Filled with curiosity, Lu Yuan stepped closer.
Looking at the empty rabbit leg dangling from the rope, he then examined the muddy ground beneath his feet.
“These are…
wild boar tracks?”
In his past life, though Lu Yuan had never encountered a wild boar in reality, he had learned something about them through “Animal World.”
Lu Yuan: “Praise be to ‘Animal World.'”
So, after clearly seeing the several messy tracks beneath his feet, he recognized their owner at a glance.
“Dammit, how infuriating.
I worked so hard to set that trap, finally caught some prey, and in the end, it all went to some wild boar out of nowhere.
I can’t help but feel annoyed.”
Scanning his surroundings, he didn’t spot any immediate danger.
So Lu Yuan stepped forward and retrieved the hemp rope tied to the tree.
This spot could no longer be used for traps.
Animals had exceptionally keen senses of smell—once they caught the scent of blood here, they wouldn’t fall for the same trick again.
As for the other tools used to make the trap, since they were just branches stuck into the ground, they had already been trampled and snapped by that wild boar—no longer usable.
“Forget it, forget it.
Let’s go check the next spot.
Hopefully, there’ll be something there.”
“If that one’s empty too, then I’m afraid there won’t be any chance for a decent meal today.”
With that, Lu Yuan clenched his fists and glared fiercely at the ground trampled by the boar, growling: “Don’t let me catch you, or I’ll roast you into jerky.”
Wasting no more time, Lu Yuan gripped his machete and continued toward the next trap site.
As he walked, he kept observing his surroundings, looking for any place suitable for setting new snares.
After all, you might as well bag a hare while pulling weeds—it’s just a matter of convenience!
Unfortunately, Lu Yuan didn’t spot any droppings from small animals along the way, so he decided against setting any new traps.
However, as he drew closer to the second trap site, an inexplicable feeling of unease arose in his heart for no apparent reason.
So Lu Yuan quickened his pace.
When he was about fifty meters from the second trap site, Lu Yuan suddenly bristled like a startled cat, every hair on his body standing on end.
Then, fixing his gaze ahead, he suddenly noticed a massive yellow figure had appeared out of nowhere.
Golden-yellow fur with several black stripes running across it, an enormous body—it stood out strikingly.
As that figure revealed itself before Lu Yuan, the crunching sound of teeth chewing through bones echoed clearly through the silent depths of the forest.
With just one look, Lu Yuan recognized that figure.
“It’s a tiger.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.
How can I be this unlucky?
The first catch got eaten by a wild boar.
Now this one’s been eaten by a tiger.”
Just as Lu Yuan was frozen in shock, the tiger that had been leisurely chewing its prey suddenly looked up and stared straight at him.
Seeing Lu Yuan appear out of nowhere, the tiger in the distance stopped its chewing motion.
It bared its fangs at Lu Yuan, its eyes radiating a murderous ferocity, blood dripping unconsciously from the corners of its mouth.
For a moment, Lu Yuan didn’t know what to do.
Instinct drove him to flee.
Suddenly, as if something had struck him, his body, which had been about to turn around, stopped dead in its tracks.
A hint of a mocking smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
“Empiricism really is a killer!”
“The fear of fierce beasts from my past life nearly made me forget that I’m no longer a weakling.”
“Now I’m someone with a martial soul too.”
Adjusting his stance, Lu Yuan fixed his gaze firmly on the tiger before him.
“You really are out of luck!
In that case, I’ll make you the sacrificial offering for my successful martial soul awakening!”
The tiger, seeing this, seemed to feel its dignity had been challenged.
It spat out the half-chewed prey from its mouth and opened its gaping maw.
At that moment, as if it had made a final decision, the tiger charged forward with a fierce leap, lunging straight at Lu Yuan.
“Martial soul possession!”
Without a moment’s delay, Lu Yuan hurriedly summoned his martial soul.
As Kula’s figure materialized behind him, the tiger before him felt a threat of death emanating from the very depths of its soul.
