Chapter 47 Winter Hunting Rules, Arriving on Horseback

The Li family, hunters in Louping Lane, had accumulated a huge gambling debt before the father's death. All valuables in their home had been looted.

The most valuable item is the hunter's bow and arrow.

Li Xian couldn't bear to see the bow and arrow fall into the hands of others, so he buried them in a mountain forest.

At this moment, following my memory, I arrived at a mountain forest.

After confirming that no one was around, Li Xian bent down, dug with his hands, and dug for more than fifteen minutes...

"Got it!"

I saw a wooden box.

Arrows buried in the soil will corrode and be eaten by insects; they need to be placed in wooden boxes to be buried for a long time.

Take out the wooden box and knock on the iron door. A longbow comes into view, just as familiar as ever.

"Old friend, I never thought we'd meet again."

Li Xian sighed deeply.

The surrounding mountains and forests were all owned, and Li Xian had thought that he would never be able to shoot a bow and arrow again in this life.

Unexpectedly... there was such a thing as winter hunting in Yihe Village.

The wooden bow was decorated with animal hair.

After Li Xian hunted, he would take the animal's hide and attach it to his bow as a keepsake.

Li Xian raised the wooden bow.

[Skill: Archery]

[Proficiency: 997/1000 Mastery]

[Description: Proficient in standing, running, and leaping shots; capable of precise sword strikes even in complex terrain. More than capable of hunting deer and tigers.]

Before activating "Heaven rewards diligence", Li Xian had already mastered archery.

The moment I picked up the bow, a strange feeling arose spontaneously, and with each breath, I felt as if I had become one with the bow.

"A skilled archer must also be a skilled martial artist."

"The body is like a bow, and the sinews are like a string."

"Breathing is steady..."

"The eyes are secondary."

Inside the wooden box were three wooden arrows. Li Xian skillfully nocked the arrows and shot them. With a "whoosh," they flew out.

He shot an arrow several miles away and accurately hit a falling leaf.

[Natural archery skill, born with divine marksmanship, proficiency +15]

[Skill: Archery]

[Proficiency: 12/1500 Minor Mastery]

[Description: Arrows fly like shuttles; your arrows will be more accurate, faster, and more powerful! You have mastered the breath of the arrow, and through the rhythm of your breathing, you can sharpen your five senses.]

Li Xian's eyes lit up, and he drew his bow and shot again, his breathing slowing down... and everything in his eyes seemed to slow down even more.

With a twitch of his ears, he could hear the faint buzzing of flies; with a sweep of his eyes, he could spot a distant elk, noticing the muscle contractions and changes in its posture as it ran…

This allows us to predict the next landing point.

With a flick of the wrist, the arrow flew from the bowstring and struck the previous arrow directly.

With a "click".

The second arrow split the first arrow in two.

The difference between the two arrows is considerable. What appears to be a shift from "proficiency" to "minor mastery" actually hides a chasm-like gap.

Li Xian's archery skills had stagnated for several years. He had been unable to reach a high level of proficiency because of a bottleneck.

And now, this bottleneck has been broken through so easily.

...

...

Seven days later, at dawn, at Xiong Hu Mountain.

The sky was slightly dark, with a few wisps of dark clouds seemingly brewing.

This place has a unique topography, a feng shui pattern that breeds ferocious beasts and wild animals.

Even in the dead of winter, the forest here is lush and green, and the plants have not withered or fallen under the snow.

Standing at the entrance to Xiong Hu Mountain.

Looking inward, one truly doesn't know what to say. The scenery of spring and winter is mixed together, seemingly beautiful, but looking further into the dark depths of the forest, one can't help but feel a chill.

Not to mention...

The occasional roars of bears and tigers were so loud they made people's hearts uneasy.

"You asked me last time how to get into the Leisure Martial Pavilion?"

"Now we have the answer."

Pang Long was dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, carrying a giant bow on his back, and his rough features showed excitement.

The winter hunt every year is the most lively event in the village.

Because the lady likes it.

