Chapter 807 - 17: The Anglerfish’s Light_2

Chapter 807: Chapter 17: The Anglerfish’s Light_2

Despite the supplies not yet landed, Chen Zhou managed to have the advantage of timing and terrain due to his diligence.

As for the final condition of harmonious people—

He was in the process of creating it.

Chen Zhou estimated that even if he moved as fast as possible, he would only be leading by seven or eight hours at best. By midnight at the latest, challengers would surely start arriving one after another.

He was alone, while other challengers would likely come in full teams.

And with nowhere to hide on the grassland, he had to prepare to meet the upcoming challenge at the fastest possible speed.

...

Learning from the lessons of Bi Kai and Gao Yao, Chen Zhou never lit a fire.

In the snowy expanse during the day, darkness at night served as the best cover, and lighting a fire would undoubtedly be a foolish act of exposing his position.

As the seconds ticked by, he quietly finished chewing his jerky, placed some snow in his mouth to let it melt, got up from the cart, and buried the bear skin along with the cart and its cargo in the snow.

Then Chen Zhou took off the heavy animal skin robe he was wearing and buried it in another patch of snow.

Bending over, he headed toward the "shelter" he prepared in the afternoon, took out a fire striker to ignite it, and quickly left the blazing campfire.

The scarlet beacon hung in the sky, while the flames and smoke beneath it were strikingly conspicuous.

The flickering flames disturbed vision; from afar, it was impossible to see if there was anyone by the campfire.

Chen Zhou hid at another point, about 500m away from the campfire, lying in the snow, quietly waiting for the "guests" to arrive.

...

The campfire’s fuel consisted of grass stalks and fine twigs, creating an imposing blaze, but it didn’t last long. After just over half an hour, it dimmed significantly, nearly extinguishing.

Chen Zhou didn’t encounter any challengers, but he remained undeterred and promptly lit another campfire.

The firewood blazed with life, turning from bright to dim as the swirling smoke gradually aged.

Another round of waiting proved fruitless.

Chen Zhou almost began to doubt his judgment.

He continued lying there for a while longer, then after the second campfire completely extinguished, he finally lit a third campfire.

After a busy afternoon, he had built fifteen campfires directly under the beacon; there were twelve left.

At this rate of consumption, all the campfires would be depleted before dawn, bringing great uncertainty to his subsequent plans—

If the other challengers weren’t as fast as he anticipated, there could very well be a "fish comes but the bait is used up" situation.

Yet, if he stopped now, when challengers arrived nearby, they wouldn’t reveal themselves as flaws if not attracted by the flames, denying Chen Zhou the information he needed.

Continuing to light fires or stopping was a dilemma for Chen Zhou.

The third campfire repeated the tale of the first two, quickly shifting from prosperity to decline, and finally extinguishing.

On such a long night, Chen Zhou finally decided to trust his judgment. After the campfire completely lost its glow, he lit a fourth campfire.

He was like a highly patient fisherman, waiting for the giant creature to take the bait.

...

The night snow layer was especially hard-frozen, and lying on it, one could clearly feel the chill beneath.

The shuriken spun between Chen Zhou’s fingers, his genetically modified body maintaining its functions even on such a night, feeling almost warm inside the animal skin coat.

He stared intently at the distant campfire, gazing at the towering smoke.

Just when Chen Zhou thought that the fourth campfire would end up without results as well, he suddenly noticed, further away, about 1.5 kilometers out, two points of firelight appeared.

"Finally, they’re here!"

He was delighted but didn’t make any rash moves; instead, he lay even lower, almost sinking into the snow, with only half of his head exposed to observe the situation.

His eyes never blinked, watching as the firelight drew closer, and gradually he could make out the tardy guests.

Twice the Mammoths, clad in animal skins, holding torches, exceptionally tall...

Putting all characteristics together, Chen Zhou was completely certain that this was the group of challengers who attacked Bi Kai and Gao Yao.

Just as he suspected, among the fifty groups of challengers, there were no shortage of powerful individuals proficient in beast taming skills. Such "chosen ones" were unlikely to be eliminated prematurely.

He had told Bi Kai before that if he had the chance, he would definitely avenge Gao Yao. Now, it seemed that the opportunity had arrived.

