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Ban Ming transformed back into human form and excitedly shouted to his friends, "Let's not split up today, let's go straight to the spot we scouted beforehand and put the salt in!"

Everyone responded with loud, guttural noises.

Jian Mo walked among the young people, joining them in adding salt.

Soon, the orcs led their group to a dark cave entrance in the wilderness, where they prepared to place the salt.

Xi Lu's nose reverted to its beast-like shape as she sniffed the air. "The scent of a very fresh Arrow-Bone Beast."

Jian Mo tried to smell it, just like him, but could only faintly detect the fishy smell of wild animals. As for whether it was fresh or not, he couldn't tell.

The orcs placed a large handful of salt at the cave entrance, then said, "Leave two people here to guard it; we're going to the next cave entrance."

Xi Lu offered, "Let's stay here, Jiu Yin and I."

After leaving someone to keep watch, everyone headed to their next destination.

Jian Mo followed along and realized that everyone had a clear purpose; they must have scouted the area beforehand, as they didn't take any detours along the way.

Everyone moved quickly.

Jian Mo estimated that in less than an hour, they had placed salt at the entrances of the seventeen Arrow-Bone Beast's burrows.

The reason they didn't release more is simply because they only had so many people this time, and they couldn't distribute them more widely.

Jian Mo Ban Ming were grouped together.

After placing the salt, they waited patiently in the withered grass.

Ban Ming lowered his voice and said to Jian Mo, "The Arrow-Bone Beast are extremely wary, and we rarely catch them when we hunt. However, they have a high salt requirement, and since it's inconvenient to collect salt in winter, it's easy for us to lure them out with salt."

Jian Mo: "Do they eat a lot of salt?"

Ban Ming: "I don't know, but they're likely to die without salt."

Jian Mo nodded. "That's probably because they have a higher salt requirement."

After chatting for a while, the two stopped talking, fearing they might disturb the Arrow-Bone Beast.

They waited in the cold wind for a long time. Then, Jian Mo saw a small animal stick its head out of the dark cave entrance, sniff it, and then pull its head back in.

It must have smelled the salt outside, but dared not come out to eat it directly, so it repeated this probing process.

Waiting outside was incredibly boring. Jian Mo silently counted; the Arrow-Bone Beast had poked its head out at least eleven times.

Nevertheless, it did not emerge completely, maintaining a posture that suggested it would flee deeper into the cave at the slightest disturbance.

Ban Ming had already transformed back into a large cat, crouching low and dragging his long tail, ready to pounce at any moment.

Jian Mo turned to look at the big cat and noticed that his pupils had also slightly contracted.

That was a stance indicating a readiness to attack.

Ban Ming, who usually seems unreliable, was unusually patient at this moment.

Several times the Arrow-Bone Beast seemed about to emerge, but he didn't fall for it and remained quietly crouched to the side.

Jian Mo lay prone in the grass, feeling her legs go numb.

He usually gathers resources, and this was his first time going hunting with someone; he had no idea that hunting would be so complicated.

Because the waiting time was so long, he couldn't concentrate, and his mind was filled with all sorts of random thoughts.

Just as he was distracted, the large cat beside him darted out like an arrow, leaving only a few afterimages in his pupils.

With a sharp cry, Jian Mo saw the big cat rush to the cave entrance and firmly grab the head of the Arrow-Bone Beast.

The Arrow-Bone Beast's body was limp, clearly having been killed in a single blow.

The big cat tossed the Arrow-Bone Beast aside, spat a few times, and turned to Jian Mo, saying, "Jian Mo, you can come over now."

Jian Mo dragged her numb legs and limped over. "Hunting is really not easy."

The big cat spoke frankly, "Our hunting skills aren't that great, which is why it's a bit difficult. If the chieftain and the others were here, they could probably catch the Arrow-Bone Beast right away, without having to wait so long."

Jian Mo turned to look at him.

The big cat flicked its tail. "What's wrong?"

Jian Mo: "I don't know why, but I feel like your attitude today is a bit...--"

Jian Mo searched her memory and found a word to describe it. "Attentive."

The big cat roughly understood what he meant, but pretended not to. "Let's go, let's go and meet up with the main force. Someone must have already caught the Arrow-Bone Beast."

Jian Mo didn't press further, climbing onto his back. "Should we put the Arrow-Bone Beast on my back too?"

Big Cat: "No need, I'll carry it."

After a sprint, they arrived at the agreed location.

As expected, most of the people had returned, bringing back various sizes of Arrow-Bone Beast.

A Hu, who had transformed into a large orange cat, was complaining to the people around her. "... I had caught the Arrow-Bone Beast, but it turned out to be a pregnant female, so I had to release it back."

The large fox beside him didn't quite believe it.

The orange cat bared its teeth, revealing its sharp canines. "Really, smell it, I still smell the blood of the Arrow-Bone Beast on my breath!"

In such a large-scale hunting activity, the big orange cat had no success and felt quite embarrassed, so it kept grabbing its companions and making them sniff them.

Fortunately, a few honest orcs, after carefully smelling it, agreed with his assessment, "It does indeed smell like Arrow-Bone Beast."

Some of the orcs and sub-orcs who returned early went to gather firewood.

They needed to deal with the Arrow-Bone Beast on the spot, and start a fire to roast the meat.

Jian Mo didn't contribute to the hunting itself, but she wanted to help with skinning and butchering, doing more work.

He took out the bronze dagger that Wu Jiong had given him, ready to get to work.

Everyone around him immediately turned their attention to him, staring at the dagger.

Jian Mo: "..."

Ban Ming leaned closer. "Jian Mo, can I borrow your dagger for a moment?"

Jian Mo handed it over generously. "Sure, just be careful not to chip the blade."

Ban Ming: "I will definitely use it carefully and make sure the blade never touches a single bone."