Chapter 169: Dragon Hunt 1 |
Du Yu stood at the entrance of the cave, while the Desert Raptor stood inside. It raised its head, its nostrils at the front of its snout lightly sniffing the air, and finally let out a low, ambiguous growl from its throat.
The next second, it moved.
Like a sharp arrow, it charged towards Du Yu!
"Hunting in a group has its methods, and hunting solo has its techniques." Du Yu's voice was clear, reaching everyone's ears.
Cao Biansheng and the others watched intently, not missing a single detail.
Because this might also be what they would need to face in the future.
The Desert Raptor tilted its head as it approached, suddenly opened its jaws, and lunged to bite Du Yu.
Du Yu's palm shifted, and the long spear in his hand struck like a venomous snake, aiming for the raptor's forelimbs. But the Desert Raptor reacted quickly, twisting its body in time. Its powerful legs pushed off, and it slammed sideways. The spear only managed to graze its flank, leaving a bloody streak.
"Hiss!"
Du Yu sidestepped with a horizontal jump. The instant his foot landed, the Desert Raptor's powerful tail swept towards his chest like a whip.
Du Yu performed an Iron Bridge stance, planting the butt of his spear on the ground for support, and used the momentum to thrust the spear forward.
This thrust was fast and accurate, piercing the Desert Raptor's chest.
But its body was huge, with a length close to five meters including its tail. Although this spear created a hole in its body, it didn't hit any vital organs.
The Desert Raptor leaped backward, its powerful claws circling Du Yu as it ran, its tail constantly swishing to maintain balance.
Yuan Dajun said, "I find it looks like an enlarged Mononykus."
Wang Yun said, "Because they are considered close relatives. You can think of it like a cat and a tiger."
Yuan Dajun still felt the raptor had a stronger sense of oppression: "I see. But their attack methods seem a bit different. The Mononykus relies on its foreclaws and mouth, while this one prefers using its tail and hind claws."
"Hiss!" In the center of the area, the Desert Raptor moved. It suddenly turned its head and fled directly towards a sparsely populated area to the side and rear.
The crowd was stunned, but without receiving any orders, no one blocked its path. They could only watch as the Desert Raptor escaped.
Who would have thought this thing would actually run away?
But what impressed them even more was that this thing could actually be driven away by a person? This was no different from witnessing someone directly chasing away a tiger.
Yuan Ming sighed with admiration, "Instructor Du is awesome! He actually drove that thing away. How am I supposed to learn that? Guild Leader, are there any simpler techniques to operate?"
Cao Biansheng chimed in, "There are, there are. Go find some Poison Dart Frogs or a Poison Dart Tree, then apply the venom to your weapon. As long as you break the skin, you can leave the rest to the divine power of the toxin."
Du Yu's eyes sharpened. He lifted his long spear and chased after the direction the Desert Raptor had fled.
Although both had two legs, his speed was clearly no match for the Desert Raptor's. It soon disappeared from sight.
"Crowned Eagle." Qin Ziwen called out.
The Crowned Eagle, standing quietly on a withered tree not far away preening its feathers, turned its head and soared into the sky!
Du Yu nodded at Qin Ziwen, "Sir, I'll go ahead then."
With that, he prepared to give chase with his spear in hand.
"Wait." Qin Ziwen stopped him, then called for Chitu. "Go on horseback. Dismount when you fight."
Du Yu did not refuse, only giving a steady nod.
Qin Ziwen led the group back to the water source point to participate in the stone-stacking work.
Occasionally, some animals approached along the way, but upon glimpsing from afar the large number of busy humans, they quickly retreated.
After working for a long time, by evening, they had finally built a small wall of stacked stones around the area.
Simultaneously, they cleared three high points in the surroundings.
Someone laughed loudly, "Once we occupy this place, I can finally take a good shower."
"Haha, Liu Lao'er, you're so silly. Carrying two buckets of water back such a long distance just for a shower? Your wife would beat you to death."
"Hmph, who said I'm going back to shower? Can't I just take a cool shower nearby? I'll make a fence with planks then."
"You'll walk so far, and get all sweaty again on the way back."
"That's different. I'll scrub clean here first, then just wipe off the sweat with a washcloth when I get back."
After the arrangements were done, everyone started fetching water again.
"This water output isn't fast either," someone squatted down and suggested. "Should we chisel open the ground and make the hole bigger? Wouldn't that yield more water?"
A man dressed like a teacher in the crowd stopped his idea. "That carries great risks. It might damage the stability of the fissure structure in the rock layer. It's possible the water flow might increase in the short term, but in the long run, it could lead to the filtration system being damaged. Groundwater could carry up more suspended particles and clog the outlet."
Some people showed hesitation. If the structure was damaged, it would indeed impact the ecology.
But more people considered that their own survival came first. Only after they survived would they consider other things.
"Right, so what if it's damaged? Not to mention this is another world; even on Earth, this would count as an emergency measure! We can't really let thousands of us die of thirst, can we?"
The man tried to explain, "No, what I mean is, doing this is very risky. I studied geology. Groundwater systems are very complex. If we damage this water outlet, we might alter the groundwater flow field, causing the groundwater to change direction. The water output might decrease instead of increase, and new water outlets might form elsewhere."
The tone shifted.
"I think what you said makes sense. We only have this one water outlet right now, so there's really no need to take the risk."
"Right, the current output is barely enough if we save a bit. It's still usable."
Suddenly, the cry of the Crowned Eagle came from overhead.
Qin Ziwen looked towards the direction of the sound. At the end of the passageway on the left side.
A Mongolian Horse was tied with a rope, dragging a huge corpse behind it, slowly walking towards them.
Beside it, a man carrying a long spear followed closely.
The surrounding clamor gradually faded. Many people who had been sitting on the ground resting stood up one after another, their gazes falling upon the Desert Raptor corpse being dragged behind the Mongolian Horse.
The look he gave Du Yu was one of reverence, as if gazing upon a deity.