Chapter 276: Fiery Sheep!

"Fiery Sheep? My lord, I've heard of them—they're constantly bought by noble families, each worth over a hundred gold coins!"

"Their fur is one of the warmest materials available, even more valuable than demonic beast meat!"

"Of course, it's said the greatest value of fiery sheep lies in their use as 'fire seeds.'"

"By breeding them into large numbers of lambs, each intact fiery sheep pelt can be worth several gold coins."

"But it's also said fiery sheep are peculiar—after five generations of breeding, their offspring revert to ordinary bloodlines!"

"So, you must continuously replenish new fiery sheep to sustain steady output from the flock."

"Exactly! Looks like you know a lot, Pik!"

Gervas nodded in satisfaction—knowing about fiery sheep meant he at least understood how to hunt them.

And this knowledge likely came from the hunter village chief, who once served a great noble house.

Thus, any profession requires true talent—otherwise, tasks become twice as hard.

"My lord, have fiery sheep appeared near Stormhold?" Pik stared at Gervas, excited.

After all, whenever his lord mentioned rare prey, it was always because he'd already spotted them and needed someone to capture them.

"Yes, Pik. Zhao Yue found several fiery sheep entering Stormhold yesterday, and just now, Zhao Yue spotted them again. I need you to come with me and capture them—do you have the confidence?"

Pik's expression hardened. "My lord, I will give my all to complete this mission!"

"Good. Tell Old John the steward how many men and what tools you need—we depart in half an hour!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Pik didn't need many tools, but they were unusual.

Ten sturdy oxen.

As for manpower, only the hunters of the village were needed.

Half an hour later, all was ready. Gervas took only a few knights and set out with Pik.

Soon, the group arrived at Crystal Lake.

"This… my lord, these are fire-crystal grasses! No wonder fiery sheep appear here—look at the surface of the leaves, covered in a transparent red film like a crystal shell."

"This is exactly what fiery sheep love to eat!"

"According to what the chief taught me, to capture fiery sheep, you can place large quantities of fire-crystal grass where they're likely to appear, then lure them out!"

"So this is fire-crystal grass. Stormhold truly is a blessed land—it has night-scented grass, dragon's blood grass, and now fire-crystal grass too!"

Clearly, Pik was truly professional!

Gervas feigned surprise.

"Yes, my lord. The Glory God has blessed you and Stormhold. The chief said before—he'd never seen a domain host both night-scented grass and dragon's blood grass at once!"

Then, Gervas's party wasted no time and began preparing for the capture.

Pik also explained the capture method to Gervas.

The name "fiery sheep" isn't without reason—its temper truly is fiery.

Once enraged, it explodes.

Right where it stands.

And the explosion is powerful enough to injure or scare off enemies.

Yet the sheep itself remains unharmed after the blast.

Thus, capturing fiery sheep is more difficult and dangerous than capturing firehorses.

But with proper preparation and knowledge of the method, it's entirely manageable.

First, use oxen to provoke the fiery sheep into exploding.

Each fiery sheep can produce only one explosion per day.

After the explosion, they become as easy to catch as ordinary sheep.

Soon, the setup was complete.

Around the fire-crystal grass, piles of shrubs and branches were arranged to conceal Gervas's group and the oxen from sight and scent.

"My lord, they're coming!"

After another half-hour of waiting, Pik suddenly whispered.

Following his gaze,

there, at the edge of the distant grasses, fiery sheep appeared and vanished intermittently.

They were extremely cautious, moving through the waist-high weeds.

Had they not been taller than ordinary sheep, they'd have been nearly impossible to spot.

Of course, fiery sheep had another trait—their skin was black.

Except where their white wool covered them, their exposed faces were pitch-black.

This eerie sense of déjà vu—Gervas felt he'd seen this somewhere in an animation in his past life.

And he guessed their limbs were black too.

As Gervas's thoughts drifted, the fiery sheep drew closer.

After lingering for over ten minutes, they finally deemed it safe and began feasting.

At this point, their number was confirmed: six in total.

That meant this haul was worth six hundred gold coins.

And if taken back as fire seeds to breed with ordinary sheep, next year's flock could multiply many times over.

Pik cast a questioning glance. Gervas gave a slight nod.

With permission granted, Pik moved instantly.

He leapt up, mounting one ox, then whipped it hard.

Moo! Moo! Moo!

The oxen, previously grazing peacefully, panicked and bolted forward.

The other oxen, their noses tied to ropes, also began racing.

Under Pik's control, the oxen stampeded toward the fiery sheep.

The fiery sheep sensed the commotion, startled and ready to flee—but when they saw ten oxen, they halted.

Baa! Baa! Baa!

The fiery sheep lined up, snorting, issuing warnings at the oxen.

The oxen grew fearful.

But their noses were tied to ropes in Pik's hands—they could only follow the ox Pik rode.

The oxen and fiery sheep drew nearer.

Moo! Moo! Moo!

Baa! Baa! Baa!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Six thunderous explosions ripped across the grassland.

And six mushroom clouds of black smoke rose into the sky.

"This… this is terrifying!" Migen stared, dumbfounded.

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

Within a two-meter radius of each blast, the grass—except the fire-crystal grass—was completely incinerated, the ground charred black.

The oxen fared worse: four lay blackened and motionless; the other six staggered, badly wounded by the blasts.

Pik had jumped off his ox in time—otherwise, he'd likely be dead.

But this was truly skill born of boldness.

Jump too early, and the oxen scatter, failing to trigger all the fiery sheep.

Jump too late, and his fate would match those four oxen.

"Quick! Charge and capture them!"

The hunters didn't hesitate—they rushed forward with ropes.

Deprived of their explosive power, the fiery sheep were swiftly captured within moments.