Chapter Bonanza (7/10)

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Lang Kim looked at the bloodshot circles around his eyes, hesitated, picked through the meat in his bowl, and set aside the second-smallest piece for him.

Fearing he might change his mind, Lang Mo ate it immediately.

He patted the little wolf on the shoulder, hugged the bowl, and staggered away.

“That’s strange.”

“What’s strange?” Lang Bing set down his bowl.

Lang Rong, lying on the other side of Lang Kim, said, “Is it Uncle Mo?” 

Lang Kim shook his head. “No, it’s my meat soup that’s strange.” He took a big sip from the bowl and exclaimed, “This is delicious!” 

Lang Bing asked, “What do you find so delicious about it?”

Lang Rong nodded silently in agreement.

There weren’t many herbs in it, but the flavor was still overpowering. The beastmen had mixed opinions, but they still dug in with gusto. Thinking about the grilled fish they’d get to eat tomorrow night, a meal of strangely flavored meat soup was nothing.

Early the next morning, Lin Qiu set out with the beastmen from Wolf Mountain.

He ran alongside Lang Bei and the others for a while, but his head grew too heavy, so he collapsed onto Lang Yan’s back. Since their destination was the Great Marsh, traveling from Wolf Mountain meant running for half a day straight—a grueling journey.

The beastmen from Hunting Squad 1 headed over there with the beastmen from the gathering squad, while the other hunting squads split up to hunt.

After passing through the woods several times, crossing a grass-covered, dried-up lake, traversing rivers, and winding through the woodlands, they finally arrived at what the beastmen called the Great Marsh. It was the southernmost tip of the Wolffall Territory.

A dense network of rivers stretched out, with marshes and lakes as far as the eye could see. Countless aquatic plants thrived there, with clusters of white and purple flowers—as beautiful as brocade—floating on the lake’s surface. Flocks of birds nested and bred here, their raucous cries echoing to the heavens.

Lin Qiu looked up at the dense flocks of birds in the sky, which seemed to obscure even the sun.

“With so many birds, we could catch enough to eat.”

Lang Yan swished his tail. “We can’t catch them, and there’s no meat anyway. If we go any further in, we’ll get stuck.”

The ground where Lin Qiu and his companions had been standing was already soft and squishy; as they moved forward, black bubbles began to rise from the mud beneath their feet.

The beastmen dared not go any further.

The purpose of this trip was to gather wild grass, with hunting and foraging as secondary goals.

Lang Bei casually pulled up a handful of waist-high grass; the leaves were crushed, their surfaces torn, revealing the white fibers inside.

“That’s the wild grass; it’s everywhere around here.”

Lin Qiu scanned the horizon. Indeed, wherever there was greenery among the intertwining lakes and marshes, clumps of this grass grew in abundance. The leaves were as tall as a person’s waist, slender and long, growing in tufts like thatch.

Lang Bei said, “Tail grass prefers to grow in places with plenty of water. If you dig it up completely, even a small piece of root will allow it to keep growing. At our last migration site, there was too little tail grass, so we moved on.”

With the rainy season over, the beastmen must stockpile food for the snowy season. Since prey is scarce now, the fruits of the tail grass are a vital food source for them to get through the snowy season, so they had no choice but to move.

As for the Barbarian Grass, it wasn’t discovered until they left the Central Continent, and it was only then that the priest gave it a name.

The beastmen don’t often venture into the Great Marsh. Since barbarian grass isn’t edible and they rarely come into contact with it, by the time Lin Qiu picked it up, they’d forgotten it even existed. Lin Qiu pulled it apart to examine it closely; the fibers were coarse, and if pulled too tightly, they cut his hands.

The plant is suitable for making rope. He said, “It’ll work.”

Lang Bei replied, “Alright, then let’s harvest it. There are many plants along the border that aren’t found in the Wolf Mountains. Take a good look around—you might even find something else useful.”

Lin Qiu recalled that not far from the border, hemp grass grew everywhere.

Its fibers were fine, making it ideal for summer clothing, though they’d have to wait a few more months to harvest it. Lang Bei assigned two beastmen to cut the grass, while the rest searched the surrounding area for edible plants.

