“You’re not sharp”

The snow in the forest has not melted completely yet, and it is still white.

Because the snow was too thick, leaves from the high branches would fall down from time to time, crashing into the snow and blending into it.

In winter, heavy snow fell for a long time, and the snow was very thick in the forest where no one had walked. There were countless dead branches and broken trees buried under the snow, and if you were not careful, you would be tripped.

Ze led the hunting team and walked very carefully.

Hu Xiao was walking normally, but suddenly he moved to the side. A small ball of snow brushed against his shoulder and fell to the ground with a "pop" sound.

"We have been out here for almost a day, and it is getting dark, but we haven't seen the prey the priest asked us to hunt."

He sighed and talked, his eyes searching everywhere. If he found something suspicious, he would go forward to check it out, fearing that he might miss it.

I looked up at the sky, and it was indeed getting dark. The road ahead was full of dead branches and trees, and it was difficult to search in the dark.

The ground under our feet is relatively flat, and there are no messy branches under the snow, so it is a good place to rest. We asked everyone to find some branches nearby and prepare to spend the night here.

It is difficult to find wild animals in the forest, but it is easy to pick up dead branches. Just bend down and you can pick a few out of the snow.

However, because we needed to make fire, we picked up relatively dry ones.

This time, each member of the hunting team carried a fish skin backpack containing food, prepared hemostatic kits and fire-making utensils.

After stacking a pile of firewood, Hu Xiao stopped Ze from taking out the fish skin bag, looking eager to try, "Ze, don't move, let me do it!"

He couldn't wait to take out a small bamboo tube from the fish skin bag.

The bamboo tube was tightly stuffed with animal skin, leaving no gaps. Hu Xiao grabbed the animal skin and pulled it hard, "pop".

He blew slowly into the bamboo tube, being extremely careful, and then gradually sped up. The bamboo tube was filled with a mixture of black charcoal ash and saltpeter powder, which now received fresh oxygen and burned with the hay, vines and reed fluff inside, producing sparks.

Hu Xiao immediately blew harder, until he felt his vision getting darker, and then flames finally ignited at the mouth of the bamboo tube.

The hand without the bamboo tube deftly took out a handful of dry grass from the fish skin bag, placed it in the gap under the branch, and extended the bamboo tube to light it.

The small flame moved upwards and slowly expanded.

Tiger Xiao's eyes reflected the firelight, and he grinned. He had seen the priest demonstrate it before, and he wanted to try it at that time, but he refused, saying that it was too late and he couldn't delay the priest's sleep.

He had been thinking about it for so long, and now he finally got what he wanted and stared at the fire.

Hey! It really happened!

Ever since he experienced the inconvenience of not having any portable lighting in the cave of Ze tribe last time, Shen Nong began to recall all the content about fire sticks that he had read in ancient books after returning to the tribe.

The simplest way is to add white phosphorus powder, which has an extremely low ignition point and will spontaneously ignite when it comes into contact with air.

But white phosphorus is difficult to extract, and it is poisonous and must be stored in water. If it is accidentally exposed to the air, the fire caused by spontaneous combustion is difficult to extinguish even with water.

Even in an absolutely oxygen-free environment, it will reignite when exposed to oxygen again.

The beast world is not like the interstellar world. It is really difficult to control this thing when it appears, so Shen Nong gave up. He chose a production method that is safer, but requires a little more effort to ignite.

..

They walked for a whole day, and in order to quickly find the prey the priest wanted, they did not stop to make a fire.

When they left the tribe, although one person ate and drank a large bowl of meat soup, it was already finished.

The fire was crackling. The orcs had a huge appetite, so in addition to a fish skin backpack, each of them also had a net woven with straw ropes on his back, with a large clay pot inside.

They moved the fire from the big fire and lit the small fires in front of them. They took down the clay pot and scooped up the fine white snow from the fallen tree trunk next to them. After filling half of the pot, they put it on the fire.

The snow melted and the bottom slowly began to roll. Everyone took out a piece of chopped pickled meat from their fish skin bag and waited for the hot broth while swallowing their saliva.

In the forest, which had been cold and silent for a whole winter, a salty and fragrant smell began to diffuse.

Within a radius of 100 meters, hidden in corners that cannot be seen by the naked eye, small animals with a keen sense of smell are poking their heads out of the cave.

Listen to the bubbling sound in the pot while distinguishing the tiny sounds around you.

After determining several locations, he stood up and checked to see if there was any prey the priest wanted.

Mao Yun used a branch to pick up the pickled meat in the pot and was about to take a bite when he saw Ze walking away without a sound. It was already getting dark, and some places were even darker because of the bushes and trees.

Seeing that Ze had nothing in his hands, and there was no light at all, she quickly put down the meat in her hand, pulled a torch from the fire, and chased after him.

"Ze, it's getting dark, you need to get a torch when you go out!"

Ze did not stop, and spoke in a low, magnetic voice, sparing no words, "No need."

She quickly followed Ze, and because of the fast movement, the flame of the torch suddenly dropped. She raised her hand and gently gathered the surroundings of the fire, slowed down her pace, and the fire resumed. "This is a secret mission entrusted to me by the priest. No one else can know except you."

When he heard the word "priest", the person in front of him turned around and no longer had his back to Mao Yun.

Ze has a tall stature and a broad back. Although Maoyun is about the same height as Tufeng, he still has to raise his head slightly when facing Ze.

