28: Chapter 28 Beast Pill

Mo Xiaohu was pulled back two steps by Mo Changlin.

Mo Shoutian didn't look at the Giant Tiger on the ground anymore, instead glancing towards Mother Wild Ox.

Mother Wild Ox was still guarding beside the calf, her head already turned towards the gentle slope.

She panted heavily, one hind leg never daring to fully touch the ground, yet she didn't leave the calf by even half a step.

"First reload the crossbow."

Mo Shoucheng and Mo Xiaoshan immediately squatted down beside the winch, while Mo Dashan and Mo Mancang pinned down the wooden frame again.

Mo Shouyi lay prone behind the heavy crossbow, his eyes constantly staring at Mother Wild Ox.

The remaining few people held long spears, blocking in front of the heavy crossbow.

The winch turned bit by bit, and the crossbow string was pulled back again.

Mother Wild Ox kept looking towards the heavy crossbow.

She lowered her head a few times as if preparing to charge, but every time she turned back and saw the calf lying on the ground, she stopped again.

When the second heavy arrow was loaded into the crossbow groove, Mo Shoutian said:

"Shouyi, keep your eyes on that ox."

"Understood."

Mo Shoutian picked up his long spear and looked at Mo Changlin and Mo Chenghai.

"Xiaohu, follow along too, but don't get too close to the front."

The four of them slowly detoured from behind the Giant Tiger.

The Giant Tiger lay sideways on the ground with a heavy arrow piercing its chest, the surrounding withered leaves already soaked through with blood.

It hadn't moved for a long time, and only its belly could be seen occasionally rising and falling.

Mo Changlin picked up a stone from the ground and smashed it towards the tiger's head.

The stone landed beside the Giant Tiger, and it only twitched once.

"It's not completely dead yet."

Mo Shoutian didn't walk forward anymore; keeping a distance from the other three, he slowly extended his long spear.

As soon as the spear tip touched the tiger's neck, the Giant Tiger suddenly flipped over and swatted at the shaft of the spear in Mo Shoutian's hands with a paw.

Mo Shoutian's arm went numb, and the long spear almost slipped from his grip.

Mo Xiaohu was also startled; stepping back, he stepped on a blood-stained withered leaf, slipped, and fell to the ground.

With its final strength, the Giant Tiger lunged forward and bit down hard on his calf.

Mo Xiaohu let out a miserable scream, grabbing the tiger's head with both hands and pushing desperately outwards.

The fishy stench from the tiger's jaws wafted onto Mo Xiaohu's face; he wanted to pull his leg out, but the Giant Tiger bit down even tighter instead.

Mo Shoutian swung his long spear and stabbed it fiercely beneath the Giant Tiger's shoulder.

Mo Changlin and Mo Chenghai also struck simultaneously from both sides; a long spear pierced into the tiger's belly, and a hunting knife slashed at the tiger's neck.

Feeling the pain, the Giant Tiger loosened its jaws.

Mo Qingshi and Mo Chunhe rushed forward and dragged Mo Xiaohu to the side.

Mo Shoutian pulled out his long spear and stabbed the Giant Tiger's neck twice more.

He didn't stop until the Giant Tiger completely stopped moving on the ground.

"The ox is coming!"

Mo Shouyi suddenly shouted.

Mother Wild Ox had already left the calf and charged towards the clearing with her head lowered.

Although one of her hind legs was injured, she still ran quite fast.

The bushes along the way were knocked askew by her, and her heavy hooves caused the ground to tremble continuously.

"Everybody step aside!"

Mo Shoutian grabbed one of Mo Xiaohu's arms and dragged him to the side together with Mo Qingshi.

The others also hurriedly scattered to both sides, clearing a path for the heavy crossbow.

Mo Shouyi stayed prone behind the crossbow, not firing immediately.

When Mother Wild Ox rushed to the middle of the clearing and her body happened to turn sideways, he pulled the trigger.

"Twang!"

The heavy arrow pierced in from behind Mother Wild Ox's right ribs, half of the arrowhead poking out from the other side.

Mother Wild Ox's body swayed, but she didn't stop, continuing to charge towards the gentle slope.

Mo Dashan dodged a bit too slowly, getting grazed by the ox's shoulder and crashing entirely into the bushes beside.

Mo Shoucheng, having just retreated from beside the heavy crossbow, was also knocked down by the ox's body, his shoulder striking heavily against a stone.

