Chapter 247: A Small Profit

During the conversation, the off‑road vehicle was already on a road more than a hundred kilometers from Dongfang City.

To the southeast, the outlines of a mountain range could be faintly seen.

After driving along the main road for over half an hour, Ye Ying gave the steering wheel a turn and drove into the wilderness.

The wilderness was rugged and uneven, but fortunately the two were in an off‑road vehicle, so the slight jolts were tolerable.

Wild grass grew everywhere, some reaching calf‑height, and around them were numerous shrubs about half a person's height, their branches tangled.

Beyond the thicket lay patches of forest, tall and dense, and a light breeze made the leaves rustle.

Along the way, Jiang Cheng saw some figures darting through the trees or foraging in the shrubs.

All of them were very small.

According to Ye Ying, they were Exotic Beasts, but not even First-tier Exotic Beasts.

After shooting them, there was nothing left but a modest snack.

After an unknown amount of time, a silhouette appeared in their field of view.

Ye Ying eased off the accelerator, looked at the figure over a hundred meters away, and said, "That's a Second-tier Exotic Beast, a wilderness rabbit; it can be used to make low‑level Talismans and Secret Medicine, and one can fetch a few thousand coins."

Jiang Cheng fixed his gaze on it.

It indeed looked like a rabbit—gray, with large, long ears—currently grazing, and even while eating, it kept its head raised, alert to its surroundings.

But its size was not small at all; its body length was sixty to seventy centimeters, comparable to a medium‑sized dog before crossing, and it probably weighed fifteen or sixteen jin.

"Don't underestimate it."

Ye Ying said, "Although it's a Second-tier Exotic Beast, its speed is the fastest among Second-tier ones, comparable to Third-tier Exotic Beasts, and it's highly vigilant; within fifty or sixty meters it will notice you. Fortunately we have guns—shall we warm up?"

"Fine."

Jiang Cheng nodded.

In fact, he didn't need to warm up at all.

He took a sniper rifle from the trunk, assembled it, and fitted a silencer and ammunition.

Jiang Cheng stuck the barrel out the window, aimed at the wilderness rabbit, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

A light crack.

The wilderness rabbit over a hundred meters away had its head explode, fell to the ground, its four legs twitched twice, then went still.

Ye Ying drove closer, looked around for people, and the two got out of the vehicle.

Jiang Cheng examined the rabbit before him and had to admit, it was truly huge!

"Too bad it's only a Second-tier Exotic Beast, not worth much; I heard the meat's decent—if you want, you can take it."

Ye Ying stood aside and said quietly.

"Take it first."

Jiang Cheng smiled.

Leaving it here would be wasteful; bringing it back for a taste isn't bad either.

He tossed the wilderness rabbit into the rear trunk, and the two got back in the vehicle, heading toward the foot of the mountain.

After all, the closer they got to the mountain's base, the higher the chance of encountering mid‑tier Exotic Beasts.

After another ten‑plus minutes, they encountered several more Exotic Beasts along the way.

Like the earlier wilderness rabbit, there were First-tier Gray‑fur Mice and Second-tier Spotted‑tail Chickens.

Their sizes were far larger than Jiang Cheng had expected, especially the First-tier Gray‑fur Mice, which were almost the size of a small dog.

Because they weren't worth much, the two didn't act.

Soon, the two arrived at the foot of the mountain.

The mountain range stretched in rolling waves like a long dragon coiled on the horizon; the trees on the slopes were verdant and dense, shading the sky, while at the base grew many shrubs and exotic flowers and herbs.

"What's that?"

Suddenly, Jiang Cheng let out a light "huh" and looked up the mountain, where several Exotic Beasts that resembled sheep were grazing.

They were slightly larger than ordinary sheep, each with two coiled horns.

Two of them noticed the vehicle at the foot but paid it no mind; after all, the straight‑line distance was two or three hundred meters, not to mention the ground distance.

Ye Ying's eyes lit up slightly.

"That's a Spiral‑horn Sheep, a Third-tier Exotic Beast—non‑aggressive, but its speed ranks in the upper‑middle among Third‑tier beasts, and it's adept at climbing. Its blood and hide are excellent materials for making First-tier Talismans, and especially its two horns, once ground, are perfect for crafting Human Weapon Secret Medicine."

"So the price must be good then?"

"One whole Spiral‑horn Sheep can fetch at least seventy‑to‑eighty thousand coins, but you must be careful not to hit its horns, or its value drops."

"Alright, I'll watch out."

Jiang Cheng nodded.

If Ye Ying hadn't warned him, he really intended to shoot the head.

He aimed the barrel at the largest one and pulled the trigger.

In an instant, the Spiral‑horn Sheep a couple hundred meters away had a blood‑filled wound appear on its belly.

It let out a wail and collapsed, its four legs uselessly thrashing as it could not get up.

The other Spiral‑horn Sheep, unsure what happened, fled in all directions at the sight of their companion.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Two gunshots.

Two more Spiral‑horn Sheep fell into pools of blood.

Jiang Chen searched through the scope but could not locate the other Spiral‑horn Sheep.

What a pity.

He raised his head and let out a sigh.

Ye Ying beside him, however, took a deep breath.

She had already witnessed Jiang Cheng's gunmanship more than once.

But even so, her heart was still greatly shocked.

Three coiled-horn sheep, at 70,000 each, totaling 210,000; split fifty-fifty, she got just over 100,000.

This speed is almost like robbery.

"Fortunately we found him to cooperate with, if it were someone else."

Ye Ying felt that hitting just one would be good enough.

Next, the two climbed up the mountain again and picked up the three already-dead coiled-horn sheep.

Jiang Cheng hefted it; each weighed over 200 jin, nearly twice as heavy as a normal sheep.

To avoid revealing his strength, he still only brought one down the mountain, leaving the other two to Ye Ying.

Loaded them into the vehicle.

Jiang Cheng glanced at the rear cargo space; estimating that another five or six could fit, it wouldn't be a problem.

At 70,000 to 80,000 each, he could walk away with around 300,000.

This speed is actually still quite fast; after all, the most he had ever made in one go was only three million, and that involved great risk.

Hunting exotic beasts, however, is much simpler, of course, because a sniper rifle is too overpowered against beasts; if it were replaced with a bow and arrow, one might still need to sneak close and reach optimal range before acting.

But sniper rifles are different, especially this heavy sniper rifle: it can pierce a 4-millimeter steel plate from a kilometer away; five hundred meters is already considered optimal range, let alone distances within one or two hundred meters.

Exotic beasts naturally cannot understand this; they still think as long as nothing abnormal shows up within a few tens of meters, it's fine.

"Hope, hopefully we can encounter a few fourth-tier exotic beasts."

Jiang Cheng looked toward Ye Ying.

Third-tier exotic beasts still make money a bit slowly.

If it's fourth-tier, one would be worth over a hundred thousand.

"Hope."

Ye Ying also showed a faint smile on her face.

(End of chapter)