If a person had done this, the situation would be far more serious.

Cheng Zongyang and Luo Zheng proceeded slowly. The two torches only illuminated a limited area.

However, the farther in they went, the stronger the smell became, until they were both forced to hold their breath.

The space inside wasn’t as large as they had expected, only about four or five square meters, with an uneven floor. But it was very dry.

The cave floor was also littered with bone fragments. Cheng Zongyang and Luo Zheng searched separately. Eventually, Luo Zheng found some tufts of hair in a relatively clean spot, and discovered more in a corner. He collected samples from both locations.

Finding nothing else of note, Cheng Zongyang gave a signal and headed for the exit.

Everything inside was visible at a glance. It was just a natural cave, so there was nothing else to search for.

Once outside the cave, Luo Zheng presented his findings. "Sir, I’ve collected the hair samples. They appear to be from two different species."

Cheng Zongyang took the samples and examined them.

One type, which was gray, was relatively soft. The other, black and white, was noticeably coarser and stiffer.

"It looks like another animal was living here before this new one took over. It might have even been killed by the newcomer."

Luo Zheng agreed with Cheng Zongyang’s assessment. "You are wise, Sir. That’s what I was thinking as well."

Cheng Zongyang smiled but didn’t say anything more. He stored the two clumps of hair, planning to have them identified back at the base.

He then remembered the Marketplace Hut was still updating, so its features were unusable. Still, he would take the samples back and wait for the update to finish before running an analysis.

Since they hadn’t found what they were looking for, Cheng Zongyang had no intention of heading back just yet. "We can’t go back empty-handed," he said. "Let’s set a trap as a precaution. If we get lucky, it might make dealing with this big fellow a lot easier. Ma San, you’re up."

Ma San grinned. "Yes, Sir!"

He then unstrapped the Beast Trap from his back and set it up about two meters inside the cave entrance.

After driving the Beast Trap’s central stake into the ground, he flipped a switch, causing eight petal-like jaws to fan out like a lotus flower. Ma San then scattered some fallen leaves over it as simple camouflage before backing away.

"Sir, the trap is set," Ma San reported.

Cheng Zongyang nodded. "Alright, since we’re already out here, let’s thoroughly explore and clear this area today. Grab anything valuable we find and take it back. If the trap is triggered, we’ll rush back to handle it."

"Yes, Sir!"

Ma San and the other men all nodded in acknowledgment.

Cheng Zongyang led the four men and began to sweep through the area, clearing it out.

They surrounded and hunted any prey they encountered. There was plenty of room in the territory’s Preservation Warehouse.

They also captured any creatures that could be domesticated, taking them back to be penned up for potential large-scale farming in the future.

Live animals were far more valuable than dead ones.

Time ticked by as Cheng Zongyang and his men steadily reaped the rewards of their hunt. They captured every single creature that could be tamed and killed all the rest.

Under the coordinated hunt of five Martial Artists, no animal could escape unless it was already very close to the partitioned boundary.

The hunt lasted from morning till noon, and from noon till late afternoon.

By the end of the day, they had not only earned over two hundred Points, but had also gathered a bountiful harvest of other forest resources.

As evening fell, Cheng Zongyang and his men made their final trip, dragging back their hunted game and collected supplies on makeshift stretchers.

With that, they had essentially completed a rough sweep of the territory. A more detailed search would surely yield more forest resources, but they simply didn’t have the time. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

They figured that even if the big beast returned now, it wouldn’t find anything to eat unless new animals crossed the boundary from the outside.

Throughout the day, however, they hadn’t heard any roars from the mountain. This meant the trap hadn’t been sprung; any creature caught in it would have roared and struggled in a rage.

Next came the task of sorting their haul.

The first floor of the Preservation Warehouse was for storing meat, eggs, and some rice and flour. They placed the unprocessed animal carcasses directly inside.

There was no need to process them, as most would eventually be taken elsewhere.

The second floor housed vegetable and fruit seeds, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and more rice and flour.

The third floor was for Medicinal Materials. They had harvested a good amount this time, all of which was stored here.

The Snake Galls had already been extracted from the snakes. The rest of the carcasses were tossed into a large bamboo basket, ready for Ma San and the others to take out and prepare whenever they needed to eat.

Cheng Zongyang left his men to handle these tasks. He quickly changed back into his original clothes, then left the Wilderness World with two hundred pounds of salt.

With more people in the territory now, plus the large amount of game they had acquired, a great deal of salt was needed for curing meat. These two hundred pounds probably wouldn’t last very long.

’I need to make finding a source of rock salt a priority,’ Cheng Zongyang muttered to himself. He then shouldered two large sacks of coarse salt and headed for the Inner Mountain Pass.

He didn’t bring any grain this time. The supply he’d brought out two days ago was enough to last for half a month, so he would wait until it started running low.

Their grain reserves were plentiful, so he wasn’t worried about running out. Once they planted the Wilderness Rice next spring, the summer harvest would surely be enough to feed everyone.

The land reclamation efforts were still ongoing. By next spring, they estimated they would have around a hundred acres of usable paddy fields—perhaps even more.

After all, reclaiming wasteland now awarded Contribution Points. Clearing one acre of land until it was ready for cultivation yielded five hundred Contribution Points, so many of the able-bodied residents were eager to take on the task.

The Contribution Points were so high because the settlement desperately needed more farmland to prepare for planting rice in the coming spring.