Switching

Nearly thirty horned badgers crazily slammed into the ropes. Their terrifying force instantly pulled the ropes taut as they began a tug-of-war with the hunters.

"Brothers, put your backs into it! Take these beasts down!"

Wang Sanyang bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"Yes, Chief!"

The hunters shouted back.

At that moment, Lin Sheng and Zhang Ding, along with several others, were gripping a rope and pulling with all their might.

"Scatter the powder, now!!"

Zhang Ding shouted to the hunters behind him. His face was flushed red, and sharp cracking sounds continually came from the hand gripping the rope. Clearly, he had already squeezed out every last drop of strength.

Their small team was responsible for the north side of the spring. At that moment, a full ten horned badgers were charging at them. Fortunately, they had secured two ropes to ancient trees nearby in advance. Otherwise, a single charge from ten horned badgers might truly have been more than these few people could withstand.

Even though they could barely hold back the beasts' charge now, they still found it difficult to secure the final rope anytime soon.

At Zhang Ding's shout, an old hunter behind them had already pulled a cloth pouch from his robes and hurled it fiercely at the horned badgers crashing against the rope net.

The pouch landed squarely on the head of a horned badger with bloodshot eyes, immediately bursting open and exploding into a cloud of grayish-white powder.

The powder was mixed with quite a bit of sedative. Even powerful wild beasts like horned badgers would inevitably be affected if they inhaled too much. As long as they held on a little longer, the outcome would be decided.

Squeak... squeak... screech...

Just then, strange cries rang out from the bushes behind them.

Zhang Ding's expression changed slightly when he heard them.

"Not good! Those horned badgers we let go earlier have come back!!"

The moment his words fell, several furry heads rushed out from behind them. Their eyes were bloodshot, and they charged at the hunters as though they had gone mad.

Most of the hunters had their attention on the horned badgers ahead, however, and these horned badgers were extremely fast.

Before anyone could react, horned badgers had already reached the hunters' backs. They opened their mouths, exposing rows of jagged teeth, and bit down on several hunters, tearing wildly.

The situation that had only just stabilized instantly descended into chaos. The horned badgers in the rope net also seemed to have been provoked, crashing about even more frenziedly as the gaps in the net were pulled wider and wider.

Two horned badgers also rushed toward the northern side where Lin Sheng and the others were stationed.

Even with Zhang Ding's warning, a hunter behind Lin Sheng failed to react in time. A horned badger bit into his shoulder, and blood sprayed from the wound, splattering Lin Sheng's face.

Before he could wipe away the blood on his face, a chorus of squeaks and screeches was already rapidly closing in on him.

Lin Sheng did not hesitate in the slightest. He immediately released the rope and shifted aside, while a foul-smelling gaping maw swept past him.

Before its owner could make another move, Lin Sheng had already seized the iron rod on the ground, gathered all his strength, and smashed it down.

Bang!

Amid the dull impact came the crisp sound of shattering bone.

That horned badger was smashed flat to the ground with a single blow, its skull caved deeply inward. Yet it had not quite died and still snorted as it struggled to rise, only to be struck hard by another blow. This time, it collapsed to the ground without another sound.

Everything happened too quickly. Behind him, the hunter's agonized screams continued to ring out.

He kept hammering backward with both hands, but with his shoulder caught in the horned badger's jaws, he could not muster any strength at all. Not only did he fail to make it release him, it bit down and tore even harder.

Just as the hunter fell into despair, there came a wet squelch.

The tearing pain constantly radiating from his shoulder abruptly ceased.

When he turned around from the ground, he saw only an iron rod that had stabbed through the horned badger's eye socket from his shoulder.

With the fall of a black cloth boot, the horned badger was kicked off him.

The other horned badgers that had charged over were also hastily dealt with by the hunters who had finally reacted.

Though the sudden turn of events had caught them off guard, fortunately, it had not allowed the many horned badgers in the rope net to escape.

After the time it took to burn an incense stick, the horned badgers in the net finally began to show signs of exhaustion. Their charges weakened considerably, and the hunters hurriedly took the chance to secure the ropes in their hands.

After waiting a while longer for the sedative to take full effect, the hunters finally entered with iron rods and knocked the horned badgers unconscious one by one.

Then, under Wang Sanyang's command, the hunters carried the horned badgers down the mountain.

Yet everyone's mood was low, and there was little joy at the harvest.

Large patches of blood stained the grass. This time, they had captured thirty-two horned badgers in total, absolutely exceeding their task. The reward afterward would certainly increase by quite a bit.

