novelraw Chapter 45: Little Rabbit
Chapter 45: Little Rabbit
Chen Qi held up the lantern and walked toward the cave entrance.
In the pale moonlight, a wolf stood by the tree, staring blankly at him.
It was a hungry red wolf, eyes bloodshot, with half of its fur a reddish brown.
Compared to regular wolves, red wolves were faster and had stronger regeneration.
It took a few steps toward Chen Qi, then sensed something and retreated.
Even in its hunger, its beastly instincts still picked up on the danger lurking within the cave.
Simply put, it was a cowardly wolf.
“Not coming over? Little dog?”
Chen Qi sat down, set the black blade within easy reach, and took out his backpack card.
Though its eyes were blood-red and it looked fierce, red wolves weren’t the kind of monsters that attacked people on sight.Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t take the initiative to attack creatures stronger than themselves.
Chen Qi himself wasn’t weak to begin with, and on top of that, there was the faint aura of the Pool Dweller from within the cave.
Even starving, this red wolf only dared to watch from a distance.
Red wolves were somewhat intelligent and had decent combat ability. They were a solid pick for many players when advancing to Tier 2 as a Beastmaster.
Chen Qi opened his backpack card and pulled out a simple grill, beef and pork, along with some barbecue seasonings.
He had bought all these at a shop in Moonstone City before entering the Rift.
He was planning to grill meat here!
Of course, this wasn’t just because he was “hungry.”
Chen Qi glanced at the meat in his pack—the real purpose was bait.
Red wolves were basic monsters in the hunting ground. They didn’t offer much in terms of spirit point bonuses or ratings.
In the hunting ground, defeating the Old Hunter and completing the hidden quest was the only way to earn the highest rating!
That meant the key to the hunting ground was just one thing—the Rift’s hidden BOSS:
The Old Hunter!
But this was a raid-level boss. With high distortion levels, the Old Hunter was an incredibly troublesome monster!
Even so, with the combined strength of him and the Pool Dweller, the Old Hunter still wasn’t a match!
Unfortunately, the Pool Dweller was a classic territory creature and wouldn’t leave its lair easily.
Which meant the only real problem now was how to lure the Old Hunter into the cave.
If he actively went out looking for the Old Hunter and tried to lure him with lies, unexpected situations were bound to happen.
After all, no one knew when the Old Hunter might turn into a monster and point his hunting rifle at someone’s head.
The Old Hunter needed fresh red wolves to satisfy his ravenous appetite.
So, the best method was: bait.
If you wanted to attract red wolves—creatures with a sharp sense of smell—to a fixed location, then fragrant meat was undoubtedly a great choice.
The aroma of barbecue should be able to lure in these red wolves… Chen Qi quietly pulled out more things from his backpack card.
In this hunting ground, his prey wasn’t some weak wolf.
Using barbecue to attract red wolves, and then using red wolves to lure the Old Hunter—that was his real goal.
The red wolves were just bait.
Of course, whether it would work or not still depended on a bit of luck.
Chen Qi gathered some branches, sharpened them with his black blade, and used charcoal to set up a crude grill.
The beef and pork were all high quality—perfectly marbled and cost him a full 1,500 Bei Coins.
Next, Chen Qi used the black blade to slice the meat and laid it across the grill.
He lit the fire and started barbecuing!
Before long, the meat sizzled under the flames, crisp on the outside, tender on the inside.
Then he sprinkled a bit of salt, plenty of sesame seeds, and chili powder made from devil pepper—
The aroma slowly began to spread.
And of course, the most important—Soul Seasoning!
Soul Seasoning could enhance the natural flavor of the meat!
Chen Qi raised his hand, grabbed a handful of cumin, mixed it with Soul Seasoning, and sprinkled it onto the barbecue.
The rich scent of grilled meat instantly spread through the forest.
【You grilled barbecue today and gained 80 spirit points.】
“It’s done.”
