Of course, he was well versed in all the research on the mining area already known to humanity.
Take the parasol tree, for example.
Tang Xian knew very well the distribution of parasol trees; finding soil with the same smell was just a matter of time.
Later in the day, he finally found a dry, shady cave that could shelter from the rain.
It was located nearly ten kilometers in the direction of the last parasol tree.
Standing behind a large boulder outside the cave, Tang Xian whispered, "Because the hellhounds can breathe fire, they won't live in a place that's too damp, apart from consuming the essential amount of water needed for survival, other sources of water are extremely lethal to them. Interestingly, the hellhounds' natural enemy, the bone hyenas, also part of the canine family, are creatures that greatly fear water."
"What do we do now?" Dong Ran didn't grasp the intent behind Tang Xian's explanation.
Now that the lair was found, the question was how to hunt the hellhounds?
Could Tang Xian do what several elite squads might not be able to achieve alone?
Dong Ran really hoped Tang Xian was one of those hidden experts with amazing abilities that could secure a top-tier residence, yet opted to blend in on the first floor.
It was a common trope in the novels of bottom-level vendors.
However, Tang Xian didn't possess combat capabilities, at least not for now. He glanced at the hellhounds' lair and then turned to walk in another direction.
Considering he had only one spectator, albeit a foolish one, Tang Xian still explained to kill the boredom:
"Between animals and plants, those that coexist in a mutualistic or antagonistic relationship often live close to each other. In places where venomous insects, snakes, and ants reside, there are often detoxifying herbs or fruit. But it's different for animals. The lairs of gazelles are far from cheetahs, and male deer don't make their home next to lions. Although hunting encounters among them are common, it's because water sources bring them together."
"However, the biosphere in the mining area is quite unique, especially for creatures like the hellhounds and bone hyenas that are very afraid of water. Even if they occasionally encounter each other, it's all just fate's trick."
"Bone hyenas loathe hellhounds immensely but can't find their whereabouts. We're lucky, just ten kilometers north from the last parasol tree where the scent trail ended, we found it. Of course, looking in that direction, the vegetation is obviously more barren. I suspect that area is drier, which suits the hellhounds' criteria for choosing a lair. No wonder the bone hyenas can't find them. So, they need a little guidance."
This time, Dong Ran began to understand Tang Xian's purpose.
She wasn't dumb and suddenly thought that since canines mark their territory with the scent of their urine, had Tang Xian been confirming the scent when he smelled the soil earlier?
Descriptions of such scents occasionally appear in textbooks, but even if described precisely... would it not be very difficult to put into practice?
Is this man a genius? To be able to put into practice what he read about on paper so easily?
Was observing parasol trees and red-tailed trees earlier meant to look for distinguishing features?
If there are many trees, the hellhounds' bladders certainly don't have an endless supply of urine, so they can't mark each tree to show ownership.
So they choose ones with certain features.
These specific details are hard for others to know, but Tang Xian could easily find them.
Similarly, Tang Xian could pick out the preferred type of red-tailed tree from among many for the bone hyenas.
It's not so much about the preferred tree as it is about the bone hyenas' preferred... urine pot.
The process was the same; he found a specific type of soil, smelled a disgusting odor, but this time, Tang Xian didn't put this soil into his prop bag.
Instead, he took out the soil with the scent of hellhounds' urine from the prop bag and slowly covered it up.
Dong Ran watched all this, wanting to speak but not knowing what to say.
Who would smell a dog's urine? Who would remember how a book described an animal's urine? Anyone capable of entering the mining area must be a regular worker, living on the second floor or even higher levels—a person with refined tastes. Who would come in and let themselves get stinky, applying crushed Redline Grass?
Looking at the sky, Tang Xian frowned and said, "It's best to finish all this before eleven o'clock tonight. Need to hurry up."
Dong Ran was confused again.
Tang Xian could see the expression on Dong Ran's face from the corner of his eye, but he couldn't be bothered with her dumbfounded look.
There wasn't much time; he had to speed up the pace.