Chapter 134: Not Learning Hunting, but Learning the Art of War Instead?

Eating the spicy pork intestines, garlic ribs, pork belly with green beans, and stir-fried diced lotus roots that Gu Xiaobei had sent in the group, Lan Qingyou looked at the coordinates on her Card and pondered.

'That is right, today's meal is a boxed lunch, similar to fast food.'

Although it lacked Gu Xiaobei's usual meticulous presentation, for a traveling Lan Qingyou, it carried its own unique flavor.

It felt just like eating a bento box outdoors during a picnic.

It was incredibly cozy.

After finishing her meal, Lan Qingyou resumed her journey.

Because she could fly, she was able to simply soar over minor obstacles and travel in a straight line.

However, since she wanted to broaden her horizons, she took several detours and wandered around all day without ever reaching the city ruins.

This might have been due to spending too much time on the road, or perhaps the distance was simply that vast. As a result, that evening, Lan Qingyou set up a tent beside a Stream, officially attempting her first night out in the wilderness of this alternate world.

Listening to the splashing of the stream washing over the Stones, Lan Qingyou lay on a bed made of just a single Mattress, yet she found herself completely unable to close her eyes.

It could not be helped; after all, this was her very first time spending the night outside her Shelter.

Even though she had tested her setup for so long and knew full well that it was foolproof, she simply could not fall asleep.

This was not cowardice; it was caution.

Yes, it was for the sake of observation—a highly serious, research-oriented final inspection of the product by its developer.

If the Magic Carriage Lantern and the Dispel Light Sphere were not currently emitting a bright glow inside the tent, Lan Qingyou's wide, gleaming eyes could have served as lightbulbs on their own.

"It is now three in the morning. It looks like there shouldn't be any problems."

Having stayed awake past three o'clock, Lan Qingyou cast a sidelong glance at the alarm clock hung purposefully right in front of her face and muttered to herself.

Then, she prepared to shut her eyes and finally sleep.

But at that exact moment, the low, throaty growl of a monster echoed from outside, causing Lan Qingyou's muscles to tense up uncontrollably.

In reality, these roars had never truly ceased since nightfall.

They had been exceptionally frequent between midnight and one o'clock, with a significant number of beasts joining in the chorus.

Fortunately, none of those creatures ultimately managed to charge inside, or rather, they could not enter thanks to the repelling effect of the Dispel Light Sphere.

Furthermore, after one o'clock, the roaring had gradually begun to subside.

It had dropped from Lan Qingyou's initial estimate of three to five beasts down to one or two, and finally to what sounded like a single lone creature right now.

"Are these damn things giving up on hunting to study the art of war instead?"

"Why do I feel like the bastard out there is deliberately using exhaustion tactics?"

Having just closed her eyes, Lan Qingyou snapped them open once more at the sound of the roar.

She had no idea what the monster outside was thinking, but one thing was absolutely certain: this creature clearly did not want her to sleep comfortably. Or to be completely blunt, it did not want her to sleep at all.

Every single time she shut her eyes to rest, the beast outside would flex its vocal cords with a booming bellow, making her jolt in fright.

'Should I send the Bronze Beasts out to clash with it head-on?'

Lan Qingyou had entertained this thought more than once, but the harsh reality was that she simply could not do it.

It was pitch black outside, making it impossible for her to step out herself. Sending out D-rank Bronze Beasts completely blind without any field of vision was nothing short of suicidal.

Who knew if those monsters outside had deliberately dispatched one of their own to act as a noisy decoy, while the rest were camping like cowardly snipers in the shadows, waiting to ambush her?

Although she possessed twenty Bronze Beasts, they had not been forged to be thrown away in such a reckless manner.

At this thought, Lan Qingyou looked at the four Copper Hammer Beasts stationed at the four corners of her bed, watching over her like four mighty guardian deities.

They had been explicitly designed to protect her personal safety, so they absolutely could not be sent outside to fight.

Furthermore, in the pitch-black darkness, her two combat-oriented magic puppets—the Rolling Blade Beast and the Horned Lion Beast—would inevitably make critical errors in their attack patterns without her direct tactical command.

She certainly would not just send them out to die. While she had immense confidence in her own designs, losing one or two to blind attrition was a guaranteed outcome.

So, after agonizing over the decision time and time again, Lan Qingyou ultimately decided to hold her ground and observe for the rest of the night.

Consequently, Lan Qingyou spent the entirety of the night trapped in a maddening cycle: desperately wanting to sleep, being jolted awake by monstrous roars, tempted to deploy her magic puppets, and finally talking herself out of it.

The next day, she had originally intended to set out on her journey sporting a pair of heavy, dark circles under her eyes. But after giving it some thought, she realized that since the sun was already up, why not just go to sleep right now?

'If I wake up at noon or late in the afternoon, won't I be able to power through another entire night of battle tonight?'

'Genius!'

Having reached this brilliant conclusion, Lan Qingyou released her remaining sixteen magic puppets, tightly squeezed her eyes shut, and completely tuned out the rest of the world.

...

"It feels like the temperature hasn't dropped any further recently."

"It has already been a month. Things should have entered a stable period by now."

"Then do you think there's any chance it might warm up again? To be completely honest, going out every single day to gather Wood for heating is a massive waste of Mana Points."

As the group trudged forward, they continued chatting at a leisurely pace.

"If I had known this would happen, I would have bought some stone fireplaces and Kerosene from those profiteers earlier. I heard that woman, Lan Qingyou, hasn't produced much Kerosene lately either."

"Isn't there a guy named Samayel selling Kerosene recently? Although the quality isn't stellar, it's incredibly cheap and available in massive bulk. Why don't we buy some from him?"

"We would need a Kerosene Stove for that to work. Besides, do you actually have a death wish, buying supplies from a mad bomber?"

"Huh? A mad bomber?"

"I heard he used to be a chemistry professor at some prestigious university. Because his daughter was assaulted and murdered by some violent street thugs who managed to slither out of facing justice through various legal loopholes, he crafted homemade explosives, showed up at their front door, and blew their entire families straight to hell. He even went out of his way to take out the corrupt judges and lawyers on the exact same day, ultimately earning himself twelve consecutive life sentences."

"Hiss—what an absolute savage. He's even more ruthless than we are."

Hearing their leader's explanation, the skinny, monkey-like guy beside him, who had been yapping non-stop, gasped sharply—single-handedly contributing to global warming in Karim.

"Boss, look! What is that?"

The skinny monkey, who was still feeling a lingering sense of dread over Samayel's terrifying exploits, turned his head and spotted a faint purple tent looming just in front of the woods near the Stream ahead.

Alerted by the skinny monkey's shout, the rest of the group followed his gaze, finally managing to barely make out the large tent hidden among the dense bushes.

"Let's go take a closer look."

The leader furrowed his brows slightly, then forcefully shoved the skinny monkey forward while trailing closely behind him.

"..."

'Why the hell do I have such a big mouth...'

Realizing he was being used as an expendable human shield, the skinny monkey could not help but curse viciously in his heart.

But cursing was one thing; he still obediently trudged along at the very front of the formation.

Even though he could not escape his grim fate as the vanguard, he could at least control exactly how many tiny steps he took per second.

Treading with extreme caution and paranoid care, the group, led by the agonizingly slow skinny monkey, took roughly six entire minutes to gradually inch their way to a vantage point where they could finally see the tent in its entirety.

"What is the deal with this tent? It definitely wasn't here yesterday, was it?"

Staring blankly at the massive tent, which spanned roughly fifty to sixty square meters, the leader's face was painted with complete bewilderment and absolute confusion.