Chapter 94: The Dry Rice Bowl

That morning, the first sunrise glimmered like molten gold, tinting the distant Dry Rice Bowl Mountains in a splendid golden‑red.

Lu Qingshan slung his well‑oiled, gleaming Type‑56 semi‑automatic rifle, with Jin Hu at his side, and a bulging belt of ammo pouches and a sharp hunting knife at his waist.

Zhao Tiezhu, Liu Fugui, Zhao Er Zhuang, Zhao Fei, Zhao Lei and Zhao Qiang equipped themselves, carried capture nets, and slipped silently into the depths of Dry Rice Bowl.

Mountain Wild Heart—full power engaged!

Within a hundred meters, every living creature's aura, big or small, lit up in his mind like lanterns in the night.

The rustle of wind through leaves, the low hum of forest insects, even the faint babble of a distant mountain stream, all served as clues for his prey tracking.

His goal this time was not to kill.

But to capture alive!

"Jin Hu, search!" Lu Qingshan whispered, as if to himself.

Jin Hu's massive body streaked like a black bolt from a bow, slipping silently into the dense thicket ahead and vanishing in an instant.

Moments later, a low, rhythmic roar from Jin Hu echoed faintly in the distance, interspersed with a few short, panicked deer cries.

Lu Qingshan's gaze hardened, he pushed off, and his body surged forward like a leopard.

In a clearing, a robust male Spotted Deer with towering antlers was tightly entangled by Jin Hu, unable to move.

A few startled does scattered like headless flies.

But in their panic, they ran into several ingeniously placed snares that Lu Qingshan's party had set on the path, trapping their hind legs and eliciting plaintive whines.

In Lu Qingshan's hands, the Type‑56 rifle was no longer merely a killing tool.

He used the rifle's intimidating report to pre‑emptively trigger traps and nets, coordinating with Jin Hu's precise, fierce drives.

Coupled with his exact judgment of terrain and beast habits.

He forced these normally ultra‑cautious forest spirits, who vanish at the slightest rustle, step by step into his meticulously laid "traps."

After days of grueling battle, Lu Qingshan relied on his extraordinary hunting skill accumulated over two lifetimes, the group's collective toil, and the powerful aid of Mountain Wild Heart, a god‑like cheat.

He managed to "invite" out six prime adult Spotted Deer from the deep forest unharmed, adhering to the optimal one‑male‑to‑five‑female breeding ratio.

In addition, more than ten female‑dominated male deer and foolish Roe Deer also became his haul.

The most troublesome were the six captured piglets.

These beasts were thick‑skinned, ferocious, with tusks sharp as knives, making live capture extremely difficult.

Lu Qingshan's party expended monumental effort, damaging several custom‑made heavy ropes in the process.

His arm bore a deep, bone‑showing gash from the sharp tusk of a fiercely resisting large male Wild Boar, blood pouring out.

Had he not reacted quickly to avoid the vital spot, the arm would likely have been lost.

Nevertheless, the hunters, with extraordinary courage and superhuman strength, subdued each roaming forest "Black Whirlwind," bound them with hemp rope in sturdy wooden cages, and ferried them back to the village in batches.

When these lively, wildly spirited "mountain goods" were carefully placed into the newly built, timber‑and‑wire fenced breeding area at the mountain's foot, Shanwan Village was thrown into an uproar!

Villagers, old and young, flocked to the slope, craning their necks and widening their eyes, gazing at beasts they usually only heard of in legends or glimpsed from afar with terror.

Spotted Deer, male deer, Roe Deer, and those few grunting piglets trying to ram the fence!

"My heavens! This… Lu Qingshan, did he bring back half of Dry Rice Bowl?!"

"Live Spotted Deer! And male deer!"

"Those Wild Boars look fierce—how did Qing Shan get them back?"

"If we raise them, how much could we sell them for?"

Liu Fugui stared at the frolicking Spotted Deer in the pen and the grunting, wildly spirited piglets, his eyes nearly popping out.

His mouth watered almost to the point of spilling.

Lu Qingshan handed him the massive responsibility—to oversee daily care and initial taming of these "living treasures."

"Q‑Qing Shan…" Liu Fugui's tongue tangled, pointing at the lively creatures, both excited and uneasy, "Can these… really be kept alive?"

"Things are man‑made," Lu Qingshan said, hands on his hips atop the slope, his gaze sweeping the budding farm, confidence flashing in his eyes.

"Fugui," he said calmly, "this is a delicate job, and a long‑term one."

You must meticulously record and understand every habit—eating, drinking, excreting, temperament—of those deer and boars.

Especially the piglets, whose temper is extremely wild; you must take it slow, no rush.

He paused, then pounded Liu Fugui's shoulder heavily, his tone unmistakably solemn: "The future of this farm will rest largely on you."

Do it right, and not only will your younger siblings benefit, but even your bride‑price will come from here!

Liu Fugui felt a surge of hot blood rush from his soles to his head!

He knew well that Brother Qing Shan never wavered; a spit was a nail.

He thrust his chest forward, his face flushed, voice trembling with excitement: "Brother Qing Shan! Please take the lead!"

"I… I'm throwing myself in! Even without sleep, I'll tend these living treasures comfortably!"

The setting sun bled, reddening the western horizon.

Lu Qingshan stood hands on hips atop the slope, overlooking the foothill land that had absorbed his countless efforts and now pulsed with vigor.

To the west, neatly arranged herbal trial fields stretched, where Zhao Tiezhu led a few youngsters, ladling water onto the precious seedlings.

Behind the hill lay a fledgling special breeding zone.

Chicks pecked merrily beneath sparse fruit trees, the newly captured deer strolled leisurely in their pen, and even the piglets' grunts in the separated area now sounded less harsh.

Further west, at Shanwan Village's edge, his newly finished blue‑brick, red‑tile house sent up curling kitchen smoke.

There is his warm harbor, the source of all his striving.

Lu Qingshan inhaled deeply the fragrant woodland air, feeling his chest swell with boundless vigor and an indescribable heroic resolve.

Of course, the biggest challenge now remains those untamable wild creatures, especially the piglets; whether they can truly be domesticated and even breed remains uncertain.

Yet in Lu Qingshan's gaze flickered an almost scorching light.

He seemed to see, beyond the present scene, a near future where countless "living treasures" ran and leapt across every hill!