Chapter 1270: Chapter 1241: Black Claw Bear
Soon, the group of young people resting beside Li Chen started to smell a delicious aroma.
The plump rabbit was evidently well-cooked, turning golden on the spit over the fire. Oil dripped from the golden rabbit meat, sizzling as it hit the flames.
Li Chen rummaged through his belongings and surprisingly found some seasonings, which made him chuckle at himself.
"Old habits die hard."
The young people watching Li Chen’s skilled movements became more convinced of what he had previously said. Who else but a hunter would carry such things around?
But why is this hunter big brother so good at cooking?!
So fragrant! So fragrant!
The group had been running around the forest for half a day without catching anything valuable.
Even if they did, it seemed none of them knew how to cook, as they were all surviving on dry food. The sudden aroma even made the girls in the group wipe their mouths.
"Umm... Brother Li Chen?" Li Weisi, who had already learned Li Chen’s name, approached with a smile and asked, "Can we buy your roasted rabbit... Don’t worry, we’ll pay a fair price!"
Li Chen glanced at him with a knowing smile.
"Not for sale."
Li Weisi could only look helplessly at his fellow teammates.
Even though they were craving it, none of them harbored ill intentions towards Li Chen, despite his injury.
After all, Li Chen appeared just like an ordinary person seriously injured. The group’s strength was not enough to see through Li Chen’s cultivation. In their eyes, he was just a regular hunter.
"Grumble~~"
A strange noise came, and Li Chen looked over with an amused smile, seeing the girl Beatrice covering her stomach with a red face, embarrassed.
"Hahaha..."
Li Chen couldn’t help but laugh. Amid the discontented glances from the group, he lightly said, "I can’t share my rabbit with you. As you can see, I’m injured and need to keep replenishing myself. But if you can catch something small, I don’t mind helping you cook it."
Hearing Li Chen’s words, their eyes lit up with joy.
But soon, a young man named Reid spoke with a bitter face, "But we’ve been wandering in this forest for half a day and haven’t caught any game."
"That’s not my problem," Li Chen chuckled.
At this moment, Beatrice, who first discovered Li Chen, cautiously approached him.
"Brother Li Chen, I’m sorry."
"Why are you saying sorry?" Li Chen asked.
"Actually... we’re all students out for training and it’s our first time, so we lack experience. I’m sorry for deceiving you earlier," Beatrice softly admitted.
Li Weisi looked embarrassed and turned his gaze away.
"Hmm." Li Chen nodded, indicating for her to continue.
"We don’t have any hunting experience, so Brother Li Chen, could you help us?" the girl asked sincerely, her face blushing.
Li Chen thought for a moment, then nodded.
"I can help, but when you leave, you must do something for me, okay?"
Upon hearing Li Chen’s request, Li Weisi couldn’t help but ask, "What do we need to do?"
Li Chen pointed at himself with a dark face, "Can’t you see I’m injured? When you leave, take me out as well."
"Alright, alright, no problem!" Beatrice agreed promptly, and the others in the group quickly nodded in agreement.
Even if Li Chen hadn’t asked, they couldn’t leave him lying alone in the forest.
Seeing their responses, Li Chen nodded in satisfaction.
He then pointed to a lean young man in the group, "Hey, you’re Du Wei, right? Come here."
Du Wei walked over to Li Chen, looking puzzled.
Picking up the rabbit skin next to him, Li Chen casually tossed it, and the skin landed directly on Du Wei’s face.
"Rub some of the blood from this on yourself and take a walk around," Li Chen instructed, "Then just wait for the prey to come to you."
"Is this..."
The young people looked at Li Chen in surprise, "Is it really that simple?"
"It’s really that simple," Li Chen nodded, smiling.
Creatures in the forest are very sensitive to the scent of blood. Since Li Chen was sitting by the fire, the bloody smell from the rabbit skin wasn’t spreading, but if someone had the blood on them, it would be different.
Besides, this was no ordinary forest, but a minor world forest with demon beasts.
Li Chen truly didn’t believe there wouldn’t be any prey in such a forest.
Though they were a bit skeptical, they still agreed. Finally, Du Wei resignedly smeared rabbit blood on himself, wearing a look of reluctant determination as he trudged around.
After a while, Li Chen suddenly frowned and called out to Du Wei, "Alright, come back!"
Du Wei slowly shuffled back to the group, looking resigned upon hearing Li Chen’s words.
"Hurry up!" Seeing Du Wei’s leisurely pace, Li Chen frowned even more.
