In the pitch-black forest, the crescent moon hung high in the sky, its pale moonlight like frost and snow, sprinkling down into the mountains.
Two silhouettes, one big and one small, were moving quickly through the forest, clearly a white cat with injuries lying on the back of a black and white spotted wolfhound.
Even an old mountain dweller seeing such a scene would have to exclaim how bizarre it was. After all, the only creatures known to act this way in the mountains were the wolves and raccoon dogs passed down in legends.
Raccoon dogs are born with disabled forelimbs, and can only get around by lying on the backs of other wolves who carry them along.
Yet the white cat lying on the wolfhound's back had eyes that gleamed even in the darkness, giving a chilling feeling to any who saw them.
"It's just up ahead!"
Duke sniffed his nose, confirming the source of the bloody smell, and also clenched his teeth on Thirteen's scruff to get him to slow down.
Smelling the blood, the blue-eyed Little Ha was somewhat restless, but under Duke's biting he still slowed his pace and lowered his body to creep forward along the ground.
"Go together into the light and dust..."
The cat murmured inwardly to himself, his figure disappearing in a flash, leaving only the black and white wolfhound creeping forward.
As Thirteen crept along, he also disturbed the fallen leaves on the ground which had lost their moisture, making faint rustling sounds.
Luckily, the cold wind was howling at this time, completely covering up that tiny sound.
As Thirteen moved forward, the smell of blood diffusing in the air became increasingly stronger. Little Ha's mouth was tightly shut, his innate instincts already completely aroused.
The black fur allowed him to blend into the dark night. His limbs moved back and forth as he quickly approached the source of the bloody smell.
Lying on Thirteen's back and having concealed his form, Duke also took the chance to look ahead.
Up ahead was a large tree that five people hugging could not encompass, and a hole was revealed under the tree roots, the bloody smell coming out from that hole.
"What could it be?"
Duke wondered to himself, while also biting Thirteen's scruff and forcefully pulling back, getting him to completely stop and hunker down amidst the dead branches and fallen leaves.
As the cat's golden eyes blinked, a blood-red pellet was also taken out by him.
It was surprisingly a millet-grain sized second-refinement Blood Qi Pellet.
Having the Blood Qi Pellet in his paw, Duke did not swallow it, but with a wave of his front paw, flicked the pellet out.
The Blood Qi Pellet landed five steps in front of Little Ha, falling onto a pile of leaves, and also happened to be upwind.
As the pellet landed on the leaves, a rich, musky scent also spread out from it.
Duke didn't even glance at that pellet, just stayed crouched on Thirteen's back, silently waiting for whatever was inside the tree hollow to come out.
No matter what it was, Duke was fully prepared to fight it with everything he had.
That was, to bleed his opponent dry using the Blood Qi Pellet.
Don't laugh, this was something Duke had tested out himself in practice.
Creatures who had not cultivated consuming pellets rashly would be filled by the medicinal potency contained within, causing their blood qi to surge out of control.
And creatures who had never learned martial arts would have their blood vessels burst from being unable to smooth out the suddenly expanded blood qi when it circulated.
Within a set time, if the blood qi was not smoothed out, the lightest effect would be half-body paralysis, and the worst effect would be immediate death.
It's not said in vain that medicine is one-third poison.
Moreover, the Blood Qi Pellet Duke had flicked out had been refined twice.
The contained blood qi was even more pure, and also violent.
Duke could barely endure the potency of this second-refinement Blood Qi Pellet now; needless to say, a wild injured beast would fare far worse.
Duke and Thirteen silently waited in the cold night wind, time flowing by. But neither cat nor dog showed any impatience.
Hunting required patience.
After some unknown amount of time, the bloody smell in the air suddenly became richer, and a silhouette poked its head out from the tree hollow.
Duke also narrowed his eyes at this, sizing up the wild beast that had stuck out its head. Its mouth was long, the end of its nose blunt, and it had coarse white fur running along its head. Its cheeks on both sides were black.
Its appearance looked similar to a dog's, but the expression contained in those pitch-black eyes was not something a dog would have.
This was a badger dog.
A type of small predatory animal.
"A badger dog?"
Duke blinked his eyes. "Don't these things hibernate in winter?"
"How did it..."
Very quickly, this badger dog crawled out from the tree hollow, its body swaying. An arrow with fletching stuck out from a wound on its body.
The arrow had torn open the skin and pierced deep into the badger dog's body. Just moving around caused it to pant heavily.
"Was it dragged out of hibernation by hunters, shot with an arrow, and escaped here?"
Duke made a guess in his mind, but he didn't actually want to know what had happened. He just wanted the badger dog to eat the Blood Qi Pellet he had specially prepared for it.
And then watch as the badger dog died violently.
Although severely injured, the badger dog was still cautious. It kept its nose to the ground sniffing around, occasionally standing up to smell the air.
