The Stone Axe was even easier to use than Wen Zhi had imagined.
The Diary had synthesized its materials on a metaphysical level, giving the Stone Axe a sharpness far beyond that of chipped or ground stone tools.
The joint between its handle and head was also theoretically optimal, making it quite sturdy.
Even so, the trees Wen Zhi could chop down were generally only as thick as his arm.
At most, they were no bigger around than a bowl.
As for larger trees, the Stone Axe couldn’t cut through them, and even if it did, Wen Zhi couldn’t carry them.
“Crack.”
As the last chop-able tree in sight fell, the Stone Axe in Wen Zhi’s hand reached its durability limit and vanished in specks of light.
Looking at his empty palm, Wen Zhi’s face showed a flicker of understanding.
‘So things synthesized by the Diary just disappear when they break? That explains why nothing was left of my Coconut Garment…’
After chopping down enough trees, Wen Zhi gathered the firewood and carried it to a spot three or four meters from the Campfire.
Once he was sure the sparks wouldn’t jump onto the woodpile, he sat back down beside the Campfire to rest.
After all that, Wen Zhi was both thirsty and exhausted.
Using the Diary to synthesize things had already taken a lot of Stamina, and chopping trees had nearly drained him.
The number above the icon representing his Stamina was now in the single digits.
But looking at the pile of wood, enough to keep the fire burning until the day after tomorrow, Wen Zhi felt the effort had been worth it.
When he sat back beside the Campfire, Wen Zhi noticed that even after several hours, the Ghost was still standing in the same spot, completely motionless and lost in thought.
That was very unusual.
Based on Wen Zhi’s experience with the Ghost so far, the little thing could barely sit still.
Like a house cat, it always had to come take a look, no matter what he was doing.
What was wrong?
Wen Zhi, a little concerned, gently poked the Ghost, trying to snap it out of its daze.
His finger met a soft, springy surface.
Compared to the first time he’d touched it, the Ghost now felt much more human.
“Ding (*ﾟﾛﾟ)!!”
The sudden touch startled the Ghost.
When it realized it was Wen Zhi, it immediately relaxed.
Then, as if remembering something, it guiltily looked away, unable to meet Wen Zhi’s gaze.
While Wen Zhi was poking the Ghost, it had actually been trying to figure out how to use its Enter Dream ability on him…
Unfortunately, Wen Zhi was too exhausted to notice the Ghost’s guilty expression.
Otherwise, with his years of teaching experience, he would’ve figured out that the Ghost was hiding something and planning to cause trouble…
Once he was sure the Ghost was only spacing out, Wen Zhi felt a little more at ease.
After that, he stared into the Campfire for a while, letting his mind relax.
An indescribable exhaustion washed over him.
It wasn’t just physical; he was mentally drained, too.
His eyelids grew especially heavy.
“Ugh…”
He pinched his thigh hard, and the sharp pain brought him back to his senses.
That was close.
He’d almost fallen asleep.
Ever since the Campfire had been lit, the Night had been unusually calm, but Wen Zhi didn’t dare pass out without someone on watch.
That was far too risky.
The Night still seemed long.
Wen Zhi had to find some way to pass the time.
Continuing to talk with the Ghost was one option, but he really didn’t have the energy to play Turtle Soup or You Draw I Guess right now.
Then… why not use the time to teach the Ghost how to write Chinese characters?
The Ghost, meanwhile, had been a little pleased when it saw Wen Zhi about to fall asleep.
But then, to its dismay, he pinched himself and woke up.
‘You’re sleepy, so go to sleep already! (▼ヘ▼#)!’
For the past few hours, the Ghost had been figuring out its new ability.
It had nearly worked it out and was just waiting for Wen Zhi to fall asleep so it could give it a try.
Unfortunately, even though he looked exhausted, he stubbornly refused to fall asleep.
Besides being curious to test its new ability, the Ghost genuinely thought Wen Zhi needed some rest.
It could clearly sense how tired and mentally worn out he was.