Chen Qi, satisfied, used his black blade to slice off a piece of grilled beef and took a bite.
The crust was lightly charred and crispy, with just the right chew!
“Not bad at all!”
Chen Qi took another bite.
His smooth, practiced moves completely stunned the hungry red wolf nearby.
Come on, not like this!
It originally didn’t want to approach the dangerous Chen Qi, but now, it felt like dying would be worth it if it meant getting a piece of that meat.
“Want some? Little dog.”
Chen Qi smiled, looked at the red wolf, and sliced off a small piece of meat to toss over.
Food tossed by a human… the red wolf hesitated for a moment, then opened its mouth, lowered its head, and ate the beef.
After swallowing the meat, the red wolf wagged its tail, spun in a circle, and then ran off into the forest.
Who knew—maybe that red wolf would bring its friends back for the meat?
Chen Qi wasn’t sure. He sliced the barbecue into several portions, wandered around near the cave, and scattered the meat on the ground.
As long as the meat attracted a pack of wolves, then luring in the Old Hunter would just be a matter of time.
After making a round, he returned to the cave entrance and sat back down by the grill.
Now, all that was left was to wait for the prey to bite.
Chen Qi kept grilling.
Some time passed.
Sssss—
The weeds in the forest rustled softly.
Baited something already...?
Wait, no!
Chen Qi turned his head, frowning slightly, and reached for his black blade.
In the underbrush, he could vaguely make out a gun barrel and black hair.
Caught a rabbit before catching the wolves.
Bang! Bang!
Four members of the Black Rabbit Gang talked for a bit and stepped out from the bushes.
“We meet again, Overseer!”
And leading them was none other than Scarred Rabbit, a high-ranking member of the Black Rabbit Gang.
It had been a while since the hunt began.
At this point, Scarred Rabbit was stained with plenty of red wolf blood.
Looked like their red wolf hunting had gone quite well.
Not friendly at all… Chen Qi shook his head, hid the Collector behind him, and said coldly:
“What do you want? If you’re here for the Overseer’s map, then you’ll have to pay a price.”
He had zero fondness for this gang whose main business was human trafficking.
“A price?”
Scarred Rabbit’s mouth twitched.
This guy was alone, and he dared talk to them about a price?
If the Old Hunter hadn’t chosen him as Overseer, they would’ve attacked him the moment they met.
Scarred Rabbit suppressed the urge to fight and gave Chen Qi another look.
There was no blood on him, which meant he hadn’t fought any wolves.
Besides, he’d built a grill here, and the cave behind him could very well be a supply-rich safe zone.
Seemed like this guy had just chosen to “survive for three days” and didn’t dare to fight red wolves.
Scarred Rabbit smirked to himself and pulled two syringes of tranquilizer from his pouch:
“Overseer, looks like you already know our purpose. But you should also know that some things are just too valuable for you to handle.”
“Give us the Overseer’s map, and we’ll give you two tranquilizers. With those, you can complete the mission and walk out alive.
Think about it. If the Floral Witch sets her sights on you and turns you into fertilizer, not even a corpse will be left.”
As Scarred Rabbit spoke, he slowly approached Chen Qi.
Halfway there, he felt something off. He forced a smile and secretly gestured with his hand:
“Of course, if you hand over the map… we can help you hunt wolves too…”
Just as he smiled—
A gang member behind him, near a tree, quietly pulled out a gun and aimed at Chen Qi.
Bang!
A gunshot echoed through the forest.
What the h**l?!
Scarred Rabbit turned around. The gang member he’d ordered to ambush was already lying in a pool of blood, shot.
“You f***ing shot at us—”
Ambush? No, that was a straight-up shot in broad daylight.
Chen Qi blew on the barrel and spun the Collector in his hand.
So he caught a rabbit before the wolves.
Fine by him. Better to get rid of these harmful bunnies first.
After all, the scent of blood made for great bait too.