Luckily Little Ha was downwind, so under the blowing cold wind, the scent would not be detected by it.
Duke and Thirteen watched the swaying badger dog come before the Blood Qi Pellet. Unconsciously holding their breaths, Duke stared fixedly at the badger dog.
The badger dog found the Blood Qi Pellet that had tempted it for so long. After carefully sniffing it, it unhesitatingly swallowed the pellet down.
Seeing the badger dog's actions, Duke was immediately delighted inside.
After eating this second-refinement pellet, the badger dog's death was now only a matter of time.
Sure enough, the badger dog had just turned to head back into its nest, when its body suddenly stiffened. Then with eyes widened, the badger dog bled from its eyes, and the wound pierced by the arrow even more so spewed out blood, pushing out the arrow.
"Awoo!!"
Letting out a miserable beastly shriek, the badger dog still wanted to struggle, but after emitting that one howl, its raging heart vein was shattered by the violent medicinal potency, and it toppled head-first into the ground.
"Success!"
Seeing the badger dog collapse to the ground, Duke was struck by a huge feeling of pleasant surprise inside. He raised his paw to pat Thirteen's head, signaling him to quickly move over.
Thirteen, who was already itching to go, immediately rushed over upon getting Duke's order, and bit down on the badger dog's throat.
Grabbing the badger dog's throat in his jaws, Thirteen violently shook it, also letting out low growls from his throat.
Duke stabilized himself on Little Ha's back, and also reached out a paw to touch the badger dog, concentrating his mind to store it within his Black Cauldron space.
With his mouth suddenly empty, Little Ha instinctively looked around for the badger dog's figure. Duke slapped his head, signaling him to restrain himself.
"Mm—"
Letting out a low hum, Duke commanded Little Ha to burrow into the tree hollow the badger dog had been hiding in.
With a cat and dog burrowing into the tree hollow, Duke also used his tail to sweep in the fallen leaves from outside, covering up the hole.
The hollow was sizable enough for both of them to stay, and Duke observed that aside from the badger dog's scent, all that remained was a musty odor.
It was evident that the fleeing badger dog had just stumbled upon this tree hollow to hide.
The hollow blocked out the cold wind from outside. Duke also slid down from Little Ha's back, sprawling out inside the hollow.
After catching his breath slightly, Duke took out a Water Pellet, first replenishing water for himself and Little Ha before shifting his concentration to his Black Cauldron space.
The badger dog's corpse fell within the Black Cauldron space. Duke's eyes flashed for a moment, then immediately threw it into the Black Cauldron, preparing to refine its blood and flesh.
The Black Cauldron could refine all things, including blood and flesh.
Watching the badger dog's corpse become enveloped in flames, Duke couldn't help letting out a sigh inwardly, "If only this pelt could be kept, it could at least be used to pad against the cold."
This thought had just arisen when the flames bizarrely split to one side. From enveloping the entire badger dog, it transformed into a silent flowing stream, slowly pouring in.
And as the flames burned, the badger dog's fur and flesh also gradually separated.
Noticing this scene, Duke was stunned for a moment. He could actually influence the Black Cauldron's refining?
No, that wasn't right!
The Black Cauldron itself must have had this ability, he had just discovered it now.
Thinking of this, Duke tried concentratively murmuring inwardly again.
"Separate pellet, separate pellet, separate pellet, separate pellet..."
Under his murmuring, the Black Cauldron shook once.
Immediately after, a badger dog pelt and five thumb-sized blood-colored pellets flew out from the cauldron.
Seeing those five pellets, Duke was incredibly overjoyed.
He had been worried about how to divide it if it formed into just one pellet!
Now, not only did this Black Cauldron gang help him out, but it also allowed him to grasp new uses for the Black Cauldron.
"It seems the Black Cauldron still has many secrets, I need to slowly figure them out!"
Du ke took out the raccoon dog fur and two Blood Flesh Pills from the Black Cauldron.
The fur appeared in Du ke's claws and he immediately threw it on the ground, while as for the two Blood Flesh Pills, one was for Du ke and one for Shi San.
Having received the pill from Du ke, Shi San swallowed it in one gulp.
After swallowing it, little Ha also let out a satisfying moan, and collapsed on the raccoon dog fur.
Seeing the silly dog enjoying itself so much, Du ke also ate the other pellet.
The pellet refined from the essence of blood and flesh, upon entering the abdomen, suddenly gave Du ke a feeling of satiety. Not only that, but his originally somewhat cold body also regained its warmth.
Feeling warm and cozy inside, Du ke scratched his limbs and crawled over to little Ha, lying down next to it so it could block the cold wind blowing in from the cave entrance.
"This urgent problem has been solved for now, but for my injuries to fully recover, it will take at least a month."
"The puppy's body is not fully grown, its hunting skills are no good, and I'm badly injured like this and can't move."
"Looks like I need to think of another way."