Chapter 22 Entering the Mountains (2)
Li Xiaoxiao signed a contract with no restrictions on ownership, meaning she didn't have any private property. Everything she owned theoretically belonged to the owners, so she had no objection to the fact that three of the four piglets had to be given to the masters: "Okay, we'll each have half a piglet."
When dinner was served, even Madam Liu was surprised: "Where did this suckling pig come from?"
Even Lord Meng, lying in his hospital bed, couldn't help but glance at it; the aroma of the roast suckling pig was something he couldn't help but miss.
Yingchun said, "They were wild boars that Xiaoxiao encountered while chopping firewood on the mountain today. She caught four and gave one to each of the Madam, the Aunt, and the Miss."
Madam Liu sighed, "It's so kind of her to think of that. Yingchun, give her that plate of cheese to eat."
Yingchun readily agreed.
Lord Meng couldn't eat anything else, but this time he did manage to eat a few slices of tender roast suckling pig. After finishing, he drank some herbal medicine and fell into a deep sleep.
It was rare that he had an appetite and ate half a bowl of rice. Liu was very excited and instructed Yingchun, "If Xiaoxiao can find any more wild game on the mountain, I will reward him when he comes back."
Li Xiaoxiao and Mao's mother shared a small wild boar in the kitchen. After listening to Liu's words, Li Xiaoxiao nodded: "I'll try my best."
Yingchun said happily, "My lord ate half a bowl of rice today. His appetite has returned, and he may be much better now."
Mao's mother prayed to the gods and Buddhas, saying, "May the Bodhisattva bless the adult so that he can get better soon."
Early the next morning, Li Xiaoxiao set off again in the oxcart. This time, with Liu's instructions, Mama Mao did not stop her and even prepared enough steamed buns for her to eat for a day: "Take these and eat them. If you can't find any wild game, it would be good to catch a few fish in the stream. Fish from the mountains taste much better than those raised in ponds."
Li Xiaoxiao hadn't found a water source in the mountains yet: "Okay, I'll go look for one by the water."
When they arrived at Hedong Village, the village chief and several families were already waiting for them. Li Xiaoxiao handed the cow over to them and then went into the mountains alone.
Last night, after returning home, the village chief randomly selected six households to rent oxen for half a day each. Today, the man who rented the ox looked at Li Xiaoxiao with curiosity as she walked into the mountains: "Village chief, we've prepared firewood and grass for her. Why is this young lady going into the mountains?"
Why not just go into the village, sit and wait until the cattle are used up, and then go home?
The village chief was taken aback. Wait, why was she going into the mountains alone? Was she really going to hunt wild game?
Thinking about how she claimed to be chopping firewood yesterday but actually caught four piglets, he couldn't help but wonder more. Villagers often went to the foot of the mountain to chop firewood, and wild boars basically didn't dare to come out. So where did she find the wild boar piglets?
Had she gone into the deep mountains alone? The village chief was horrified; there were wolves in the deep mountains!
Seeing that the person had already disappeared, the village chief decided to come back when he returned the cattle that night and give Li Xiaoxiao a good talking-to. He said that Qifeng Mountain was too dangerous and she shouldn't go in there casually. If something happened, she wouldn't be able to find anyone to call for help!
Having already gone through the area once, Li Xiaoxiao followed the marks she left yesterday and found the bamboo grove where the wild boar had been hiding. But the strange sight before her shocked her – where was the boar? Only scattered bloodstains and clumps of entrails remained at the scene.
Li Xiaoxiao rushed forward, squatted down and carefully examined the traces. The pile of bamboo leaves was full of mottled bloodstains and a large clump of foul-smelling pig intestines.
Such a big pig was actually eaten!
Li Xiaoxiao's expression was not good. She had finally caught such a big wild boar. She only needed to drink its blood for four days to accumulate enough energy to activate the necklace. Now it had been eaten by other wild beasts. It was simply outrageous.
There were few signs of struggle at the scene, which is understandable, since the wild boar was tied up and had no power to resist. However, this wild boar weighed at least three or four hundred pounds, and it only had a pig intestine left. Therefore, the attacker was not just a carnivore, but a group of them.
