Chapter 9: The Difficult First Day

The "Drill Cloud Leap" had ample height but insufficient range, and the Lulu Beast herd tightly followed Li Bucai northward; a few times he nearly got crushed by fallen trees but deftly dodged them, running roughly ten li away, his clothes already torn by branches. The path ahead narrowed, and after turning a mountain corner a vast open plain appeared, with trees becoming sparse. A wide river blocked the way; he had already reached the Shalanjiang.

The Lulu Beasts still chased closely behind. Li Bucai ran west for a while, feeling his strength waning and about to be caught, so he plunged into the Shalanjiang. After a while, when he broke the surface, fortunately the Lulu Beasts cannot swim. A horde of black, massive beasts stood on the bank and let out Lulu‑like screeches at Li Bucai in the water for a long time. Li Bucai let the current carry him downstream a bit, and saw the Lulu Beasts no longer pursuing—perhaps they had forgotten the old grudge and stayed there grazing. He then swam toward the shore and landed at the confluence of White Horse River and Shalanjiang.

In the dense jungle, a straight "highway" suddenly opened, but many large trees lay haphazardly across the "road". Once these trees are moved, it would be a decent road.

Li Bucai followed this path made by the Lulu Beasts toward the camp, not knowing whether any prey was hooked. The headache was that after being trampled by the Lulu Beasts, traps were concealed under branches and leaves, making everything a chaotic mess, impossible to discern where the traps lay.

He searched for the indicated direction for a long time; the sun was already setting in the west, yet he still couldn't find it. He thought that having slipped out of the camp silently and walked for half a day, the beautiful women must be worried sick, so he gave up.

Just as he was about to give up, a faint low "Lulu" sound came from nearby. He hurriedly looked for its source and found it came from beneath a tree canopy.

"Finally I've caught you."

He moved the canopy aside; an adult Lulu Beast lay upside down inside. Because of its full‑speed run and its bulky body, when it fell into the trap it slammed into a rock wall, the massive impact breaking off a horn on its head. It let out a painful "Lulu" moan.

For the sake of his beauties, Li Bucai decided to give it a swift end, pulling out his war spear and thrusting it forcefully into its throat. Though the Lulu Beast's back was protected by hard scales, its abdomen and throat lacked scales; the spear entered, and a gush of fresh blood spurted out.

Li Bucai used several tree trunks to brace the trap entrance as supports, then added a slightly thicker one as a lever arm, one side longer, the other shorter. He propped the longer end against a piece of wood, took a rope for pitching a tent from his bag and tied it to the short end of the lever. After the prey was secured, he kicked away the wood that was holding the lever, using the lever's weight to pull the prey out of the trap; adding a bit more weight on one side, he successfully hoisted it out, then placed a tree fork on a branch, set the prey atop it, and dragged it laboriously toward the camp.

The Lulu Beast's body was huge, weighing over a ton. Normally Li Bucai would deem it impossible to drag, but the Martial God Mantra is an inner skill that can boost strength. Moreover, the vegetation here was intact and the ground relatively slick. Though it was arduous, he could inch forward. By the time he returned to camp, it was already deep night…

……

The revered master, once lost and now found, made the girls both shocked and delighted; they wept, surrounding him tightly, fearing that a careless moment would cause him to vanish again.

"Finally you're back. We didn't see you for half a day; Xianghong thought the master had abandoned us…"

Li Bucai comforted, "Alright, alright, my beauties, I didn't want anything, and I could have left you, but I just wanted to find something to chew on for you. I went a bit too far, that's my fault, I made you worry."

Yan Qiu choked, "It's all my fault. If I weren't so stupid, the master wouldn't have to work so hard…"

Xianghong suddenly knelt on one knee and said, "Since the master left without saying goodbye, Yue'er has had something uncertain in his heart. May the heavens bless us; now the master has returned safely, I dare to ask clearly, otherwise Yue'er will be sad in his heart."

"Oh? Something that makes us Xianghong sad? That's serious? Get up, what's the matter? Tell us."

"Does the master not like Xianghong?"

These ten beauties are all the type Li Bucai likes, Li Bucai hurried, "Where did that come from? Each of you is my sweetheart, how could I not like you?"

Xianghong instantly broke into laughter, "Well… as the master's personal attendant, I want the master, wherever he goes, to keep Xianghong by his side… Today the master suddenly left without saying goodbye, everyone blamed Xianghong for not taking good care of the master, I regret it deeply. If I fail to care for the master again, Xianghong will only thank the sisters with death."

