"Out," he murmured.
He released a wild rabbit, a wild boar, and several packets of instant noodles and drinks.
Then he turned and entered the shed.
"This is what you found," Xiao Yu said to Guo Xuyang, his eyes wide with astonishment.
"Yes."
"But where did these instant noodles and drinks come from?"
"You don't need to ask about that. Brother Liang, come help light the fire. I'll process these two things."
"I'll help you. Xiao Yu, you light the fire." Lu Liang took the wild boar.
The way Lu Liang handled the bleeding, skinning, and butchering, he was clearly an expert. Guo Xuyang then took strips of the wild boar meat, threaded them onto branches, and handed them to Xiao Yu in the shed to roast over the fire.
The wild boar wasn't large, weighing around twenty catties, so there wasn't much meat after butchering. The wild rabbit, once skinned by Guo Xuyang, was threaded onto a branch and placed whole over the fire to roast.
The group took out the seasoning packets from the instant noodles, mixed them with mineral water, and coated the meat. Again and again, the aroma of roasted meat soon filled the air.
Xiao Yun was truly famished. She picked up a roasted wild rabbit, tore off a hind leg, and handed it to Xiao Yu, then gnawed on the other hind leg herself. Guo Xuyang and Lu Liang began eating the greasy roasted wild boar meat.
To be honest, the wild boar meat was less palatable than the rabbit. Even though the wild boar was small, its taste was vastly inferior to domestic pork. The meat was coarse, tough to chew, with little fat, like chewing on cotton wadding. Under the circumstances, having food was fortunate, no room for pickiness. Guo Xuyang ate two pieces and stopped; it was truly unappetizing.
Before he could even put down the branch, they heard the sound of a ferocious beast outside. The group immediately fell silent, listening as the beast's sounds grew closer, and a foul odor wafted towards them. Guo Xuyang used his senses and was startled. The creature was similar to a Tyrannosaurus Rex, with a gaping maw, thick hind legs, short forelimbs, and rows of jagged teeth. On closer inspection, it wasn't quite the same; it was uglier than a Tyrannosaurus Rex, with many bumps on its head and a lumpy body, much like a toad. Its appearance was incredibly repulsive.
As Guo Xuyang was contemplating this, the unknown monster arrived at the edge of the shed.
"Yangzi, did the smell of the roast meat attract this thing?" Lu Liang whispered as he saw the monster approach.
"I don't know. What should we do? Should we throw out the remaining wild boar meat?" Guo Xuyang said quietly.
"Don't do that. Look at how ferocious it appears; it might end up taking all four of us."
"Then what? Look, it's sticking its head in," Guo Xuyang said.
"How about I run out and take the roast meat with me? If it chases me, you guys quickly find somewhere to hide. I'll be back soon."
"Can you do it? Don't become a snack for the monster."
"Why can't you think of the good side of me? I'm worried if this ugly thing gets in, all four of us will become snacks, and that would be troublesome."
"Alright then. Be very careful. If you can't make it, just run back."
"No problem, I was always first in the ten-kilometer cross-country runs during my military service."
"Stop bragging. Safety first, we'll wait for you to return." Lu Liang slung the remaining ten-odd catties of roast meat over his shoulder and darted out.
The monster saw Lu Liang and gave chase immediately. Just as it was about to catch up, Lu Liang tossed the roast meat off his shoulder and continued running. The monster stopped, sniffed the air, swallowed the roast meat in one gulp, and then resumed its pursuit of Lu Liang.
"Quick, get out! We need to find a place to hide so that monster doesn't double back," Guo Xuyang, holding Xiao Yun, yelled at Xiao Yu as they scrambled out of the shed. Xiao Yu wasn't faring much better; wearing only pajamas and slippers from the palace, his feet were covered in blisters. Meanwhile, Lu Liang was running at full speed. Although he had been discharged from the military for several years, he hadn't slacked on his training. It was fortunate that he managed to narrowly escape the monster's pursuit. Seeing that it couldn't catch Lu Liang, the monster turned back to the outside of the shed. It used its head to push open the shed, gobbling up the bones on the ground. However, the monster was still unsatisfied and lingered, searching for Guo Xuyang and the others. After searching for about an hour and finding no trace, it finally left.
After the monster departed, Guo Xuyang and the others slowly returned to the shed, but Lu Liang had not come back. Guo Xuyang looked up, searching all around, and discovered a lake. Had they not yet exited Mount Weir after walking all day? Had they just reached the shore of Lake Weir? He gazed into the distance and saw that Lake Weir seemed to be endless. Could the sound Xiao Yun mentioned be from beneath the lake? But he didn't have the mental capacity to care about the owner of the sound right now; his urgent priority was to find Lu Liang.
The three of them waited for a while, but Lu Liang still hadn't returned. Xiao Yu choked out, "Could something have happened to Lu Liang?"
"No. Brother Liang is agile; he wouldn't be that unlucky. Besides, the monster showed no signs of blood when it appeared; Lu Liang wouldn't have met with misfortune," Guo Xuyang said.
While the three were waiting anxiously, Lu Liang had fallen into danger. He had reached the lake and gotten stuck in a marsh, unable to get out. He was truly calling out to heaven and earth with no response. Just as the marsh was about to engulf Lu Liang up to his shoulders, a mermaid swam over from a distance. She extended her tail towards Lu Liang. Lu Liang grabbed her tail and was pulled out of the marsh by her. Lu Liang bowed repeatedly to thank the mermaid, but she pushed him back into the water. He hadn't expected to escape a pit only to fall into a tiger's den. Although his swimming skills were excellent, he couldn't withstand the long distance. When he was completely exhausted and beyond his strength, the mermaid carried him and slid towards the center of the lake.
Meanwhile, Guo Xuyang and the other two, seeing that Lu Liang was not returning, eventually fell asleep. Having not rested for two consecutive days, Guo Xuyang was exhausted, but he dared not close his eyes, fearing unknown monsters might sneak attack. He could only force himself to stay alert, letting Xiao Yun and Xiao Yu sleep first.
"Master, I'm sensing fluctuations," Yu'er's voice echoed in his mind.
"What fluctuations?" Guo Xuyang asked.
"They are related to your body."
"Related to my body?" Guo Xuyang was very puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Is there another you here?"
"Another me? How is that possible? I know about clone abilities, but I haven't used them."
"That's also what I don't understand, Master. My memory seems to be fragmented; it hasn't fully recovered."
"No rush. But now that I'm in this place, how am I supposed to earn those merits?"
"No matter where you are, as long as it's yours, the merits will be automatically exchanged."
"Oh, is that so? Does that mean if my businesses on Earth operate normally, my merits will continue to increase?"
"That is correct, Master."
"Then that makes things much easier. I wonder how many merits I have now?"
"You currently have ten thousand merits, Master," Yu'er's voice sounded in his mind.