"I came to hunt beasts, yet now I was being attacked by one."
To be honest, Lu Chen had been surprised by the sudden beast attack, but he quickly reacted.
"In the wilderness, the positions of hunter and prey can switch at any time. Humans hunt beasts, but Brown Bears, tigers, and creatures like them also hunt humans."
"Every year, quite a few Barbarians die at the hands of beasts."
Though countless thoughts raced through his mind, Lu Chen's reaction in reality was swift. The instant the Brown Bear lunged at him, he raised the iron sword in his hands high overhead in an awkward yet powerful stance.
Fatal Blow
With both hands holding the longsword aloft, Lu Chen was preparing to use Fatal Blow.
Fatal Blow was powerful. Once successfully unleashed, it could exert twice his own strength. However, the skill required a period of buildup and stillness, making it less effective in battle.
But if he prepared it beforehand, it would be easier to deal with the enemy.
Of course, no enemy would stand around and watch Lu Chen gather strength. However, what Lu Chen faced now was not a human, but a beast—a Brown Bear renowned for its strength.
"Brown Bears should charge directly when hunting. It won't dodge."
Just as Lu Chen expected, the Brown Bear had no idea what his stance meant. Thus, it did not evade. Compared to dodging, it was more afraid that the prey before it would run away.
In its haste, the Brown Bear clawed at the ground with all four limbs and pounced before Lu Chen at tremendous speed. At that moment, Lu Chen's Fatal Blow had just finished charging.
Once Fatal Blow had completed its buildup, Lu Chen felt as if he could perfectly control every ounce of strength in his body.
Immersed in that perfect sensation, Lu Chen suddenly swung his longsword and smashed it viciously toward the Brown Bear.
As Lu Chen swung his sword, he felt strength rise from the legs planted on the earth, issue from his waist, pass through his elbow, and finally gather at his wrist. Everything combined to give this strike a "fatal" air.
As Lu Chen swung his sword, the beast's instincts made the Brown Bear rise half upright at the last moment, both paws slamming toward Lu Chen.
Such swipes were a common attack method for wild bears. Those paws contained terrifying power. An ordinary Barbarian or ordinary beast struck by them would have their bones shattered and die miserably.
Unfortunately, this time, the wild bear was facing Lu Chen.
The Brown Bear was strong, but Lu Chen was stronger.
The heavy sword had no edge as it plummeted at high speed. Lu Chen's iron sword collided directly with the Brown Bear's fleshy yet powerful paws.
Bang!
The iron sword had no edge and did not slice through the Brown Bear's paws, but the crushing force contained within instantly broke both its arms.
Then, the heavy iron sword knocked aside the Brown Bear's paws and smashed directly into its head.
Bang! Another explosive crack rang out. Amid the thunderous sound, Lu Chen's single blow smashed the Brown Bear's head apart.
As the bear's head burst open, Lu Chen withdrew his sword, braced its blade against the ground, and slowly exhaled.
"Sure enough, with my current strength, I don't need to fear ordinary beasts anymore."
"And Fatal Blow truly is powerful. Unfortunately, because its level is too low, I need one second of preparation before I can activate it successfully. It's fine against a Brown Bear, but if I run into speed-oriented opponents like tigers or leopards, I won't be able to use it at all."
It could only be said that the Brown Bear and Lu Chen were poorly matched. Compared to other beasts, Brown Bears had thick hides, tough flesh, and tremendous strength—but those were precisely the areas where Lu Chen excelled.
More importantly, Lu Chen was stronger than the Brown Bear. All of this meant that against Lu Chen, the Brown Bear had no chance to show its abilities before dying with bitter resentment.
If it had been a tiger or leopard, Lu Chen definitely would not have found it easy to deal with.
"If only I had extremely fast speed too."
Greedy and never satisfied, Lu Chen thought so. But he soon remembered something, and his eyes lit up.
"Wait. I may not be as fast as tigers or leopards, but I can make them as slow as I am. Then everything will be solved as easily as splitting bamboo."
Looking at the description of a skill in his skill panel, Lu Chen's fear of speed-type monsters like tigers vanished without a trace.
