After refreshing the Information System today, Xu Changnian took one look and couldn’t help but exclaim in his heart that this was truly something.
The mountains were incredibly lively!
A pack of wolves was still locked in a fierce fight with a group of wild boars, and they still hadn’t decided a winner yet. They were still brawling in groups, pushing back and forth like a tug-of-war battlefield.
Unfortunately, Xu Changnian had no luck watching the show any further.
So his remaining options were either to go to the pond to catch fish or head up the mountain to hunt roe deer.
Under normal circumstances, hunting Roaming Roe Deer was surely the best choice. They were practically the easiest medium-sized prey to deal with.
Roe deer looked like spotted deer, but they lacked the same alert instincts. They even liked to join lively scenes.
The noisier it was, the more curious they got and the more they wanted to approach to have a look. That was why people always called them foolish roe deer.
However, Xu Changnian thought about his recent streak where Blessings and Calamities are Intertwined, then remembered the warning in the intelligence about the Roaming Roe Deer, mentioning that he had to be careful of the danger nearby.
Was there any need to take that risk?
No, there wasn’t.
Better to behave honestly and go catch fish instead.
In this freezing winter, just thinking about stewing two fish, eating the tender meat, and drinking milky-white fish soup was enough to make him feel wonderful already.
After making his choice, Xu Changnian went to the main hall and asked Xu Tielin for a fishing spear or fishing net.
“Going to catch fish?” Xu Tielin looked at him speechlessly and said, “We don’t have that kind of thing in our house.”
Xu Changnian was helpless.
There was no way to explain this. He definitely couldn’t tell them he had a Golden Finger, that the Information System had told him there was Schooling Fish in the mountains.
To outsiders, he simply looked like he was acting purely on sudden whims.
“Uncle, unless you beg me, I won’t tell you whose house has a fishing net,” Xiao Yue said as she sat by the stove eating honey dates, turning her head after hearing her grandfather speak.
“You know? And I have to beg you?” Xu Changnian glanced at Xiao Yue.
This little girl was getting less afraid of him day by day. Now she was even daring to name conditions. She really was getting bold.
Xu Changnian walked over, grabbed her, and pulled her into his arms, directly using her as his personal hand warmer.
“Uncle Ma’s house has a fishing net. I went to play at his home a few days ago and saw it with my own eyes. Really…” Soon, this little girl was completely subdued and obedient, quickly hiding into Shen Wei’s arms to escape.
Uncle Ma?
That was Ma Han, the same man who had brought half a bowl of Millet a few days ago to exchange for a bowl of chicken soup.
“I’m not going, I’m not going. Who told you to bully me?”
“I’ll ask one more time. Are you going or not?”
“I’m just not going~”
“Fine then, I’ll go borrow it myself. When I come back, I’ll put all the delicious food in my room. When I catch the fish, I won’t let you drink any of the fish soup. You can just stand at the side and watch.”
“Hey! Why are you like this? I’ll go borrow it now!”
It didn’t even take a few exchanges before Xiao Yue was completely subdued, terrified she would be a step too late.
Xu Changnian felt smug inside. This little girl, how could he not handle her?
However, Xiao Yue really did perform great service today, helping him secure the fishing net. Otherwise, he would have had to act like some wild man, stabbing into the pond with a wooden stick to catch fish.
Who knew how long it would take to catch even one?
Not long after, Xiao Yue returned together with Ma Han’s daughter, the two little girls dragging the fishing net back to the Xu family home.
“Didn’t we buy a lot of delicious food yesterday? Take your little sister and go enjoy it together,” Xu Changnian said.
“Thank you, Uncle Xu,” Ma Han’s daughter replied happily.
After sending the two little girls off to play, Xu Changnian packed the fishing net into the bamboo basket strapped to his back and walked toward Xiaoyue Mountain.
The weather wasn’t great today. The villagers at the entrance of Qingshan Village who usually gathered to watch him enter the mountains were noticeably fewer.
However, this time, Xu Changnian wasn’t in any hurry at all. He strolled slowly at the village entrance, occasionally adjusting his clothes and looking at the scenery around him, seemingly afraid people wouldn’t know he was going hunting.
