4: Chapter 4 Trap Master

"Skillful Hands Mending's" quiet question was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirring up a thousand ripples among the noisy crowd of players.

Make them into clothes?

Everyone's eyes instantly shifted from the pile of steaming wild boar meat and the grim tusks to the damaged but complete wild boar hide.

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

The next second, with a "boom," the players exploded into a frenzy.

"Holy crap! That's right! Materials dropped from monsters are meant for making equipment, aren't they?"

"This novice linen shirt we're wearing has zero defense; it's better than nothing, but barely! If we could get some leather armor, wouldn't we be flying high?"

"Demolition Office Director," clutching his still-aching chest, was the first to react. His eyes lit up as he stared at the wild boar hide, as if seeing a life-saving straw: "Quick! Mending, give it a try! If you can make it, I'll be the first to pre-order! Damn, I almost got one-shotted by that boar demon just now. This game needs defense so badly!"

"Skillful Hands Mending" shook her head a bit uneasily and whispered, "I... I don't have any tools. I don't even have a needle. I can't exactly tear it with my hands or bite it with my teeth, can I?"

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over everyone's heated heads.

Indeed, with materials but no tools, everything was just empty talk.

Just as everyone looked at each other in a loss, "Gossip Reporter Little Trumpet's" eyes darted around, and she immediately thought of something.

She dashed to the entrance of the ancestral hall and grabbed Grandpa Li, who was about to head back to the side room to rest, her smile as sweet as honey.

"Grandpa Li! Don't be in such a hurry to leave! We have something wonderful to discuss with you!"

Grandpa Li was startled by her impulsive manner. Looking at the massive wild boar carcass in the ancestral hall and the group of young people carrying logs, his cloudy old eyes were filled with shock and confusion.

"This... this is..."

"We went to the back mountain and killed a wild boar!" Little Trumpet pointed to the loot like showing off a treasure. "Grandpa, look at this hide. Can it be made into armor? You're a blacksmith, so you must know about these things, right? Our family is in too much danger right now; we desperately need equipment!"

Surrounded by the crowd, Grandpa Li walked up to the wild boar hide. He reached out his calloused and wrinkled hand, carefully feeling the texture and thickness of the skin, and scraped it with his fingernail. A light that hadn't been seen for a long time gradually kindled in his cloudy eyes.

"It's... it's the hide of a Tusked Wild Boar. Good stuff, good stuff!" he muttered to himself, his voice tinged with excitement. "This hide is tough. Once tanned and made into leather armor, it would be hard for ordinary swords to damage! It's better, not worse, than the standard leather armor of the government soldiers!"

Hearing this, the players' breathing became heavy.

"Then can you make it? Grandpa!" "Infrastructure Maniac" asked urgently.

Grandpa Li's eyes dimmed again, and he shook his head with a bitter smile: "These hands of mine are for blacksmithing; I can't do needlework. Besides, tanning hides requires salt and tools, and sewing leather armor requires tough hemp thread and bone needles... none of these are left in the house."

The flame of hope had just been lit, only to be ruthlessly extinguished.

However, the word "give up" was never in the players' dictionary.

"Skillful Hands Mending" plucked up her courage and stepped forward: "Grandpa, I know how to do needlework! As long as there are tools and materials, I can try!"

In the real world, she was a somewhat famous Hanfu handmade creator, with a passion and talent for sewing and pattern-making that far exceeded ordinary people.

Grandpa Li looked at her in surprise, apparently not expecting this quiet and delicate-looking young girl to make such a bold claim.

"Demolition Office Director" immediately made the call: "Grandpa, just say what you need! Salt, hemp thread, bone needles—we'll get them! The back mountain is so big, we're bound to find them!"

Looking at this group of "distant relatives" with fire burning in their eyes, Grandpa Li's heart, which had been silent for many years, actually began to burn along with them.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Salt... I'm afraid it's hard to find. But there's a kind of 'Alkali Water Stone' on the back mountain. Ground into powder, it can barely suffice as a substitute. As for bone needles, they can be fashioned from this boar demon's tusks. Hemp thread... there's a type of Green Vine on the back mountain. Take its inner fibers, dry them, and rub them together; they can serve as rope and thread."

As soon as he finished speaking, "Infrastructure Maniac's" eyes snapped open with a bright light.

"Alkali Water Stone? Green Vine? Grandpa, can you draw a pattern? Or describe what they look like?"

Wasn't this exactly the kind of gathering quest that life-skill players loved most!

Soon, under Grandpa Li's guidance, a new division of labor was quickly formed.

"Demolition Office Director" took a team to handle the wild boar meat, solving the imminent food problem.

They didn't have a pot, so they built a crude stove out of stones, skewered large chunks of pork on sharpened wooden sticks, and roasted them over the fire.

For a time, the aroma of meat wafted outside the ancestral hall, mixing with the smoky scent of firewood, giving the dilapidated Lu family home the cozy atmosphere of a "home" for the first time.

