vncnus Chapter 11 The Law of the Jungle and Thick-skinned Bulls
Chapter 11 The Law of the Jungle and Thick-skinned Bulls
Every time the chassis scraped against the ground, Zhong Chengyu in the back would let out a pained groan.
"Old Jiang, this road is impassable!"
Chung Cheng-yu braced himself with both feet and struggled to pull the front of the car out of the mud pit.
Although his modified little tortoise was powerful, its wheels were too small, making it difficult to move around in the woodland full of humus and rocks.
"Who told you to ride your bike without looking where you're going?"
Li Bin stopped ahead, placed one foot on a moss-covered rock, and turned around to push up his glasses.
"You have to be careful not to twist your ankle even when walking here. Do you think you're racing cars on the back street of the school?"
Jiang Ming sat on the back of Li Bin's seat, with his feet on the ground to reduce the load.
The vegetation density here is far greater than I imagined.
The air was thick with the pungent smell of earth and the damp, stale scent of decaying plants, and it was as stuffy and hot as a steamer.
"Get down and push."
Jiang Ming patted Li Bin on the shoulder and jumped out of the car first.
"The tree roots in front are too dense; it's easy to get a flat tire if you ride over them."
"Yes, if the car breaks down here, we'll have to carry it back."
Zhong Chengyu's two roommates, who were already extremely nervous, felt as if they had been granted a pardon upon hearing this and quickly jumped off the car to push it.
The group of five pushed the cart, struggling through the dense bushes.
They weren't the only ones along the way.
This area, known as the "Light Woodland," has already attracted quite a few daring students.
Under a large tree laden with fruit on the left, three boys were carefully poking at the fallen leaves with dry branches, seemingly trying to find the fallen fruit.
In the bushes on the right, two boys were bending over, frantically digging at a plant that looked like a radish.
"That's... Liu Hao from Class 3, right?"
Zhong Chengyu pointed to a figure lying on a piece of rotten wood not far away.
The boy was holding a handful of bright red mushrooms, stuffing them into his mouth with relish, red juice dripping from the corners of his mouth, looking both eerie and greedy.
"That mushroom looks like a red stinkhorn... Hmm, if it is, I remember that mushroom wasn't poisonous, but it tasted like shit, how could he eat it?"
Li Bin frowned, clearly feeling physically uncomfortable with this indiscriminate behavior.
"They were starving."
Jiang Ming didn't stop walking; he just glanced at it.
"Mind your own business. Eating in a place like this will most likely mean you won't see the sun rise tomorrow."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a scream suddenly came from the tree ahead.
"ah--!"
Everyone looked up.
A boy was seen clinging to a tree trunk, writhing in pain. His right hand was swollen like a steamed bun. He lost his balance and fell heavily from a three-meter-high branch.
A muffled "bang" was heard.
The boy rolled on the ground, howling in pain, while on the branch he had just climbed, several fist-sized black beetles were fluttering their wings, emitting a buzzing warning sound.
Several students who were picking wild fruits nearby were so frightened that they scattered and fled.
Zhong Chengyu shrank his neck, and unconsciously softened his movements as he pushed the cart.
"This godforsaken place...you could easily get into trouble if you're not careful."
Jiang Ming didn't say anything, but just gripped the fruit knife in his pocket tighter.
This is a real jungle.
There are no rules, no protection, only the most naked laws of survival.
Survival of the fittest is fast-forwarded here.
I don't know how many minutes or so passed.
The view ahead suddenly opened up.
The dense forest came to an end, revealing a wide expanse of riverbank woodland ahead.
A river, several meters wide, meanders through the area. The water is crystal clear, but the current is extremely fast, crashing against the rocks in the river and creating white waves.
"stop."
Jiang Ming lowered his voice and reached out to stop Zhong Chengyu, who was about to move forward.
"There's too much grass ahead, we can't drive through, let's walk."
"Huh? Oh, okay."
Although Zhong Chengyu was puzzled, he obediently did as he was told, instructing his two roommates to hide the car in the waist-high grass.
Jiang Ming pushed aside the thatch in front of him and walked forward.
Following his gaze, the entire scene along the riverbank came into view.
About two hundred meters away, the dozen or so members of the archery club were scattered along the riverbank.
Their movements were perfectly synchronized, clearly indicating that they had undergone a simple tactical deployment.
President Zhao Yanzhi stood on a riverbank, his compound bow fully drawn, the pulley system making a slight creaking sound.
Directly in front of them, on the shallows of the river, a group of creatures were drinking water.
It was a herd of wild beasts that resembled cattle, but they had no hair; instead, they were covered with a thick, grayish-white keratinous layer, similar to rhinoceros hide.
They have two short, backward-curving horns on their heads, and the hot air they exhale from their nostrils condenses into white mist in the air.
【Thick-skinned Bull (Lv.5)】
[Danger Level: Medium]
A yellow warning message automatically popped up on the panel in front of Jiang Ming.
"That's... a cow?"
Li Bin lay down next to Jiang Ming, adjusted his glasses, and squinted to observe him.
"Looks like someone you don't want to mess with. Look at that skin, it looks like a bulletproof vest."
"Can it be tougher than an arrowhead?" Zhong Chengyu curled his lip in disdain. "Zhao Yanzhi's bow has been professionally modified; it can easily pierce through a steel plate with one arrow."
Just then, Zhao Yanzhi loosened his grip.
"collapse--"
The sound of the bowstring vibrating was exceptionally clear on the open riverbank.
A carbon fiber arrow, like a black lightning bolt, pierced the air and headed straight for the nearest bull.
The bull was drinking water with its head down, completely unsuspecting.
The arrow struck its side with pinpoint accuracy.
However, the expected scene of blood splattering did not occur.
The powerful arrow only left a white spot on the thick, greyish-white hide of the bull before being deflected and falling limply onto the pebbles of the riverbank.
The bull merely swayed its body as if bitten by a mosquito, without even lifting its head, and continued to drink water slowly and deliberately.
Dead silence.
The archery club members on the riverbank were clearly stunned as well.
Zhao Yanzhi remained in his archery stance, his expression frozen.
He had absolute confidence in his improved equipment and his technique for hitting weaknesses, but this counterintuitive situation greatly shocked his understanding.
"This...how is this possible?"
Zhong Chengyu opened his mouth wide, his chin almost hitting the muddy ground.
"That's a composite bow! Seventy pounds of draw weight! And it just bounced off like that?"
"This must be what level suppression is."
Jiang Ming's voice was soft, yet it carried a chill.
"That Lv.5 bull's defense is beyond what ordinary melee weapons can easily penetrate. Its skin must have evolved a special structure specifically designed to resist piercing damage."
As he spoke, he opened his [Crafting] panel.
Their gazes were fixed on the herd of wild bulls.
[Thick-skinned bull's keratinized skin] + [? ? ?] = [? ? ?]
【Thick-skinned bull's curved horns】+【? ? ?】=【? ? ?】
Although it was still a question mark, Jiang Ming could sense that if he could get these materials, he could definitely synthesize armor or weapons that were much stronger than the [Nail-Headed Mace].
"Forget about that tough nut to crack." Li Bin shoved Jiang Ming in the ribs with his elbow and lowered his voice. "Look over there. These archers aren't just idiots who can only fight head-on."
Following the direction Li Bin pointed, Jiang Ming shifted his gaze away from the unharmed adult bull.