Chapter 21

In the middle of the night, Cen An was jolted awake by the cold.

It was a starkly new experience. When he had first arrived, even though his bed was nothing more than a layer of dried grass, he hadn't felt this freezing. His animal-hide mattress and blanket seemed to have lost their ability to retain heat. Curled up inside, Cen An felt his hands and feet turn icy, and the breath from his mouth and nose turned into white mist.

The temperature had definitely dropped below freezing.

With this thought, he crawled out of bed and tossed a log into the fire pit. The flames flared up immediately, and the bone-chilling air began to warm. Cen An never underestimated the power of nature, nor did he intend to stubbornly endure this plummeting temperature.

He rummaged through his room and found several batches of feathers and duck down. Some had been processed today, while others were remnants from the minor beast tide a few days prior. Altogether, there were nine portions of feathers and down, forming a fluffy little mound. He retrieved four animal hides, combined them with his existing blanket, and used a crafting recipe to fashion a down-filled fur quilt. The quilt looked rather crude, but its insulating properties were exceptionally powerful.

Cen An burrowed into the comfortable bedding. Between the warmth of the fire pit and the down quilt, he soon drifted back to sleep.

***

In other homes throughout the village, a small child let out a weak whimper. "Mom, I'm cold..."

The mother hurriedly pulled the child into her arms. "Is there any firewood left? Should we light a fire?"

"I'll go, stay inside," her husband replied, hastily throwing on a robe. He pulled two logs from their meager woodpile and ignited a small, flickering fire. It provided just enough warmth to be better than nothing.

"It’s so strange this year. The Gloomy Rain Season has only just begun, yet the temperature has dropped so sharply. And the rain is heavier than in previous years..."

"Who’s to say otherwise? These days are getting harder and harder to get by..."

Those who could afford to light a fire were considered to be in relatively good condition. Some had woken up shivering in the night, wanting to light a fire, only to realize they didn't have enough wood, leaving them no choice but to wrap themselves in icy blankets and endure until morning.

Across the entire Yongning Village, there were few who would spend this night in comfort.

***

Morning came while the sky was still dim. Cen An woke early. The embers in the fire pit glowed with faint, flickering light, and the lingering warmth in his bed was hard to leave. As he sat up, he caught a glimpse of something moving in the corner of his eye.

Ah, it was the man-eating plant.

It had been one night, and the circle of beast meat he had laid out—including that screeching rabbit—had been completely devoured. The plant itself had even grown to the height of a person's calf. Seeing its master wake up, the man-eating plant shook its head.

Cen An nodded, but then he noticed something amiss and turned his head.

The plant’s massive maw was tightly shut, yet something seemed to be moving inside... A rat’s tail dangled from the gap between its closed, jagged teeth.

Cen An: "..."

He slowly closed his eyes, attempting to banish this cursed sight from his mind. He opened them again, and the rat's tail gave a gentle twitch.

Cen An: "..."

With a blank expression, he got up and moved the plant to the food storage area.

Opening the door, he found the rain had indeed intensified. Icy mist surged in, visibility was severely reduced, and the water on the ground had formed small rivers.

Today was the last day he could safely venture out during the Gloomy Rain Season. Cen An mentally calculated the tasks he needed to complete. The chickens, ducks, and rabbits were already cured and hung over the fire pit for slow smoking. As for breakfast, he had already decided.

He set the leftover pork bone broth to boil and made noodles from a portion of wheat flour. They weren't as chewy as the flour from his previous life, but the wheat aroma was much richer.

When the milky bone broth reached a rolling boil, he dropped in the slightly yellowish noodles, which were cooked in mere minutes. On a rainy morning, a bowl of hot pork bone broth noodles warmed him from head to toe.

After eating, Cen An geared up completely and headed straight for the bamboo forest. He had set eight small traps yesterday; six had yielded results: two quails, one pigeon, and three field mice. Both of the two medium-sized traps were empty.

Today’s haul was even smaller than yesterday's. It seemed the rain hadn't only affected the villagers; even the animals were rarely venturing out. Cen An collected all the traps and didn't bother setting them again.

He plunged back into the bamboo forest and harvested thirty portions of bamboo. Combined with the fifty from yesterday, he now had eighty portions in his backpack.

By noon, the temperature rose slightly—better than nothing. Cen An didn't even stop for lunch; he descended the mountain and headed straight for the forest of broad-leafed trees, gathering thirty broad leaves and twenty vines. Occasionally, rain lizards would scurry past, but he didn't spare them a glance, focused only on gathering supplies against the clock.

With the mountain supplies collected, he hurried home. He dug out all his remaining animal hides—counting everything he had saved since the beginning, there were forty or fifty pieces. He activated a recipe to turn all the hides into satchels. He then took these dozen or so bags to the riverside and filled them with sand.

Call him over-cautious or a pessimist, but Cen An always felt a sense of uncertain anxiety regarding this Gloomy Rain Season. Regardless, he hoped all these preparations would prove unnecessary.

With the sandbags tucked into his backpack, all the preparations for the season were complete. Cen An walked through the village streets wearing a large straw hat; not another villager was in sight. The rain fell in torrents, as if he were the only person left in the world.

Cen An didn't like this feeling. He stood quietly for a moment, then changed direction. He stopped in front of a dilapidated courtyard and knocked on the door.

