Giving him candy to soothe him, did he take him for a child?
Lu Jinghan looked at his palm and smiled wryly. But he didn’t want to reject the other’s kindness. After finishing the medicine, he unwrapped the candy and put it in his mouth.
Too sweet. Lu Jinghan frowned slightly. He didn’t actually have a sweet tooth.
But he had to admit that the candy’s sweetness did neutralize the bitterness of the medicine, leaving only a faint, clean, bitter aroma. Even the stabbing pain in his head from his spiritual power disturbance seemed to ease a little.
Amid the lingering scent of bitter herbs, he drifted into a deep, undisturbed sleep for the first time in a long while.
A night of unbroken rest.
The next day, Lin Yi first checked the fields he had cultivated the day before. He had chosen two open plots in front of the house, small in size, but with plenty of sunlight and flat terrain.
The corn seeds had already been sown. Thanks to a recent rain, the soil was still slightly moist, saving him the trouble of watering.
However, the corn seeds would take about a week to germinate. The land in front of him was still bare and not very pleasant to look at.
He couldn’t very well stream in this state. Although he could continue from where he left off yesterday, viewers would quickly grow tired of the same scenery.
I wonder if I can use my ability to shorten the germination time…
The thought suddenly occurred to Lin Yi. Previously, he had only used his ability to sprout a few plants at a time. He had never tried to accelerate the growth of an entire field like this.
He stretched out his hand toward a patch of soil as he usually did. Instantly, a few green shoots broke through the ground.
At the same time, Lin Yi immediately felt his energy reserves deplete slightly. Although not drained as quickly as before, it was clear that he couldn’t sustain this over such a large area.
He experimented a few more times and finally found the right amount of energy to release. Using up all his ability would advance the seed germination time by about five days. At this point, if one looked closely at the ground, tiny seedlings were just beginning to push up through the soil, they would break through in another day or two.
Although it fell short of what Lin Yi had hoped for, he was already satisfied.
There was one final question, what should he stream today?
Lin Yi looked at the still-bare fields, the rundown house, and the empty kitchen, and fell into silence.
Even a skilled craftsman cannot make a meal without ingredients. No matter how much skill he possessed, without materials, he couldn’t perform.
But that didn’t mean he was stumped. Lin Yi moved his fingers and opened the live streaming platform on his wristband.
Moments later, on the other end of the Star Network, the few dozen followers who had subscribed to Lin Yi’s stream received a notification:
The channel you follow, “Blue Star Renovation,” has started streaming!
A few minutes later, a handful of viewers who had received the notification trickled into the stream. Most of them had clicked in casually, curious to see if the streamer would come up with anything new. But the moment they entered, they couldn’t help but exclaim:
“Whoa, where is the streamer right now?”
“This perspective… I have a fear of heights…”
“Aren’t those vines next to the camera mutated plants? Isn’t that dangerous?”
Lin Yi was currently half-crouching atop a mutated plant nearly two meters tall. His wristband was tied to a branch with a vine, the camera pointing downward. The lens peered through the dense foliage of the mutated plant, offering a clear view of the ground below.
This bird’s-eye view added an extra layer of thrill, which explained the few startled bullet comments in the chat.
Once a decent number of viewers had gathered, Lin Yi, as he had done before, extended one hand into the camera frame and waved calmly. “Hello, everyone. Welcome to my live stream. Today’s content is, hunting mutant beasts.”
The moment he finished speaking, the chat exploded:
“I know mutant beasts, aren’t they the cause of the apocalypse back in the day? Even now, the military hasn’t wiped them all out.”
“With the streamer’s skinny build? Hah.”
“Didn’t he say he’s hunting mutant beasts? Where are they?”
“I bet the streamer brought some weapon with him. One blast from a high-energy particle cannon and the beast is toast. No big deal.”
Lin Yi saw the last bullet comment, drew the dagger from his waist, and held it up to the camera. “I did bring a weapon. Here it is, right in my hand.”
The chat fell silent for a few seconds. Finally, some viewer couldn’t help but post a comment: “The streamer is insane…”
The viewers had all assumed the streamer had some sort of ranged energy weapon with him, which was why they hadn’t been too surprised by the stream’s premise. But now, seeing what he was actually holding…
A dagger that short, was the streamer going there to die? He’d probably be torn to shreds before he even got close to a mutant beast.
Seeing the chat fall silent, Lin Yi knew he had achieved the effect he wanted. He smiled with satisfaction and continued, “As for where the mutant beasts are? No need to rush. They’ll show up.”
With that, he ignored the bullet comments in the chat and concealed his body among the dense foliage, holding his breath and focusing his mind.
This spot was not chosen at random. He had carefully surveyed the surrounding area. There were plenty of fresh traces of mutant beast activity, with a small path trampled through the mutated plants on the ground, likely the territory of a particular beast.
All he had to do now was wait by the stump for the hare, biding his time until the beast came right under his nose.
Half an hour passed. As time ticked by, the doubts in the live chat grew louder:
“Is there really a mutant beast here? Is the streamer just messing with us?”
“So boring. I’m out.”
Lin Yi paid no attention to the chat. Crouched low, he concentrated intently on the path below. He was certain a beast was here, it was only a matter of when.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes… Just as the viewers in the chat were growing restless, a faint rustling sound came from a patch of mutated plants below. Lin Yi’s pupils contracted slightly as he turned his head toward the noise.
Sure enough, a leopard emerged from the dense thicket. Mutated, it was roughly twice the size of an ordinary leopard, with long, sharp claws that seemed to glint with cold light.
It had no idea that danger was approaching. Moving lightly and slowly, it made its way along the path below toward Lin Yi’s direction.
Lin Yi tightened his grip on the dagger, his body tensed, but he didn’t rush to pounce. A leopard’s weakness is its lower back. Only by waiting until its body passed directly beneath him before striking could he kill it with a single blow.
But fate had other plans. Just then, a gust of wind rustled the nearby branches and leaves. Startled, the leopard halted and began to survey its surroundings.
The viewers in the live chat, who had hardly dared to breathe, grew frantic at this sight:
“What is the streamer doing? Just charge out already! What if the beast senses something’s wrong?”
“Maybe the streamer’s getting cold feet.”
Yet, no matter how urgently the chat urged him, Lin Yi remained crouched in place, motionless. After a moment, the leopard, finding nothing amiss, relaxed, flicked its tail, and continued forward.
Now!
Seizing the long-awaited opportunity, Lin Yi leaped down from above, using a roll to absorb the impact of landing. Startled, the leopard turned to flee, but it was too late.
Lin Yi grabbed the leopard’s tail with one hand. The moment it turned its head in pain, he released the tail, seized the fur at its waist, and flipped it onto its back!
The leopard crashed heavily to the ground, still struggling to claw and bite. But Lin Yi gave it no chance. His blade rose and fell, slashing open the beast’s throat.
With the beast dealt with, he glanced back over his shoulder, initially just to check if the camera was still in place up above. But to the viewers in the live chat, the scene appeared entirely different:
A young man with a cold expression, having effortlessly slain a ferocious beast, drenched in blood, with lingering killing intent in his eyes as he looked back.