Treasure Meat

"It's snowing, it's snowing."

Light snow drifted down from the sky. The children happily stretched out their hands, catching snowflakes before they could touch the ground.

Others opened their mouths and stuck out their tongues, tasting the softness and chill of the snowflakes.

This was the first snow of winter in Flowing Cloud City.

While the people of Cloudflow County felt either joy or worry over the snowfall, Chen Xun was hunting Mutant Beasts in the mountains.

"Stop it! Don't let it get away!"

Xie Xiong shouted toward Chen Xun.

A gray wolf the size of a tiger came charging toward Chen Xun.

The gray wolf's eyes were red as it fixed Chen Xun with a ferocious glare.

It was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, it had closed to within ten meters of Chen Xun, its foul stench rushing into his face.

Chen Xun had only a longbow in his hands. If he stopped to draw and nock an arrow, the mutant gray wolf would likely pounce on him before he could fire.

So, in that split second of lightning and flint, Chen Xun made his choice.

He leaped straight up from where he stood, soaring four or five meters into the air and landing on a tree branch.

Seeing that there was no longer an obstacle ahead, the mutant gray wolf gave up on pursuing Chen Xun and instead quickened its pace to flee.

Because a group of people was chasing after it.

"Damn it!" Xie Xiong flew into a rage at the sight.

"Hmph. A coward who clings to life and fears death."

Shen Rong saw it too and could not help mocking Chen Xun disdainfully.

But before his words had even faded, the mutant gray wolf let out a scream. Its body lost control in the midst of its high-speed sprint and slammed into a large tree.

"What happened?"

Shen Rong froze.

"Nicely done, Chen Xun! That counts as a merit!"

Xie Xiong exclaimed in delight.

"Chen Xun did that?"

Shen Rong could hardly believe it. When he approached the surrounded mutant gray wolf, he clearly saw an arrow embedded in its hind leg.

"When did he fire that?"

Shen Rong's pupils shrank. He had not seen it at all.

At that moment, Chen Xun jumped down from the branch, the bowstring of the longbow in his hand already snapped.

It turned out that the instant Chen Xun had jumped onto the branch, he had drawn his bow and nocked an arrow, using an explosive secret technique from the Minor Accomplishment level of Cloud-Walking Qi Archery.

By erupting his Blood Qi, he temporarily enhanced the bow's performance and fired an arrow far beyond its limits.

That was why the arrow had successfully pierced through the mutant gray wolf's hind leg.

The price was the destruction of Chen Xun's longbow.

"Awoo!" The mutant gray wolf let out one final mournful howl before dying.

"We finally killed it."

Xie Xiong excitedly stepped on the mutant gray wolf's head, beaming with delight.

"This is Mutant Beast wolf hide. Be careful when handling it. If I find any extra damage, I'll skin you alive!"

After ordering the others to deal with the mutant gray wolf, he deliberately came over to Chen Xun and gave his shoulder a heavy slap.

"Chen Xun, you did well. Beautiful work."

"At first, I thought you'd run away. I nearly cursed you out. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not, Brother Xiong. I'm not that petty."

Chen Xun smiled, then waved the longbow in his hand. "This bow is broken. Can I get reimbursed for it?"

"Of course. Any weapons damaged during a mission can be reimbursed."

Xie Xiong immediately thumped his chest in assurance.

Shen Rong, who was also processing the mutant gray wolf, saw the two chatting and laughing and could not help feeling a trace of jealousy toward Chen Xun.

"He was just lucky. What's so impressive about that?"

Distracted for a moment, he cut an extra slash into the wolf hide. His expression immediately changed.

"Brother Xiong, Shen Rong cut a hole in the wolf hide."

Someone who did not get along with him promptly reported him.

"I didn't! Don't spout nonsense!"

Shen Rong hurriedly tried to defend himself, but then darkness fell over his head as Xie Xiong's bear-like frame loomed above him.

"Brother Xiong, I-I didn't do it on purpose."

Faced with Xie Xiong, Shen Rong did not dare argue further and could only pull a long face.

"Hmph. Your skills aren't up to par. When we get back, practice your skinning properly."

"I'm recording this as a third-class minor demerit."

Hearing that a demerit had been recorded, Shen Rong's expression became even more dejected.

When the Hunting Team carried out missions, every member was judged by two standards: merits and demerits.

Merits were divided into minor merits and major merits.

Minor merits came in third-class, second-class, and first-class; major merits had no further detailed divisions.

