Chapter 163, exclusively published on Jinjiang Literature City: Encountering People While Hunting
In the desolate mountains and wilderness.
A snowmobile led the way, followed by five cool-looking sleds that sped through the snow-covered landscape, kicking up clouds of snow.
The people in the vehicle were dressed in identical combat uniforms, wearing protective goggles to prevent snow blindness and windproof helmets, exuding an imposing and impressive aura.
Day 12 of the coldest season.
The continuous blizzards and heavy snow have finally stopped, and the weather app indicates that the snow stoppage will last for three days.
Taking advantage of the fact that the able-bodied men were free from snow-clearing work and that the simulation training had been going on for a few days, Lu Xuan led everyone out to prepare to hunt some new prey and practice their skills.
Those who went out with Lu Xuan this time included the two hunting teams he and Li Jing led, while Wu Cheng's team stayed in the village to continue training, and they would rotate out tomorrow.
The group drove for more than half an hour from the village, leaving the area where they often frequented during the rainy season and arriving in an unfamiliar mountain forest.
Everything in the mountains was covered in white snow, and at a glance, it was almost impossible to find any living creatures.
But the young and strong all knew that living things existed.
After all, this was the first hunting spot that Lu Xuan had chosen after scouting the area with a drone. However, it was too cold, and the prey was hiding quite well, requiring them to put in some effort to find it.
The group parked their car at the foot of the mountain and took out their hoverboards.
Driving a snowmobile on the snow is certainly more exciting than a hovercar, but once you get into the mountains, a hoverboard is still more convenient for getting around.
More than twenty hoverboards started up at the same time, dispersing into several small teams and quickly traversing through the mountains and forests. Before long, they had a harvest.
"I've found a few deer here."
"I found a wolf pack, not many, only 5 of them."
"I think I saw wild boar tracks, a lot of them, it must be a herd of wild boars."
Listening to the reports from each team, Lu Xuan said, "Go straight to the action. Those with superpowers, use them; those without, use weapons."
Before long, the sounds of battle beginning could be heard from multiple directions in the mountains and forests.
Lu Xuan stood on a tree at the center of each team's location, listening intently to the sounds coming from all directions, while using his enhanced visual ability to observe the battle situation at any time.
The camera angles in the live stream are constantly adjusted to make it easier for viewers to watch the action...
The team that found the deer was the easiest to deal with, since the deer don't attack people and their first instinct upon spotting humans is to run.
With Chen Rong, a speed-based ability user, around, as long as the prey doesn't get away, capturing it is a foregone conclusion.
The most intense fighting was between wolf packs and wild boar herds.
The howls of wolves and the sounds of wild boars charging mingled together, and the wind occasionally carried the unconscious shouts of the young men as they attacked.
Along with it came a gradually spreading, faint smell of blood.
Fifteen minutes later, all the battles were over, and the hunting party gathered their prey in the space to regroup.
The black combat uniform was stained with a lot of blood, which quickly froze into blood ice at a temperature of minus 30 degrees Celsius.
Lu Xuan asked, "Is anyone injured?"
Zhang Chengming's team shook their heads and said, "They're just a few deer, how could they possibly be injured?"
Li Jingdao, who was in charge of the wild boar herd, said: "Li Tuo was hit by a wild boar, but his protective suit absorbed most of the impact, leaving only a small bruise."
Standing to the side, Li Tuo's face, hidden beneath his helmet, was full of frustration.
He was the only one on their team who got hit; it was really embarrassing.
Finally, there's the wolf pack that Xiong Mao is in charge of.
Wei Dayong said, "I was accidentally scratched by a wolf's claw, but it only scratched my protective suit and didn't hurt me."
Before setting off, everyone wore an extra protective suit between their bio-suit and combat uniform. Ordinary animal attacks couldn't even tear through the protective suit, and their heads and hands were protected by helmets and leather gloves, making it difficult to get seriously injured.
Incidentally, since everyone has more money now, the hunting team's bio-suits have been completely upgraded, with each suit being an upgraded version that can be adjusted up and down by 50 degrees.
The -30 degree Celsius environment was still warm and spring-like for them; they even felt a bit hot after a fight.
After everyone reported their results, they couldn't help but exclaim, "I originally thought that wild animals in winter would be very fierce, and that it would be difficult to walk in the snow, so fighting would definitely be tough. But it was much easier than I expected."
"Yes, yes! The feeling of stepping on the snow is a bit like the gravity training I did yesterday."
