119: Chapter 119 Top-Tier Ingredients

The cave quieted down once again.

There was only the sound of the Violent Bear's blood flowing down the slope.

Lin Ye stood in the blind spot of the corner.

The webbing between his right thumb and index finger had split open, and the back of his hand was covered in blood.

Some was the Violent Bear's, and some was his own.

Great Xia Live Stream.

"Did he kill it? He actually killed it?"

"That's a bear the size of an off-road vehicle!"

"I stopped breathing just now; Brother Eye was risking his life playing with those traps!"

"If that line had snapped, Brother Eye would have been done for."

"Is this the gatekeeper of a Level 4 Floating Island? You have to pay the entrance fee right away."

Zhao Mengmeng rushed over from the front section, clutching her crossbow.

She had just reached the tunnel entrance when the scent of hot blood hit her, causing her to pause.

"Lin Ye!"

Lin Ye turned his head.

"Don't step in the blood, it's slippery."

Zhao Mengmeng let out a long breath.

She approached, holding the crossbow steady.

Upon seeing the giant bear collapsed in the tunnel, her feet rooted to the spot.

"Holy crap..."

The Violent Bear's corpse blocked half the tunnel.

Its thick white fur was stained red with blood, and the shattered ice armor on its shoulders and back was scattered everywhere.

Its giant paw lay spread on the ground, its claws longer than Zhao Mengmeng's forearm.

Zhao Mengmeng looked at Lin Ye's blood-stained back.

"You chopped this thing up all by yourself just now?"

Lin Ye shook his numb and aching right hand.

"It ran into the line itself; I was just responsible for collecting the payment."

He bent down to inspect the Violent Bear's corpse.

He pried open the outer layer of ice armor on its shoulders and back with his dagger.

The fur underneath was shockingly thick, and the tip of the dagger entered with extreme difficulty.

Lin Ye briefly activated his Left Eye.

A large area of green light appeared on the Violent Bear's corpse.

The green light was bright, and the grey spots were extremely sparse.

Especially on the abdomen and the inner sides of its limbs, the purity was extremely high.

This Violent Bear was a top-tier native prey of the Level 4 Floating Island.

The danger was real.

The value was also truly high.

The meat, fat, and fur were all top-grade supplies.

Zhao Mengmeng asked, "Can we eat it?"

"Yes."

"Is it clean?"

"Much cleaner than those monsters in the ruins below."

Zhao Mengmeng swallowed hard.

She pressed her chapped lips together.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get to work!"

Lin Ye tapped the corpse's abdomen with the toe of his boot.

"Start cutting here. Don't touch the back skin; it's too hard."

Zhao Mengmeng looked at the Violent Bear's mountain-like belly.

She then looked at the small, two-finger-wide dagger in her hand.

"I feel like it's insulting my knife."

"The knife doesn't have any complaints, but you have plenty."

Zhao Mengmeng rolled her eyes.

There was no time to rest.

The ice storm outside hadn't stopped, and a giant Violent Bear corpse lay inside the cave.

The smell of blood had to be dealt with as soon as possible.

Lin Ye gripped his Fire Axe with his left hand and hacked at the Violent Bear's abdomen.

The axe blade was already damaged, and after a few chops, the notch became even larger.

However, the fur on the abdomen was relatively soft, and it was forcibly torn open.

Zhao Mengmeng inserted her dagger and pressed down on the handle with both hands.

Scalding steam sprayed out from the wound.

It carried a heavy, gamey stench.

She turned her head away, overwhelmed by the smell.

"This smell is too strong."

"Endure it."

"I am enduring it, don't rush me."

Lin Ye used his Entrenching Tool with one hand to pry open the skin layer.

Zhao Mengmeng cut along the fat layer.

The subcutaneous fat of the Violent Bear was exaggeratedly thick—a white layer at least two fingers thick.

Lin Ye cut off a piece of bear fat the size of a fist.

He examined it in the dim light of the torch.

The fat was clean and the texture was firm.

In the extreme cold, this stuff could save lives better than regular lean meat.

Zhao Mengmeng stared at the chunk of fat.

"If we render this into oil, it'll be enough to keep us alive for a long time."

"That's assuming we can take it with us."

Lin Ye looked toward the cave chamber behind the Violent Bear.

Hot spring, sheltered cave, corpse, water source.

There was no second red light in the depths of the cave for the moment.

This place could become their temporary base on the Level 4 Floating Island.

But the owner was dead, and the smell of blood would spread.

No one could say for sure if anything else outside would smell it and come over.

They had to seal the cave, butcher the meat, and transfer the usable items as soon as possible.

"Can we skin it?" Zhao Mengmeng asked.

"Yes, but we can't skin it right now."

Lin Ye used the axe blade to pry open a layer of thick fur.

"If this hide is made into a cloak, it will be even more wind-resistant than the Wolf King hide."

"Then we must skin it."

