Green Monster Epic

Chapter 2: Gnoll

Allen possessed a simple yet practical trapping skill, requiring few tools: vines readily available in the wilderness, and forked branches from shrubs.

These small items, cleverly combined, were placed in relatively lush grassy areas or sandy patches with numerous footprints, places frequented by wild gray rats and hares.

Only these small rodents could thrive in this barren land, unlike other prey forced to survive far from the settlements of native tribes.

The source of his trapping skill was a secret, one Allen hadn't even told the simple-minded Stone: whenever Allen fell into a deep sleep at night, his dreams would always feature a bizarre and wondrous world filled with all sorts of magical things.

In this world, there were steel creations that sped across the ground like iron boxes, and buildings taller and grander than the wild坚桃 trees, shimmering with crystal light.

Countless faces, resembling the humans living on the Sylvan continent, entered and exited these tall buildings and rode in these iron boxes.

Unfortunately, this dream was a silent world; Allen could see the various actions of the humans within, but he couldn't hear a single word they spoke.

From childhood, whenever he fell asleep and dreamed, Allen would admire the various novel things within, like a spectator.

This small trap for catching rodents was learned in his dreams; since learning to set these traps, Allen's life had become much better, and he no longer had to endure hunger like the other members of his tribe.

The hobgoblins were inherently lazy and rather stupid; they often returned empty-handed from hunting trips.

The females would painstakingly gather berries and wild vegetables, but most of it would be eaten by the strong and powerful chieftain and his close confidants, leaving only a little for the rest of the tribe to fill their bellies.

Flipping through several traps, Allen found nothing; it seemed his luck wasn't very good today.

"Allen, look, a gray rabbit!"

"Look!"

Not far away, Stone turned over a patch of grass, holding up a gray rabbit that had been snared by the neck; the vine, struggling, had tightened into its fur, and it had been dead for some time.

Saliva began to trickle from Stone's mouth as he shouted loudly to Allen.

Hearing the call and seeing the rabbit with its long ears limply dangling in Stone's hand, Allen's face also showed a hint of a smile.

"Alright, alright, I see it. Don't be so loud; you'll attract Bonefire's hyena pack!"

Finally having a little harvest, Allen and Stone's mood naturally improved.

They continued to check the remaining dozen or so traps, and after harvesting one more rabbit and four gray rats, they headed back towards the village with their prey.

Of course, Allen and Stone couldn't possibly bring such a small amount of prey back to the tribe; it wasn't even enough for the two of them to eat.

If the other strong hobgoblins saw it, they wouldn't get any.

About three or four miles from the village, there was a small hill.

Hidden by bushes on one side of the hill, Allen and Stone had deliberately dug a cave deep into the ground.

In the past, whenever they had a harvest, they would directly prepare the prey into food and consume it in this cave before returning to the village.

The cave wasn't very large, just enough for Allen and Stone to move around and set up a campfire.

On the side of the cave, a narrow air vent, a little over a foot wide, brought a little light into the dim cave.

Of course, Allen and Stone, as hobgoblins, didn't care about the dimness of the cave.

With their darkvision ability, they could clearly see the surrounding environment within a dozen meters, even in the pitch-black night, even the slightest blade of grass on the ground.

And the exceptional Allen could make the night like day, and the movements hundreds of meters away could not escape his sharp eyes.

Stone was much more diligent at this time, busily moving and stacking firewood piled in the corner, while helping to process the prey they had harvested today.

He skillfully used a finger-length iron knife to cut open the fur of the gray rats and rabbits, quickly making them smooth and clean, and removing all the useless internal organs.

Next, it was time for Allen to show off his skills.

In his dreams, besides learning a practical hunting technique of setting traps, Allen had also learned a very impressive culinary skill.

Among the scenes of various human faces appearing in his dreams, the most frequent scene was a human wearing a bright and clean white outfit, a white hat covering their hair, and an apron tied around their waist, surrounding a square stove, cutting board, and iron pot, showcasing their culinary skills.

Although Allen couldn't hear what these humans were saying, he could clearly see the humans chopping vegetables and processing meat on the cutting board, as well as placing the chopped ingredients in transparent or snowy tableware to marinate, and the various techniques of the final cooking.

The wilderness was barren, and Allen couldn't obtain the exquisite cooking utensils from his dreams, but there were also many scenes about grilling meat in his dreams, allowing Allen to learn a lot from them.

Of course, delicious grilled meat also required Allen's own exploration, using seasonings developed from plants that were very similar to the images of seasoning plants in his dreams, even practically the same.

For example, the fiery fruit that Allen was currently smearing on the grilled meat, whose ripe fruit had a rosy glow, but no native would be hungry enough to pick it as food, because this seemingly beautiful thing would feel like eating burning charcoal in your mouth, requiring a lot of cold water to relieve the discomfort in your mouth.

But when this fiery fruit was dried, ground into powder with coarse salt, and combined with a few other herbs, it would bring a unique and mellow flavor to the grilled meat, making it irresistible, a world of difference compared to the meat roasted in the village with only a little bitter coarse salt.

Allen had also used this culinary skill to subdue Stone, this glutton.

The roasted meat sizzled, and at the same time, a rich aroma of meat began to permeate.

Stone almost stuck himself into the campfire, the crystal saliva at the corner of his mouth slowly dripping down, drawing a long thread.

"Crack!"

A sound of a broken branch suddenly came from outside the cave.

Allen's long, pointed ears immediately perked up, and he placed the wooden skewer he was flipping on the grill, while kicking the dazed Stone staring at the roasted meat.

The dry branch was a warning that Allen had deliberately placed at the entrance of the cave.

Anyone who suddenly appeared at the entrance, as long as they stepped on it, would naturally send a warning into the cave.

Allen slowly stood up, silently picking up a nearby spiked club.

At this time, Stone, who had reacted, also tacitly wiped his mouth, picked up the ironwood stick beside him, and then blocked the entrance of the cave with Allen on the left and right.

"Hehehe, the smell of roasted meat!"

A footstep came from the cave, and before the figure reached the entrance, the sound had already reached the cave.

Immediately afterwards, a creature with a jackal's head, walking upright, and holding a sharp long sword, suddenly rushed over.

Without hesitation, Allen smashed the spiked club in his hand towards the opponent in front of him, the fierce club drawing a whistling sound.

At the same time, the simple-minded Stone's eyes lost their dull appearance, revealing a bit of ferocity, swinging the wooden stick from bottom to top, helping Allen to cooperate.

This was a gnoll; Allen didn't expect how such a fellow would suddenly appear in the territory of the hobgoblin tribe.