Chapter 10

Chapter 10: A Big Haul of Grunting Beasts

Wen Ran quickly opened the task options and saw a list of uncompleted tasks, allowing him to choose which to complete first or later on.

Accepting different tasks would yield different amounts of gold coins and vitality. The higher the difficulty of the task completed, the more gold coins and vitality he would gain.

"New scholars logging into the system for the first time receive a free gift of 500 gold coins and 100 vitality. One vitality allows you to live for one day. Gold coins and vitality won't be replenished once used up. Scholars must complete random system tasks or improve their farming level to regain vitality. Please use them carefully."

Right after that, Wen Ran saw his vitality change from 0 to 100, and his total assets change from 0 to 500.

100 vitality, each allowing him to live for one day, meant he could survive for over three months.

Wen Ran wasn't bothered; after all, he had already died once.

Even if he died without completing the tasks, it wouldn't be a loss.

He entered the mall to see what 500 gold coins could buy. After checking the prices, he found that 500 gold coins were roughly equivalent to 500 yuan on Earth—enough to buy quite a bit, but not a lot.

Right now, he really wanted to buy a pile of food and a large iron pot to make cooking easier.

He was starving, his stomach pressed against his back. Remembering how he had been given a hard time when he went to borrow food before falling unconscious, Wen Ran felt a surge of frustration. He didn't care about winning respect; he just wanted to rely on himself to eat his fill and stay warm, and to shove it in their faces!

Wen Ran was happily browsing the mall when suddenly a heart-wrenching, piercing meow echoed in his ears, startling him.

When he opened his eyes, he saw three kittens with teary eyes surrounding him.

Mao Yin kept letting out piercing cries, and among the three kittens, he was crying the most sorrowfully.

Wen Ran felt a warmth in his heart; saving this little one hadn't been in vain.

"Wen Ran, you're finally awake! Wuwu... you've been asleep for a whole day and night! I thought... I thought you had gone to see the Beast God..." Round Cat said sadly. "Are you feeling better? Is there anywhere you still feel unwell?"

Asleep for a day and night? He hadn't felt time passing so quickly in the system.

Wen Ran nodded weakly and slowly said, "Don't worry, I'm much better."

He wasn't just much better—he was practically full of life!

With this advantage, he had nothing to fear!

He asked hoarsely, "What about that little bitch... bad female, Hu Lai? Did she push me and just run away?!"

Wen Ran had wanted to call her a little bitch, but he stopped himself, not wanting to set a bad example for the children.

As for that troublemaker Hu Lai, he had plenty of time and opportunities to deal with her. She had accused him of stealing the tribe’s beast meat, so he would prove to her exactly where this meat came from and slap her in the face with the truth!

"You're awake."

Hearing the voice, Wen Ran looked up, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "When did you get back?"

"Just this morning. Sorry for making you worry and go hungry." Lang Zhi’s voice was hoarse, and he looked tired, with several long scratches on his face, as if from sharp gravel, and a bit of blood still visible.

Wen Ran shook his head, his eyes following Lang Zhi. For some reason, with Lang Zhi back, he felt a bit more at ease. It had been a long time since he had felt a sense of security from someone else.

Lang Zhi held a turtle shell in his slender fingers, filled with meat soup. He pushed it toward Wen Ran and looked at him expectantly. "You said sick people need to eat ground meat soup for nutrition. Round Cat taught me how to make it. Try it."

Wen Ran looked at the ground meat soup hesitantly, wondering if it was made from rat meat.

Lang Zhi sensed his hesitation and explained, "It’s rabbit meat, not gerbil meat."

Wen Ran breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't rat meat, he was fine with it. He was indeed starving, so he picked up the turtle shell and took small sips, saying somewhat sheepishly, "Thank you."

Round Cat said eagerly, "This time, Lang Zhi's hunting team not only encountered a big whirlwind but also came across Grunting Beasts! There were over thirty of them in that litter! If it weren't for Lang Zhi being there, I'm afraid the entire hunting team led by Captain Mao Shi would have ended up in the Grunting Beasts’ bellies! Thankfully, Lang Zhi wasn't injured. It must be the Beast God’s blessing!"

