Late at night, the wilderness area was hit with a torrential downpour.
Inside a hidden cave, Wang Zhan had set up a fire, a freshly cut rabbit leg roasting over the flames. He had originally planned to reach the Valley Plain by today, but alas, plans rarely keep up with changes. In just a single day, Wang Zhan had become acutely aware of the terrors of the wilderness area. After encountering the Big-eared Rabbit, a walking food reserve, Wang Zhan had met at least seven or eight beasts along the way. Although most of them were inconsequential, there were also level two and even level three beasts among them.
Truthfully, Wang Zhan had opportunities to kill these beasts, but the wilderness area was ultimately not human territory. If he acted rashly, he would inevitably attract other beasts and invite trouble for himself. Thus, as he ventured deeper into the wilderness area, Wang Zhan had to slow his pace. By the time dusk approached, he had found a cave to take refuge in.
The wilderness at night is indeed more terrifying than during the day. Listening to the constant roars of beasts outside the cave, Wang Zhan was deeply shocked. This was merely the outermost part of the wilderness area, only about fifty kilometers from Base City. Yet, even in this area alone, numerous beasts of level one and above were active. Even from this limited perspective, Wang Zhan could imagine how terrifying the deeper parts of the wilderness area would be.
Wang Zhan’s attention gradually turned to the meat roasting before him. The massive rabbit leg held at least several dozen pounds of meat, sizzling over the flames. The mere sight of it was incredibly satisfying. Wang Zhan clumsily sprinkled some spices on it. When he felt it was about done, he picked up the rabbit leg and took a bite. After just two bites, Wang Zhan discovered that the meat was only cooked on the surface; the inside was still completely raw.
Ah, well, back to roasting it is. Slightly dejected, Wang Zhan placed the rabbit leg back on the fire, then used his dagger to cut a few more slits into the thick meat. This content belongs to N0velFire.ɴet
Just as Wang Zhan was waiting for the roast to finish, a sudden noise came from outside the cave.
Hmm? Wang Zhan instantly became alert. Dagger in hand, he moved into the shadows beside the cave entrance, his brow slightly furrowed. He had already disguised the cave entrance with thick vegetation; it wouldn’t leave any trace in the pouring rain late at night.
Before long, Wang Zhan heard distinct footsteps and human voices.
"Such heavy rain, and it’s already dark. What should we do?"
"Sigh, let’s find a place to shelter from the rain first."
"Today has been really unlucky."
From these snippets of conversation, Wang Zhan quickly analyzed their situation. Three different voices, matching the number of footsteps. Two males and one female, none of them sounded very old.
Wang Zhan slightly parted the vegetation covering the cave entrance. "Over here! There’s a cave you can use to shelter from the rain."
In the wilderness area, with the constant threat of beasts, selfish and scheming individuals would only be reviled.
Hearing Wang Zhan’s voice and seeing the Fire Light from the cave, the three of them quickened their pace towards it.
Only after all three had entered the cave did Wang Zhan realize they were wearing Military Martial Academy attire.
"Thanks, man! We were wondering what to do!" one of the men said, taking the lead in thanking him. "My name is Song Le, a sophomore-year student from the Military Martial Academy."
Song Le then pointed to a somewhat aloof-looking girl beside him. "This is Lv Qing, and the other one is Tian Shishi."
Wang Zhan asked, "Seniors, are you all sophomores?"
Seniors? Song Le blinked. He naturally noticed the Military Martial Academy attire Wang Zhan was wearing, but he had assumed Wang Zhan was an upperclassman. After all, new students weren’t currently permitted to enroll. Since they were sophomores and had never seen Wang Zhan, they assumed he was likely a third or fourth-year senior student. Who would have thought Wang Zhan would address them as seniors?
"My name is Wang Zhan," he explained. "Due to special circumstances, my mentor allowed me to come to the wilderness area to train ahead of schedule."
Song Le and the others didn’t know Wang Zhan’s identity; they had already been in the wilderness area for over two months. Hearing Wang Zhan’s explanation, they didn’t find it strange; after all, in previous years, there had been exceptionally talented students who distinguished themselves early in their freshman year and entered the wilderness area for advanced training.
"That’s right, we’re all sophomore-year students," Song Le nodded.
Tian Shishi, at the side, smiled. "How embarrassing for us seniors to appear so disheveled in front of a junior."
"You’re smiling so happily; you don’t look embarrassed at all," Lv Qing stated, her expression unchanging.
Tian Shishi’s face stiffened.
Song Le gave a wry smile and explained, "Sorry, Junior. We don’t know what happened today. Someone was careless when hunting a beast and left a trail of blood. The beasts in this outer section of the wilderness area have all gone berserk. They’re usually not this active during the day."
"Exactly! I don’t know who could have been so thoughtless. Luckily this is just the outer area; otherwise, who knows how much chaos it would have caused," Tian Shishi chimed in indignantly.
Lv Qing coughed twice.
"Qing, did you catch a cold in the rain?" Tian Shishi teased. "A Martial Artist like you catching a cold? That’s hilarious!"
