Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Finally, as the afterglow of the setting sun dyed the snowfield a poignant crimson, the remaining herd of wild donkeys rushed into a more complex Gobi desert, strewn with gravel and ravines. Taking advantage of the terrain, they scattered and fled, disappearing into the twilight.

Wei Chen slowly stopped, leaning on his bow, slightly panting. The long, high-speed run and continuous firing had taken their toll, even for someone of his physique and cultivation. But his eyes shone with an intense, satisfied light.

He focused his mental energy into the storage space. The once empty space was now filled with Mongolian wild asses, one compartment piled high, the display showing a staggering 245! This didn't even include the scattered hunted gazelles and red deer.

Such a huge harvest is more than enough to not only complete the steel rolling mill's tasks, but also to supply the entire plant's meat needs for a considerable period of time! In fact, Wei Chen certainly wouldn't dare to give it all away, as it would be difficult to explain! He could also set aside a significant portion for other exchanges or reserves.

He looked back, but the path he had come from was already obscured by twilight and snow dust. Beneath his feet lay unfamiliar, gravelly ground, and in the distance, even more desolate, undulating sand dunes. A cold wind howled, whipping up fine sand and snowflakes that stung his face.

This place is clearly no longer the familiar grassland it once was.

"Looks like... we've gone a bit too far," Wei Chen muttered to himself, but his face showed little worry; instead, a smile appeared on his lips. The no-man's-land? Far from the emperor's reach, it was perfect for allowing him more freedom to maneuver.

He determined his direction (by stargazing and the faint outline of the mountains), but instead of returning immediately, he found a sheltered rock face, cleared a space, and took out dry rations and water from his storage space to replenish his strength.

Black market trading allowed Wei Chen to acquire valuable grassland specialties and potential wealth. Chasing the beast tides allowed him to seize an astonishing amount of meat resources in one go. And this long-distance pursuit, unknowingly venturing into unfamiliar territory, gave him an unprecedented sense of freedom and power.

"Next..." Wei Chen gazed at the dazzling starry sky, his eyes deep, "I need to consider how to 'reasonably' transform these gains into the capital for my foothold and even my rise in Beijing."

He needs a reliable channel and a reasonable explanation to gradually and safely transform the vast amount of meat and grassland specialties in the space into real resources.

The night wind grew colder, but a more intense flame ignited in Wei Chen's heart. The trip to the grasslands had yielded far more rewards than expected.

The night was as dark as ink, enveloping this nameless Gobi snowfield. The cold wind, like an invisible knife, tirelessly swept across the jagged rocks and undulating sand dunes, swirling up fine snowflakes and making a wailing sound, making this desolate place even more deathly silent.

Wei Chen sat cross-legged in a hollow of a huge, sheltered rock, with a small campfire lit in front of him by dead shrubs. The orange flames flickered, barely dispelling the chill, and casting shifting light and shadow on his calm face.

Within the body, the true essence of the "Nine Heavens Shooting the Sun Technique" flowed slowly along specific meridians like a warm stream, nourishing the muscles and bones that were slightly tired from the long daytime raids and continuous hunting, and replenishing the consumed spiritual energy bit by bit.

After nearly twenty days traversing the grasslands, his cultivation, nurtured by actual combat and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, had stabilized at the peak of the Lesser Completion stage. His five senses had become increasingly acute, his mental power's coverage range exceeded two hundred meters, and his perception was incredibly keen. At this moment, he was immersed in a state of clear and tranquil breathing, reviewing the gains of this trip.

His mental energy sank into the storage space that connected to the mysterious game world. Inside, it was piled up like a mountain: more than two hundred plump Mongolian wild donkeys, dozens of gazelles and several red deer were the main animals, in addition to scattered prey such as wolves and foxes;

The various hides, dried meat, dairy products, medicinal herbs, old silverware, old knives, raw stones that looked like jade, a sizable piece of gold, a worn-out sutra box, and other items that were traded from the "Grey Teng Liang" black market filled the originally empty storage compartment to the brim.

"The great migration of wild donkeys is a rare opportunity. The trip to the black market also yielded quite a few valuable and potentially valuable items," Wei Chen pondered. "The main mission has already been overfulfilled, even enough to support the steel mill's meat needs for a long time. It's time to consider returning and converting these resources into real leverage."

He slowly opened his eyes, a fleeting glint of light flashing within them. He stood up, walked to the edge of the rock, and gazed into the distance. The cold moonlight spilled across the boundless snowfield, casting a pale, silvery glow. The terrain here was different from the grasslands he was familiar with; it was much drier, with gravel everywhere, dotted only by sparse hardy meadows, and the distant horizon blurred into a hazy expanse.

