[Grassland/0090-1144-3656: It's almost midnight. I hope we can still chat tomorrow.]
The person on the other end sent a reply.
[Me: Yeah, let's talk tomorrow.]
Ye Fei sent him a reply, then pulled up his coarse cloth blanket, held the little fox in his arms, and closed his eyes to sleep.
He slept without dreams. When he woke the next morning, it was only a little past five, and the sky was still gray.
[Today's weather: Overcast, turning to snow, with light winds.]
A weather display had appeared beside the time.
Ye Fei opened the door, tucked Little Dumpling into his pocket, picked up the broom, and cleared the snow from the yard once again.
The yard was much larger, but little else had changed. The snow that had accumulated overnight was still over ten centimeters deep. Alternating between the shovel and broom, he cleared it all in a little over ten minutes.
"Yip~"
Qingxue the Little Fox jumped onto the pine tree. As she climbed the tree, which had already grown a meter tall, and bounced up and down for a while, a fresh layer of soft white snow fell beneath it, covering part of the freshly swept yard.
"Look at all the snow you've scattered playing around... Come on. We've had our morning exercise, so let's eat first..."
Ye Fei walked over and picked up the little fox with a helpless sigh.
Back inside, he drank some water and ate bread. Only after his condition had improved did he prepare to head out hunting.
His random quest today was no longer to find Supply Crates.
[Today's random quest: Hunt ×3. Quest progress: 0/3. Quest completion rewards: 9 survival points, 1 Level-One Hunting Pack.]
Today's random quest had changed, and the rewards were finally different too.
Whatever the Hunting Pack contained, his priority now was to find three prey animals and successfully take them down to earn the quest reward of nine survival points.
Ye Fei had spent all of yesterday cutting down trees, obtaining plenty of ice and pine needles. They had all sold overnight.
After deducting what he had spent yesterday on an axe, basic fabric, and iron ore, he had twenty-three points left.
Twenty points could only buy those three items in the Survival Mall. He already had a Semi-Finished Manufacturing Station, had no need to buy another Planting Tool Set, and did not need the Beginner's Selectable Set either...
All he could do now was hope that the other available items in the Survival Mall would not be too far beyond his reach.
"Yip, yip, yip~"
Qingxue the Little Fox lay on Ye Fei's shoulder. As soon as they left the yard, she began yipping again, though he had no idea what she was saying.
"We can't go too far today. We need to watch out for any prey nearby, though they might see us as prey instead..."
Ye Fei stopped and looked around while chatting with Little Dumpling on his shoulder, even though neither of them actually understood the other.
He had cleared away nearly all the dead trees around the house yesterday, and none had respawned today. He did not know whether they needed more time or whether dead trees simply did not respawn.
The snowy ground around the house was wide open. Ye Fei studied it and actually spotted something different.
In the snow beside his home was a faint sunken trail.
Some animal had walked through and left a furrow, but fresh snowfall had covered it afterward. He had to look carefully to make it out.
There were no prompts for these tracks, at least for now.
Ye Fei walked over to examine the spot, then began cautiously following the trail through the snow.
Although he could hunt, he still knew his limits. With his combat power of three, even a fairly ordinary prey animal would be stronger than him.
He needed to locate the prey first and see whether he could handle it, or compare its strength to the little fox's, before deciding what to do next.
"Don't go out there yet..."
Holding his axe, Ye Fei spotted a brown shape in the snow ahead and reached out to restrain the little fox, who was already eager to leap into action.
It was a wild rabbit about ten meters away, but a rabbit moving through the snow should not have left such a sunken furrow.
"Wroo?"
The little fox tilted her head at Ye Fei. She was certain she could easily bring that rabbit back. Why wouldn't he let her go?
Was he doubting her strength because she was so small now?
"There's a wolf nearby..."
Ye Fei watched their surroundings for a while and spotted a moving gray-white animal behind a dead tree near the rabbit.
It was a wolf, lying in hiding.
"Wroo..."
The little fox followed Ye Fei's gaze and spotted the wolf too, but she was not afraid at all. She even felt she could take down that big fellow.
She also knew Ye Fei could not understand what she said, so she raised her front paws and mimed pouncing and clawing. Then she lifted her little head toward him, demonstrating her confidence through her actions.
"Are you sure you can take it down?"
The little fox made him smile, but this wolf was no weakling either.
[Wandering Wild Wolf, combat power: 10, Sharp Teeth.]
An information label had appeared above the distant wolf's head only after Ye Fei watched it for a while.
His See Through talent could only reveal this much. He could not yet see the details of how its combat power was distributed.
Qingxue the Little Fox also had a combat power of ten, with the trait Sharp Claws and Sharp Teeth.
Ye Fei was not sure which of the two was stronger, so he personally preferred not to let the little fox go.
But the little fox was fixated on the wolf and kept gesturing at Ye Fei. After several attempts that he still failed to understand, she grew impatient and extended the sharp claws hidden in her little paws.
"Go on, then..."
Looking at the claws that had suddenly appeared before him, nearly as long as the little fox's legs, Ye Fei abruptly understood.
He still did not know enough about the creatures in this world.
He had assumed sharp claws meant something like ordinary cat claws.
Yet the little fox's claws were more like daggers. With such a tiny body, how did she retract claws that large?
He had held her little paws and examined them while carrying her before, but he had never felt anything hidden inside them.
"Yip, yip!"
When Qingxue the Little Fox saw Ye Fei release his hold, she nodded at him before jumping down.
After landing, the little fox burrowed straight beneath the snow and moved swiftly under the snow cover.
Watching her dart away through the snow, Ye Fei did not delay either. He continued forward through the snow, still heading toward the rabbit.
Before you continue