Chapter 175: Chapter 130: Cultivation Room; Exotic Beast Lynx
Resigned, he left the second floor. Before heading out, he went to find Ma San and the others, who were making breakfast.
"Still no activity in the mountains?" Cheng Zongyang asked.
"Reporting to you, Sir, no." Luo Zheng responded, "I went into the mountains again yesterday afternoon to check. Aside from so new footprints, that creature didn’t enter the cave. It must have realized we’ve been inside, and it probably also detected the different scents on the ground. Its sense of sll is very keen. It’s likely abandoned the cave."
Cheng Zongyang nodded and didn’t say much more.
The trap hadn’t been triggered once in six days, so he already knew the creature, which he suspected was a lynx, must have found out.
Feline creatures were extrely vigilant; he hadn’t held out much hope anyway.
"It’s fine. Just leave it. What if another animal goes in..."
"ROAR!!"
Suddenly, a beast’s roar echoed throughout the entire mountain forest, startling countless birds, which all flapped their wings and flew into the sky!
Cheng Zongyang and his n imdiately turned to look toward the mountain in unison.
Several more identical roars followed, echoing through the air.
Luo Zheng said quickly, "Sir, it’s confird! It’s coming from the direction of our trap! But from the sound of it, it’s not our target."
"Never mind that! Quick! Get ready!" Cheng Zongyang commanded swiftly!
They imdiately dropped what they were doing and ran back to the newly built residence next door to grab their weapons, armor, and other tools and supplies.
Cheng Zongyang did the sa.
In less than ten minutes, everyone was ready. With Ma San in the lead, they all charged quickly toward the mountain.
However, when they arrived near the cave where the trap was set, they saw a black bear roaring furiously outside. It was swinging a Beast Trap that it had pulled out of the ground, which was clamped onto its right arm.
But it clearly couldn’t exert any force and was just waving its arm, trying to break free.
The Beast Trap’s killing power wasn’t great, but its strength lay in its extrely hard and sturdy material. Countless centiter-long spikes held it fast. If it tried to break free with brute force, its skin would be torn right off!
Apparently, this black bear had co here for so unknown reason. The original target hadn’t fallen for the trap, but this bear had stumbled into it instead.
Cheng Zongyang didn’t act rashly. Instead, he took out his binoculars and began to inspect the area around the cave.
Bushes, behind trees, in the trees, rocks—he didn’t miss a single spot.
He was worried that creature would be the oriole waiting in the wings.
Just when Cheng Zongyang thought he hadn’t found anything, his hand holding the binoculars suddenly tightened, and he imdiately had everyone get down.
Far off in the eleven o’clock direction, on a large, bare, grayish-brown rock, lay sothing that had almost completely blended in with the stone’s color.
If its tail hadn’t just twitched, Cheng Zongyang would have barely noticed it!
’The color of its fur is too similar to the rock!’
Following its line of sight, he saw it was staring right at the cave entrance.
"What a cautious creature," Cheng Zongyang murmured, lowering the binoculars.
He even suspected that the Exotic Beast might have driven or lured the black bear here.
Luo Zheng and the others noticed Cheng Zongyang’s reaction and looked in the sa direction, but they couldn’t see much.
"On that large rock," Cheng Zongyang prompted.
Luo Zheng stared intently. Upon spotting it, his expression turned grim. "It seems my movents these past few days have all been right under its nose."
"Then why hasn’t it attacked us?" Li Xingyun asked, also quite puzzled.
None of them understood, nor could they explain the creature’s behavior.
"Perhaps it already possesses its own intelligence, rather than just following animal instinct," Cheng Zongyang couldn’t help but say.
"So what do we do now? That thing is clearly toying with us, or toying with that black bear," Xu Yang said.
Cheng Zongyang thought for a mont and said, "That black bear won’t be hard to kill. We’ll finish it off, take its gall, and bring it back. If that creature tries to ambush us, we’ll proceed according to the original battle plan."
"Yes, sir!" Ma San and the other three n replied in low voices.
So, leaving three n behind as backup, Ma San and Luo Zheng circled around from another direction and ran toward the black bear.
The black bear, trapped by the Beast Trap, had basically lost most of its combat ability. It couldn’t outrun Ma San and Luo Zheng.
In no ti, the two of them finished it off quickly.
Luo Zheng, with great experience, drew his dagger and swiftly removed the Bear Gall. Then, the two of them carried the black bear’s carcass away.
anwhile, Cheng Zongyang kept his binoculars trained on the other creature, watching its every move.
But it still showed no intention of making a move, letting Ma San and Luo Zheng carry the black bear down the mountain.
