Chapter 436: Energy Jerky

Snow Tiger Clan Chief rubbed his nonexistent beard on his chin and nodded: "This brother's method is the best; we just need to send out a few females skilled at curing salted meat."

As expected, things went exactly as Wu Yue and the Snow Tiger Clan Chief had anticipated; within a week of the Mad Lion Tribe's arrival, the beastman warriors of the other two tribes also came, each bringing various local specialties from their own tribes.

Seeing the Mad Lion Tribe energetically hunting, they were first dumbfounded, then after learning the purpose of these guys' hunting, they all howled with red eyes and joined in.

The Snow Tiger Clan Chief selected five females from each tribe to cure salted meat.

In order to bring back enough salted meat for their tribes, the beastman warriors of the three tribes hunted with great enthusiasm.

Wu Yue, meanwhile, went together with Yuan Lang to the Ferocious Beast Deep Forest once again.

Although ferocious beasts are dangerous, their crystal cores can help beastfolk level up, and even their flesh contains more energy than ordinary forest beasts.

During this time, Tread Cloud followed behind Lan Pangzi, eating and sleeping, living a carefree life like a pig.

Never mind whether it grew taller; its visible roundness has disappeared.

Before, Wu Yue would occasionally pick it up and rub it a couple times, but now... it's impossible to hold it anymore.

"Go inside or stay outside?"

Yuan Lang put on the training uniform Wu Yue had given him last time; his whole person looked tall and handsome.

Although everyone else carried guns, Yuan Lang slung a bow and arrow, which felt a bit out of place, but he still looked handsome.

"Speaking of energy, the deeper the ferocious beast's flesh, the higher its energy should be, right?"

Wu Yue looked at Yuan Lang and said.

That is naturally beyond doubt; Yuan Lang nodded: "For ordinary tribespeople, these outer ferocious beasts will do, but for beastman warriors, as long as it's not a high-level ferocious beast, we can use any."

"Then we'll go inside."

Ordinary tribespeople can eat wild beast meat, but beastman warriors are different.

If a ferocious beast tide truly occurs in winter, food that can quickly replenish energy becomes very important.

The stamina and energy replenishing pills in the system mall are very expensive; a ferocious beast tide isn't just a day or two, so naturally we can't rely on pills all the time.

Perhaps because winter is approaching, many ferocious beasts in the deep forest look much fatter than before.

"These are ferocious beasts that still live in the deep forest after winter; some will begin migrating to warmer places to spend the winter in a few days."

Yuan Lang casually shot dead a saber-toothed bear and then said.

This made Wu Yue involuntarily think of the fireball beasts they had previously driven into the deep forest.

"As I heard from the clan chief last time, the tribe already has a lot of stored fireball beast feces, which were distributed to the tribespeople before winter arrived."

Speaking of fireball beast feces, even Wu Yue felt amazed; this thing is practically a substitute for coal.

Not only is it flammable and burn-resistant, it also produces no toxic gases; since fireball beasts eat only grass, burning it actually gives off a pleasant grassy fragrance.

The tribespeople all like it very much.

Next year, when we drive away the fireball beasts again, we'll see if we can bring back a few more; the feces of three fireball beasts would still be insufficient to supply the entire tribe.

The two talked as they walked deeper into the forest.

What struck Wu Yue as strange was that the obedient monkeys they encountered this time were unusually well-behaved; seeing Yuan Lang, they didn't howl and charge, but merely crouched far away, watching the two.

Even after the two, tense all over, left the obedient monkeys' territory, they suffered no attack from these hot-headed creatures.

"Have these obedient monkeys mended their ways?"

Wu Yue looked doubtfully at the receding territory of the obedient monkeys.

Yuan Lang gave her an annoyed look: "Do you want us to be chased by obedient monkeys?"

Wu Yue gave a dry, hehe laugh: "That's naturally impossible; I'm just curious."

Yuan Lang recalled seeing a few obedient monkeys earlier; there seemed to be small obedient monkeys perched on the nearby tree trunks: "They must have just given birth to offspring not long ago, so seeing us they wouldn't provoke us casually."

After all, even the fiercest ferocious beasts are fragile when young.

"Stop ahead for a moment."

Yuan Lang's handsome nose twitched a few times, his dark brows slightly furrowed.

Wu Yue patted the Tread Cloud beneath her, which was moving forward at full speed.

The increasingly sturdy Tread Cloud gradually slowed down and finally stopped at the place Yuan Lang had indicated.

At this moment, Wu Yue also finally noticed something odd: "There are dried bloodstains here."

