Chapter 33: Exhausted! Thrilling! This haul is a bloody windfall!

The brief excitement faded, and the harsh reality lay before them.

In the gully, six wild boar carcasses lay scattered haphazardly.

The largest male wild boar probably weighed three or four hundred catties.

Even the smallest weighed seventy or eighty catties.

Added together, they likely exceed a thousand catties!

Such a windfall harvest has now become a huge problem.

"Brother Qing Shan... with this much, how are we three supposed to carry it back?"

Liu Fugui stared at the mountain-like pile of wild boar carcasses, scratched his head, and the excitement on his face was replaced by deep worry.

This deep mountain forest is at least over ten li from the village.

The road is even more rugged and difficult to travel.

Even if they exhausted themselves to the bone, the three of them couldn't move this thousand-catty load.

Zhao Tiezhu also furrowed his brows, looking at these spoils soaked with sweat and blood, equally at a loss.

He is strong, but just thinking about carrying a two-hundred-catty dead wild boar through ten-odd li of snowy mountain roads makes one's scalp go numb.

What's more, there are six of them lying here.

Lu Qingshan naturally also understood the predicament at hand.

He walked around the wild boar carcasses once, examining them closely.

The wild boar's hide is rough and its meat thick; although the recent fight was dangerous, most wounds were in vital spots, so the meat quality is largely unaffected.

He pondered for a moment, then quickly formed a plan in his mind.

"Indeed, we can't haul it all back at once."

Lu Qingshan pointed to the most burly wild boar king, as well as a fat, sturdy sow and a male boar nearing two hundred catties.

"Tiezhu, Houzi, let's first drag these three big ones into the deep gully, find a concealed spot, and carefully cover them with snow and branches."

"It's cold in the mountains; they won't spoil if frozen for a day or two."

"But the bloody smell is strong; it might attract other beasts, so we must return quickly to deal with them."

He then pointed to the remaining three slightly smaller wild boars.

"Let's first bring back these three small ones, along with the rabbits we caught earlier."

"Once we're back in the village, we'll call for help to carry the remaining big ones!"

This is the safest course of action for now.

First secure part of the harvest in hand, safe and sound, while also being able to summon reinforcements.

"All right! We'll follow Brother Qing Shan's lead!"

Zhao Tiezhu replied in a deep, muffled voice, without the slightest hesitation.

Liu Fugui nodded repeatedly, feeling this plan was reliable.

Having said it, they got to work.

The three immediately sprang into action.

Working together to drag the three largest wild boars, they truly expended Herculean effort.

The heavy carcasses left deep drag marks in the snow.

With great difficulty, they moved them to a relatively flat, rock‑shielded corner deep in the gully.

Zhao Tiezhu swung his knife to hack off many pine branches, while Lu Qingshan and Liu Fugui continually scooped up thick snow with their hands, thoroughly covering the wild boar carcasses.

They tried to dispel the strong bloody odor and also conceal the traces.

After doing all that, the three were exhausted to the point of gasping; sweat beads that had just receded popped out again on their foreheads, steaming in the cold air.

Next, they began allocating the three small wild boars to carry.

The two smallest, about seventy or eighty catties each, Lu Qingshan and Liu Fugui each took one.

The somewhat larger one, also about one hundred thirty or forty catties, naturally fell onto the shoulders of the strongest, Zhao Tiezhu.

Lu Qingshan then had Liu Fugui separate the two frozen rabbits, tie them up, and hang one each on his and Zhao Tiezhu's waists.

Everything was ready.

"Let's go!"

Lu Qingshan gave a low shout, held his breath, gritted his teeth, and first flung a small wild boar onto his shoulder; the heavy weight made his body dip sharply.

He steadied his stance and stepped toward the village.

The way back was more than ten times harder than the way there.

On the way there, they were empty‑handed, their steps light, only feeling the biting mountain wind.

On the way back, their shoulders bore a weight enough to crush a person, while underfoot lay wet, muddy snow concealing hidden ice spikes and pits.

Carrying seventy or eighty catties on their shoulders over ten‑odd li of mountain road, each step felt like dancing on needle points.

The hard pig bones jabbed their shoulders, causing fiery pain that almost robbed them of sensation.

Zhao Tiezhu bore the heaviest one on his shoulder, also carrying a knife, hunting fork and other tools on his back, leaving him so exhausted his face turned purplish‑red from strain.

