Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 12: A Slaughterer Returns Late

When he was almost at the shore, Li Wei casually threw the five fish onto the bank, then crouched down, pretending to wash his hands while actually gripping the wooden spear tightly with both hands.

He wasn't sure if there were ambushers, nor was he certain if he was just being overly tense, but even if it turned out to be a false alarm, he couldn't afford to drop his guard.

Just as he crouched down, a filthy, emaciated old dog burst out from the grass about ten meters away on the shore, moving like lightning.

Almost instinctively, Li Wei let out a loud shout, leaped onto the shore in one swift motion, and thrust forward with his wooden spear.

But he struck empty air—he had moved too early.

The old dog was clever too, turning and jumping back to stop about seven or eight meters away. It didn't bark or run, just stared coldly at Li Wei with its gray-brown eyes.

"Wait, dog? Wolf!"

In that instant, Li Wei finally realized—this wasn't a dog, but a wolf. His mind went completely blank with a buzzing sound, his entire body stiffened until he couldn't move, and he even forgot how to handle the wooden spear in his hands.

His blood ran cold, his heart pounded violently as if trying to leap out of his throat.

A sudden urge to urinate surged up, nearly making him lose control, but at the last moment Li Wei managed to hold it back.As consciousness gradually returned, sounds that he himself couldn't tell were crying or laughing escaped his throat. He didn't even have time to think about life and death—his only thought was that he couldn't run. Running meant death. He had to fight it, couldn't retreat.

Making these strange noises, Li Wei shuffled his nearly unresponsive legs forward, advancing toward the old wolf. The wooden spear in his hands was shaking so badly it looked like it was performing the "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix."

However, the old wolf didn't initiate an attack, instead circling around to one side.

At this point, Li Wei knew he couldn't let this beast get behind him. The phrase "a butcher returns late, a wolf feigns sleep before him" even popped into his mind.

So despite shaking terribly, he kept the tip of his wooden spear pointed at the old wolf. He had already prepared himself to perish together with it.

But once this "broken jar" mentality emerged, he actually became less afraid. He felt all the grievances and anger in his heart merge with his blood, then erupt like a volcano. Suddenly letting out ghostly howls of "Aowu aowu," he charged at the old wolf. He wanted to pierce its belly with his wooden spear and bite its head off with his teeth.

Life's already been so damn hard for me, and you still come to rob me? Go to hell! Come on then, let's perish together, let's all be destroyed!

But Li Wei's charge ended up hitting nothing but air. Though the old wolf looked wretched and emaciated, it was still agile. With one swift dodge and jump backward, it vanished into the grass and quickly disappeared into the distance.

At this moment, Li Wei wanted to cry.

His entire body felt chilled to the bone, drenched in sweat as if he'd been poured with thick liquid—this must be what "sweating like a pig" really meant.

After calming himself down slightly, Li Wei didn't dare delay. Shouldering his wooden spear, carrying the five fish, holding the duck eggs and short knife in one hand, he turned back into the stream and headed upstream along the river, avoiding the shore entirely. He was genuinely afraid the old wolf might use the dense wild grass to ambush him.

Running back to camp in a state comparable to "being scared by the sound of the wind and the cry of the cranes, mistaking the grass and trees for enemy soldiers," when he saw the busy Penny and Fila, even though he intensely disliked these two, they felt exceptionally familiar at this moment.

However, it was only then that several lines of information belatedly appeared.

[You have gathered eight wild duck eggs, your Gathering Experience +1]

[You have caught five fresh grass carp, your Fishing Experience +10]

[Would you like to contribute the above resources to the family? You will receive one point of Family Contribution. Friendly reminder: after donating to the family, consuming these foods will not require payment]

—

So it turned out that only by bringing the harvest back to camp did it count as successful gathering.

Could this be considered a form of consideration for newcomers? If not for this detail earlier, he wouldn't have prepared in advance.

Of course, it was more likely just a case of "a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse."

Collecting himself, Li Wei decisively chose to contribute. Family Contribution was exactly what he urgently needed right now.

As soon as he gained that one point of Family Contribution, both Fila and Penny simultaneously looked over in surprise—clearly they had received the information too.

Li Wei didn't mind this. This wasn't his first time contributing resources, but Penny and Fila hadn't made a single contribution yet.

Striding over, he handed the grass carp and duck eggs to Fila. There was no need to worry about her embezzling them—the task rules were quite interesting. While there might be underhanded scheming in private, within the task storyline, they had to act out the genuine state of a loving, harmonious family.

"George, I never expected you to be such an excellent hunter."

Fila praised him, then efficiently began cleaning the five grass carp. As an Apprentice Cook, this was mere child's play for her.

Li Wei sat to one side. The aftereffects of his earlier confrontation with the wolf were hitting him hard—he needed to recover a bit.

Lunch consisted of fish soup and wheat porridge, with the wild duck eggs mixed directly in. The taste left much to be desired, but both Li Wei and Penny ate until they were stuffed.

Li Wei ate a full five large bowls, while Penny actually managed six large bowls. Even the sickly Fila ate three large bowls.

Free food, after all—of course they had to eat their fill, stopping only when they couldn't eat anymore.

In one meal, all five fish were completely finished.

"George, if we could eat fish every day, that would be truly wonderful."

Penny gave Li Wei a big smile, then left satisfied with her hand over her full stomach. To become the Family Head, one had to ensure the family was well-fed and content—this was the most basic requirement, right?

Li Wei ignored her. Instead, he took his wooden spear and returned to the house, first sleeping for a long time. When he woke up, it was already around four in the afternoon. Naturally, this wasn't the time to go hunting, so he went directly to the stream and started carrying stones back to reinforce his wheat field fence.

Since he had encountered a wild wolf today, he might run into wild boars in the future.

His current stick fence could block small animals, but it wouldn't hold against those things, so he needed to prepare, just in case.

But as evening approached, thick clouds began gathering in the sky.

After dinner, mountain winds started blowing—clearly a heavy rain was coming.

However, Li Wei wasn't worried. When building the fence around his wheat field, he had already dug a drainage ditch around the perimeter. Now he had further reinforced it with a low stone wall on the outside, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Even the newly built house was sturdy enough to withstand the heavy rain's assault. He didn't even need to stand guard overnight at the wheat field.

In contrast, Penny and Fila were somewhat flustered.

Penny was busy moving the already sun-dried adobe bricks back into the room, while Fila was trying to herd their ox. For some unknown reason, the old ox had gotten frightened, broken free from its tether, and was running around wildly.

It was worth mentioning that this ox was also Fila's private property. She treasured it immensely every day, leading it to the stream for water and searching for places with lush wild grass for grazing.

But now there was no helping it.

As the pouring rain began falling, Penny had already moved most of the sun-dried adobe bricks back into the room. However, a portion of the bricks were still destined to be destroyed by the rain, essentially rendering two days of effort wasted.

At this moment, Penny stood at the house entrance. In the dim light, her expression wasn't clearly visible, but it probably wasn't good.

Li Wei sat in a corner of the house, secretly pleased. No matter how much they schemed against each other, they still couldn't outwit nature.

But just then, two lines of information suddenly floated by.

[Apprentice Cook *** has decided to donate her ox to the family. She has therefore gained ten points of Family Contribution]

—

"Damn! It's that wolf! The wolf wants to eat the ox!"

Li Wei froze for a moment, then immediately grabbed his wooden spear beside him and charged out into the pouring rain.

Because that ox was now shared family property.