In Redleaf Forest, a pile of firewood had been stacked at some unknown time.
The pile had been built from several freshly felled trees and stood three to four meters high.
"Pour the fire oil."
At Xie Xiong's command, everyone poured part of the fire oil they carried into the woodpile.
Once the fire oil had thoroughly soaked the wood, Xie Xiong took out a Fire Starter, opened it, blew on it, and coaxed a spark back to life.
Before long, the woodpile was lit and became a bonfire.
Flames several meters high blazed fiercely.
"Get the fire."
Xie Xiong shouted loudly.
"Yes!"
Everyone answered in unison.
Then someone took out two wooden sticks coated in fire oil and thrust them into the bonfire. The sticks immediately became torches.
"Withdraw."
Holding their torches, everyone immediately retreated several hundred meters away.
By then, a pillar of black smoke could already be seen shooting into the sky from Redleaf Forest.
The bonfire also concealed plenty of dried herbivore droppings that the Hunting Team had gathered along the way.
Aside from luring the Mutant Beasts in the forest, the black smoke also served as a signal for the other group.
With chattering cries, the first creatures drawn in were not the Red-Haired Giant Ape, but a troop of ordinary monkeys.
They feared the flames and circled beside the bonfire, yet did not dare approach.
Once the troop had grown to more than a hundred monkeys, a red giant beast finally arrived.
This red giant beast stood two meters at the shoulder and could reach three and a half meters when standing upright.
It was precisely the Mutant Beast, the Red-Haired Giant Ape.
"Roar!" Though it was a Mutant Beast, it still feared fire.
The difference was that its enormous body gave it both the ability and awareness to put out the flames.
The next moment, it yanked up a nearby redleaf tree and viciously smashed it into the bonfire.
With a loud bang, the bonfire was scattered across the ground, and the flames rapidly spread.
"Roar!" The Red-Haired Giant Ape hurriedly ordered the other monkeys to put out the fire.
However, the burning logs were all stained with fire oil. The moment the monkeys touched them, the oil stuck to their bodies.
Before long, dozens of monkeys were covered in flames, shrieking wildly.
The scent of roasting meat drifted through the air.
"Roar!" The Red-Haired Giant Ape flew into a rage, yet there was nothing it could do. It could only personally step in to fight the flames.
Right then, two people suddenly appeared behind the Red-Haired Giant Ape and splashed black liquid onto it—it was fire oil.
Covered from head to toe in fire oil, the Red-Haired Giant Ape whipped around and saw only the backs of two people fleeing frantically.
The Red-Haired Giant Ape watched those retreating figures in confusion, then reached behind itself and wiped. Its palm immediately came away coated in sticky black liquid.
"What is this?"
The question had barely flashed through its mind.
The next moment, three flaming arrows came hurtling over at incredible speed.
The Red-Haired Giant Ape reacted quickly, batting away two flaming arrows in succession. But the third came from a tricky angle and landed squarely on its body.
Its hide was thick and tough. The flaming arrow only sank in up to its arrowhead before it could go no deeper.
But the power of the flaming arrow lay not in the arrow, but in the fire.
In an instant, the flames ignited the fire oil on the Red-Haired Giant Ape's fur.
It was like pouring water into a pot of boiling oil, triggering a violent reaction as the flames instantly spread over the Red-Haired Giant Ape's entire body.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!" The Red-Haired Giant Ape let out agonized cries and began wildly slapping at the flames on its body, only to discover that no matter how it struck them, they would not go out.
The flames seemed to cling to its body, impossible to drive away.
It began rolling on the ground, sprinting madly, and rubbing itself against trees.
"Follow it."
Xie Xiong immediately led Chen Xun and the others after the Red-Haired Giant Ape.
Whenever he noticed signs that the flames on its body were weakening, he sent people to shoot flaming arrows or splash it with fire oil.
When the Red-Haired Giant Ape saw the humans, it immediately realized that these strange creatures were behind everything and began pursuing them in a frenzy.
But while it was powerful and highly defensive, its speed and agility were mediocre.
Every member of the Hunting Team present was a Qi-Blood Second Transformation Martial Artist. Those assigned to splash fire oil had even reached Minor Accomplishment in Lightfoot Skill, their speed and agility completely crushing the Red-Haired Giant Ape's.
Thus, no matter what it did, the Red-Haired Giant Ape could not catch any Hunting Team members.
Instead, with its attention drawn away, it failed to notice that the fire on its body had already burned through its hide and flesh, gradually roasting its internal organs.
By the time it came to its senses, it was too late to turn the tide. It collapsed heavily onto the ground and died in agony.
"Quick, put out the fire!"
