Chapter 9: The Stalker
After a long and exhausting night, the little hut collapsed against a cliff face, utterly worn out. Before going to sleep, Lan Chi asked if it could camouflage itself. The hut confirmed it could, then sealed its doors and windows, shifting its color to a deep brown. Leaning against the cliff, from a distance it looked like nothing more than a large clump of vines growing there.
Lan Chi was exhausted too. He issued orders for the Axe Monster and Pickaxe Monster to rest for the day and stand by, then climbed back into his room and fell asleep.
"Is it this way?"
Suddenly, a cacophony of sounds came from outside the shelter.It jolted Lan Chi awake from his slumber. This was the first time he had heard other people's voices so clearly. He looked up and saw one of the hut's tentacles hanging in front of him, pointing outside. Lan Chi quickly made a shushing gesture and transmitted his thoughts: "Be quiet."
The voices were strange, their pronunciation odd. Logically, he shouldn't have understood them, but the content was translated directly into his mind, as if by some translation software.
Holy crap! Someone really is chasing me!Lan Chi trembled. He couldn't see the situation outside, didn't know what race they were or how many there were. All he could do now was pray they wouldn't find this place, wouldn't tear down his house!
"The scent trail leads this way. It ends here!" a shrill voice said."This clump of bushes?" a rough voice responded, and then something metallic banged against the hut's body. "It's grown solid here. No place to hide."
The hut and Lan Chi trembled together. The hut screamed frantically in Lan Chi's mind: "He's cutting me! Aaaaah! It hurts so much!!"
Lan Chi thought back: Little Hut, don't be afraid. I'll definitely buy you delicious things to make up for it later. You have to endure it now.
"He might have climbed up from here!" another, more delicate voice said, sounding female. "You, come here. Climb up and take a look."
"Yes, Master."
Then Lan Chi heard a faint rustling sound coming from above the house.After a moment, a voice came from the rooftop: "Behind this ridge is a forest. That guy probably left from here. Should we continue the chase?"
"Damn it, how did that guy run so far? If I find out which race he is, I'll beat the shit out of him!" the rough voice cursed.
"Enough, call off the chase. That area over there belongs to the Vinewood Clan. They're a vassal clan to the Elves. The item has probably fallen into Elven hands by now," the female voice analyzed calmly.
"Tch, those arrogant bastards come over to our territory to poach benefits, and we're just letting them get away with it?"
"Heh, of course not. We'll get even later. No one takes anything from the Bloodstained Inquisition for free. Let's go!"
Footsteps sounded, gradually fading into the distance.
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Lan Chi and the hut waited silently for almost an hour. Only then did Lan Chi have the hut extend a tentacle to scout the surroundings.The hut reported: They're gone.
Lan Chi relaxed. That orc buddy's information was indeed timely. The moment he fled, people came looking.
Lan Chi quickly opened the system, prepared a jar of honey, and sent it to A Dai with a message: Thanks for the heads-up, bro. Made a clean getaway. This is a small token of gratitude.
At that moment, the orc A Dai had just finished killing a two-headed prairie wolf and was joking around with his teammates when the message from Lan Chi made him pause.
"A Dai, what's wrong? Staring blankly at your orc-runed screen," a tall, burly lion-man patted his shoulder and asked."Oh, nothing, Second Prince." A Dai looked at the newcomer and replied, "Just met an amusing human."
"Human? The race of humans is in the Trial Grounds?" the Second Prince frowned, puzzled. He couldn't imagine how such a lowly, weak creature could appear here.
"Probably someone's slave. He's pretty sharp. Yesterday I casually mentioned something, and his team immediately took off running." A Dai recounted yesterday's chat to the Second Prince.
"Haha, that is interesting. If we get a chance later, we should see what his master is like. That kind of quick wit is useful."
"Understood."
Meanwhile, Lan Chi quietly had the hut open a crack and poked his head out to check the environment. It was silent.It seemed the pursuers were truly gone.
"Alright, the stalkers are gone. We'll rest here today and plan the next move," he said, relaxing. He didn't feel like doing anything today anyway, just staying put in the house and planning his next steps. This world was too dangerous. He still didn't dare interact with the natives; every single one of them seemed formidable.
Hearing his arrangement, the hut immediately began snoring loudly. Last night had been too tiring, and this morning had been nerve-wracking. It couldn't take it anymore. It was still just a child.
Lan Chi opened the trading channel. He didn't want to reply to any of the honey purchase requests; he simply deleted them. Today's pursuers were a good reminder: if he sold things, the buyers had ways to track him.
He listed the wood and stone he had cut yesterday on the trading channel. The hut didn't need them anymore, and they could be exchanged for some meat, seeds, or tools.
As he scrolled through the channel, something suddenly caught his eye.[Stinkthorn Beetle]:
Nice! Got it!
The Stinkthorn Beetle wasn't expensive. Ten units of wood for one beetle. He spent thirty units to buy three, planning to have the hut eat them when it woke up. He had discovered that whatever the hut ate, it would grow.
Yesterday it ate the Nangwood Worm and gained folding space. By eating a variety of things, it could not only upgrade but also gain different functions.
Lan Chi also casually bought several luminous Fireflies. They were very similar to Earth's fireflies, but much larger than the ones back home. He also bought something called a Rootsucker
Lan Chi's water supply was running low; he only had half a bucket left from the stream a couple of days ago. Once the hut ate this, he could have it directly root itself and pump water.
After buying everything, Lan Chi woke the hut up. "Here, eat all of these. They're all for you."
The drowsy hut saw the ingredients piled on the floor and immediately got excited: "Ooh ooh, so much food! I'm just hungry!"
With that, a crack opened in the floor, and all the ingredients promptly fell into it, followed by the sound of vigorous chewing. "Mmm mmm, delicious!"
"Glad you like it." Lan Chi opened the system panel and saw that the hut's damaged parts had already healed, and several new functions had been added:
[Firefly Eye]:[Beetle Sac]:
[Windwolf Claw]:[Rootsucker Root]:[Mutated Scorpion-Tailed Bee Breeding Chamber]:
"Not bad, not bad." Lan Chi was very satisfied with the new functions. "Little Hut, generate some Firefly Eyes in various areas. I don't want to keep lighting torches inside the house."
"Oh, okay."