The beastmen of Hunting Squad One kept their eyes on the large area of bird nests at the center of the water network, silently salivating.

“We can see it, but we can’t have it.”

The beastmen weren’t interested in that bird—which was nothing but feathers and bones, with hardly any meat—but rather in the eggs in its nest. They still remembered how delicious Lin Qiu’s wild chive omelet was!

Even though they’re good swimmers, just walking along the edge won’t work—they’ll sink.

In the past, when they’d chased prey to the edge, they’d seen it get swallowed up by the mud—and the beastmen had nearly sunk themselves, though they’d managed to pull it out in the end. Lin Qiu stood at the head of the wolf pack, gazing out at the vast marsh shimmering in the sunlight. “Aren’t there any large prey animals near the edge?”

Lang Yan: “Rare.”

Lang You sniffed the air, which was thick with the scent of birds, and sneezed. A feather hanging from the grass flew up, and Lang You swatted it down with a paw. A deep, distinct wolf paw print appeared on the ground.

Lang You: “King, it’s the scent of birds.”

Lin Qiu sniffed the air—it was crisp and fresh, with the faint scent of flowering aquatic plants. Why hadn’t he detected the scent of birds? 

Lang Yan: “Let’s walk around a bit.”

Lang You got to his feet and led the way as the beastmen ran westward along the Great Marsh.

The Wolf Clan’s territory was bounded to the south by the Great Marsh; crossing it would require a detour of several days’ journey. South of the Great Marsh lay numerous small settlements.

These served as habitats for birds; as the beastmen ran through the grass, they startled flocks of birds into flight. There were far more birds here than Lin Qiu had ever seen in the woods—they must have been nesting here.

Running around the marsh and climbing the only low hill nearby, they could faintly make out the landscape further to the south.

Tall grass, forests, and mountain peaks intertwined.

It was faint and indistinct, like a mirage or a scene from a painting—hard to make out clearly.

Lang You, standing on the low hill, tilted his head back, sniffed the air, and turned his head to stare intently at a certain spot. It seemed he had caught the scent of something else.

The Great Marsh served as a natural barrier; apart from the Water Clan and the Winged Clan, no other beastmen could cross it. Lang You sniffed again—there was still the scent of birds.

Splash—

In the jade-clear lake, it seemed as though a large fish was flicking its tail. Lin Qiu looked over and immediately took a step back, his body stiffening as he pressed himself tightly against the front of Lang Yan.

“King?” Lang You was excited.

Lang Yan: “See if you can catch it.”

It wasn’t a fish at all—it was clearly a giant python! Having found some prey on the lake bed, it coiled its body and rolled through the water, sending splashes flying in all directions as it leaped like a dragon.

The snake’s waist was thick, and it was over ten meters long. The patterns on its scales—an interplay of brown and black—sent a chill down Lin Qiu’s spine. Lang Yan paused slightly, then looked down at Lin Qiu’s hair, which had stood on end.

His hair was standing on end.

“What’s wrong?”

“How could… there be a snake that big?” Lin Qiu’s voice trembled; he could barely speak.

It far exceeded Lin Qiu’s understanding of pythons—as thick as a bucket, capable of swallowing his body whole in a single gulp without even pausing to catch its breath. Lang Yan watched as the wolf-beastmen began tracking the serpent’s trail. Crouching down, he asked, “Want to come up?”

Lin Qiu kept his head down, stiff as a puppet, and just kept climbing upward. He buried his head in Lang Yan’s fur and remained motionless.

Lang Yan waited for him to climb up, then stood up straight, still gazing down at the valley below, without following after it. The further south they went, the more snakes lived along the water’s edge.

There were some near Wolf Mountain as well, but they weren’t this big; for the sake of their cubs’ safety, they had to cull them once a year.

There are plenty of fish in the marshes, and since no beastmen come near them, the long snakes have no natural predators, so it’s not rare for them to grow this big.

To wolf beastmen, these large snakes pose little threat—they’re not venomous, and since they usually inhabit water-rich areas, they’re hard to catch. 