"Infrastructure Maniac" led another team, excitedly rushing back to the back mountain. They formed the "Back Mountain Resource Exploration Team," with a clear goal—finding Alkali Water Stone and Green Vine!

Inside the ancestral hall, only "Skillful Hands Mending," "Gossip Reporter Little Trumpet," and Grandpa Li remained.

Grandpa Li shakily rummaged through his dilapidated tool room and found a rusty small hammer and a whetstone.

He secured one of the smaller wild boar tusks and began to patiently tap and grind it.

"Ding... ding... ding..."

The crisp and rhythmic tapping echoed in the empty ancestral hall, as if sounding the prelude to a new life.

Under Grandpa Li's guidance, "Skillful Hands Mending" learned how to perform the initial processing of the massive wild boar hide, scraping away the internal fat and tendons.

Meanwhile, "Little Trumpet" was on the side, chattering away with Grandpa Li, asking about everything from the Black Wind Stockade's troop deployment to whether there were other villages nearby, and then to the "glorious deeds" of the Ancestor in his youth, bringing her potential as an "NPC Strategy Master" into full play.

On the other side, the back mountain.

"Infrastructure Maniac" truly lived up to his name as a professional.

Instead of searching aimlessly like a headless fly, he followed Grandpa Li's description that "Alkali Water Stone mostly grows on the shady side of damp rock walls" and led the team directly upstream along a small creek.

"Everyone, watch your step. Don't be like War God Number One; a fall in this game is no joke," he reminded everyone while observing the terrain.

Sure enough, under a shaded waterfall, they found a patch of grayish-black stones covered in white powder.

[Discovered Material: Inferior Alkali Water Stone]

"Found it!"

The players cheered and immediately began mining.

The search for Green Vine was also quite smooth.

This kind of vine was visible everywhere in the forest and was exceptionally tough.

Just as they were returning fully loaded, a sharp question was raised.

"We were lucky today to run into a lone wild boar. What about next time?" a player said, wiping sweat. "That thing was too fierce. If it weren't for our numbers, we would've been wiped out. We can't keep trading our lives for meat every day, can we?"

These words silenced everyone.

Yes, the food source was still the biggest problem.

No matter how much wild boar meat there was, it would eventually be finished.

And they had already personally experienced the risks of hunting.

"Infrastructure Maniac" stopped in his tracks. He looked at the birds startled by their passing in the forest, then at the footprints of small animals on the ground, his brow furrowed in deep thought.

After a moment, he slapped his thigh, his eyes flashing with the light of wisdom.

"Why... why do we have to go head-to-head with the monsters?"

He pointed to a steep slope, then to the tangled vines and scattered stones on the ground, speaking very quickly: "We are players! Our greatest advantage isn't strength or speed; it's our brains! It's utilizing the rules!"

"Look, this is the only path for beasts to come down the mountain for water. We can dig a trap here, cover it with branches and camouflage. If a beast falls in, it'll be dead or crippled!"

"And over there, between those two trees, the animal trail is very obvious. We can use Green Vine to make a tripwire connected to several large stones. If triggered, they'll smash right down!"

"And the simplest one: use flexible branches to make a lasso and place it in the bushes where rabbits and pheasants often appear! Waiting for a target to fall into our lap, do you understand?"

A series of concepts poured out of "Infrastructure Maniac's" mouth.

What he described was a hunting blueprint completely different from that of the local residents.

It wasn't a fight between cultivators and demon beasts, nor a confrontation between hunters and fierce animals, but a "trapping system" full of engineering and physics wisdom that was almost like a dimensional strike!

The players present were all dumbfounded as they listened, and then, their faces all showed expressions of extreme excitement and fanaticism.

"Holy shit! Trap Style! You're a pro!"

"Damn, why didn't I think of that! Isn't this just a real-life version of a tower defense game?"

"This line of thinking is brilliant! Safe, efficient, and sustainable! Infrastructure boss, please take my respect!"

"Why call us an exploration team anymore? We're now the 'Trap Research and Development Department'!"

No mobilization was needed; everyone's enthusiasm was instantly ignited.

They dropped most of the Alkali Water Stone and Green Vine in their hands, leaving only a portion to take back as samples, and then, under the unified command of "Infrastructure Maniac," they started working with great fervor.

Some dug pits, some sharpened stakes, some twisted vines.

They didn't have professional tools, so they used stone shards as shovels, hard stones as hammers, and their teeth to tear the bark off the vines.

The scene was primitive and rough, yet filled with a certain strange industrial beauty belonging to the fourth calamity.

An hour later, the animal trail on the Lu family's back mountain had become fraught with danger.

A giant pit, three meters deep with sharpened stakes at the bottom, was cleverly camouflaged in the middle of the path.

A row of simple rockfall traps made of vines and heavy stones hung high above the narrow passage.

Dozens of lassos and snares of various sizes (wooden versions) were scattered across the bushes and grass like stars.

