At the beginning, Dong Ran refused to eat dog meat. She couldn't just eat it because she was told to. However, with a scholarly research mindset, she believed it was necessary to try it herself to prevent others from being deceived. She wanted everyone to know what it felt like for her to eat dog meat, so they would know what it felt like when they tried it.
As the aroma of the meat filled the air, Dong Ran started to use her chopsticks.
She chewed on the tender dog meat, mixing in the aged oil, spicy sauce, and Sichuan peppercorn broth. Especially when the juices burst out from the meat fibers with each bite, Dong Ran felt that eating it this way didn't really reveal its true nature. It didn't prove the point that three-headed hellhound meat was unappetizing, so she served herself another bowl.
Five minutes later, Dong Ran ate another bowl.
Ten minutes later, Dong Ran added one more bowl to her tally.
Looking at the remaining dog meat, Dong Ran felt her life was complete.
It seemed that this dog meat hotpot could well rival the rewards for slaying an elite-level boss creature.
After Dong Ran had her third bowl, Tang Xian was leisurely eating the hotpot. Just then, he had spread the remaining Red Thread Grass at the entrance of the way.
"Tang, what were you just doing?"
"Animals have memories. Even though most of those bone hyenas won't make it back alive, the heavy rain will stop, and even the faintest scent could attract the enemies of the three-headed hellhound. Laying some Red Thread Grass down, as unappetizing as it is, should at least allow us to sleep a bit more peacefully."
Tang Xian served himself a bowl of dog meat. Despite Dong Ran finding it very delicious, Tang Xian ate it with a hint of regret.
After all, he was still missing some tools.
Having a fully stocked kitchen with all the seasonings would have been nice.
You could actually buy these things. There are some food shops on the second level, part of the official Pyramid institutions, not much business there.
People would at most buy some ketchup or hot sauce to add to their nutritional meals. As for salt, MSG, pepper, sesame oil, and other seasonings, hardly anyone buys them.
Of course, there are also quantum boilers for making these seasonings. Yet oddly enough, despite no one using these antiques, they're quite expensive.
Dong Ran nodded. The process of Tang Xian slaughtering the dog seemed simple, the core of it being to draw the natural enemies of the three-headed hellhound to it.
But while it may sound simple, how to survive in the Blue Zone? How to avoid dangerous creatures? How to find the three-headed hellhound, how to find its natural enemy, and how to escape afterward? Solving this series of problems would require a vast amount of knowledge.
A complex look flashed through Dong Ran's eyes.
"Tang, what do you plan to do after this?"
"We'll spend tonight in this cave, wait it out—the rain should completely stop by the late night, but we'll have to wait until tomorrow noon to be able to walk on the roads. We'll leave at noon, head west. I'm planning to visit the Forest Sea. Last season was the breeding season for foxes. A few months have passed since then, and the little foxes should be up and moving around by now. Killing and eating them at this time, their gamey taste won't be strong, and their meat would be tender."
Dong Ran was shocked. Was it about eating again?
"The Forest Sea? Isn't that... a Yellow Zone?" Dong Ran asked incredulously as she looked at Tang Xian.
Tang Xian nodded with a calm face, not seeing anything wrong with it.
Dong Ran felt it was necessary to remind Tang Xian,
"Tang, the Yellow Zone is basically a no-go zone, it's only accessible to top talents and teams, and often they have to group up to enter… Elite-level bosses are considered on the lower end there; that place has disaster-level creatures, oh Tang, going there just like this could be very dangerous. Aren't there any foxes in the Blue Zone?"
Unexpectedly, Tang Xian said, "It's indeed dangerous. The fox I'm hunting is not a regular one—it's the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox."
"…"
Watching Tang Xian casually chewing and picking through the dog meat in the pot, Dong Ran found herself at a loss for words.
"Three-Tailed Spirit Foxes usually live in groups, don't they…"
"Yes, there was someone collecting fox pelts at the market a while back, and I figured, with a bunch of people going after the ordinary foxes, it'd be too hard to compete. After all, fighting beasts is one thing, but fighting people is a lot more troublesome. Cleaning up the mess is a pain, and you can't eat human flesh, so there's no point."
"..."
Dong Ran suddenly felt that if this person were to take a psychological test, he would definitely be labeled as a dangerous individual, right?
"What I mean is, even though a three-tailed fox is an elite-level creature and may not be on par with boss-level beings, dealing with social creatures is... quite difficult, isn't it?"
Tang Xian had no combat abilities, which Dong Ran realized when the hellhound lashed out in its dying moments.
Despite Tang Xian demonstrating strong survival and adaptability skills in the mine area, having a person without any magical talent hunt down a group of elite-level creatures was indeed like a fantasy.
"Cut some extra Redline Grass for use; it smells foul but it doesn't harm the skin and can prevent poisonous insects, snakes, and ants. As for the three-tailed spirit foxes, they're not the Six-Tailed Flame Fox after all. A group is just a group, foxes have weaknesses too."
Without further explanation, Tang Xian continued eating the dog meat.
Dong Ran noticed Tang Xian was eating quite slowly, but when she came to her senses, she realized there wasn't much meat left. With a cry of surprise, she stopped thinking too much and started to fight for the meat as well.
"For this hellhound, shall we go to the mission department to register, or just go to the lower levels to sell it off the books?"
"Oh, you know about off the books too?" This time, Tang Xian was somewhat surprised.
"I also live... on the first level, so of course I know about it." Dong Ran felt nervous under Tang Xian's gaze.
"Off the books then. As you said, for two people to kill a hellhound, and both living on the first level, especially since I'm a non-talented person who only got a formal salary by doing grunt work. With this kind of partnership, if we managed to hunt a hellhound, we would probably attract some unnecessary trouble. Off the books isn't bad; it just doesn't improve the hunting ranking."
Hunting ranking refers to the rankings of hunters who kill various creatures in the mine area.
The number of kills and the strength of the creatures determine the ranking.
A hunter capable of killing a hell-level boss with just one other person would likely be immediately noticed by high-ranking individuals.
Dong Ran thought, so Tang Xian has always been aware of how incredible the things she's doing really are?
Is his calm demeanor because such matters are indeed very simple for him? Or is he just feigning being seasoned?
Dong Ran couldn't figure it out.
Tang Xian patted his stomach, satisfied, and said:
"We'll spend the night in this cave."
"Why not go back to the Pyramid?"
"With such fresh air in the mine area, why would we go back to the Pyramid?" Tang Xian looked at Dong Ran with a you're-really-weird expression.
"Coming back to reality, re-entering the mine area would take ten hours. I don't have the time to waste. By the way, it's a half-day's journey to the Sea of Trees. If you think it's too dangerous, you can go back now."
Dong Ran was actually considering this issue. It was as if Tang Xian had seen right through her thoughts.
Despite Tang Xian's calm facade, she was still very afraid inside...
The yellow zone was indeed an area with a very high mortality rate.
But then she thought of something else and, biting her lip, she eventually said:
"I'll go with you!"
"Silver Fox Stew is pretty tasty. A bit of danger is no big deal."