After thinking it over, the Ghost guessed that Wen Zhi was afraid of the Darkness around them and didn’t dare fall into a deep sleep.
In theory, if it offered to keep watch, Wen Zhi should be willing to rest for a while, right?
While the Ghost was trying to figure out how to explain what it wanted, Wen Zhi spoke first:
“…To make it easier for us to communicate later, let me teach you how to write Chinese characters.”
For the moment, the Ghost no longer cared about getting Wen Zhi to sleep.
Its main reason for using Enter Dream was to see if it could learn Wen Zhi’s language and writing from his dreams.
If Wen Zhi was willing to teach it directly, all the better.
Wen Zhi, forcing himself to stay awake, picked a branch from the woodpile, sharpened it with a Stone Wedge, and began writing and drawing on the ground.
Since the Ghost could read minds, Wen Zhi figured there was no need to teach Chinese characters in the usual way.
He decided to start by teaching the Ghost commonly used words that expressed agreement or disagreement, such as “yes,” “no,” “good,” and “bad,” and then move on to other common characters.
But once he started teaching, Wen Zhi realized it didn’t seem to matter how he did it…
The Ghost’s ability to learn was terrifying.
He only had to write each character once for the Ghost to remember it perfectly.
In the end, the biggest obstacle to the Ghost’s learning Chinese characters was Wen Zhi’s writing speed…
After teaching it a few hundred characters, Wen Zhi was completely exhausted.
He even felt like he could pass out at any moment.
He hesitated for a few seconds over whether he should kill himself to refresh his status, but eventually gave up on the tempting idea.
He didn’t have a quick, clean way to kill himself right now.
If he failed and ended up paralyzed, unable to do anything, that would be a problem.
In the end, Wen Zhi gave in and decided to rest for a little while.
In an extremely weary voice, he asked the Ghost:
“Let’s call it here for today. I’m going to close my eyes for a bit… Could you keep watch for a while? If anything goes wrong or something unexpected happens, wake me up right away.”
“Okay!”
The Ghost wrote its reply in the Diary.
Its handwriting wasn’t very neat, but it was clear enough.
Reassured by the answer, Wen Zhi leaned against the firewood.
Weariness soon overtook him, and he closed his eyes.
After Wen Zhi closed his eyes, the Ghost waited a little longer.
Only after his breathing grew steady did it cautiously move closer.
“Ding~”
The Ghost called softly to Wen Zhi, but he didn’t react.
Then it gently poked his cheek.
Still, there was no response.
Only then did the Ghost decide that Wen Zhi was truly fast asleep.
It gradually grew bolder.
It used “Enter Dream” on Wen Zhi.
The Ghost lightly touched Wen Zhi’s forehead.
Then, following the connection through the Diary, countless motes of colored light appeared before it.
They were Wen Zhi’s subconscious “Impressions” of people and objects.
Human consciousness was private and closed off.
Like the human body, it instinctively rejected foreign intrusions.
Dreams were an extension of consciousness and naturally had the same trait.
So the first thing the Ghost had to do was “Cloaking.”
By covering itself with “Impressions” that matched Wen Zhi’s subconscious, it could trick the dream into misidentifying the intruder.
…Looking at it this way, using Enter Dream didn’t seem very ethical.
The Ghost realized this belatedly.
But as it looked through the countless motes of light at the strange Dreamscape faintly visible behind them, it couldn’t suppress its curiosity, no matter how hard it tried.
At worst, it would promise to stay on the surface of the dream and keep learning Wen Zhi’s language.
It wouldn’t pry into his private life!
With that in mind, the Ghost began searching through the countless motes of light before it for a suitable “Impression” to use for Cloaking.
But it had just promised not to pry into Wen Zhi’s private life, so it couldn’t go around snooping to find out what these Impressions represented…
In the end, the Ghost gritted its teeth and chose a gentle, elegant white mote of light on instinct.
The white mote rapidly expanded into a soft glow that enveloped the Ghost.
Its body then grew unstable, hazy, and indistinct.
The next moment, an indescribable sensation of falling slammed into the Ghost!
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