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Jian Mo thought for a moment, then decided to go and see what was going on with the fur powder from these Furball Beasts.
He had only ever heard of birds having feather dust; this was the first time he had heard of animals having fur dust.
Wu Jiong: "If you want to go, ask Xi Lu tomorrow."
Jian Mo: "Okay, I'll see if I can ask him to show me the way."
Xi Lu had already told Jian Mo about the hair powder and was ready to take him out to collect it.
Hearing that he wanted to go, Xi Lu agreed without hesitation, "Which day do you want to go? I'm free every day."
Jian Mo: "How's tomorrow? Where are we going?"
Xi Lu asked, "Do you know Purple Flower Plateau? There should be a lot of Furball Beast there."
Jian Mo knew this; he had gone there with Qing Kuo and the others to collect mushrooms in the autumn. "It's not far."
Xi Lu nodded. "Yes, it's not far. The beastmen can go in their animal forms and they'll be there in no time."
Jian Mo made the final decision. "Then we'll go after breakfast tomorrow. Do you want the few of us sub-orcs to go alone, or do you want to invite the orcs along?"
Xi Lu: "I want to ask Xuan Yin to carry me there. That would be more convenient and safer."
Xuan Yin is Xi Lu's prospective partner. The two are just waiting for the house to be built so they can move in together and become official partners.
Jian Mo had been wondering if it would be appropriate for Xi Lu, a young sub-beastman, to be carried by Wu Jiong. Perhaps they should just fly there on Flying-Winged Beast?
Hearing Xi Lu's words, Jian Mo immediately said, "It's settled then. I'll have Wu Jiong come with us."
The two agreed on a time to leave.
The next morning, the four met outside the village and set off for Purple Flower Plateau.
Purple Flower Plateau is quite close to the tribe. If the people in this world have the habit of taking walks, then Purple Flower Plateau should be a place that can be reached by a short walk. It's the kind of distance that you can walk until you're slightly sweaty, but not too tiring.
They soon arrived at Purple Flower Plateau.
It hasn't snowed in the past few days. Purple Flower Plateau is located on a sunny slope of the hill, and most of the snow on it has melted, with only a few patches of snow remaining that have been blown together by the wind.
Beneath the snow, withered yellow short grass covered the ground. As far as the eye could see, the entire Purple Flower Plateau was covered with short grass, with only some round animal droppings in the gaps between the grass.
The soil on this hillside is black, and the animal droppings are also black, making it difficult to distinguish them at a glance.
Jian Mo looked around but didn't see the small, black, furry animal that Xi Lu had described.
Xi Lu guessed what he was thinking and pointed to the soil, "The Furball Beast only come out at night; they usually hide in their burrows now."
Jian Mo: "So we have to take them out now?"
Xi Lu.
Neither Wu Jiong nor Xuan Yin transformed back into human form.
Like Wu Jiong, Xuan Yin is also a canine beastman, but he looks more like a red fox.
Both of them, in their beast forms, had long snouts and keen senses of smell. They sniffed the ground and quickly began their search.
Wu Jiong found it first and called to Jian Mo in a deep voice, "There's a Furball Beast down there."
Jian Mo quickly put on her gloves and mask, and urged Xi Lu to do the same, "Here we are!"
Jian Mo ran to the giant wolf with her stone hoe and, sure enough, saw a small black hole in the ground where the wolf was sniffing.
Giant Wolf: "Be careful, it's shallow down there. If you dig down, the Furball Beast might jump out and pounce on your face."
Jian Mo nodded seriously, picked up her hoe, and began to dig.
The cave below wound its way down, and after digging with two hoes, he saw smooth, dry mud walls—he wondered how the Furball Beast managed to keep the cave dry.
Just as Jian Mo was concentrating on digging down, a black, furry ball suddenly jumped out.
He hadn't even reacted yet, staring blankly as the fluffy ball traced a black line across his face.
The next second, the giant wolf's claws reached out and gently stepped on the black fur ball.
The black fluffy ball tried to run away but failed, letting out a soft "Chirp."
Jian Mo get a clear look at the fur ball.
The Furball Beast looks very much like a black, ball-shaped plush toy. It has a small body, long fur, two big, clear black and white eyes, four paws under its body, and it chirps when it gets anxious.
They look quite cute.
Jian Mo crouched down, grabbed the Furball Beast with her gloved hands, and said to the giant wolf, "You can let go now."
The giant wolf gently raised its paw.
Jian Mo picked up the Furball Beast and examined it closely.
Xi Lu and Xuan Yin also came over to take a look.
Xi Lu said, "The white powder on your gloves is its fur powder."
Jian Mo, there was a layer of something like pearl powder on them, with a faint, lustrous sheen.
As the Furball Beast struggled and squealed, more and more powder fell off, accumulating a thin layer on Jian Mo's gloves.
Jian Mo thought for a moment, then grabbed the Furball Beast and shook it.
The fur powder from the Furball Beast fell like snowflakes into Jian Mo's palm. If he hadn't been wearing a mask, he probably would have choked on it.
Soon, the Furball Beast let out two weak groans, stretched out its paws, and remained motionless, pretending to be dead.
Jian Mo held the Furball Beast in her hand, squeezing it firmly. It was only about the size of a tennis ball, a small beast with hardly any meat on its bones.
After shaking it to make sure it wasn't shedding any more lint, Jian Mo gently placed it back into the hole.
The Furball Beast, which had been pretending to be dead, suddenly sprang up, jumped into the hole, and disappeared.
Jian Mo watched the Furball Beast disappear from sight. "It's quite agile."
Xi Lu: "These weaker beasts are usually quite good at running away."
Jian Mo: "I guessed so. It doesn't seem to attack people much. How about we split into two groups and collect fur powder from each side?"
Xi Lu had no objections. "Xuan Yin and I will go over there."
The four people were divided into two groups, which greatly improved the efficiency of the data collection.
After figuring out the pattern, Jian Mo was able to find the Furball Beast's burrow without relying on the giant wolf.