After finishing all this, the players, like a group of children who had just completed a prank, hid in the distance, waiting with great anticipation for the "harvest."

...

Inside the ancestral hall.

With a crisp "ding," Grandpa Li put down the small hammer in his hand, a satisfied smile appearing on his wrinkled face.

He handed the sharpened and smooth tusk to "Skillful Hands Mending."

[You have obtained [Tusk Bone Needle] (White Quality) x1]

[Equipment Requirement: None]

[Attributes: Sharpness +3, Durability +5]

[ Special effects： puncture（ When sewing leather materials， Success rate slightly improved）]

"Skillful Hands Mending" took this "god-tier" bone needle with surprise. At this time, the Alkali Water Stone powder and Green Vine sent back by "Infrastructure Maniac's" people also arrived.

Everything was ready.

"Skillful Hands Mending" took a deep breath and, under everyone's gaze, began her first creation of "god-tier equipment."

She didn't rush to cut; instead, she first evenly applied the Alkali Water Stone powder to the inside of the wild boar hide for initial "tanning" to remove the stench and grease.

Then, she used the bone needle to carefully pierce the edges of the hide, testing the feel and the hide's toughness.

Her movements were focused and skillful, as if she wasn't playing a game but performing a sacred artistic creation.

Time passed minute by minute.

Finally, she picked up the bone needle and the twisted Green Vine hemp thread and began the final stitching.

Everyone held their breath.

Her fingers flew, and the bone needle moved effortlessly through the thick wild boar hide, leaving behind rows of rough yet sturdy stitches.

Damaged areas were cleverly avoided or repaired by her. Under her planning, the irregular hide gradually took on the prototype of a piece of armor.

[System Notification: Player "Skillful Hands Mending" is attempting to create a new recipe. If successful, she will gain naming rights and bonus proficiency rewards.]

This announcement made all the spectating players excited.

Finally, as the last stitch was cast, "Skillful Hands Mending" let out a long breath, her fair forehead covered in fine beads of sweat.

The crude, simple leather armor in her hands, which emitted a primitive aura, suddenly flashed with light!

[Ding! Congratulations to player "Skillful Hands Mending" for successfully creating the first player-made item—[simple leather armor]!]

[You have obtained the manufacturing recipe for this item and have gained naming rights!]

[As the first player in the entire server to successfully manufacture equipment, your life skill [Tailoring] experience +100, and you have obtained the title: [Novice Artisan]!]

A piece of equipment with brand-new attributes appeared in everyone's vision.

[simple leather armor] (White Quality)

Type: Upper Body Armor

Defense: +5

Durability: 30/30

Equipment Requirement: None

Creator: Skillful Hands Mending

Item Description: Crudely made from the hide of a Tusked Wild Boar and Green Vine fibers. Although it doesn't look like much, it can at least protect your vitals from being easily pierced.

It still carries a faint, musky scent of wild boar.

Although it was only of white quality and the description was quite humble, the "+5 Defense" attribute struck each player's heart like a thunderbolt!

One must know that their only attribute bonus right now was the "All Attributes +1%" obtained from offering incense earlier!

These 5 points of defense were a solid improvement!

"She succeeded! She really succeeded!"

"Holy crap! 5 points of defense! Now we don't have to fear being gored by wild boars anymore!"

Cheers even more enthusiastic than those when they killed the wild boar erupted inside the ancestral hall.

The birth of this leather armor had a significance far beyond its own attributes.

It announced that the players had broken free from pure dependence on the system and NPCs and had embarked on a path of self-sufficiency and self-creation!

This was the first leap in productivity!

Just as the ancestral hall was filled with jubilation, a series of system notifications also came from the back mountain.

[Ding! Your trap [Life-Taking Trap] has successfully captured [Stray Yellow Goat] x1!]

[Ding! Your trap [Death Tripwire] has successfully captured [Startled Pheasant] x2!]

[Ding! Your trap [Chrysanthemum Lasso] has successfully captured [Unlucky Rabbit] x5!]

The players of the "Trap Research and Development Department" looked at the battle reports constantly refreshing in the system log, each grinning from ear to ear.

Safe!

Efficient!

This was the correct way to play the fourth calamity!

Inside the memorial tablet, Lu Bei's consciousness slowly woke up from his restorative slumber.

He "watched" the bustling scene inside and outside the ancestral hall, smelled the aroma of roasted meat in the air, and felt the high spirits emanating from the group of "Filial Sons and Virtuous Grandchildren." His ethereal soul felt a heartfelt shock and relief for the first time.

One had pioneered equipment manufacturing, giving the clan the possibility of being well-armed.

Another had pioneered trap hunting, providing the clan with a stable and safe food source.

They were like a group of tireless worker ants with infinite creativity, rebuilding this home on the brink of collapse from the ruins in a way he completely couldn't understand.

"This group of locusts... oh no, this group of Filial Sons and Virtuous Grandchildren..."

Lu Bei's heart was filled with mixed emotions.

"They actually seem... quite reliable?"