Chapter 76: Hunting Is a Technical Job!
Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Hunting Is a Technical Job!
Tang Wen first took out a piece of cured meat from a small bag and briefly introduced it.
He then had someone bring two basins of water. Taking saltpeter from a large bag, he demonstrated the technique of making ice on the spot.
The hall fell silent.
Everyone stared at Tang Wen, their eyes filled with shock.
He said he would perform a great service, and he actually did.
And he didn’t even make them wait a minute!
The Queen, disregarding her status, stepped down from her seat. She picked up a piece of the ice and examined it from all angles, her face full of astonishment.
"Oh, and the saltpeter can be reused. I’ve already tested it. We can build an underground ice cellar, and the temperature inside will be no different from winter!"
After speaking, Tang Wen ordered someone to bring a brazier and an iron pot. Using evaporation, he recrystallized the saltpeter.
"Celestial Blessing Camp!"
"This is... I’m thoroughly convinced! Commander Tang has indeed performed another great service!"
"I only knew saltpeter was a medicinal ingredient. I never thought it had such a magical use."
The commanders discussed excitedly among themselves.
"You brat, always rendering meritorious service! I really don’t know how to reward you!"
General Zhao was also excited, patting Tang Wen’s shoulder repeatedly.
Tang Wen’s gaze shifted. He pointed at Zhou Bing and said with a smile, "We did it together."
General Zhao laughed heartily. "Then that’s two great services."
One meritorious deed became two.
No one objected. They had all lived through years of disaster.
They all knew the greatest challenge to the camp’s survival was how to store food for long periods during years of plenty in order to withstand years of famine.
If they had ice cellars year-round, perhaps future years of famine would no longer be a threat to Flame Camp.
Once they understood this, how could they not be excited?
Never mind counting it as two great services; even if it were counted as five or eight, no one would be stingy.
Tang Wen looked at General Zhao and hesitated. "If Elder Ya develops the Potion that aids a Martial Artist’s Cultivation?"
"You two will be first in line!" General Zhao waved his hand, his manner exceptionally magnanimous.
Nearby, General Zhou gave a rare smile. "The Slave Capture Team is now worthless to us. You can take them to use as bait for hunting Mutated Beasts. When the time comes, use the materials for crafting potions, and you only need to turn in half of the meat!"
SWISH!
The commanders’ gazes toward Tang Wen were filled with envy.
Mutated Beast Meat was considered a strategic resource.
If the camp went to war with another power, the Queen and Generals would need to quickly replenish their energy, and even recover from injuries.
Ordinary meat was fine for filling one’s stomach, but it had no restorative properties.
But Mutated Beast Meat did.
Eating it regularly could also enhance one’s Constitution.
It was basically hard currency.
For use as bait, for hunting.
Tang Wen’s heart trembled. He suddenly recalled the hunting scene he had witnessed last year, back when he didn’t even have the strength to truss a chicken.
As if sensing his hesitation, General Zhao picked up a stack of papers from the table and tossed them to Tang Wen. "Take a look. The confessions of the Slave Capture Team."
To be honest, he felt some resistance to the idea of stringing people up, bleeding them, and using them as bait.
But in the next moment, he saw what these people—no!
What these beasts had confessed to!
Walling up victims, slaughtering civilians, smashing infants to death, disemboweling pregnant women, turning people into human swine, forcing bestiality, boiling people in oil, cannibalism...
Under severe torture, the members of the Slave Capture Team knew they wouldn’t survive and only begged for a quick death, so they began to confess the evils they had committed.
Many of the details were so appalling they were hard to read, making one’s scalp tingle and a chill run down one’s spine.
’What kind of fucking human being could do something like this?’
’In Tang Wen’s memory, only those ’certain islanders’ could compare to them.’
’Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.’
"Using them as bait is letting them off easy!"
The resistance in Tang Wen’s heart vanished completely. He felt that even killing them would dirty his own hands!
They deserved to be eaten alive by the Mutated Beasts!
「The next day」
At the entrance to the stone prison, Tang Wen and Zhou Bing arrived to pick up the prisoners.