However, because of the horned badgers' sudden attack, they had still paid the price of three injured and two dead.

The group descended the mountain extremely quickly. Although they had knocked out most of the horned badgers, they had also left behind two dead badgers to divert any other wild beasts that might be drawn by the scent of blood.

They had delayed for quite some time at the spring, and no one could say whether some accident might occur.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened along the way. As they neared the foot of the mountain, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, and their somber mood improved somewhat.

"Damn it, who would have thought these horned badgers would bristle up and change their nature this time? They actually dared to turn around and launch a counterattack. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been any casualties at all."

Zhang Ding carried a flat, long pole across his shoulder, with a fat horned badger tied to it, and spoke bitterly.

"This time, we really have Brother Lin to thank for reacting quickly. Otherwise, Xiao Shi wouldn't have gotten away with merely being injured."

His gaze fell on Lin Sheng as he spoke.

"It was also because Xiao Shi drew those two beasts' attention first. Otherwise, I might have gone down too."

Lin Sheng shook his head slightly.

Quite a bit of dried blood still stained his face.

What had happened this time was indeed dangerous. Though he believed that even without the hunter named Xiao Shi behind him, he would not have ended up as badly as Xiao Shi had, he definitely would not have dispatched those two beasts so easily either.

There would inevitably have been a scramble, and it was even possible he might have been injured in the rush.

"No matter what, you deserve credit for what happened today. Once we get back, I'll put in a word with Captain Wang."

Zhang Ding said firmly.

Seeing this, Lin Sheng said nothing further and merely nodded silently.

He knew that continuing would only make him seem overly sentimental.

No one spoke again. Lin Sheng's eyes were slightly unfocused, his attention already fixed on the new information in his mind.

Beast name: Horned Badger (Mortal Grade)

A relatively common wild beast in the mountains and wilderness. Round-bodied and thick-fleshed, it is often timid by nature,... it can be ranked among the mid-tier Mortal Grade.

Assimilation requirement: None

Assimilation effect: Stamina Boost 1, Agility Boost 1.

"I never expected horned badgers to be mid-tier Mortal Grade exotic beasts."

Feeling the information in his mind, Lin Sheng was somewhat surprised, but on second thought, it made sense.

Though the description said they were timid by nature, when they went mad, they carried quite a bit of ferocity, especially given their speed. Otherwise, they would not have caught these veteran Beast Hunter Hall hunters so thoroughly off guard.

Combined with their rather impressive bite force, they truly were much stronger than rock sheep.

"Agility Boost 1." He noticed that besides Stamina Boost, the horned badger's assimilation effect included a new effect.

Agility Boost clearly affected speed.

No, it was not merely speed alone. It also enhanced reaction ability and flexibility to a certain extent.

He knew this so clearly because he had already successfully assimilated the horned badger.

When he killed the two horned badgers, a prompt from the Mountain Sea Scroll had appeared in his mind.

After a brief hesitation, he decided to assimilate the horned badger.

After all, compared with the Iron Yak's Strength Boost, the horned badger's Agility Boost undoubtedly offered stronger adaptability and survival ability in Yangping Mountain.

As for cultivating the Raging Bull Fist later, he could simply buy some yak blood and assimilate it again.

Moreover, the effect of Agility Boost was indeed quite obvious.

Even while carrying the horned badger behind him, he still felt exceptionally light on his feet.

Before long, he once more sank his consciousness into the void space of the Mountain Sea Scroll.

In the void space, blood-red mist still swirled before him.

At the very front, a plump horned badger stood vividly within the blood mist.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but he felt that the blood-red mist in this space seemed a tiny bit denser than the first time he entered it.

Come to think of it, ever since activating the Mountain Sea Scroll, he had not paid much attention to this void space. Most of his focus had been on the various enhancements to his body after assimilation.

Looking at the blood-red mist rolling continuously before him, Lin Sheng's thoughts stirred, and the mist seemed to respond as it began to change.

A wisp of blood mist rose up and formed a miniature rock sheep before him.

At the same time, a string of information appeared in his mind.

"Replace the exotic beast horned badger?"

"Could it be..."

Looking at the miniature rock sheep, much smaller than the horned badger, Lin Sheng seemed to realize something.

He immediately chose yes.

The instant he confirmed it, the horned badger condensed from blood mist dissolved back into mist, while the miniature rock sheep was continuously filled out by blood mist. Soon, it transformed into a vivid, sturdy rock sheep.