She held up a torch, illuminating Ze's face, the flame flickering slightly in the evening breeze. She seemed to see that Ze's eyes were golden, as beautiful as his wings.

But it was only a moment, or maybe I was seeing things, it was just a flickering flash of fire.

Ze looked down at Mao Yun and asked word by word: "Priest, what did you say?"

When Mao Yun saw that the people finally stopped, she looked at Hu Xiao and the others not far behind her.

Afraid that they might hear something, she moved closer, covered her mouth with her hand, and whispered in a low voice: "The priest asked me to pay more attention to you when it gets dark, and make sure there is a light of fire around you."

Ze felt his heart beating rapidly. He stared at the fire, the corners of his mouth unable to suppress their upward movement.

Mao Yun moved the torch towards Zeshou. She was in a hurry to go back and eat the meat. "Hurry up and take it."

Ze reached out to take the torch, and the smile on his face disappeared.

Before Mao Yun went back to eat the meat, he couldn't help but advise, "Ze, don't smile like that in front of the priest. You're as silly as Hu Xiao. The priest likes your face the most. He can eat a few more bites of meat just by looking at your face. If he sees you smiling like that, he will dislike you."

Ze stopped smiling instantly, and left with a stern face, holding the torch.

Mao Yun nodded with satisfaction. This was the mighty and majestic orc warrior.

Not the big stupid tiger Hu Xiao.

Maoyun sat down again, picked up the branch with the meat on it and took a bite of the meat.

Tu Feng just swallowed the meat in his mouth and asked, "Where is he going so late at night? What were you two talking about in such a mysterious way just now?"

Hu Xiao kicked Tu Feng's calf with an expression that said I know.

"He went to pee, I don't take a torch when I go out to pee at night." He was chewing meat and his words were unclear. "Mao Yun must have told him that without a torch, he can't see where he's standing and will trip and fall."

Tufeng thought it made sense and he would do the same.

Hu Xiao kept chewing the meat, his voice was vague but clear enough for people to hear. He asked Mao Yun seriously, "Mao Yun, have you fallen before? Otherwise, how would you know to remind Ze?"

Mao Yun, who was a little choked by the meat and was about to drink some broth to calm down, rolled his eyes helplessly when he heard Hu Xiao's words.

But what could she possibly care about with a stupid tiger?

Sometimes even the priests were so stupid that they were helpless against him.

However, Mao Yun still had to answer Hu Xiao's question, otherwise he would keep asking, "I have never fallen before, and I will never fall in the future."

Hu Xiao's face was filled with the expression "why?". Mao Yun's heart was filled with alarm. He stopped Hu Xiao from asking before he could say anything. "Because it is impossible for a sharp-minded orc warrior to be tripped by a stone in the dark!"

And said mercilessly: "Tiger Xiao, you are not sharp enough."

Knowing that he was not sharp, Hu Xiao was ashamed, and even the meat in the pot was no longer fragrant. He was thinking, as the orc warrior most valued by the priest, how could he not be sharp!

After checking several places where the sounds came from, he didn't find the prey that the priest had given him, so he returned.

He saw Hu Xiao was so sad that he ate meat much slower. He also saw that there was not much meat in his pot, so he thought that he had eaten all the meat but was not full, so he was worried.

So he put some of his flesh into his clay pot.

When Hu Xiao heard a "plop" sound coming from the clay pot, he was startled and looked at Ze in disbelief.

It's over! He is really not sharp! He just found out after Zedu put the meat in his pot!

Hu Xiao's expression finally changed. Although it was still a little strange, it was not as sad as before.

Ze said to Hu Xiao: "Eat well and have a good sleep. We will go deeper to look for prey tomorrow."

Hu Xiao's mind had been spinning a thousand times. He now imagined that Shen Nong had discovered that he was not sharp enough and wanted to kick him out of the hunting team.

He was immersed in a depressed mood, "I know..."

——

As the night deepened, Ze, wearing animal skins, sat by the fire to keep watch.

From time to time he threw in some branches or gently pried the bottom with branches to let some air in and prevent the fire from going out.

The others lay down around the fire, covered with animal skins.

The awakened orcs have body heat, although their animal blood will become dormant as they get older, so they are generally not as cold-resistant as orcs who have not yet awakened.

But the members of the hunting team were fed delicious food and drink by Shen Nong, and trained all day long, so their physical fitness was excellent.

Even though it is early spring now, there is still a hint of winter in the night, but it is bearable for them.

But Shen Nong in the tribe was a little insomniac today.

He has always slept well, but he has a bad habit of being particular about his bed.

Shen Nong’s recognition of his bed is not just the place where he sleeps, but also everything that exists on it.

Those who can sleep with him are those he is extremely satisfied with, so if there are more things in bed, he can accept it quickly.

But if there is less, he will be so upset that he can't sleep for several days.

Nothing had changed on the bed he slept in today, except that there was one less furry little leopard cub beside his pillow.

Shen Nong forced himself to close his eyes even though he couldn't sleep, hoping that he would fall asleep.

But when he subconsciously wanted to touch Furry twice, he found that Furry was gone, and his mind became clear again.

In the darkness, Shen Nong sighed softly and decided not to let Ze spend the night outside anymore no matter what.

He never thought that he could adapt himself for a while without choosing this option.

However, for Tuanzi, the scary orc was not here today. It was sleeping with snot bubbles coming out of its nose and felt extremely happy.