Chapter 4: Forging Gear, Back to the Mountains — Every Rustle and Birdsong Heard!

The daughter's soft, tender "Dad is great" was like a weak yet scalding warm current, instantly breaking the ice that had accumulated in Lu Qingshan's heart for years.

This warmth let him temporarily forget the bone-chilling cold.

It also made him clearly realize that relying only on this bit of luck and crude traps could not support this family.

He needed real ability.

He needed tools that could steadily bring in harvests.

After eating that meat broth with almost no oil, the house fell silent again.

Lin Yue'e held the sleeping Xiao Xue, her back to him, like a silent stone statue, though her shoulders were no longer as tense as before.

Xiao Xue smacked her lips, seemingly still savoring that bit of meat flavor.

Lu Qingshan looked at their thin backs, his heart feeling as if a heavy stone weighed upon it.

He stood up, walked to the corner, and looked at the rabbit skin that had been stripped clean.

This bit of fur is too little.

It's far from enough to exchange for money.

He took a deep breath and made up his mind.

He must make tools!

A usable slingshot, a few reliable traps—that's what's most practical right now.

He began searching inside the house.

A plank from the head of the bed in the small house was taken off.

A few wires, somewhat rusty, were hidden in the corner.

He even took out the rabbit skin left over from yesterday.

Then he greeted those inside the house.

"I'm going out for a bit."

Without waiting for a reply, he pushed the door open and stepped again into the biting cold wind.

The night was deep; the village was pitch black, with only a few scattered dim yellow lights.

He rubbed his hands, frozen and stiff, and headed straight to Li Laonian's house at the village's edge.

Li Laonian, the village's old bachelor, was said to have been a skilled hand in his youth; after injuring his leg, he lived alone weaving baskets, occasionally doing carpentry work for villagers.

"Thump thump thump."

He lightly knocked on the mottled wooden door.

After a while, the door creaked open a crack.

In the dim oil-lamp light, Li Laonian's wrinkled face appeared, his eyes cloudy, with a hint of wariness and distance.

Seeing it was Lu Qingshan, he faintly furrowed his brow.

"Uncle Laonian." Lu Qingshan forced a stiff smile, handing over the rabbit skin, "I... I want to exchange this for something."

Li Laonian's gaze fell on the rabbit skin, lingered a few seconds, then he lifted his eyes to assess Lu Qingshan.

"This kid, today he seems a bit different?"

"Exchange what?" His voice hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time.

"Some sturdy hemp rope, and... is there any thick iron wire suitable for making a slingshot? The harder kind." Lu Qingshan's tone carried a tentative plea.

Li Laonian remained silent, turned, and went inside.

The house was in disarray, piled with bamboo strips and half-woven baskets, smelling of tobacco and dust.

He was rummaging through a broken wooden box in the corner.

Lu Qingshan stood at the doorway, feeling a bit nervous.

After a moment, Li Laonian came out holding a small roll of yellowed coarse hemp rope, a piece of soft rubber, and a blackish spring with rust spots.

That steel piece seemed to be a spring taken off some machine.

"That's all." He handed the items to Lu Qingshan, "The rope is still sturdy; the rubber and spring—you figure it out yourself."

Lu Qingshan took the items, feeling their weight, and a surge of wild joy rose in his heart.

"Thank you, Uncle Laonian! Thank you so much!" He hurriedly shoved the rabbit skin into Li Laonian's hand, then pulled out the last wrinkled cigarette butt from his pocket, "Uncle Laonian, take this cigarette."

Li Laonian glanced at him, didn't refuse, and silently accepted it.

Lu Qingshan said a few more grateful words, then held the items and hurried home.

Returning to the cold earthen house, Lin Yue'e was still awake, leaning against the kang, holding Xiao Xue in her arms, pondering something in the faint firelight from the stove.

Seeing him return, her eyes shifted, landing on the items in his hand, a flicker of doubt passing through.

Lu Qingshan said nothing, walked to the stove, set the items down, and began to work busily in that faint firelight.

He first needed to straighten this thick spring.

He had no pliers, no wrench, only a rough stone picked up from the ground.