"Looks like the simulation training wasn't a waste of time."
Even when facing attacks from wolf packs, everyone's dodging movements are much more agile than before, and the experience gained from being chased by vampire vines has been put into practice in actual combat.
Viewers in the live stream: Of course it wasn't for nothing, otherwise do you really think the streamer just likes to torture you guys for fun?
Seeing that everyone was in good spirits, Lu Xuan said, "It's still early, let's continue."
"good!"
"no problem!"
The group continued their search in the mountains and encountered several more groups of prey.
These prey include small animals like pheasants, rabbits, foxes, and ferrets, which offer little opportunity for hunting, as well as wild boars and larger wolf packs.
When faced with the wolf pack, the able-bodied men, who had been holding back for days, mustered all their strength and fought fiercely.
Use water balloons, ice arrows, wind blades, and earth spikes in various ways.
Among them, the combat power of water and ice types has clearly benefited from a significant climate boost.
The more they fought, the braver they became, and the more skilled they became.
In the afternoon, today's heavyweight prey arrived.
A large, vigorous insect in its prime!
It wasn't a fake from a simulation device, but the real King of the Forest. Just standing there and looking over with his cold, beastly eyes was enough to give people a strong sense of oppression.
Against such ferocious beasts, people without special abilities are of little use without weapons.
Attack-type and body-enhancing ability users stepped forward as the main force, surrounding the King of the Forest.
They are not in a hurry to achieve a quick victory.
They always remembered the purpose of coming out today: to gain practical experience.
Therefore, after Lu Xuan gave the order to "make a move," everyone took turns attacking the King of the Forest in a relentless battle.
You throw a fireball, I fly a wind blade, and then a moment later an enhanced ability user takes advantage of the situation to launch a sneak attack from behind, bang bang, and punches the big bug!
They hit and run, never lingering.
The king of the forest, who originally didn't take the two-legged creatures seriously, became increasingly irritated by their haphazard actions.
Feeling the pain from the increasing wounds on his body, the King of the Forest let out an angry roar: "Roar—!!!"
Can't you just fight properly? What are you doing jumping around everywhere?
Unfortunately, the hunting team couldn't understand the enemy's roar, but they didn't care and continued to hone their combat skills at their own pace.
Midway through, the King of the Forest realized they were not easy to deal with and tried to run away, but was intercepted by the group.
"!!!"
Unable to escape or fight back, the once mighty king of the forest was ultimately defeated and beaten to a pulp by the despicable two-legged beasts, much to his utter frustration.
Zhang Chengming and the others, who were also panting heavily from the fight, couldn't help but take off their helmets, their foreheads covered in sweat, and said, "We're finally done fighting. Tigers are indeed much harder to fight than wolf packs."
Everyone was so excited their faces turned red. "We actually killed a giant worm without using any weapons, just with our superpowers! That's amazing!"
Lu Xuan glanced at the forest king, whose skin was not intact and whose eyes were wide open in death.
Meeting them was the worst luck this king of the forest could ever have.
After defeating the giant worm, everyone's supernatural abilities were completely exhausted, and they had no strength left to continue, so they had to head back home.
...
"Ha! They actually brought back so much prey!"
In the snow shelters still preserved on the hills, the women's eyes gleamed as they looked at the various kinds of prey piled up on the ground.
More than ten days into winter, we've been so focused on snow-clearing training that this is the first time we've had any meat!
More than 20 wild boars, 8 deer, 12 roe deer, 15 gray wolves, 2 foxes, 1 ferret, several pheasants and rabbits, and finally, a big insect!
What a bumper harvest!
Besides the meat, the hides are also a good find.
The fur of prey in winter is much thicker and softer than in summer, making it perfect for making mattresses, coats, hats, shoes... all sorts of things.
Deer skin, wolf skin, fox skin, mink skin, and even rabbit skin were all very popular with the women.
The giant insect's skin was originally in good condition, but the superhumans fought so fiercely that it was pierced with more than a dozen holes, and some parts were charred black by fireballs, leaving a mess to behold.
The aunties, feeling sorry for the people, pointed their fingers at the superpowered individuals who had taken action and berated them.
"You guys really don't know the value of firewood and rice when you're not in charge of the household!"
"If this hide could be kept until after the cataclysm, it could fetch at least a hundred or eighty taels of silver! What a waste!"
"Next time you hit someone, just hit them on the head, understand? If your head is damaged, neither a person nor an animal can survive. Do I need someone to teach me that?"
