Chapter 137 Silly Roe Deer, Two at a Time.
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However, the four of them weren't very lucky. As dusk fell, Li's mother kept looking back and forth at the door, hoping that Li Shiyue and the others would be able to return.
As a result, Li Shiyue and the others didn't get home until it was completely dark.
"We didn't go far before we caught two rabbits and three chickens. My brother climbed a tree and raided two bird nests, getting a few eggs."
Li Shiyue emptied the frozen rabbits and pheasants from the basket and said this to Li's mother and Zheng Meiniang.
"Mother, I'm the one who shot this one!"
Li Xiatian happily pointed to a pheasant with very beautiful tail feathers on the ground, and turned to Zheng Meiniang to say.
"Sister is clearly talented in archery. If there is an opportunity in the future, we should ask Vice General Ma to give her some pointers."
With just these few items, how can we possibly present them in a presentable way?
Keeping it for our own consumption is fine, but giving it away as a gift would be embarrassing for them.
"Mother, skin it, bleed it, and air-dry it. We'll keep it for our family to eat during the New Year."
As for the gifts, I'll take a walk into the mountains early tomorrow morning and check on them again.
Li's mother wanted to tell Li Shiyue not to go, but seeing Li Shiyue's expression, she couldn't bring herself to say it.
The next day, the weather wasn't great. Just as dawn broke, you could see snowflakes falling from the sky, so it looked like it was going to snow that day.
Li Shiyue carried a few dried biscuits and a water bag and went out.
Li Qiutian, Li Xiatian, and Shi Tou all wanted to go with Li Shiyue, but Li Shiyue said to them, "You all know my speed. If we encounter a big guy, I can run away on my own."
But if you come with me, I'll have to take care of you, which will only hold me back.
It's best for me to go by myself.
Li Shiyue was telling the truth. They had no choice but to watch as Li Shiyue trudged through the snow towards the back of the mountain.
The whole day passed, and Li's mother was restless at home, going to the door eight hundred times a day.
"Didn't they say we'd be back by evening at the latest?"
It's getting dark, why hasn't October come back yet? Could something have happened to her?
Zheng Meiniang was tending the fire nearby. She offered a few words of comfort to Li's mother, but even though Li's mother knew how powerful Li Shiyue was, she was still anxious and uneasy.
As darkness fell completely, another layer of snow accumulated in the yard, reaching up to the calves when stepped on.
Li Qiutian dressed neatly and left the courtyard. When her mother saw her about to go out, she followed her out the door.
“I’ll go out and look for it. I know the route I usually take in October. I’ll go and see. If I find it, we’ll come back together.”
If I can't find her, I'll come back first, and we'll call Uncle Wangshui to help us look for her."
Li Qiutian turned to leave, but Li Wangming called her back at that moment.
"Take some stones and torches with you, and go together. At least you'll have someone to look after you."
If you get up the mountain and can't find the path, come back quickly. Don't let the path change in October and you get lost.
So, Stone, carrying a torch and a knife, went out with Li Qiutian.
Li Xiatian also wanted to go, but Li Qiutian persuaded him to go back. After all, although Li Xiatian was strong, he really couldn't keep up with Li Shiyue and Li Qiutian. Shi Tou, being a man, was naturally stronger than Li Xiatian.
Just like Li Shiyue said, if Li Xiatian goes there, not only will he not be of any help, but he might also be a burden.
Carrying torches, we went up the mountain. It was pitch black and we couldn't see anything except for a couple of steps ahead in the torchlight.
Neither Shi Tou nor Li Qiutian were afraid of the dark. The two followed the route that Li Shiyue often took. After walking for a while, Li Qiutian would call out "Shiyue" a couple of times.
Li Qiutian knew that Li Shiyue had very sharp hearing; she could hear him even if he called her from a great distance.
As it turned out, they had only just crossed a mountain, and were even tripping and falling on their bottoms when a clear whistle rang out!
It was the sound of the whistle that Li Shiyue made when he organized the people of Liujiatun to patrol the mountains!
Li Qiutian immediately exclaimed in surprise, "Stone, over there! The whistle is coming from that direction!"
After heading in that direction, it would take at least 15 minutes to cross the mountains and valleys before Li Qiutian saw faint lights ahead.
The two quickly ran towards that direction. As they got closer, Li Shiyue stood up and waved to the two running towards her, calling out, "Sister, over here, over here!"
Finally, they met. Li Qiutian immediately gave Li Shiyue a big hug, while Shi Tou called out "sister, sister" from the side.
Once he was sure everyone was alright, Li Qiutian finally had the mind to look at the things piled up next to the campfire that Li Shiyue had started.
"Oh dear, what is this? Why does it look so strange?"
Li Qiutian looked at the two corpses in robes on the ground and poked them twice: "October, did you kill this deer?"
Why doesn't this deer have antlers?
"Everyone talks about deer antlers, so why doesn't this deer have antlers?"
Stone squatted down to look at it and even touched it. Li Shiyue then sat down again and said to the two of them with a smile, "The male deer has antlers, but the female does not."
This isn't a deer, it's probably a roe deer.
I walked quite a distance before I spotted these two, and after following them for quite some time, I finally found an opportunity to strike.
Using the torch held up by the stone, Li Qiutian searched left and right but couldn't find any wounds on the two roe deer. She turned to Li Shiyue and asked, "Did you get these by waiting for them to come to you?"
How did you kill them? They didn't even have any wounds on them.
Li Shiyue used the "Invincible East's Embroidery Needle," which she hadn't used in a long time, and threw the needle into the roe deer's brain, piercing it through and killing it instantly.
It's just a tiny hole through the fur, barely noticeable unless you look closely, which is exactly what Li Xiatian meant by "no wound."
Li Shiyue felt that with further training, she could use the embroidery needle as a ranged attack skill. She even thought that the embroidery needle would be perfect for assassination, flying into the back of the head to directly destroy the brainstem and kill in one blow.
"I chased these two for most of the day and finally managed to take them down. By then it was already dark. I was so tired that all I wanted to do was light a fire, eat a few bites of bread, and head home. I never expected you guys to come looking for me."
Li Shiyue quickly ate the dry biscuits with water from his water bag, then used the snow beside him to extinguish the fire, intending to go home with Li Qiutian and Shitou.
She thought that if she didn't go back soon, Li's mother would get anxious and come looking for her herself.
Just as Li Shiyue had predicted, Li's mother, who was anxiously waiting at home, waited and waited but no one came back. She couldn't sit still any longer, so after discussing it with Zheng Meiniang and Li Wangming, the group of them took torches and went to Li Wangshui's house in front.
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