6: Chapter 6: The Decaying Earth Hound

The spot where everyone stopped was about one or two kilometers away from District 1 Farm, which was where their barn was located, separated by a small hill, so they couldn't see each other's location.

The newly chosen farm location was in a gentle valley, roughly square-shaped, with seven or eight wooden stakes about three meters high dropped at all four corners, outlining the general scope.

The ground showed signs of having been burned, and the roots of the grass still bore traces of black charred ash that hadn't faded, but further up, quite a bit of green weeds had grown again.

"As long as wheat isn't planted, this ghost of a land will always be overgrown with weeds."

Fu Xing spat out a mouthful of saliva and cursed.

"Did you guys burn the wasteland?"

Wang Ting curiously looked at the surrounding situation; the reclaimed farmland definitely had traces of being processed, he just didn't know to what extent.

"It was processed before the harvest, but a portion has grown back now. Fortunately, the traces haven't been completely submerged yet."

Zhao Hu's squad occupied the high ground, covering each other while scouting for monsters that might attack from all directions.

The wilderness had no barbed wire fences or watchtowers; they had to be careful at all times.

Soon, the survivors of Barn 3 began to categorize according to tools. Those holding shovels and hoes dug through grass roots and piled the weeds to one side.

Those holding forks piled them into heaps, and then a single fire ignited the weeds.

The flames began to burn, and rolling thick smoke soared into the sky.

At this time, the survivors holding tools began to grow nervous. Wang Ting noticed the changes in their expressions, so he held a hoe to protect his teammates in front of him, while he crouched in a relatively rear position.

He suddenly noticed that the dirt pile not far away began to turn over. Pitch-black soil gathered together, forming a large dog seventy to eighty centimeters tall among the soil and weeds.

[Rot Soil Hound cataloging progress: 5%]

"Woof."

The low roar was like a demon's low growl, and the monster took complete shape.

The monster made of pitch-black sludge mixed with straw and flesh had more than half an eye drooping out, as if it was about to fall off. Sharp teeth were mixed in the sludge, making it impossible to tell whether they were stones or real teeth.

"Smash the head and preserve the body. The sludge of the Rot Soil Hound is fertilizer, don't waste it."

Zhao Hu gave the order. Among the six team members, three were responsible for guarding against other possible monsters, while the remaining three aimed their rifles near the barn survivors, ready to fire at any time to save those in danger.

'They aren't planning to make a move directly.'

Wang Ting's pupils shrank slightly. Just from that order, he immediately understood Zhao Hu and his team's intentions, and instinctively he had already gripped the hoe in his hand tightly.

The low roars resounded through the wilderness. More than a dozen Rot Soil Hounds formed on the dirt slope. They ran quickly, scattering sludge and straw from their bodies, heading straight for the group of people who had disturbed the land.

"Whoosh."

The survivors holding forks rushed forward to meet them, directly piercing the body of a Rot Soil Hound.

The adjacent person immediately used a shovel to slice off the head of the Rot Soil Hound. The Rot Soil Hound whimpered, its body rapidly melting like a melted candle, turning into a large pool of viscous, foul-smelling mud on the ground.

[Rot Soil Hound cataloging progress: 21%]

The others acted individually, cooperating with each other to attack the Rot Soil Hounds.

Humans and hounds faintly formed a state of confrontation on this wasteland.

'Combat power is the same as ordinary medium-to-large dogs; slicing off or completely smashing the head will cause them to truly die.'

Wang Ting observed the situation at the scene with his peripheral vision, rapidly gathering information. Fu Xing, that guy, was fighting very actively with an iron fork.

Not only him, but some people who took the initiative to choose iron forks were also full of fighting spirit and attacked fiercely.

His eyes narrowed slightly: 'Is there any benefit to exerting more effort?'

"Awoo!"

The low roar of a Rot Soil Hound came over. One Rot Soil Hound seemed to have set its sights on him, quickly passing through the crowd, dodging two iron forks, and charging straight at him.

'The beast comes at the right time!'

Wang Ting stared closely at the black figure, estimating the distance between the Rot Soil Hound and himself.

Three meters, two meters...

He violently swung the hoe in his hand, as if wielding an elongated hammer. With a muffled thump, that Rot Soil Hound was sent flying backward.

The Rot Soil Hound's head was deformed, but not completely shattered, revealing a core interwoven randomly with straw.

He strode forward, his waist and horse stance aligned, and like hoeing the ground, he severed the Rot Soil Hound's head in one strike.

[Rot Soil Hound successfully cataloged, gained 50 Monster Points.]

Wang Ting smiled. Although it was a bit less than the Scarecrow, getting 50 Monster Points in hand was much faster than slowly waiting and accumulating them.

Bang, bang.

Gunshots rang out. Two unlucky guys were almost bitten in the neck by a sudden raid of Rot Soil Hounds. A Guard Team member shot a Rot Soil Hound and saved them.

But scars had already appeared on their arms. Fu Xing and Huang Han nearby swung their iron forks and killed two Rot Soil Hounds.

At this time, there were still seven or eight Rot Soil Hounds coming in packs located slightly further away.

Wang Ting weighed the hoe in his hand, feeling it was not handy to use, and grabbed an iron fork from the ground that had just missed its target.

"That's mine..."

A middle-aged man with sallow cheeks opened his mouth wanting it back, but Wang Ting threw the hoe in his hand onto him: "Now the iron fork is mine."

The fierce gaze scared the man back; he mumbled and shrank back, not daring to step forward.

He strode forward. As the Rot Soil Hound rushed over, he directly used the steel fork in his hand as a club, slashing down through the air. The air made a whistling sound at the tip of the iron fork, knocking it to the ground instantly.

