Chapter 4: Chapter 4 Food_1
Translator: 549690339
He stood up to study the door and the entire cave.
He tried to calm his emotions as much as possible.
The door was actually quite remarkable, with a knob on the back. As he turned the knob, the door could become almost completely transparent, allowing a view from inside the cave to the outside, but from the outside, one couldn't see inside at all.
Beside the bed was a huge rock that had a similar mechanism, capable of becoming a transparent window. He could clearly see to the outside from within, yet from the outside, it was impossible to see inside.
Such magical items were certainly not from Earth; he could tell instinctively. The origin of this door and window was not simple, and that demonic egg might truly be formidable.
Yet, he was filled with confusion about his own plight. Why had he come here? What exactly had happened? His common sense from his life was unable to explain.
Now, he wasn't cold, nor hungry, and it was quite safe inside the cave once the door was closed. He could take a moment to organize his thoughts.
If he couldn't return, he would have to think of ways to survive here. The roars of the ferocious beasts he had heard earlier indicated this place was extremely dangerous.
So, were there any humans nearby?
If he could find a human settlement, maybe he could solve his problem of survival.
However, he wasn't very optimistic. The egg had said this place was its home. Could a great demon's home really be near human settlements?
He started flipping through his 'System Book'—also known as the 'Servant's Book'—hoping to find more clues.
However, no matter how much he flipped, he found no hints, except for a spell that could shrink the book to pendant-size. Remember the red stone pendant he had had around his neck before? The book could hang beneath the stone.
This was quite convenient. He didn't have to fear losing it. If it fell off, it could fly back to him at any time, and if it got destroyed, he could conjure a new one with a spell. This reassured Ma Lin greatly.
Then, the main thing to consider was how to survive in this world.
He didn't need to worry about drinking water; he just had to melt the snow.
But what about food?
Was he to forage and hunt like a primitive person?
The problem was, he didn't even dare to step outside at the moment. That roar earlier had scared him out of his wits. Should he go outside?
While he still had the energy, he should quickly do whatever he wanted to do.
Why not go out and take a look at the terrain?
Was the System Book really not going to give him any clues?
He could easily enlarge the book with a spell to flip through it, then shrink it down again with a spell, hanging it in front of his chest.
After thinking for a long time, "I need to be courageous and not be a coward. I must quickly figure out the surrounding environment to ensure my survival."
He had another sip of water, stuffed the stamina fruit into his pocket, and slipped the fanged dagger into his waistband. Now he understood that this dagger, like the cave's door and window, was no ordinary item. It seemed to have the ability to recognize its owner, and wouldn't easily cut him, so even without a sheath, he wasn't afraid it would hurt him.
With basic cold resistance and warm clothing, he wasn't afraid of the cold. His running speed was decent, and he had a very sharp dagger, which increased his sense of safety, albeit only slightly. Nevertheless, he still felt apprehensive.
He carefully opened the cave door, closed it, and it gradually merged with the cave, looking like a rock wall. Fortunately, there was a tree next to the door, which he had watered, so he wouldn't remember it wrong.
The snow had almost stopped, but the wind was strong, and the ground was covered deeply with it.
After walking a few more steps and looking back, there was a large, deep red stone at the top of the hill, which was easy to recognize. Even the heavy snow couldn't cover its red color.
He guessed that from several miles away the red stone would still be visible.
He must find himself food, he thought. Only by solving the food problem could he survive here longer.
Did he need to hunt for himself?
His vision, hearing, and smell were not sensitive enough. Transforming only improved his cold resistance and running speed.
Less than a hundred meters to the left, he found a small stream where most of it was frozen, with a thin layer of snow on top, but a small part of it was still flowing, seemingly emanating heat.
What was going on here?
There were no footprints of any creatures on the snowy ground.
Suddenly, he felt his System Book vibrate, as if a cell phone had received a text message.
He was delighted.
He recited the spell, the book enlarged, and he flipped to the last page.
Sure enough, there was a new task: Fish in the Ice. The reward was an edible fish and a bead of Magic Power.
What was the Magic Power bead?
Since the task brought him here, maybe there was no danger nearby?
The water in the stream was quite clear, maybe it could serve as drinking water?
The stream wasn't far from the cave, so if he had to live here for a long time, perhaps he could come here to fetch water every day.
Walking along the edge of the stream, he soon found a fish frozen in the ice, about one and a half feet in length.
He stepped onto the ice to test it, and it was very solid. Even jumping with force was fine.
How was he to get the fish out?
He drew his dagger from his waist and sliced into the ice, suddenly feeling strength flow from his hand into the blade, and then the ice split open as if he were cutting through tofu.
He thought to himself, this is amazing.
He cut out a square piece of ice about four centimeters thick, along with the fish inside, which weighed about more than ten pounds, and placed it beside his foot. He continued to slice, peeling off all the rest of the ice. Then, carrying the fish, he walked back.
So far, he had not encountered any ferocious beasts.
A squirrel jumped on a tree nearby, scaring him quite a bit.
It's better not to meet any fierce beasts.
He had no gloves, but his hands didn't feel very cold, his basic cold resistance proving to be quite powerful.
