Chapter 32: Slaughtering the Ox

No matter how eager everyone was to level up quickly, life still had to be lived day by day, and monsters had to be killed one by one.

Fortunately, oxen were different from sheep. Sheep were timid, oxen charged at people. But after Huoyang had been knocked flying once, the three of them became cautious, realizing there was no rushing things.

The three of them, imitating what they had seen on TV, spread a large net under a tree, looping ropes around the branches and tying them to the edges. They planned to lure the ox into the net and then lift it into the air by pulling the ropes.

The plan was perfect—Huoyang would lure the ox in, and Su Ning and Qiao Duoduo would pull the ropes. But reality was always harsher than theory.

Suspended in the air were not the ox but the two girls clinging to the ropes. Luckily, their bodies had been enhanced by the system; otherwise, the impact would have caused either skull fractures or broken shoulder blades.

Seeing this method fail, the three had to try something else.

Plan B: the universal battlefield tactic of tripping—well, tripping an ox’s legs.

But there were too few trees. Su Ning had no choice but to bring out a log and a hammer. Huoyang began pounding in stakes one by one. He refused to believe that tripping an ox would be so hard.

After an hour of hard work, stakes were spread around the ginkgo trees. For safety, Su Ning and Qiao Duoduo wrapped ropes around them several times.

This time, Qiao Duoduo climbed a tree to provide ranged attacks in case the stakes couldn’t stop the ox and to avoid getting injured herself.

For the first trial, Qiao Duoduo picked a half-grown ox. The calf charged into the circle, and as expected, it tripped over the stakes. Huoyang rushed forward and beat it relentlessly. Unfortunately, the ox’s hide was thick; even without struggling, it took five minutes to drain just half its health.

Su Ning, impatient, brought out a handy piece of Osmanthus wood and joined in beating the ox.

“Should I go down?”

From the tree, Qiao Duoduo saw how hard they were working. She didn’t want to shoot arrows directly and risk damaging the hide—or hitting Huoyang or Su Ning.

“No, stay up there—it’s too tiring for you down here,” Su Ning firmly replied.

This mutated ginkgo tree was straight and tall, the first branch over three meters high, too thin to support a human.

Though agile, climbing such a straight, unbranched tree was difficult.

With no leverage, Qiao Duoduo had to step on Huoyang’s shoulders to climb but still couldn’t use her full strength.

In the end, they tied a sturdy piece of thick wood to a section of rope. Huoyang looped it around and threw it up the tree, wrapping it several times until it held. Only after several tugs confirmed it was secure did Qiao Duoduo use the rope to climb safely.

So, she really shouldn’t come down lightly.

After finishing with this ox, Huoyang shouted to Qiao Duoduo:

“Wife, this one’s a male—big horns!”

Qiao Duoduo happily agreed. Su Ning, however, doubted the ox bones would be usable. Why? With all the violent beating, many bones were probably broken already—how could they be used?

“Yang Ge, I have to tell you—the ox bones might be useless.”

“What do you mean?”

“Probably all the meat will have bone fragments anyway.”

Huoyang froze awkwardly—he hadn’t considered that.

“So, we won’t damage the hide today, and tomorrow we’ll switch blades to avoid damaging the bones?”

“Sure, for now just keep beating it. We’ll see tomorrow.”

The bull was imposing, but stakes were stakes. The outermost stake leaned slightly under the ox’s weight. Luckily, Su Ning and Qiao Duoduo had reinforced it with multiple ropes, so it still tripped.

Huoyang still needed to fix some stakes, which was exhausting.

Fortunately, for every final strike from now on, it would be Su Ning’s. Huoyang knew Su Ge’s luck was extraordinary, and regarding secrets about his best friend, Qiao Duoduo didn’t say much, and he didn’t ask. Whatever his wife said, he followed obediently, and sticking with Su Ge always brought benefits.

At the end of the day, Qiao Duoduo climbed down, and after packing up the stakes and ropes, the three left the grassland.

Su Ning wanted to pick up Huoyang’s blade, but the blacksmith said it was already well-made.

Su Ning didn’t believe him. Last time, he had said the same, yet it only had six points.

This time, she would make the hilt herself. With careful craftsmanship, it would guarantee at least eight points.

Negotiations failed, so Su Ning began the hilt-making herself.

Thanks to the blacksmith’s guidance, she completed the weapon.

“Beep, congratulations player, item creation successful. Item detected: Weapon: Long-bladed sword. Assigning attributes.”
“Beep, attributes assigned successfully. Please name the weapon.”

“Plain Broadsword,” a very simple long-handled sword.

“Beep, naming successful.
Weapon: Long-handled Broadsword
Grade: Green
Level Requirement: 8
Attributes: Strength +6, Agility +3
Crafter: Su Ning”

Although not as impressive as the staff sold to Fei Yang, this was among Su Ning’s top creations.

Carrying the broadsword, they went to the restaurant for dinner and returned home together with Qiao Duoduo and Huoyang.

“Wow, Su Ge, this is amazing! My broadsword is so cool!”

Huoyang loved his new sword. After days of bare-handed fighting, he now had gloves and a top-tier weapon in a single day—a dream come true.

At night, Su Ning stared at the huge ox carcass, feeling a headache. She didn’t want to process it at home—every time it made the bathroom filthy, and the stench lingered for days.

Fed up, she found Qiao Duoduo.

“Duoduo, can you ask the restaurant manager to handle the ox carcass? They can take the meat, and we can pay a little. I’ve had enough of the sheep smell last time.”

“Okay. Should we keep the hide? What about the bones?”

Before Qiao Duoduo finished, Huoyang interrupted:

“Wife, I want the bull’s head to make a hat.”

Qiao Duoduo looked at Su Ning. He hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“Then keep the head. If necessary, pay a bit.”

Qiao Duoduo tilted her head.

“Su Ge, you’re getting so rich now, throwing money around to solve problems, yo-yo-yo!”

Seeing her joke, Su Ning sighed. “If I don’t pay, I’ll leave you at the restaurant as collateral. I’ll go to the terrace to relax and later check what we can use from our belongings.”

“Alright, thanks for your generosity, Su Ge.”

Qiao Duoduo happily agreed.

Su Ning went to the terrace to relax—a rare moment of leisure.

Looking around at the bustling streets, she noticed how crowded this district had become. Thinking of the influx of people in ten days, she realized it would be troublesome and resolved to level up and move to the fully safe zone to avoid the massive crowd.

Once settled, she could return home, buy property, farm, craft some equipment in her free time, and sell it at high prices. What a dream.