Chapter 17: Jiangbei Market
????“Two hundred Ghoststones…”
??Chen Fan narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the System Panel before him. His original plan had been to weather the early days with steady, thodical progress. But the sudden onset of the Rainy Season had shattered all his careful calculations, catching him completely off guard.
??Now, if he wanted even the faintest chance of survival, he had to strengthen the camp—faster and more thoroughly than ever before.
??Two choices lay before him.
??With two hundred Ghoststones, he could spend a hundred each to upgrade both Level 2 Arrow Towers to Level 3.
??Or—
??He could try to amass three hundred and twenty Ghoststones to build a circular wall, thirty-two ters in circumference, surrounding the camp with a basic defensive barrier.
??Of course, that would only enclose the Safe Zone of a Level 1 Ghostfire, not Level 2. To wall in the entire area protected by Level 2 Ghostfire would cost a fortune—entirely out of reach for now.
??Which choice would make the camp stronger?
??Naturally, the wall.
??A wall would block the Ghostbeasts from charging straight in, buying the Arrow Towers precious ti to unleash volley after volley. Without it, a Ghost Tide could easily overrun the towers.
??But he was nowhere close to having enough Ghoststones.
??If Wang Kui returned from gathering survivors at the other waystations and brought back enough Ghoststones, Chen Fan could build the wall before nightfall. If not, he would have to settle for upgrading the towers and laying as many traps as he could.
??There was no ti left to hesitate.
??Last night had only been a prelude. Whether he survived tonight… only the heavens could say.
??He glanced toward Crippled Monkey, still busy in the distance, burying Ghostbeast corpses in the farmland. The field was already seeded with bodies—he wouldn’t need to worry about fertilizer for a long ti.
??Yesterday alone, they had slain forty-seven maggot-like Ghostbeasts. Not a single Unique Treasure had dropped.
??He actually found himself missing that mother and daughter.
??If he’d known, he wouldn’t have killed them. He could have kept them penned up outside the camp—maybe even started a Ghostbeast breeding operation.
??...
??Jiangbei Market.
??The largest market town for hundreds of li around, presided over by a Level 2 Builder, nestled in the western district of Jiangbei City.
??It was so well-known that people used “going to Jiangbei City” and “going to Jiangbei Market” interchangeably.
??Rain poured in endless curtains.
??rchants and travelers drifted among the shops and umbrella-shaded stalls, all too aware that with the Rainy Season’s early arrival, the Ghost Tide that had swept across the Wasteland thirty-seven years ago might soon return.
??Everyone needed to prepare—just in case.
??“The Rainy Season’s co early.”
??At the entrance of the Ping Tian Chamber of Comrce, a shopkeeper gazed anxiously at the deluge outside, worry deepening the lines of his face. “Who knows how many will die this ti? And who can say if Jiangbei City will hold out?”
??“Shopkeeper!”
??A clerk bustled in from outside, rain running in rivulets down his jacket as he stripped it off and wrung it out, then wiped his face, utterly unfazed. “Honestly, there’s no need to worry so much. The city’s defenses were built by the Jiangbei Chen Clan, Qiuhe Wang Clan, and the Wild Wolf Gang together. That wall cost a fortune, but it keeps the whole city sealed tight. Arrow Towers stand every ten paces. Ghostbeasts have never broken through—not once in all these years. They won’t this ti, either.”
??The shopkeeper just looked at him, a complex mix of emotions flickering across his face. The ignorant fear nothing, he thought. In an ordinary Rainy Season, Jiangbei City’s location and its long stretch of Level 1 Wall really could keep everyone safe.
??But with the Rainy Season arriving early, there was a real risk of a Ghost Tide.
??He had survived the last one, thirty-seven years ago.
??Barely one in a thousand made it. He survived only because he’d slipped away and holed up in the Wild Wolf Gang’s inner stronghold, sheltering behind their Level 3 Wall and inner city defenses.
??That was why he’d stayed with the Ping Tian Chamber of Comrce all these years.
??The Chamber and the Jiangbei Chen Clan were now inseparable.
??Every major power had its own core territory, with thicker walls and stronger defenses at the heart.
??If the city fell, core mbers would retreat to the center of their faction. That was the only way to cling to life.
??After a long silence, the shopkeeper pressed his palms together, gazing through the rain at the gloomy, endless sky.
??“Gods above, have rcy,” he murmured. “Let there be no Ghost Tide this year.”
??The early Rainy Season only made a Ghost Tide likely, not certain. If there was no Ghost Tide, that would be best for everyone.
??In this world, dying of old age was almost impossible.
??...
??Jiangbei City, Jiangbei Chen Clan.
??In a sprawling courtyard, a pale, unsteady-looking middle-aged man clutched a Ghostskin Map, eagerly reporting to a teenage boy seated in a pavilion.
??“Young Master, Waystation No. 37 is still lit. Looks like luck was on their side last night—no Ghostbeasts broke through.”
??“But with the Rainy Season, Ghostbeasts will be more active than ever. I doubt they’ll be so lucky tonight.”
??“Mm.”
??The boy in the pavilion toyed with a bracelet of jade prayer beads, satisfaction glinting in his eyes as he took the Ghostskin Map and stared intently at the icon marking Waystation No. 37, deep in the northern Wasteland.
??As if he could will it to disappear by sheer force of intent.
??By all rights, that outpost should have gone dark long ago. They’d only given that bastard three Ghoststones. The fact it had lasted this long ant soone must have passed by and stayed the night.
??But luck runs out eventually.
??With the Rainy Season here and the Ghost Tide looming, a waystation lacking city defenses shouldn’t stand a chance.
??Everyone in the Chen Clan called that boy a bastard, but they all knew the truth: he was the legitimate eldest son, the rightful heir by blood.
??As long as he lived, the boy in the pavilion could never rest easy.
??His own mother was the only daughter of the Ping Tian Chamber of Comrce’s president, now the clan’s matriarch. If that “bastard” died, the path to succession would be clear.
??“By the way—”
??The boy’s brow furrowed slightly. “Any loose ends from sending Chen Fan out into the Wasteland?”
??“None,” the middle-aged man replied solemnly, shaking his head. “Everything was done by the book. According to the clan’s ancestral rules, every Chen must serve at an outpost for a year after coming of age. Chen Fan’s turn had co.”
??“He was given three Ghoststones before he left—that’s also by the rules.”
??“Everything’s in order.”
??He grinned. “All we did was send him to an abandoned waystation, one nobody ever visits. Even if Master investigates, there’s nothing to fault.”
??“And besides—”
??“You really think Master doesn’t know? He’s long since turned a blind eye. After all, he still needs that Level 5 Builder your mother brought into the clan.”
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