Chapter 18: Attempting to Hunt

Why was Dashan Camp so certain that the Snow-Mane had been picked up by Does Da Xia?

The reason was very simple: because the camps around Red Wood Ridge were all too weak.

The only one that could stably hunt and obtain cold-beast blood and meat was the Luo Ge Camp, which possessed five experts at the Earth-Digging level.

As for the other camps, if they wanted cold-beast blood and meat, besides using large amounts of wood, crystal fruits, or other scarce resources to purchase them from Luo Ge Camp, they could only rely on luck.

So-called luck, to put it bluntly, was picking up cold-beast carcasses in the forest.

Cold beasts liked to eat living things; generally, after defeating another cold beast, they would stop once the other party died, so there was a high probability that as long as you could run into one, there would definitely be a harvest.

But how many such opportunities were there?

Perhaps there were many cold-beast carcasses deep in Red Wood Ridge, but the problem was they didn't dare to go in. On the outer perimeter here, if you could pick one up once or twice a year, you were already burning high incense.

Moreover, having been neighbors for many years, they knew very clearly how much weight Does Da Xia, also a small camp, had.

Generally speaking, limited cold-beast meat would definitely be prioritized for the members of the logging team; only the excess would be given to the younger generation.

Therefore, there was no doubt that the Snow-Mane had definitely been picked up by Does Da Xia.

…………

Xia Hong was naturally unaware of Dashan Camp's grudge.

Since driving them away that night and taking Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, and the three of them to chop down one tree each, the camp entered a relatively peaceful development period in the following time.

As the three went out at a fixed time every night, the camp's reserves of wood and crystal fruits rose rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Crystal fruits rose from 7,000 jin all the way to 12,000 jin.

Calculated based on the camp's 154 people, at one jin per person per day, even if they didn't go out, these crystal fruits were enough to eat for over two months.

As for wood, it rose from 87 units to 210 units.

Food and heating were both guaranteed.

The camp's vitality naturally recovered slowly.

Although they still had to seal the cave entrance at night, at least they didn't have to go hungry or freeze.

However, while others were happy, Xia Hong knew very clearly that the camp now had only initially recovered to the state before the logging team met with disaster.

When Xia Ding was still around, the camp was never short of crystal fruits and wood.

For a small camp like Does Da Xia, the scarcest resource was cold-beast meat.

Without cold-beast meat, one could not train to become stronger.

Maintaining the status quo would eventually lead to either being discovered by cold beasts or found by strange monsters, and the previous events would happen again.

Moreover, crystal fruits were not inexhaustible. The crystal fruits on the three Ice-Fruit Trees had already been picked by them, and it was unknown when the next ripening would be.

If the existing crystal fruits were eaten up and those three trees hadn't borne fruit yet, they would have to go hungry again, and if they lost the only food source of crystal fruits, they might even starve to death.

Red Wood Ridge, of course, had more than just those three Ice-Fruit Trees.

Xia Hong believed that deep in the dense forest, there were definitely thicker, larger Ice-Fruit Trees that bore more fruit, but the problem was he didn't dare to go in at all.

Therefore, the crux still lay in cold-beast meat.

The thirty jin of cold-beast meat for Yue Feng and the five of them had already been used up.

The five had made great progress, but they were still far from breaking through to the Woodcutting Realm.

Xia Hong's own hundred jin of cold-beast meat was also gone.

Although his strength had improved quite a bit, he was still far from the Earth-Digging level.

"If I can't continue to get stronger, let alone upgrading the small bonfire, I won't be able to build any of the other pile of buildings in the system.

I must find a way to hunt, even if I take some risks, it's worth it!"

The camp system still only had one small bonfire, and upgrading the small bonfire from level one to level two required 200 wood and 50 iron.

Wood, of course, was not in short supply now.

But resources like iron—without strength, even touching them was a delusion.

"Chuan, Cheng, tonight when we go out, we will attempt to hunt!"

