I'm Just a Beast Tamer

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Paragon of the Cautious Way

Jiang Zuo wasn’t too worried about the two skills, Beast Pattern Engraving and Beast Pattern Drawing.

Just like his Beast Taming Talent, both skills could be upgraded by spending Beast Taming Reputation.

No matter how difficult they were, if he just spent a little more time grinding out the levels, there would come a day when he could use them successfully.

"Aside from my spirit feeling a bit drained, there are no other problems!"

Jiang Zuo stretched his arms and legs, carefully sensing the changes in his body.

He quickly confirmed that aside from the mental exhaustion, there were no other negative side effects. He didn’t even feel particularly sleepy.

He planned to stick to his original plan for the afternoon and continue forging iron at Blacksmith Li’s.

As for Great Black, whose bloodline had been enhanced once...

Jiang Zuo had originally planned to visit the wealthy families in a couple of days to inform them that Great Black’s ownership would be decided by a secret auction in a week.

But now, Jiang Zuo decided to postpone it for a few days to see if Great Black would undergo any new changes.

If there were no more special changes, he would find Great Black a new home.

As for keeping Great Black, Jiang Zuo didn’t consider it.

Although Great Black’s lifespan had increased considerably, there had been no fundamental change in him.

Besides, Great Black’s new home would still be in Red Fox Town. If Jiang Zuo wanted to check on him, it was just a short walk away.

...

’My lack of Spiritual Power is really a problem. My blacksmithing efficiency has slowed down quite a bit. I wonder if there’s any way to boost my Spiritual Power.’

Afternoon.

Jiang Zuo was forging iron at Blacksmith Li’s workshop as usual.

Others might not be able to tell, but Jiang Zuo could clearly feel that his movements were much clumsier than usual.

For now, Jiang Zuo didn’t have any good solutions. He wondered if observing Beast Patterns more often could, over time, increase his Spiritual Power.

"Jiang Zuo, you’d better be careful tonight!"

As evening approached and Jiang Zuo was getting ready to head home,

Blacksmith Li rushed back in from outside and spoke to him with a grave expression.

"Mr. Li, what’s wrong?"

Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but stop swinging his hammer.

"I was just outside and heard that three families were robbed in the middle of last night. The thief might be a Martial Artist. In one of the houses, someone woke up to use the chamber pot and stumbled upon the thief, only to be knocked unconscious with a single punch!"

"After they reported it, Chief Lu led a group of constables to inspect the scenes, but they couldn’t find any clues."

"I’m afraid this thief will strike again. You live alone in a remote area and you’re making good money, so you’re a very likely target!" Blacksmith Li said in a low voice.

Like Jiang Zuo, he wasn’t one for gossip. He usually just kept his head down and worked in the smithy, rarely paying attention to idle matters.

The news had already spread throughout Red Fox Town this afternoon, and Blacksmith Li had only just heard about it from the owner of the shop next door.

"So brazen? Was the person who got hit badly injured?"

Jiang Zuo was startled.

Petty theft happened occasionally in Red Fox Town, but thieves only dared to act when the homeowners were away.

He had never seen a thief this audacious.

If caught, such a criminal would undoubtedly face a heavy sentence in Red Fox Town, so very few people dared to act this way.

"The man wasn’t seriously hurt. He was just knocked out because the blow landed right on his temple. But they say the thief was carrying a weapon, he just didn’t use it. Even if you’re strong, you’d still be in great danger against a thief like that. Why don’t you just stop going back for a while? You can stay here at the workshop temporarily. It’s not too late to go back after the thief is caught."

Blacksmith Li shook his head and then strongly urged him.

Besides him, his wife, and Little Xiangtao, three apprentices also lived at the workshop.

With so many people, no thief would dare to come knocking. It was very safe to stay there.

"That won’t be necessary for now. The thief just committed a crime, and the heat is on. I don’t think he’ll strike again so soon. Besides, with Great Black around, I don’t think any thief would be stupid enough to choose me."

Jiang Zuo thought for a moment and declined Blacksmith Li’s kind offer.

That’s what he said, but he had other considerations.

Knocking someone out with a blow to the temple meant the thief was, at most, a Skin Refining Martial Artist.

If he were a more powerful Muscle Training Martial Artist, never mind the temple, a single punch to any other part of the body would leave a normal person dead or severely injured.

A Muscle Training Martial Artist looking to steal wouldn’t target ordinary people anyway; they would go for the large, wealthy households.

And Red Fox Town had plenty of rich families.

Because the security in Red Fox Town had always been excellent, those wealthy families wouldn’t be overly guarded, generally only hiring one or two Skin Refining Martial Artists as guards.

Last night was the first night of the crime spree. If the thief was a Muscle Training Martial Artist and carefully chose his target, his chances of success would have been very high, even with Skin Refining guards present.

But the thief still chose to target ordinary people who were only slightly well-off, which showed he didn’t want to risk confronting a Skin Refining guard.

Therefore, Jiang Zuo judged that the thief was at most a Skin Refining Martial Artist, and possibly not even that—just someone who had trained their strength a bit.

And Jiang Zuo was not afraid of a mere Skin Refining Martial Artist.

He couldn’t conveniently do many of his own things at Blacksmith Li’s. He couldn’t just not go home for days on end until the thief was caught.

After declining Blacksmith Li’s kind offer, Jiang Zuo returned home as usual.

Great Black’s bloodline had just been enhanced. Besides his lifespan, his body would likely undergo other subtle changes.

