straight toward the gorge, setting the earth shaking.
"So fast..."
Zhou Mo got up and gazed dazedly at the crocodile as it retreated. "Who would have thought something that big could run so fast? Um, Station Master, why did you throw an Eerie Stone toward it...?"
"To feed it."
"Ah, does that crocodile eat Eerie Stones?"
"Ninety percent likely."
Chen Fan shook his head, not particularly concerned about the crocodile's escape. The creature was just too timid. As he fed it a few more times, it might get used to it. He explained to Zhou Mo, "One of the four bosses under the Eerie King, Qian Hou, carried five chests that contained a great deal of Eerie Materials and Eerie Stones."
"This shows Eerie Stones are also important to Eerie Creatures. During the rainy season, Eerie Creatures frantically flee, likely because those with intelligence hunt extensively during that time."
"It eats Eerie Creature corpses not for the meat, but for the Eerie Stones inside them."
"Makes sense."
Zhou Mo nodded, suddenly enlightened.
Just then—
The crocodile, which had already fled into the night, after detecting no further commotion, cautiously crept back into the camp. It lay at the edge of the camp, looking up and fixing Chen Fan with its lantern-sized gaze.
A hint of confusion was flickering in its pupils.
Then it tilted its head to glance at the few lonely Eerie Creature corpses beneath the cliff.
After a moment's hesitation, it raced to the base of the cliff and swallowed the remaining two Eerie Creature corpses. Then, cautiously staying low to the ground, it began approaching the city wall. As it crawled and kept a wary eye on Chen Fan, its eyes held a trace of anticipation.
Soon, it crawled to the spot where Chen Fan had thrown the Eerie Stone.
It eased its huge snout down to the small Eerie Stone and sniffed, then it looked up at Chen Fan again. This time, the confusion in its eyes was even stronger, mixed with a hint of anger.
At this point, the crocodile was only about twenty meters away from the city wall.
This was also the first time everyone had observed this crocodile from such a close distance.