Chapter 48: “Last Year, I Bid You Farewell in the Rain. Today, the Storm Has Passed, and a Year Is Gone.”
As for why the seed Crippled Monkey picked up back then never displayed a System Panel—
Chen Fan had a vague suspicion.
All Seed-type Unique Treasures typically came wrapped in a thin membrane. Yet that seed had been bare—no protective coating, just a solitary kernel. Perhaps that was why the panel never appeared.
“Seems I got lucky.”
Chen Fan’s eyes narrowed. Green Grade Seed-type Unique Treasures always had unusual planting requirements. The Flesh Ghost Twin Seed, for instance, demanded to be watered with Ghostbeast Blood every hour.
But he had managed to cultivate the Blood Ghostflower without knowing any of its requirements—somehow stumbling upon success, as though luck itself favored him.
Maybe, in this life, fortune truly smiled on him.
There are millions in this world who toil endlessly, but only a few ever make a name for themselves.
It’s not that those who fail lack talent; most simply run out of luck.
Hard work alone can’t guarantee success. Luck is always part of the equation.
—
He took two wooden sticks, carefully lifting the flower from the edge of the winter field. Then he spread the Ghostskin out flat on the barren earth. Pressing down gently, he watched vivid, blood-red sap trickle from the stem, drop by drop, onto the Ghostskin.
Soon, the sap ran dry. The once vibrant flower withered and crumbled, its life extinguished in an instant.
Chen Fan crouched beside the Farmland, eyes fixed on the Ghostskin. As the flower’s sap soaked in, line after line of writing slowly surfaced across the supernatural hide.
—
“Last year, I bid you farewell in the rain.
Today, the storm has passed, and a year is gone.
At the bottom of a cold pond, white bones bathe beneath the midnight moon.
Beneath embroidered robes, black hair tangles in autumn mist.
For you, I tear my own skin as armor;
With my soul, I wrap your wounds anew.
Suddenly, I hear the ribs of umbrellas creak across heaven and earth,
As the Ghost Tide swells and takes its ranks across the Wasteland.
It is an old friend, come treading through the rain.
We meet again, yet your face is pale as snow, a stranger’s mask.
Rain erodes beauty a thousand times over—
Yet in this life, I wait for you alone.”
—
The Unique Treasure’s System Panel shifted as well.
—
Item Name: Ghostskin
Grade: Green
Effect: A special Ghostskin, personally crafted by a high-level Ghostbeast. Worn close to the heart, it can block a fatal blow.
—
“...”
Chen Fan stared at the lines that had appeared on the Ghostskin, his expression unreadable. After a moment of silence, he sighed, a headache creeping in. Honestly... the sunk cost of this Waystation wasn’t much. Perhaps it was time to pack up and move somewhere else.
The poem wasn’t difficult to understand.
Its message was clear:
The Female Ghostbeast he had slain wasn’t some mindless monster. During last year’s Rainy Season, she had met a male Ghostbeast and fallen in love. Separated by the storms, she had torn off a piece of her own skin and, by other means, crafted this Unique Treasure.
A defensive artifact.
As for that male Ghostbeast...
“Suddenly, I hear the ribs of umbrellas creak across heaven and earth,
As the Ghost Tide swells and takes its ranks across the Wasteland.”
That could only be the Ghost King.
Not just powerful—he commanded an entire legion as well.
This woman had waited for him in the Wasteland all this time. For all Chen Fan knew, this Rainy Season, the Ghost King would lead an army to take her as his bride—only to find she was already dead, killed by Chen Fan’s own hand.
When that day came...
When that day came...
Chen Fan glanced toward the warehouse. The Female Ghostbeast’s skin was stored inside, flayed whole and preserved—Ah Le had done a meticulous job with the knife. Maybe he could simply hand over the entire hide. Sew it onto another Female Ghostbeast and it might even pass for the original.
Ghostbeasts with true intelligence were rare.
And as far as he knew, only this Female Ghostbeast had ever crafted a Unique Treasure.
If the Ghost King didn’t care about her, Chen Fan might escape unscathed. But with her beauty and skill—fit for a king’s court and capable of forging treasures—it was unlikely she would be so easily forgotten...
He was in trouble.
“What a lovesick ghost... If you were going to wait all Rainy Season for your dream lover, why not just find a quiet corner to hide?”
“Why did you have to come after me again and again?”
“Just look at this mess.”
“All for a dead subordinate—was it really worth storming the Camp and throwing your life away?”
Chen Fan rubbed his temples in frustration. The odds were high that the Ghost King would return to the Wasteland this Rainy Season, and with his power and influence, Chen Fan would have to prepare for the worst. The Camp’s defenses were nowhere near enough.
But...
Maybe the Ghost King didn’t know where he was. After all, there were no witnesses—yes, that’s right...
Who was he kidding!
There was only one Camp in the entire Wasteland, blazing like a beacon in the night. The Ghost King would head straight for him the moment he set foot in the Wasteland!
To hell with it.
If soldiers come, I’ll send generals; if the water rises, I’ll build higher walls.
He drew a deep breath, steeled himself, and looked again at the warehouse. If a single strip of Female Ghostbeast skin could become a Unique Treasure, and he had an entire hide stored away... Once he found an Artificer, perhaps he could have a full set of soft armor made.
He tucked the Ghostskin inside his hemp robe, close to his heart.
It was warm.
Surprisingly comfortable, too.
In his previous life, a girl had once knitted him a scarf. It had kept his heart warm through the long winter.
He never imagined that, in this world, a Female Ghostbeast would give him a piece of her own skin as armor for his chest. In its own twisted way, it was almost... romantic.
She had truly poured her heart into it.
...
Inside the Camp.
Chen Fan stood atop the wall of the Breeding Grounds, looking down at the Impostors below, shrieking and baring their teeth in the pouring rain.
The wall stood five meters high.
None of the Impostors had tried to form a human pyramid to scale it—whether the thought never crossed their minds, or they simply didn’t have time, he couldn’t say. Ever since capturing these Impostor Ghosts, all they had done was mate, day and night, without pause.
A line from the Female Ghostbeast’s poem echoed in his mind:
“Rain erodes beauty a thousand times over—
Yet in this life, I wait for you alone.”
Erodes.
Not exactly a pleasant word.
Maybe—
Maybe the Rainy Season was torture for Ghostbeasts as well?
Like being splashed with sulfuric acid—pain so raw it drove them mad, sending them rampaging through the rains?
Just then—
Ah Le, standing nearby, spoke up. “Station Master, there were no major threats to the Camp last night. I did a few experiments. I found that the Ghostbeast pups don’t have Ghoststones inside them. Only when they grow up do the stones form.”
“And I think this rainwater contains some special energy.”
“I used a wooden board to shield a few Impostors from the rain. As soon as they stopped getting wet, they quit mating and started snarling at me, ready to attack.”
“But when I took the board away, they went right back to mating.”
Chen Fan nodded slightly. “Good work.”
Raising these Impostor Ghosts wasn’t just about harvesting more Ghoststones. He also wanted to understand Ghostbeasts better. Know your enemy, and you’ll never lose a hundred battles.
So far—
The Rainy Season had a profound effect on Ghostbeasts, but it manifested differently in each kind.
For Impostor Ghosts, it triggered uncontrollable mating.
For Flesh Maggot Ghosts, it drove the entire species to migrate en masse.
For the Female Ghostbeast, it brought agony—as if her flesh were being corroded by acid.
Maybe...
That was why the Female Ghostbeast had crafted a palanquin for herself.