Lai Pi Chun, gripping the rope, grinned maliciously: "Little wench, what are you saying?"
He suddenly pulled the rope, causing Lin Cuiying to stagger two steps, her wrist bones turning red from the friction of the rope.
"Say something about your ancestors for eighteen generations!" The moment Lin Cuiying was pulled forward, her right hand flashed out and reached for her lower back.
The cold light pierced through the pine resin's stench, and the wood-chopping knife, enveloped in the cold wind, cleaved the hemp rope.
Click!
The debris from the broken rope splashed onto Lai Pichun's nose, causing him to stagger and fall to the ground.
The ends of the hemp ropes soaked in pine resin hung down in the mud, their cuts as clean as if they had been run over by a guillotine.
"Where did that bitch get the knife?" The pockmarked man was so shocked he stammered.
Lin Cuiying twirled her reddened wrist, the blade's back casting shadows on the three men's faces: "Want to play with ropes? Come on!"
Lai Pichun grabbed a wood-chopping axe and rushed over, the axe cleaving through the damp air.
Instead of retreating, Lin Cuiying advanced, her machete grazing the axe handle as she slashed at the opponent's tiger's mouth.
The scraping sound of metal was so sharp it made your teeth ache. Lai Pichun loosened his grip, and the axe was plunged diagonally into the pile of rotten leaves.
"Have you had enough fun?" Lin Cuiying pressed the tip of her knife against his Adam's apple. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the screen. The little prisoner who had been wearing the "Innocent" sign on his head had changed into a sequined suit, with a metal badge that read "Number One Fan" pinned to his chest, and was holding two glow sticks in his hand.
[Host Oppa, your rope-cutting pose is so cool!] The little figure bounces around waving a glow stick, with starry-eyed effects shooting out of its pupils.
Lin Cuiying suppressed the urge to vomit, spun around, and kicked the rope noose at the pockmarked man from the side. She kicked the knot precisely, and the noose wrapped around the attacker's neck.
The pockmarked man's eyes rolled back as he was strangled, clutching the rope and spinning in circles.
"Tsk tsk." Lin Cuiying slapped Lai Pichun's pale face with the back of her knife. "You can't even beat three against one? How dare you show your faces in the business?"
The last accomplice suddenly threw a handful of lime powder.
Lin Cuiying held her breath and leaned back, the wood-chopping knife flying out of her hand, grazing the man's ear and embedding itself in the tree trunk.
The shattered bark fragments, mixed with a few strands of broken hair, fell down in a rustling sound.
"Run!" Lai Pi shouted in a hoarse voice.
The three of them scrambled and crawled into the bushes, causing wild berries to fall to the ground with a clatter.
Lin Cuiying pulled the wood-chopping knife out of the tree trunk; the pine resin on the blade gleamed amber in the morning light.
[Host Oppa, aren't you going to chase them?] The little man in the suit wiggled back and forth, holding up a glow stick with both hands. [The way they ran looks like hamsters being tossed around in a tumbler!]
The rustling sound of the blade scraping against the bark stopped abruptly.
"Have you ever heard the saying 'Don't pursue a cornered enemy'?" Lin Cuiying flicked her wood-chopping knife with her finger.
【But......】
The little man in the suit did a somersault, and before he could say anything, Lin Cuiying interrupted him, "I'm here to find the black bear, not to fight."
The glow sticks exploded into starlight, and the little man in the suit tugged at her sleeve, jumping up: "But you look so cool when you fight!"
The sequined suit suddenly transformed into a cheering outfit, with colorful little fireworks popping from the ends of her hair.
Lin Cuiying ignored it and replaced the screen with a map. Following the small black dots on the map, she stepped into the cave through the withered branches at the entrance. The musty smell mixed with the stench of wild animals hit her.
Following the drag marks further in, water droplets seeping from the cave walls dripped onto the ground.
On a clearing about 30 feet away, the black bear's carcass lay twisted in a bow shape, the thick hemp rope binding its neck worn raw.
Lin Cuiying's boots crunched over the slippery moss, and a stench rose with each step.
As she squatted down, her kneecaps cracked, and the tip of her machete pried open the matted fur.
The sticky tearing sound echoed against the cave wall, and the bits of rotten flesh brought up by the knife tip were mixed with gravel—marks that would only be left after being dragged for more than ten miles along the mountain road.
She covered her mouth and nose and leaned back, "This thing can actually be sold for money?"
【Rare material detected!】A flower-sprinkling effect suddenly popped up on the screen, and a little man in a suit holding a magnifying glass was perched on top of the bear carcass.
[Although its fur was rotten to the bone...] It was so overwhelmed by the stench that it tumbled over, and a red gas mask appeared on its nose.
As the back of the knife scraped against the blackened bone, Lin Cuiying suddenly felt the blade hit something hard.
A dark blue sac-like object, covered in rotting flesh, rolled out and bounced twice on the wet ground.
"What is this?" She used the tip of her knife to pick up the organ, which was about the size of a ping-pong ball, and semi-congealed fluid was seeping out from the opening.
[Host, you're amazing! You were able to extract the bile from a wild bear completely intact!]
The little man in the suit, wearing spring boots, bounced around on the screen again, and suddenly a calculator appeared in his hand, clicking away.
A whole bear bile is worth ten taels of silver! But bear paws are the real treasure—
"This thing is worth so much?" Lin Cuiying asked incredulously. "How much are the bear paws?"
[A complete bear paw is worth thirty taels of silver!] The screen exploded with golden fireworks, and a small figure in a suit wearing a gas mask gestured the shape of a bear paw, [but the metacarpal bones must remain intact, the claw tip complete, and the fascia...]
"Thirty taels?" Lin Cuiying was excited when she heard the price. "A bear has four paws, so that's more than a hundred taels of silver."
[Not all four bear paws are worth that much money!] The little man in the suit with his starry-eyed special effect turns into a red exclamation mark that jumps around wildly. [Time for some science!]
Suddenly, a transparent display board popped up in front of Lin Cuiying, displaying a bunch of photos of bear paws.
The forelegs of a bear, thanks to its frequent hunting and climbing activities, have extremely strong muscle structure and are rich in a thick layer of fat, making the meat particularly tender and smooth, and has always been regarded as a top choice among delicacies.
The most unique and precious part is the right forepaw: According to some ancient records, bears tend to use their right paw more, which makes the right forepaw have a higher fat content than the other three paws. It also releases more collagen after cooking, making it far more valuable than the other three paws.
The hind paws have a relatively coarse texture: Because the hind paws primarily support the bear's weight, their muscle fibers are relatively coarse and tough, and their fat content is relatively low. This structural characteristic makes the hind paws less tender and smooth in texture than the forelegs, and traditionally they are rarely used as a standalone food item, thus having a relatively lower market value.
After reading the system's explanation, Lin Cuiying asked, "Besides bear paws and bear gallbladders, are the rest worthless?"
Suddenly, a rotating anatomical diagram popped up on the screen, and a little man in a suit jumped in front of Lin Cuiying on spring boots.
[Look, Host!] Its gas mask suddenly transformed into a magnifying glass. [Bear fat can be used to make ointments, bear tendons can be used to make bowstrings, and bear bones can be used not only in medicine but also to make medicinal wine—]
"This stuff can be used to make medicinal liquor?"
[Yes, yes!] The little figure suddenly changed into a white lab coat, bouncing around on the screen with a test tube in hand. [Tiger bone wine is nothing! Bear bone wine is the real deal...]
"Stop." Lin Cuiying didn't want to listen to its nonsense, and then asked again, "Where's the bear fat?"
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