Grunting Beasts? Could they be wild boars?

"What do Grunting Beasts look like? Can you take me to see them?" Wen Ran asked.

"Can you walk now? The male orcs of the Sand Cat Tribe are distributing beast meat at the tribal plaza. I need to go help and also bring back the meat for our cave."

"Bring back meat? Don't the male orcs deliver the prey to the caves?" Last time, Cat Tooth had brought them two dead gerbils.

"That's when the prey is scarce. When prey is scarce, the tribe chief distributes the meat, and the hunting team members deliver it to each cave. When there’s a lot of prey, everyone goes to the tribal plaza to get the meat. The hunted prey is piled there, and after the Hunting Captain and the male orcs cut it up, the tribe chief distributes it, with one person from each cave coming to collect it."

"I see."

"Besides taking you to get the meat, there’s one more thing to do."

Wen Ran was curious. "What is it?"

"Face off with Hu Lai."

A flash of green glinted in Lang Zhi’s wolf eyes—the cold light of a wolf king facing its prey.

Wen Ran’s eyes lit up with understanding. Round Cat must have told Lang Zhi everything that happened while he was unconscious.

Hu Lai had accused him of stealing the Sand Cat Tribe’s beast meat, so Lang Zhi was taking him to confront her, to slap her in the face and clear Wen Ran’s name.

It had to be said, Lang Zhi’s approach was exactly what he had in mind.

As they walked, Wen Ran asked curiously, "How did you manage to avoid the big whirlwind?"

A tornado and lightning, in the middle of a bare desert—just thinking about it was terrifying.

"In our rush to avoid the big whirlwind, we followed the desert camels into a sand cave. Unexpectedly, the cave was home to a litter of Grunting Beasts. It turned out to be a lucky find."

Wen Ran clicked his tongue. It really was the Beast God’s blessing.

......

The tribal plaza was crowded with tribespeople, and in the center lay about thirty black-furred animals. They were indeed pigs, but these pigs were huge, covered in steel-needle-like black fur and sporting two sharp, knife-like tusks. They were wild boars.

"Ding, primitive wild boars from the beast world detected! Can be traded. Suggested selling price for boars over 250 *jin*: 3,500 gold coins each. For boars under 200 *jin*, the price can be calculated by weight. Prices vary depending on the specific cut, ranging from 25 to 40 gold coins per *jin*."

Are these wild boars really that valuable?!

Wen Ran stared at the wild boars, his eyes lit up. If they were all his, he could sell and buy to his heart's content!

Wen Ran and Round Cat, along with the three kittens, watched eagerly as the male orcs cut and distributed the meat. Lang Zhi waited for the two Hunting Captains to finish cutting up one Grunting Beast, then single-handedly hoisted another and placed it in front of them for further cutting.

In the entire process, the Hunting Captains were responsible for cutting and dividing the meat, while Lang Zhi handed them the meat and carried the portions divided by the captain to the tribe chief. Once everything was divided, the tribe chief would distribute the meat, with one person from each cave coming to collect it.

Mao Shi gave him a light punch on the shoulder and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "You're reckless, carrying another one over so quickly. Take a break, will you?"

Lang Zhi shook his head. "I'm not tired."

"You might not be tired, but I am. I don't have your brute strength."

Cat Tooth, using a bone cleaver to trim a pig leg, was the captain of another hunting team. He said sarcastically, "Lang Zhi is in a hurry to get back to his cave. Haven't you seen that the Lesser Female he picked up has fainted from hunger?"

"Picking up such a burden—let's see how he survives the drought season!"

Mao Shi knitted his brows and glared at Cat Tooth, demanding, "Cat Tooth, are you doubting my hunting skills and leadership?! This bountiful catch of Grunting Beasts was brought back by our hunting team! Lang Zhi is part of our team—can't we even provide for one Lesser Female?!"

