Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Trap

After cleaning the peeled skin in the stream and washing the peeled Wild Yellow Dog meat, Lu Yuan returned to the cave with the skin and meat.

Unconsciously, an hour and a half had passed after all the work.

A rich aroma wafted out from the not-so-large cave.

“The porridge is ready.”

Smelling the aroma of the food, Lu Yuan, who had been busy for a long time, instantly felt his stomach growling.

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He picked up the bowl beside him, filled it with porridge, blew on it before putting it to his mouth, and then swallowed the first sip which was slightly hot for his taste.

The porridge, though simple, was made with smoked meat, sprinkled with wild vegetables, and finally seasoned with a bit of salt. But delicious ingredients often only require simple ingredients and cooking methods.

Under these all-natural foods, even if it was just a porridge, it was incredibly delicious.

At least for Lu Yuan, who had traversed to this world and became a stranger, being able to drink a bowl of hot porridge after waking up was already a very fortunate thing.

After finishing his delicious breakfast and cleaning up the dishes, he began to get busy again.

The peeled wild Yellow Dog’s skin needed to be tanned, otherwise, it would rot. The separated bones and meat also needed to be marinated, smoked, and roasted, otherwise, it would start to smell bad in a couple of days.

Wild Yellow Dog meat was tough and sour, and extremely unpalatable. Wealthy families would never eat this low-quality meat.

It was only those poor people who would buy it to taste the gamey flavor.

Even if sold at the market, a catty of wild Yellow Dog meat might only sell for seven or eight cents. Converted to rice, it wouldn’t even amount to three catties.

After cleaning the wild Yellow Dog’s meat, about a hundred catties were left. If all were sold, it would only yield about seven hundred cents.

Such a small amount of money would not be worth the effort of carrying the meat down the mountain to sell, and along the way, it would be extorted several times by gang members and tax officials. In the end, having four hundred cents left would be considered good.

The hard-earned money wasn’t worth it, so he might as well keep the meat for himself.

At least, no matter how unpalatable the wild Yellow Dog’s meat was, it was still meat and could supplement one’s physical strength, which was better than eating rice, right?

The blazing fire burned, and the salted, marinated meat strips were rolling on wooden branches spread across the fire. As they were smoked by the fire, drops of grease fell from the meat, making the firewood burn even more vigorously.

Lu Yuan sat by the side, occasionally checking the heat and turning the meat.

Boom!

At this moment, a muffled noise came from outside, followed by a series of loud thunderclaps.

The sound of rain poured in through the cave entrance.

From time to time, a gale howled, carrying the damp rainwater through the vines at the entrance. The raindrops crackled on the wooden door, making a thumping sound.

Cold wind blew through the gaps, and the fire before his eyes wobbled unsteadily.

Lu Yuan glanced at the dark tunnel in the distance, feeling the cold wind and rain, tightened his collar, turned over the smoked meat on the fire, and muttered to himself, “From now on, I will live this wild life.”

…

The next day.

The clouds scattered, and the sun shone brightly.

Lu Yuan took his knife and bow, opened the wooden door that had been closed for a night, and walked out of his cave.

Yesterday, he spent a day preparing the hundred catties of wild Yellow Dog meat for smoking and marinating. In two or three more days, he could completely smoke it.

However, having been delayed for these two days and with the heavy rain yesterday, Lu Yuan was a bit worried about the traps he had set up in the mountains, so he planned to go check them today.

As a qualified hunter, to hunt in the mountain forest, it was impossible to directly confront fierce beasts and engage them head-on.

That would not only be inefficient but also extremely dangerous.

A mature hunter would skillfully use their wisdom to set up concealed but effective traps to capture prey.

Lu Yuan’s predecessor had set up more than ten traps between these mountain ridges, specifically for capturing wild beasts.

“Yesterday’s heavy rain must have frightened many wild animals. I wonder if any of them got scared and fell into my traps.”

With that thought in mind, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but quicken his pace.

Although a heavy rain might bring him some harvest, the same rain could also wash away or damage his traps.

If that happened, even if the prey fell into the trap, it would somehow find a chance to escape. Furthermore, other wild predators might discover the prey, seize it, and thus steal it from him.

In that situation, all his efforts would be for the benefit of those beasts.

Two hours later.

Lu Yuan looked at the two struggling gray figures in his trap and let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness there’s some harvest, not the worst.”

With that, he reached out, picked up the two gray rabbits trapped inside, and casually threw them into the basket he had brought with him.

These two rabbits were his harvest for the entire morning.

After restoring the damaged trap, Lu Yuan concentrated his thoughts before noticing a newly emerged information screen: “Hunting Traps (Beginner)” and nodded thoughtfully.

“Indeed, as long as I have some understanding of a skill, I can materialize it into an attribute panel, then slowly improve it by learning and gaining experience.”

During this morning, Lu Yuan had visited thirteen trap locations. Among them were ones destroyed by rain, intact ones, and others damaged by wild beasts.

After his inspection, all these traps had been repaired.

During this whole process, the new skill template in front of him appeared naturally, just like the “Archery” and “Knifemanship” templates that had appeared earlier.

An complete attribute panel now appeared in Lu Yuan’s mind.

[Name: Lu Yuan]

[Talent: Immortality]

[Age: 16]

[Skills: Hunting Traps (Beginner), Crude Knife Technique (Beginner), Crude Archery (Beginner)]

“They are all just beginner-level,” Lu Yuan sighed after looking at the skill menu. “But it’s understandable. A sixteen-year-old youth who explored everything by himself – having these beginner-level skills is already quite good.”

Shaking his head, he withdrew his thoughts and went on to check his traps and camouflage. After confirming they were well-hidden, he carried his earnings of the day and walked down the mountain.

Today, he caught two gray rabbits. After skinning and tanning them, their fur could be sold for forty to fifty cents. The remaining meat weighed about two to three catties, which was enough for him to eat for two days.

This harvest was not as substantial as the wild Yellow Dog they had gotten in the past few days.

However, this was the norm.

The ferocious Wild Yellow Dogs had to be hunted with one’s life at stake.

That was trading one’s life for money.

On the other hand, hunting gray rabbits with traps, though less rewarding, didn’t require risking their lives, did they?

Being able to catch two rabbits today was considered good luck.

In the past, it was common for traps to have no prey for three to five days.

Lu Yuan was already content with having some harvest the moment he opened the door.