The surrounding tree trunks lay in disarray, with thick trunks bearing sharp claw marks and dried bloodstains.

"Could it be those mushroom heads you encountered last time?"

Wu Yue looked at the beastman warrior beside her.

Yuan Lang frowned: "It's very likely them; after all, aside from the Kuma Tribe, the only other group around here are the mushroom heads, and they come from the same place as the Kuma Tribe, so it's not unreasonable to say they followed behind the Kuma Tribe."

"If that's the case, they should know the Kuma Tribe's purpose, so encountering them here is understandable."

Wu Yue glanced at the blood with a smile: "They just don't look very good."

Yuan Lang snorted: "Just their own choice."

The dangers of the deep forest are such that even the beastman warriors of the four major tribes of the Polar Forest who come here every year to hunt ferocious beasts might not make it out unscathed.

The two went all the way in; after entering the Intermediate Ferocious Beast Activity Zone, they also began hunting, and Wu Yue's space had expanded considerably with her upgrade.

"Boom!"

A sound of a heavy object falling came; looking down from the big tree, Wu Yue saw the stubbornly fighting rough-haired ox that had just been battling Yuan Lang now collapsed on the ground.

"Tread Cloud, go down."

Wu Yue waved her hand, storing the ground's prey into the system space: "Let's go!"

Tread Cloud swiftly lowered its form; Yuan Lang pushed off the ground with his legs, leapt up, and landed behind Wu Yue.

Just after flying a short distance, roars of ferocious beasts came from behind.

"These ferocious beasts' sense of smell has become even sharper; this time they detected us in less than half the time it used to take."

Yuan Lang took out a hide, moistened it, and wiped the blood off his hands: "Being careful is never wrong."

After speaking, he actually reached into the satchel at his side, took out a green fruit, and handed it to Wu Yue: 'Just now I saw that fierce beast eating it; I tried a bit—you should like it.'

The petite female didn't like overly sweet fruits; instead, she preferred those with a slight sourness, which pleased her.

Wu Yue reached out to take it, washed it, then brought it to her lips and took a bite; instantly, a burst of sweet‑sour juice flooded her mouth.

She enjoyed it, narrowing her eyes: 'Really delicious.'

Because it was deep autumn, the forest's fruits were all ripe, and due to ample sunlight and other reasons, most were extremely sweet and cloying, which Wu Yue didn't particularly like.

After eating three green fruits in a row, Wu Yue finally stopped, still wanting more.

Seeing her like it, Yuan Lang curled the corner of his mouth: 'If you like it, when we return to the tribe we can go pick some more—I just saw a grove of these fruit trees there.'

Wu Yue looked at him with bright, sparkling eyes: 'Mm.'

Ao!

Roar!

Dodge quickly!

While the two were talking, a sudden howl of beastmen and the roars of fierce beasts came from the deep forest ahead.

Yuan Lang extended his long arms, enveloping Wu Yue entirely in his embrace, then whispered in her ear: 'Fly up.'

The Cloud‑Stepping's wings unfolded behind it, and after two flaps it soared to a high altitude.

With the front canopy no longer blocking the view, the battle scene instantly appeared before their eyes.

Seeing a dense swarm of unicorn wolves, Wu Yue sucked in a cold breath: 'These guys—picking a fight with anyone would be bad enough, yet they've attracted the attention of unicorn wolves.'

At this moment, even Yuan Lang couldn't help but break into a sweat for those beastman warriors below.

Unicorn wolves are fierce beasts with an innate ability: the horn on their forehead can spew scorching flames, causing high damage and the flames are hard to extinguish.

Just then, the tip of the horn on a unicorn wolf below suddenly turned red, a burst of flame shot out from the horn and headed straight for a beastman warrior in front of it.

'Dodge quickly.'

A soft voice suddenly sounded, followed by a blue light shooting out from a large tree at the edge of the battlefield; it collided with the flame, producing a booming energy impact, and both vanished into the air.

'Don't get entangled with these fierce beasts; we need to leave quickly, for the fire they spray from their horns is extremely powerful.'

After clashing with the unicorn wolves' flames, the soft voice took on a hint of solemnity.

Hearing this, the surrounding beastman warriors launched their attacks again, even more fiercely.

The stalwart figure at the front let out a low roar, knocked several unicorn wolves ahead into the air, then turned and leapt up, scooping up a soft, chubby little loli from the edge tree and ran deep into the forest.

Seeing this, the beastman warriors behind him drove off the unicorn wolves at their sides and closely followed.

The clearing that had just been noisy instantly fell silent, leaving only a ground littered with unicorn wolf corpses.

