Chapter 8: Hunting and Improvement

The wasteland.

This was already the outermost edge of the hub station's influence. A few more steps beyond, and one might become lost in the endless sea of sand and dust.

Suddenly, an animal emerged from underground.

It was a pika, covered in gray fur with long ears. It sniffed the air from time to time, searching for food and water.

The little creature hopped across the rocky terrain, occasionally stopping to nibble on some dried-up weeds.

With its tiny brain, it couldn't possibly understand just how lucky it was to survive in such an environment.

Whoosh!

A crossbow bolt shot out from the sand and pierced its neck.

The pika kicked helplessly, but all it managed to do was spin its body around the bolt, staining the sand red with its blood.

Lu Meng got up from the ground, shook off the dust covering him, and slung his hand crossbow back onto his waist. He then picked up the pika and twisted its neck, putting it out of its misery.

He also retrieved the bolt.

Just a week ago, when he was still a beginner with the crossbow, his shots often missed and hit the ground, leading to a high loss rate of bolts.

Now, with his crossbow training reaching Level 9, he was about to step into the "Basic" tier.

Hunting quick and alert creatures like pikas was no longer an issue.

His bolt retrieval rate had also increased, allowing each bolt to be reused more times.

Pikas were valuable— their fur could be tanned into leather, and their teeth made for good decorative materials.

Most importantly, due to mutations, this pika was quite plump, weighing about seven or eight pounds—comparable to a farm-raised rabbit.

With a 50% meat yield, hunting a few more would be enough to feed him and the Huo family for a week.

That's right, he was now Huo Buyang's neighbor.

Two weeks ago, after Lu Meng treated Huo Buyang's mother, Li Liu's, leg injury, the boy had pleaded with him to stay and live with them so they could look out for each other.

This was originally one of Lu Meng's goals, so he agreed without hesitation.

He had initially assumed he'd be taking care of two burdens in the wasteland, but he soon realized that this mother-and-son duo was far more capable of survival than he had expected.

As soon as Lu Meng agreed, Huo Buyang excitedly started gathering materials to build a new shelter near his home.

Wood planks, plastic sheets, tarps, nails... In less than half a day, the boy had constructed a cone-shaped hut on a steel-framed platform to keep out the cold and crawling pests.

A wooden door with a simple lock was installed on the side.

The top even had a small chimney for venting excess heat and fumes.

The entire structure was covered with a large plastic sheet, which could be pulled down at any time to seal out sand and dust.

Due to material limitations, the hut wasn't exactly pretty, but it was sturdy and well-hidden.

Thinking back to his previous shelter—where he practically slept under the open sky—Lu Meng decisively refused Huo Buyang's offer to help him move his things.

Huo Buyang was a little disappointed that he didn't get to see and learn from Lu Meng's survival setup.

But he also understood that Lu Meng was being cautious, keeping his old home as an unknown safe house.

He just hoped that Lu Meng wouldn't look down on his craftsmanship…

Little did he know, Lu Meng had already decided never to return to his old place.

A free house like this finally felt like home.

It made sense— even though Huo Buyang was only in his early teens, his real survival experience in the wasteland far exceeded Lu Meng's as a modern-day man.

Not to mention, the boy had a natural talent for it. If Lu Meng had to estimate his skill level from an attribute panel, Huo Buyang's engineering ability was probably between Level 11 and 15.

From now on, all construction work would be his responsibility. Those who are capable should do more.

As for Huo Buyang's mother, Li Liu—

After treating her leg wound, Lu Meng had taken a proper rest for a few hours to recover.

At the crack of dawn, he performed surgery on her.

He simply followed the medical module's procedure—removing necrotic flesh, stitching up the wound…

But most importantly, he had used anesthetics, wound medicine, and a full set of medical instruments.

Normally, a wound that had been left untreated for so long would take at least three months to heal.

Under Lu Meng's care and medication, the recovery time was shortened to two months—already a miracle.

And yet, even as a recovering patient, Li Liu didn't just sit around waiting to be taken care of.

As soon as she regained some mobility, she started helping out however she could.

Although she couldn't do heavy labor, she was an excellent cook.

Give an ordinary person a single sweet potato in these conditions, and they'd be lucky to roast it over a fire.

Someone with experience might make sweet potato cakes, mashed sweet potatoes, or dried sweet potato slices.

Li Liu took things even further— she could turn something as simple as a cactus into a flavorful dish.

Lu Meng had cooked in his past life, but that was with modern conveniences— gas stoves, pots, pans, seasonings, and fresh ingredients.

After the collapse of industrial civilization, survival took priority over taste.

Clay, cactus, willow leaves— anything edible had to be eaten.

Most of the time, hunger was the only seasoning, and sheer willpower was the only way to stomach meals.

Watching the mother and son, Lu Meng couldn't help but be impressed.

No matter how small or weak, anyone who could survive in this world was a resilient lifeform.

There was wisdom in their survival— wisdom he could learn from.

Now that he was one of them, he had to keep working hard to stay alive.

"Open status panel."

[Name: Lu Beiyou (Lu Meng)

Race: Human (Child of the Scorched Earth)

Basic Attributes: Perception 11…

Ranged Skills: Crossbow 9 (Beginner)

Life Skills: Medicine 6 (Beginner)…

Satiety: 180/300 (Normal)

Health: Normal

Authority: D

Active Module: Experience Boost (3x)]

Lu Meng studied his status panel and organized his thoughts.

The most notable change was [Active Module: Experience Boost (3x)]

In truth, he had already chosen this module the moment he completed an achievement.

The moment it activated, although his physical stats hadn't visibly improved, he felt his mind become clearer, and his body's hidden potential seemed to be stirring.

This was the power of potential.

With a 3x proficiency gain, as long as he had the right method and practiced deliberately, leveling up skills below Level 10 wouldn't be difficult.

After healing Li Liu, his medical skill had reached Level 6.

Now, even without the medical module, he could diagnose minor injuries and illnesses accurately.

However, even the best doctor couldn't work without medicine. Without supplies, all he could do was give general health advice.

His medical module still had enough power to treat two more critical injuries.

That was a life-saving resource— he couldn't afford to waste it.

Although the mother and son had taken care of him in many ways, Lu Meng wasn't just freeloading.

Over the past few days, he had scavenged various seasonings from the ruins— necessities like salt. Unlike the crude salt most scavengers ate, he had even brought refined white salt.

This surprised and delighted the household. In terms of value, this was even more precious than food.

…

Lu Meng picked up the pika and followed his previous markers, digging up a small pit. Inside was another pika carcass with a bolt wound, its blood long dried.

To avoid alerting other prey with the scent of blood, he had buried his earlier kill.

Ever since mastering the basics of the crossbow, he had begun venturing to the outskirts of the hub station to hunt, expanding his food supply.

Compared to buying food at the market, personally hunting prey meant avoiding merchant markups and getting fresher ingredients.

Hunting wasn't easy. The fact that he could navigate sandstorms without getting lost already put him ahead of most scavengers.

At first, he relied on memory to find general pika habitats.

Luck played a large role in spotting them.

And even then, he might not hit his target.

But with more practice, his perception and crossbow skills had steadily improved— he was becoming a real hunter.

Though he wasn't hitting every shot, he could at least bag something daily.

Getting two pikas in one hunt, like today, wasn't uncommon.

Lu Meng decided to call it a day. The wilds weren't just home to harmless herbivores like pikas.

The scent of blood could attract bone hounds, which were far more dangerous than wolves of the past.

They traveled in packs, and even a lone one was beyond his ability to handle right now.

He turned to head back to the hub station, but in the distance, a shadow flickered through the wind and sand.