Cave Refuge-Chapter 326 - 297 Other Region’s Monsters_2

If the land near Lake Weishan wasn’t so scarce, the Officials here would have probably given up on their plans to fish in the lake a long time ago. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Perhaps because Jia County and Taizhuang are quite close to each other, the new type of monster that has appeared in these two areas is the same.

Compared to the monsters in other areas that actively attack survivors, the monsters that appeared in these two areas are relatively mild. As long as the survivors don’t attack them first, these monsters will ignore the presence of the survivors even if they stand right beside them.

At first, the survivors in these two areas didn’t notice these monsters until they received a notification from the Pengcheng Government, which asked each area to find and report information on the new monsters that had appeared. Only then did they start looking for the monsters unique to their local area.

In the beginning, they arranged for many people to carry out thorough searches, but after three repetitive attempts, everyone came back empty-handed. Just as they were about to report these findings,

a Martial Artist responsible for the search vented his frustration about the wasted days by forcefully pounding a nearby rock, attempting to release his anger.

But his powerful punch brought out the very target they had repeatedly failed to find.

It turned out that the rocks they had mistaken for seismic debris were, in fact, the very monsters they had been seeking.

After being attacked by the Martial Artist, the monster, which had been hiding within the rocks, revealed its true body.

The creature resembled the pill bugs often found in ditches or other damp places.

Usually, when these bugs encounter danger, they curl up into a ball, like hedgehogs. However, unlike hedgehogs, which are covered in spikes, the pill bugs have a very smooth surface, similar to the marbles children played with back in the day.

In the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, whether in rural areas or small towns, due to poor infrastructure, these creatures could often be found under bricks in ditches or similar places.

Back then, children couldn’t afford to buy marbles, so they used these bugs as substitutes for their games.

The Bugs Clan in Jia County and Taizhuang, for some unknown reason, were always in a curled-up state. Thus, even though they were often seen by others, everyone mistook them for debris from underground stirred up by earthquakes, and few would attack them on purpose.

Strangely enough, unlike the monsters in other areas that actively hunted and preyed on survivors, the Bugs Clan in these two areas remained coiled up for some inexplicable reason. Even if survivors stood right beside them, they remained motionless and paid them no heed.

Because of this, the survivors in Jia County and Taizhuang had not noticed these bugs until now. Had it not been for that Martial Artist’s outburst of aggression, they might never have discovered them.

Now that they had been discovered, the rest was relatively easy. Although the bug’s shell was very hard, it did not attack survivors like the monsters in other areas did when surrounded. The outcome was predictable, and the fate of this type of bug is easy to guess.

After they killed the bug, they dissected its body and, following the practices of other areas, had many pioneers try it out, but the results turned their faces grim...

Firstly, the bug’s originally hard shell became very fragile after death. The same shell that bore no marks under the full-force attacks of ordinary Martial Artists could be easily snapped by anyone after the bug’s death...

Despite how easily the Bug Meat could be harvested from the abdomen, no matter how it was cooked, the result was a very strong and sour taste.

After confirming that Bug Meat was non-toxic through taste tests, its sour taste made it difficult for everyone to swallow.

As for the medicinal value, due to the earthquake and the lack of advanced laboratories in both areas, after various traditional methods failed to find any useful properties, the local Official residences stopped pursuing it...

Because these monsters did not initiate attacks, after the local yamen notified the survivors not to recklessly attack the rocks, they also left the Bugs Clan to their own devices. If they didn’t actively attack the rocks, no one could tell whether the rock in front of them was truly a rock or one of those bugs.

Compared to the monsters in other places, such as the mutated bugs, the monsters in Pengcheng appeared much more normal. After the earthquake happened, inexplicably, many venomous snakes emerged from the fissures in the ground.

Compared to other places where multiple tests were needed to identify the monsters’ weaknesses, the situation in Pengcheng was undoubtedly much simpler. Although many people have a natural fear of venomous snakes, after personally conducting a few tests, this fear would quickly dissipate.

Moreover, unlike in other places where specialized tools had to be developed to deal with the monsters, survivors in Pengcheng had long known how to make professional and safe snake-catching tools.

Although the snakes that appeared were larger and stronger than the venomous snakes before the disaster, they had not reached a non-human level, and even three to five ordinary survivors could easily capture the venomous snakes if they worked together harmoniously.

The only problem was that the earthquake caused many cracks in the ground, and many of these venomous snakes would suddenly attack survivors from these crevices.

Actually, there weren’t many casualties among Pengcheng survivors when they were truly catching snakes. Most of the casualties occurred when they were caught off guard by venomous snakes emerging suddenly from the crevices.

The venom in these snakes was extremely potent; once bitten, a normal person would have to amputate the limb immediately, or else they would succumb to the poison within five minutes.

Although Martial Artists were much stronger than ordinary survivors, their resistance to poison was limited. While they could use their internal energy to hinder the spread of the venom, the consumption was tremendous.

But as the ancestors said, "Where poisonous creatures are common, within a hundred steps there must be an antidote." The antidote for snake venom was easy to find and well-known by many.

"Original soup, original food," if bitten by a snake, as long as the venom had not spread to the heart or brain, eating the snake’s gallbladder could directly neutralize the poison.

Of course, if the same snake bit several people, sharing the gallbladder had no effect. Only the person who consumed the gallbladder could be saved, and the others had to start over, hoping for better luck next time.

Of course, unless for detoxification, consuming the gallbladder raw could be somewhat effective, but the treatment would not be fully utilized.

Unlike dissecting other monsters, where detailed testing was required to discover valuable materials, after capturing venomous snakes, survivors clearly understood every valuable part of the snake’s body.

The venom from the snake’s fangs could be used not only to make deadly poison but, after processing, it could also be transformed into life-saving medicine.

Those two fangs used for injecting venom, once cleaned, became natural syringe needles.

Snake skin needs no mention; even before the disaster, products made from snake skin were a luxury, seldom seen or used by ordinary people, given the far more complex production process compared to other animal skins.

Snake meat is even less of a concern. As a culinary giant, China has countless methods for cooking snake.

After processing, both the snake gallbladder and bones can be used for medicinal purposes.

If it weren’t for the venomous snakes occasionally attacking survivors in Pengcheng through the cracks created by the earthquake, one could say that the appearance of venomous snakes, far from posing any danger, felt more like a blessing from heaven.

After listening to Ye Liuyun recounting the information from Pengcheng, Dong Tianyu immediately said, "If I’m not mistaken, the monster that appeared in Ning County is probably..."

Hearing Dong Tianyu say this, Ye Liuyun did not find it strange and directly replied, "You guessed correctly."