Wu Yue's eyes lit up; she patted the back of the Cloud‑Stepping beneath her: 'Cloud‑Stepping.'

The Cloud‑Stepping, which knew its master well, let out an 'ao', flapped its wings, skimmed over the unicorn wolf corpses on the ground, then pursued the direction those beastman warriors had taken.

Meanwhile, the unicorn wolf corpses that had just covered the ground had completely vanished, having been stored by Wu Yue in her space.

'How does unicorn wolf meat taste?'

Wu Yue leaned relaxed against the beastman's broad chest, smiling as she asked.

Yuan Lang chuckled lightly, his firm forearms tensing slightly: 'The taste is not bad, just a bit coarse; compared to that, it suits the beastfolk palate better.'

Moreover, eating such a fierce beast with an innate ability replenishes energy more fully, making it excellent food.

Hearing this, Wu Yue nodded happily: 'Thank goodness for these unfamiliar beastman warriors; otherwise, just the two of us wouldn't know when we'd finish hunting.'

If it were just the two of you, you'd better not even think about unicorn wolves—they're social fierce beasts; provoking one brings a whole pack.

Yuan Lang's low voice sounded in her ear, slowly describing the fierce beasts one might encounter in the deep forest.

'Aman, are you alright?'

At this moment, the petite shaman and her companions were hiding in a spacious tree hollow; the petite shaman had set up a shamanic power barrier at the entrance, thus avoiding the unicorn wolves.

However, the unicorn wolf pack was simply too many; many beastman warriors in their unit were wounded, and even the stalwart beastman Aman had his arm burned by the flame spewed from that unicorn wolf.

The burned area was pitch‑black, with dark‑red flesh exposed, looking utterly horrifying.

The petite shaman took a mushroom from her head, broke off half, and brought it to Aman's lips: 'Eat some mushroom.'

She casually tossed the remainder to a nearby beastman warrior: 'Share it among the wounded clansfolk.'

Aman took the mushroom, stuffed it into his mouth, gave it a few quick chews, then swallowed it straight down.

The wound that had seemed like scorched flesh instantly felt much better.

Although it wasn't fully healed yet, it didn't hurt as much.

The stalwart beastman opened his eyes; his palm, larger than the petite shaman's face, gently patted her head: 'I'm fine; after eating the mushroom it doesn't hurt anymore—just wait for it to heal slowly.'

'If I had healing shamanic power, that would be great.'

The petite shaman rubbed the corner of her garment, her small mouth pursed, filled with regret.

She is a blessing shaman; although her inner shamanic power can also be used for healing, it still falls far short of a true healing shaman.

The petite shaman rose to her feet, lightly waved her shamanic staff, and murmured something under her breath.

Then a gleam of shamanic power rose from her staff, turning into specks of light that scattered over the bodies of the surrounding clansfolk.

The beastfolk felt their fatigue vanish instantly, their spirits refreshed.

The injured spots were no longer as painfully unbearable as before.

'We'll rest here for a few days, then resume hunting—but looking at it this way, we can't keep going deeper.'

The petite shaman gazed toward the deeper forest, her small face full of solemnity.

She could sense the thick oppressive pressure within, indicating that the entity deep inside did not welcome their arrival.

The stalwart beastman nodded, then took the animal hide that had been wrapped around his waist and spread it on the floor of the tree hollow.

Only then did everyone see that their chieftain had actually gone out wearing a double‑layered animal‑skin skirt.

'Lie down and rest a while; those unicorn wolves can't spot us for the moment, so we'll set out again after they leave.'

His palm, broad like a palm-leaf fan, stroked the little Shaman's head; the little Shaman gave a hehe smile and, following his strength, lay down.

During this time, running around outside nonstop, her body really couldn't take it anymore.

After lying down for less than a moment, her breathing became slow and deep, and she fell into a deep sleep.

After the unicorn wolf leaves later, the four of us will go out to hunt; we must pay attention to safety and return early.

The beastman warriors nodded, then began in low voices to discuss the manpower for the later hunt.

Wu Yue directly set up a simple tent on a thick, tall tree: "Anyway, these people won't notice us; monitoring them from here couldn't be more convenient."

Yuan Lang's back basket held plenty of food, but most of it was the jerky they had prepared earlier.

Wu Yue took out a piece of jerky and stuffed it into her mouth, just about to chew a couple of bites fragrant and juicy, but she realized that no matter how hard she tried, aside from adding a bit of saliva to the meat, it was utterly useless—the jerky wouldn't yield even a tiny bite.