Using poison

At that thought, the tension in Lu Heng's heart eased a little.

He had been trapped in a hopeless situation just now. He had only four arrows left, and the jackal leader had thick hide and flesh and dodged extremely quickly. His hand crossbow could inflict only superficial wounds, not serious injuries that could bring the situation under control. The ordinary Blue-Backed Jackals stuck together and fought without fear of death. Shooting their companions dead would only inflame their savagery. Once his arrows ran out, his frozen hands and feet would no longer support him, and he would fall to certain death. Fortunately, he had suddenly remembered the two poisonous items stored in his bracelet's Storage Slots.

Lu Heng kept his gaze fixed on the ring of Blue-Backed Jackals below, not daring to shift his body much. He merely raised his wrist slightly and tapped the bracelet with a fingertip to open his inventory. Two poisonous items, the Cave-Nest Spider Poison Gland and the Cold Stiff Poison Gland, lay quietly in the slots. Both had come from monsters he had killed earlier and had been kept in reserve. Now they were just what he needed to coat his arrowheads and break the deadlock.

He quickly weighed the pros and cons and made his choice.

The Cave-Nest Spider Poison Gland came from a Black Iron-Level Exotic Beast. Its poison was powerful and potent, making it a scarce trump card. The Cold Stiff Poison Gland, on the other hand, contained only an ordinary exotic beast's poison. He had more of it and could use it freely.

Lu Heng planned to use the Cold Stiff Poison Gland first.

As long as the ordinary poison glands could paralyze the pack and restrict the leader's movements, there was no need to use the precious Black Iron poison gland. If the ordinary poison proved too weak to restrain the fearless jackal leader, he could use the Cave-Nest Spider Poison Gland to finish things off. That would leave him room to maneuver without wasting scarce supplies.

The jackals below still surrounded the trunk, refusing to disperse. The corpse of the jackal whose neck he had just shot through lay on the ground, its heavy bloody stench continually stirring their savage instincts. Two burly jackals kept rearing up and clawing at the bark, making the old tree tremble slightly. The leader forced itself to its feet, blood still seeping from the wounds at its shoulder blade and beneath its ribs. Though its movements were sluggish, its gaze remained vicious and never once left Lu Heng.

Cold wind poured through the gaps between the branches and into his hide coat. His fingertips had already lost most of their feeling, and the knuckles gripping the hand crossbow were bluish-white. The slightest lapse could make him lose his grip on the weapon. Lu Heng dared not delay any longer. He pressed his back firmly against the rough trunk for support and held his left hand in the air. With a slight thought, two intact Cold Stiff Poison Glands slowly dropped from the Storage Slots into his palm.

A thin, half-dried film coated the glands, cold and rough against his skin. Up close, they gave off a faint but pungent, rank odor. He dared not rub them broadly with his palm, afraid the poison might seep through his skin into his body. Instead, he carefully pinched the raised, tough skin at the edge of a gland and squeezed gently. Milky-white, viscous venom slowly seeped from the split.

Four intact arrows remained in the quiver beside him, their metal heads honed to sharp points, ready to be put to use. Keeping his upper body still, Lu Heng moved only his elbows, slowly taking out the arrows one after another and rubbing their metal heads back and forth over the venom-seeping split.

He coated every arrow tip evenly with a layer of venom paste, neither too thick nor too thin. His movements were extremely slow, and throughout the process he kept part of his attention on the pack below, afraid the beasts might seize a moment of distraction to lunge at the tree.

The jackal leader below seemed to notice the small movements of the man above. A deep growl rolled from its throat as it dragged its two bleeding wounds forward another couple of steps. The other three Blue-Backed Jackals immediately gathered around it. The four beasts formed a semicircle, fixing their attention on the branch where Lu Heng stood.

The two full-grown jackals kept scraping the frozen earth with their forepaws, scattering chips of ice and dead leaves. Threatening growls rumbled in their chests as they probed closer to the trunk, occasionally leaping more than half a meter into the air and scoring deep marks in the bark with their sharp claws.

After coating the last arrow, Lu Heng returned all the poisoned arrows to his quiver and put the remaining poison glands back into the bracelet's Storage Slots. Only then did he slowly adjust his stance, spreading his legs and bracing them between two crossing branches to steady his balance. Supporting the hand crossbow with one hand, he fixed his gaze precisely on the full-grown jackal closest to him.

This jackal had lunged at the tree most fiercely, charging into it several times. If he let it continue, the cracks in the trunk would only widen until it could no longer bear its own weight.

Taking a deep breath of icy air to suppress his agitation, Lu Heng pulled the trigger.

The venom-coated arrow sliced through the air faster than the eye could follow. The full-grown jackal had no time to dodge, and the arrowhead struck squarely into the flesh of its foreleg, penetrating a little over an inch.