He thrust forward, stirred smoothly, and the Rot Soil Hound fluttered a few times before dying.

"So crisp and clean, could he have really broken through his limit?"

Zhao Hu was paying attention to Wang Ting's actions. Seeing what he did, his eyes lit up, but he also had some doubts in his heart.

Although incomparable to transcendent beings, an ordinary person's physique could potentially break through limits.

Some warriors, through long-term training or under extreme conditions, could break the human limit and unearth stronger human power.

As for Wang Ting's situation, as luck would have it, he had experienced a frenzied fight to the death with a Scarecrow once.

After the initial chaos, the people of Barn 3 quickly killed all the raiding Rot Soil Hounds.

Someone was bitten on the arm, the tooth marks clearly visible, blood mixed with sludge.

But after wiping it clean and wrapping it in cloth strips, that was it. They could only silently lick their wounds like injured animals and then pick up their tools again.

No one cared how badly injured they were or whether they needed rest. Even simple treatment required returning to District 1 Farm.

This was the apocalypse, not playing house.

If people died, there were plenty of wanderers.

"Continue reclaiming!"

The people holding shovels began to pile up the sludge produced by the Rot Soil Hounds. These were to be dug back to District 1 Farm. After the harvest, the land of District 1 Farm happened to need turning, and burying the rotten soil into it could accelerate the process of making the soil fertile.

Having snatched the iron fork, Wang Ting naturally wouldn't turn the soil again. Instead, he piled the weeds together, poked at the flames, and at the same time guarded against the appearance of Rot Soil Hounds.

"Fu Xing, what are the conditions for the appearance of Rot Soil Hounds?"

Wang Ting and Fu Xing stood close together. In the previous battle, he had only dealt with two Rot Soil Hounds, but Fu Xing, this guy, was an old hand after all, and must have dealt with Rot Soil Hounds before—he alone had beaten to death three.

"There are no conditions. This ghost of a thing can appear as long as you move on the land, it's just a matter of probability. If it's farmland planted with wheat, the probability of Rot Soil Hounds appearing will be much smaller."

Fu Xing pointed to the large pile of sludge: "However, large-scale earthmoving will still suddenly produce a large number of Rot Soil Hounds, and after that, they will attack sporadically from time to time."

"Your martial arts skills are not bad, and your foundation is good enough. I believe you fought a Scarecrow to the death. How about it, shall we team up?"

Wang Ting didn't refuse this time, but said: "We'll talk about it when the time comes. When and how to choose people hasn't even been discussed yet."

Everyone continued to work. All the sludge was loaded onto the wooden carts pushed over from District 1 Farm, and they began transporting it back.

Sixty men reclaiming wasteland for a day, without animal power or machinery, and having to constantly guard against attacks by Rot Soil Hounds, only reclaimed fourteen or fifteen mu of farmland.

"Head back!"

Night was about to fall, and Zhao Hu led the team back.

When the people of Barn 3 returned to District 1 Farm, members of the Guard Team came into the barn with energy cubes. The baseline dinner was one energy cube per person.

However, those with enough contribution points could exchange for more food. At this time, a Guard Team member was saying:

"Assisting in killing a Rot Soil Hound is 1 contribution point, completing a kill is 2 contribution points, and continuing to reclaim farmland counts as 2 contribution points. 2 contribution points equal 1 energy cube, come up to collect your things."

Contribution points were the simplest and most unpretentious tool for calculating labor contribution.

Although the statistics were simple and crude, they were exceptionally useful in this environment because nothing could be faked.

Everyone stepped forward to collect their respective food. Those with only 1 contribution point could save it for next time.

Food was nutrition. Getting more food meant cultivating a better body, living longer, and having a better chance to go further. This was the survival way of Barns 1-3.

"You really can't underestimate anyone."

When collecting food, Wang Ting found that whether they were the ones who actively killed Rot Soil Hounds or those who had been farming and reclaiming all along, except for the few who were injured, almost everyone got an extra one or two energy cubes.

Counting the basic food of 2 energy cubes for completing barn tasks every day, they could get 3 energy cubes a day.

Wang Ting himself had killed two Rot Soil Hounds, which counted as two energy cubes. Plus the one for dinner and the one rewarded for being in the top ten in running, that made 4 cubes in total.

After the food was distributed, the barn fell into peace once again, and chewing sounds resounded across the communal bunks.

[Successfully survived for one day, starting to tally today's Monster Points.]

[Low-level anomaly Scarecrow +3 Monster Points]

[Low-level anomaly Rot Soil Hound +1 Monster Point]

[Total Monster Points: 4]

After midnight, the tally sounded again. Wang Ting looked at his Monster Points situation and revealed a smile.

Scarecrow daily tally: 3 Monster Points a day. Over five days, that's 15 Monster Points. Today is the sixth day, adding 1 point for the Rot Soil Hound, making the tally 4 Monster Points. Plus the 50 points rewarded for cataloging, he had a total of 69 Monster Points.

He concentrated his mind on the Rot Soil Hound, and soon the items available for exchange from the Rot Soil Hound were revealed one by one:

[Anomaly Rot Soil Hound cataloged, items currently available for exchange from this monster are as follows:]

[Rotten Soil Sustenance (Trait): 50 Monster Points]

[Corrupted Olfaction (Trait): 75 Monster Points]

[Mud Bomb (Skill): 150 Monster Points]

[Rotten Soil Concealment (Skill): 150 Monster Points]

[Rot Soil Hound (Servant Beast): 100 Monster Points]