Chapter 125: Canyon of Mists

Lin Huang slept from four in the morning until past eleven, finally shaking off the exhaustion from the previous night’s trek.

Crawling out of his portable tent, he could still hear the sound of snoring emanating from the Fat Man’s tent. Lin Huang tapped on the canvas. "Fatty, get up. If we don’t get moving, we’re going to lose another day."

The snoring paused for a few seconds, then resumed just as quickly.

"Fatty, get up! There’s a monster blocking the cave entrance! Hurry!" Lin Huang suddenly began pounding on the tent with force.

Inside, the Fat Man immediately scrambled up, hastily threw on some clothes, and tumbled out. With a look of sheer terror, he asked, "The entrance is blocked? How are we going to escape?!"

"Escape, my foot. There’s no monster; I just said that to get you out of bed." Seeing the nervous expression on his face, Lin Huang found it rather amusing.

"Damn it, you scared the life out of me!" The Fat Man took off his clothes to put them on properly, his face dark with annoyance at Lin Huang’s prank.

"In a wild zone like this, can’t you sleep with your clothes on?" Lin Huang was speechless at the Fat Man’s lack of vigilance.

"I can't fall asleep if I'm wearing clothes," the Fat Man offered as a perfectly reasonable excuse.

Lin Huang didn't bother arguing. He packed up his own tent and began to wash up.

Portable tents were similar to weapons; when miniaturized, they were the size of a broad bean. In the center was a small, raised button. Pressing it would cause the tent to rapidly expand, complete with a sleeping bag, pillow, and eye mask inside. Once set up, one had to scan their personal identification at the entrance to gain entry. When finished, scanning the same ID would cause the tent to revert to its bean-sized state. However, it wouldn't shrink if any living thing—even a mosquito—remained inside.

Because of this, some expensive portable tents featured built-in self-cleaning functions. If the tent wouldn't close, activating the cleaning mode would kill any pests and sanitize the interior, a process taking no more than three minutes. Lin Huang had bought one of these high-end models; it wasn't cheap, costing as much as a Bronze-grade weapon.

By the time he finished, the Fat Man had packed his own tent and handed over a pack of dried rations and a bottle of dairy product. "Cooking isn't safe in a Level 4 wild zone, so we have to stick to rations."

Lin Huang nodded and took the meal. He had brought his own rations, ordered online, but they certainly wouldn't taste as good as the Fat Man’s. Upon opening the package, he was surprised to see dried vegetables alongside the jerky. He raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize you were so mindful of nutritional balance."

"The jerky is mine, the dried vegetables are from my old man; he insisted I take them. If you think they’re good, you can have all the veggies," the Fat Man said, catching Lin Huang’s drift with a curl of his lip.

"I thought so. Last time we did the assessment together, I didn't see a single vegetable," Lin Huang replied, realizing he had overthought the situation.

"A famous person once said, 'A man who doesn't like meat is not a good man,'" the Fat Man said, offering a justification for his refusal to eat vegetables.

The quote wasn't actually made up. Lin Huang had seen it on the internet before and thought it was bizarre. It had been coined by a Transcendentalist in the early New Era to mock a rival; later, after the man attained the status of a Demigod, the saying had stuck.

"Liking meat and only eating meat while avoiding vegetables are two different things. That’s just being a picky eater," Lin Huang corrected him.

After eating a few pieces of the dried vegetables, he found them quite tasty. He concluded that the Fat Man’s pickiness stemmed from having eaten too many delicacies since childhood, which had made him spoiled. By the time the Fat Man finished washing up, Lin Huang had nearly finished his breakfast.

"What kind of milk is this? It tastes pretty good," Lin Huang asked as he downed the last of the drink.

"This is milk from a Snow-Domain Five-Flower Cow. Of course it tastes good! I had to beg my dad for it, and I only got ten bottles in total. If I didn't consider you a brother, I wouldn't have let you have it," the Fat Man said with a pained expression as he watched Lin Huang finish the bottle.

Lin Huang had heard of the Snow-Domain Five-Flower Cow; it was one of the top-tier dairy breeds in the Seventh District. While these monsters were only Iron-level, every single one was worth a fortune, comparable to the price of a treasure weapon. Their daily milk yield was low, and a single kilogram could sell for nearly as much as a Bronze-grade weapon. Lin Huang had just downed the equivalent of two Iron-grade weapons in one go.

He had been planning to ask what kind of milk it was so he could order some to chill in the summer, but upon hearing the name, he immediately dismissed the idea. *True, the poor should know their place. This is something only the super-rich can afford...*

After breakfast, Lin Huang recalled the Devil Vine, and they crawled out of the cave entrance. Only then did Lin Huang summon Bai again.

