Chapter 119 Hand Warmers and Taming Beasts 4
The 30th day of winter, 5,000 meters away from Ankang Town.
It was only about 3:30 in the afternoon, but the sky was gradually getting dark, as if a demon with green fangs was pressing down on Roger and Russell's heads.
Dark, depressing, and terrifying.
Russell swallowed. Fortunately, we'll be back in the city soon, so there shouldn't be any problems, right?
He didn't notice anything unusual about the person next to him.
A silent pressure crawled up Roger's spine and into his mind. His chest felt stuffy and he broke out in sweat. The afterimages before his eyes swept through his consciousness.
This is an early sign of this year's polar night disaster.
"It's safe once we enter the city, don't worry." Russell said, and just as he was about to pull Roger forward, he found that he couldn't pull him at all.
Turning my head, I found my brother groaning silently, his arms bulging with veins, clutching his head like a trapped animal. A blinding crimson flashed from his head.
【Your spirit value decreases by 10 points! 】
【Your spirit value decreases by 20 points! 】
[Your spirit value is dropping rapidly...! ]
Russell was completely stunned when he saw his brother like that.
Although it’s getting late, it shouldn’t be like this, right?
Is the spirit value lost?
But he didn't dare to ask any further questions. He just pushed the torch against the bushes with all his strength, but it just wouldn't light.
Oh no, it’s been snowing a lot lately and the trees are so wet!
He raised his staff, intending to cast a spell.
[Your magic power is insufficient, please do not forcefully use teleportation magic! ]
The staff had no power, and he hurriedly tried to take out the potion from the leather bag. The glass made a hollow clash sound, but there was nothing inside.
Oops, it’s all gone!
Russell's fingers rummaged through the area, his trembling worse.
"What's wrong with you? Are you okay?"
A man's deep voice came from the front, like a bright light, illuminating the darkness.
Russell exhaled suddenly. How could he forget that the guards in Ankang Town would be patrolling!
"Sir, help me!" he looked up and shouted.
Augustine led his guards directly towards him without any hesitation. Some nearby townspeople also put down their work of digging and setting traps and ran over to see if they could help.
Before the two sides met, lights began to light up in Ankang Town in the distance.
Like a beacon from heaven, like blazing sunshine, the lights in every household suddenly illuminated the entire town and the open spaces in the wild. The shadows of the trees were mottled, and the snow was illuminated to be shiny white, several points brighter than the sun.
【Your spirit value is slowly rising.】
Roger heard the system's words and gasped for breath.
Just now, he was reminded of the experience of being abused in the dark night of the past. That experience was like a nightmare, with a cold iron chain strangling his throat. The dark night of winter was too terrifying!
It’s cold, so cold! He shivered all over.
The shadows were blurry, and the younger brother next to him was talking to those people. Because he was mentally unstable, he could not hear clearly what he heard, sometimes near and sometimes far away:
"Yes, my brother's spirit value is low, I hope you can send him back to the city."
"Okay, Master, let's do it now..."
Just as the wizard was about to raise his staff, Roger suddenly shouted, "Wait!"
Everyone stopped moving.
Roger swallowed hard and forced himself to raise his eyelids.
He wanted to see who saved him.
Those people held lanterns in their hands, and the light spots were huge. The warm orange light shone on him, causing his pupils to shrink suddenly.
【Your spirit value is recovering rapidly.】
Spirit value recovered?
Did he just hear the spirit value increase?
How is that possible?
He breathed in the air morbidly, but found that not only his surroundings were bright, but also the city.
The whole city is brightly lit with lights in thousands of houses.
What was that? His scarlet eyes were fixed on it.
It was a different light from the faint glow of a torch, and different from the heat of the warm sun that might sting people, but it made people feel safe and comfortable.
It was a brighter light than he had ever seen in his life.
It even made him forget the coldness of his body and the scars all over his body from being whipped.
A light down jacket covered him.
Gentle and warm, no longer as cold as before.
He raised his head.
He was a well-built man, with his left hand tightly pinching the wolf's mouth, so that the wolf could only whimper from its chest.
His gaze fixed on his right hand, which was covered with rough calluses, obviously from holding a weapon.