The young men chuckled dryly, "Yes, yes, we understand, Auntie/Mother. We'll definitely be more careful next time."
The prepared game was distributed on the spot, and each family received at least 30 to 50 jin of meat, with some receiving more than 100 jin.
That evening, every household enjoyed fresh and hot meat and vegetables for dinner.
It's not that we don't eat or can't afford to eat normally.
However, meat intake is relatively low during the rainy season. People mainly eat the meat they saved up during the hottest season. Since superhumans have large appetites, their reserves have been depleted after more than two months of eating during the rainy season.
After winter set in, the snow kept falling, and the hunting teams had no chance to go out. Many frugal families intentionally reduced their meat consumption, making fish their main source of meat.
Today, I managed to get several dozen kilograms of food all at once, so I finally felt free to eat to my heart's content.
That evening, Lu Xuan drew a safe house for one person from his diamond blind box.
Black gold is still points, and it's a bit more than before, over 800,000, but what's the use? It's still a loss.
Are both top-tier blind boxes good stuff?
Haha, I don't believe you guys.
Live stream viewer: You're the one who's unlucky, is it my fault?
...
The next day, Li Jingxiong Mao's team and the Wu family father and son's team switched places, and the hunt continued.
This time, Lu Xuan changed the hunting ground to the hill next door from yesterday.
The types of prey encountered were largely the same; if there was any major difference, it was only that the largest prey had changed.
Today they didn't encounter a large insect, but instead discovered a hibernating bear.
The bears that were awakened were more irritable than tigers and were harder to kill. During the battle, several people had their helmets knocked off by the bear's paws, or they were thrown into trees or landed in the snow.
The battle was more intense and much more difficult than yesterday.
When the bear's massive body finally crashed to the ground, the superhumans who had participated in the battle also collapsed to the ground, too exhausted to get up.
The men, whose helmets had been knocked off, were still clutching their wounds, grimacing in pain, and hadn't even bothered to pick them up.
"Huff, huff... Bears are much more powerful than tigers."
"I bumped my head, I'm a little dizzy, ugh—"
"The main problem is that this guy's skin is too thick. Our attacks don't have enough penetration power to hurt it. We have to hit the same spot several times to make a difference."
"The worm is much faster than a bear. If it weren't for its poor agility, we might not have been able to take it down."
"Sigh, I used to think I was pretty good, but I never imagined that killing a bear would be so tiring without bows and crossbows."
Everyone sighed and lamented.
Fortunately, everyone gained a lot of experience from this fight, and I believe that they will be able to fight faster and more easily next time they encounter the same prey!
Moreover, there was an unexpected surprise this time.
No, it's not just a little bit, it's a huge surprise.
I've found something!
With most of his body buried in the thick snow, Chen Rong felt around and his eyes lit up. He dug through the snow and said, "It looks like there's prey buried underneath. I found it!"
The other able-bodied men who hadn't participated in the bear fight immediately gathered around.
"What prey? Let me see!"
"I think I saw white hair."
"Come on, everyone, come and help dig!"
Someone took out an entrenching tool to dig, but Lu Xuan, who hadn't had a chance to make a move, casually waved his hand and used his wind-based ability to blow away the entire snow.
"Cough cough cough—"
"You should at least tell me before you start playing."
Amidst everyone's complaints, the treasure hidden under the snow revealed its true form.
“It’s a sheep!” Chen Rong exclaimed happily.
Wu Yang corrected, "It's a flock of sheep."
A quick glance revealed at least thirty or so.
A great find!
Wow! To come out hunting and snag dozens of prey for free? That's awesome!
[Slurp, let's have lamb tonight!]
Zhang Chengming, who was sitting not far from Chen Rong, scrambled over to take a look. "Huh! How can there be so many? They don't look like wild goats, but rather domesticated ones?"
Upon hearing this, the first reaction of the others was: "Are there other disaster victims nearby besides us?"
"That can't be right. We didn't spot any living people when the drone flew out."
"Even if there were living people, they wouldn't let these sheep freeze to death here."
"That seems to make sense."
Wu Yang thought for a moment and guessed, "Perhaps it was raised by someone in a nearby village or town before the earthquake. After the earthquake, its owner died, and it became a wild goat. Because its survival ability was not as good as that of a real wild goat, it eventually froze to death?"
"Who cares why they froze to death here? Now that we've found them, they're our prey!"
"That's right!"
"I got over thirty sheep for free! What a bargain! Hahaha!"
