Chapter 93: Caught a Tiger
That night passed without incident. Yu Luo lay beside Ye Jiamei, her consciousness drifting into her mind as she struggled to decide how to allocate the 2,000 points she had earned from the bandits’ cave.
Previously, she had invested a point into speed and another into Beast Mastery.
At the moment, the Armor-Claw Beast was still small, and its main abilities were burrowing and breaking rocks. In a real fight against strong enemies, it lacked offensive and defensive capabilities.
But given their current situation, what they needed most was to defend against the unknown dangers along the way—whether from wild beasts or malicious humans. The Armor-Claw Beast was hardly useful for that unless they reached the wilderness, where it could at least dig a cave for them to live in.
Survival was the priority!
She had tested her speed enhancement. Even with just one point, she could run and move significantly faster than usual. However, she felt that investing further points into speed might not be the most practical choice.
“System, can I invest points into internal energy? I’ve seen them use lightness skills to leap between trees effortlessly. Even if I don’t learn inner strength techniques, just having lightness skills would allow me to rely on the crossbow and shoot enemies from different angles. Besides, their lightness skills make them much faster—like Yu Zhengqing, who can cover several meters in a single step, way faster than running.”
[That’s possible, but to acquire lightness skills, your current two growth points are far from enough. Just starting lightness skills requires five growth points. Even then, your speed won’t be very fast initially.]
“That much?”
[Yes, you’ve seen Yu Zhengqing’s lightness skills, right? If you invest five growth points, your speed will only be about one-fifth of his. To match his speed, you’d need at least ten growth points. And to get ten growth points, you’d need 10,000 points to exchange.]
The system’s explanation was clear. Yu Luo understood immediately.
But from the start of their exile until now, despite completing many tasks, she had only accumulated a total of 4,100 points. Reaching 10,000 points seemed like a distant dream.
[Don’t get discouraged. You’ll accumulate points gradually. If you want to become a powerful figure in this world, you can. When the time comes, you can even share your growth points with your parents. With that kind of power, your family will have no trouble surviving.]
“I’m not discouraged, just a bit anxious. After what happened with the wild boar herd today, I still can’t shake off the fear. We’ve been on this exile path for so long. We didn’t starve, freeze, or die of illness at the hands of the guards—only to lose lives to a bunch of beasts. It’s shocking. It also made me realize how insignificant humans are against wild beasts.
I’ve heard that the wilderness is full of beasts, some even more ferocious than wolves, tigers, or leopards. In such a place, without some level of power, we wouldn’t survive long, no matter how much food we had.”
[Don’t forget, you have Beast Mastery. Although it can only control your Armor-Claw Beast for now, once you gain more growth points and level up your Beast Mastery, those wild beasts won’t be a threat.]
“That’s true. Thankfully, all three of us have cheats (golden fingers). Otherwise, I’d rather become a fugitive than go into exile in the wilderness.”
[There is a plan for everything, Host. Rest assured, you will eventually return to the prosperous Lan Yue Dynasty—honorably. As fugitives, you’d only be facing certain death. Even if you managed to escape, you’d spend your lives hiding. Since you’ve been given this second chance, why not live it to the fullest?]
“I understand. That’s why we chose to go into exile in the first place. With your guidance, we’ll survive and wait for the day we regain our freedom.”
[Actually, Host, even in the wilderness, you can live freely. I believe in you, and I believe in your parents. If you want to allocate your growth points to internal energy, you can, but I suggest holding off for now. In case of unexpected events, you might want to use those points elsewhere.]
“Alright, I’ll hold off for now.”
After chatting with the system for a while, Yu Luo cleared her mind and quickly fell asleep. Rest was essential to face the dangers ahead.
The next morning, as everyone stepped out of their tents, they were greeted by the rich aroma of bone broth.
It wasn’t until they saw several men gutting a tiger that they realized their peaceful night had been hard-won.
“Xiao Luo, you’re awake? Come, Dad’s already poured bone broth for you and your mother. Hurry and drink it. Once they finish preparing the tiger, we’ll set off.”
Yu Haojie was among those on the last night watch. Seeing his wife and daughter emerge from the tent, he quickly led them to sit by their own basket and handed them warm water to wash their faces.
In times like these, brushing teeth was a luxury. When they couldn’t find water, they had to melt snow to drink, let alone wash up.
On this journey of exile, Yu Luo and Ye Jiamei were the only ones who had managed to take a proper bath at a hospital in the previous town. The others hadn’t been so fortunate.
Yu Haojie himself had taken a quick dip in the cold water after falling in, but it hadn’t been thorough. The men could manage, but for women, especially during their monthly cycle, it was much more difficult.
To avoid such complications, Ye Jiamei had secretly given herself and her daughter some medicine. Other women weren’t so lucky, suffering through their days even in the freezing cold.
“Dad, was there really a tiger last night? We didn’t hear a thing!”
“It wasn’t here last night. It probably smelled the bone broth this morning and came around. Fortunately, we spotted it early, and luckily, it was alone. With everyone armed with crossbows and arrows, we managed to take it down.”
“A tiger’s a valuable catch. How are they planning to deal with it?”
After washing her face, Ye Jiamei casually tied her hair and put on her hat, glancing at the tiger being skinned. She couldn’t help but think about the value of tiger bones.