Intense pain instantly swept through the beast's limbs. It let out a piercing howl and staggered several meters backward, repeatedly lowering its head to bite at the shaft lodged in its leg, trying to pull out the foreign object causing it such agony.

Lu Heng did not stop. While the pack's attention was drawn to their wounded companion, he quickly drew a second poisoned arrow and fired again, aiming at the jackal leader's uninjured hind leg on the other side.

Having been wounded twice, the jackal leader was already on full alert. The instant it heard the arrow cutting through the air, it twisted aside. The exaggerated movement pulled at its existing wounds, sending a spasm of pain through its body, but it still barely avoided a vital hit. The arrow grazed the outside of its hind leg, cutting only a thin layer of flesh, and venom immediately seeped into the wound.

It was only a graze, and Lu Heng had no clear idea how the poison would work on a Black Iron-level beast. A Cold Stiff's poison took effect as soon as it broke the skin; there was no need to pierce deep into the bone.

Unexpectedly, after barely more than ten seconds, the full-grown jackal that had been frantically gnawing at the arrow shaft grew noticeably sluggish. Its once-agile limbs seemed filled with heavy frozen earth. Its legs shook with every step, and after running a few paces, it staggered and fell. It struggled to rise, but its limbs weakened beyond its control. Every attempt to get up sent it crashing back to the ground, and the growls in its throat gradually faded to faint whimpers.

The poison worked even faster than he had expected, and most of Lu Heng's anxiety subsided.

Seeing their companion collapse and fail to rise, the other two Blue-Backed Jackals nearby did not dare advance rashly. They circled their poisoned companion, hesitating to charge the trunk again. Their previously tight encirclement fell largely into disarray.

Only the jackal leader remained undeterred, still staring fixedly up the tree despite its wounds. But the poison in the graze on its hind leg was slowly taking effect. Its stance grew increasingly unsteady, its hindquarters swayed from time to time, and its once-swift lunges became considerably slower.

Lu Heng seized the opening and fired his third poisoned arrow, targeting the other full-grown jackal that was still testing lunges at the tree.

The arrow struck its rear squarely, burying most of its length in the flesh. The startled beast fled frantically, but after only a few paces, its limbs began stiffening beyond its control. Before it had gone ten meters, it fell heavily and lay twitching on the frozen ground. Its muscles were too stiff to stretch, and it could no longer rise to attack.

In mere moments, two of the four jackals had fallen. Only the leader and the last young jackal could still move.

The young jackal was the most timid. Seeing two companions fall and convulse one after another had already frightened it. It kept shrinking behind the leader, crouching low and giving small, fearful whimpers. It no longer dared approach to claw at the tree or lunge, only watch the figure above from a distance.

The situation had completely reversed. Lu Heng no longer had to worry about being trapped in a hopeless position once his arrows ran out. The poisoned arrows had worked far better than expected. Ordinary Cold Stiff Poison Glands were enough to suppress this pack of Blue-Backed Jackals; there was no need at all to use his treasured Cave-Nest Spider Poison Gland.

Noticing its companions lose their ability to move one after another, the jackal leader paced restlessly in place. Its two existing wounds and the new poisoned wound on its hind leg continually drained its stamina. Cold poison spread through its blood to the rest of its body, making its movements increasingly sluggish. Every step required tremendous effort. Helplessness slowly surfaced in its once-vicious eyes, yet it still refused to abandon the siege, stubbornly guarding the tree without retreating.

Lu Heng had only one poisoned arrow left. Rather than shoot to kill the jackal leader outright, he aimed at its uninjured foreleg.

The arrow struck its target precisely. The metal head pierced the flesh, and milky-white venom clung to the wound. The jackal leader suddenly let out a long, mournful howl. All four limbs shook violently beyond its control, and its forelegs buckled, sending it crashing to its knees on the frozen earth. After several struggles, it still could not regain its footing. It could only lie on the ground, panting heavily, every muscle stiff and taut. Even its strength to raise its head and look at the man in the tree was rapidly draining away.

Seeing that even the leader had completely lost the ability to move, the last young jackal tucked its tail between its legs in terror and turned to flee into the depths of the forest. Lu Heng did not simply let it leave. He raised his hand, loaded his last spare ordinary arrow onto the crossbow, and fired at its hind leg.

The arrow grazed the young jackal's hind leg. It did not inflict a fatal wound, but it was enough to send the creature fleeing in fright, too scared to return and surround the trunk again.

In just a few minutes, three of the four Blue-Backed Jackals beneath the tree had been paralyzed on the ground by the cold poison, completely losing their ability to attack. The sole young jackal had fled into the forest in fright and could not return anytime soon.