However, the creature seed to have discovered the location of Cheng Zongyang and the other man with him. It stared at their position for a mont before getting up, leaping off the large rock, and leaving.
Seeing the creature’s size and appearance, Cheng Zongyang was now certain.
’A lynx!! And an Exotic Beast lynx, at that! Its intelligence is definitely not low!’
Cheng Zongyang’s heart pounded. It was clear their actions had been witnessed from start to finish. The creature simply hadn’t bothered to engage with them, or rather, it hadn’t wanted to start a conflict!
’Is it trying to say we should leave each other in peace? Could this black bear be...’
For no reason, a bizarre and unbelievable thought popped into his head—a greeting gift!
’I must be crazy!’
Cheng Zongyang shook his head, casting the crazy idea aside. He led Xu Yang and Li Xingyun down the mountain.
"Sir, we’re not making a move?" Xu Yang asked.
Cheng Zongyang shook his head. "No need. It probably doesn’t want a conflict with us. Otherwise, it would have already attacked during one of the tis Luo Zheng ca up here these past few days."
Hearing this, Xu Yang and Li Xingyun said no more.
Back at the cabin, the black bear was left for Luo Zheng and the others to deal with. Cheng Zongyang, anwhile, retrieved the two clumps of fur Luo Zheng had given him before.
Although he had confird the target was a lynx, he still wanted to see if there was any detailed information.
「A mont later.」
——
[Exotic Beast Fur]
Description: Fur shed by an Exotic Beast lynx. It is a high-quality material for crafting certain items.
——
One Point only got him this description, with no specific information about that lynx.
But he had a feeling this lynx’s Grade was definitely higher than the Ghost-faced Spider King’s!
’Oh well, let’s just live and let live.’
Cheng Zongyang went outside, gave so instructions to Ma San and the others, and then returned ho.
Everyone had grown accustod to Cheng Zongyang frequently leaving early and returning late, or leaving late and returning even later.
Whenever the Outsiders saw him, they would all greet him, calling him "Young Clan Leader."
Cheng Zongyang would return their greetings with a smile and tell them to carry on with their work.
When he returned ho, Cheng Guanghai saw his son and said, "I was waiting for you. This morning, I already arranged the manpower. They can be dispatched to produce salt at any ti. As you suggested, I spoke with that man, Wang Chunming. I offered him three hundred Contribution Points a month, and he agreed to go over there and work as a supervisor."
Cheng Zongyang thought for a mont and said, "The Inner Mountain is still very dangerous. We’ll need Martial Artists to accompany the team for protection. Have you ntioned this?"
Cheng Guanghai nodded. "I have. Your eldest uncle is responsible for many things here. I’m having your youngest uncle and Zhendong go, along with a few other able-bodied n. Not only can they produce salt, but they can also take up arms to fend off wild beasts."
Cheng Zongyang nodded. "That’s acceptable. But we’re still a little short on manpower. There’s a lot that needs to be done. I’ll find so ti and an opportunity to go to the County Town and recruit so more people."
"There’s no rush," Cheng Guanghai said. "We haven’t finished settling in the current group of people yet. It wouldn’t be too late to recruit more after they’ve all pledged their loyalty.
And your second uncle’s idea is to select another six or seven people from among them to beco Martial Artists.
That way, we’ll have so more Power to provide strong protection.
Later, when you find new refugees, first, we’ll have these people to manage them. Second, it’ll keep us from having to juggle multiple roles and getting too exhausted."
Hearing this, Cheng Zongyang nodded and said, "That works too. Does Second Uncle have anyone in mind?"
Cheng Guanghai nodded. "He’s evaluating a few candidates."
"Then let’s leave the arrangents to Second Uncle. He’s been in the city for so long, his ability to judge character is quite good."
Cheng Guanghai nodded. "That was my thinking as well."
"Alright, then I’ll take the n over first." Cheng Zongyang didn’t dawdle. After breakfast, he began to organize the supplies.
He wasn’t taking many people this ti, only about ten, since the salt production process wasn’t complex. They just needed to build a shed and bring the tools over.
However, that place was in the Salt Mine Area, and many animals went there to lick the salt and replenish their salt intake, so it needed Martial Artists to stand guard. That’s why the supplies they were bringing included so injury dicine.
Each person shouldered a large pack, and they set off for the Salt Mine Area.
Cheng Zongyang also began to ponder how to clear a proper path.
The journey took an hour and a half. It wasn’t a short distance, and making the path easier to travel would still take ti to clear.
Reviews
All reviews (0)