Their heavy panting in the quiet mountains sounded like a broken bellows.

With each step he took, a deep pit was left in the snow.

Liu Fugui, the weakest in build, staggered under the wild boar on his back, swaying like a scarecrow in the wind.

One moment of inattention, and his foot slipped!

"Ouch!" he cried out, seeing himself and the boar about to topple together into the snow!

"Houzi! Hold steady!"

Lu Qingshan, right beside him, sharp‑eyed and quick‑handed, thrust out his arm and gripped him tightly!

The huge pulling force made Lu Qingshan stagger as well, almost falling over.

"Th... thank... thank you, Brother Qing Shan..."

Liu Fugui was still shaken, his face deathly pale, feeling his calves trembling.

"This thing... is really damn heavy!" he complained, panting heavily.

"Heavy is right!"

Lu Qingshan's voice was low and deep yet carried an undeniable force, striking the two men's hearts.

"Think of the warm kang bed at home!"

"Think of that fatty pork, oozing oil, white as snow!"

"This bit of tiredness is nothing!"

Lu Qingshan's condition was slightly better than theirs.

Mountain Wild Heart, while unable to directly increase his brute strength, could let him more clearly perceive his body's limits, precisely adjust his breathing rhythm and footwork's center of gravity, and conserve stamina to the greatest extent.

Even so, his shoulders were sore from the Wild Boar's frozen, stiff body pressing into them, each breath drawing in cold air that stabbed his lungs.

The three lowered their heads and pressed on in silence.

Nobody spoke anymore.

In the silent mountains, only the sound of their footsteps—deep then shallow—creaking in the snow, and their increasingly ragged breathing remained.

But in stark contrast to their extreme exhaustion, their chests held a fiery, beating heart, brimming with uncontainable excitement and hope for the future.

Just thinking of the wife and children waiting eagerly for them on the heated bed at home

Just thinking of this unprecedented huge harvest that could bring earth-shaking change to their impoverished home.

All their aches and fatigue seemed to become insignificant.

Liu Fugui, panting with difficulty, imagined his frail younger siblings back home, their eyes widening and saliva dripping at the sight of this fat Wild Boar, and suddenly he felt a surge of strength in his legs.

Zhao Tiezhu thought that with this meat, his sick mother could have a full meal this winter, no longer needing to tighten her belt.

The rest could be exchanged for a good amount of money and grain; who knows—maybe next spring they could truly add a strong yellow ox to the family?

On his honest face, a silly yet hopeful smile appeared unbidden.

Lu Qingshan thought even further ahead.

This harvest was not merely about solving the immediate food and clothing crisis.

It was also the startup capital for his grand future plans, the first solid foundation for him to change his fate and make up for regrets.

He needed money, reliable hands, and to quickly gain a foothold on this vast yet barren black soil.

He wanted to give Yue E and Xiao Xue a truly stable, warm home, free from fear.

What he bore on his shoulders was no mere Wild Boar.

It was clearly a weighty responsibility, a burning hope!

The sun gradually slanted west; orange-red light pierced the bare branches, casting on the pure white snow three silhouettes bent under weight yet unusually firm, stretched long and long.

Just then, from deep in the silent mountains, a mournful, lingering wolf howl faintly drifted.

"Oooo—"

"A wolf?" Liu Fugui's neck jerked back instinctively, feeling tense.

Lu Qingshan prick up his ears, focusing; Mountain Wild Heart carefully discerned the sound's source and distance.

He shook his head and said in a low voice: "It's far off, not heading for us."

"Pick up the pace! We must get down the mountain before dark!"

The three said no more, clenched their teeth, and hurried on with heads down.

In their exhausted bodies, it seemed a new strength had been infused.

Finally, as the last glow of dusk was about to fade behind the western hills.

At the foot of the mountain, the familiar outline of the village came into view.

From every household's chimney rose thin cooking smoke, carrying the aroma of food, drifting in the cold air.

"We've arrived! Finally… finally arrived!"

Liu Fugui was almost moved to tears of joy, his voice hoarse beyond recognition.

Lu Qingshan and Zhao Tiezhu also stopped, gazing at that warm glow of lights.

The three exchanged a glance; on their exhausted faces broke out smiles of relief, from the heart.

They unconsciously quickened their pace again.

Carrying these three astonishingly heavy Wild Boars, like three moving small hills, they stepped forward one by one toward the soon-to-be-emptied, silent Shanwan village!