"Just how many summon beasts do you have?" the Fat Man couldn't help but ask.

"Three or four," Lin Huang replied, citing the number the Fat Man had seen.

"That blood-thirsty one must be the strongest, right?" the Fat Man still vividly remembered Bai’s slaughter earlier that morning.

"Yeah," Lin Huang muttered vaguely.

"I really envy you Royalists. You don't even have to fight yourself. You’ve got strong muscle and impressive mounts..." The Fat Man truly envied Lin Huang’s talent.

"Everyone has different talents, so our paths naturally differ. Being a Gourmet Hunter is fine. Open a restaurant later, recruit a bunch of hunters as customers, and the Life Crystals will roll in. It’s safer and easier than us risking our lives out here," Lin Huang said, genuinely feeling that the Fat Man’s dream was valid.

"That’s true. My personality is better suited for a comfortable life. I get tired just thinking about risking my life every day." The Fat Man felt Lin Huang made sense and decided to stick to being a Gourmet Hunter.

They left the cave Bai had dug and continued deeper into the Foggy Canyon. If one were to clear away the mist and look down from above, the canyon was a complex, circular labyrinth. Different regions were populated by monsters of varying power and types. The closer one moved toward the center, the higher the combat power of the monsters.

The Ugly Dolls they were looking for were in the outer perimeter, but they didn't know the exact location—only a general direction. The area was shrouded in mist year-round, which destroyed any sense of direction, and the lack of network or communication signals made navigation impossible. They had to explore based on the limited information they had.

With Bai leading the way, their safety was assured, and the journey was easy. Any monsters they encountered were effortlessly slain by Bai.

"Turn left at the twelfth fork... this should be it." After wandering through the twists and turns for over three hours, the Fat Man stopped at an intersection and looked to the left.

Lin Huang hadn't offered any input, leaving it to the Fat Man. Since he was here to help the Fat Man promote to Bronze, it would be strange if he knew the way better than his friend. Although the Fat Man had noticed Bai’s unusual strength, he assumed Lin Huang had some special taming technique and hadn't realized Lin Huang’s own power was just as abnormal.

"If the information is correct, not far after this left turn, there should be a den of Ugly Dolls," the Fat Man whispered. "Be quiet. These monsters are pack creatures; we just need to lure one or two out."

Lin Huang nodded. Despite the Fat Man’s cowardice, he was reliable when it came to business.

They slowed their pace as they entered the side path. After about twenty minutes, they reached a dead end, but there wasn't a monster in sight. Returning to a wider area, they noticed signs of a battle—remnants that seemed fresh.

"The Ugly Doll den should be here, but every monster in the den has been cleared out. We’re too late," Lin Huang concluded after observing the area.

"Since this one is gone, let's go to the next," the Fat Man said, not thinking much of it; it was normal for others to be hunting the same monsters.

Lin Huang didn't say anything and followed. Two hours later, they found the landmark for the second den.

"The two-meter-tall spherical boulder—this must be it!" The Fat Man pointed at a boulder at an intersection. "Turn right, and ten minutes later, we’ll be at the second den."

"Let's go," Lin Huang nodded, having Bai continue to scout ahead.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at an empty clearing. Again, not a single monster. Like the first den, there were fresh signs of battle.

"Cleared out again?!" The Fat Man groaned. "Who is doing this? Why are they targeting the same monsters as us?"

"Fatty, did you tell those three guys which monster you chose for your Life Seed?" Lin Huang suspected someone was targeting them on purpose—most likely the gaunt, middle-aged man who had escaped earlier.

The Fat Man froze, then nodded helplessly. "They asked, and I didn't think it mattered. You mean... the guy who ran off is behind this?!"

"It’s very likely," Lin Huang said. "We've encountered other monsters along the way, but none were completely wiped out. Whoever did this followed our same route. They didn't kill everything in their path, which means they aren't after monster corpses. But they left absolutely nothing at your Life Seed monster’s dens. It looks intentional."

"It really does seem like they're targeting me," the Fat Man agreed. "What do we do? If they kill all the Ugly Dolls in the canyon, I’ll have to choose a different Life Seed monster..."

"It shouldn't be that bad. Their speed is only slightly faster than ours; based on the traces, they were here less than an hour ago. We'll skip the third den and go straight to the fourth. Maybe we can get there before them!" Lin Huang proposed.

There were only four dens in the entire canyon. If they couldn't beat the middle-aged man to the last one, both the Fat Man and Lin Huang would have to change their plans for their Life Seeds.

"Alright, let's head straight to the fourth den!"