After cleaning himself up, Zhang Shi took off his clothes and rushed excitedly into the bathroom. Three days of intense activity in the wilderness had left him covered in grime, and a hot shower gave him the illusion of returning to modern civilization. He dried himself with a rabbit skin and sat by the fireplace to dry off. In the night, the firelight brought a small patch of warmth and light, giving Zhang Shi a rare sense of peace.
As Zhang Shi leaned back in the chair, his eyelids grew heavy, and a strong sense of drowsiness washed over him. He yawned and got up, just as he was about to return to his bedroom to rest, when suddenly he heard a dog barking outside.
Zhang Shi was forced to snap out of his daze, quickly put on his Wilderness Hunter suit, grabbed his old sword, and warily looked out the window.
The night was pitch black; even with the oil lamp's illumination, visibility was limited to only a small area around the perimeter. The sounds were coming from the wooden gate in the wall, and every now and then, one could hear the thumping of some creature against the gate.
The courtyard was not small, and the stone house was some distance from the wall. In the darkness, only the sound could be heard, not seen. Zhang Shi dared not go out to investigate rashly.
"Damn it! Could it be the wolves from daytime coming for revenge?"
Where did the barking of dogs come from in this desolate wilderness? Zhang Shi immediately thought of wolves.
Wolves are typically pack animals, and Zhang Shi's heart began to race as he worried that the meter-high wall wouldn't be able to stop them.
He quickly clicked on the construction interface and found the option to add walls under the shelter section. Zhang Shi opened the interface and discovered that the walls could be upgraded using various exotic materials to enhance their defensive capabilities.
Zhang Shi quickly browsed through the information and successfully found the expansion section. After buying a batch of stones at the trading market, he then increased the height of the wall by 1 meter. Now, the wall was 2.5 meters high, making it impossible for ordinary wild animals to climb over. Zhang Shi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Outside the wall, the scratching at the gate, interspersed with the occasional bark of a dog, sounded particularly jarring in the silent wilderness. Zhang Shi checked the status of the wall through the system and found that the wooden door's durability had dropped by 10 points.
Zhang Shi was getting impatient. After some consideration, he picked up an oil lamp and carefully walked out of the stone house, heading towards the wall.
The wild beast outside the door noticed someone approaching, stopped attacking the wooden door, and began pacing back and forth outside.
Zhang Shi also arrived at the wooden door, now separated from the wild beasts outside by only one door. He could already clearly hear the beasts' footsteps.
Hearing Zhang Shi's movements, the wild beasts outside the wall became agitated again. They began to clung to the base of the wall, trying to find a foothold to climb over.
"Crack!"
A cool sound suddenly rang out, followed by the beast's mournful howl.
Zhang Shi was startled by the sudden sound, but then overjoyed. He remembered that when he returned in the afternoon, he had casually placed the animal trap next to the fence, never expecting it to have such a miraculous effect.
Those small animal traps are high-end items. Although they can't catch large wild animals, their attack power is real. Even if a tiger comes, any animal made of flesh and blood will be reduced to a limp cat if caught in those sharp serrated teeth.
The howling continued for a while before subsiding. The beast was extremely clever; enduring the pain, it used its mouth to reopen the trap, then limped away.
Zhang Shi could only hear a sharp sound of objects rubbing against each other, followed by the sound of footsteps moving away.
Zhang Shi knew that the beast might have left, but he didn't dare to open the door to check, so he turned around and went back to the stone house.
Taking off his heavy leather jacket and pants, Zhang Shi realized his back was soaked with sweat. Before he could clean himself, the system buzzed with a notification. Checking it, Zhang Shi saw it was a video call invitation from Zhao Feng.
After agreeing to the video call, the scene on the screen made Zhang Shi's pupils shrink.
On a luxurious bed, a burly humanoid creature lay with its upper body wrapped in strips of cloth, only its face visible. There was a bloodstain on its left cheek, making it look extremely disheveled.
"Brother Feng, are you injured?"
Zhang Shi's tone was urgent, and his voice trembled slightly, which warmed Zhao Feng's heart.
"I'm fine, don't worry."
After saying that, Zhao Feng turned the scene around. In the corner of the wooden house, a half-grown golden leopard was lying on its back, tied to a log with ropes. When it saw Zhao Feng looking at it, it showed a ferocious expression and howled.
"I got a one-time taming book from a treasure chest, hoping to get a beast pet as a mount, but I failed to tame it."
"I'm not willing to give up. I finally found a young wild animal, how can I just give up like this? I thought I would try to tame it physically, but I ended up with all these injuries."
Zhang Shi marveled at Zhao Feng's ferocity. Seeing that he was in good spirits and his injuries didn't seem too serious, he instructed Zhao Feng to get some medicine from the trading market to treat him.
Zhao Feng nodded in agreement, then his expression changed, and he spoke to him in a very serious tone.
"Stone, there's a green treasure chest next to this leopard. I opened the chest after catching the leopard and got something. Take a look." After saying that, Zhao Feng sent an item message.
[Revelation (Green) x1: Able to foretell impending disaster. The next natural calamity: severe cold. In the midst of confusion, everything is preordained.]
Zhao Feng asked with a serious expression, "Have you noticed that the temperature has been dropping recently? More or less, everyone has some items they got from the treasure chests that are for keeping warm."
Zhang Shi understood what Zhao Feng meant and nodded.
"I had already guessed that there would be a natural disaster. While there's still time, we need to stockpile some supplies to cope with the severe cold."
Without hesitation, Zhang Shi directly traded the extra stone house design drawings to Dingzhen.
Zhao Feng had already noticed the changes at Zhang Shi's shelter through the video. Before he could ask any questions, he received a trade request. After checking the item information, his eyes widened in surprise.
Before Zhao Feng could refuse, Zhang Shi spoke first.
“I have nothing to lack right now. These things are extra for me, and even if I sell them, they won’t help me much. You can keep them without worry. Upgrading your shelter to level 3 will make it easier to face the coming cold.”
Seeing that Zhang Shi had already said so, Zhao Feng didn't waste any more words and accepted the items in the transaction. He said, word by word...
"If you do not reject me, I am willing to become your godfather!"
Zhang Shi couldn't help but laugh out loud, and then asked him if he needed any materials to upgrade his shelter. Zhao Feng felt like he was being kept, so he quickly refused Zhang Shi's help and started fiddling with Dingzhen instead.
Like Zhang Shi, Zhao Feng first gave himself an appraisal.
"Ding! Identification at a glance: Human."
[Zhao Feng: Human. Panel (Unlocked) Ability Value: 6. Evaluation: Instantly identified as mentally challenged.]
Zhao Feng: ...
Zhang Shi: ...
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