Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Wilderness and a Call for Help
[Beast Taming Skill, Beginner (711→719/1000)]
"CAW CAW!"
The Blood Crow spread its black wings, circling in the sky.
Tang Wen asked in an uncertain tone, "You mean there are two targets?"
"CAW!"
’One caw should mean it’s certain, right?’
He ventured a guess and asked a few more questions, to which the Blood Crow responded every time.
’This should be solid now.’
Tang Wen was relieved that he could communicate smoothly with the Blood Crow.
He took out a special treat: food made from a mixture of minced Exotic Beast Meat, Beast Blood, and Maize.
They were meatballs the size of Maltesers, cooked medium, still bloody and perfectly tender.
After eating its fill, the Blood Crow flew about even more joyfully.
It was having a grand time frolicking in the air.
It flew toward the barren hills.
Horse and deer hooves crushed the dehydrated, weathered stone shards on the ground as a south wind kicked up flurries of sand and grit.
As soon as they reached the foot of the hills, faint roars drifted over.
’What’s that commotion?’
Tang Wen left the horse and deer behind, stealthily took out his Thousand-Mile Telescope, and crept forward to observe.
Not far from the barren hills was a river that had run dry.
By the riverbed, dozens of Exotic Beasts were locked in combat, their roars fierce and mournful amidst flying sand and stones.
One side consisted of Sand Lizards, the other of Black Hyenas.
A rough count revealed more than thirty of them in total.
Tang Wen looked to the sky, speechless. "These are the two targets you mentioned?"
"CAW, CAW." The Blood Crow’s caws were assertive. It held its head high, as if to say, ’That’s right.’
The Sand Lizards were two-meter-long gray lizards, and the Black Hyenas were a third larger than the giant dogs of his previous life.
The former were slow but powerful.
The latter were agile and dealt high damage.
As both were Middle-level Exotic Beasts, they were evenly matched in battle.
The river was dry, the plants had withered, and herbivores were nowhere to be found.
Tang Wen understood the reason for the struggle. With the drought’s arrival, the wilderness was the most severely affected, and the Exotic Beasts were also starving.
They were likely fighting over territory and water.
But as he contemplated the scene, a strange thought occurred to him.
Since water was so scarce, and Exotic Beasts weren’t just mindless animals, why didn’t they head to the lake to hunt and survive instead of facing such heavy losses here?
Although the great lake’s water level was dropping rapidly, its water supply was still countless times more abundant than what was available here in the wilderness.
Speaking of which, the terrain around the camp was quite interesting.
It encompassed various terrains, including lakes, forests, mountains, wilderness, and swamps.
From north to south, the temperature difference was stark.
Topographically, the elevation fluctuated wildly from east to west and north to south, with almost no discernible pattern.
On Earth, mountains had snowy peaks, with permafrost, grasslands, cold-resistant forests, and lakes at different altitudes below.
The different landforms around the camp were probably also due to differences in altitude.
AWOOO~
The wolf howl was faint, almost imaginary.
Tang Wen looked into the distance but couldn’t see a thing.
The drought had arrived, and the ice cellar back home was far from full.
’This pack of Middle-level Exotic Beasts down there is all mine.’
’Not even the Sand Wolves can stop me.’
The thought had barely formed when a wolf howl echoed from the distance.
AWOOO!
The howling grew clearer.
The two warring factions by the riverbed faltered for a moment, then lunged at their opponents with even greater ferocity.
Exotic Beasts had limited intelligence, after all. Now, with their eyes bloodshot from the slaughter, they weren’t thinking about cutting their losses, but about achieving a swift victory.
’A foolish choice.’
Tang Wen waited no longer. Suppressing his aura, he rose onto his tiptoes, hunched over like a cat, and drifted down like a shadow.
Some of the Sand Lizards and Black Hyenas noticed his figure.
But in the heat of their life-or-death struggle, they couldn’t afford to pay attention to a mere human.
Tang Wen reached the south bank of the riverbed and stood to the east, about four or five hundred meters from the battling groups.
RUSTLE. He opened his cloth bag of stones, rummaged inside, and pulled out a stack of "disc-shaped" rocks—or rather, stone slivers.
These slivers had been crudely polished; their thickness and size were remarkably uniform.
Anyone holding them would feel an irresistible urge to skip them across water.
The slivers were stacked in groups of ten.
Tang Wen walked from east to west, approaching the battlefield.
Five hundred meters, four hundred and fifty meters... Fearing he might startle the combatants, he moved very slowly, but the distance wasn’t great to begin with.
By the time he counted to "559" in his head, he was less than a hundred meters from the battlefield.
AWOOO!