Minor merits were rewarded with money, while major merits were rewarded with scarce cultivation resources.

Demerits were likewise divided into minor demerits and major demerits.

Their detailed divisions were the same as those for merits.

Minor demerits usually meant fines, while major demerits could cost one's life.

Thinking of the fine he would have to pay upon returning, Shen Rong viciously cursed Chen Xun in his heart. Damn Chen Xun. If it weren't for you, how would I have gotten a minor demerit?

If Chen Xun knew, he would definitely cry injustice. He had done nothing at all; Shen Rong had been the one spacing out. What did it have to do with him?

Of course, Shen Rong also wrote down the person who had tattled on him at the first opportunity in his little notebook.

After quite a while, the mutant gray wolf's corpse was fully divided up. Everyone followed Xie Xiong away and eventually met up with Yang Feng's team.

Their hunting target this time had been the Giant Gray Wolf, a pack-dwelling Mutant Beast that had a certain chance of producing a Wolf King within its group.

By coincidence, they had encountered a Giant Gray Wolf pack with a Wolf King this time.

Thus, the original plan was scrapped and changed to assisting Li Tiangang in killing the Wolf King.

A wolf pack with a Wolf King and one without were two entirely different packs.

Only after killing the Wolf King would the other wolves become easier to deal with.

It was in this battle that Chen Xun witnessed Li Tiangang's power.

The Wolf King, with a body as huge as an elephant's, was being relentlessly suppressed by Li Tiangang.

Blood Qi surged all over his body like flames. Empowered by that powerful Blood Qi, even his ordinary punches and kicks carried tremendous force.

Not to mention that he had mastered a formidable saber technique and wielded a heavy Treasure Blade.

Li Tiangang dodged every attack from the Wolf King.

Yet every attack Li Tiangang landed on the Wolf King carved a deep wound into its body.

People like Chen Xun could only help isolate the other mutant wolves. They could not interfere in the battle between Li Tiangang and the Wolf King at all.

In the end, Li Tiangang successfully hacked the Wolf King to death, and the other mutant wolves immediately scattered and fled.

"Which one is this?"

Li Tiangang asked.

"Reporting to Fourth Master, the fifth one."

Yang Feng hurriedly replied.

"I see. A few still got away, but it doesn't matter."

"What about the casualties?"

"One person had his head torn open by a mutant wolf. He couldn't be saved. Two others suffered minor injuries."

Yang Feng's voice was heavy.

"I understand. Arrange the compensation and replacement personnel afterward."

Li Tiangang's voice remained calm. He did not seem saddened by the casualties.

"Understood, Fourth Master."

"Rest for a while, then head down the mountain and go home."

"Yes, Fourth Master."

Afterward, Yang Feng began arranging their departure.

Including the Wolf King, they had killed six in total, while three had escaped.

Each of the six slain Giant Gray Wolves was as large as a tiger, while the Wolf King itself was as large as an elephant.

After processing their corpses, they obtained several thousand jin of Mutant Beast meat, along with a large quantity of bones and internal organs.

There were over a hundred drops of heart's blood, all of which went into Li Tiangang's hands. No one else could touch even half a drop.

Under Yang Feng's allocation, the dozen or so people each carried several hundred jin.

Chen Xun was assigned a batch of Wolf King Meat to carry down the mountain.

Nothing happened along the way, and by noon the next day, everyone returned to Cloudflow County.

At the Li Family, Chen Xun handed over the Wolf King Meat he had been carrying to the person who came to receive it.

The other party took it directly, weighed it, and recorded it. Nothing unusual was found, making Chen Xun breathe a sigh of relief.

It turned out that Chen Xun had secretly cut off some Wolf King Meat along the way and placed it in his Inventory.

It was not because he coveted the Wolf King Meat. He had several hundred taels of silver now and did not care about meat worth a dozen or so taels.

He had done it because he believed that particular piece of Wolf King Meat was somewhat unusual.

After returning to the house he rented, Chen Xun took out that piece of Wolf King Meat.

On the surface, it looked no different from the other Wolf King Meat.

Chen Xun could not see the difference either, but under the influence of the Appraisal trait, he simply felt that this piece of meat was worth more—and significantly more.

"Why is that?"

Chen Xun could not help carefully recalling the various pieces of knowledge Zheng Hu had taught them about Mutant Beasts.

Suddenly, he caught hold of a piece of information.

"I know. This is Treasure Meat."

Chen Xun's face immediately lit up with delight, his expression full of excitement.