It’s the small ones that occasionally dart through the woods—with their bright colors—that you really need to watch out for.

The long snakes hide in the water—they should still stay alert.

The beastmen watched for a while as it abandoned its prey and swam toward the scattered grassy islands in the great marsh, but they were at a loss.

However, this immediately made the hunting party realize what they needed to catch. Under the command of Lang You, the beastmen searched along the grassy areas. They managed to catch a few; though not as large as that one, they were still as thick as a beastman’s arm.

Lin Qiu sat cross-legged on Lang Yan’s back, his body tingling; he didn’t dare step down at all. Lang Yan: “What are you afraid of?”

Lang Yan didn’t follow the hunting party; instead, he carried Lin Qiu back to the gathering party. Lin Qiu’s jaw ached, and goosebumps broke out all over his body.

“I’m scared.”

Lang Yan: “Actually, they’re pretty tasty.”

The image of that giant python thrashing about in the water wouldn’t leave Lin Qiu’s mind.

Seeing it on a screen before was one thing; witnessing it with his own eyes was quite another. Lin Qiu felt he was bound to have nightmares tonight.

Not wanting to discuss with Lang Yan whether it was tasty or not, he returned to the gathering team and immediately blended in with the beastmen, which gave him a slight sense of security.

The wild grass grew with incredible vigor; wherever it took root, it left no room for any other plants. The two beastmen worked efficiently and had already cut down a large patch.

Lin Qiu had a lot on his plate, so he didn’t dare go over to the hunting party to join the commotion; instead, he simply grabbed a small knife and stayed behind to help out. The tools still weren’t up to the task—he’d have to make a sickle.

Lang Yan ran around the area to make sure he didn’t spot any long snakes in the grass, then patrolled eastward along the Great Marsh.

Birds like to nest in the grass. To the east, vast swaths of wild grass covered the dried-up marshland; as the wind blew, the grass swayed like waves, so thick and dense that nothing beyond it could be seen.

Lang Yan plunged right in, the waves of grass parting to make a path before his eyes. The intertwined roots and stems beneath his feet meant that even when he stepped into small puddles, he didn’t sink in.

Lang Yan searched the area, picking up a few bird eggs along the way.

It wasn’t until he saw the myriad lakes and marshes glistening with golden-red hues that he turned back. The waves of grass swayed, and the shadow of the massive black wolf vanished in an instant.

On the other side of the sea of grass, several gray shadows flashed by; large, pointed ears poked out briefly before snapping back in. Lang Yan grew alert, suddenly turning his head and fixing his gaze on a single spot.

The evening glow lit up the sky, and the tall grass swayed in the wind, rustling softly.

Lang Yan glanced at the sun, clamped a grass basket woven from wild grass between his teeth, and hurried back. It was getting late.

Lang You returned with the hunting party.

Lin Qiu and the others were busy bundling the cut wild grass. They grabbed two handfuls of suitable grass leaves, tied them in a crisscross knot, and pulled them tight with some force.

Place the aligned strands of grass on top, pull them tight on both sides, press them down firmly, then bring the two strands together, twist them, and press them into the gaps between the grass. The fibers of this wild grass are extremely sturdy. Beastmen can find it anytime—even in winter, when they dig through the Xue, they’ll still come across it. Lin Qiu had originally thought there wouldn’t be enough hemp grass and that he’d have to grow hemp specifically for this purpose.

Now, with the endless sea of grass along the edge of the Great Marsh available for use, he’s saved himself a great deal of trouble.

The two beastmen and Lin Qiu worked for nearly three hours, tying up forty or fifty bundles of grass. Divided among the beastmen, one bundle per person was enough to carry on their backs. The grass wasn’t as heavy as game, so it was hard to secure.

For now, there was no other choice but to tie some more grass rope and cut some vines to bind the bundles directly to the wolf beastmen.

The black, gray, and white wolves lay on the ground, looking massive. Now that they’re eating slightly better every day, their fur is fluffy, their eyes are bright, and they look exceptionally beautiful.

The beastmen from the gathering party started by securing the bundles to them first. Two bundles per beastman—one on the left and one on the right—to keep them from falling off while running.