"Fine, the master promises you, from now on wherever he goes, he'll take you with him." Li Bucai took her delicate small hand, helped her up, and came before the Wu Shi Jiejie, praising them, "I've been worried all this time. While I was away, what if a beast broke into the camp? Now it seems my worry was unnecessary; as long as you are here, I can be at ease."

Wu Zhuoran's expression was calm, he returned a respectful bow to the master, then suddenly recalled the Lulu Beast, "By the master's order I went to patrol, and eight li downstream I found a group of Lulu Beasts drinking water. Lulu Beasts are ferocious, impervious to blades and spears. When the master just returned, I heard Lulu Beast sounds, thought we had already reached near the camp, and since they hadn't noticed us yet, perhaps we should set up camp elsewhere…"

"You mean this?" They were in the firelight, the things in the darkness were hard to see, Li Bucai pointed at that Lulu Beast.

"Lulu Beast!" Wu Zhuoyue was the first to spot the Lulu Beast crouching behind the tent; startled, she couldn't tell if it was dead or alive, let out a scream, and guarded Li Bucai.

The girls heard her shout and were startled simultaneously; Wu Zhuoran and Xianghong also hurried to ready weapons to protect the master, two crossbowmen nocked arrows on their strings.

Li Bucai gestured, "Don't be afraid, it's been half a day without a sound, probably already dead."

The girls steadied themselves, observed carefully for a while, and indeed the creature lay motionless. Li Bucai walked over, dragged the Lulu Beast to the camp center; its massive body almost filled the open space.

"Dead… dead… it's dead…" Rui Tong looked at the terrifying monster, still shocked, voice trembling.

Because of legend, Lulu Beasts have left many shadows over the people of Sky City; even a dead one can make them shiver. All the girls widened their eyes, looking at Li Bucai with disbelief. No need to ask further; seeing the creature's body riddled with scars, they knew it must have been killed by the revered master. In their impression, only the great Emperor who led their ancestors to Sky City had the power to slay a Lulu Beast.

"Can this thing be eaten?" Li Bucai asked Yan Qiu.

Yan Qiu's trembling voice replied, "It… can be eaten…"

"Good then, at least we didn't waste effort. We've gone a day without food, we're hungry. Calm down, I'll roast it now. This guy looks a bit ugly, seems I have to dissect it myself, but could someone fetch some dry firewood?"

Wu Zhuoyue rushed, "Master, wait a moment, Yue'er will go fetch it now." She then led several girls away from the camp.

In the forest, Wu Zhuoyue and Rui Tong and others, using torchlight, gathered dry firewood. Wan'er said, "Do you think… is our master human?"

Zhuoran replied sharply, "What kind of talk is that?"

"I mean, the master daringly went alone to kill Lulu Beasts; you know, that's a whole herd, at least eighty heads. They are impervious to blades and spears. Not to mention the master could survive and bring back one from a herd of over eighty. Ordinary people hearing they're nearby would flee the camp early. I think he must be a celestial being; otherwise a mortal wouldn't have such courage or skill."

Zhuoran nodded in agreement, "Hmm, I originally only had a slight admiration for him, which is why I followed him. Seems I underestimated our master; from today on I will only respect him alone, not even my grandfather."

"Indeed admirable, this time we won't have to worry about food for half a month."

"I heard from grandfather that although Lulu Beasts are fierce, their meat is a rare delicacy; only dragon‑phoenix meat can match it, even the Emperor himself cannot enjoy it…"

……

A Lulu Beast weighing over a ton, after skinning and gutting, still leaves more than half a clean meat. According to Yan Qiu, the beast hide is a premium material for making leather armor, not only lightweight but also offers better protection than bronze armor.

It turned out the dead Lulu Beast could be placed into a bag; the bag was bought by Li Bucai from a general store and can shrink any item to fit inside. It wasted him so much effort.

After everyone finished eating, it was already deep night. With limited conditions, they could only improvise a straw bed. Wu Zhuoran and two others rested in the left tent, while the slightly larger right tent housed Li Bucai alone in the small central tent.

When Li Bucai entered the tent, Wu Zhuoran arranged for one person to stand watch, rotating every two hours, while the others returned to the tent to rest.

……