Return, Respite

"Oh no!"

Chu Yunpeng, who was in the middle of dissecting the Frost Shadow Deer, suddenly had his expression change drastically.

Chu He and Hu Yonghua were both startled.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Hu Yonghua asked immediately.

"Captain, there's a mark on this Frost Shadow Deer! Come take a look!" Chu Yunpeng said, his expression anxious.

"Right here, on the back of the Frost Shadow Deer! This was definitely left by another Martial Artist Squad!"

"What?" Hu Yonghua's expression also changed. He hurried over to Chu Yunpeng's side and, sure enough, discovered the mark.

The existence of this mark could mean many things.

The most favorable scenario for the Jackal Squad was, naturally, that the mark had been left behind a long time ago. The human Martial Artist Squad that left the mark had likely realized they couldn't kill the Frost Shadow Deer, gave up, and returned to the Base City.

The worst-case scenario, however, was that this human Martial Artist Squad was still in the vicinity.

"There are no wounds on this deer, and the mark doesn't look like it was left recently. It was likely left by some squad a while ago, but we should still be careful."

"If they use this as an excuse to come looking for trouble, even if we're in the right, it won't be good. If a conflict breaks out and they happen to be stronger than us..."

"Here's what we'll do: cut off the entire section with the mark and throw it back into that Mist Residential District. That way, they won't be able to track us using the mark." Hu Yonghua made his decision immediately.

"Also, clean up the scene. We can't come back to County 0316 for a while. Fortunately, our haul this time is substantial enough. Let's get some good rest tonight, and first thing tomorrow morning, we'll head back to the Supply Base."

"Yes, Captain." Chu Yunpeng didn't hesitate, immediately following Hu Yonghua's instructions to clean up the scene.

Off to the side, Chu He naturally began learning the techniques for cleaning up a battlefield.

Residual bloodstains, torn clothing, easily overlooked signs of combat, and even the lingering scents on the battlefield—all of these had to be dealt with.

Before entering the Wilderness Zone for the first time, Chu He had naturally looked up a lot of relevant information and knew some basic common sense.

However, these battlefield cleanup techniques were things you could never truly master without hands-on experience.

Soon, the scene was cleaned up, and Hu Yonghua and Chu Yunpeng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's go. Let's head back to the temporary shelter to rest for the night. I'll mention this to the others as well, so we don't accidentally let it slip once we're back in the Base City."

Hu Yonghua handed the materials harvested from the Frost Shadow Deer to Chu He.

"You hold onto these for now. When we reach the Supply Base, we'll split the money. For the parts you need, we'll just calculate the value and offset it with the other monsters you hunted earlier."

The sky was growing late, and a few specks of starlight were already faintly twinkling on the horizon.

The group of three didn't delay any longer; they shouldered their packs and began their journey back.

Along the way, Chu Yunpeng couldn't help but glance back from time to time, unsure if he was worried about whether he had cleaned up the scene properly or if someone might be following them.

He felt a strange sense of guilt, as if he were a thief!

It was only then that Chu He had the opportunity to divert his Spiritual Force to perceive the Frost Shadow Deer's antlers, heart, and deer penis.

Although it didn't trigger a wine recipe the moment he touched it like the heart of the One-horned Iron Rhino had, Chu He could clearly sense that there was spiritual energy present within these items.

However, Chu He also clearly sensed that unlike Beast Soldier Rank materials, which could be brewed into wine using standard medicinal herbs, brewing the materials from an Intermediate Beast General like the Frost Shadow Deer would likely require higher-grade auxiliary materials.

Night. The stars were scattered across the sky.

Under the starlit sky, within the dilapidated county seat, three figures shuttled rapidly through the abandoned apartment buildings.

At times they followed the streets, at times they leaped across residential compounds, and at times they traversed the rooftops of low-rise buildings. In a short while, they arrived at the eighteen-story residential building where the members of the Jackal Squad were staying.

"The Captain and the others are back!"

"Yeah, they don't seem to be injured."

The three members of the Jackal Squad who had stayed behind were all holding binoculars, staring intently at the stairwell of the residential building. They saw Chu He and the other two on their way back.

A moment later, the three of them pushed the door open and entered.

"Captain." Excitement was written all over the faces of the three who had stayed behind. They knew exactly what a Frost Shadow Deer meant. "How did it go? Did you take down that Frost Shadow Deer?"

Pang Song and Yang Yi looked at Hu Yonghua with excitement and anticipation, while Wei Xiaoping exclaimed in surprise, "Chu He's backpack is much fuller."

Hu Yonghua laughed heartily. "The lady has the sharpest eyes! You two old geezers, learn a thing or two from her."

After a bit of teasing, Hu Yonghua met their excited gazes and nodded. "That's right. We were lucky enough to kill that Frost Shadow Deer just now! We dissected it, and all the parts are collected in Chu He's backpack."

"There is one more thing..."

Hu Yonghua explained about the mark found on the Frost Shadow Deer and his subsequent decision.

The three nodded, their excitement undiminished.

Are you kidding?

Even if they went back now, they had already earned far more than before; how could they possibly have any objections?

Moreover, with something like this happening, regardless of whether the squad that left the mark was still in the city or not, there was absolutely no issue with heading back to rest for a while.

Early the next morning, the Jackal Squad began to quietly leave County 0316. They found the off-road vehicle they had hidden earlier and traveled along the dilapidated expressway, heading toward the Supply Base.

Three days later, at the Supply Base, in the large living room on the second floor of Villa D6.

"Let's process the monster materials we obtained from this hunt first," Hu Yonghua said. "Although we weren't out for long this time, the harvest is definitely substantial!"

Everyone looked at each other and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

This time, the six members of the Jackal Squad had only stayed in County 0316 for about four days.

Except for the last day, where they only hunted one ordinary Junior Beast General, a few Beast Soldiers, and one Frost Shadow Deer, they had killed at least ten Beast General Rank monsters on each of the other three days.

A rough count showed that in four days, they had killed nearly forty Junior Beast Generals. In addition to the Frost Shadow Deer, there were also three Intermediate Beast Generals.

Even without counting the Frost Shadow Deer, that was a profit of a full five or six hundred million!

Even if you included the six days spent traveling back and forth, they had only been away from home for a total of ten days.

Ten days, five or six hundred million! And that wasn't even counting the Frost Shadow Deer, which was the most valuable part of the haul.

Who wouldn't be dazed by such earnings?

Of course, this was only the income they would get after selling everything, and it had to be split among several people.

After the laughter died down, everyone listened as Hu Yonghua continued: "However, the supply base is only so big. If we take out the materials from the Frost Shadow Deer to sell directly, it will be very easy for people to notice."

"If we end up attracting the martial artist squad that left the mark on the Frost Shadow Deer, I'm afraid there will be trouble!" Hu Yonghua said cautiously.

"Hmm."

Chu Yunpeng nodded in agreement. "Let's leave the Frost Shadow Deer's body materials with Chu He for now. We can sell the other monster materials here."

"Alright! Then everyone eat and get some rest; we'll go sell them later." Hu Yonghua finally couldn't help but smile as well.