After laughing for a while, the group quickly broke through the ice at the bottom of the sheep flock and took all thirty-odd sheep away.
...
Back in the village, the aunties were overjoyed to learn that they had gotten a lot of sheep for free, and they were even domestic sheep with a milder gamey smell.
Eating mutton in winter is very nourishing, so this is the perfect time!
"Quickly bring out the sheep so we can take a look."
The young men in charge of collecting the game were happily taking things out. They not only took the sheep, but also threw today's prey, especially the bear, onto the open ground.
The aunties stared at the bear, whose scalp was now even uglier than yesterday: "...???"
The hunting party's superhumans: "..."
Meeting the dangerous gazes of the aunties, the hunting team was covered in sweat.
They really don't know what to do about this.
Their strength was no match for that of the bear, so if they wanted to deplete the bear's strength as much as possible, their primary objective was to hit it first.
Shooting at the head is never as easy as hitting the body. With such a big lump right there, you can hit it no matter how you shoot.
The able-bodied men tried to justify themselves by saying, "Well, rabbit and wolf skins are enough to make coats and bedding, aren't they? Even if a bearskin coat were made, nobody would wear it."
The aunties: "..." That makes some sense.
But does that stop them from swearing?
"Can't I keep them and sell them later if I don't want to wear them myself?"
"You've wasted something good and you still have the nerve to argue!"
"If you can't hit the head, it's because you're not good enough. Didn't Lu Xuan say that if you're bad, you should practice more!"
The young and strong: "..."
The onlookers who witnessed the whole thing burst into laughter: [Never try to reason with older women; if you can't get through to them, and you try to argue, then it's your fault!]
But the mutton was still delicious.
After Lu Qing became pregnant, her family did not treat her like a fragile item, but they still took good care of her.
They stopped her from processing any by-products, either asking others to help or leaving them untouched, since the family wasn't really lacking in those things anyway.
All three meals a day were prepared according to Lu Qing's taste.
Lu Qing felt nauseous from the smell of fish, so her family stopped eating fish.
If you feel nauseous from drinking milk, then don't drink milk tea, or even eat milk-filled steamed buns.
Surprisingly, Lu Qing didn't seem to have any particular liking for the taste of mutton.
We just happened to get a batch of mutton today, so we added a roasted lamb chop and a lamb stew with radish to the dinner table.
The radish was specially induced to grow again by Lu Xuan.
Radishes in this season taste better than those in summer; they have a milder fishy smell and a sweet and spicy flavor. They are delicious not only when stewed with meat but also when eaten on their own.
Generally speaking, pregnant women are not advised to eat mutton, or should eat less of it, to avoid mutton being considered "hot" in nature and potentially causing miscarriage or premature birth.
Lu Qing is a superhuman, so she doesn't need to worry about these issues. She finally stopped feeling nauseous, and as soon as the dishes were served, she started showing off. She ate half a pot of roasted lamb chops all by herself, so fast that some viewers in the live stream didn't get to enjoy it.
Finally, naturally, he ate until he was stuffed.
Lei Yan was afraid that she would feel nauseous again and throw up what she had finally managed to eat, so he and Lu Xuan made a batch of candied hawthorns.
It has a sweet and sour taste that aids digestion and can also stimulate the appetite and suppress morning sickness symptoms.
Each hawthorn is coated with a thick layer of frozen syrup and sprinkled with sesame seeds, making your mouth water just looking at it.
Lu Qing held a skewer in each hand, taking bite after bite, crunching away as she ate, unable to stop.
If Lei Yan hadn't stopped her, fearing she would eat even more, Lu Qing would have wanted to show off two more skewers.
...
It's time to open a blind box.
Today's diamond blind box didn't yield anything good, only points. Surprisingly, it exceeded the cost, yielding over 200,000 points.
Black Gold has also been shipped out, um... gene evolution fluid.
It's not that the items are bad, but the lowest you can get from Black Gold is something worth 100,000 points. Lu Xuan doesn't lack evolution fluid right now, so it's better to get something worth 400,000 to 500,000 points than this.
Viewers couldn't help but comment: "Did the streamer use up all their luck on the first day? Why have they been so unlucky these past few days?"
Lu Xuan: "..."
·
On the last day after the snow stopped, the hunting team seized the opportunity to set off again.
This time, on a whim, they decided to try a different approach, thinking they might find something new.
As it turned out, they did make a new catch, but it wasn't the prey they had expected.