Mother Wild Ox rushed past the wooden frame, running another dozen or so zhang forward.

Her injured hind leg suddenly went limp, and her front legs followed suit, kneeling down as her massive body slid a distance across the ground and finally crashed beside a large tree.

Everyone stood in place; no one approached immediately.

Mother Wild Ox struggled to lift her head twice, then finally collapsed onto the ground motionless.

Mo Chenghai took a long spear and circled around from behind, delivering a finishing strike to its neck.

Making sure Mother Wild Ox was dead, everyone gathered around Mo Xiaohu again.

Two rows of deep tooth holes were left on Mo Xiaohu's calf, two of which had already been bitten through by the tiger's teeth, and a chunk of flesh had been torn off the outer side.

Mo Changlin squatted down to feel his leg bone, then had him move his foot.

"The bones aren't broken."

Mo Xiaohu's face turned pale from the pain, sweat continuously streaming down his forehead.

"How could this beast still have so much strength when it was like that?"

Mo Changlin glared at him.

"I told you long ago, before a large beast breathes its last breath, no one can afford to be careless."

Mo Xiaohu opened his mouth, but in the end didn't say anything more.

Mo Shoutian took out his water skin, washed away the blood and dirt around the wound with clear water, and pressed the hemostatic medicine he brought onto the wound.

When the clean water washed over the wound, Mo Xiaohu's body trembled from the pain.

Mo Mancang pinned down his thigh to keep him from thrashing around.

The several tooth holes were too deep; the medicinal powder was washed away by blood as soon as it was sprinkled, so they had to sprinkle another layer and tightly wrap it layer by layer with cloth strips.

After the wound was bandaged, Mo Changlin found two straight pieces of wood and tied them to both sides of his calf.

Mo Dashan and Mo Shoucheng were also injured, fortunately neither was too serious.

Mo Dashan only had chest and back pain, while Mo Shoucheng had a patch of skin scraped off his shoulder, and his arm could still be raised.

Mo Shoutian looked around.

Tiger blood and ox blood were already flowing everywhere; staying too long would likely attract other beasts.

"Process them quickly and leave this place as soon as possible."

Mo Changlin said:

"Going back is mostly downhill, let's cut down a few slender trees and make a few sleds. Xiaohu, the heavy crossbow, and the prey can all be dragged along."

Everyone felt this method was feasible.

Baitou Mountain is covered in snow year-round, using sleds to go down the mountain is indeed much more effortless than carrying them.

Mo Changlin took his sons Mo Qingshi and Mo Chunhe to cut trees nearby, while the others stayed behind to process the prey.

Mo Chenghai and Mo Dashan began to skin the tiger.

Mo Shouyi and Mo Shoucheng went to process the ox horns and ox legs.

Mo Shoutian first came to the Giant Tiger's side and helped slice open the tiger's belly.

Taking advantage of the fact that Mo Chenghai and the other were busy cutting the tiger skin, he carefully felt inside with his hands, but didn't touch anything resembling a beast core.

Mo Shoutian then turned around and walked over to Mother Wild Ox.

Mother Wild Ox's body was too huge; just a single ox leg was thicker than a person's waist.

Mo Shouyi was cutting the ox horns in the front, and Mo Shoucheng was squatting beside the hind leg making cuts.

Mo Shoutian came to the other side of the ox's belly, using his hunting knife to cut open the ox hide and the flesh underneath.

After the ox's belly was cut open, bloody water flowed out along the incision, and the internal organs inside were also exposed.

Mo Shoutian rolled up his sleeves and took out the things inside one by one.

After searching for a moment, his fingers suddenly touched a hard mass.

That thing was hidden inside a thick layer of blood membrane, clinging right next to the ox liver.

Mo Shoutian used his hunting knife to slice open the blood membrane, taking out a round bead slightly smaller than a pigeon's egg from inside.

The round bead was dark red all over, its surface not smooth, and it even had a few fine lines on it.

He glanced around.

Mo Shouyi was still processing the ox horns, Mo Shoucheng had his back turned to him, and the people in the distance were all busy cutting trees and skinning the tiger.

No one noticed the thing in his hand.

Mo Shoutian felt out a small piece of cloth from his bosom, wrapped the round bead in it, and quietly tucked it into his inner garments close to his chest.

Afterwards, he lowered his head again and continued cleaning out the ox's belly.