Making A Fortune Through Hunting To Support My Wife - Chapter 12

With her canteen filled with boiled water and a cloth bag packed with about ten fragrant, soft vegetable flatbreads, Xu Jing had her rations set for the next two or three days in the mountains.

Xu Jing shouldered her hunting bow, took up her meticulously crafted long spear, and after confirming her gear was complete, nodded toward Song Yu.

“I’m leaving. For these next few days, I’ll have to trouble you to look after the house.”

In the kitchen, Song Yu’s hands paused while washing dishes. She let out a faint, almost imperceptible “mm.”

Xu Jing knew the girl wasn’t close to her and didn’t mind. She waved her hand and strode out with large steps.

Watching Xu Jing’s retreating back, Song Yu pursed her lips. Her gaze inadvertently flickered to the charred dregs of medicine in the corner. Driven by some inexplicable impulse, she looked up at the figure that was now just a glimpse of a sleeve in the distance and said softly, “If you can’t catch anything… just come back early.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, a flash of annoyance crossed Song Yu’s eyes. It sounded like she was cursing Xu Jing to fail. Fortunately, the other woman was already far away and likely hadn’t heard.

Walking some distance from the kitchen, the corners of Xu Jing’s lips curled upward. Her little “wife” wasn’t as cold as she appeared on the surface, she knew how to care for people after all.

Reaching the courtyard, she found Grandma Xu chopping wild greens gathered from the fields. The greens were fat and tender, falling into neat, thin strips under the steady thud-thud of the knife. A few hens wandering the yard for food crowded around the old woman, pecking at the greens occasionally with soft clucks.

Hearing footsteps, Grandma Xu lifted her eyelids. Seeing Xu Jing’s outfit, she initially wanted to ignore her, but ultimately couldn’t help herself.

“I see your heart has gone wild. Instead of tending the fields properly, you’re learning to hunt? Hunting isn’t that easy. Didn’t you see Wang Hu? With a build like his, he was bitten by a wolf. If he weren’t lucky, he’d have left his life in those mountains…”

Not wanting to hear the lecture, Xu Jing interrupted: “Grandma, I cherish my own life. It’s getting late; I need to head up.”

Without waiting for Grandma Xu to erupt in anger, Xu Jing turned and left, walking swiftly.

Xu Jing intended to go for “big game,” so she didn’t linger on the outskirts of Dayue Mountain, heading straight for the inner depths.

Passing Wulong Mouth, she stayed alert near the forest opposite the steep cliffs. She didn’t spot Wang Hu, but she did see the traps he had set. The traps were covered with withered leaves, blending perfectly with the environment. Only a trained eye would notice the slight human traces. Above the pit, a carefully selected branch was pulled tight like a bowstring, hiding the cold glint of an arrow. If prey fell in, the result would be lethal.

Wang Hu is a master at setting traps, Xu Jing thought. However, the fact that the traps remained untriggered suggested he hadn’t caught the thief who stole his previous kill.

Xu Jing continued toward the cliffs. She planned to check the heights for signs of wild mountain goats. Fresh tracks would be ideal for tracking, if not, she’d just have to spend more time searching.

The cliff wall rose at a nearly 60 degree angle from the ground. The higher it went, the steeper it became a treacherous landscape overgrown with weeds. Without agility, climbing would be difficult. Xu Jing didn’t intend to go too high, only as far as her strength allowed.

After climbing a section, her eyes suddenly lit up. “Looks like this wasn’t a wasted trip. My luck is good.”

In the middle of some trampled, messy grass, she found several goat droppings. They looked relatively fresh, and a faint musky scent still hung in the air. Xu Jing crouched down, parting the weeds to investigate.

“Based on these hoof prints, there should be three to five of them.”

She stood up, wiped the grass juice from her hands onto some dry hay, and looked toward the horizontal extension of the cliff. Tracking them directly up the steepest rocks was too exhausting and unnecessary.

Xu Jing opened her palm. A bright green sprout unfurled, emitting a faint, shimmering green glow. Once her wood element ability recorded the information from the droppings, she withdrew the power. She scanned the terrain and made a decision.

Whether it was genuine luck or her keen analysis, Xu Jing bypassed the cliff and soon found new traces: fresher droppings and partially chewed grass. Without the steep wall blocking her, she followed the trail. The trees and brush grew denser, and human footprints vanished completely. This was the true inner circle of Dayue Mountain.

The forest was thick, home to venomous snakes and insects. Despite her repellent powder, she nearly got bitten by a triangular headed, ash-brown snake hanging from a branch. With a quick thrust of her spear and a well-aimed stone, the third “spicy strip” (snake) of the day was tucked into her bag.

Rounding a rocky outcrop, a valley with a deep, emerald pool appeared below. A small waterfall cascaded into the pool, and in the shallow marshes surrounding it, over a dozen sturdy wild goats grazed leisurely on the tender grass.