The prolonged, tense standoff was finally over. Lu Heng let out a long breath, its white mist vanishing in an instant in the freezing air. He slowly lowered his hand crossbow and flexed his long-frozen fingers. His joints ached with numb stiffness as they moved. After remaining wedged between the branches in one position for so long, his waist, abdomen, and legs also ached unbearably.

He looked down at the three immobilized jackals beneath the tree. A Cold Stiff's poison did not kill directly; it merely kept paralyzing the limbs and draining stamina. They would not be able to rise for a while, giving him an opening to find a chance to climb down, clear away the jackal carcasses, and collect supplies.

But the sky was still darkening, and the temperature kept dropping. The cold wind cut across his face like tiny blades of ice. The longer he stayed high among the branches, the faster he would lose body heat. He had to get down and deal with the scene as soon as possible, or the falling temperature after nightfall could easily put him at risk of hypothermia.

Lu Heng carefully shifted his legs and slowly climbed down the thick trunk, his hands and feet gripping the raised bark tightly. He secured every step, not daring to relax even slightly. Even though the pack could no longer move, he remained on guard, always keeping one hand on the handle of the Iron Axe at his side in case a beast used its last strength for a sudden counterattack.

His feet landed on the frozen dead leaves with a faint crunch. Lu Heng immediately scanned his surroundings. Only after confirming that the fleeing young jackal had not returned, and that the three poisoned jackals merely lay twitching weakly without the strength to rise and lunge, did he fully lower his guard.

He walked slowly to the jackal leader and looked down at the Black Iron-Level Exotic Beast. Three wounds of varying depths on its body still seeped blood. Cold poison filled its limbs, and its heavy eyelids hung half closed. It could only move its eyes weakly, no longer able to lift a claw to attack.

Lu Heng touched the bracelet on his wrist, opened the dismantling interface, and aimed it at the fallen Blue-Backed Jackals. Pale blue scanning beams descended in succession, and the bracelet's mechanical notification sounded softly beside his ear.

[Detected prey available for dismantling: Blue-Backed Jackal (leader), Blue-Backed Jackal. Activate one-click dismantling?]

He confirmed with a thought. A pale blue screen of light enveloped the jackals' bodies, and their flesh, fur, skeletons, sinews, and beast bones were rapidly dismantled and converted. The supplies turned into cards one after another and entered the bracelet's storage space.

A moment later, the dismantling ended. Only faint bloodstains remained on the ground, without a trace of the beasts' remains. Lu Heng glanced over the newly added supplies in his inventory. Jackal meat, thick hides, tough beast bones, and sinews were neatly sorted by category, enough to take back to the Shelter for storage. The hides could also be used to mend his damaged cold-weather clothing.

Just then, the bracelet's blue light flashed suddenly, and a new system notification appeared.

[Beast pack occupying the outskirts of the Frost Forest eliminated. Regional threats cleared. Regional clearance reward issued: Bronze Treasure Chest ×1. Deposited in storage space.]

Lu Heng paused briefly, then felt considerably more at ease. He had only intended to deal with the jackals surrounding him and had never expected an extra treasure chest for clearing out the Blue-Backed Jackals across the outskirts. It was an unexpected bonus. He would open it and inspect the supplies inside after returning to the Shelter.

After checking his supplies, Lu Heng looked toward the dense forest where the young jackal had fled. The woods were silent, without any roars or sounds of beasts. The young jackal had probably fled far away and would not return to bother him.

The long, deadlocked crisis was finally resolved completely. If he had not remembered the poisonous items stored in his bracelet and had tried to fight with only four ordinary arrows, he would have been the one left trapped in the tree today.

Lu Heng reached up and touched the bracelet on his wrist, making a mental note that he must always carry enough poison glands on future explorations. They were more than sufficient for encounters with ordinary exotic beasts. The precious Cave-Nest Spider Poison Gland should be saved for more dangerous, higher-tier monsters. Only by allocating his supplies sensibly could he survive for long on this harsh frozen land.

The sky grew darker, and the outlines of the distant wooded mountains slowly merged into the gray dusk. Biting winds continued to sweep through the entire forest. Lu Heng put away his weapons, finished checking all the supplies obtained from dismantling, then turned and set off toward the Stone Cave Shelter.

Once he returned, he still had to repair the wooden door smashed by the Cave-Nest Spider, purify a new batch of coarse salt, and process today's jackal meat, smoking it to extend its storage life. A pile of chores still awaited him, and he could not linger outside any longer.

As he walked, Lu Heng occasionally glanced back at the old tree covered in claw marks, still feeling a lingering fear. Deadly dangers lurked everywhere on this frozen land. Any shortage of supplies or mishandled response could cost him his life. He would have to be more cautious and thorough on future explorations and avoid falling into such an impossible predicament again.