Upon arriving at the chosen new hunting ground, Lu Xuan used his astonishing eyesight to spot something approaching in the distance—a dark mass that appeared to be quite numerous.
At first, everyone thought it was some kind of beast herd and got excited.
It wasn't until Lu Xuan looked through his binoculars and told them, 'It's not an animal, it's a person,' that everyone's expression changed instantly, and their eyes became noticeably alert.
"A person? How could it be a person!?"
"In the dead of winter, instead of finding a place to hibernate, you're out here robbing and looting, aren't you?"
Lu Xuan glanced at Xiong Mao.
Have you ever thought about what the hunting party is up to? Are they out to rob people too?
The viewers in the live stream were amused by Xiong Mao, but they were more interested in the people he had met.
I wonder who we ran into this time.
[Thinking of Boss Chen, maybe this is another merchant caravan?]
I'm afraid of actually encountering someone extremely vicious.
The fact that Yunlu Village is doing well does not mean that other disaster victims are also well-fed and clothed. More likely, they are suffering from hunger and cold, and after more than ten days, they may have already reached their limit.
If they were to encounter someone on the verge of despair, Yunlu Village would be like a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered, the kind that's so fat it's practically dripping with oil.
The hunting party was alert precisely because they had considered this.
Lei Yan asked Lu Xuan, "Are there many people?"
Lu Xuan hummed in agreement.
Zhang Chengming pressed further, "How many? Three to five hundred people?"
Lu Xuan: "Add another ten times."
Everyone: "!!!" Three to five thousand people!?
How can there be so many!
"Maybe we should go back," someone instinctively suggested, backing out.
Several thousand people—how could they possibly handle a group of less than thirty?
Even with the entire village, it wouldn't be enough for them to overwhelm in one wave.
Chen Rong said irritably, "Go back? We don't even know where these people come from. What if they happen to be heading in the direction of the village? Are we just going to wait for trouble to come knocking on our door?"
Lei Yan pondered for a moment and said, "Why don't we go and scout ahead first? We have sleds, so even if those people have ill intentions, they can't stop us."
Zhang Chengming nodded: "That makes sense. If they really have a problem, we can contact the villagers first using the communicator, then put away the safe house, take out the hovercar, and run away."
The others nodded in agreement.
That's what they say, but if they can avoid running, they definitely won't.
They can take in the safe house, but not the greenhouse. The 200 acres of land will be ready for harvest in about ten days, and there are also mushroom houses, vegetable gardens, and lotus ponds. They can't bear to give up any of them.
Li Jing sighed and said, "The best scenario would be if the other party wasn't malicious and just went their separate ways with us, without interfering with each other."
The audience grew increasingly speechless.
[No, putting aside whether the people who came were good or bad, have they forgotten about the streamer?]
[Exactly! Is my presence as a streamer really that weak?]
[Perhaps because the streamer hasn't made a move in the past two days, they subconsciously only considered their own fighting capabilities and forgot about the streamer.]
Three to five thousand people may sound like a lot, but that doesn't mean they're all young and middle-aged.
[A reasonable analysis suggests that the gathering of so many people is unlikely to consist solely of able-bodied young men and women, abandoned after the elderly, weak, women, and children were left behind. At most, 30% of the group could be considered combatants, which would amount to a few hundred or even a thousand people.]
If supplies are insufficient and they face hunger and cold, their fighting strength will be reduced by half.
Even if everyone is at their peak, it's not a problem. Level 7 offensive ability users are known as 'humanoid weapons,' do they really think that's just a nickname?
[Not to mention, the streamer has unlocked quite a few firearms, bombs, sleep grenades, and bullets; throwing them out casually could easily wipe out the entire enemy team.]
After listening to the discussion for a while and glancing at the comments, Lu Xuan finally spoke up: "Are you done talking? If you are, let's set off and meet them."
When Zhang Chengming and the others heard Lu Xuan's calm and steady voice, they suddenly realized that they seemed to have forgotten to take Lu Xuan's combat strength into account.
Considering the power of the Vampire Vine and the supernatural abilities Lu Xuan had previously displayed, it seems... they don't need to worry too much?
The group looked at each other through their windproof helmets.
"Forget it, why bother with all that!"
"Lu Xuan is right, we will confront them!"
"If he dares to have any wicked thoughts, just kill him!"
"We've even fought tigers and bears, what are we afraid of?!"
Six snowmobiles/sleds quickly restarted and sped off towards the direction the group had come from.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Special thanks to "wie1219" for irrigating +84g of nutrient solution today.
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