But when it tried to retreat, it found it was already too late.
Fifty meters was nothing more than a few bounds for a tiger.
After his martial soul possession, Lu Yuan could clearly feel his strength had increased.
He tightened his grip on the machete in his right hand.
In just two breaths, the ferocious tiger had reached Lu Yuan.
Its mouth was wide open, and even from several meters away, Lu Yuan could smell a pungent, fishy stench.
At this moment, Lu Yuan’s heart suddenly began racing, his face brimming with undisguised excitement.
When the tiger was less than a meter away, Lu Yuan didn’t hesitate for an instant.
He sidestepped backward, just enough to clear a space for the tiger to pass by.
And in that incredibly short span of time, Lu Yuan swiftly raised his right hand and slashed forward.
In that instant, the sharp blade in Lu Yuan’s hand effortlessly sliced across the tiger’s neck.
With a heavy “thud,” a round tiger head fell to the ground, slowly rolling toward Lu Yuan’s feet.
The entire process had taken only a few seconds.
Stepping forward, Lu Yuan picked up the tiger head from the ground and examined his trophy.
Even now, everything that had just happened still felt utterly surreal to him.
There was no time for excessive sentimentality.
After deactivating his martial soul possession, Lu Yuan immediately walked over to the tiger’s carcass, grabbed its hind legs, and quickly made his way down the mountain.
…
Noon.
At this hour, smoke was rising from the chimneys of every household in Dihun Village.
Lu Yuan, meanwhile, was carrying the tiger down the mountain.
To prevent blood from splattering everywhere, he had plucked some large leaves along the way and tightly wrapped the tiger’s neck and head with rope.
At this time of day, the villagers were all busy cooking their meals at home.
So when Lu Yuan carried the two-hundred-pound tiger through the village, he didn’t attract any unwanted attention.
Upon returning home, Lu Yuan didn’t rush to rest.
First, he skinned the tiger and cut off the tiger’s penis, placing it into the medicinal wine his father had brewed.
As for the rest of the tiger’s meat, Lu Yuan divided it into dozens of pieces of varying sizes.
He planned to give some of this meat to the villagers who had helped him in the past.
As for the old village chief’s share, Lu Yuan set it aside separately.
After everything was distributed, what remained for Lu Yuan himself was still nearly a hundred catties.
He planned to dry this meat, turning it into air-dried tiger jerky.
After all, the weather was too hot now, and without refrigerators in this era, any uneaten meat would spoil quickly.
Taking advantage of the fact that there were still few people on the streets, Lu Yuan brought out the lotus leaves he had gathered some time ago, wrapped up each portion of tiger meat, placed them into his basket, and set off to deliver them.
…
Knock, knock, knock!
Lu Yuan knocked on the door of the first household.
Before long, a middle-aged woman dressed in coarse hemp cloth, her hair tied up with a thin cord, came and opened the door for him.
Recognizing that it was Lu Yuan, the woman quickly swallowed the food in her mouth and greeted him warmly: “It’s Xiao Yuan!
Come in, come in!
You’ve come at just the right time—Auntie just finished cooking.
Come in and eat with us.”
Seeing the woman step aside and invite him in, Lu Yuan smiled and said, “Auntie, I’m not here to mooch a meal.”
Giving Lu Yuan a playful glare, the woman said with feigned annoyance, “What’s this about mooching?
It’s just a little food.
Why are you being so polite with your auntie?”
Seeing this, Lu Yuan quickly explained: “Auntie, you misunderstand.
I’m here to bring you something.
As for lunch, I’ll eat at my own place.”
“This is the prey I caught with my traps today.
I’ve got other things to do—I’ll come eat at your place another time.”
With that, Lu Yuan handed the package to the woman, then turned and ran off to the next house.
Next, Lu Yuan visited five more households in succession.
At every single one, the people warmly invited him to stay for a meal after seeing who it was.
And Lu Yuan politely declined each time with a promise of “definitely next time!”