Lv Qing shot Tian Shishi a glare, then gestured with her head towards the back of the cave.
Song Le and Tian Shishi followed her gaze and saw the Big-eared Rabbit carcass, more than half of its body soaked in Fresh Blood, and Wang Zhan standing beside it, looking quite embarrassed.
"Uh... would you like some?" Wang Zhan offered.
I swear, I truly had no idea that one needed to be so thorough when dealing with a beast kill! Wang Zhan thought.
Song Le and his two companions quickly gave Wang Zhan a crash course on some taboos of the wilderness area.
"Beast blood is a powerful stimulant and attractant for other beasts. So, if you want to carry away a carcass, you must process it properly. Usually, a scent-masking spray is used."
"Um, I don’t have any," Wang Zhan said, feeling somewhat awkward.
Song Le and the others, however, had brought plenty and immediately gave Wang Zhan a canister.
"If you only want the beast core and not the beast’s body, just remember to spray some on yourself. Carrying away the body is generally troublesome. You either have to drain its blood or stop the bleeding and stitch the wounds, neither of which is simple," Song Le explained in detail.
Martial Artists have large appetites. The four of them quickly devoured the Big-eared Rabbit, leaving only a pile of bones.
After chatting for a while longer, the four of them found separate places to rest and recuperate.
「Early the next morning」
Song Le and his companions bid farewell to Wang Zhan. Their mission was to jointly hunt and kill a level 4 beast, and their time was limited, so they left in a hurry. However, before leaving, they shared a lot of information about the Valley Plain with Wang Zhan.
The periphery of the Valley Plain is mostly inhabited by level one and level two Demonic Dogs of the Plains? And from this very mountain, one can pass through the Valley up ahead to reach the plain directly. That would shorten the journey considerably. I didn’t know that.
The information Song Le provided was crucial. Previously, Wang Zhan hadn’t known there was a Valley leading directly to the Valley Plain from where he was camped. This route would shorten the distance between the cave and the plain by nearly half, leaving only about ten kilometers.
This will make coming and going much more convenient. This cave can also serve as a temporary base.
Wang Zhan quickly stowed his belongings, taking only a dagger, and set out lightly equipped.
Following the direction Song Le had indicated, before long, he found the entrance to the Valley.
After walking into the Valley for about ten to fifteen minutes, Wang Zhan started to feel that something was strange.
Something’s not right. Song Le said this Valley was full of level one and level two beasts and warned me to be careful and avoid them. But I’ve been in here for quite a while now and haven’t seen hide nor hair of anything.
An abnormal situation usually means trouble is brewing.
Not only were there no beasts, but even the snakes, insects, rats, and ants that should have been teeming in the jungles down the mountain were rarely seen. None of the many hardships Wang Zhan had anticipated came to pass. His journey through the Valley so far felt remarkably smooth, as if traversing open plains. But the more this was the case, the more cautious Wang Zhan became.
After about half an hour, Wang Zhan could vaguely see the Valley’s exit in the distance. Beyond it lay a vast grassland.
That must be the Valley Plain. Wang Zhan’s eyes lit up.
But just as he was preparing to quicken his pace and head over, he abruptly stopped, his gaze fixed on a spot halfway up the mountainside within the Valley.
Wang Zhan couldn’t help but curse inwardly.
Why is there a red-haired gorilla clinging to the middle of a sheer cliff face?
Moreover, this giant ape’s exposed skin was an eerie greenish-blue, and it even possessed four arms. The giant ape was sleeping soundly. Although its posture—clinging to the cliff with one hand while asleep—was peculiar, it didn’t prevent it from sleeping soundly. But even with the big guy asleep, Wang Zhan felt an extreme sense of danger emanating from it.
Level four... no, level five, or even stronger! Wang Zhan took a deep breath, trying his best to minimize any sound from his movements.
He finally understood why this Valley was so peaceful.
With such a big guy present, how could it not be peaceful?
Wang Zhan advanced with extreme caution. After nearly an hour of painstaking progress, he finally put some distance between himself and the sleeping giant ape.
At this moment, Wang Zhan was in no mood to survey the Valley Plain before him. He immediately used his personal terminal to look up information on the giant ape. Fortunately, while the network connection for his personal terminal was intermittent in the wilderness area, its local database was quite comprehensive. Wang Zhan quickly found the information he needed.
"Four-arm Giant Ape, a level 7 beast."
Wang Zhan swallowed hard. He suddenly regretted leaving all his supplies in the cave. If he didn’t take the Valley route, he would have to make a lengthy detour back to the cave. But if he took the Valley path, he would have to pass by the Four-arm Giant Ape every day, with no telling when it might be asleep or awake.
After pondering for a long time without a solution, Wang Zhan gave a wry smile. He could only put the matter aside for now and turn his attention to the surroundings of the Valley Plain.
The ’plain’ in Valley Plain was merely a topographical term; more accurately, this place should be called a grassland. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but weeds over a meter tall, severely obstructing his vision. The roars of beasts could occasionally be heard in the distance, but there was no sign of the creatures themselves.
This mission isn’t as simple as I thought. Wang Zhan frowned slightly.