"No..."
The wide, churning river reflected in Gu Baizhou's eyes, declaring the failure of his idea.
This river was too wide.
Although he had never woven a fishing net or studied related knowledge, he had a rough idea of how to make a simple one—arrange ropes at intervals and tie the intersecting points.
This method was extremely limited by the river's width.
If the river was too wide, the required net length would be excessive.
Given these hilichurls' capabilities, it was simply impossible to complete weaving such a net within a single day.
"Meat, good!"
A hilichurl was excitedly pulling up plants that could be twisted into rope.
Judging by its expression, it was deeply immersed in the fantasy of eating meat.
If he said this plan was unworkable, would he be dragged back and boiled?
Gu Baizhou didn't dare to gamble. Suddenly, inspiration struck, and he turned to the Geo Samachurl and said:
"I have a way to get meat faster."
"What is it?"
It tilted its head, clearly interested.
"Electro Slimes. Put them in the river. Stun the fish."
Gu Baizhou felt that before transmigrating, he might have played a game called Genshin.
Though he seemed to have only played for a short while, forgetting most of the plot and characters, the basic knowledge remained.
The reason was probably that his first free ten-pull only yielded a guaranteed four-star, while others flaunted their luck in his face.
However, before reaching Mondstadt city, he had seen Pyro, Electro, and other slimes.
Such elemental creatures should exist across the entire continent, and in significant numbers.
"I know where there are some!"
The Geo Samachurl became excited, dancing while waving its stone staff.
It chattered, "We, go!"
Several hilichurls pulling weeds looked up, their faces blank with confusion.
After getting an explanation, they became happy again, clustering around Gu Baizhou as they set off.
"Here, dangerous. Nighttime, cannot come."
Along the way, the Geo Samachurl suddenly cautioned Gu Baizhou.
He didn't understand. From a gaming perspective, it seemed the hilichurls' natural enemies were only the Traveler.
"Why?"
Gu Baizhou asked curiously.
"Here, there is a type, very cold animal. Don't know what it is."
The Geo Samachurl led the way at the front, answering. "Mitachurl was dragged away."
What could it be? A Cryo Whopperflower? A Cryo Lawachurl?
Gu Baizhou pondered as they walked. Suddenly, the sky darkened, leaden clouds churning like an angry sea.
The surrounding grass and trees grew sparse, the view gradually opening up.
A massive, elongated stone pillar came into Gu Baizhou's sight, dominating most of his field of vision.
This pillar, over ten meters long, emanated a clear, bright yellow glow. It was engraved with familiar square spiral patterns, strange floral designs, and incomplete beast images.
It carried a hint of Chinese culture.
[+1 Aesthetics EXP]
[Aesthetics lv6: 17/30]
The sudden appearance of the stone pillar brought Gu Baizhou some pleasant surprise.
It was the emotional resonance of finding something familiar while adrift and rootless.
He only knew of Mondstadt city, a foreign land that inevitably made one feel a lack of belonging.
Yet, even if this place shared origins with his homeland under a different name, it would likely differ vastly due to various factors.
"Electric crystal, over there."
The Geo Samachurl waved its stone staff, pointing into a ravine.
Gu Baizhou's gaze swept over. Several more stone pillars stood tall within the ravine. Surrounded by these pillar clusters, a dust-covered stone gate was embedded in the mountainside.
In front of the gate was a ruined circular platform paved with stone bricks, upon which stood a stone tablet whose inscriptions were unknown.
The place the Geo Samachurl pointed to was the fault scarp at the ravine's edge.
There, purple light flickered erratically. Beneath the brown soil, purple, translucent crystals were buried.
Several Electro Slimes hopped around the Electro Crystal, carefree and happy.
They remained unaware of the ruthless hunters they were about to face.
Electro Crystal!
Gu Baizhou knew of this type of crystal but not its uses, considering it merely a high-tier material.
Now, in his eyes, besides Hilichurl Farmers, another type emerged:
Hilichurl Miners!
Find a way to mine it, then sell it in human city-states for Mora.
"We are going down now."
The Geo Samachurl's raspy voice disrupted his thoughts.
Several hilichurls began climbing down, still dragging the plant stems they had pulled earlier. Believing these would bring meat, they hadn't been willing to discard them.
Baked by the surrounding torch flames, the moisture within the stems had evaporated.
This meant their conductivity was greatly reduced.
"Wrap this around your hands, then grab the Electro Slimes."
Gu Baizhou felt the dry grass—it was quite arid. The electricity from the slimes should be effectively impeded by it.
"Hand, come here."
He attempted to make this pseudo-insulating glove for one hilichurl.
The hilichurl's hand had black fur, soft to the touch, similar to a human's.
[+1 Traditional Craft (Rope/String) EXP]
[Traditional Craft (Rope/String) lv4: 4/15]
"My Traditional Craft level is this high?"
Gu Baizhou was shocked at himself.
Heaven be his witness, he had never deeply practiced any traditional crafts.
"They are coming!"
The Geo Samachurl suddenly cried out with some urgency.
Those Electro Slimes seemed to have detected the observers and were hopping over with apparent anger.
Strange, lantern-fish-like Electro element appendages protruded from their heads, crackling with electrical sparks.
"I'll flatten you!"
A hilichurl shouted, twisting its waist as it charged forward, swinging its wooden club.
Thwack!
The soft slime was struck, its body denting inward.
"Beating you up will be great!"
It excitedly gyrated its hips, then its whole body stiffened, its fur standing straight up with a poof.
Electric current flowed from the hand in contact with the Electro Slime, rampaging through its body!
Seeing this, the remaining hilichurls let out fierce howls, brandishing their torches as they prepared to rush in.
The Geo Samachurl also took out a scroll, ready to use earth-based magic.
"No, no, no."
Gu Baizhou hurriedly called out to stop the torch-wielding hilichurls. "Let it go first."
The hilichurl staying beside him had already undergone a certain aesthetic evolution.
The dried stems, like bandages, covered its hand all the way up to its shoulder.
"I will flatten you all!"
Now, gripping its wooden club, it charged forth like a hero, blazing with fervor!
Ssshhhk!
After a brief tussle, the sharp wooden club brutally pierced through the Electro Slime's soft body.
Yet, the electric current did not travel up the shaft.
The other hilichurls found this miraculous, obediently watching from the side, occasionally exclaiming in awe.
It fought more fiercely, growing increasingly excited, using the wooden club to impale all the Electro Slimes one by one.
"Beating you all up is great!"
The battle ended. The hilichurls gathered together, howling joyfully.
Moments later, the group of hilichurls all ran up to Gu Baizhou, shouting in unison:
"You, very good!"
"Meat, good!"
Except for the one who stood there awkwardly.
Gu Baizhou didn't mind. He only wished to secure his freedom and then lay low for a while to train. "We extinguish torches, stick Slimes on sticks, go stun fish!"
"Woohoo!"
The hilichurl crowd cheered, using sharp wooden stakes to impale the Electro Slimes and carrying them away.
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I'm still a rookie translator, but I do have a Patreon page! It might look a little bare right now, but here's the plan: the webnovel will get 3 chapters every single day, and the Patreon will host all the early access chapters. It might not seem like much yet, but hopefully, it'll be worth your while down the road. You never know! Feel free to stop by and check it out if you're interested!
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