Chapter 276: Fiery Sheep!

"Fiery Sheep? My lord, I have heard of them. It is said that great nobles buy them year-round, and each one is worth over a hundred gold coins!"

"Because their fur is one of the warmest materials, its value even surpasses that of demon beast meat!"

"Of course, I have heard the greatest value of the Fiery Sheep lies in using them as 'sparks'."

"Breed them to produce a large number of Fiery Sheep lambs, because every complete Fiery Sheep pelt is worth several gold coins."

"However, I have heard Fiery Sheep are also peculiar; the lambs they breed revert to ordinary bloodlines after the fifth generation!"

"So, one must continuously replenish new Fiery Sheep to maintain the sustained output of a Fiery Sheep ranch!"

"Exactly! It seems Captain Pike knows a great deal!"

Gervas nodded in satisfaction. Knowing about these Fiery Sheep was enough; at least he would know how to hunt them.

And this should all be thanks to the Hunter Village chief, who had once served in a great noble family.

Therefore, any profession requires true talent; this way, matters are accomplished with half the effort and double the results.

"My lord, have Fiery Sheep appeared near Storm Domain?" Captain Pike looked at Gervas excitedly.

After all, when his lord mentioned these rare prey in the past, it was usually because they had already been discovered and he needed to go capture them.

"Yes, Captain Pike. Zuiyue discovered several Fiery Sheep appearing within Storm Domain yesterday, and just now, Zuiyue discovered them again. So, I need you and me to catch them. Do you have the confidence!"

Captain Pike's expression turned serious. "My lord, I will certainly do my utmost to complete the mission!"

"Very good. How many hands and what tools do you need? Communicate with Steward Old John immediately; we depart in half an hour!"

"Yes, my lord!"

The tools Captain Pike needed to prepare were not many, but they were peculiar.

They were ten sturdy yellow oxen.

Besides that, the manpower was just the group of hunters from Hunter Village.

Half an hour later, everything was ready. Gervas took only a few knights and departed with Captain Pike.

Soon, the group arrived at Crystal Lake as the intelligence reported.

"This... My lord, this is Fire Crystal Grass. No wonder Fiery Sheep appear here. Look at the surface of these leaves; they have a layer of fiery red transparent film, like a crystal shell."

"This is the plant Fiery Sheep like to eat the most!"

"According to what the chief taught me, if you want to capture Fiery Sheep, you can place a large amount of Fire Crystal Grass where Fiery Sheep might appear, then lure them out!"

"So this is Fire Crystal Grass. It seems Storm Domain is truly a blessed land. Not only does it have Night Fragrant Grass and Dragon Blood Grass, now it even has Fire Crystal Grass!"

Clearly, Captain Pike was indeed very professional!

And Gervas also pretended to look surprised.

"Yes, my lord. The God of Glory has favored you and Storm Domain. The chief said before that it was his first time seeing a domain where Night Fragrant Grass and Dragon Blood Grass appeared simultaneously!"

Afterwards, Gervas's group did not delay and prepared for the capture.

Captain Pike also explained the capture process to Gervas.

The origin of the name Fiery Sheep is not without reason, because its temper is truly fiery.

Once enraged, it will explode.

Explode right where it stands.

Moreover, the power of the explosion is not small, using it to injure or scare away enemies.

As for itself, it remains unharmed after the explosion.

So, capturing this Fiery Sheep is more difficult and dangerous than capturing Fire Stallions.

Of course, with preparation and knowing the capture method, it is completely no problem.

First, use yellow oxen to enrage the Fiery Sheep, making it explode.

And each Fiery Sheep can only produce one explosion per day.

After the explosion passes, they become lambs awaiting slaughter, not much harder to catch than ordinary sheep.

Soon, the setup was complete.

A large pile of shrub branches was stacked near the Fire Crystal Grass to conceal Gervas's group and the yellow oxen's figures and scents.

"My lord, they are coming!"

After waiting for about half an hour more, Captain Pike suddenly spoke in a lowered voice.

Looking in the direction he pointed.

Indeed, at the edge of the grass in the distance, the Fiery Sheep were seen appearing and disappearing.

They were very alert, moving through the waist-high weeds.

If not for the Fiery Sheep's build being taller than ordinary sheep, it would be very hard to discover them.

Of course, the Fiery Sheep has another characteristic: their skin is actually black.

Except for the places covered by snow-white wool, their entire exposed faces are pitch black.

This damn sense of déjà vu; Gervas felt he must have lived in some animation in his past life?

Moreover, he guessed the Fiery Sheep's four limbs were definitely dark black too.

While Gervas's thoughts drifted, the Fiery Sheep continued to approach.

After dawdling for more than ten minutes, they finally confirmed it was safe, and immediately began to feast.

By this time, the number of Fiery Sheep was finally confirmed; there were a full six of them.

That is to say, finishing this job would be worth six hundred gold coins.

Of course, if taken back to serve as sparks and bred with ordinary sheep in the ranch, next year the numbers might directly multiply several times over.

Captain Pike cast a questioning glance; Gervas nodded slightly.

Having received permission, Captain Pike immediately acted.

He suddenly leaped up, sat on the back of a yellow ox, and then waved his whip, striking it hard.

Moo! Moo! Moo!

The yellow oxen, originally grazing peacefully, were startled and suddenly bolted forward.

The other yellow oxen, their noses bound by ropes, also began to race wildly.

Under Pike's control, the herd of yellow oxen charged toward the group of fiery sheep.

The fiery sheep sensed the commotion; initially frightened and ready to flee, they stopped dead in their tracks upon seeing only ten yellow oxen.

Baa! Baa! Baa!

The fiery sheep lined up in a row, snorting from their nostrils, continuously issuing warnings at the yellow oxen.

The yellow oxen also felt fear.

Unfortunately, the yellow oxen's noses were all tied to the rope in Pike's hand, forcing them to keep charging forward with the ox beneath Pike.

The yellow oxen and the fiery sheep drew closer.

Moo! Moo! Moo!

Baa! Baa! Baa!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Six detonations echoed across the grassland.

Of course, six plumes of mushroom-shaped black smoke rose into the sky after the explosions.

"This… this is terrifying!" Knight Mi Gen stared, dumbfounded.

The fiery sheep's explosions were far more frightening than imagined.

Within two meters of the explosion zone, the surrounding grass—except for fire-crystal grass—had been completely burned away, the ground charred black.

Of course, there were the yellow oxen: four turned pitch-black and lay motionless on the ground; the remaining six stumbled and reeled, badly battered by the blasts.

Pike had jumped off his ox in advance; otherwise, he likely would have met a grim fate.

But this truly was boldness born of supreme skill.

Jump too early, and the yellow oxen scatter, failing to lure all the fiery sheep into explosion.

Jump too late, and his fate would be no different from those four yellow oxen.

"Quick, charge in and capture them!"

The hunters wasted no time, rushing forward with ropes in hand.

Having lost their explosive ability, the fiery sheep were all captured within moments.