The door opened to reveal Yu Fei’s deadpan face. Cen An said somewhat awkwardly, "Long time no see, I came to find..."

Yu Fei had already disappeared from the doorway, leaving only a hoarse, "Come in."

Cen An walked in resignedly. The house had a strange odor—like medicine, but more pungent. He passed through the outer room and entered the inner room, coming to a sudden halt.

Yu Lin was lying on the bed, black mist darting beneath his skin. Blood seeped out drop by drop, soaking the bedding. His eyes were closed, with two trails of bloody tears streaming from the corners, and his eyelids were swollen... The power of the curse had not even spared his eyes.

Yu Fei was holding a small white jar, applying a foul-smelling black ointment to his wounds.

Yu Lin’s voice was weak, but his tone was surprisingly light. "Is that Brother Cen?"

Still stunned, Cen An gave a low confirmation.

Yu Lin’s voice grew a bit lighter. "I told you, no one else would come looking for me."

Cen An looked at his condition, which clearly displayed the status: [Cursed (Active)]. He couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "How often does this curse flare up?"

"It used to be every other day," Yu Lin’s tone rose slightly. "But ever since I took the medicine from you, Brother Cen, this is the first time it's flared up. And it doesn't hurt as much as it used to!"

There was an incredible optimism and resilience in him. Cen An took out a Cold-Wind Fruit and placed it in his hand. "This is for you."

"Hmm?" Yu Lin felt the fruit and sniffed it. "Is this a Cold-Wind Fruit?"

He smiled. "My brother said you were selling them at the market a few days ago. Did you save this especially for me?"

Yu Fei also looked up and glanced at Cen An.

Cen An tried his best to act nonchalant. "Yes, I really liked the little rabbit you gave me."

He didn't actually know if Yu Lin needed this. Although Yu Lin was riddled with negative status effects and looked even weaker than himself, he was, after all, an ability user. Did ability users even catch colds?

Yu Lin held the fruit and smiled. "Thank you, Brother Cen! You don't know, this fruit is a huge help to me!"

To Cen An's surprise, he ate the fruit right in front of him. The Cold-Wind Fruit took effect instantly; his muscles went numb, and he lay even straighter on the bed. The black power of the curse receded like a tide, and Yu Lin, who had been tormented for so long, simply drifted off to sleep.

Cen An was taken aback. This...

"When the muscles go numb, the curse loses its resistance and cannot achieve its purpose of torture, so it dissipates," Yu Fei said, his longest sentence yet.

Cen An nodded in sudden realization. So that was how it worked.

Since Yu Lin was asleep, he didn't want to overstay his welcome and prepared to leave. Yu Fei looked at him and suddenly said, "I owe you one. Come find me if you need anything in the future."

Cen An nodded helplessly, thinking to himself: How many people have said this to me now? Just how many troubles will I have to get into to call all these people for help?

By the time he returned home, it was almost dark. The chicken, duck, and rabbit were still smoking over the fire pit, while the game in his backpack was waiting to be processed. For the first time, Cen An felt that having too much meat could be a problem... preservation was a challenge.

Carrying this sweet burden, Cen An took out today's haul. The sandbags didn't need attention, and the broad leaves and vines weren't needed for now. He only took out the game: two quails, one pigeon, and three field mice.

Can field mice even be eaten? They looked too much like rats... Cen An looked them over and decided he couldn't bring himself to eat them, so he tossed them to the man-eating plant.

The plant swallowed them one by one like snacks, radiating an air of contentment.

Cen An cleaned the quails and the pigeon, staring at the meat covering the floor as he made his plans. The smoked chicken, duck, and rabbit would keep for a long time, so he didn't need to worry about them for now. He still had over twenty pounds of pork, which could be made into cured meat. There was one bamboo chicken left—luckily, there wasn't much meat on it, so he could finish it in one meal. Oh, and there was still a large fish swimming in the basin...

Cen An rubbed his temples and decided to stew the bamboo chicken tonight! As for the quails and the pigeon, he would eat those tomorrow.

He chopped the pound-plus bamboo chicken into small pieces and tossed them into the pot with bamboo shoots and white radish. He rehydrated some dried mushrooms and threw them in as well—anything cooked with those was bound to be delicious.

While the stew simmered, Cen An took out ten portions of bamboo, put them into the charcoal kiln, and burned thirty portions of bamboo charcoal. He placed a dozen pieces in his grain jar and scattered the rest in the corners of the room. Bamboo charcoal was excellent at absorbing moisture, which was most useful in this weather.

With the charcoal placed, the bamboo chicken was cooked, and the rice in the steamer was ready. Cen An sat down to eat with peace of mind.

He felt a sense of relief. All necessary preparations had been made; for the next few days, he only needed to stay safely at home.

The bamboo chicken was indeed tender; with a poke of his chopsticks, the meat fell right off the bone into the bowl, mixed with the rich broth. Cen An polished off the rice with the large pot of chicken, and he couldn't bear to throw away the remaining broth—it would be perfect for boiling noodles tomorrow morning.

Outside, the rain fell in heavy veils, and the air was thick with mist, but inside the small cabin, it was dry and warm, the lingering aroma of food filling the space.