He crouched on the ground, striking it repeatedly with force.

The spring was very hard; straightening it took great effort.

"Clang... clang..."

The monotonous, grating sound rang out in the quiet little house.

Sparks occasionally flew, illuminating his focused, sweat-beaded forehead.

His fingers quickly wore through the skin, oozing blood beads, burning with pain.

But he seemed not to feel it, gritted his teeth, and kept striking.

The perception of Mountain Wild Heart seemed to give him a deeper understanding of the spring's material, and his striking force became more measured.

Lin Yue'e watched silently.

Watching his clumsy yet extraordinarily earnest movements.

Watching the sweat on his forehead and the bloodstains on his fingers.

Watching in his eyes that kind of focus and... ruthlessness she had never seen before.

After an unknown time, having switched two stones, when Lu Qingshan finally hammered the spring into roughly a handle shape, he was exhausted to the point of near collapse.

He shook his sore arms, panting heavily.

Just then, Lin Yue'e suddenly got down from the kang and walked to his side.

She said nothing, pulling from the corner's sewing basket a small piece of relatively clean old cloth, which she handed to him.

Lu Qingshan stared in shock, then lifted his head.

In the dim light, he couldn't make out her expression.

But he could feel that her hand handing over the cloth trembled slightly.

His heart felt as if lightly tapped by something.

He took the cloth, roughly wiped the blood off his hands, his voice hoarse: "... Thanks."

Lin Yue'e quickly withdrew her hand, turned back to the kang, still facing away from him.

But Lu Qingshan's mood, because of this small gesture, became somewhat different.

He continued working.

He selected a hardwood strip taken from broken furniture, shaving it bit by bit with a firewood knife to make the handle better fit his hand.

Then he wrapped the handle with that piece of wire from home, continuing to reinforce it.

Mountain Wild Heart let him sense the direction of the wood fibers, avoiding hidden knots.

Finally, he tied a soft rubber strip to the handle as a bowstring, and a simple slingshot was made.

He stretched his waist, rested a moment, then continued fine-tuning and reinforcing.

Sleepless through the night.

When the first fish-belly white appeared on the horizon.

A slingshot that, though crooked, looked quite powerful.

Several spring-wire-modified traps, with a more ingenious structure, for catching animals and mice.

They finally appeared in Lu Qingshan's hands.

He walked into the courtyard, picked up the slingshot, and gave it a test pull.

He loaded the slingshot with a stone, pulled it full, and instantly released.

With a "whoosh" of tearing wind, the shot stone sank into the snow, leaving a small hole; the force was great, and Lu Qingshan smiled satisfied.

Done!

The perception of Mountain Wild Heart, too, seemed to become clearer with that night's focus.

He could more keenly detect the mountain forest's unique, fresh yet complex scent in the air.

Lin Yue'e had already awakened, leaning by the door, silently watching him.

In her eyes, fear still lingered, but more so was an indescribable complex emotion.

This man, it seems, is truly changing?

Lu Qingshan ate nothing, heated the soup in the pot for the two ladies, split the firewood, then took his newly made slingshot and traps and stepped again into the icy outdoor world.

With tools and stronger perception, his goal for today became much clearer.

He was no longer a headless fly.

Mountain Wild Heart was like an invisible guide, directing him.

The wind sounds, snow tracks, faint scents drifting in the air—information that was vague yesterday now became traceable.

He followed a beast trail buried in snow, heading deeper into the mountains.

His steps were light, his eyes sharp.

Soon, his footsteps stopped.

Mountain Wild Heart transmitted a clear signal.

Ahead to the left, behind that low thicket, there was something!

The aura wasn't strong, but very lively.

He immediately softened his breath, like a stalking leopard, using trees and snow cover to approach silently and circuitously.

He pushed aside the final branch.

His heart skipped a beat!

In the snow, a gray-brown plump rabbit stood alert, long ears upright, head down chewing the grass roots beneath the snow!

This rabbit was larger and fatter than yesterday's!

Its fur was glossy, round and plump, clearly storing enough fat for winter.

Lu Qingshan felt his blood begin to race.

This one would be enough for Yue'e and Xiao Xue to have a good meat meal!