...

"Earth Block."

Stone pointed heavily towards the distant firelight and reminded him.

Then he pressed the torch into the snow beside him, extinguishing it completely.

Earth Block imitated Stone and extinguished his torch too, returning both to the embrace of darkness.

At this moment, the endless wilderness had only the glow of the bonfire, like the call of prey, attracting the two.

Letting the Mammoth halt, the two retrieved weapons from the back of the elephant.

Stone held two Long Spears, the spearheads made of sharp stone tools, tightly wrapped with animal hide in the split at the top of the wooden sticks.

The weapon of Earth Block was a stone fixed with animal skin rope to a short stick, resembling a meteor hammer from later generations, capable of smashing a human’s skull with a single swing.

Slowing down, the two did not communicate, being the tribe’s best hunters, they were well-versed in the art of hunting.

Guiding the Mammoth around, they approached the bonfire bit by bit.

Meanwhile, from a further distance, Chen Zhou’s gaze had already locked onto them—

To be honest, this pair of challengers seemed quite foolish to Chen Zhou.

The bonfire was just lit not long ago, its firelight at its brightest, in theory, they should be able to see the glow without approaching within two kilometers.

If Chen Zhou were them, he thought he would’ve extinguished the torch long ago and proceeded quietly.

These two only extinguished their torches in a theatrical manner when they got within 1.5 kilometers. Were they really so confident that the challengers beside the bonfire wouldn’t notice them?

Or is their plan to still perform an attack even when their tracks are so boldly exposed...

Thinking of this, Chen Zhou couldn’t help but recall the deceased Gao Yao and the nearly dead Bi Kai, realizing perhaps the other challengers were indeed not so vigilant, leading to such individuals succeeding in their ambush.

Besides extinguishing the torches late, they even took the Mammoth along during their advance.

No matter how dark the night, the sky after all bears a glowing marker, not to mention the glow of stars and moon, and the white snow can reflect light.

The Mammoth’s size was so great, unless the people by the bonfire were blind, once these two got within eight hundred meters, they would surely be exposed to others’ sight.

To Chen Zhou, every choice made by this pair of challengers since being discovered exuded an air of foolish arrogance, or perhaps simple-mindedness.

Yet precisely because of this, it made him more wary—

If fools can repeatedly benefit, aside from good luck, the only possibility is that their strength is truly formidable.

From Bi Kai he learned that these two had an extraordinary strength, plus the two Mammoths; overall Chen Zhou believed this challenger’s combined strength might even exceed that of two Black-robed Men.

With the shortcomings of the two firmly remembered, Chen Zhou reminded himself—

"Don’t rule out the possibility that they’re deliberately exposing flaws to numb their opponents."

Then he shifted his leg and lowered his body further.

...

The glow of the bonfire like the small luminescent bulb atop a deep-sea anglerfish, lures the unaware prey.

While the hunters on land failed to realize it was a trap.

Earth Block and Stone got closer to the bonfire, the beacon’s red glow even casting on the Mammoth’s fur, making them appear more menacing.

As they advanced, the two discovered chaotic footprints in the snow.

However, they didn’t stop, influenced by Chen Zhou’s deliberately created "clue".

It seemed in their eyes there was only the firelight, so they only glanced down casually, then continued forward.

Though footprints couldn’t mislead them, the buried wooden stumps in the snow could indeed give them a harsh lesson.

With the Mammoth’s long roar, the giant beast leading the way suddenly raised its trunk, then angrily lifted its cylindrical leg—

After being frozen, the wooden stumps hardened, the Mammoth heavy enough, unsuspectingly stepping down, the nearly 30 cm long spikes completely penetrated into its sole, the pain excruciating.

"Oh~ Oh~"

Seeing the Mammoth alarmed, Earth Block immediately mimicked its cries in comfort.

Perhaps trusting these two humans well enough, or its intelligence high enough, even the pain in its sole made the Mammoth exceptionally angry, it still painstakingly restrained the surge of fury, presenting its front leg to Earth Block.

Perhaps trusting these two humans well enough, or its intelligence high enough, even the pain in its sole made the Mammoth exceptionally angry, it still painstakingly restrained the surge of fury, presenting its front leg to Earth Block.