The prison door opened, and he said coldly, "We’re taking three to be bait today! Watch the rest of them. Don’t let them kill themselves."
His voice was loud, ensuring every member of the Slave Capture Team heard him loud and clear, causing them to twitch involuntarily.
’As bait?’
Just from the sound of it, they knew their end would not be a good one.
They had endured much torture over the past few days.
At this point, all they wanted was death.
But Tang Wen’s order had made even death an unobtainable wish.
Tang Wen’s eyes were ice-cold. He wanted these animals to taste the feeling of waiting for death in terror!
Outside the city, the wind howled, kicking up sand and gravel.
The Hunting Team’s Archer, Li Mingming, spat. "PTOOEY! PTOOEY! Old Wu, the sandstorms weren’t this bad last year, were they?"
"They weren’t. It’s all because there’s no rain! Why won’t it just rain?"
Tang Wen, Zhou Bing, and the members of the original Hunting Team One were on their way to the Hunting Ridge.
They rode on horseback, kicking up a trail of dust. Behind them, three blood-soaked "baits" were dragged along, running for their lives.
"Cover your mouths and noses with cloth!"
Once they left the vicinity of the camp and entered the wilderness, the sandstorm grew even stronger.
Tang Wen took the handkerchief that Zhou Bing pulled from his tunic and covered his own face.
He really hadn’t expected that even in a different world, environmental problems would be this severe.
He looked up. The sky was vast and distant, without a single cloud.
Beneath the sky, the earth was cracked with ravines, dry and barren. The ground was covered with gravel of all sizes, with not a speck of green in sight. Even the most tenacious Black Death Grass refused to grow in this place.
The horses’ hooves crunched on the dry ground with a crisp sound.
"Commander Tang Wen and Commander Zhou Bing have arrived!"
A Guard on a simple, stone-piled watchtower shouted at the top of his lungs.
A team of Hunting Guards ran out from the stone house.
"My Lord Commanders." The leader was a captain with the surname Liu.
Tang Wen and his group dismounted and exchanged pleasantries.
Captain Liu looked at the three baits and asked curiously, "My Lords, what’s the quality of this ’bait’? They look quite sturdy. We might be able to lure in some good catch."
"What do you mean?" Neither Tang Wen nor Zhou Bing had ever hunted like this before.
Captain Liu explained, "My Lords, you may not know this, but the ’bait’ used for hunting is also graded. If it’s just ordinary criminals, even bleeding eight or ten of them tied together will only attract Low-level Mutated Beasts like Sand Snakes and Blood Crows. But once, we caught a Martial Artist. His blood attracted two Middle-level Exotic Beasts..."
Common Mutated Beasts are divided into low, middle, and high levels.
The combat power of a High-level Mutated Beast is equivalent to a Martial Artist.
A Middle-level Mutated Beast is equivalent to a Martial Artist.
Low-level Mutated Beasts are very average in strength; an ordinary person with a weapon might even be able to kill one.
Likewise, the higher the Level of a Mutated Beast, the more special energy its flesh and blood contain, and the more beneficial it is to a Martial Artist.
"Two First-class Martial Disciples and one Second-Class Martial Artist."
After Tang Wen spoke, Captain Liu’s eyes lit up. He mused, "If all three are bled together, it will surely attract many Low-level Exotic Beasts, and it probably won’t be a problem to attract Middle-level Exotic Beasts either. As for High-level Exotic Beasts, that’s a matter of luck."
Tang Wen and Zhou Bing exchanged a glance. "Then we’ll do as you say. Bleed them together."
"Excellent! Excellent! You two lords have real guts!"
Captain Liu turned his head and shouted, "Alright, brothers, we’ve got a big job! Look alive and get the post ready!"
The wheels rumbled and rolled.
A post, a full ten meters high, was fixed to a square wooden cart and pushed out.
Captain Liu said with a smile, "Only the best bait gets the best treatment."
Ordinary bait, which doesn’t attract any good catches, just needs to be hung from the highest point of the stone wall.
But rare bait like a Martial Artist must be hung up high, so the wind can carry the scent of their blood far and wide.
