Would that really work?

"Click!"

Tang Zhixue opened the pocket watch and found that its mechanism was ticking.

"It can actually tell the time, too. Not bad."

This discovery left Tang Zhixue somewhat satisfied. Being able to tell the time was nice enough.

Putting down the pocket watch, Tang Zhixue posted everything that had just happened in the chat channel.

Of course, he only said that he had obtained a second-tier item, without mentioning its specific name or effects.

[It really worked?!]

[Xu Shi: Brother Luo, you really know your stuff! This Big Dipper Ghost-Slaying Incantation actually works!]

[Xu Muqiu: Cousin, can burning dry twigs inside a Bamboo Tube really replace an oil lamp or candle?]

[Tang Zhixue: Uh, well, that's how I did it.]

[Xu Muqiu: All right, then.]

[Fang Yunxi: Has anyone killed a Mutated Beast, by the way? Do they have much fat? Could you trade some to me?]

[Wen Yue: Sister Fang, what do you need fat for?]

[Fang Yunxi: I want to try making a few oil lamps with it.]

[Tang Zhixue: Mutated Beast fat can be used as lamp oil?]

[Fang Yunxi: Uh, I don't know if it'll work either. I just want to give it a try.]

Tang Zhixue turned toward the two beast carcasses a short distance away. "Animal fat can be used as lamp oil?!"

Honestly, that really had never occurred to him.

"Looks like I really do need to go out. Hides and fat are important."

Just as he had originally planned, Tang Zhixue needed to go out first and find a suitable place to butcher his kills.

There was one difference, though: this time, he took the Balanced Pocket Watch he had just obtained with him.

Tang Zhixue's recitation of the Pure Heaven and Earth Divine Mantra rang out through the woods. The surrounding Silent White Fog gradually dispersed, allowing other sounds to reach his ears once again.

Because of the Silent White Fog, the outside world had remained soundless. Only now, after he dispersed the white fog, could those sounds travel again.

This time, Tang Zhixue entered the woods in the opposite direction from the Blazing Fire Sect ruins. He still wanted to try finding a water source.

Of course, if he truly could not find one, Tang Zhixue would not stubbornly waste his energy searching. That fifty-liter barrel of fresh water should be enough to give the hides and the butchered tiger and boar meat a quick rinse.

Yet this outing went surprisingly smoothly.

Perhaps because of the Silent White Fog, the weeds and low shrubs that had once covered the woods had now vanished completely.

Of course, it was also possible that the Pure Heaven and Earth Divine Mantra had taken effect.

"Splash... splash..."

After walking for about an hour, Tang Zhixue suddenly heard running water.

"Water?"

Tang Zhixue's brows abruptly furrowed, without the slightest hint of joy.

He had explored this direction before the white fog descended, but had found no sign of a water source.

Tang Zhixue cautiously walked toward the sound of water.

As he approached, the sound grew louder.

But the surrounding plants showed no change at all, seemingly unaffected by the water source. Normally, vegetation should grow lusher the closer it was to water.

Tang Zhixue took an arrow from his Quiver and nocked it on his Wooden Bow, ready to shoot at any moment.

As usual, he recited the Pure Heaven and Earth Divine Mantra to disperse the surrounding white fog.

This time, however, once the white fog dispersed, a flowing stream appeared right before Tang Zhixue's eyes.

"There really is water here?"

Tang Zhixue was puzzled. He did not lower the bow and arrow in his hands, and his vigilance did not diminish in the slightest. If anything, it grew stronger.

Approaching the water quietly, Tang Zhixue picked up a branch and stirred the water with it.

After finding nothing unusual, he took a Bamboo Tube from his Back Basket, filled it with some stream water, and returned to the Shelter.

Once he returned to the Shelter and checked the stream water's information, he would have a general idea of whether anything was wrong with it.

An hour later, Tang Zhixue returned to the Shelter with a Bamboo Tube a little less than half full of stream water.

As soon as he returned, he eagerly checked the stream water's information.

[Item: Ordinary stream water]

[Tier: First tier]

[Description: Fresh water flowing through an ordinary stream. Must be filtered and boiled before drinking.]

"An ordinary stream? Then there shouldn't be much of a problem."

Tang Zhixue's anxious heart finally eased a little.

Another hour later, Tang Zhixue successfully transported the Thorn-Horned Mutant Tiger and Mud-Armored Boar carcasses to the stream using the simple tools he had made yesterday.

He did not start processing them right away. Instead, he first bound each one's hind legs with vines, then hung the two tiger carcasses from a large tree beside the stream.

Tang Zhixue took out his hunting knife and shook his head regretfully. "I didn't bleed them in time. The meat probably won't taste very good."

"Squelch!"

The hunting knife went in and out, leaving a wound in each of their necks. Dark red blood immediately flowed out.

The smell of blood spread at once, and before long, their blood had soaked the ground.

Tang Zhixue walked over to the Thorn-Horned Mutant Tiger, raised his hunting knife, and cut from its lower jaw down the midline of its chest and belly, all the way to its anus.

Notably, he kept the tip of the hunting knife pointing upward the entire time, cutting only the skin and subcutaneous fat without piercing the abdominal or chest cavities, to avoid contaminating the muscle.

After an entire night of simulated practice last night, Tang Zhixue's movements were highly proficient. It did not take him long to remove the tiger hide completely intact.

Except, of course, for the two pointed horns on its head, which grew directly from the tiger's skull.

He scraped the excess fat and meat clinging to the tiger hide away with his hunting knife, then took out the salt he had prepared beforehand and sprinkled it over the inside of the hide. He rubbed it in vigorously, making sure every part was covered in salt, especially the edges and head.

Then he folded the tiger hide in half with the fur facing outward, rolled it up, and set it aside to let the salt penetrate.

This was to preserve it with salt and prevent the tiger hide from rotting.

Actually, if conditions had allowed, Tang Zhixue would have preferred to tan the tiger hide directly.

Unfortunately, the Thorn-Horned Mutant Tiger and Mud-Armored Boar had been dead for too long, and their hides already had a faint foul smell.

It was only because the temperature was low now. Had it been any warmer, Tang Zhixue could have forgotten about keeping the tiger hide.

Afterward, Tang Zhixue separated the tiger meat and bones piece by piece, washed them, and placed them in the broad leaves laid on the carrying board.

As for the internal organs, Tang Zhixue kept only the heart and threw all the rest into the stream to drift downstream.

He feared the others would smell too strong, so he could only reluctantly give them up.

Next came the Mud-Armored Boar. As with the Thorn-Horned Mutant Tiger, he kept the hide, meat, bones, and heart, and discarded everything else.

Watching the organs drift farther and farther away in the stream, Tang Zhixue shook his head helplessly. "What a waste of such good bait."

If not for the Silent White Fog, Tang Zhixue could easily have used the two kills' organs to set up a few fish traps by the stream. He might even have been able to improve his meals.

After washing his hunting knife and hands, Tang Zhixue dragged the processed hides, meat, and bones back to the Shelter.