On the eve of nightfall, Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng, who were preparing to go out, heard Xia Hong's words and immediately opened their eyes wide in excitement.

In reality, in the many times they had gone out before, the two had already seen cold beasts.

Of course, they were cold beasts sleeping on trees.

Previously, the two had mentioned several times that they wanted to try hunting cold beasts, but they were all rejected by Xia Hong on the grounds that the cold beasts were too strong.

Now, Xia Hong had actually taken the initiative to propose attempting to hunt.

"Don't get excited too early. I've told you before, cold beasts are very strong, so this time, it's just an attempt. Just like before, you must listen to me when outside. Does Da Xia currently only has you two as combat power at the Woodcutting Realm. I don't want anything to happen to you two, understand?"

The two could naturally hear the seriousness in Xia Hong's tone and nodded heavily.

After Xia Hong gave instructions to the two, he took out two small torches from behind him and gave one to each.

The two took the torches, and their eyes immediately lit up, vaguely understanding something.

"Leader, you want to use the torches to attract cold beasts like before, let them fight each other, and we sit back and reap the benefits, right?"

Xia Hong had long since told the two about the function of the small torches.

Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng reacting so quickly was also within Xia Hong's expectations.

"Right, so it's said to be an attempt, it all depends on luck!"

Xia Hong felt a bit helpless inside; using small torches to attract cold beasts was actually a bit of a waste of precious items.

The function of the small torches, like the small bonfire, was to deter and kill strange monsters.

To put it in layman's terms, small torches should belong to high-level items, which could be seen from the cold beasts' obsession with them.

It was just that Does Da Xia Camp's strength was too weak now, and they couldn't come into contact with them at all, nor did they dare to come into contact with creatures like strange monsters, so they could only use them to lure cold beasts.

Moreover, if only one cold beast was lured, it was still useless.

They had to lure two, and they had to fight to the death.

The fighting hadn't ended, and one had to fall, or one had to be seriously injured.

Only then would they have the possibility of harvesting prey.

This hunting method had conditions that were too harsh and was destined to have extremely low efficiency.

But this was the only way Xia Hong could think of at the moment.

It counted as a way out of no way!

Once night fell, Xia Hong took the two and quickly walked toward Red Wood Ridge.

The area within Does Da Xia Camp's sphere of influence was, after all, only five or six hundred meters.

After so many days, the three of them had long since figured it out clearly.

Overall, on the outer perimeter here, there weren't many cold beasts; there were only four cold beasts that were confirmed and witnessed with their own eyes.

There were two Snow-Manes, one Frostwolf, and one that looked like a mountain goat, which Xia Hong didn't recognize, nor did he remember Xia Ding ever mentioning.

"The strength of that mountain goat is unclear, so we won't touch it for now. Judging by the last situation, the Frostwolf and Snow-Mane are similar in strength, so this time, the target is still on these two."

Finding the trees where the Snow-Mane and Frostwolf were respectively entrenched, Xia Hong found a position between the two, first inserted the torch, and then, fifty meters away from the torch, let Yuan Cheng and Xia Chuan dig a snow pit.

Just like last time, after lighting the torch, the three quickly dispersed, hid in their respective snow pits, and quietly observed the torch.

Xia Hong was still a bit nervous; after all, the situation was different.

Last time, that Snow-Mane was a juvenile and was also in a state of being blinded and seriously injured.

This time was different.

They had observed before that the Snow-Mane and Frostwolf on these two trees were both adult-sized, and plus they were in their prime state—he didn't know what the situation would be like when they fought.

In strong contrast to him, Yuan Cheng and Xia Chuan were not nervous at all; instead, the eyes exposed on the snow were full of excitement.

The two, after all, were seeing cold beasts for the first time.

Although what the three thought in their hearts was not the same, time was passing after all.

The efficacy of the torch indeed did not disappoint Xia Hong.

It had been lit for less than two minutes.

From the west side, a dull and heavy sound of beast hooves came.

Bang... bang... bang...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 19 =====