"You deal with the belly first."

"Alright, Butcher Zhao is online today."

Lin Ye had already scanned the Violent Bear's abdominal cavity with his Left Eye.

The green light was brightest at the heart.

He cut open the membrane under the ribs.

Since his right hand couldn't exert too much force, he thrust his left arm deep into the chest cavity to feel around.

The scalding blood submerged his forearm.

"You really aren't bothered by the filth," Zhao Mengmeng muttered.

"If you're bothered by the filth, then starve to death."

Lin Ye used his dagger to cut a few thick blood vessels.

He jammed his left arm against the chest bone, using the leverage provided by the Entrenching Tool.

A bear heart larger than a human head was forcibly dragged out.

Zhao Mengmeng stared fixedly at it.

"This heart is way too big."

"We're eating it tonight."

"You just killed it, and now you're eating its heart; that's too beastly."

"Then don't eat it."

"I was just condemning you on behalf of the bear; I personally don't have any objections."

The Great Xia Live Stream chat was filled with laughter.

[Mengmeng's survival instinct and appetite are fighting, and her appetite is winning completely.]

[Bear: I was sleeping soundly in hibernation, then I got hit in the nose, got my head cut, and now I'm going to be made into hot pot.]

[Don't feel sorry for the bear; it almost crushed Brother Eye just now.]

[How long will this bear last them?]

Lin Ye dragged the bear heart onto a clean stone slab.

He began to cut off the fat and low-pollution muscle.

Zhao Mengmeng was responsible for dragging the cut meat chunks back to the fire in the front section.

The first trip was fast.

She started panting on the second trip.

By the third trip, she was leaning against the wall and cursing.

"Why is this bear meat so heavy?"

"Because it didn't diet when it was alive."

"If it heard you, it would get up and slap you."

"It won't have that chance."

The mountain of bear meat and bear fat piled higher and higher beside the fire.

Lin Ye cut off the softest belly meat.

He also cut open the tendons under the bear paws.

The bear paws were too big to take, but the tendons, palm meat, and fat layers could all be scraped off.

He cut up the cleanest parts and placed them on the outer side of the Wolf King hide.

Zhao Mengmeng looked at the pile of meat with blood-covered hands.

"Brother Lin, have we upgraded from a refugee group to a butcher shop?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself; there's still an ice storm outside the butcher shop."

The gale was still slamming against the ice door.

Cold air was constantly pouring in through the fist-sized exhaust vent.

But the fire was burning brighter and brighter, and the temperature inside the cave was steadily rising.

Lin Ye brought over a few broken stones to raise the fire pit.

He set the aluminum pot securely.

He shoveled in clean snow.

The snow quickly turned into water and started bubbling.

Zhao Mengmeng sat by the fire, clutching her blood-stained dagger.

Her wrists were trembling from exhaustion, but her eyes were fixed on the aluminum pot.

"Boil the water first?"

"Clear the blood foam first."

Lin Ye cut off the tenderest outer ring of the bear heart.

He sliced it thinly.

He also cut a few strips of bear paw tendon.

He put the bear fat into the pot.

The white fat melted quickly upon contact with the heat, and a layer of clear, glistening oil spread across the bottom of the pot.

A rich, savory aroma of oil drifted through the cave.

Zhao Mengmeng sat up straight immediately.

Lin Ye dropped the bear heart slices into the pot.

The hot oil sizzled.

He poured in the snow water.

The water surface churned, and the meat slices turned from red to dark brown.

He sprinkled in a little coarse salt and tossed in a few pieces of dry, hard venison jerky for flavor.

There was no ginger, garlic, or other seasonings.

But in the extreme cold of the wasteland, the combination of hot oil, coarse salt, and top-tier fresh meat was enough to make one lose control of their senses.

The soup darkened.

The fat floated on the surface, and the heat rushed toward their faces.

Zhao Mengmeng stared at the boiling water.

"I forgive you for half of those two slaps from earlier now."

"And the other half?"

"Depends on the amount of meat."

Lin Ye lifted a slice of bear heart with his dagger.

He blew on it twice and handed it over.

Zhao Mengmeng reached out to take it.

Lin Ye didn't let go.

"Slow down, it's hot."

"I'm not three years old."

The moment the meat touched the tip of her tongue, she gasped from the heat.

Lin Ye watched her.

Zhao Mengmeng froze in place.

She bit down on the meat slice and didn't spit it out.

The bear heart meat was extremely firm, carrying a wild, bloody essence.

The coarse salt suppressed the gaminess, and the hot oil locked in the aroma.

The moment the meat juices were swallowed down her throat, the cold in her stomach was burned away.

Zhao Mengmeng leaned against the black rock and let out a long sigh.

"Refreshing."

Lin Ye also picked up a slice and stuffed it into his mouth.

As the high-calorie hot meat entered his stomach, his aching muscles finally found some respite.