The wolf howl was like a death knell. The two warring groups fought with even greater frenzy, determined to finish off their rivals before making their escape.
After all, the Sand Wolf Pack’s territory was to the south; they wouldn’t linger by the river for long.
Suddenly, a sharp, piercing shriek, the likes of which had never been heard before, rang out.
It sounded as if someone were scraping a sharp tool rapidly across sheet metal.
It was so piercing it made one’s hair stand on end!
The noise was so loud it completely drowned out the furious roars of the combatants.
Exotic Beasts have senses far more sensitive than humans.
The instant the sound erupted, all thirty-plus Sand Lizards and Black Hyenas froze in unison.
As if under some command, they simultaneously turned their heads, fixing the cruel, red glow in their eyes in Tang Wen’s direction.
Then, just as quickly, they looked away. Ignoring the opponents before them, they all burst into motion, attempting to flee in every direction.
But that momentary delay—that single turn of the head—had already sealed their fate.
Tang Wen swiftly unleashed a Visualization Burst. Ten Flying Locust Stones shot out from five vectors—high, middle, low, front, and back—locking down all avenues of escape.
A series of sonic booms echoed like rolling Thunder.
Flames seemed to flow through the air.
A wave of heat washed over the riverbed.
The stone slivers tore violently into the bodies of the Sand Lizards and hyenas, ripping out large chunks of flesh before streaking into the next target...
In an instant, flesh and blood flew everywhere amidst miserable shrieks.
More Sand Lizards and Black Hyenas used the bodies of their companions or opponents as shields.
The survivors fled in a mad dash.
Tang Wen, having unleashed ten bursts in one go, took a few breaths to recover his composure. He then rushed to the riverbed, blade in hand, and delivered a finishing blow to each of the wailing creatures.
The howls of the Sand Wolf Pack grew clearer.
He couldn’t afford to tidy up. He turned and ran back to the barren hills, bringing his warhorse and two moose down to the riverbed.
He tied the thirteen carcasses on the ground together in pairs.
He quickly calculated in his head: ’One moose can carry four, so two can carry eight. The remaining three go to the horse!’
’I should be able to haul them all away easily... right?’
He lifted two Black Hyenas and slung them over a moose’s back.
The moose’s legs immediately gave way. It staggered a few steps and let out a mournful cry, unable to walk steadily.
"Useless thing."
Tang Wen cursed, then had no choice but to pull out the waterproof tarp he had prepared earlier.
He piled the carcasses onto the tarp and had the two moose and the horse drag it.
AWOOO!
Before Tang Wen could even cross the riverbed, the figures of Sand Wolves appeared to the South.
One, two... five of them.
’Just these few?’
His eyes glinted.
’Five Sand Wolves, Middle-level Exotic Beast strength... could they come over and help me carry my haul?’
A second later, he abandoned the fantasy. Sand Wolves were Middle-level Exotic Beasts, after all.
Capturing one or two alive might be feasible, but five was practically impossible.
AWOOO!
More howls echoed from even farther away.
The five Sand Wolves, drawn by the scent of fresh blood and meat, trotted closer.
At their speed, they would catch up to Tang Wen within a couple of miles.
"Ganging up on me like this, you have no honor."
Tang Wen grabbed a cobblestone and hurled it, making the air roar.
But the distance was too great. In the brief moment it took the stone to travel, the Sand Wolves had already leaped far out of the way.
The Flying Locust Stone slammed into a hillock with a loud BANG. The ground collapsed, forming a series of deep craters.
The Sand Wolves circled, not daring to advance. After a long pause, they slowly approached the edge of the craters and peered down, observing for a good while.
Ultimately, however, they did not dare to give chase.
The effect of a Grandmaster Level Flying Locust Stone was far beyond the Sand Wolf Pack’s comprehension.
Only when Tang Wen was long gone with his moose and horse did the Sand Wolf Pack approach the South bank of the river to lick the blood and scraps of meat left on the ground.
"The hunt is a thrill, but hauling the meat is a real pain!"
Once there was no sign of the Sand Wolves behind him, he raised his Hand Crossbow and fired it into the sky.
FWEET!
The Whistling Arrow streaked across the sky, trailing a long, shrill sound.
This was the signal he had arranged with the wilderness Hunting Team.
When the Hunting Team heard the signal, they would send people to provide support.
THUD-THUD-THUD.
In less than ten minutes, the sound of hooves echoed.
’So fast?’
’Impossible.’
’Could someone have been nearby?’
The hoofbeats grew closer and closer.
"Help me!"
"Alright, guess not."
Tang Wen’s smile froze on his face. He rubbed his temples and braced himself.
