Zhong Muyu reminded him, "Don't be too happy. I don't know how to hunt, so whether you get to eat meat depends on yourself."

“That’s easy! I used to come in first place in the autumn hunts in the palace.”

Autumn hunting...

Zhong Muyu recalled that such a thing had indeed happened back in the palace. However, the original owner preferred quiet and had no interest in watching others hunt during the autumn hunt.

"Don't make too much, just enough to eat."

Zhong Muyu took some of the hunting tools and handed the bow and arrows to Lu Ziyuan.

Uncle Zheng used to hunt to supplement his family's income when he was young, so he has all the necessary hunting tools. Now that he is older, he usually uses animal traps to catch rabbits when he goes up the mountain.

Lu Ziyuan stopped Zhiyu from following, so it was just the two of them on this trip.

The mountain path was rugged and difficult to traverse, and because they were unfamiliar with the route, the two dared not go too far. Zhong Muyu simply thought they had come to the mountain to relax, and before they had gone very far, she had already woven a flower bracelet out of grass.

"etc."

Lu Ziyuan gently pressed down on her shoulder.

Seeing his serious expression, Zhong Muyu followed his gaze and saw a pheasant perched on a tree not far away.

It was a male pheasant with long tail feathers and a powerful call. Zhong Muyu nodded silently, and then saw Lu Ziyuan next to him draw his bow and nock an arrow, pointing it directly at the pheasant.

With a whoosh, the pheasant fell from the tree.

"Great, great, the first dish is sorted out."

Zhong Muyu gave a thumbs up, then jogged over and picked up the plump pheasant.

Hearing the praise, Lu Ziyuan felt very proud: "Your husband's abilities are not limited to this one thing."

"Then keep performing. There are five of us, and one pheasant isn't enough to go around."

As soon as Zhong Muyu finished speaking, the bushes not far away began to sway.

Lu Ziyuan was the first to react, pulling Zhong Muyu behind him and pointing his bow and arrow directly at the bushes.

Although it's broad daylight, there's no guarantee that there aren't wild animals hunting for food here.

At the critical moment, a person emerged from the bushes.

"Huh? Red Bamboo?"

Zhong Muyu was quite surprised to find that Chi Xuanzhu was also on the mountain.

At this moment, he was dressed in a neat short-sleeved shirt, and compared to before, he had lost some of his scholarly air.

Zhong Muyu walked over and said, "Oh, it's you! You scared me to death just now. I thought it was a wild animal."

"Your Highness, Your Highness."

Chi Xuanzhu bowed to the two of them.

Zhong Muyu asked, "What are you doing here? Are these tools... you're hunting?"

Chi Xuanzhu smiled shyly: "When I have nothing to do, I also come to the mountain to hunt for a while."

"I didn't know you could hunt! That's amazing!"

(Lu Ziyuan's rage value +10)

Chi Xuanzhu said, "My skills aren't very good. I haven't managed to get anything today, and then I ran into you. It's such a coincidence."

"It is quite a coincidence."

Lu Ziyuan spoke up at the right moment and moved Zhong Muyu behind him.

Why has this man he hates shown up again?!

Lu Ziyuan looked him up and down: "Since you didn't get anything, don't waste time chatting, lest you come back empty-handed when it gets dark."

"Your Highness need not worry about that. Xuanzhu is confident that he can catch a satisfactory prey."

Zhong Muyu stared at the two of them, sensing that something was off...

She could understand Lu Ziyuan's pettiness, but Chi Xuanzhu, who was usually gentle, now had a rather frightening aura.

Lu Ziyuan suddenly chuckled: "Since Mr. Chi is so confident, why not have a contest?"

Zhong Muyu's smile froze on her face: "Isn't that unnecessary?"

To everyone's surprise, Chi Xuanzhu agreed: "Of course I am happy to compete, but everything in nature is a gift from heaven, and its use must be limited. I cannot kill lives just to compete for superiority."

Zhong Muyu completely agreed with this statement.

Seeing Zhong Muyu's agreement, Lu Ziyuan felt his anger level about to surge again.

"Then we will not kill indiscriminately. We will only capture five prey. Whoever captures enough first will win."

Just as Zhong Muyu was about to advise them that it wasn't necessary, she heard Chi Xuanzhu's voice: "Let's do it this way."

Is this a fight to the bitter end?

They started immediately, keeping a close eye on the bushes and not missing a single rustling sound.

Suddenly, Lu Ziyuan shot an arrow and caught a rabbit. Immediately afterward, Chi Xuanzhu also shot an arrow and caught a pheasant.

Chi Xuanzhu's skill level is not bad either.

Zhong Muyu looked at the two of them. Neither of them would give in to the other. Basically, if the first one caught one, the other would catch the other as well.

Soon, both of them had caught four prey.

The outcome hinges on this moment.

At that moment, a rabbit flashed past Chi Xuanzhu, and he quickly nocked an arrow. At the same time, a fiery red fox appeared near Lu Ziyuan.

He was overjoyed; foxes were rare indeed, and if he caught one, he could make a fox fur shawl for Zhong Muyu.

Chi Xuanzhu also saw the fox, but when he saw that Lu Ziyuan's target was the fox, he immediately changed his target.

Lu Ziyuan's arrow had already left the bowstring, but Chi Xuanzhu's target was not the fox; instead, it was to deflect Lu Ziyuan's arrow.

The fox and rabbit were both startled and ran away. Lu Ziyuan was surprised by Chi Xuanzhu's archery skills, but he was even more angry.

"what you do?"

"Let that fox go, I admit defeat to the prince."

"What do you mean by this? Are you trying to humiliate me?"

He could see clearly that Chi Xuanzhu had spotted the target earlier than him. If it weren't for Chi Xuanzhu trying to stop him from catching the fox, Chi Xuanzhu would have won.

Chi Xuanzhu shook his head: "Xuanzhu did not mean that. I just often heard the villagers say that foxes are spiritual beasts in the mountains. If they attain enlightenment, they can transform into immortals and protect the land. Therefore, I cannot bear to do it."

"Hmph, nonsense."

The people in this village are indeed superstitious.

However, Zhong Muyu didn't think Chi Xuanzhu was superstitious. He had helped him cause a ruckus at the sacrificial ceremony, so how could such a person be called superstitious?

In Zhong Muyu's view, he simply couldn't bear to hurt that fox.

Zhong Muyu stepped in to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, we're just out hunting, is it really necessary to make such a fuss? We've already caught quite a lot, enough to eat for a few days. It's good that we didn't hunt the foxes."

Chi Xuanzhu said, "Thank you, Your Highness. Please accept these game as a token of my appreciation for this chance encounter."

"No, no, no, I can't just take your things. We have plenty of our own!"

After a tense struggle, Chi Xuanzhu only took two rabbits with her, leaving the rest for Zhong Muyu.

Watching him leave, Lu Ziyuan warned Zhong Muyu, "This man is no ordinary person. You should avoid contact with him in the future."

"It's extraordinary that they didn't hold your pettiness against you and even challenged you to a contest."

"Zhong Muyu, I'm serious."

"I'm serious."

Zhong Muyu picked up the prey from the ground: "That's enough, let's go back."

Seeing that Lu Ziyuan didn't move, he said, "Are you still angry? Let's go. How about I make whatever you want to eat tonight?"

Zhong Muyu looked helpless; after all, it was someone else who had hunted the prey.

Hearing her say that, Lu Ziyuan finally followed along reluctantly.

This petty man has a temper like a child when he gets angry, he's really hard to deal with. We have to set some more difficulties for him so that he'll back down.