Chapter 144 - 135: Tanner
"Hurry and get inside." Yuan Dajun rushed forward to help, taking another slab of meat from his son’s shoulder.
Back in the living room, the moonlight from the window revealed Yuan Ming’s blood-soaked clothes. Yuan Dajun’s heart lurched. "You’re injured?"
"Yeah, it’s just a minor injury." Yuan Ming paused for a moment, then nodded.
Hu Huilan asked anxiously, "Where are you hurt?"
Yuan Ming said sheepishly, "My butt. I lost my footing while carrying the meat down the mountain and fell."
When they were dividing the meat, Captain Qin had pointed at his backside and said he’d suffered a work-related injury, so he should get an extra couple of pounds of meat.
Everyone else on the team had laughed at the time.
He was the only one who’d gotten hurt during the entire hunt, and it was from an accidental fall on the way down the mountain.
Hearing her son’s explanation, Hu Huilan chided, "That’s what you get for not watching where you’re going."
"Good lord, this has to be over two hundred pounds of meat," Zhang Liang marveled. He clapped Yuan Ming’s shoulder in appreciation. "I’m really getting old. It looks like you young folks are the ones with real vision."
To be honest, even he, a Hunting Team Captain, was a little tempted.
In all his time as a captain, the total amount of meat he’d brought back didn’t even match what this kid had earned in a single day. ’What kind of miracle team is this?’
Zhang Zihan fell silent. Yuan Ming, the very person she had once looked down upon, had earned this much meat in a single day. Right now, meat was hard currency.
’How is this any different from working for a few days and getting a million-dollar bonus?’
But Zhang Zihan was still unwilling to admit she had misjudged him. She told herself it was probably just a stroke of luck; they must have happened to hunt one large creature.
’My dad is currently seventh in the Alliance Association’s internal queue for a Card. Once the six people ahead of him get theirs, he’ll get one from the Alliance, and then our family can finally activate our Home!’
"This is just the meat. There are other rewards, too." Yuan Ming knew the easiest way to convince his parents was to let his "paycheck" do the talking.
"More?" Hu Huilan was confused. She looked him up and down; he didn’t seem to have anywhere else to carry things.
Zhang Liang, however, had an inkling of what it might be, but he felt it was too incredible to be true.
’That much meat was one thing, but surely they wouldn’t also give him a...’
Then he fell silent.
It wasn’t just him. Everyone in the room stared, transfixed, at the Blank Expansion Card Yuan Ming pulled from his pocket.
"The captain gave me this Card," Yuan Ming said. "Mom, Dad, we can have our own Home now."
"This... this is the kind of Card they’ve been talking about?" Hu Huilan’s mind went blank. It seemed like twenty percent of the people in the Gated Community had already acquired a Home.
But when it came down to individuals, that meant the vast majority of people still went without.
Some had never even seen a Card with their own eyes.
𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
The Blank Expansion Card, emitting a faint white glow, was as thin as a playing card and about the same size.
Yet it radiated a wondrous Magic Power.
Yuan Ming gripped the Card, feeling a wave of emotion. He’d actually had a chance to get one before. Captain Wang had already confirmed that the next Card from the altar would be his.
But then they ran into the Alliance Association’s Hunting Team, the altar was seized, and of course, nothing came of the Card.
This was also the reason he had no desire to join the Alliance Association’s Hunting Team.
Crushing the Card, Yuan Ming selected the balcony as the new expansion area.
The view beyond the balcony railing blurred. When the light faded, a vast, spacious area came into view, entirely gray-white, as if hewn from a single block of rock.
Everyone in the room stared in a daze at the miraculous sight.
Then they saw the small Home orb of light floating before Yuan Ming.
In that moment, Hu Huilan finally understood why her son had said he’d found a great team.
She wanted to go thank them personally, but she felt it would be rude to show up so suddenly.
So she said earnestly, "Ming, you’ve met a true benefactor. When people are good to you, you must be grateful. Don’t be half-hearted, and don’t slack off, do you understand?"
Yuan Ming thought his mom’s attitude had changed incredibly fast. He was more used to her usual, defiant demeanor.
Standing behind her father, Zhang Zihan felt the last of her pride crumble, leaving her like a peacock drenched in the rain.
The more Lin Xing looked at Yuan Ming, the more pleased she became, like a mother-in-law sizing up a potential son-in-law.
But when she glanced at her daughter out of the corner of her eye, she sighed inwardly. ’A mother knows her daughter best.’ Zihan’s personality was too prideful. Yuan Ming, on the other hand, was gentle on the surface but unyielding underneath. He looked good-tempered, but he had a core of steel. ’Trying to matchmake them,’ she thought, ’will probably be very difficult.’
...
After dividing up the meat, the group set about curing a portion of what they had brought back.
This time, they cured over a thousand pounds of meat.
Once the work was done, Qin Ziwen looked at the dense crowd of refugees standing before him and silently shook his head. ’There are too many of them.’
’I could support them,’ he thought, ’but there’s really no need.’
The very nature of refugees meant they couldn’t be counted on in a tough fight.
Refugees were people who attached themselves to him only temporarily; if they weren’t satisfied, they could flee at any moment.
That included people like Liu San and Da Zhuang.
They hadn’t signed a contract with him like Du Yu had.
But the Salt Well was short-staffed, and Li Tieshan needed two helpers, so he was keeping six people. These thirty extras, however, were far too many.
Qin Ziwen stood on a high platform and surveyed the crowd. "Do any of you have a particular skill?"
"Sir, does knowing how to farm count?"
"I can farm, too."
"Who here doesn’t know how to farm? I just don’t have any fields to work."
The crowd of refugees below grew boisterous, a chaotic murmur rising from them.
"Farming doesn’t count," Qin Ziwen declared. "There’s only one field in the Home, and it’s tiny. Besides, with its special enchantments, there’s almost no work to be done."
"I can hunt," a man said, raising his hand.
’A Hunter, huh.’
In the old days, Hunters were considered an excellent source of soldiers.
Most Hunters knew a little about the Bow Skill and were proficient in stealth, tracking, and reconnaissance in the wild. With a little training, they would make excellent scouts.
’But... this is a Hunter from among the refugees,’ he thought. ’He’d be likely to run off.’
Seeing that Qin Ziwen didn’t respond, the Hunter who had raised his hand slowly lowered it, the light in his eyes fading.
"Sir, I used to be a leatherworker. Can I stay?" an old man on the edge of the crowd asked timidly.
’A leatherworker? Like a cobbler?’
When Qin Ziwen remained silent, Du Yu leaned in and whispered, "Sir, a leatherworker is a craftsman who tans hides, specializing in processing leather. A leatherworker paired with an Armor Craftsman can produce Leather Armor."
Qin Ziwen understood. "You can stay."
The old man gave a timid nod to the other refugees, then slowly separated from the crowd to stand behind Qin Ziwen.
Qin Ziwen asked again, "How many other Hunters are among you?"
In addition to the Hunter who had just raised his hand, another person put his hand up.
"Alright, you two can stay as well. The rest of you can disperse after you’ve had supper."
Hearing they were to be dismissed, another clamor rose from the refugees.
Eventually, they began to disperse.
Looking at the three who remained, Qin Ziwen asked, "What are your names?"
The old leatherworker spoke. "This humble one’s surname is Chen. My family has been leatherworkers for generations, so I was named Chen Pi."
The two Hunters were named Zhang Meng and Shi Xiong.
...
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