"Hmm?" The others in the group also noticed that Li Chen’s voice seemed off and were about to call out to Du Wei when a roar suddenly echoed from afar.
"Awooo!!!"
"Damn, it’s a demon beast!" Several faces changed, and they stood up immediately.
A large, pitch-black figure appeared within their sight.
Du Wei, previously somewhat casual, was now overwhelmed with shock and quickly sprinted toward the crowd.
However, a massive pitch-black claw was already descending from above his head.
"Du Wei! Watch out!"
"Du Wei!! Quick, dodge!!"
Just as the claw was about to strike Du Wei, the sound of something cutting through the air suddenly rang out.
The dark figure let out a terrifying roar, but its claw instantly withdrew, covering its face.
Seizing the opportunity, Du Wei quickly ran back into the group.
It was only then that everyone could clearly see the appearance of that dark figure.
"Demon Beast Black Claw Bear! Yellow Rank strength. Judging by the size of this creature, it might rival an Upper Yellow Rank expert. We..." Li Weisi looked at the gigantic bear before him with a grim expression.
They were only planning to hunt ordinary wild animals, yet they inadvertently drew out such a hefty beast.
"Isn’t it just a black bear? Why are so many of you afraid?" Li Chen remarked as he gnawed on a roasted rabbit.
Nobody knew that Li Chen had just saved Du Wei’s life with a small stone.
"But..." Li Weisi wanted to say something.
"There’s no ’but’ about it. That big fellow is already approaching. If you don’t strike first, you might not have the chance later. Besides, this creature holds grudges. If you don’t take it down, as long as you’re in this forest, it will keep hunting you." Li Chen waved his hand dismissively.
"Alright!" Li Weisi gritted his teeth, put down his bow and arrows, drew the long knife from his waist, and charged at the Black Claw Bear first.
"Li Weisi! Wait!"
Seeing Li Weisi take the lead, the other members quickly followed suit.
Admittedly, the Black Claw Bear was quite formidable, at least for a few young people.
However, to Li Chen’s surprise, among the five comrades in the group, while four were fighting, a usually quiet young man stood behind them and pulled out a wooden staff.
"Damn! A Healing Priest? Does the minor world really have such professions?" Li Chen’s eyes widened.
"Cain, quickly heal Reid, he’s injured!"
"Cain, focus on Li Weisi, he’s in real danger now!"
"Cain..."
Alright, Li Chen admitted, this bunch of young people did have some skills, and with backup support, they were genuinely holding their ground against the Black Claw Bear decently.
But then again, as Li Chen had discerned earlier.
The minor world had incredibly poor techniques for wielding power.
Compared to the martial artists from Huaxia, they weren’t on the same plane at all.
Although Li Weisi and his group’s wild fight against the Black Claw Bear might have some raw aesthetic appeal, Li Chen could only shake his head silently.
After watching for a long time, Li Chen glanced at the darkening sky and finally couldn’t help but speak up.
"Reid, raise your sword half a foot higher and attack its underarm."
"Li Weisi, don’t use full force, strike with seventy percent strength, withdraw with thirty percent; that will make your moves two times faster!"
"Beatrice, don’t stab its chest; the flesh is thickest there with the strongest defense, aim for its neck!"
"Du Wei, ... well done!"
Li Chen smiled contentedly as he watched the skinny lad named Du Wei slip under the Black Claw Bear’s body, fiercely stabbing its underside with a spear.
After fighting for so long and facing a quite wounded yet unyielding Black Claw Bear, the group was clearly at a loss. Upon suddenly hearing Li Chen’s advice, they decided to give it a shot and launched their attacks per his instructions.
Soon, to their surprise, the Black Claw Bear began to wail in agony.
After a series of heavy blows, the Black Claw Bear finally fell.
Seeing the Black Claw Bear collapse in front of them, the group couldn’t help but cheer with excitement.
"We did it! We won!"
Even though each of the young people bore some injuries, their jubilant enthusiasm was irrepressible.
Once their excitement subsided a little, Li Chen went on smiling, "Alright, enough chatter. You’ve been fighting for quite a while; it’s nearly dark, and if you’re not hungry, I certainly am."
On hearing Li Chen’s words, the group came back to their senses.
Li Weisi and the other members exchanged glances, each seeing the same thought in their companions’ eyes.
Without a word, they all walked over to Li Chen and bowed deeply to him.
"Brother Li Chen, thank you!"
Looking at the youthful yet earnest faces, Li Chen’s smile grew even broader.