Chapter 7: Hunting

"Whoa, there's actually a broken table and chairs inside."

"Wait and see if your brother-in-law can fix them; if he can't, just chop them up for firewood."

"Okay."

The two of them busied themselves for two hours, finally clearing away the dust and cobwebs, and by then, both of them were covered in dirt and grime.

"Hahaha, San Jie, your face is all smudged."

"You're the one laughing at me, look at your own face before you laugh."

"Uh."

Three days later, Jia Dongxu moved in next door, and Zhang Ping'an now had a room to himself, so he could finally practice his Body Refining Technique freely.

Zhang Ping'an had already saved up over five million by now, and he planned to have his father, Zhang Laohan, go into the city in another half a month to buy the abandoned East Courtyard.

"Zhang Shu, are we still going fishing tomorrow?"

"No fishing. I plan to head into the mountains early tomorrow to set some traps and see if we can catch some wild rabbits or pheasants."

"Great, that sounds good."

"Alright, then everyone get to sleep early tonight; I'll call you at four-thirty tomorrow morning."

"Ah? Four-thirty? Isn't that too early?"

"Early? How long do you think it takes us to walk to the outskirts of the city?"

"That's true, too."

"Everyone go back and get some sleep early, and don't forget to bring dry rations and tools; we might not be back by noon."

"Got it."

The next morning at four, Zhang Ping'an opened his eyes and put away everything in his space. Food wasn't in short supply now, so Zhang Ping'an didn't need to use the pond water to force growth; he just let the wheat grow freely, harvesting every twenty days, and he already had nearly ten thousand catties.

The sweet potatoes had been planted for one cycle and there were over twenty thousand catties, and the potatoes and corn were about the same; he just hadn't gotten his hands on rice or sorghum seeds yet.

The two Black-skinned Pigs had also birthed a litter of twelve piglets; Zhang Ping'an had castrated the males, and they had all grown into thirty or forty-catty shoats.

There were even more chickens, several baskets full of eggs, the sheep had given birth, and he had kept only ten rabbits for breeding, slaughtering all the others and storing them in the Thatched Cottage.

Once he went to the livestock market to buy two cows and two donkeys, he would have total freedom to eat pork, beef, mutton, and donkey meat.

"Dongxu, get up and wash your face to wake up; I'm going to call Zhuzi and Damao."

"Oh, oh, okay."

"Zhuzi, Zhuzi."

"Hmm? Is that Ping'an?"

"Brother He, it's me. Sorry for waking you up; I'm calling for Zhuzi."

"Alright." He Daqing kicked Shazhu awake.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

"Ping'an is outside waiting for you."

"Oh, oh, right, right, almost forgot." Zhuzi's crashed brain finally came back to life.

"Zhuzi, sober up; I'm going to call Damao."

"Got it."

"Ping'an, what are you calling them to go do? Fishing?"

"Hehe, no fishing today; we're going up the mountain to set traps to catch rabbits and pheasants and such."

"Oh, be careful up on the mountain; the animals are quite fierce now. Go on."

"Got it."

Zhang Ping'an used the same method to wake Damao, and ten minutes later, they all gathered in the corridor of the Middle Courtyard.

"Make sure you have your gear and dry rations; let's go, it's getting late."

"Let's go, let's go."

"Keep it down, don't wake people up."

"Right, right, right."

The four of them carried shovels and held sacks, and Zhuzi even brought a Butcher Knife; it was nearly five-thirty by the time they reached the foot of the mountain.

"Huff, huff."

"You guys are too out of shape. Let's rest for ten minutes before heading up the mountain."

Ten minutes later, the three of them had caught their breath.

"Let's go, follow me closely." Zhang Ping'an held a bamboo pole, tapping and hitting along the way to look for animal trails.

"Okay."

"See that? That's wild rabbit droppings; we can set our traps here." Zhang Ping'an then used thin rope to set three traps on the animal trail and marked them.

"Let's go, let's look further in."

Along the way, they set a dozen more traps before stopping, and only then did Zhang Ping'an prepare to dig a pit to trap a Wild Boar.

"There's Wild Boar hair here, and the surrounding trees have signs of being rubbed against; let's dig a pit here, in case we can catch a Wild Boar." Zhang Ping'an drew a two-by-three-meter outline.

"Start digging along the line."

Half an hour later, the three of them were exhausted again.