The light, relaxed feeling in his body rapidly faded, and he could clearly feel his steps become much heavier.

Yet there was not the slightest disappointment on his face. Instead, he was unable to hide his delight.

Soon, as his thoughts shifted, the rock sheep in the void space suddenly shattered, and a robust black yak, fat and powerful, quickly gathered from the blood mist. However, the Iron Yak's enhancement effect did not appear, and the Iron Yak's image seemed somewhat illusory as well.

"This is..."

Lin Sheng was taken aback by the change, but quickly understood.

"It seems switching assimilated beasts through the Mountain Sea Scroll has a cooldown."

With that thought in mind, he waited quietly. Only after about two hours did the Iron Yak's image in the void space finally become solid.

Lin Sheng soon felt the weight on his shoulders grow much lighter. Clearly, the Iron Yak's Strength Boost had recovered.

"I never expected exotic beasts that had already been assimilated not to disappear, but to sink into the blood-red mist. This way, while I can't assimilate these exotic beasts at the same time, I can selectively switch between them."

Lin Sheng could not help feeling delighted.

This discovery was an enormous surprise to him.

The enhancement effects brought by assimilating different exotic beasts varied. Being able to switch naturally would undoubtedly allow him to respond more flexibly to all kinds of environments.

It would also spare him the trouble of assimilating them again later.

For ordinary wild beasts like Iron Yaks and rock sheep, gathering blood again after replacing them would naturally not be difficult. But those rare spirit beasts would not be easy to collect again. Now that the blood mist in the void space could condense assimilated beasts, it had truly saved him a great deal of trouble.

Having discovered another wonderful use of the Mountain Sea Scroll, Lin Sheng could not help but feel greatly pleased.

Another hour later, the group finally returned to the Beast Hunter Hall camp at the foot of the mountain.

By the time they had finished handling all the horned badgers, it was already evening.

Having expended quite a bit of strength dealing with the horned badgers during the day, everyone hastily ate a little food and went to sleep early.

Lin Sheng was no exception. After buying some daily necessities on the street, he returned to his residence, practiced the Raging Bull Fist twice, and went to bed early as well.

The sky gradually darkened. Meanwhile, in the eastern district of the outer city outside Lin'an County City.

A woman with a coarse cloth draped over her head and a somewhat hunched figure carried a vegetable basket covered with gray cloth as she slowly turned into an alley.

Only after making sure there was no one in sight did she walk to the last residence, gently knocking on its wooden door.

"Who is it?"

After quite a while, a hoarse, low voice came from inside the courtyard.

"It's me."

Hearing the woman's voice, footsteps finally sounded inside, and the wooden door opened to reveal a tall man in the courtyard.

The woman swiftly stepped inside and shut the door. Her formerly hunched figure immediately straightened.

She tore off the coarse cloth headscarf, then rubbed at her face for a moment, revealing an alluring face with a hint of beauty.

"People from the Tooth Gang are stationed at both city gates. Even the guards at the gates have increased considerably. It seems Liu Ergou's death has truly enraged Liu Yuanshan completely. I'm afraid it won't be easy for us to leave the city."

After removing her disguise, the woman said in a deep voice.

"Chun Niang, don't worry too much. I refuse to believe they can keep watch forever. Greasing palms at the yamen will definitely cost them quite a bit. As long as we keep a low profile and lie low here, I refuse to believe they would truly go door to door searching for us. Besides, this isn't the western district. This is Axe Gang territory, and it won't be so easy for those Tooth Gang scum to do whatever they please."

The tall man beside her snorted coldly and spoke indifferently.

His upper body was bare, and his shoulder was wrapped in thick white cloth, though bloodstains still seeped through it.

As he spoke, he suddenly began coughing, his face turning a little pale.

"They truly cannot keep watch forever, but your injury cannot be left untreated forever either. The arrow that wounded you was poisoned. It isn't some lethal poison, but if it isn't dealt with promptly, it will still become quite troublesome."

Chun Niang frowned slightly as she looked at the man's pale face.

"I checked the apothecaries on the street. Tooth Gang people are watching those places too, so finding medicinal herbs to treat you won't be easy."

"Cough, cough. Relax. A little injury like this won't take my life. I just can't swallow this anger. We didn't kill him, yet we're the ones being forced to carry this black pot."

The flesh on Zhou Tong's face twisted, clearly showing that his fury had reached its limit.

As the former deputy chief of the Fist Gang, when had he ever carried such a black pot for someone else or suffered such birdshit treatment?

"If I find that person, I'll skin him and pull out his tendons."