Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Night fell, the moon was bright, and the stars were few. Baoyuquan Village was still immersed in the lingering afterglow of the movie, with the chirping of insects and the barking of dogs weaving a peaceful nocturne.

The Wei family returned to their small courtyard under the cool moonlight. Wei Ran, the younger sister, had rosy cheeks and was still excited. Holding her mother Wang Xiulan's hand, she chattered incessantly: "Mom! Did you see that? That old Uncle Hong, he hopped on the train in a flash! And those guns, 'bang bang bang!' They made the Japanese scream!"

"I saw it, I saw it," Wang Xiulan replied with a smile, a rare look of relaxation on her tired face. "Go wash up and go to bed, you have to get up early tomorrow."

Wei Chen helped his mother fetch water, but his thoughts were already wandering to the vast mountains. As he wrung out a wet towel and handed it to his younger sister, he casually said to his mother, "Mom, I just ran into a classmate from when we were in school at the commune in Dongying Village. His name is Zhuzi. He's from Dongying, and he said the mushrooms are growing really well on the mountain behind his house these days. He asked me to go pick some with him tomorrow. I was thinking of adding some vegetables to the family's diet."

Wang Xiulan was bending down to add some firewood to the stove to smother the fire when she heard this. She straightened up and wiped the sweat from her forehead: "Zhuzi? You mean that big guy you always mention?"

"Yes, it's him." Wei Chen nodded without changing his expression, concocting a plausible explanation for his own existence. He knew the deep concern a mother had for her children, and he also understood the simple trust and camaraderie among neighbors in this era.

"Okay," Wang Xiulan replied without hesitation. "The child is older now and should have her own friends. But be careful going into the mountains; don't go too deep. I heard wild boars have been active again lately. Go early and come back early." As she spoke, she habitually reached for her pocket. "Mom will give you two cents, just in case..."

"Mother!" Wei Chen quickly pressed down on his mother's hand, his tone carrying a hint of youthful bravado. "Have you forgotten? The rabbits and pheasants I caught the other day fetched a good amount of money at the commune! I have some! You should rest now."

He patted his own patched but noticeably thicker pocket, indicating that he was still financially well-off.

Looking at her son, who was half a head taller than her, Wang Xiulan was somewhat dazed by the composure in his eyes under the lamplight, as if her son had truly become the head of the household overnight.

She smiled with relief and didn't insist any further: "Alright, be more careful. I'll bake you some pancakes to take with you tomorrow."

"Ah! Thank you, Mother!" Wei Chen breathed a sigh of relief and chatted with her for a while until he coaxed the still excited Wei Ran to sleep before returning to his small mud-brick house.

The oil lamp went out, and darkness enveloped everything. Wei Chen's consciousness instantly sank into that bizarre and fantastical game world.

Deep within the dark mine, the sounds of pickaxes whistling through the air, the muffled roars of zombies, and the crisp cracking of skeletal arrows striking the rock walls...

Without any of that, he resumed his daily routine of killing chickens and ducks, accompanied by his familiar and efficient "monster-slaying" concerto.

Experience points are steadily increasing, and the meat in my backpack and the scattered copper coins are slowly accumulating.

But tonight, his thoughts had already surpassed the experience bar before him. He wanted to accumulate real "hard currency" to step onto the stage called "Red Star Steel Rolling Mill".

In the early morning, the morning star was still hanging in the sky, and the eastern horizon was just beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn. Wei Chen got up silently.

In the next room, on the earthen kang (heated brick bed), her younger sister Wei Ran was fast asleep.

Wei Chen had already put on his most durable and wear-resistant old clothes, tightening the cuffs and trousers to prevent them from being scratched by thorns, and slipped on his thin-soled cloth shoes that still fit him perfectly. He gently pushed open the creaking door, and the crisp, icy air instantly rushed into his nostrils.

A faint light shone from the kitchen, and Wang Xiulan, the mother, had already gotten up.

"Mother, I'm leaving." Wei Chen lowered his voice. Wang Xiulan turned back from the stove, holding two freshly made, steaming grain pancakes in her hand. She carefully wrapped them in a clean coarse cloth and stuffed them into the canvas bag slung across Wei Chen's shoulder. "Take the pancakes, use them for the journey. You really don't need your mother to give you money?"

"Really, no need, don't worry." Wei Chen took the pancake, still warm from his mother's touch, and felt a warmth in his heart. "I'm leaving now, I'll be back before dark."

"Be careful." Wang Xiulan leaned against the door frame, watching her son's figure disappear into the still-lingering night.

This time, there are no companions, and no need to hide.

Stepping out of the village, Wei Chen took a deep breath. The pure internal energy of his ten years of mastery of the Nine Heavens Shooting Sun Technique surged and flowed through his meridians. The physical enhancement effects brought about by countless upgrades in the game world were released without reservation at this moment!

With a light touch of the toes on the ground, the whole person shot out like an arrow released from a bow!

Whoosh—! The wind whistled past my ears, and the trees, field ridges, and ditches on both sides turned into blurry patches of color and flew backward.