When he got to the entrance of the cave, he recited the command to open the door, "I am the loyal dog servant of the master."
The door had appeared and was already open. He pushed it open, walked in, and put the fish in place.
By his estimate, the fish could make for two meals. If he were very hungry, perhaps it would only suffice for one meal. But at least there was some food.
After thinking for a bit, he went outside to fetch a section of a tree stump, using his dagger to cut it into several wooden stumps and a chopping board, then placing the fish on one of the stumps.
Since it was still early and he had plenty of energy, he decided to go out and take another look around, trying to familiarize himself with the surrounding environment as much as possible.
This time he walked to the right. Not far off, he saw a patch of very tall wild grass. Though withered, the grass hadn't fallen over; the stems pointed towards the sky, the tallest nearly three meters high.
There was a rustling from within.
He couldn't be sure whether it was a herbivore or a carnivore.
After a pause, he cautiously retreated, putting distance between himself and the source of the sound, and hid behind a bush to observe.
It wasn't long before he saw a lamb poke its head out of the tall grass, look around, and then withdraw.
It looked like a goat, but at one meter tall, he wondered how big an adult goat would be.
The tall grass stretched out for about two miles, bordered by a forest.
He dared not approach the tall grass or the forest.
But he also thought, perhaps the sheep in the vicinity would be plentiful. If he could find a way to hunt, then food wouldn't be an issue.
But if there were sheep, how could there not be predators?
He was suspicious.
There were no footprints on the ground, nor anything like feces.
He then deliberately kept away from any bushes, boulders, or patches of grass where predators might be hiding.
How fast he could run, he really didn't know.
After walking a little over a mile, he came across a sparse forest, the trees covered in snow, but beneath he could see something resembling corn cobs.
The tree trunks were straight and covered in thorns, which had tufts of some animal's fur caught on them.
If he moved any closer to a tree, the thorns seemed to come alive.
Ma Lin moved aside to cut down a sapling, making a long stick with ease using his dog-toothed dagger.
He then poked the tree repeatedly, knocking down several corn cob-like fruits.
At that moment, his system book suddenly vibrated.
He chanted the spell and the book enlarged itself and flipped the pages, revealing a line of text: "Would you like to identify the unknown fruits? It will cost 0.1 points of contribution."
Ma Lin thought to himself, I have eighteen points of contribution, I am not stingy.
He pressed 'Yes' on the spot.
Then the book displayed the icon of the fruit with a line of small text: "Demonic Corn, edible, does not contain dark energy, can be planted, used to make flour, and used in ritual offerings to increase contribution points."
Ma Lin thought, so there's a ritual offering that can increase contribution points?
Although he didn't know the benefits of higher contribution points, he felt more at ease thinking the higher the points, the better.
He broke off a kernel from the Demonic Corn and chewed on it, finding the taste quite poor. It probably needed to be cooked or ground into flour to be enjoyable.
He weighed them in his hands and each one felt somewhat heavy.
Better to take more.
He poked at the tree once more, causing a large amount to fall, including a dead squirrel. It had been impaled by the tree's thorns. Clearly, it wasn't easy for ordinary animals to get to this corn; fortunately, Ma Lin knew how to use a stick to do the job.
The squirrel was frozen stiff, but not yet decayed, and it seemed edible too.
Now it was a matter of getting everything back.
There was enough food to last several days, the only question was whether it tasted good.
Not far away was a natural piece of wood, which he whittled down with his dog-toothed dagger to create a simple sled. He pulled it along with a rope.
He placed the Demonic Corn and the squirrel onto the sled.
Then pulled it back to his shelter, feeling good about the haul being enough for several days.
There was still plenty of Demonic Corn left in the tree, but he decided to wait until next time to harvest more.
He threw the long stick used for poking the corn far away. The sled wasn't heavy, and his legs were strong. Walking wasn't tiring at all.
Though he hadn't seen any predators, it didn't mean there weren't any around.
Where there were many sheep, there were sure to be many predators. There would be no exceptions.
After walking for more than an hour, he finally returned to the cave, with the door still concealing itself.
He said, "I am the master's canine servant."
The door revealed itself and opened automatically.
He found that saying this command no longer made him feel ashamed.
He entered, closed the door behind him. From inside, the door and windows were completely transparent, allowing for good lighting and giving him a clear view of the outside.
He took down all the Demonic Corn, stacking it on a dry spot to one side.
Staring at the dead squirrel and the fish he had caught earlier, he was unsure how to proceed.
Then the system book vibrated again. He pressed it, and it enlarged. Flipping to the last page, a new task appeared.
"Make an offering of the food on hand to the master. Requires fish scales, innards, blood, squirrel fur, innards, blood, and one stalk of Demonic Corn."
He tapped the task text with his finger and then saw the task prompt: "An offering Array already exists on the cave floor. Simply place the offering items in the center of the Array, and chant 'Master, Master, I love you' a hundred times. The master will automatically sense your call and take away the food. The offerings of one's loyal servant are always particularly delicious."
Ma Lin felt more and more that this demon egg was quite unreliable.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone