"Making Mahjong."
"Mahjong?" Hunter Arno grew even more interested. He watched Zheng Yichen at work. A decent piece of wood had been cut into many small blocks, and with a ruler to guide him, Zheng Yichen sliced them into identically sized rectangular pieces.
There were no markings on the backs, but the fronts bore different designs: some were long bars, others were circles. The numbers of each design presumably represented different values. There were four of each tile, including the ones representing directions.
Judging by the number of tiles, however, Zheng Yichen had only finished about half of them.
"I'll help." Hunter Arno took out his dagger and began working on the small wooden blocks alongside Zheng Yichen.
He worked swiftly and decisively. After measuring the pieces with the ruler, he quickly cut them to the proper size. Seeing this, Zheng Yichen focused on carving the designs. With Arno's help, they soon finished the remaining tiles.
The hand-carved Mahjong set felt a little light, but at least it was usable.
"Let me explain the basic rules." Zheng Yichen gave the expectant Arno a brief explanation of how to play.
"It's a novel game. It'll be a bit of a hassle to carry around, but I think I'll like it." After learning the rules, Hunter Arno raised his brows slightly. Then, quite naturally, he changed the subject to Zheng Yichen. "Looks like you've been through a tough fight."
Zheng Yichen glanced at his left arm. "I ran into a Horned Mule. Give me a moment."
He retrieved the roughly processed Mule Head from the church's storage area. Arno wasn't particularly surprised when he saw it. "You didn't sell it to the research institute. Were you planning to use it yourself?"
"Yeah, but I'm not good at processing this kind of thing." Zheng Yichen made no attempt to hide his intentions.
Arno examined the Mule Head. "The most valuable parts are probably the horn and the tongue. The meat's useless. The skull and brain might be wanted by certain people, but it's been sitting around a bit too long. Only the skull is still usable."
As a more experienced hunter, Arno quickly identified the valuable parts. "Ordinary processing methods would waste materials like this. I recommend stripping away the flesh and keeping the rest."
"I can process the tongue for you, but I'll have to charge you."
The Mule Head and horn could be kept for a long time, but the tongue was flesh. Its texture was almost like tough sinew, and even so, it needed proper treatment to be put to good use. He and Hunter Arno knew each other, but they'd only met a few times. Charging him was perfectly reasonable.
"If the price is something I can afford, then sorry for the trouble."
Arno nodded and named a price that seemed quite reasonable to Zheng Yichen: fifteen thousand.
After stating the price, he added, "This isn't an ordinary tongue, so it's pretty troublesome to process. I'll only do the basic treatment. You might be able to put it to better use if you find a more skilled craftsman later."
"You have to understand, it's really too short."
According to Zheng Yichen, the Mule's tongue had been very long, stretching almost half a meter when extended normally. Even at its maximum, though, it only reached about a meter. It was barely long enough to make a whip, and it wouldn't really work as a bowstring.
Arno himself wasn't the kind of hunter who specialized in making equipment. All he could do was roughly process it and preserve its properties so it could be used as a tool in everyday life... perhaps as a belt.
At least it was much sturdier than the belts sold at the market.
The horn could be given a simple treatment and used as a short spike. More importantly, it wasn't metal, yet it was just as strong. That meant it could be carried discreetly into certain places—as long as you were good enough at hiding it to evade both inspection devices and searches.
"This thing seems to have another use." As he continued processing the tongue, Hunter Arno remarked with some surprise. He flicked it through the air, and a faint Hissing Sound rang out. The moment he heard it, he stopped.
"Looks like besides using it as a belt, you can also use it to create a distraction. I feel like I charged you too little, but we already agreed on the price, didn't we?"
Zheng Yichen felt that after he'd given Hunter Arno the Mahjong set, the man had become much more talkative. Arno used some unknown liquid to treat the tongue. "All right. Now we just need to leave this thing alone for a few hours. There's not much skin on its head, but it's still got some use. I'll process the head for you, and I'll keep the hide."
Zheng Yichen had no objections. "That's fine."
He'd only planned to keep the horn in the first place. Having the tongue as an additional part he could preserve was a nice bonus. The rest was just an extra.
Compared to the troublesome process of treating the tongue, dealing with the Mule's Head went much faster. Before long, Arno returned carrying a skull stripped of all flesh. His voice was full of eagerness. "Come on, let's try out the tiles you made. I want to get used to the rules of this 'Mahjong.'"
After finishing the serious business, Arno seemed eager to play. Zheng Yichen told him, "It's actually much more fun with four people."
Arno glanced at the others in the church and lightly rubbed his chin. "None of the people I know are here. Let's grab two helpful ordinary citizens."
"That works?" Zheng Yichen took in the church's peaceful atmosphere, then nodded. "I think it could work too. What do you say we grab two nuns?"
Playing Mahjong with nuns, right there in a church—Zheng Yichen figured that if this church really worshipped some god, the old geezer might smite him on the spot.
But the faith here was in "Twilight."
"You can try." Arno raised his brows slightly. He thought Zheng Yichen's suggestion was pretty daring, but it sounded exciting. Besides, he wasn't the one who'd have to invite them.
But...the nuns refused, including Tia, the nun Zheng Yichen had approached.
When he returned looking a little disappointed, Arno gave Zheng Yichen a surprised look. Being stared at by a big man made Zheng Yichen rather uncomfortable. "What is it?"
"You actually know a nun's name?"
"Yeah? Is that supposed to mean something?" Zheng Yichen asked, puzzled.
Arno shook his head. "The nuns here will answer questions if you ask them, but it's not easy to really get to know them. Since you know one of their names, you should chat with her more whenever you get the chance."
What the hell was this cryptic riddle nonsense?
Before you continue