Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Back in the real world, Wei Chen took out the hardwood bow that the game had given him from his backpack. The bow was dark red all over, and the bowstring was made of some kind of animal sinew. When fully drawn, it felt solid and powerful. The matching arrows had black iron arrowheads and neatly trimmed fletching.

"That's more like it." Wei Chen tested the feel of the quiver and hung it on his waist. The leather quiver was well-made and had a waterproof layer on the inside, much better than his old one made of coarse cloth.

At the village entrance, Uncle Wei Laishun and four militiamen were inspecting equipment. Seeing Wei Chen approach, Uncle Wei grinned, revealing teeth stained yellow from tobacco: "Our archer has arrived!"

Wei Chen smiled shyly. In his memory, this third uncle was the village militia captain who had participated in the Liberation War. He still had a piece of shrapnel in his left leg, which would hurt terribly on rainy days.

"Here, take this for self-defense." Uncle San handed over a semi-automatic rifle, the serial number on the stock worn away. Wei Chen took the gun, its heavy weight reminding him of his target practice during university military training.

"Use the bullets sparingly, ten rounds per person." Uncle San patted the bulging bullet pouch at his waist. "Same as always, Xiao Chen is in charge of finding the trail; only start shooting when we spot them."

The other four militiamen were all strong young men in their early twenties. Zhang Tiezhu, the leader, winked at Wei Chen: "Little Chen, whether we get to eat meat today depends on you. My wife has been craving rabbit meat for half a month."

"Nonsense!" Uncle San laughed and kicked Zhang Tiezhu. "We haven't even finished the badger oil we caught last time!"

A group of six, carrying guns and laughing, set off. The early summer forest was lush and green, and dew dripped from the leaves, wetting their trouser legs.

There weren't many animals nearby, and the villagers would occasionally come to see if they could catch anything; their goal was the depths of the Yanshan Mountains.

After walking more than ten miles in one go, Wei Chen already felt the benefits of cultivation. His physical energy and true essence circulated for a cycle, and his fatigue disappeared completely.

Wei Chen walked at the front of the group, keenly noticing several inconspicuous marks on the ground—turned leaves, pressure marks on broken grass, scratches on tree trunks...

"A rabbit passed by within half an hour." Wei Chen crouched down, pointing to an almost invisible dent. "Judging from these footprints, it belonged to an adult rabbit."

Uncle San leaned over for a look and exclaimed in surprise, "You have a sharp eye, kid! Old Zhao really taught you all his secret skills?"

Wei Chen smiled but did not answer. In fact, half of these tracking skills came from the old hunter Zhao Sanpao, and the other half came from his enhanced perception after the upgrade. In his eyes, the entire forest was like a marked map, and the traces of animal activity were clearly discernible.

After walking about a hundred meters, Wei Chen suddenly raised his hand to signal a stop. Thirty paces away, in the bushes, a gray rabbit was alertly pricking up its ears. He slowly took down his hardwood bow, nocked an arrow, and drew the string, his movements fluid and graceful.

"Whoosh—"

The arrow pierced the air and precisely struck the rabbit's neck. The rabbit didn't even have time to kick before it collapsed into the grass.

"Excellent archery!" Zhang Tiezhu couldn't help but cheer. The other militiamen also gave him a thumbs up. You have to understand that shooting at a moving target in a dense forest is something even the best marksmen in the army can't guarantee every shot will hit.

Wei Chen walked over and picked up the prey, casually pulling out the arrow. The arrowhead was stained with fresh blood, but the shaft was intact. He nodded to himself—the arrows from the game were indeed of exceptional quality.

"Don't use the gun, it'll be too loud." Wei Chen tossed the rabbit into his basket. "Let's hunt more small game today."

For the rest of the journey, Wei Chen seemed to have entered hunting mode. Pheasants, rabbits, and even two plump bamboo rats became his arrow victims one after another. The most spectacular arrow struck a grouse on a treetop fifty paces away; the bird had just taken flight when it was pierced through the chest by the arrow.

"Amazing!" Uncle San took the still-flailing grouse, marveling at its skill. "Xiao Chen, your archery is just as good as your master's."

Wei Chen smiled shyly, but in his mind he was assessing the enhancement that true energy had on his archery skills. When he shot the grouse earlier, he had secretly activated the "Nine Heavens Sun-Shooting Technique," which increased the arrow speed by at least 30% and made it incredibly accurate.

Suddenly, Wei Chen squatted down in front of a patch of soft soil, his fingers gently brushing over several bowl-sized depressions in the ground.