The damp, earthy scent of the early morning was dispersed by the strong winds whipped up by the high speed. He deliberately avoided the main roads where people might be working early in the morning, choosing instead to take secluded paths or even traverse directly through the harvested fields.

What used to take several hours along the rugged mountain road was covered in less than half an hour thanks to his all-out effort. The familiar, pristine mountain area was right before his eyes.

As dawn broke, golden sunlight pierced through the thin mist, sprinkling onto the dew-covered grass and trees, refracting into tiny, shimmering lights.

Wei Chen slowed his pace and regulated his breathing. Like a true cheetah, he silently blended into the vibrant yet deadly forest.

The senses are heightened to their fullest: the rustling of the wind through the grass, the soft crawling of insects under the decaying leaves, the babbling of a mountain stream in the distance...

Countless subtle sounds flooded his mind like clear signals. His vision was also incredibly sharp; he could clearly see a titmouse preening its feathers on a branch a hundred meters away.

He untied the hardwood bow that was a gift from the game from his back, drew an arrow with a white feather at the end, and nocked it. The bow was slightly heavy, carrying a sense of power.

He hadn't gone far when a faint rustling sound came from a patch of waist-high withered grass ahead, accompanied by the soft rustling of grass stems being gnawed. Wei Chen stopped in his tracks, holding his breath.

His eyes flashed like lightning, instantly locking onto the source of the sound. A plump, grayish-brown hare was facing away from him, intently nibbling on the tender stem of a wild grass, completely unaware of the danger lurking nearby.

Wei Chen's lips curled slightly. He drew the bow, pulled back the string—his movements were fluid and effortless, devoid of any artifice. The bow was taut, the arrow like a shooting star!

"Swoosh—!" The faint sound of the arrow cutting through the air was almost drowned out by the wind. With a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, the arrow pierced the rabbit's neck with deadly precision!

The hare didn't even have time to struggle before it collapsed to the ground with a kick of its limbs. Wei Chen quickly stepped forward, pulled out the arrow, wiped the blood off on the nearby grass, and skillfully picked up the still-warm prey.

With a thought, the heavy hare vanished into thin air, landing in the magical storage compartment of his game inventory. He noticed that the number below the "Hare" icon in the inventory interface had quietly jumped to "1." The same type of prey could be stored together. This was just the beginning.

The search has begun.

For the next hour, Wei Chen was like a highly efficient and ruthless hunting machine. His figure darted through the forest, fast as a ghost, and his arrows never missed.

A pheasant, its beautiful long tail feathers trailing behind it, was crowing loudly on a withered branch when it was struck in the throat by an arrow and fell from the branch. Two hares, drinking water and huddled together by the stream, were almost simultaneously pierced through the head by two arrows fired in quick succession.

In the bushes, a badger, its body covered in black and white bristles and its size resembling a small dog, was searching for earthworms. It cautiously raised its head, its small eyes barely detecting a hint of danger before a deadly arrow, whistling sharply, pierced its forehead. ...

Each catch was accompanied by the numbers in the backpack compartments jumping up and down. He quickly accumulated six rabbits and four pheasants. He even casually shot down two brightly colored doves that were preparing to migrate south.

These small prey are easy prey for him now. But Wei Chen's goal is far more than that. He needs more substantial and valuable prey as a "stepping stone" to enter the steel mill and open certain doors.

He stopped, crouched down, and scanned the damp soil and fallen leaves with the sharpness of a hawk. Soon, several hoof prints, unlike those of rabbits or badgers, caught his attention.

The imprint is clear, divided into two halves, about the size of an adult's fist, deeply embedded in the soft humus, with fresh soil rolled up from being trampled on at the edges.

It's deer! And judging from the size, depth, and crisscrossing of the hoof prints, it was a fairly large herd of deer that had just passed by.

Wei Chen's spirits lifted. He carefully examined the direction, spacing, and depth of the hoofprints, combining this with the wind direction, signs of vegetation grazing, and the faint, lingering scent of herbivores in the air.

The tracking experience taught by Master Zhao, combined with the "Hunter's Legacy" knowledge he gained in the game world, perfectly blended in his mind, outlining a clear path.

He silenced all sound, becoming one with the forest itself, and silently followed the trail.

After crossing a steep ridge, he could faintly hear the sound of flowing water and... short, whistling sounds coming from ahead. His heart tightened, and he lowered his body even more carefully, using the rocks and bushes for cover as he slowly approached.

Parting a thick vine, a breathtaking view unfolded before me. It was a mountain valley embraced by towering cliffs, with a clear stream meandering through it, its surface shimmering in the sunlight. On the shallow banks and lush meadows beside the stream, a herd of about twenty sika deer grazed leisurely.

Several male deer stood warily on the perimeter, their still-developing antlers covered in downy hair; a female deer, with her half-grown fawn, lowered her head to drink, occasionally shaking her head and splashing water; a few playful fawns chased and frolicked at the edge of the herd, their slender legs moving with light and agile grace. The deer were completely unaware that a deadly hunter had silently descended.