"Even so, it's best not to leave any room for gossip."
The young man slowly shook his head and said softly, "The rainy season arrived early, and it's highly likely that an Eerie Tide will follow. Our focus now should be on surviving this rainy season. As for you and me..."
Before he could finish speaking, a servant strode over from a distance, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "Young Master, the three major Clans of Rivernorth City are gathering to discuss how to handle the rainy season. The master asks that you join them."
"Understood."
The young man's expression remained unreadable, but as he stood up, the corners of his mouth involuntarily twitched upward.
This clearly marked him as the successor in training.
Sooner or later, he would succeed as Clan Head.
As for Chen Fan...
He was likely waiting in despair on the wasteland, a nobody no longer worth paying attention to.
...
With the Perpetual Night descending and Eerie Creatures wreaking havoc, only staying close to an Eerie Fire could ensure safety.
However—
Some zones had spawned a natural "Eerie Fire," which required no Eerie Stones yet still kept people safe. These zones, varying in size, gradually became human settlements.
"Rivernorth City" was situated within a rather expansive natural Eerie Fire Zone.
It was precisely because of this geographical advantage that, even after being nearly wiped out 37 years ago, the city had recovered its prosperity soon afterward.
Otherwise, maintaining the Eerie Fire for such a large city would consume a massive number of Eerie Stones daily, a cost no force could bear.
No one knew how natural Eerie Fire Zones formed or whether they might suddenly fail one day.
But so far, there had been no reports of any natural Eerie Fire Zone failing.
...
Wasteland.
"Rivernorth Chen Clan Station 37."
Chen Fan stood in the pouring rain, looking over at a group of seven people gathered outside the camp. All of them had been collected by Wang Kui from nearby Stations.
At that moment, Crippled Monkey was searching each person thoroughly, confiscating communication talismans and other means of contacting the outside world. He also placed an Eerie Stone in the palm of each person's hand in case any Pseudo-Human Ghosts had slipped in among them.
Right at that moment—
"Stationmaster Chen."
A middle-aged man dressed in hemp clothes, holding a long knife, spoke with a slight tremor in his voice, his gaze on Chen Fan standing in the downpour. "Stationmaster Wang Kui gave me a rough idea of the situation. From now on, our lives are in your hands. If we truly survive this rainy season, my life will belong to you, Stationmaster Chen!"
"I'll be at your beck and call!"
He had originally been a Stationmaster from the "Ravine Wang Clan." The moment he learned that the rainy season had arrived early and that his clan couldn't send reinforcements, overwhelming despair flooded his mind.
Being a Stationmaster was already a high-risk profession, and he knew all too well what this meant. Just as he was about to take his own life, he heard Wang Kui shouting his name outside. Half in doubt, he followed Wang Kui here.
A lie or not, he would have accepted it, as it was the only lifeline outstretched to him.
Only after arriving at this camp and seeing the two Archery Towers standing tall in the rain did a glimmer of hope finally ignite in his heart. Perhaps... perhaps they could really survive, even if the hope was slim.
"..."
With a calm expression, Chen Fan walked up to the middle-aged man holding the long knife. Two shallow cuts were faintly visible on his neck, the blood diluted by the heavy rain.
These were hesitation marks.
Few people could cleanly end their lives with a single cut when using a knife to commit suicide. Only those possessing top-tier mental resilience could manage that.
When hesitation and reluctance took over, such hesitation marks would form.
"It seems if Wang Kui had arrived even a moment later, you wouldn't be standing here now."
"Stationmaster Chen."
The middle-aged man, his voice trembling with bitterness, said, "You're in the same line of work as us. You know that even if you step into the darkness after nightfall, death doesn't come immediately. But the feeling of waiting for death in despair... few can endure it."
"If I have to die, I'd rather die by my own hand than wait in despair."
"Everyone!"
Chen Fan turned his attention to the remaining people, not continuing the conversation with the middle-aged man. Instead, he scanned each face, his voice hoarse. "All of you are from the three major forces. More or less, you must have heard of me."