"Besides, you probably don’t know this, but we managed to catch all thirty or so Grunting Beasts in one go thanks to Lang Zhi! Lang Zhi restrained the most aggressive male Grunting Beast, while I subdued the female Grunting Beast. That gave the rest of the hunting team the chance to capture the Grunting Beast pups and bring them back safely to the tribe!"

"And it’s because of Lang Zhi that you, your female, and everyone else in the tribe get to enjoy such tender Grunting Beast meat tonight! You should be thanking him, not making sarcastic remarks here!"

When Mao Shi spoke up, Cat Tooth clearly backed down somewhat, even though he was still resentful. Though he was also a Hunting Captain, his hunting skills weren’t as strong as Mao Shi’s, and his yields were consistently lesser. That’s why he couldn’t stand up to Mao Shi with confidence.

The tribe leader had made him the captain of the other hunting team partly as a favor to his female, Hu Lai, which also made him less confident in his position.

Mao Shi took the Grunting Beast carcass from Lang Zhi’s hands. "Lang Zhi, you don’t need to be here. Go find that Lesser Female you brought back. Don’t let him starve."

Lang Zhi shook his head. "I already fed him some meat. Hunting Captain, please thank Mao Fei for me. The piece of meat he gave saved Wen Ran’s life. I owe him one."

If it weren’t for that piece of rabbit meat from Mao Fei, Wen Ran would have starved before the tribe finished distributing the Grunting Beast meat and making ground meat stew.

When Mao Shi heard that it was his Lesser Female who had provided the rabbit meat that saved Wen Ran, his face filled with pride. His Lesser Female was truly big-hearted!

Cat Tooth sneered, "A Lesser Female who stole meat from our tribe and might not even be able to produce offspring—and you treat him like a treasure! What a fool! Passing up the tribe’s most beautiful and kind-hearted female for a thieving Lesser Female like that!"

As Cat Tooth spoke, everyone finally noticed Wen Ran, who had been standing quietly behind Lang Zhi all along.

"Is that the outsider Lesser Female?"

"That’s him! I heard he stole meat from the tribe because he couldn’t stand the hunger after the big whirlwind!"

"He stole meat from another tribe, and he still dares to stand here openly? Isn’t he afraid of getting beaten up? How bold!"

"I heard it was the female Hu Lai who caught him stealing. Hu Lai is amazing!"

"Of course she is! She’s the most beautiful female in our tribe—how could she not be impressive?!"

An orc in the crowd said, "He’s so good-looking, why would he steal meat? Doesn’t he have an orc to provide for him? He looks so thin and weak—probably hasn’t eaten meat in days. How pitiful..."

"If you feel sorry for him, then join his cave and get out of my den!"

"No, no, I was wrong, my female! I won’t say such things again! Please don’t abandon me, boo-hoo..."

......

All sorts of whispers reached their ears, but Wen Ran remained unaffected. Lang Zhi, however, tightened his grip on his stone knife and stepped forward, ready to confront them.

Wen Ran grabbed his wrist and shook his head. "Ignore them for now. Let’s focus on getting the meat distributed first. We can deal with them once we have the meat."

In Wen Ran’s eyes, nothing was more important than getting the meat right now.

Lang Zhi thought about it and nodded in agreement.

Hu Lai listened to all the praise directed at her and puffed her chest out even higher, proudly displaying her best side in front of the male orcs. She even shot a provocative glance at Wen Ran.

Wen Ran responded with a knowing smile that gave her chills.

Already feeling guilty and nervous, and afraid the truth might come out, she secretly called over a sand fox orc named Hu Shui. He was the male in her cave she liked the least—if things came to light, she could cut him loose without a second thought.

Hu Shui trotted over eagerly, grinning obsequiously. "My female, what do you need?"

"Hu Shui, come closer. This is a secret—I’m only telling you."

Hu Shui’s eyes lit up with excitement. Had his female finally noticed him after all this time?!

He leaned in, and Hu Lai breathed a secret into his ear. The sight of the two whispering closely made Cat Tooth frown deeply.