Xie Xiong hurriedly led everyone to extinguish the flames. They scattered handful after handful of white powder, and when the flames met the powder, they rapidly began to die down.
Once every flame had vanished, only a corpse with a charred exterior remained.
"What a pity. Its fur is completely ruined, and so much of the meat has been burned away too."
Xie Xiong looked at the charred corpse, his eyes full of regret.
Still, taking down such a Mutant Beast without suffering any injuries made the loss of some fur and meat more than worthwhile.
"Everyone, hurry and deal with this corpse. Then we'll go see whether Yang Feng and the others need help."
Under Xie Xiong's command, everyone quickly began processing the corpse.
They removed all the charred flesh from the surface, cut away the fresh meat, stripped out the large bones, and collected the edible organs. The heart in particular was handled by Xie Xiong alone.
Xie Xiong took out a sharp little knife, cut open the heart, and removed more than a dozen drops of pale purple blood that gave off a faint, unusual fragrance.
When the others saw it, longing filled their faces.
This was the most precious treasure on a Mutant Beast. It grew only inside a Mutant Beast's heart and was its Heart Blood.
A single drop of Heart Blood could sell for the lofty price of ten taels on the market.
Yet it was something money could not buy. Whoever obtained Heart Blood would immediately consume it themselves.
This thing had many uses.
Used on children, it could strengthen their foundation and nourish their origin, laying an excellent cultivation foundation for them.
Used on Martial Artists, it could rapidly increase their cultivation.
Used on the elderly, it could nourish the body and slow aging.
Therefore, unless neither they nor their relatives had any use for it, no one would sell it.
After Xie Xiong stored the Red-Haired Giant Ape's Heart Blood in a jade vial, he carefully tucked it into his robes.
He did not have the qualifications to use it either. All of it had to be handed over to Captain Li Tiangang.
Chen Xun and the other Hunting Team members could only look at it; they had no right to use it.
Before long, the corpse of the Red-Haired Giant Ape had been completely butchered.
Some carried meat, some carried bones, and some carried internal organs.
"Let's go see Yang Feng and the others."
As Xie Xiong spoke, he took the lead, with everyone else following closely behind.
They had not gone far when they saw Yang Feng's group.
"How did it go? Any casualties?"
Xie Xiong asked at once.
"No. The plan went smoothly."
Yang Feng smiled. "On our side, we killed one large one and two small ones."
"What about you?"
"You're asking when you already know."
Xie Xiong said irritably.
"Hahaha!" Seeing this, Yang Feng could not help laughing. This smooth operation had clearly put him in a fine mood.
After the two groups joined up, they left the valley together and reunited with Li Tiangang and Elder Jiang.
"Fourth Master, everything went smoothly."
Yang Feng and Xie Xiong cupped their hands together.
"Good. You've done well."
Li Tiangang smiled in satisfaction.
Afterward, everyone returned to Cloudflow County together.
This was what a normal hunting operation looked like. The previous one had been an extremely rare special circumstance.
Often, even after three to five hunting operations, not a single member would be lost.
But if an accident occurred, it was not unusual for three to five people to die.
That was the risk of hunting Mutant Beasts.
Intelligence was not necessarily entirely accurate, and the Hunting Team had to make its own judgments.
They had been lucky this time. The intelligence was accurate, the plan was carried out properly, and they took down the target without incident.
On the way back, the Mutant Beast's internal organs were divided among them and eaten, since they were difficult to preserve.
The meat and bones, however, were left completely untouched.
Aside from certain special uses, the greatest use of Mutant Beast bones was to process them with special methods and extract marrow fluid for refining Bone-Tempering Pills.
After another day and a half of travel, they finally arrived at Cloudflow County by evening.
"I'm giving you three days off. Rest well."
After returning to Li Estate, Li Tiangang spoke to everyone, immediately drawing a burst of cheers.
Then Li Tiangang hurried away with the Mutant Beast's Heart Blood.
The Mutant Beast meat was first handed over to the estate. After some time, the estate would distribute the Hunting Team's thirty percent share, which would then be stored in the Hunting Team's cold storage.
The Mutant Beast bones, however, were all handed over. The Hunting Team kept none at all.
This made Chen Xun frown.
"Sure enough, the Li Family values Mutant Beast bones more than Mutant Beast meat."
He had planned to study the refining of Bone-Tempering Pills in the future, but that idea had now died in the cradle.
Bone-Tempering Pills were not medicine for Qi-Blood Realm Martial Artists, but for Martial Artists of higher realms. They were true pills and exceedingly valuable.
Afterward, everyone dispersed.
Chen Xun also returned to the house he rented outside. After having dinner with Ye Ying and Chen Qingqing, he returned to his bedroom and fell peacefully asleep.