Chapter 74: Easy Hunting |
Late at night, Redwood Ridge.
The cold wind was biting, and the landscape was wrapped in silver.
Towering trees hung with countless long icicles formed a silent, peaceful snowy forest. Aside from the occasional crack as an icicle broke off in the wind and struck the ground, almost no other sound could be heard.
Beneath a Golden Frost Tree over seven meters in diameter, nine figures flickered in the dim light.
From a tree beside the Golden Frost Tree, one person jumped down. Holding a large blade, he gave a few instructions to the nine gathered beneath the tree.
Immediately, the nine people took out several ropes from their bodies, laying them on the ground before covering them with snow. Each then grabbed one end of a rope and hid behind nearby trees.
The man with the blade, seeing everyone had taken cover, looked up and made a hand gesture toward a tree on the left side of the Golden Frost Tree.
Whoosh...
No more than two breaths later, an arrow suddenly shot through the air from the left tree, flying straight above the Golden Frost Tree.
“Roar...”
Right after the arrow came a terrifying roar from a frost beast.
Above the Golden Frost Tree, an adult Snow Mane nearly four meters long crouched.
The Snow Mane leapt from the tree, its four thick hooves stamping into the snow over a meter deep. Its two upward-curving tusks and fierce eyes locked onto the man standing below, body twitching with anticipation.
On the right side of its face, about ten centimeters from its eye, a black arrow was lodged—the very arrow shot from the tree on the left.
“Roar...”
Blood tinged the Snow Mane’s pupils as it roared furiously. Its hind legs pushed off the ground like a cannonball, charging directly at the man with the blade. The terrifying impact sent snow flying in a white shockwave, surging to the man’s feet in an instant.
“Pull the ropes!”
The man with the blade remained calm and commanded. The nine hiding behind trees all pulled their ropes with full force simultaneously.
Taut...
The ropes in the snow tightened instantly, blocking the Snow Mane’s charging path.
Caught off guard, the Snow Mane’s legs were tripped. Though its powerful charge dragged the nine pulling the ropes, causing them to stagger, its speed suddenly slowed and its front limbs were hooked. The strong momentum nearly caused it to topple sideways.
The moment the nine appeared, the Snow Mane’s pupils contracted sharply, sensing danger. It forced its body steady, stopped charging forward, and instead turned to flee.
“Want to run? Not that easy!”
As it nearly toppled, the man with the blade lunged beside it in a powerful step. Seeing the Snow Mane turn to escape, he gripped his blade with both hands and swung it fiercely toward the beast’s skull.
Whoosh...
The blade sliced through the air with a whistling sound.
The cold edge of the great blade flashed in the man’s eyes. The Snow Mane’s ferocity was ignited; it turned its head and lunged forward with elongated tusks toward the blade.
The Snow Mane was cunning, aiming to use its hardest tusks to collide with the opponent’s blade.
But the man holding the blade was not so easy to deal with.
At the moment the Snow Mane charged, the man twisted his body sharply, dodging first to the left. Then he raised his blade horizontally, using the sharp edge like a sword, stabbing straight into the right side of the Snow Mane’s neck.
The Snow Mane sensed the blade piercing several inches into its right neck. Its pupils flashed with fear, but its raging momentum was uncontrollable. It could only grit its teeth and continue charging forward, trying to force the blade away.
Unfortunately, the man’s hand holding the blade did not move at all.
Tear...
The blade, initially pierced only a few inches, was pushed forward by the Snow Mane’s violent charge, slicing from its right neck through the abdomen and even reaching its tail. The wound deepened from a few inches to over half a meter.
In the end, the Snow Mane stopped, with only half the blade still protruding outside.
Spurt...
A spray of dark green blood burst from the wound. The Snow Mane turned its head and opened its mouth, attempting to stick out its tongue in a last struggle. But just as the tongue extended, the man withdrew his blade and sliced down, severing the tongue before it could stretch fully.
The tongue broke off, and the Snow Mane’s furious, terrified pupils instantly dimmed. Its body twitched twice in the snow before finally ceasing.
Exhale...
Only then did the man release a deep breath, looking at the fallen Snow Mane and then down at his blade with satisfaction.
Seeing the beast fall, the nine who had pulled the ropes gathered excitedly, chatting animatedly.
“Leader, this Jinghan Blade is really strong, isn’t it?”
“The blade is strong, but the leader’s strength is even stronger. That Snow Mane’s charge was so terrifying, if it were us holding the blade, I doubt we could have stopped it.”
“That Snow Mane was pretty sly, its first reaction was actually to run away.”
“Hahaha, no need to rely on small torches or luck to hunt anymore. With this blade, Great Xia really has hunting capability now.”
...
This group was, of course, from the Great Xia Camp.
The blade was just finished sharpening as night fell. Xia Hong did not waste time and brought everyone to Redwood Ridge to test the blade.
Xia Hong’s mood was very excited. Though he had used a ten-forged great blade at Rogge Camp before, that battle was against Abominations, and the real damage came from concentrated fire oil and torches. The iron blade’s power was barely noticeable.
He had no idea how effective this newly forged Jinghan Blade would be against frost beasts before testing it.
Now, looking at the Snow Mane’s corpse, Xia Hong was confident.
A ten-forged weapon could easily break through the defenses of lower-level frost beasts.
Of course, it still depended on the user’s strength. As Xia Chuan had said earlier, even if they held the Jinghan Blade and could pierce the Snow Mane’s defense, they couldn’t withstand its terrifying charge of over ten thousand jin (about five tons).
This was why the Boulder Camp still relied mainly on bows and arrows for hunting, even though they had blades.
While the group was discussing, another person jumped down from the tree on the left. He carried a bow and arrows on his back and had his right eye covered with a piece of leather. He approached the Snow Mane’s corpse and pulled out the black arrow lodged in its right face with a disappointed look.
“Leader, my archery skills are still too poor. I couldn’t be of much help.”
Xia Hong shook his head and patted Xu Ning’s shoulder with a smile. “You’ve only practiced for one day. Having this level is already good. If you train well with Shi Qing and his son, being a perfect shot is only a matter of time.”
Xu Ning’s wound had long since healed, but without his right eye, his strength was much diminished.
Having not ventured out for a long time, he was anxious.
Yesterday, when Xia Hong and the others returned and gave the bow and arrows back to Shi Qing, Xu Ning immediately sought him out.
Knowing the Great Xia Camp’s request and Xu Ning’s purpose, Shi Qing directly gave Xu Ning the bow and arrows that his younger brother Shi Dong had used before. He even personally taught Xu Ning how to shoot, explaining everything he could and having his son Shi Ping demonstrate the techniques.
Shi Ping and his sister Shi Lu both had remarkable archery talent, so teaching a beginner like Xu Ning was more than enough for them.
Perhaps Qiu Peng’s prediction was right—Xu Ning really had great archery talent. Even Shi Qing couldn’t help but praise him.
That last arrow was supposed to hit the Snow Mane’s eye for maximum damage. Though Xu Ning missed slightly, it was not by much—just about ten centimeters from the eye, hitting the face.
Remember, Xu Ning had only practiced for one full day.
Given time, he would definitely become a perfect marksman.
“Alright, no chopping trees tonight. I’ll craft some saws in the next few days. You eight carry the Snow Mane back first. Chuan and Cheng, come with me to check on the Crystal Fruit Trees at Boulder Camp.”
Yue Feng and the other eight nodded and carried the Snow Mane back to camp.
Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng followed behind Xia Hong, heading toward the Crystal Fruit Trees.