How many kinds of carnivorous animals live in the forest? Tigers, leopards, and wolves—these are the most likely.
She searched around for a while and found a small tuft of grayish-white fur. A look of understanding flashed in her eyes.
So that's it, it's a wolf.
Qifeng Mountain is inhabited by a pack of wolves.
She didn't feel sorry about losing a wild boar, but she was annoyed by having to hunt for fresh blood again.
But there's no other way; if we don't continue to replenish our blood today, all the blood we drank yesterday will have been for nothing.
She had no choice but to accept her fate and continue searching along the tracks left by the wolves.
Wolves only live deep in the forest. Fearing getting lost, she marked the way and unknowingly wandered further and further away until she heard the sound of flowing water.
She perked up; there was water.
She had eaten steamed buns to stave off hunger after walking for so long, but the water in her flask was gone, and she was extremely thirsty.
Upon seeing the water, she carefully observed her surroundings and, after confirming that there were no aggressive animals, jumped into the river and took a big gulp.
Finally, after she had drunk her fill, she took out two steamed buns and ate them while carefully surveying the terrain.
There were all sorts of footprints on the sandy patch washed out by the stream. She compared them carefully and found that there were bird footprints, wild boar footprints, wolf footprints, and even bear footprints.
Li Xiaoxiao looked up at the position of the sun; it was already high in the sky.
This is deep in the forest. It took her almost half a day to get here from the foot of the mountain. If she can't catch a wild animal and get out of here as soon as possible, she may have to spend the night here.
Although she was highly skilled and daring, there were wolves and bears around. She was fine alone, but there was a great risk in a pack.
Moreover, she only had a half-dull machete in her hand, which was not a powerful weapon.
She can only stay here for an hour at most before she has to leave.
She found a spot on the bank and carefully hid, waiting for the small animals to come to the stream to drink.
She has enough patience.
She didn't know how much time had passed, until she was almost asleep, when she finally heard a noise. A brown fawn finally appeared in her sight, cautiously approaching the riverbank, drinking water and looking around.
Li Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up, and she quietly picked up the wood-chopping knife, preparing to launch an attack when the other party was off guard.
But something was faster than her. Out of the corner of her eye, a gray-white figure darted out from the other side of the river and pounced on the deer that was drinking water.
The fawn flinched in fright and was about to turn and run away, but the gray wolf was not about to let it go. It pounced on the fawn, hissing and opening its blood-red mouth to bite its neck.
The roars of wild beasts are meant to intimidate, but the fawn was actually quite agile. However, the roars almost scared it out of its wits, causing it to slow down and be immediately pounced on. The wolf's gleaming white teeth then sank deep into its throat.
Blood gushed out, and at the critical moment, a woodcutter's knife fell from the sky and struck the gray wolf's nose with a "clang." The gray wolf howled and immediately took a step back, releasing its teeth from the fawn and baring fiercely at whatever had attacked it.
It was met with Li Xiaoxiao's fist, and this time she didn't hold back.
With lightning speed, his left hand grabbed the gray wolf by the fur on its neck, while his right hand punched its skull hard. With a crack, the gray wolf's head caved in, and its body immediately collapsed. It struggled a couple of times and then fell silent.
The little deer stood up shakily, trying to escape, but Li Xiaoxiao sighed, "I'm sorry, you can't leave either."
Its throat was bitten open, and blood kept gushing out. Li Xiaoxiao grabbed its neck, hardened her heart, and bit down hard.
The fawn slowly lost its strength to struggle and collapsed to the ground.
Li Xiaoxiao suppressed her nausea and couldn't drink anymore, so she tore the wound open a little more and poured the deer blood into the pot.
With this pot of deer blood, she shouldn't need to come again tomorrow or the day after.
She should have thought of this solution earlier; otherwise, she could have simply taken the pig's blood yesterday and wouldn't have had to make this trip today.
Half an incense stick later, she washed her face and rinsed her mouth to get rid of the bloody taste. She then took a woodcutter's knife, chopped a stick to use as a carrying pole, and carried the deer on one end and the gray wolf on the other, heading out of the mountain.
As dusk fell and the sun began to set, Li Xiaoxiao quickened her pace following the signs, finally reaching the foot of the mountain before it was completely out of sight.