"Zhang Shu, how much deeper do we have to dig?"

"At least a meter deep. Alright, you guys take a break; find some branches nearby and sharpen them into fifty-centimeter spikes."

"Got it."

Another half hour passed, and Zhang Ping'an was also quite tired, but they finally dug a large pit one point three meters deep.

"Throw the branches down."

Twenty minutes later, Zhang Ping'an had already set the trap, and scattered quite a bit of crushed sweet potato and crushed potato on top.

The four of them were currently eating dry rations on a tree branch downwind, two hundred meters away from the deep pit.

"Zhang Shu, aren't we too far away? Can you see?"

"I can."

"How is that possible?" The two jokers looked suspicious; they could only see tree leaves.

"I started going into the mountains to hunt with the old hunters in our village when I was about ten. If we stay too close, the Wild Boar will smell us."

"Oh, I see." The three of them indicated they had learned something.

An hour later, they still hadn't heard any movement from the pit.

"Stay in the tree and don't come down. I'll go check if the snares I set have any harvest. Remember, even if there is movement at the pit, you must wait for me to return."

"Alright, Uncle."

"Rest assured, Zhang Shu, my dad told me."

"Done."

Zhang Ping'an returned along the way; eighteen snares had caught nine wild rabbits and three pheasants.

"The harvest isn't bad." Zhang Ping'an only kept six rabbits and one pheasant, tied them all up and put them into a sack, threw the others into his space, and then went to rendezvous with them.

"Zhang Shu, hurry, there's movement!"

"Good. Zhuzi, throw the Butcher Knife down. I'll go take a look; you all stay here and don't move."

"Alright."

Sure enough, it was a large Wild Boar of about three hundred jin. Its belly had been pierced with several bloody holes, and it was still screaming and struggling. Nearby, three half-grown Wild Boars were anxiously circling.

Zhang Ping'an approached quietly. In an instant, he darted out, and from twelve meters away, he directly collected the three half-grown Wild Boars into his space, while the big pig was already breathing more than it was inhaling.

"Hahaha, come over here, everyone. We've caught a big Wild Boar!"

"Really, Zhang Shu?" The three of them hurriedly climbed down from the tree and ran over.

"Hahaha, we've struck it rich, we've struck it rich!"

"Zhuzi, do you know how to slaughter a pig?"

"Of course I do." Don't look at how Shazhu brags; in reality, he had only ever acted as an assistant to his father and had never wielded the knife himself.

"Fine, wait a little longer before we go to butcher the Wild Boar."

"Alright."

Ten minutes later, the Wild Boar had completely stopped moving. Zhang Ping'an was not at ease and poked it with a bamboo pole for a while before he felt relieved.

"Zhuzi, do it."

"Alright, you just leave it to me."

Shazhu raised his hand and brought the knife down, only to awkwardly discover that the Butcher Knife was stuck in the bone joint.

"Cough, cough. Zhang Shu, why don't you do it?"

"......" He was still young, after all, and lacked the strength.

"Fine, I don't know how to slaughter a pig either; I can only roughly divide it up."

With a few cuts from Zhang Ping'an, the four legs were removed. Afterward, he gutted the Wild Boar; except for the stomach and kidneys, he threw everything else away.

"Alright, start packing. Damao, you're the youngest, carry the pig head. Dongxu, you and Zhuzi carry the front and back legs."

"Zhang Shu, can you carry this middle section?"

"Just about. Alright, you all try it."

"I have no problem."

"I can do it too."

"Fine, the rabbits are in the sack too; you all take turns carrying it."

"Alright."

"Good, let's set off. Watch your footing."

Half an hour later.

"Zhang Shu, I can't hold on anymore."

"Alright then, let's stop and rest for a while."

"You idiot, you grew that big frame for nothing; you're too weak." Damao was two years younger than Zhuzi, and although their heights were about the same, he was not as sturdy as Zhuzi.

Damao was there panting heavily, "huff, huff," and couldn't spare the energy to bicker; he waited until he caught his breath to prepare a counterattack.

"Damao, stop talking for now and get some good rest. It's almost nine o'clock now; let's see if we can make it to the nearest market to sell the pork."

"Alright." Only then did Damao shut his mouth to rest.

Don't look at how stubborn Zhuzi's mouth was; in reality, his legs had also started to tremble, so he closed his eyes to recuperate.