This man is a hunter.
Wait, hunting? Hunting is still possible in this season?!
He looked at the texture on the man's palm and felt that it was as complicated as his own fate.
Arthur ignored his expression and scratched his head sheepishly. "I'll be waiting for you to come back. Remember to return my clothes. I'm at the farm shop."
His younger brother Russell thanked him repeatedly.
Roger, however, was holding the corner of his down jacket, stunned.
He couldn't understand why such precious clothes were given away so easily? Aren't they afraid that he wouldn't return them?
He raised his head again with difficulty and looked carefully at the road that he had originally not cared about.
With the help of the lamplight, he could see that the surrounding bushes were covered with berries, including hawthorn, blackcurrant, rose hip, blueberry, raspberry, and everything else.
These should bear fruit in autumn.
His soul was shaken so much that his fingers were twitching.
How could this town survive the winter without fear of the polar nights, the extreme cold, or the withering of plants? They even had down clothing and strange torch-like things, and yet they could still hunt and farm, and everything just kept running smoothly?
The most important thing is that these townspeople are not numb or indifferent, but lively, caring and helpful.
If this is a dream, he would like to be drunk forever and never wake up.
Snowflakes fluttered like butterflies and landed on his eyelashes.
His heart ached, and for some reason, he started crying.
He has spent half his life pursuing such an ideal utopia, so he is willing to help others like he helped Sophia, speak up for others, and strive to be a good person.
But what life gave him in return was the pain of his relatives and friends, the cold eyes of bystanders, and the complacency of the perpetrators.
After that, his determination to live was completely destroyed.
What's the point of being a good person if the world treats him unfairly?
But today, he met so many townspeople, and suddenly he seemed to have found some comfort in his heart.
It turns out that not everyone is indifferent to the suffering of others.
Russell felt very bad when he saw his brother.
He knew what his brother was worried about.
Back then, they were hurt by Bob. Although they were clearly victims and heroes, they were ridiculed for "overestimating their own abilities" and others secretly rejoiced that "fortunately I didn't do anything, it's none of my business". They were also treated like the plague by others, who avoided them as much as possible for fear of bringing trouble upon themselves.
This is totally wrong.
It is true that the basis for saving lives is confidence, but a good society and town should give people this confidence.
Ankang Town did it.
The residents of Ankang Town did it.
He looked at his brother silently, and quietly grasped his brother's spasmodic hand. For the first time, his brother no longer refused, but held his hand back.
His arms were strong and powerful, just as brave and fearless as his brother's was.
Augustine said nothing, but silently took out the hand warmer and passed the heat to Russell and Roger.
Roger felt warm from head to toe, as if he were soaking in a bathtub. He kept saying, "Thank you, thank you."
His voice was hoarse, but it was rare for it to come from the heart.
Arthur scratched his head, and seeing that there was nothing for him to do, he said you're welcome, turned around and was about to leave with the boys.
"Wait."
Roger called to him from behind.
Arthur was stunned, "What's wrong?"
Roger said nothing, but walked up to the wolf and gently rubbed its furry head twice.
The wild wolf howled, then slowly became gentle and no longer aggressive.
Roger took out a piece of dried meat from his arms and handed it to the wolf. The wolf wanted to show its teeth, but he quickly withdrew. The wolf howled in grievance and stopped showing its teeth. Only then did he give it the dried meat.
The wolf ate with big mouthfuls and then lay down.
He continued to feed the wolf jerky.
Everyone's eyes widened.
Damn, what is going on?
How come it's easier for this guy to tame an animal than to tame an adult?!
Roger spoke, his voice finally no longer so hoarse, "When training an animal, you need to be patient, give rewards frequently, and don't pull its mouth so roughly."
Arthur was embarrassed, "But wolves bite people..."
"The wild wolves on the mainland are advanced animals, very intelligent. You've killed too many of their kind, so they're afraid of you, which is why they bite you. You should try to minimize any aggression that might provoke them." Roger's voice was hoarse. "Are you guys together? Try to find someone who hasn't killed a wolf before to tame the animal."
A young man from the village: "..."
They were petrified.
There was not a single one of them who had not killed wolves and wild beasts.
