Chapter 47: Delivered to Our Door

This was a river with slow currents, its banks overgrown with mutated reeds. These reeds were tall and massive, sprouting vigorously in the rising temperatures, brimming with vitality.

The mutation of the reeds growing here was quite unique—after mutating, they grew exceptionally fast.

For a time, they spread wildly along the river, encroaching upon vast swaths of the riverbank.

But nature always balances itself. The mutated reeds encountered mutated morning glories. These morning glories twined around the reeds to grow, stealing their nutrients and blocking sunlight, finally curbing the reeds’ rampant growth.

A camp was hidden within a patch of reeds.

Luo Qiming cut down the reeds that had sprouted in the camp today. He glanced at their vehicles, now covered in entwining morning glories, and said with a hint of helplessness, “These things grow way too fast!”

“It’s a good thing they grow so well. It makes our camp incredibly well-hidden,” Hu Xiangyang said.

The path they’d carved when driving in had long since vanished.

“That’s true.” Their camp was concealed within the towering reeds, with the mutated morning glories serving as camouflage. Even for them, finding their way back wasn’t easy if they wandered too far.

Captain Ying had a real knack for hiding camps.

Their mission this time was to hunt the mutated ducks living among the reeds and collect their eggs.

These mutated ducks weren’t very high-ranked, mostly D-Rank, with the occasional C-Rank. They lived and bred within the reed beds.

Unlike the birds in the valley they’d encountered before, which laid eggs in their own nests, these mutated ducks didn’t build nests. They just laid eggs wherever they pleased.

The dense growth of reeds and morning glories kept the ground temperature stable. Many eggs could incubate on their own. The ducklings that hatched hid within the reed forest, feeding on insects near the reed roots and aquatic plants, slowly growing up.

Mutated duck eggs contained slightly more corrosive energy than bird eggs. They couldn’t be eaten in large quantities, but could be processed and used to cultivate fungus, making them somewhat valuable.

As for the mutated ducks themselves, aside from their crystal cores, they weren’t worth much. Only their down could be sold.

Because of this, few people came here, and finding someone who did was difficult.

Luo Qiming and the others had gone out hunting this time. Their haul wasn’t comparable to before, but they had no complaints whatsoever. On the contrary, they were very happy.

First, Ying Li had promised that their pay wouldn’t be reduced. Second… they had found some duck eggs with relatively low corrosive energy content!

Those duck eggs were perfectly edible for Sentinels. They had been eating them every day for the past few days!

Thinking this, Luo Qiming borrowed a pot from Xiang Ye. He put two of the duck eggs they’d found today, with the lowest corrosive energy content, into the pot to boil.

They would each get half an egg and eat happily!

As they discussed the deliciousness of the duck eggs, Xiang Ye was using his mental power to observe his surroundings, waiting for Ying Li to return.

As for the duck eggs… Luo Qiming and the others thought they were simply lucky to find eggs they could eat more of. In truth, it was Xiang Ye who used his mental power to cleanse a few of the eggs.

But he himself didn’t eat these duck eggs.

Probably because the ducks fed on insects living in the shallow water under the reeds, their eggs carried a fishy smell and were not tasty at all.

Just as he was thinking this, a faint sound came from the distance. Immediately, Luo Qiming spoke up: “Captain Ying is back!”

Hearing this, Xiang Ye hurriedly got out of the vehicle and looked toward the direction of the sound. Then he saw a motorcycle parting the reed “forest,” coming right up to them.

Naturally, it was Ying Li sitting on the motorcycle, with several large bundles tied to the back.

Ying Li entered the camp, glanced around, and then reached out his hand to Xiang Ye. “Xiang Ye, how about we find a place to have a picnic?”

Xiang Ye didn’t hesitate. “Sure!”

He quickly gathered his things and went to Ying Li’s side. Ying Li scooped him up with one arm, grabbed the large bundles he’d brought back with the other, and headed far into the distance.

The two arrived at the riverbank. Ying Li cleared an area, set up the stove, and cut some reeds for firewood.

After the preparations, he looked at Xiang Ye. “Xiang Ye, you cook with the stove. I’ll turn the meat I brought back into dried meat.”

They definitely couldn’t finish the Rank-A mutant beast meat he’d brought back today. Making it into dried meat would help preserve it better.

“Okay.” Xiang Ye agreed. He took out the stove, cleaned a piece of fresh meat, and started to pan-fry it. As for Ying Li, he lit the collected reeds and set up a rack to smoke the dried meat.

With the help of mental power, his meat was smoked quickly and perfectly!

As the two busied themselves, the aroma of meat wafted far into the distance.

Some nearby mutant beasts, drawn by the smell, came over. Ying Li didn’t hesitate and simply killed them, taking their crystal cores.

The mutated ducks living in these reeds were very timid. Logically, they shouldn’t have been attracted by the scent, but for some reason, a few did come running. Ying Li wasn’t polite and killed them too.

A single mutated duck weighed about fifty catties. After removing the feathers and innards, only about thirty catties remained. Ying Li killed one, had Xiang Ye, who had already recovered his mental power, clean it up, and roasted it over the fire made from burning reeds. They even had roast duck!

The duck eggs tasted a bit fishy, but this roast duck was truly excellent! Ying Li ate his fill and felt bursting with energy.

He gave the crystal core of the Rank-A mutant beast he had killed today to Xiang Ye, smiling. “A gift for you.”

“Brother Ying, why did you go and kill another Rank-A mutant beast?” Xiang Ye was a little worried. “That’s way too dangerous!”