"My name is Chen Fan."
"I am the heir of the Rivernorth Chen Clan. My biological mother was a Level 4 Architect. Over the years, due to internal family conflicts, I've been constantly targeted. Eventually, I was sent to this originally abandoned Station to serve as a Stationmaster."
"Now, to put it bluntly, my biological mother left me an Architect legacy before she died. I have deliberately distanced myself from the family's watchful eyes to build up my strength here secretly."
"These two Level 2 Archery Towers are my work."
"From now on—"
"As long as you follow my orders, I, Chen Fan, will do nothing but try my best to lead all of you to survive and get through this rainy season."
"After the rainy season, I won't stop you if you choose to stay or leave."
The six people exchanged glances, then each took out a bundle from their robes and placed it on the ground, saying hoarsely, "We are at your command, Stationmaster!"
"Good!"
Chen Fan glanced at the Eerie-hide Map, then looked at Wang Kui beside him and gave another order. "Time is tight. We can't go to any Stations further away. Two nearby Stations were destroyed last night."
"You and Qiu Junior, pick two more people and split up to go to these two abandoned Stations. Bring back anything usable. There might still be some Eerie Stone reserves in those Stations."
"Understood."
...
After Wang Kui departed, four people remained in place, all male. There were no females at each station.
Among the six, there were no travelers. Coincidentally, no travelers had passed by and stayed at the Stations in the past two days.
Mainly because this area was quite remote, with few people passing through.
"..."
Chen Fan turned to look at the wooden hut behind him. He realized that the identity of the Chen Clan's illegitimate child and the reputation of his biological mother, whom he had never met, were quite useful. In this world, with these two endorsements, gaining initial trust became much simpler.
The Station business on the wasteland was monopolized. Almost all Stations were set up by the three major Clans. There were no Stations established by independents, except for a few established by the forces from "Ping City."
"Stationmaster."
A pockmarked man standing in the heavy rain behind him quickly stepped forward and asked, "Is there anything we can do?"
He was the Stationmaster of the Rivernorth Chen Clan's Station 36. With the early arrival of the rainy season, he, too, was abandoned in the wasteland.
During a holiday when he returned to the clan, he had caught a distant glimpse of Chen Fan. At that time, Chen Fan walked with his head down, appearing rather weak and insecure, a stark contrast to his current demeanor. He had once lamented how the first trueborn had been reduced to a state worse than that of a servant.
Now, it seemed, it was all an act—a disguise to protect himself and bide his time for the right moment to rise.
He had always known that people from these major clans were cunning and foxy, with no simple-minded individuals among them.
But now...
In this rainy season, a time of near-certain death, a young master who had been lying low, waiting to rise, and possessing an Architect legacy, had become his only hope for survival.
He swore!
In all the world, no one hoped for Chen Fan's success more than he did at that moment!
"..."
Standing in the heavy rain, Chen Fan turned his head to look at the pockmarked middle-aged man beside him and said softly, "I know you. The Stationmaster of the Rivernorth Chen Clan's Station 36, nicknamed Pockmark Wang."
"You and the other three, tear down this wooden hut as quickly as possible before nightfall."
Pockmark Wang's eyes first flashed with disbelief, then he hastily nodded and called the others to start working. He didn't even ask why they were tearing down the only hut that could shelter them from the wind and rain.
He swore!
He and Chen Fan had no prior interaction. He had only heard rumors and gossip about Chen Fan and saw him from a distance during his last visit to the clan. Chen Fan hadn't even looked up at that time.
But Chen Fan knew his name and even which Station he worked at.
This was enough to prove that during his period of lying low, while appearing resigned to his fate and pretending to be frittering away his days, Chen Fan had actually done a lot of work behind the scenes. Chen Fan had even thoroughly investigated a Stationmaster as insignificant as him within the family.
The depth of such scheming... it horrified him!
But at the same time, the glimmer of hope in his heart grew a little stronger.
Perhaps...Under the leadership of Chen Fan, they could really survive the rainy season.