I'm in tears. If I want to open a store, it seems I have to hire another animal trainer.
The guards raised their eyebrows, not knowing for a moment whether they should send the two brothers back or stand and listen.
Roger's hawk-like eyes drooped slightly, and he added, "Remember to make good use of the tools in your hands. I can sense the aura of that... magic stone. It's brimming with energy. That energy, similar to the Summer Scourge, will appeal to wild beasts. You can use it to reward the wolves and keep them close."
When the villagers heard this, their eyes lit up, especially Arthur, who felt as if he had suddenly realized something.
After saying this, Augustine saw the two brothers off.
After he left, some of the young men couldn't hold back any longer and celebrated with fist pumps. "Yeah! What did I say? It must be right to listen to the captain. Hand warmers really do attract animals! We can't go wrong putting hand warmers in the caves!"
The team member who had opposed Arthur before blushed and stammered, "Well, yes, Lord Lin and the captain are of course smart. I... I am short-sighted, otherwise I would have become the captain?"
"You finally admit that you're short-sighted, right? Haha!" The young man laughed heartily. "I told you, only the captain and I have the best vision!"
He turned and looked at Arthur proudly, "Really? Arthur brother... Hey, what are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking we should hire that guy to help us tame the beast." Arthur held his chin and muttered to himself.
Then, he strode towards the hole where the hand warmer had been placed before.
It's time for him to inspect the results.
*
Roger, who was being talked about, had no idea that he was being thought of.
He just followed his brother and slowly explored the town.
At the winter supplies store, many people had gathered around and were swarming in. His younger brother wanted to go home first, but he wanted to observe for a while longer.
"Don't push, don't push!" the clerk shouted in a raspy voice. "There's no limit on the number of hand warmers now. Everyone can buy one!"
Roger couldn't help but frown. The imagined trampling and chaos rushed into his mind, but there was nothing.
The townspeople lined up obediently.
Roger couldn't understand.
What a strange sight!
The townspeople are extremely eager to buy things, but they can also control their desires. The quality of these townspeople is really high!
If the townspeople could hear his thoughts, they would probably laugh.
It’s simple, mainly because they don’t dare to cause trouble in Ankang Town!
You will really be caught by the dragon and fined!
Among them, two townspeople, one fat and one thin, were laughingly talking:
The thin man said mysteriously, "Did you know that hand warmers can now be used for hunting and planting?"
The fat man was speechless. "Uh, hasn't this been spread all over the town a long time ago?"
Thin man: “…”
He was unwilling to give up and continued to ask, "How is that possible? You only bought two, don't you plan to stock up more?"
The fat man grumbled, "I don't farm or hunt. I bought it for my turkey. It keeps coming over here and trying to make me buy it. There's nothing I can do."
Sure enough, the turkey next to him clucked twice, its delicate feathers stood up, and it was so shy that it ran after him with an expression that said, "Don't say that anymore."
The skinny guy is envious.
When can he buy a mount? There are too few animal trainers in town, and the number of mounts and companion pets produced each time is limited. It’s hard to grab one even if you try to grab one.
But he didn't show it, waving his hands and pretending to be nonchalant. "Tsk, everyone is like that! Neither of us came out to buy thermal stones just for ourselves."
The fat man was stunned. "Ah? You bought a turkey too?"
"No, it's my wife. She gets weak and cold every winter. It might be because she gave birth during winter. She's very afraid of the cold. So I want to buy her a hand warmer. I heard it can warm the uterus."
"Hey, you guy, why do you only know how to show off your affection all day long?"
"Weren't you the one who showed off the turkey first?!"
Roger was stunned when he heard the two of them singing in unison like a supporting actor.
What is warm uterus?
What is plant hunting?
What are hand warmers? What are they?
Russell glanced at his brother and patted his shoulder silently.
Sure enough, everyone who entered Ankang Town for the first time seemed to have installed a 2G system and was shocked for a long time.
Roger thought for a long time.
If the hunting industry develops, then wouldn't the animal training industry also develop?
Then maybe he can resume his animal training career and help his brother reduce the burden of life?
But is it really possible to catch suitable cubs for training in this town?
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