For dinner, Jiang Zuo decisively increased Great Black’s portion to ensure he received enough nutrients.

Great Black ate happily. He had been feeling much hungrier than usual today, and to his surprise, Jiang Zuo had given him extra food.

After kneading the dough for the next morning, Jiang Zuo told Great Black to be extra vigilant that night, then returned to his bedroom.

Long ago, Jiang Zuo had imagined scenarios of thieves or even villains breaking in at night. When the house was first being built, he had already made preparations.

His bedroom had no windows; the only way in was through the door.

At the time, Mr. Yang had tried to persuade Jiang Zuo to add a window, otherwise it would be dark even during the day.

But Jiang Zuo had insisted, and Mr. Yang, left with no choice, could only do as he was told.

And at the doorway, Jiang Zuo had later built a small mechanism himself.

Once the mechanism was activated, anyone entering from the outside, no matter how they opened the door, would trigger a large bag of quicklime to be dumped all over them from above.

At the same time, a pan of cold water would douse them.

Quicklime mixed with water could flay the skin off even a Muscle Training realm Martial Artist if they were hit.

A Skin Refining realm Martial Artist would fare even worse.

This was only the first line of defense.

After setting the small mechanism at the door, Jiang Zuo went to his bed and used clothes and blankets to create a decoy that looked like him sleeping.

In the pitch-black bedroom at night, anyone would assume at a glance that he was asleep in bed.

Then, Jiang Zuo spread another blanket on the floor under the bed and lay down with a small bag of quicklime, a few arrowheads, and a flint.

If the thief fell for the trap, Jiang Zuo could, depending on the situation, emerge from under the bed and transform into the Limestone Martial Saint, or serve up the arrowheads as throwing knives.

These arrowheads were all coated with snake venom he had refined himself. Jiang Zuo had tested its effects on a rooster; it took effect very quickly.

If the thief was wounded by an arrowhead and poisoned, he would soon become dizzy, and his limbs would go numb.

But that still wasn’t all.

The guest room next to the bedroom had another bed.

The beds in the two rooms were placed side-by-side, separated by only a single wall.

And the wooden wall under the bed had long been secretly replaced by Jiang Zuo with a very thin wooden plank.

If the thief was very strong and Jiang Zuo judged that he was no match,

Jiang Zuo, from under his bed, could break through the plank with a slight roll and tumble under the bed in the next room.

The bed in the adjacent room was piled high with wood and old clothes, among which were hidden a packet of gunpowder and several large firecrackers Jiang Zuo had made himself.

That bed also had a mechanism. After rolling over, Jiang Zuo could kick the bed and make it collapse, with the falling wood temporarily blocking the thief’s pursuit.

Using this time, Jiang Zuo could use his flint to ignite the gunpowder.

The fire would spread rapidly, and the firecrackers would go off.

This room had a window facing the courtyard. After doing all this, Jiang Zuo could quickly slip out the window and escape by climbing the courtyard wall.

After that whole combo, unless the enemy was hell-bent on taking his life, they would have to flee by this point.

If such an enemy truly existed, no amount of normal preparation would work. He would just have to face them in a life-or-death battle.

In his previous life, men had, to one degree or another, all discussed how to survive a nuclear attack.

This world had no nukes.

But in reality, Jiang Zuo had still prepared for a similar, most extreme scenario.

For example, if an Evil Cultivator were to massacre the town, leaving no escape.

For this situation, Jiang Zuo had dug a connecting well from the bottom of the well in his courtyard to a point just outside the courtyard wall.

But the top of the well outside the wall was not dug through. Instead, a little way up, he had horizontally excavated a recessed cave where a person could hide.

The cave was separated from the well by the stone wall, and gaps between the stones ensured air circulation.

Looking down from the top of the well, one would not notice anything unusual.

If he ever encountered an extreme situation like an Evil Cultivator massacring the town, Jiang Zuo could jump into the well with a bag of pre-dried soybeans.

From the bottom of the well, he could swim to the connecting well on the other side.

If the situation was very dangerous, he could choose to hide underwater temporarily.

When it was less dangerous, he could climb up into the cave.

Eating the dried soybeans slowly, he would have no problem staying in the cave for ten to fifteen days.

To dig this connecting well, Jiang Zuo had spent the better part of half a year working on and off to complete it.

He was a true model of survivalism, his desire to live cranked to the absolute max.

’This thief’s timing is the worst. If it weren’t for him, I could be observing the Porcupine Beast Pattern right now to fall asleep quickly!’

After finishing his preparations, Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but complain to himself before bed.

...

His elaborate measures did not need to be used. Jiang Zuo slept soundly until he woke up promptly at four in the morning.

Jiang Zuo was not surprised by this.

As long as the thief had even a slight understanding of him and knew how formidable Great Black was, he wouldn’t be chosen as a target.

Although the rumors of the thief yesterday had caused a bit of panic, the town at four in the morning was not much different than usual.

"Niu, I’ll have another bowl of pig’s blood today."

In front of the pork stall, Jiang Zuo said to the fierce-faced Niu Shuanghu.

For the Porcupine Beast Pattern, drawing it with pig’s blood should have the best effect.

It was still a long way off before Jiang Zuo could draw a Beast Pattern, but he had never tried to write or draw with fresh blood before.

Especially pig’s blood, which coagulated very easily. Jiang Zuo needed to start experimenting with preparations early on to be able to write with it evenly.

Jiang Zuo highly doubted that he could draw a successful Beast Pattern with inconsistently mixed blood.

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