“Isn’t that Qiu Huang? Where did he get such a huge thing?”
“Is that a giant bear?”
“Yes, it definitely is. Just look at those bear paws.”
“My heavens, he killed a giant bear.”
“That’s impossible, isn’t it? A giant bear weighs at least three or four hundred pounds. It’s an absolute beast. Even tigers avoid confronting them head-on, let alone humans. If you encounter a giant bear, your only chance is to play dead. How could anyone possibly kill one?”
“Come on, let’s go take a look.”
…
The villagers all gathered around.
A man returning with a giant bear on his back was something the small mountain village had never seen before. Their curiosity was impossible to suppress.
“Qiu Huang, did you kill a giant bear?”
Qiu Huang replied, “Not us. We found it in the deep mountains.”
Carrying a giant bear back was already enough to cause a sensation. If he told everyone that he had actually killed it himself, the uproar would be even greater. Therefore, he chose a more conservative explanation and said they had found it.
If he had possessed the proper tools, he would have removed the bear’s internal organs before bringing it back. The giant bear was thick-skinned and difficult to process, otherwise he would have reduced its weight and attracted less attention.
“You found it? You mean it was already dead when you discovered it?”
Qiu Huang nodded.
“That’s right. By the time we found it, it had been dead for quite a while. Most of its blood had already drained out.”
So that was it.
The villagers suddenly understood.
None of them believed that Qiu Huang and three women could kill a terrifying giant bear. The only explanation they accepted was that the bear had died beforehand, and Qiu Huang’s group had happened to come across the corpse. Not wanting to waste it, they brought it back.
These were famine years. People were already eating grass roots and tree bark. If they found an animal carcass, as long as it wasn’t a human corpse, they would try to bring it home to eat—even if it was already rotten and crawling with maggots.
“What about these wild chickens and rabbits? Don’t tell me you found those too?”
Qiu Huang said, “You mean these? We hunted them ourselves.”
“You hunted them? Where did you hunt them?”
The villagers found that difficult to believe.
They themselves had gone into the mountains at dawn and searched until now without finding so much as a feather. Yet Qiu Huang’s group had returned with such an impressive haul.
How could they believe it?
“Didn’t I already say it? We went deep into the mountains. Everything here was found there.”
The deep mountains?
The villagers exchanged glances, fear visible in their eyes.
They knew the deep mountains contained valuable game. However, the risks were equally enormous.
As they had said earlier, several villagers had already ventured into the deep mountains this year and never returned.
“Young people really are different. Full of vigor and courage, daring to enter the deep mountains.”
A newborn calf fears no tiger.
If they were honest with themselves, none of them had the courage to venture into the deep mountains. Compared to game, they valued their lives more.
“If there’s nothing else, we’ll head home first. This thing is way too heavy. I’m exhausted. I had to stop dozens of times along the way just to carry it back.”
Qiu Huang gritted his teeth and deliberately acted as though he was struggling.
The villagers stepped aside.
Although they were envious of his harvest, none of them dared try to seize it in broad daylight. If they did, the authorities would not let them off.
“Let’s go.”
Once the crowd parted, Qiu Huang and the others continued into the village without lingering.
After they had moved away from the crowd, Song Yuwei quietly asked,
“Husband, why didn’t you tell them that we killed the giant bear ourselves?”
“Silly. Husband is hiding his strength. Think about it. If people knew he could kill a giant bear, how would they look at us?” Song Yufei explained.
Wanyan Meiling also nodded.
“That’s right. We need to keep a low profile. We absolutely cannot tell anyone that we killed the giant bear.”
“I understand now.”
After hearing their explanation, Song Yuwei immediately understood.
One should not intend to harm others, but one must always guard against being harmed by others.
Keeping a low profile was the key to survival.
…
At the edge of the village, Yan Roujun and the others had already returned to Qiu Huang’s home.
“You’re back. How was the harvest?”
Tang Shiyi, Su Yuexue, and Shan Feng immediately came out to greet them.
Yan Roujun said,
“Wild vegetables are extremely hard to find. We spent most of the day searching and only managed to gather this much.”
They set down their baskets and bamboo packs, revealing the day’s harvest.
The three women took a look and immediately felt disappointed.
There were simply too few wild vegetables.
For a household of eleven people, this amount would only last a single day.
“There are too many people gathering wild vegetables now. On top of that, it’s a famine year. The vegetables are picked before they even have a chance to grow. There’s really nothing we can do about it,” Yan Roujiao explained.
“Exactly.”
Murong Shiyun nodded.
This wasn’t their fault. They had already done their best.
Tang Shiyi and the others were not blaming them. They had gathered wild vegetables before and knew exactly how difficult it was. Being able to find this much was already considered a decent result.
“Where’s Husband? Hasn’t he returned yet?” Chen Yuanyuan asked.
“Not yet,” Shan Feng replied.
Su Yuexue said,
“Right now, all we can do is hope Husband and the others had better luck and managed to bring back plenty of game.”
At that moment, Tang Shiyi spotted something.
“Husband and the others are back.”
The women turned around and instantly brightened.
One man and three women were walking toward them.
“Husband!”
The women hurried forward.
When they saw the bamboo basket, their eyes lit up.
“Yuwei, did you really catch all of these?”
“Yes.”
Song Yuwei set the basket down.
The women looked inside and saw wild chickens, rabbits, fish, and several other animals. There was quite a lot.
“That’s wonderful! We won’t have to go hungry anymore.”
The women were overjoyed, and all of their earlier disappointment vanished.
“Shiyi, where’s the knife? Bring it over and help Husband cut away the vines,” Wanyan Meiling said.
Only then did the women shift their attention to Qiu Huang.
Their mouths immediately fell open, and their pupils contracted.
“Is… is that a giant bear?”
All of them had heard of—or at least seen—giant bears before.
These creatures were terrifying, immensely strong, thick-skinned, and incredibly heavy.
Ordinary people simply could not deal with them.