“I’m strong, so it’s not dangerous. Besides, this time I actually got a bargain,” Ying Li said, explaining what had happened earlier.

When he fought this Rank-A mutant beast, it had already been wounded by the Yu Family Hunting Team. He had indeed taken advantage of the situation.

But the Yu Family Hunting Team had also benefited.

A Rank-A mutant beast was indeed valuable, but if it cost several lives, it wasn’t worth it.

The two ate together, and also made the meat into dried meat. Then, carrying the dried meat and crystal cores, they returned.

After returning, Ying Li told Luo Qiming and the others about killing some mutant beasts by the river, but only taking their crystal cores. “You can go look tomorrow morning and see if you can collect anything valuable.”

Certain parts of those mutant beast corpses could be sold for money.

Hearing this, Luo Qiming and the others immediately said, “Captain Ying, we’ll go right now!” If they waited until tomorrow, the corpses would likely have been torn to shreds by passing mutant beasts. Going now, they could gather more.

The four immediately went to the riverbank to collect the mutant beast corpses. After bringing them back, they stayed up late processing them.

Silently, Ying Li took out noise-canceling ear covers and put them on Xiang Ye. As for himself, he could sleep just fine without ear covers.

Over the next few days, Ying Li went out several more times.

He collected some things nearby and also went to Ding Hua’s place to fetch the crystal cores she was using to purchase supplies.

On this trip, he noticed that the spirits of the Sentinels in Freedom City had improved considerably!

Naturally. Ding Hua had brought back so much equipment. Freedom City’s Sentinels no longer had to pay exorbitant prices just to drink water. Of course they were happy.

This hunting trip outside the city lasted ten days for Ying Li.

Ten days later, he led his hunting team members, who had visibly gained weight, and Xiang Ye, back towards Starlight City.

By this time, not far from the Safe Zone, Yu Juntao had laid an ambush.

He and that Rank-A Sentinel waited inside an RV, while the Rank-B Sentinels were deployed by him to lie in ambush at intervals along the road, waiting for Ying Li’s convoy to return to the city.

Ying Li’s group had headed out in this direction; they should be returning from this direction as well.

But after waiting so long without any sign of them, Yu Juntao grew irritable. “Could Ying Li have taken a different route back to the city?”

The Rank-A Sentinel who had come with Yu Juntao was also from the Yu Family, a branch family member like Yu Juntao.

He wasn’t Yu Mingwei’s confidant, but they were birds of a feather and got along well.

Right now, he was eating a roast chicken, drinking beer alongside it. “Probably not. That would mean taking a long detour.”

“If he didn’t take a detour, why isn’t he back yet?”

“These small hunting teams stay outside the city for many days when they go hunting. They’re too poor; they’ll try every way to earn money.”

The two chatted and ate. It was just then that they saw a signal flare burst in the distance.

Someone had spotted Ying Li’s team!

Yu Juntao’s eyes lit up. He immediately ordered the driver to move the RV in that direction.

When the Rank-B Sentinel under Yu Juntao discovered Ying Li’s convoy, Ying Li had long since detected this Rank-B Sentinel.

At first, he thought this Rank-B Sentinel was a highwayman.

In the wilderness, there were always people unwilling to hunt themselves, who instead robbed others of their hunting spoils.

This was also why few people went hunting in the wild alone. If a lone person was robbed, there was no one to appeal to. But forming a hunting team was different.

Having more people not only protected oneself but also allowed for scattering and escaping if danger arose. As long as one person escaped, they could return to the city and report the injustice.

Ying Li was just wondering how a Rank-B Sentinel dared to rob alone, when he realized this Sentinel looked somewhat familiar.

Wasn’t this Yu Mingwei’s confidant?

Why was Yu Mingwei’s confidant lying in ambush here?

And then, Ying Li recalled the person who had tailed him when he first left the city.

He hadn’t recognized the one following him then, but now it seemed that person was also one of Yu Mingwei’s men.

As for why Yu Mingwei was following him and wanted to make a move against him… it was most likely because, in his past life, he had been Wu Nian’s Guardian.

The Sentinels of those great families had a strong possessive desire over their Guides. They didn’t allow their Guides to perform Mental Calming for other Sentinels, nor did they permit their Guides to associate with other Sentinels.

Ying Li had seen Wu Nian and Yu Mingwei standing together before and guessed that Wu Nian had probably already told Yu Mingwei about his own rebirth.

Otherwise, Yu Mingwei couldn’t possibly treat Wu Nian so well!

And after learning about the events of Wu Nian’s past life, it was perfectly normal for Yu Mingwei to dislike him.

No wonder Yu Juntao suddenly followed the hunting team out of the city. He had come looking for him!

Ying Li’s mind raced, piecing it all together in an instant, and then he smiled.

Yu Juntao had done many heinous things. In his past life, Ying Li had personally witnessed someone from the Yu Family Hunting Team have their family ruined and lives destroyed by Yu Juntao.

He had wanted to kill Yu Juntao but never found the opportunity. He never expected that now, Yu Juntao would deliver himself right to his door.

This was truly wonderful!

Ying Li pretended not to have noticed the Rank-B Sentinel and then saw this Sentinel launch a signal flare.

At the same time, this Rank-B Sentinel appeared before him.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Ying Li frowned and asked.

The Rank-B Sentinel knew Ying Li was also Rank-B. Adding that Ying Li had several Rank-C Sentinels with him, he wasn’t in a rush to attack. He wanted to stall for time and wait for the others to arrive.

He simply pretended to be a robber and spoke with a grin, “Your vehicles are loaded full. Looks like a good haul… Leave half of your spoils, and I’ll let you leave.”