Chapter 19
Tiger Hunt
The tools closest to her were cutting machines, punching machines, and polishing machines, which could be used to make hunting tools. The bamboo that Mo Ruyue had chopped before could be used to make all kinds of cages, sockets with sharp blades, and traps with hair-tripping nooses.
She even made a “Zhuge Automatic Crossbow” according to the blueprint. This thing was like a hand-made machine gun, not like the kind of thing seen in the textbooks that had form but not function.
Mo Ruyue had personally tested its power after making it. Even if there were no metal arrowheads and it was just a sharpened bamboo arrow, after being shot by the “Zhuge Automatic Crossbow”, it could penetrate nearly three inches of straw paper within fifteen steps. One could imagine how destructive it would be if the arrows had metal arrowheads.
The entire right wall of the tool room was covered with all kinds of blueprints, and the end of the wall could not be seen.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that as long as she could find enough raw materials and enough time, Mo Ruyue could directly build space rockets, but there was no need for that.
When she saw the weapon blueprints, she decided to seal this part away forever.
After quietly preparing the tools for hunting, Mo Ruyue began to look for a suitable opportunity to go into the mountains to hunt.
It wasn’t that she didn’t notice Da Bao’s strict defense against her, but it was simply too easy for her to get rid of such a stalker who was full of loopholes.
The seedlings of vegetables had already popped out in the vegetable field behind the house. Mo Ruyue sent Da Bao to the village to collect the “manure.” Seeing Da Bao carrying the pole and stepping out of the door, Mo Ruyue immediately instructed Er Bao to look after the house and take care of his younger siblings. She carried the bamboo basket and disappeared into the back mountain in the blink of an eye.
It wasn’t Mo Ruyue’s first time coming to the back mountain. She had been here once to find Da Bao and Tang Tang. Later on, she had come a few times to pick herbs and hunt rabbits. However, she had always been wandering around the periphery and didn’t go very deep.
The bamboo basket on her back was just a smokescreen. All the tools, weapons, and dry food were in her space. Even the bamboo basket was thrown into the space by her casually after entering the mountain.
Mo Ruyue’s target this time was the large prey and rare herbs hidden in the deep mountains, so she didn’t even have the desire to pick the ordinary herbs she saw along the way. After all, the herbs she grew in her dimensional space were much better than those in the wild in the mountains because she had added spring water.
Occasionally, there would be a few wild rabbits, but they were all killed by Mo Ruyue with stones. No matter how small a game was, it was still meat. It would be a waste not to pick up the ones that came to her door.
Mo Ruyue had also done an experiment. The freshly-caught game had been kept in the space for three days before it showed some signs of deterioration. It seemed that even if the refrigerator was not used, those meat ingredients could be kept fresh for a short time in the space.
So as long as it was a wild animal, Mo Ruyue would tie it up with hemp rope and throw it into the space. She would only take it out and put it in the basket when she was about to leave the mountain, which would save her some effort.
As she walked, she made marks that only she could understand, and at the same time, she chose a suitable place to set up a trap. Soon, she went deeper into the mountains.
Since ancient times, humans had their own paths, and beasts had their own paths. Especially for those large wild beasts, they would basically follow a fixed route to patrol their territory.
Mo Ruyue quickly found several overlapping beast paths. Judging from the paw prints and fur left on the ground, it was a tiger of a large size and a black bear that seemed to have just reached adulthood.
These two were both top-grade wild animals, especially the tiger. Its entire body was full of treasures, but if one wanted to hunt such a fierce beast without any injuries, one would also need courage, ability, and luck.
After Mo Ruyue judged that this beast path was left behind by two kinds of ferocious beasts, she immediately raised her vigilance. She took out the Zhuge Automatic Crossbow from the space and lowered her body slightly, moving forward carefully, step by step vigilantly.
At some point in time, the surroundings had suddenly quieted down, as if even the chirping of insects had disappeared.
The fishy smell that assailed her nose was getting stronger and stronger, indicating that the beast was nearby. It might be hiding behind a big tree or in the bushes, eyeing her covetously.
Mo Ruyue stopped and leaned her back against a big tree to prevent herself from being attacked from behind.
She slowly squatted down and used the tip of her toes to support her body. Her entire body was like a bottomed spring, ready to launch at any time.
At this moment, she had already held the Zhuge Automatic Crossbow in her right hand, while the other hand was taking off the Eight-claw Grappling Hook from her waist.
Originally, Mo Ruyue had planned to make a sleeve arrow that could be worn on the wrist, which could not only be used for self-defense but also used as a flying rope to “fly over the eaves.” However, she had not found iron ore yet, so she could not use the mechanical equipment in the tool room to make a suitable steel rope. She could only temporarily make a simple substitute with nylon rope and iron hooks.
Mo Ruyue’s ears moved slightly. She was keenly aware of a very subtle rustling sound. It was the sound of leaves rubbing against each other when something passed by the bushes.
“It’s coming.”
She muttered in her heart. The eight-claw grappling hook in her hand had already flown above her head and hung on an extremely thick branch that had grown horizontally. Mo Ruyue’s entire body also shot up and swung out with the force of the grappling hook.
Just as her feet left the ground, a fishy wind came from the side, accompanied by an earth-shaking tiger roar, which made her eardrums buzz.
The voice chased after her, and the cold killing intent was like a steel knife that cut through her bones. It followed her like a shadow and even touched her back at one point.
Mo Ruyue was bold and skilled. Even though she was in mid-air, she twisted her waist and turned over to face the beast that was pouncing over her.
The first thing she saw was a pair of cold, clear yellow eyes that were filled with killing intent. Its pupils had already shrunk into a line, and it was staring at her.
It bared its sharp fangs, opened its bloody mouth, and let out pungent, hot air. Its target was her neck.
It was a ferocious, colorful tiger with a pair of droopy eyes. Its yellowish-brown fur with black stripes allowed it to hide perfectly in the forest. Its claws, which were as big as a human head, were as sharp as curved blades. There was no doubt that its full-power attack could cut open a bear’s stomach.
Mo Ruyue was not flustered in the face of danger. The Zhuge Automatic Crossbow in her right hand was already raised, and she aimed precisely at the fierce beast’s eye. Then, she pulled the trigger.
Several extremely sharp bamboo arrows were shot out and hit their targets one after another. Blood spurted into the sky, and the arrows pierced into the tree trunks and bushes behind them.
An even more deafening howl than before resounded. This time, it was accompanied by a mournful cry and a struggle before death. The beast that was originally aggressive and wanted to take the human’s life fell heavily from the air. Its four claws scratched desperately, sending sand and grass into the air before it finally stopped moving.
The rope in Mo Ruyue’s hand had lost its momentum and swung to the highest point. She reached out to grab a branch in front of her and flipped up. She landed steadily on the tree and then carefully observed the tiger lying on the ground.
Although the beast had stopped moving, she was still cautious and did not rush down the tree. Instead, she waited for a while, and when she saw that there was no movement, she pulled the rope and jumped down the tree, landing lightly on the ground.
The tiger’s body was three meters long, and its tail was about a meter long. It was similar to the male Siberian tiger, the largest cat she had known about in her previous life.
Mo Ruyue estimated that this tiger was already an adult and weighed about 350 kilograms. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it was a giant beast.