Li Xian had seen the lady once. Judging from her appearance alone, she was dignified, elegant, quiet, and noble, not at all like someone who enjoyed hunting.

"Commander Pang, you mean to say..."

"That's right, it's the Winter Hunt. You'll find out soon enough."

Pang Long stretched his muscles and bones, his flesh cracking and popping, showing that he was putting in all his effort for this winter hunt.

"By the way, your bow and arrows look quite unique."

Pang Long noticed Li Xian's wooden bow. "Does it have a name? My bow is called the Giant Stone Bow, and its draw weight is five stones."

Li Xian clicked his tongue in amazement.

If this arrow were shot, wouldn't it break the trees and turn the prey into mincemeat? How could that be considered "hunting"?

“My bow is called the ‘Deer-Shooting Bow.’ It only has two stones of stone, but that’s enough,” Li Xian said with a smile.

"A two-stone bow... it's a bit weak, but it's still acceptable."

The two chatted for a while longer and saw that all the guards from the village who were participating in the winter hunt had arrived one after another. Pang Long shouted three times, gathering all the guards in front of him.

Every year during the winter hunt, guards and the like can participate.

But Ding and his guards need to enter Xiong Hu Mountain in batches, not all at once.

At this moment, Li Xian saw many familiar faces.

Hua Hanying, Fang Tianyu, Jiang Yun, and others had all arrived at the scene. The bows and arrows they carried were of various types and appeared to be of quite high quality.

"The lady has given the order."

"The rewards for this year's winter hunt are generous."

“Shoot a deer and you will be rewarded with 700 coins; shoot a tiger and you will be rewarded with 1.2 taels of silver; shoot a bear and you will be rewarded with 1.5 taels of silver.”

"As for ordinary small animals, it depends on the situation."

"Whoever shoots three deer will be rewarded with an extra deer blood pill."

"The one who shoots three tigers can enter the Leisure Martial Pavilion and choose a martial art and a Tiger Blood Pill."

"Whoever shoots three bears will receive an extra bear gall pill, and their guard rank will be promoted one level."

"If it is a Class A guard, then it will be converted into other rewards."

...

Pang Long read out the rules of the winter hunt. Upon hearing this, the guards' eyes burned with fervor.

"Wild deer are rare creatures, and every part of them is valuable, worth at least ten taels of silver. In the end, the so-called reward is still just a little bit of oil that flows out from under the lady's fingernails."

Li Xian was preoccupied with the reward money.

But then I thought, the whole mountain belongs to the lady. The deer, tigers, bears... in the mountain also belong to the lady.

"Commander Pang, tigers, deer, and bears are huge. Even if you hit them, it would be difficult to bring them back from the mountains, wouldn't it?" Li Xian asked.

"Don't worry about that, let me finish."

Pang Long continued, "According to Madam's regulations, Class A guards will be awarded twenty Lingyu arrows, Class B guards will be awarded fifteen Lingyu arrows, and Class C guards will be awarded ten Lingyu arrows."

"As for Ding and others, they only have five feathered arrows. Only the prey hit by the feathered arrows can be considered as true prey."

“But you yourselves may also carry bows and arrows to harass the prey. But whoever kills the prey first with a feathered arrow shall have the prey.”

"The lady dislikes deception, and you shouldn't try to fool her. Who is she? She can tell from the arrow marks what angle you shot the prey and how."

Pang Long showered him with praise once more.

In the end, dozens of small "skin pouches" were removed.

"This item is called the Flesh Shrinking Bag, and it is made from the stomach pouch of the 'Greedy Python'. After hunting prey, simply wrap the Flesh Shrinking Bag around the prey, and then use your internal energy to compress the prey to the size of a fist."

Li Xian was taken aback upon hearing this.

Recalling the last time during the snowstorm, after the lady killed the snow demon monkey, the monkey's corpse disappeared in the blink of an eye.

It was probably this item that was used to subdue the Snow Demon Monkey.

Just as the [shrinking flesh bags] were being distributed, the lady rode up on horseback from afar.

(End of this chapter)