After speaking, Captain Liu deftly took a knife and carved several cross-shaped cuts on the bait’s bodies. Blood immediately began to gush out.
Then, seven or eight Guards pulled on steel cables, hoisting them up and tying them to the ten-meter-high post.
Blood flowed down the post, first attracting a swarm of mosquitoes and flies.
"Spread out, disperse in groups of three. Archers, on alert! Everyone, rub wild mint all over yourselves. The stronger the smell, the better."
This business of hunting had been going on for many years.
There was long since a standard procedure for it.
Tang Wen and Zhou Bing also retreated behind the stone wall.
Copying Captain Liu’s actions, they took the green wild mint and rubbed it all over from head to toe. He said, "The Mutated Beasts are very cunning. They won’t approach if they see too many people. Their sense of smell is sharp, too; they won’t come if they smell too much of us. Oh, and my Lord Commanders, you should also conceal your killing intent."
Tang Wen couldn’t help but laugh. "This hunting is really a technical job."
The two of them performed Embrace the Origin and Guard the One, retracting their killing intent and calming their minds.
Making these preparations was only half the battle.
The other half depended on luck.
A quarter of an hour passed with no activity.
Tang Wen was unwilling to waste time and began practicing his Pile Skill on the spot.
Captain Liu watched and clicked his tongue in amazement. ’I’d heard that Commander Tang Wen was not only a genius but also a training maniac, so diligent that he doesn’t even have time for a cup of tea. As expected, the rumors don’t do him justice!’
An hour passed in the blink of an eye.
The first wave of Exotic Beasts had arrived.
They flew in flocks, circling in the sky.
It was a flock of avian Mutated Beasts.
Captain Liu looked through the Thousand-Mile Telescope for a moment. "They’re all Low-level Exotic Beasts. A pity. They’re too agile, and the hit rate with a Bow and Arrow has always been low. Even if we shoot down a few, the other birds will immediately fly away. Otherwise, if we used their flesh and blood as bait, we might be able to lure in a Middle-level Mutated Beast."
Tang Wen opened his eyes. "Let me try."
"Oh! Look at me, I forgot! I’ve long heard that you’re especially skilled at throwing stones!"
’Throwing stones?’ The corner of Tang Wen’s mouth twitched. He pushed off with his feet, leaping several meters onto the top of the wall, and attacked without hesitation.
The stones tore through the air at high speed, letting out a piercing roar.
CRACK! A bird failed to escape in time and was smashed to pieces.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! Many more birds were smashed to pieces.
Tang Wen had continuously thrown ten Flying Locust Stones.
A rain of blood and gore fell from the sky.
Captain Liu and the other Hunting Team Members all looked up, their faces full of amazement. "Commander Tang Wen’s stone throwing really is incredible! We’ve struck gold today. With these dozens of birds, we might even attract a High-level Mutated Beast."
"It would be great if one comes, but I won’t force it if one doesn’t."
Tang Wen wasn’t too concerned. Just from that attack, his Flying Locust Stone Skill Experience had shot up.
[Flying Locust Stone, Expert (3799→3815/6000)]
[Flying Locust Stone, Expert (3815→3827/6000)]
[...Expert (3986/6000)]
’This is a great opportunity to grind experience,’ he thought.
A Martial Artist’s body has strong regenerative abilities. Gradually, the bleeding from the three baits’ bodies stopped.
Captain Liu gave a signal, and someone immediately climbed the post and used a Triangular Bayonet to bleed them again.
The ground was littered with the flesh and blood of birds, and the pungent smell of human blood filled the air.
The scene was like the filthiest of slaughterhouses.
The sand-filled wind blew past, carrying bits of flesh and blood, scattering them in all directions.
The Mutated Beasts with their keen sense of smell quickly caught the scent.
"COO!" "CAW!" "CHIRP!" A large flock of avian Mutated Beasts flew over.
What surprised Tang Wen was that they were flying at a much greater altitude than the previous flock.
If he threw his Flying Locust Stones now, the effect would likely be far worse than before.
Looking up at the sky, an idea suddenly popped into Tang Wen’s mind.
’Could the Power Burst from Cannon Fist also be applied to the Flying Locust Stones?’