In times of chaos and famine, I traded one pound of rice for two royal flushes.

"Mr. Qin." She nodded slightly, her posture neither humble nor arrogant.

Qin Shaolang glanced at her; the woman's composure surprised him.

"Can you write?" he asked.

Su Jin paused for a moment, then nodded: "I recognize some."

"Very good." Qin Shaolang took out a small piece of charcoal from his pocket and pointed to a relatively flat stone wall next to him.

"From now on, you'll be in charge of keeping records. Record everyone's name, what tasks they did each day, and I'll be responsible for assigning them grades."

"Those in Class A will be allocated meat and sufficient water."

"Grade B consists only of a paste and a small amount of water."

"Category C, starving."

"Those who are classified as Grade C for three consecutive days, or who disobey assignments, shall be expelled from the valley."

Su Jin's heart clenched.

She understood completely.

This is no longer simple management; it's... a performance system that's almost like a military camp!

We use the strictest rewards and punishments to extract the full value from each individual.

terrible!

Who exactly is this man?

What exactly is going on in his head?

"Is there a problem?" Qin Shaolang asked when she didn't speak.

"...No." Su Jin took a deep breath and took the piece of charcoal.

Her palms were ice-cold.

She knew that from the moment she accepted the charcoal, she was no longer simply a recipient of protection.

She became a tool for this man to establish order...

A knife used to classify people and decide their life or death.

Soon, at Wang Tiezhu's command, everyone was mobilized.

The valley was no longer a place of deathly silence and despair, but was filled with all sorts of noisy sounds.

The sounds of men yelling, children crying, and women talking...

It was chaotic, yet full of vibrant life.

Qin Shaolang led the twenty strongest men he had selected to the other side of the valley.

Among these people were hunters, woodcutters, and former soldiers. They were the most valuable fighting force and productive force among this group.

"Sir, where are we going?" asked a hunter named Li Si, who was holding a worn-out bow in his hand.

Qin Shaolang did not answer, but pointed to a dense thicket of bushes in front of him.

"From now on, this is a restricted area. Your mission is to catch enough prey here to feed a hundred people."

Everyone looked at each other.

"Sir... there are at most some rabbits and pheasants in this thicket, not enough for a hundred people to eat," Li Si said with difficulty.

Qin Shaolang gave a cold laugh.

"Who told you that prey has to be rabbits and pheasants?"

He bent down, picked up a clump of soil from the ground, and smelled it.

Then he pointed to a very inconspicuous footprint on the ground, almost covered by fallen leaves.

"Did you see this?"

The crowd crowded around and looked for a long time before they could barely make out a blurry mark.

"This is... a wolf?" Li Si said uncertainly. He had been hunting for many years and was extremely sensitive to the tracks of wild animals.

"No."

Qin Shaolang stood up, dusted off his hands, and a hunter's glint flashed in his eyes.

"They're wild boars. And a whole herd of them."

group of people.

Twenty men.

They stood around a blurry footprint, their faces filled with confusion and doubt.

"Sir, the mark is too blurry."

Li Si, being the most experienced hunter, mustered his courage and spoke up.

"Even if it really is a wild boar, finding a single boar in this entire forest is like finding a needle in a haystack. Let alone a whole herd."

The others nodded in agreement.

They were people who made a living in the mountains, and they knew better than anyone how difficult hunting was.

Sometimes you can wander around in the mountains for days and not even see a rabbit's hair.

Hunting enough prey to feed a hundred people is now a pipe dream.

Qin Shaolang did not refute.

He didn't even look at the footprint again.

He took a few steps forward, squatted down, and pointed to a broken shrub branch.

"What is this?"

Everyone crowded around to take a look.

It was just a regular broken branch, the break was very fresh.

"It must have been broken by some wild animal passing by," Li Si replied, still puzzled.

"high."

Qin Shaolang uttered two words.

high?

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening.

The broken branch was about knee-high above the ground.

If it were a wolf or a wild dog, it would be too short to break the branch at that location.

To leave a mark at this height, one must be quite large.

"Look at this one too."

Qin Shaolang then pointed to a thicker tree trunk next to him.

At the base of the tree trunk, there was a dark mud stain with a few coarse black hairs stuck to it.

Li Si's expression changed.

He stepped forward and picked up a hair with his hand.

The mane was thick and stiff, like steel needles.

"It was...it was a wild boar that scratched me..." His voice began to dry.

Wild boars have a habit of covering themselves in mud and then rubbing against large trees to clean themselves of parasites.

This mud mark is the trace they left behind.

"And it has a smell."

Qin Shaolang stood up and walked to the downwind side.

"Smell it carefully."

The men took a deep breath.

In the air, besides the freshness of soil and vegetation, there was also a faint, fishy smell.

Very light.

Unless you specifically look for it, you won't be able to tell the difference.

But for an old hunter like Li Si, this smell was all too familiar.

That's the distinctive scent of large wild animals.

One piece of evidence could be considered a coincidence.

The two pieces of evidence could be considered coincidental.

When three pieces of evidence all point to the same fact, it is no coincidence.

Cold sweat beaded on Li Si's forehead.

He and several other experienced woodcutters and hunters exchanged glances, all seeing shock and fear in each other's expressions.

With so many of them, spending years wandering in the mountains, not a single one of them noticed these clues.

Mr. Qin, however, simply took a few steps and analyzed everything clearly.

This level of observation is almost inhuman.

"Walk."

Qin Shaolang didn't give them much time to be shocked. He uttered a single word and led the way into the depths of the bushes.

His steps were slow, but steady.

Each step landed in the most energy-efficient place, the body rising and falling with the terrain, like a cheetah blending into the forest.

The twenty men dared not question him any further and followed closely behind him.

The further they went, the more obvious the traces became.

Plant roots that have been eaten.

Large swaths of soil on the ground had been turned over.

The fishy smell in the air grew stronger and stronger.

Everyone's heart was in their throat.

They finally realized that what Qin Shaolang said was true.

There really is a group of wild boars here!

Moreover, judging from the density of these tracks, the number of wild boars was definitely beyond their imagination.

This is no longer hunting.

This is like stirring up a hornet's nest!

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Qin Shaolang suddenly raised his hand and made a stop gesture.

Everyone immediately stopped in their tracks, even holding their breath.

He pointed to a depression in front of him.

It was a huge swamp, a mess, filled with mud, water, and animal excrement, emitting a nauseating stench.

The area around the mud pit was covered with a dense, crisscrossing network of hoof prints.

Big ones, small ones, deep ones, shallow ones... the list goes on and on.