Qiu Huang possessed tremendous strength. With one slash of the machete, the branches on the large tree shook violently as if they were being blasted by strong winds.
Inside the hive, the bees sensed the violent shaking. Several bees quickly flew out and inspected the surroundings. Before long, they locked onto Qiu Huang and buzzed straight toward him.
“Husband, watch out for the bees!”
Seeing the bees flying toward Qiu Huang, the four women below immediately became nervous. Bees could sting people, and being stung was extremely painful.
Up in the tree, Qiu Huang saw the bees coming at him, but he was not afraid because he had already prepared for this. He waved the torch around to keep the bees from getting close.
The smoke from the torch was highly effective at driving bees away. This was a common method used for collecting wild hives and honey.
At the same time, Qiu Huang hurriedly swung the machete and chopped fiercely at the tree trunk.
With the strength of twelve adult men, cutting through part of the trunk was incredibly easy for him. Before long, the trunk was severed, and the entire section began crashing down toward the ground.
“It’s falling! Run!”
Seeing the tree section collapse, the four women below were so frightened that they immediately scattered and fled far away.
After all, it was not just the tree trunk falling. The beehive was coming down too, and if they got stung by the bees, the experience would definitely not be pleasant.
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Qiu Huang tucked the machete back into his waist and climbed down from the tree.
Once he landed on the ground, he looked up at the hive. It was extremely large, so large that one person could not even fully wrap their arms around it. Judging by its size, there should be plenty of bee larvae inside.
At that moment, bees still flew around the outer edges of the hive, vigilantly patrolling the surroundings. The moment they detected anything suspicious, they would attack immediately.
“Shiyi, all of you stay farther away and don’t get stung.”
Qiu Huang reminded them.
“Husband, don’t worry. We’re already very far away.”
A voice came from somewhere in the distance. From the sound alone, Qiu Huang estimated they were at least thirty meters away, which reassured him.
At this moment, the only thing the four women could do was obediently follow Qiu Huang’s instructions and avoid causing trouble for him. They believed that with his abilities, he could solve any problem.
With no worries left behind, Qiu Huang carried the torch while bringing over the bamboo basket filled with dry grass and firewood. Carefully, he approached the hive.
The moment he got close, the bees launched an attack without hesitation.
Qiu Huang waved the torch continuously to drive them away while slowly advancing toward the hive.
Affected by the smoke, the bees did not dare approach him. Before long, he reached the hive itself.
After examining it, Qiu Huang dumped the dry grass and firewood from the basket beneath the hive and lit it with the torch, using smoke to drive away all the bees.
This process lasted for about ten minutes. Once he felt the bees had mostly dispersed, Qiu Huang drew the machete again and began harvesting the hive, placing the pieces into the bamboo basket.
“All done. You can come out now.”
Qiu Huang carried the basket away while carefully extinguishing all the flames. Forest fire prevention was something that could not be ignored.
“Wow, Husband is amazing.”
The four women ran out from wherever they had been hiding and looked at Qiu Huang with endless admiration in their eyes.
This was their husband—an almost invincible existence. As long as he took action, there seemed to be nothing in this world he could not accomplish.
“This hive is huge. There should be plenty of bee larvae inside.”
The women looked at the hive in the basket. It already occupied most of the basket’s space, and the baskets they carried were originally very large to make transporting items easier.
Qiu Huang carried the basket over to where he had left the basket of houttuynia cordata. He picked up the herbs and dumped them on top of the hive.
“Husband, what are you doing?”
The four women did not understand.
Qiu Huang replied, “Hiding it from plain sight. If we cover the hive with the herbs, other people won’t notice it.”
Their previous hunting trip had already caused quite a sensation, so this time they wanted to keep a lower profile and avoid making others jealous.
The four women exchanged glances. They had not expected Qiu Huang to be so cautious and careful. In the future, they realized they would need to learn more from him.
“Let’s cover the other prey with the herbs too.”
Since they were hiding things, they might as well do it thoroughly.
“Let’s go home.”
After finishing everything, the five of them carried their baskets and left the deep forest.
On the mountain path, the other hunters were also gradually returning.
“Old Li, your harvest today is pretty good. You actually caught a pheasant.”
“Just lucky, just lucky.”
“My luck was terrible. I wandered in the mountains for half the day and found nothing. In the end, I only caught two tiny fish from a stream. Otherwise, I really would’ve returned empty-handed.”
“Hahaha.”
…
The group chatted and laughed together, completely unaware that hidden within the bushes was a pair of terrifying eyes staring directly at them.
“ROAR!”
No one knew how much time had passed before a thunderous roar suddenly exploded through the forest.
“What was that?”
The people instantly stopped and turned around. The moment they looked back, they were terrified out of their minds.
“A tiger! A tiger!”
The men trembled violently in fear. Looking at the enormous beast before them, their legs turned weak, and they could not even move.
Tigers, also called “great beasts,” were the most terrifying creatures in the deep mountains. They were ferocious to the extreme, and every year people died in their jaws. Fear of tigers was practically carved into the depths of their souls.
“A tiger.”
Not far away, Qiu Huang, Tang Shiyi, and the others had just emerged from the forest and happened to witness the scene. Even they were startled badly.
Even the usually fearless Wanyan Meiling was trembling so badly she could barely stand. She feared tigers deeply because her father had died beneath a tiger’s claws. To her, these creatures were horrifying beyond words.
The tiger glanced at Old Li and the others before locking onto both him and the pheasant in his hands. With a furious roar, it lunged toward him.
Old Li was already terrified senseless. Seeing the tiger pounce at him, he had no idea how to react. He could only close his eyes and wait helplessly for death.
Whoosh!
Just as the tiger was about to kill him, a bamboo arrow suddenly shot through the air and struck the tiger directly.