Of course, now was not the time to think about that.
Turning back to look at the Brown Bear, a smile appeared on Lu Chen's face.
Especially when he looked at the system log and found a notification inside, the smile on his face deepened.
System Notification: The host has killed a Brown Bear and gained 100 experience points.
Whether it was the hundred experience points from killing the Brown Bear or the bear's flesh left where it lay, both made Lu Chen happy. But what pleased him even more was that he had found a method of hunting. He would not go hungry in the future.
"My speed is too slow, and I don't know any hunting skills, so I simply can't chase down prey."
"But if I don't chase prey, I can make prey chase me instead. There are too many carnivores in the wilderness. Seeing me alone, they definitely won't be able to resist."
Yes, Lu Chen intended to use himself as bait for trap hunting, or to hunt large animals. Such creatures would not run away when facing the weak Lu Chen. Instead, they would fight him.
This gave Lu Chen an opportunity to bring his advantages into play.
Of course, this was somewhat dangerous. The relationship between prey and hunter could change at any moment. If he encountered a dangerous beast, Lu Chen would be the one fleeing.
Lu Chen naturally understood that danger, but even so, he still planned to do it.
"Hunting Barbarian Beasts is not only for food, but also for experience points. It is the same principle as going out at night. I even dare to deal with the strange things—how could I possibly fear beasts?"
Looking at the Brown Bear's flesh and feeling the strength within his body, Lu Chen made his decision.
Of course, now was not the time to dwell on that. Lu Chen did not linger here. Hoisting the Brown Bear's flesh over his shoulder, he strode as swiftly as if flying toward the village.
The area near West Mountain was the village's hunting grounds, and it was daytime now. Therefore, Lu Chen encountered no obstacles along the way and soon carried the Brown Bear into the village.
In Barbarian Bull Village, inside Lu Chen's home, Xiao Wei finally had a moment to rest as she looked at the crude but much cleaner room.
But soon, she looked toward the chopping board in the kitchen and saw the half side of pork that had lost dozens of pounds of meat in only two days.
The sight brought worry back to Xiao Wei's face.
"A'Chen eats too much. At this rate, we'll soon have nothing left to eat."
"If there's no food left, I'll definitely be driven away."
Having lived in this tribe for many years, Yi Nianwei understood very clearly that if there was no food, the village would help A'Chen, but it absolutely would not help weak little her.
When she thought of having neither food nor clothes and being unable to survive this winter, fear surfaced in Yi Nianwei's heart.
"No, I can't rest."
After cleaning the house, Xiao Wei did not dare remain idle because she did not want to die like this. She wanted to find work outside, preferably something that would earn her some food.
But when she reached the doorway, she realized that there was nothing she could do.
As the strange things increased day by day, more and more Barbarian Tribe men died, while quite a few women in the village survived.
Fortunately, the women of the Barbarian Tribe were all tall and powerfully built, capable of doing most kinds of work. Thus, the village's operations had not run into trouble.
But the other Barbarian Tribe women could find work because of their large builds.
Xiao Wei, however, was only around one meter forty tall. When it came to rough labor, she was utterly inferior to those Barbarian Tribe women.
That was also why she believed that once she lost the village's support, she would definitely die this winter.
Of course, Xiao Wei, who had come from the Central Plains, was not entirely useless. She knew embroidery and could read some words.
Unfortunately, such skills were basically useless in the Barbarian Wastes.
The Barbarians only wore animal hides. How could embroidery be useful? As for writing, most Barbarians only needed to know how to count a few numbers.
Thus, Yi Nianwei's abilities had no use here whatsoever.
Thinking about how more than twenty pounds of meat disappeared from the house every day, while she knew nothing and had no way to change the situation, Yi Nianwei was overcome with despair.
The more she thought, the worse she felt. In the end, she leaned against the doorway and began to cry in despair.
"With A'Chen's appetite, the food at home can last at most another four or five days. Without food, I'll be driven away, then die this winter. Father, Mother, I'm coming to join you."
She could find no way to survive.
Before you continue