Xu Jing’s eyes snapped wide. She licked her teeth. “Mutton… I’ve almost forgotten what normal mutton tastes like.”

In the post-apocalyptic world, mutant meat was foul and stinking. Even when processed, it carried a heavy stench and caused side effects like nausea and vertigo. But when people are starving, they’ll eat dirt, let alone mutant meat.

She reluctantly pulled her gaze from the goats to scan the terrain, planning how to bag the most prey. Suddenly, her gaze froze on dark shadows moving in the forest on the opposite side.

Xu Jing had excellent vision. In the dappled sunlight, she saw pairs of eerie green eyes lurking in the brush. They were organized, moving with discipline, seemingly waiting for a leader’s command.

“Tch. I thought I’d have an easy catch. This is going to be a problem.”

The wolf pack had also targeted the goats. They were in a group, more familiar with the terrain, and possessed sharper senses. If her abilities were at even 10% of their peak, she might have fought the wolves and goats together. But now, she was just a “normal” person with a bit of residual power and better than average skills. She couldn’t take on a pack alone.

However, Xu Jing had a good mindset. She wasn’t disappointed. Even if she couldn’t get a goat today, she had discovered this resource rich valley.

As expected, the wolves circled and launched a fierce ambush. The goats fled, the wolves pursued, and a bloody hunt of nature unfolded. Xu Jing hid behind a rock, silently watching. Once the bleating and howling faded into the distance, she climbed down to the pool.

The pool was large, about one or two square kilometers. The lush grass at the water’s edge was marked with various tracks, goat, wolf, pig, deer… even bear.

She decided to make this her regular hunting spot. She selected a path frequently used by animals and began setting “waiting” traps. These wouldn’t stop a large beast, but they could snag smaller prey. Digging pits for big game was too much work with just a small hoe, especially since she hadn’t fully scouted the local predators yet.

Next time, I’ll bring some custom iron traps, she thought.

As she worked, her ears twitched. She stopped and listened intently. Movement?

She had kept half her attention on her surroundings. In a place like this, one careless moment could result in a fatal encounter. Xu Jing packed her tools and retreated to a distant rock, concealing herself. She used her ability to mask her human scent, projecting the smell of common vegetation instead.

About fifteen minutes later, a “grunt-grunt” sound echoed as branches rustled loudly. A plump wild boar with long black bristles emerged, its wet snout sniffing the ground.

“It really is one of these. Luckily it’s not fully grown, or it would be a struggle.”

Xu Jing’s eyes sparkled. A boar this size, though not a “tusker” yet, weighed over 200 pounds. It could fetch a high price, at least three or four silver taels at a high-end restaurant. That would clear a huge chunk of her debt.

The boar caught the scent left at her trap. It poked around and, luckily, stepped right into the snare. The branch snapped up, the rope tightening around its front leg. The boar let out a piercing, high-pitched scream.

Whiz!

Following the scream came a cold arrow. It tore through the air and slammed into the boar’s right eye. Blood sprayed, but the injury only made the boar more violent. It thrashed with such force that the branch groaned and the rope snapped.

Xu Jing had already stood up. She charged forward, her arm cocked back with the sharpened spear. With a twist of her waist, she hurled the spear into the boar’s soft underbelly.

Blood soaked the spear tip. The boar wailed. Xu Jing didn’t linger; she performed a silky maneuver to open the distance. An enraged boar is no joke, there’s an old saying: “One pig, two bears, three tigers.” A frenzied boar is arguably the most dangerous.

Since it was blind in one eye, Xu Jing stayed in its blind spot, circling and firing cold arrows to wear it down. When the boar finally tried to flee, she opened her palm. Her internal energy surged, causing the surrounding weeds to grow wildly, entangling the boar’s legs.

Xu Jing closed in, drew her prepared cleaver, and delivered a swift, brutal thrust to the neck. She twisted the blade, then stepped back to let the beast bleed out.

The boar collapsed, kicking up a cloud of dust. Knowing the blood would attract other predators, Xu Jing worked fast. She chopped down several wrist-thick saplings and used her rope to lash together a crude sled. After a quick cleanup to minimize the scent, she dragged the boar and fled the scene.

While Xu Jing was “battling wits” with the mountain, smoke was rising from the chimneys of the Xu household in Dayue Village.

Song Yu was busy in the kitchen. The only sounds were the crackle of firewood and the muffled, unpleasant shouting match between Grandma Xu and the neighbor, Mrs. Zhang.

She ate a quiet, tasteless dinner of coarse rice and salted vegetables with Grandma Xu. The atmosphere was heavy. Though the old woman said nothing, Song Yu could feel her mounting irritation.

The sky turned pitch black, swallowing the silhouette of the mountains. Only the cold, bright summer moon remained, accompanied by the endless chirping of crickets.