There were many torches in front of them; they were villagers from Hedong Village who had come out to look for her since she hadn't come out.
"They're out! They're there!"
The villagers at the front saw her carrying two prey animals and immediately shouted out.
The village chief immediately squeezed to the front, staring dumbfounded at the two prey animals Li Xiaoxiao was carrying: "This, young lady, you, you went hunting?"
How could there be prey at this time? The villagers who came to help search for her immediately forgot about questioning her and surrounded Li Xiaoxiao. The torches they gathered together illuminated a small patch of land as bright as day.
It turned out to be a wolf and a deer.
The two wild animals together weighed over a hundred pounds of meat. The villagers only organized hunts in the winter when the weather was cold and the animals were unable to move easily. The prey was shared among the whole village. If they were lucky, each person could get a few ounces of meat. If they came up empty-handed, they would basically return empty-handed.
For a moment, almost everyone looked at Li Xiaoxiao with envy.
Even the village chief couldn't resist reaching out to stroke the gray wolf: "Wow, what beautiful fur! If this fur were sheathed, it could make a wolfskin coat that would keep you warm all winter!"
Li Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up: "You know how to use sheath skin?"
A man in the crowd suddenly spoke up excitedly: "I can!" It turned out to be an old hunter from Hexi Village. He stepped forward excitedly and carefully examined the gray wolf's body: "What fine fur! It's still warm. If you skin it now, the pelt will be soft and fluffy. A good wolf pelt can sell for dozens of taels of silver!"
Li Xiaoxiao immediately lifted the wolf off the ground: "Then you can help me with the sheath, and I'll give you the meat as your reward."
The old hunter's eyes lit up: "Really?" This wolf is no light creature, it must weigh forty or fifty pounds. If you skin it and remove its internal organs, you'll have at least thirty pounds of meat left. She just says she doesn't want it?
Li smiled and said, "That's right, I don't want the meat, I just want the fur. I still need a winter coat."
It's not Li Xiaoxiao's style to just throw away dozens of kilograms of wolf meat like that, but the reality is that she's been eating wolf meat for over a decade and is now so disgusted by wolves that she doesn't even want to take their blood, let alone their meat.
Moreover, winters in the apocalypse can reach minus fifty or sixty degrees Celsius. I wonder what the winter temperatures are like in Biyang County? Without the best fur coats, she fears she won't survive the cold winter.
Hearing that she had so generously given away all those dozens of kilograms of meat to the old hunter, everyone else in the village was incredibly envious. The old hunter grinned from ear to ear and immediately called his son over: "Daqing, come here quickly and help me carry the wolf back."
The hunter's son happily agreed and immediately went to help his father carry the wolf away.
Before leaving, the old hunter left Li Xiaoxiao with a message: "It takes at least two or three months to properly sheath a pelt. Come back to me in two months to get the wolf pelt, and I'll make sure it's perfectly intact for you."
Li Xiaoxiao responded and glanced at the sky, which was already too dark to see. She asked the village chief for a torch: "I won't be coming tomorrow. If you need oxen, just come to the back gate of the county government office and I'll lend them to you for three more days."
The village chief readily agreed and lent her the torch he was holding.
Li Xiaoxiao lit a torch, placed the fawn on the oxcart, and immediately drove the oxen toward the county town.
The remaining dozen or so villagers, carrying torches, their eyes gleaming with eager anticipation, said: "Village chief, there are deer and wolves in the mountains! We haven't eaten meat in ages..."
Even the hunters in the village only dare to go into the mountains to hunt in winter. This is summer, when wild animals are at their fiercest. How could Li Xiaoxiao catch such good prey?
The village chief was also very envious. This little girl had been in the mountains for two days. On the first day, she found four piglets, and on the second day, she even caught a wolf and a deer. Her luck was just too good...
He thought for a moment and said, "Once the autumn crops are all planted, we'll organize a trip into the mountains to see if we can find any good prey."
The villagers cheered and lit their torches as they went home.
The old hunter and his son Daqing carried the wolf home and immediately took out a knife to skin it.
Soon, the entire hide was peeled off, and the old hunter was stunned: "There wasn't even a single tear!"
A note from the author:
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