Mission

The entire way, no one spoke. Before long, the group made a discovery.

Zhang Ding crouched on the ground, using a branch to prod at the round black pellets of dung scattered there. He even brought the branch beneath his nose for a sniff.

"That's right, this is Horned Badger dung. Those beasts were active here. Judging by the traces in the droppings, it's been several hours. If we lie in wait by the nearby water source, we should be able to catch that pack of beasts."

A faint smile appeared on Zhang Ding's face. Having confirmed the Horned Badgers' range of activity, everything became much simpler.

Zhang Ding was undoubtedly an outstanding hunter. Along the way, he could identify what sort of wild beast had passed through just by the traces left in the surrounding vegetation.

As an old hand of the Beast Hunter Hall, who among them did not have a few skills up their sleeve?

The following time was exceedingly dull. The group spread out around a nearby spring, quietly lying in wait for prey to come knocking.

That wait lasted a full day and night. At night, they took turns keeping watch and resting. Fortunately, they were all experienced, and it was not unusual for them to spend the night in Yangping Mountain. Aside from a wild boar that had been driven away at dusk, nothing unexpected happened afterward.

They waited until noon on the second day. Lin Sheng chewed on dried rock goat meat while reading an old, worn booklet in his hands.

This was the Hundred Beasts Scroll issued to every member upon joining the Beast Hunter Hall. It recorded information on the various wild beasts of Yangping Mountain, and its value to him was naturally beyond measure.

Listed first in the booklet was a bear-type spirit beast. The Silver-ringed Scale Bear stood eight meters tall, its entire body covered in black scales with silver patterns. It possessed boundless strength and astonishing defense, with Blood Circulation level combat power.

Furthermore, the first seven spirit beasts in the booklet were all marked as possessing Blood Circulation realm combat power.

This left Lin Sheng greatly astonished. He had not expected Yangping Mountain to contain such powerful spirit beasts—seven of them, no less.

"Blood Circulation level combat power... that already counts as the highest level of combat power in all of Lin'an County. I wonder whether there are even seven Blood Circulation realm martial artists in the entire county seat?"

As Lin Sheng pondered this, he raised Yangping Mountain's danger level several notches in his mind.

Noticing the Hundred Beasts Scroll in Lin Sheng's hand, Zhang Ding grinned from beside him.

"Did seeing so many Blood Circulation realm exotic beasts scare you?"

"A little."

Lin Sheng nodded cooperatively.

"I didn't expect Yangping Mountain to have so many exotic beasts."

"Of course. The waters in Yangping Mountain run deep. But there's no need to overthink it, Brother Lin. Those powerful Blood Circulation realm spirit beasts listed near the front mostly dwell deep within Yangping Mountain, far from this outer region of ours. Besides, those Blood Circulation spirit beasts are lazy. They might not come out even once in decades."

"Anyway, I've been in the Beast Hunter Hall for three or four years, and I've never once seen those things. Forget Blood Circulation realm spirit beasts—even a Muscle Forging realm spirit beast like the Red-bellied Spirit Snake is quite rare."

Zhang Ding explained with a faint smile.

Lin Sheng nodded slightly as well. Naturally, he understood this. If Blood Circulation realm spirit beasts appeared frequently, the people of the Beast Hunter Hall would likely have died countless times over already.

The Hundred Beasts Scroll also contained a record of the Red-bellied Spirit Snake. It ranked eleventh, still quite high, which showed that this spirit beast was absolutely among the very best in the Muscle Forging realm.

The two exchanged a few more words before falling silent, because a series of cicada calls had already sounded in the distance. This was the Beast Hunter Hall's secret signal. Clearly, after waiting a day and a night, the main quarry had finally arrived.

Squeak squeak... chirp...

Everyone held their breath and waited quietly. After roughly the time it took to burn an incense stick, a strange cry sounded from afar. As time passed, the sound grew louder and louder.

The squeak-chirp cries rang without end, proving that quite a few creatures were approaching.

"Be careful, all of you. Don't make any noise. Horned Badgers have sharp ears."

Zhang Ding lowered his voice to remind those behind him. Everyone nodded to show they understood.

Lin Sheng was naturally the same. His eyes remained fixed tightly ahead, wanting to see what the Horned Badger truly looked like.

Before long, as the cries drew closer and closer, the dense bushes ahead shook. A furry head poked out, sporting two horns much like those of a goat, while its two round eyes constantly glanced around.

Then the furry creature emerged fully from the bushes. It was fat and stout, with short legs and a round body covered in thick black-and-white fur. It was a size smaller than a rock goat, but roughly comparable to a wild boar from Lin Sheng's previous life.

"So this is a Horned Badger?"

Seeing this strange and peculiar exotic beast, Lin Sheng muttered inwardly.

At that moment, the bushes nearby shook as Horned Badgers emerged one after another. Once they confirmed there was no danger nearby, these exotic beasts slowly headed toward the spring.

Several wild rabbits resting beside the spring noticed the movement behind them and, terrified, hurriedly burrowed into the nearby bushes. Yet they had only gone a few yards before the Horned Badgers bit them in one mouthful and swallowed them alive.

There were already more than thirty Horned Badgers gathered beside the spring, over thirty percent more than originally planned.

"Why are there so many more? The rope traps we set probably can't hold this many."

Zhang Ding spoke in a low voice, his brow furrowing as he found himself unable to make up his mind.

After all, while Horned Badgers were not especially threatening, they had considerable brute strength. In a one-on-one contest, their raw power far surpassed that of creatures like rock goats. Ordinary exotic beasts would not provoke a group of Horned Badgers this large.

"Forget it. Let's see what Captain Wang decides."

Zhang Ding quickly shook his head and stopped worrying about it. Wang Sanyang was still above them, and the decision rested with him.

At this point, most of the Horned Badgers had reached the spring and lowered their heads to drink greedily.

"Move!!"

More than ten breaths later, a loud shout suddenly rang out from above. It was Wang Sanyang's voice.

The next moment, figures leaped out from the ancient trees around them and from the dead grass on the ground.

Lin Sheng also jumped out behind Zhang Ding.

Every beast hunter of the Beast Hunter Hall now held a rope as thick as a child's forearm.

As the ropes were pulled taut, the rope net buried in the ground around the spring burst from the earth, enclosing most of the Horned Badgers. Only seven or eight remained outside. Frightened out of their wits by the sudden turn of events, they fled in all directions.

"Don't worry about those few! Secure the rope net first!"

Wang Sanyang's voice rang out. He gripped two ropes in his hands, the veins on his wrists bulging as he clearly exerted tremendous force.

There were simply too many Horned Badgers this time, leaving him no choice but to use all his strength.

The other hunters also clutched ropes, swiftly securing them to the ancient trees nearby.

Once the ropes were fully secured, these Horned Badgers would be lambs awaiting slaughter.

At this moment, the Horned Badgers within the rope net seemed to realize this as well and began madly ramming the net before them.