Finally returning to the cave, he chanted, "I am the master's dog servant."
The door appeared and opened automatically. He walked in, closed the door behind him, and then began to deal with the fish and the deer leg.
Because of that tree, he was still in a state of panic.
Indeed, this world was very dangerous. The only reason he hadn't encountered any trouble over the past two days was purely due to good luck.
Thinking about how much noise there was outside at night.
Using the fish scales, innards, blood, and a piece of deer meat, along with a demonic corn, he performed another ritual to sacrifice to the great demonic egg, gaining 3 contribution points.
Next was making smoked meat and fish.
All sorts of strange thoughts surfaced in his mind.
Looking at the light, it was around four in the afternoon. The smoked meat and fish smelled quite good, a pity there were no spices.
Then, he thought about going out for a walk again.
Even though he had been frightened, he felt that he had to understand more about his surroundings, to discover more opportunities and dangers, as he had to make great efforts to survive smoothly.
He opened the cave door and went out again. This time he crossed the stream to the north and walked about two kilometers.
He still kept his distance from the forest.
He could hear the cries of wild beasts from within the woods. The forest was suitable for lurking; by the time he noticed danger, it might already be too late, especially with the possibility of predators hiding up in the trees and attacking from above – it was truly unavoidable.
Then he turned to the west, and stumbled upon a dense thicket that stretched for over ten miles. He had never seen such a sight before.
Various animal noises came from the thicket, and he could see some bushes bearing green fruits, which the heavy snow had not completely covered.
Ma Lin really wanted to pick a fruit to try, but he did not dare to approach the bushes at all.
He turned back.
Dusk was approaching.
His mind drifted back to that creature that hung the bodies of tigers and leopards in the trees.
It must be adept at running on the plains since its prey included deer, sheep, and wolves.
Its combat power was stronger than that of a tiger.
If Ma Lin saw it on the snowy ground, he had no choice but to run.
The key question was, what did it look like?
Having no idea added to the panic, as the unknown can be even more frightening.
He made his way back to the cave.
He began to prepare dinner. Without a pot, he roasted a large piece of deer meat and boiled a bowl of demonic corn. There were no spices, but fortunately, the meat itself was salty, so the taste was still okay.
Not until he was very full did he stand up and walk around the cave.
He stretched his arms and legs to get some exercise.
He picked up the "Servant's Book" and continued to flip through it. It was filled with demonic language.
For some reason, he could understand this language, though the content of the book was obscure. Even if he recognized the words, it was not easy to understand what they specifically meant.
Perhaps it was because his intelligence was not high enough, so he couldn't understand it. Should he add all future attribute points to intelligence?
He didn't discover anything new.
He opened the door for a while to let out the smoke. Then he extinguished the fire, leaving only a small piece of red wood, unsure what kind of wood it was because the embers could last all night without going out.
Even if they did go out, it didn't matter much; he could always consume a few more contribution points to use a low-level flame spell.
He guessed it was around eight in the evening when he felt extremely sleepy and wanted to sleep.
His routine was to wake up around six in the morning and go to bed around eight in the evening. Mainly because there wasn't much to do at night, although he had a book, he couldn't understand it.
All kinds of sounds came from outside in the middle of the night, but fortunately, the doors and windows of the cave were very secure, so he didn't need to worry at all.
Having all sorts of strange dreams, he suddenly heard a loud 'bang', which also shook his door, not knowing what time it was.
He was instantly awake. He opened his eyes, motionless, and then heard another 'bang'.
Carefully, he rolled over. He adjusted the window to be fully transparent from the inside outwards and saw that it was quite bright outside due to the full moon and the reflection of the snow – it was naturally very bright.
There was another 'bang' at the door.
It was as if a very powerful beast was banging on it.
Ma Lin felt his heart pounding wildly in his chest.
The stealth door, indeed, was so well camouflaged it merged seamlessly with its surroundings, rendering it undetectable to wild beasts. However, his scent could be left behind; he carried deer legs and fish in and out, and the smoke from his fire was released from the door opening, which could lead scent-sensitive creatures straight to him.
In a hurry, he wrapped the blanket around himself, tied it with a rope, and the blanket transformed and tightened into a coat.
He held the dogtooth dagger in his hand and put on his wool socks, which also transformed into a pair of leather shoes.
Then he cautiously got out of bed, walked up to the door, and twisted the knob, making the door look completely transparent from the inside out.
Another loud 'bang' sounded, even louder than before.
A monster was ramming the door with its shoulder and then continued to sniff and listen intently.
It could not see inside, but its nose and ears had already pinpointed Ma Lin's location.
Then it let out a roar at the door, a sound so terrifying that it nearly made Ma Lin wet his pants.
But this roar was different from the one he had heard the night before.
Ma Lin could clearly see its appearance since it was quite bright outside.
It was like a very robust monkey, with an elongated face that was colorful, thick arms with sharp claws, and a thick tail.
Not only agile but also strong.
Its eyes emitted a red glow, and its expression was extremely ferocious.
Ma Lin didn't dare to move for a long time, just watching silently.
After ramming for a while, it ran to the side of the cave, picked up a large rock weighing around seventy to eighty pounds, and seemed not to find it heavy at all.
Returning to the door, it began to smash the rock against it.
The noise was so loud it could be heard from miles away.
Fortunately, the door was not at all affected.
Ma Lin had already discovered that the door was very intricately made; the key design was its sturdiness. The monster could ram until tomorrow morning without achieving any effect.
But there was a chance that other fierce beasts might notice something unusual here and then become aware of him.
Naturally, the big demon egg wasn't afraid of these creatures, sleeping with the door open posed no risk, but Ma Lin couldn't do the same.
He couldn't just let it keep smashing like that.
After racking his brain for a long time, he had no idea what to do.
Fortunately, the system book suddenly vibrated.
He quickly took it out, flipped it open, and saw that a new mission had been added to the last page.
"Mission: Kill the Demon Ape; Reward: One skill point. Sacrificing the Demon Ape can earn eighty contribution points. Required item: A rope of Magic Power. Mission Prompt: Consuming all current contribution points can cast a Spell to give a rope of Magic Power temporary life. It will autonomously attack and bind a designated target."
Ma Lin reached into his pocket and took out a length of wool, which stretched to three meters long when unfolded.
He was certain it was a rope of Magic Power.
He also tapped on the mission prompt.
A line of text appeared in the book.
"Incantation required to cast the Spell: 'Master, save me.'
While the Demon Ape continued to smash the door with stones, the noise was now deafening.
Ma Lin hesitated no longer; addressing the ball of wool, he shouted, "Master, save me!"
Suddenly, a puff of black smoke appeared, and the wool transformed into a slender snake. At first, it traveled to the door, circled around, realizing it couldn't get out, then proceeded to the window and meandered about.
Ma Lin pressed a button near the window, and a small hole five centimeters in diameter appeared. The snake slithered through it.
It quickly reached the vicinity of the Demon Ape by the door.
Ma Lin could see the action outside through the nearly fully transparent door.
The snake flew up, landed on the Demon Ape, and swiftly wrapped around it, tightening its hold.
The more the Demon Ape struggled, the tighter it was constricted. Soon, the Demon Ape began to emit pained screams from being strangled too intensely. Then, due to suffocation, it became unable to make any sound at all.
It couldn't even kick its arms and legs.
The Demon Ape's screams had been truly terrifying a moment ago. The surroundings were incredibly quiet; it seemed as if all the animals that had ventured out on the snowy night were stunned into silence.