Chapter 1168 - 16: The Early Bird Gets the Worm

In the oasis, Chen Wen was using a spear to probe the way while observing the surrounding plants.

He hadn’t walked far before he saw some Long Pod Yellow Hemp.

However, these Long Pod Yellow Hemp were of the older kind.

Chen Wen broke them off and picked them up, intending to dry them out later to make ropes.

Although he had a set of ropes at the moment, overall it wasn’t enough.

Moreover, his plan required more ropes to support it.

After stuffing the Long Pod Yellow Hemp into his backpack, Chen Wen continued to explore ahead.

He hadn’t gone much further when a scorpion in front of him caught his attention.

Chen Wen had considerable respect for the scorpions existing in the Libyan Desert.

Immediately, he distanced himself, keeping a wary eye on the suddenly appearing scorpion.

This scorpion was feeding; its food was a dead insect, mostly eaten away, which Chen Wen couldn’t really identify.

Meanwhile, Chen Wen noticed the scorpion’s hefty tail.

"Some kind of fat-tailed scorpion?"

Chen Wen said uncertainly.

He hadn’t researched much about scorpions, but he knew the most deadly ones in this desert: the Yellow Fat-tailed Scorpion and the North African Black Fat-tailed Scorpion.

The venoms from these two scorpions can be lethal!

In such wild environments, being stung by these scorpions meant certain death.

Chen Wen might manage to withstand for a short while thanks to a word entry, but if he couldn’t get timely rescue, he’d still be done for.

"But this guy’s color doesn’t quite match the Yellow Fat-tailed Scorpion, and its size doesn’t fit the North African Black Fat-tailed Scorpion either."

Chen Wen frowned slightly, pondering for a moment before clapping his hands: "This fellow should be some kind of fat-tailed scorpion from a desert region, or a thick-tailed scorpion, not fatal but probably quite poisonous."

Since it wasn’t fatal, Chen Wen was a bit eager.

He looked at the scorpion on the ground and brought out his spear.

To humans, the most deadly weapon of a scorpion is the stinger at the tail, capable of injecting venom.

Therefore, as long as he first used the spear to restrain the scorpion, then disabled the stinger with another tool.

The scorpion would just be a crab with strong pincers for humans.

Chen Wen easily restrained the scorpion with the spear.

The scorpion sensed danger and started struggling fiercely.

It attempted to attack the spear holding it with its strongest weapon.

But naturally evolved weapons couldn’t match human intelligence.

The spear remained unmoved under the scorpion’s counterattack, while Chen Wen swiftly cut off the scorpion’s tail with a dagger.

"Easy pickings!"

Chen Wen chuckled, stabbing the scorpion again with his dagger, causing it to struggle a few more times before quickly losing strength.

He packed the scorpion in his backpack and continued forward.

Finding a word entry first thing in the morning felt quite delightful!

If he could find another one, what a wonderful thing it would be!

Just as Chen Wen was imagining these delightful things.

A figure in the front of the oasis was walking straight towards him.

Even without a torch, Chen Wen’s enhanced vision along with the slightly brightening sky allowed him to immediately spot the person.

What surprised Chen Wen was that the person turned out to be Yoshikawa Feng, who fled in a hurry last night.

Chen Wen grinned uncontrollably: Why is this guy back?

Thinking it’s early morning and I’m still asleep, hence trying a sneak attack?

But why not come overnight?

If he’d come at night, maybe he’d have a chance.

Of course, that depended on Chen Wen being completely unguarded.

Last night, Chen Wen was still on alert, didn’t sleep too heavily, and the camels could also keep watch.

The camels, while resting, remained quite vigilant.

If someone approached, they’d surely notice and stand up to react.

And Chen Wen lying on the camels would naturally be awakened.

So Yoshikawa Feng’s idea was doomed from the start.

But as Chen Wen squatted down to observe, he realized Yoshikawa Feng wasn’t here to ambush him.

He walked and stopped intermittently, sometimes squatting down somewhere to fiddle with something.

After picking up something and packing it into his backpack, he continued searching elsewhere.

Seeing this, Chen Wen suddenly realized: Isn’t this guy checking traps?

The thought came mainly because Yoshikawa Feng’s nickname was "Trap Master."

His traps were quite famous and effective.

Most importantly, the set of ropes Chen Wen previously acquired wasn’t complete, showing signs of tampering.

Thinking about it, Chen Wen realized that Yoshikawa Feng and his group must have set traps for food yesterday!

And they hadn’t had the chance to check them!

This got Chen Wen excited.

He planned to wait until Yoshikawa Feng had checked the traps and concentrated all the gains on himself before making his move.

After all, what’s more delightful in this world than reaping without sowing?

Having made up his mind, Chen Wen began to tail him.

With rich training and enough experience, following Yoshikawa Feng wasn’t difficult for Chen Wen.

And Yoshikawa Feng, busy with his task, didn’t know he’d been spotted by early-rising Chen Wen.

He quickly checked the traps set yesterday.

His skills were indeed impressive.

Among the seven traps, Yoshikawa Feng checked four and caught two prey.

The two prey were fat-tailed sand rats, commonly found in the desert, also known as macaroni rats.

These rats had characteristic tails.

Their tails were hairless, plump and pink, resembling a piece of macaroni, hence the name macaroni rats.

After checking four traps, Yoshikawa Feng glanced around; it was very quiet.

He took a deep breath, retrieved the fourth trap, and continued towards the traps set the previous day.

Having secured food eased Yoshikawa Feng’s mind considerably.

He couldn’t help but think: There’s an old Hua Country saying that the early bird catches the worm, and it doesn’t deceive me!

Coming early to check the traps, he could take away traps and trapped prey completely, and even make a move when Chen Wen was hunting, snatching a few water bags.

This trip was so worth it!

Yoshikawa Feng quickened his pace to check the remaining three traps.

And the remaining three traps didn’t disappoint him; two were tripped, and the one that wasn’t had been dragged by something, which delighted Yoshikawa Feng greatly.

The captured prey in this trap was also a sand rat, but not the fat-tailed kind, rather another common one—the red-tailed sand rat.

This type of sand rat was more widely distributed than the fat-tailed sand rat.

In Xinjiang of Hua Country, red-tailed sand rats were even found in abundance!

Seven traps yielding four sand rats made Yoshikawa Feng grin broadly.

He carefully dispatched the sand rats with his dagger and packed them into his backpack.

Then Yoshikawa Feng’s gaze locked onto the direction of the water source, and after an internal struggle, he decided to go take a look!

Give it a shot, and the bicycle becomes a motorcycle!

Thinking so, Yoshikawa Feng quietly moved toward the water source.

Unbeknownst to him, Chen Wen, prepared to act behind Yoshikawa Feng, couldn’t help but be surprised when witnessing this scene.

This guy is really greedy!

Not only wanting to take away the traps and their prey, but even planning to make a move on me?

Interesting!

Well then, let’s follow and see, and when this guy realizes I’ve been following him all along, his expression will surely be priceless!

With mischief at heart, Chen Wen refrained from acting and continued to follow along.