011. Eating Hellhound Meat ( ? )

Lying on the grass, looking up at the sky, Zhen had not moved his body for about 4 hours straight. He lay on his back and only breathed and occasionally let out a heavy sigh.

"Woah!!! Mister Zhen, what happened? What's going on?" asked Zaltar who had just disturb Zhen's ( lying in peace ) record. 

This big man returned and carrying several hellhound corpses on his shoulders.

"Oh, welcome, Zaltar. This? There were some intruders earlier, so I killed them all," this elf replied while still lying on his back looking up at the sky. 

Zaltar observed the surroundings as he walked closer to Zhen. He was amazed at the level of destruction created by a fight he did not witness firsthand.

"Where are your opponents, Mister Zhen?" asked Zaltar again as he saw no one but Zhen. 

"Oh, their corpses were eaten by a pack of hellhounds," Zhen replied very casually. 

"Wait a minute, them? A pack of hellhounds?" Zaltar immediately looked around for something that hopefully didn't get seriously damaged.

The big man finally found an undamaged carriage and the two horses still grazing. He breathed a sigh of relief, "It's a good thing those hellhounds didn't eat the horses."

"If they eat the horse, I'll skin them alive and roast them over hot coals and smear them with orange juice on their open wound to make them scream."

"Hmn... it seems like the opponents must be very troublesome to make you very angry like this."

Zhen sighed again, "To be honest they're just a bunch of weak pawns, the reason I got upset goes deeper than that."

Zaltar imagined the worst possibilities that upset this all-powerfull elf. Killing the closest person? It seemed rather impossible that someone like Zhen would want to build a close relationship to someone.

Destroying the hometown? It seemed rather absurd since he didn't even care enough to stay in one place in the first place.

Zaltar burned his brain capacity while Zhen was still annoyed by the fact that his favorite mushroom habitat had vanished due to the expansion of an insignificant kingdom. 

"By the way, what did you bring this day?" asked Zhen still somewhat annoyed. 

"Hellhound, it turns out the meat is more tender when you eat it." Zaltar put the pile of hellhound corpses on the ground. 

Zhen immediately raised his head and looked directly at Zaltar, he raise both of his eyebrow, flabbergasted "You what, ate it?"

"Even if it's just raw, it still good. I mean since I can't make fire or use fire magic, I just eat them raw."

Zhen could only remain silent with an astonished look on his face.

"But I didn't eat them all, there are a few more we can eat together tonight."

"You do realize they eat people's corpses, right? They'll wait until the corpse is completely devoid of heat, maggots probably have infested it's gut. After that, they eat it like flies on feces."

"Of course I'm aware, but they only eat the corpses of strong people, so I'm a little curious. Maybe if I eat it, I might get stronger."

Zhen didn't respond with a single words, he just showed a face of astonishment mixed with disgust. 

Zaltar chuckled slightly. "Mister Zhen, don't look at me like that, it's not that bad."

The disgusted elf did not change his reaction, just silently looked with a look of surprise mixed with disgust. 

"Hehe, Mister Zhen, don't be like that, the meat is still delicious regardless of what they eat while they are still alive."

Still the same, astonished look mixed with disgust from Zhen.

"Mister Zhen, at least try it first!"

Zhen finally gave up and accepted cruel reality. "Alright, I'll give it a try, just a bit. I only it that to sustain my body, that disgusting animal. But before that, I want to collect some water. Where's the nearest water source?"

"Not far from here, about a 20 meters to the north there is a clear river."

"Good, I'm getting thirsty too." Zhen stood up and headed straight for the north.

"Mister Zhen, wait! There's something I want to make sure of." Zaltar shouted and stopped the elf's steps.

Zhen turned around, "Making sure of what?"

Zaltar drew his scimitar and pointed it at Zhen, "Come at me."

The elf sighed again for the umpteenth time today, "If you want to confirm the effect of the meat, fighting me will confirm nothing but the taste of defeat."

Zaltar just smiled confidently and Zhen approached, drawing a small dagger. The elf immediately slashed at Zaltar, but his attack was deflected after hearing the sound of metal clashing together.

Right after that, Zhen realized a scimitar was right in front of his neck. The elf smiled broadly, dodging it with ease followed by a spin and then a kick to Zaltar's wrist.

"Woah, you really are getting faster," Zhen said rather excitedly. 

"Really?" Zaltar picked up the scimitar that had fallen from the kick just now, but he was proud to hear that from Zhen himself.

"Yep, I was able to dodge it easily, but your speed is much faster than when we first met."

"Hahaha, I guess the meat does matter."

"Alright, I'll go get some water first."

While Zhen went to look for the river, Zaltar become very excited as he looked at Zhen's wolf. 

"Did you see that? My speed is much faster now. I might be able to perfect this technique."

The wolf just stared for a while then lay down with a yawn and closed his eyes afterwards. 

---------------------------------------

The clear flow of the river greeted Zhen who was thirsty. The river is more than 4 meters wide and almost waist deep when in the middle of the river. A few fish were seen swimming in the current. 

Zhen took off his shoes and rolled up his pants. He jumped into the riverbank, which was less than knee-deep. 

"Wow, it feels so cool," Zhen said out loud.

The elf plunged his face into the flowing river and felt the freshness he hadn't felt in a long time. 

Zhen then took out 3 wooden barrels from his [ Inventory ]. He filled them with river water and placed them on the side of riverbank. 

"Alright, water's in and -"

Zhen saw a sizable beehive on the other side of the river and immediately put on his shoes. The elf took out a dagger from his [ Inventory ] and took a leap. 

He jumped forward and immediately slashed and separated the beehive from the tree branch with great accuracy.

When he landed on the ground with his catch in the hands, Zhen jumped backwards across the river.

The bees chased after Zhen, but he slashed at them as he soared through the air. When he successfully landed on the ground, dozens of bees were cut in half and fell into the river. 

Some fish jumped out of the river to eat the falling bees. 

Without pausing, Zhen took out several knives from his [ Inventory ] very quickly and threw them straight at the fish that jumped out of the river.

About 7 fish stuck to the tree right after they jumped out of the river. 

"Fish with honey, not bad for the dinner tonight."

As he monologued, a deer approached Zhen, or rather the honey he had caught. The elf had just performed a quick slaughter, but he did it so meticulously and so calmly that not even a bit of killing aura came out.

Zhen cuts a little bit of the beehive and a little bit of honey soaks on his hands. He licked the honey and then offered it to the deer.

The deer was a bit wary at first, but the elf did not show any killing vibes or intimidating gestures nor aggressive poses. The deer licked the honey in Zhen's hand. 

*Slash!

A swift slash that faster than the speed of blinked eye, successfully separated the deer's head from its body. The deer didn't even realize it had been decapitated for a moment before it closed it eyes, forever.

"Venison isn't bad either," Zhen said, placing the deer's head on the ground, gently.

"Today, nature is very kind. I don't have to eat hellhound meat," Zhen said gratefully.