"I need to confirm our location first and return as soon as possible." Wei Chen's thoughts stirred, and his mental energy spread outwards like invisible ripples. Within a radius of 210 meters, every detail became crystal clear: the sharp edges of the sand, the ice crystals in the cracks of the rocks, the faint life fluctuations of insects beneath the snow, even the slightest disturbance in the air...

When his mental energy swept about two hundred meters to the northwest, some unusual "traces" caught his attention. They were not natural creations, but man-made remnants—several pieces of iron wire, almost completely buried by sand and heavily corroded, several toppled cement piles with indistinct foreign characters engraved on them, and some scattered pieces of sheet metal with the same characters printed on them.

"Outer Mongolia..." Wei Chen raised an eyebrow, then understood. They had been chasing the herd of wild donkeys at breakneck speed, and before they knew it, they had crossed the border line on the map.

However, this area is extremely desolate, with no one in sight for hundreds of miles; it is a true no-man's-land. As long as one is unlucky enough to run into the border patrol teams that rarely operate in this area, there is no major problem in coming and going.

Having confirmed they were in Outer Mongolia, Wei Chen quickly planned his route: after daybreak, he would head southeast, first returning to Inner Mongolia, then turning southwest to meet Batu at the secluded valley not far from "Huitengliang." Batu needed to rest due to his leg injury, and his younger brother Bala should be there to meet him.

However, just as he was preparing to retreat to the hollow, enter the hunter's cabin in the game world, and rest well, to reward his weary body with a modern hot bath and soft bed—

"Buzz..."

A faint, yet incredibly persistent, tremor, seemingly emanating from the depths of the earth, emanated from the soles of his feet as they touched the rocks!

This tremor was different from the relatively "concentrated" rumble of a herd of wild donkeys galloping; it was much deeper and more widespread, like countless enormous drums being gently struck simultaneously beyond the far horizon, or like the long breath of a sleeping giant before turning over! Moreover, the tremor was intensifying at an alarming rate, with the epicenter pointing due east!

Wei Chen instantly snapped to attention, all his fatigue vanishing. He moved with lightning speed, silently climbing to the highest point of the rock like a cat, shading his eyes with his hand, straining his vision to the limit, and gazing eastward.

At first, where the eastern horizon met the snowfield, there was only a deeper darkness than the surrounding area, as if the night was even more intense there.

But soon, the darkness began to "wriggle" and "boil," like boiling asphalt! Then, the deep rumble of the earth became clearly audible, rumbling and approaching from afar, like muffled thunder rolling along the ground, even the solid rocks underfoot began to tremble slightly!

The sounds grew louder and more intense, eventually coalescing into a terrifying, overwhelming wave of sound that could stop your heart from beating—a deathly symphony of hooves striking the earth simultaneously, the sound of millions of tons of hooves!

coming!

Under the moonlight, an endless, turbid, yellowish-brown "wave" suddenly broke through the horizon and surged into Wei Chen's field of vision! The wave advanced and expanded wildly at a visible speed, swallowing everything under the moonlight! That was not a tide, it was... a beast tide! A real beast tide, formed by countless yellowish-brown figures, engulfing everything!

Mongolian gazelles! Tens of thousands, or possibly more, of Mongolian gazelles (Mongolian gazelles)!

They seem to be undertaking an epic migration, perhaps to escape a rare blizzard, perhaps to seek out the remaining grasslands in the distance, or perhaps it is a natural adjustment for a population explosion.

At this moment, fear or instinct drives them, converging into a destructive torrent that sweeps in with overwhelming force along a roughly fixed direction!

The thunderous hoofbeats were like a deafening roar, continuous and deafening, making one's eardrums ache and blood surge! The earth groaned and trembled under their iron hooves! The snow and dust they kicked up mingled, forming a yellow wall of mist tens of meters high, obscuring the sky and the moon, as the herd of beasts advanced!

Even the moonlight paled in comparison to this terrifying sight; it seemed as if only this surging, golden torrent, brimming with primal, untamed power, remained in the world!

Wei Chen stood atop a high rock, the wind howling fiercely, making his robes cling to his body. Gazing at the horde of beasts sweeping in like an apocalyptic catastrophe, even with his iron will and experience of being surrounded by wolves and chased by raging torrents of wild donkeys, he couldn't help but feel a chill run from his feet to the top of his head, and the hairs on his body stood on end!

This is no longer a "hunting opportunity"; it is the might of nature, the most magnificent yet cruel manifestation of life! Individuals are as insignificant as ants before this force!

But at the same time, an even hotter, more frenzied flame was burning fiercely in his heart! This was a heaven-sent feast!

It is a treasure trove of the most supreme and wildest resources bestowed by nature! If one could seize even a fraction of it, the harvest would be immeasurable! Compared to it, the two hundred-odd wild donkeys in the space are simply insignificant!

Risk? Getting caught in it means instant death! But... it's worth the risk!

In a flash, Wei Chen's brain raced, analyzing the pros and cons and devising a strategy.