After dawdling for quite some time, he finally headed toward Xiaoyue Mountain. Once he was up the mountain, he deliberately took a secluded path.
“This kid went into the mountain, but why did he choose that road? That side leads to the shady part of the mountain. Isn’t he cold?”
“Hey, who knows? Maybe there’s something valuable over that way.”
“Let’s go, let’s quietly follow.”
As soon as Xu Changnian entered Xiaoyue Mountain, two shadowy figures appeared sneakily behind him, both carrying bows and arrows. They followed the trail of his footprints and tailed him from behind.
After entering the mountain, the small path twisted and turned, and soon Xu Changnian’s figure disappeared completely.
All they could do was follow his footprints. Thankfully, the two of them were rather experienced.
They moved forward for several hundred meters, reaching halfway up the mountain, when suddenly all traces completely disappeared.
“This brat, how does he not leave any traces at all? Does he not even need to track prey when hunting?”
“Who knows?”
“How can anyone hunt like this? I really don’t get it. Why is it that he always manages to bring something back every day?”
The two men stared blankly at the desolate surroundings, stunned where they stood, but eventually could only continue forward.
After the two gradually disappeared deeper into the forest, from behind a large tree, Xu Changnian put away his bow, arrows, and hunting knife. Originally, he had wanted to use this opportunity to fish out the people secretly backing Liu Ermazi, but unexpectedly, he instead attracted these two.
Zhang San and Wang Wu.
Both were young hunters in the village with around four or five years of experience. Compared to old hunters like Xu Tielin, who had been hunting for more than twenty years, they were considered fairly inexperienced newcomers. But their tempers were huge.
In recent days, after watching Xu Changnian enter the mountains every day and still always return with results, they started getting ideas and wanted to try their luck as well. And then… they simply ended up drinking cold mountain wind on the mountain.
In Xu Changnian’s view, these two were just jealous and wanted to follow behind him to pick up scraps.
Looking in the direction they continued heading, Xu Changnian sneered slightly. On the back of Xiaoyue Mountain, the Wild Boars vs. Wolves battle was still ongoing. They could represent Qingshan Village and go watch the lively disaster up close.
After shaking them off, Xu Changnian switched to another route and, under the precise guidance of the Intel Interface, headed toward the pond with fish.
Awoooo—
Not long after moving forward, Xu Changnian’s body trembled slightly as the distant wolf howls echoed across the mountains. The sound was loud and resounding, clearly coming from the backside of Xiaoyue Mountain. It seemed Zhang San and Wang Wu were truly blessed with “good fortune.”
Xu Changnian’s gossip-loving instincts made him want to go take a look, but rationality told him that going there was no different from adding himself as extra food for wolf cubs. He thought to himself that since their intentions were not kind and they insisted on following behind him to engage in such shady behavior, then encountering wolves was simply their deserved misfortune. They could only rely on themselves now.
After traveling through the forest for quite some time, when he finally reached the western side of Xiaoyue Mountain, he at last saw his destination.
A pond of considerable size, about a few hundred square meters in area. Under the precise guidance of the intelligence, Xu Changnian instantly spotted the Schooling Fish in the pond. In winter, such a cluster of fish was commonly called a “fish nest.”
As for why fish gathered together, the reasons were many, but the key point was that fish were afraid of the cold too. Just like humans, they huddled together to keep warm so they wouldn’t freeze to death. Looking at the plump crucian carp clustered inside the fish nest, Xu Changnian couldn’t help but smile. He could catch them all in one go.
After confirming his target, Xu Changnian immediately began preparing, wanting to finish this as quickly as possible. The sky was getting darker and darker, and if things went quickly, it might start snowing in the afternoon. If the mountain got completely sealed by heavy snow, that would be very troublesome.
The fishing net from Ma Han’s house was woven from hemp rope. It was rather rough, and after getting wet, it would become extremely heavy, with mesh sizes uneven everywhere. It was quite a poor-quality net. Families with slightly better conditions would use cotton thread nets instead, which were both lighter and more durable.
But in Qingshan Village, there was no choice. If it weren’t for Xiao Yue’s reminder, Xu Changnian wouldn’t even have this rough hemp net and would have been forced to stab fish in the pond with a wooden stick instead.