Ma Lu's knife skills weren't great, but he stabbed often enough, and eventually he managed to kill the Two-Headed Hyena with sheer persistence.
By the time he looked up again, only four of the Two-Headed Hyenas attacking Boggy were left, and two of them were injured.
But they still did not run away, and continued to fight bravely.
Unfortunately, the difference in strength between the two sides was too vast, and soon those four Two-Headed Hyenas followed in their companions' footsteps, lying on the ground together.
The whole battle lasted less than five minutes, but the process was still quite thrilling.
When everything had settled, Boggy couldn't even believe his own eyes.
"We... we took down an entire hyena group?"
"Mostly you, I just helped a little," Ma Lu said.
"No, if it hadn't been for your psychic power, we would all have died here today."
By now, Boggy had completely believed what Ma Lu had said before, even though he had never heard of such a strange psychic power before today.
But there was no doubt that the Meat Pigeon Series Psychic Power did exist, and the battle that had just taken place was the best proof. Boggy felt as if he had divine assistance and didn't notice any side effects.
He grabbed Ma Lu's hand, excited, "With your power, we... we can go deeper, to hunt rarer prey!"
"Uh-huh, but before that, let's take a look at the wound on your leg," Ma Lu said.
Only then did Boggy remember that one of the Two-Headed Hyenas seemed to have scratched his calf, and blood was now seeping from that spot.
Boggy bent down and rolled up his pant leg, revealing his well-defined, tight and muscular calf below, which looked like a taut bowstring, full of strength.
However, just below the knee were three startling wounds. Because he had been so engrossed in the battle, Boggy hadn't felt much pain, but now that the adrenaline had stopped flowing, his pain nerves began to work again.
Boggy just frowned, planning to go to the motorcycle to get some medicine to apply, but Ma Lu said, "Wait a moment."
After saying that, he found some of the Two-Headed Hyenas that were still clinging to life nearby. By the time he finished off the third one, an option that Ma Lu wanted finally popped up.
[Intermediate Healing: Offer a one-time special treatment to a designated teammate]
You're the one!
Ma Lu then went back to Boggy, extended a hand, and lightly placed it on the latter's calf, while whispering something.
When he lifted his hand, the bleeding had stopped, and the wound was healing at a visibly accelerated rate.
Once the scab fell off, only three faint scars remained.
Boggy's eyes widened again, "How is this possible, how did you do that?!"
"The Psychic Powers of the Meat Pigeon Series are ever-changing; nothing that happens should surprise you."
Ma Lu stood up again and glanced at his wristband, "There are two and a half hours left, shall we look around here a bit more?"
"Okay, but we've already caught a lot of prey, and the motorcycle can hardly hold any more."
Boggy moved his limbs a bit, feeling no discomfort. Although he had just been through a tough fight, he had no intention of returning to the city to rest, and even craved more combat.
Only through this could he more tangibly feel how strong he had become.
Ma Lu also didn't want to waste the blessings he'd painstakingly accumulated.
Especially the group of Two-Headed Hyenas just now, they were all uniformly 2-star ingredients, and the blessings they contributed were also starting at blue, making this round nothing short of an epic enhancement.
"Don't worry about that, I'll pack up my share first."
As Ma Lu spoke, he flipped out the Collection Bag he carried with him and used the Chef's Knife to cut the ingredients into sizes that would just fit into plastic bags.
At first, Boggy thought Ma Lu was joking, as the plastic bag in his hand seemed to barely fit two Black-Breasted Chickens at most. Yet Boggy watched, eyes wide open, as Ma Lu tossed chunk after chunk of meat into it.
In total, Ma Lu packed six Two-Headed Hyenas into the bag, as well as half of the previously caught game. All of these items together weighed over three hundred pounds, yet even with so much stuffed inside, the Collection Bag was still not too heavy nor too light to carry, just right.
Having seen too many bizarre things in one day, Boggy had become somewhat numb to it all and didn't even ask any questions. Seeing that there was now more space on the motorcycle, he said to Ma Lu, "Get on."
The division of labor remained the same as before, with Ma Lu finding the quarry and Boggy taking action. However, hunting was a matter of luck.
Even though this time Boggy headed to an area farther from the Giant Curtain, along the way, the two didn't encounter any high-star ingredients.
However, Ma Lu's Collection Bag did end up with quite a bit more 1-star meat. Boggy was ready to venture even further when he heard Ma Lu say, "That's enough for now."
"I'm feeling good today. I should have enough energy to continue hunting for two to three more hours," Boggy said, still feeling eager to do more.
"But it's about time for me to leave."
"Leave?"
"That's right, I'll be coming back six days from now. Let's hunt together again then."
Boggy slammed on the brakes suddenly, prompting Ma Lu to instinctively hug his body.
"You're not coming to find me for another six days?"
"Yes, that's the plan. And once I leave, the enhancement effect on you will disappear, so you'd better head back to the city quickly. Moreover, try not to hunt alone while I'm gone."
"Huh?!" Boggy's mouth hung open.
Seeing that time was running out, Ma Lu spoke faster, "Lastly, remember to come here to pick me up next time. If I'm not here, you could try going to the place where we first met."
"Wait," Boggy said, frowning, "but this is a desert. Are you sure you want to separate from me here?"
However, there was no reply from behind. Boggy turned around to find that the person at the back had vanished without a trace, as if he had never been there.
If not for the game still hanging from the motorcycle, Boggy might have almost thought that everything that happened before was just an illusion.
......
When the countdown on his wrist hit zero, Ma Lu found himself back on the sofa in the living room, still sitting crossed-legged, but now he was holding the white egg in his hand.
The Hunting Clothes he wore, including those cool-looking goggles, were gone. In their place, he wore the sportswear he'd especially dug out for this journey to the Different Dimension.
Fortunately, the four pieces of equipment Old Wang had given him, especially the plastic bag, were still there and stuffed full.
"It worked!"
Ma Lu leapt up from the sofa with joy, itching to grab Old Wang and head out to set up a stall right away, to exchange all the ingredients he had collected for cash, until he caught sight of the wall clock and calmed down a bit.