His third uncle and several militiamen stood behind him, holding their breath, afraid of disturbing his judgment.

"They were roe deer, they passed by no more than half an hour ago." Wei Chen lowered his voice, pointing to several clear hoof prints with his fingertip. "Judging from the spacing, it should be a small group, about seven or eight of them."

Zhang Tiezhu leaned closer, staring at it for a long time: "How could you tell it was a roe deer? What if it was a goat?"

"Goat footprints have sharper tips, and..." Wei Chen pushed aside the bushes beside him, revealing several nibbled buds, "Roe deer like to tear their food at an angle, leaving a slanted cut. Goats bite straight down, leaving a clean cut."

Uncle San patted Wei Chen on the shoulder approvingly: "Old Zhao taught you very well." He turned to the others and gestured a few times, "Same as always, fan-shaped encirclement. Tie Zhu, follow me on the left, Da Niu and Er Hu on the right, Xiao Chen and Jianguo around to the rear."

The crowd nodded and dispersed silently like a pack of well-trained hunting dogs. Wei Chen, leading the tall and thin Li Jianguo, followed the trail of the roe deer's tracks. His steps were as light as a cat's, each one precisely avoiding the fallen leaves and twigs. His enhanced senses, a result of his upgrade, allowed him to hear the sound of a roe deer chewing on tender leaves thirty paces away.

"There." Wei Chen pointed to the birch forest fifty meters ahead. Through the gaps in the branches and leaves, seven or eight brownish-yellow figures could be seen foraging. Adult roe deer are the size of small deer, but more sturdy, with a tuft of white fur on their round rumps.

Li Jianguo nervously swallowed, his finger on the trigger. Wei Chen also nocked an arrow and drew his bow, ready.

"Bang! Bang!—"

Several gunshots rang out almost simultaneously from the left and right sides. Wei Chen saw two roe deer fall to the ground with a thud, while the others missed. Startled, he jumped up, but because he was surrounded on three sides, he instinctively fled backward—in the direction of him and Li Jianguo.

"Whoosh!"

Wei Chen's arrow flew from the bowstring, a flash of blue light on the arrowhead. The lead roe deer had just leaped into the air when the arrow pierced its left eye and exited through the back of its head, spraying blood everywhere. The roe deer died in mid-air, crashing heavily into the grass.

"Finish him off!" Uncle's voice came through the phone.

Two more gunshots rang out, and the two roe deer that had been wounded earlier lay completely still. The remaining few seized the opportunity to dart into the depths of the dense forest and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Beautiful!" Zhang Tiezhu was the first to rush over, and looking at the roe deer killed by Wei Chen's arrow, he gasped, "That archery...it's divine!"

Uncle San examined the arrow wound, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper: "The arrowhead pierced through the skull... How much force must that have taken?" He looked up at the longbow in Wei Chen's hand, "Your bow..."

Wei Chen was prepared and smiled shyly: "My master said I've completed my apprenticeship and gave me the bow he used when he was young. He said it's an old heirloom from our family."

Uncle San took the bow, and was immediately taken aback: "So heavy?" He tried to draw the string, his face turning red, but he could only pull it a little more than halfway. "My goodness, this isn't a bow, it's practically cast in iron!"

Several militiamen took turns trying, but none of them could pull it to its full extent. Zhang Tiezhu grinned and said, "Brother Chen, your arm strength is amazing! No wonder you can take down a wild boar with one arrow."

Wei Chen took the bow and easily drew it to a full circle. "Maybe I'm just getting used to it." Not wanting to dwell on the topic, he quickly changed the subject, "Three roe deer, today's trip wasn't a waste."

The group tied up the prey with ropes; the three adult roe deer weighed about 200 jin (approximately 100 catties) in total. Zhang Tiezhu and Li Jianguo carried the heaviest one on a wooden bar, while the others took turns carrying the remaining two.

It was nearly noon, and sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling the clearing in the woods. Everyone found a flat rock to sit on and took out cornbread and pickled vegetables to eat. Wei Chen took out the pickles prepared by Li Xiulan from his basket, which immediately drew cheers.

"Aunt Xiulan's pickled cucumbers!" Zhang Tiezhu quickly grabbed the biggest piece. "The last time I had them was during the New Year."

Third Uncle took a bite of the pancake, then suddenly lowered his voice: "Listen..."

Wei Chen had already heard it—it was the rustling sound of bushes being moved, mixed with a low humming sound. He made a shushing gesture and quietly parted the grass in front of him.

Twenty paces away, a large group of wild boars were drinking water by the stream. Three adult boars were with five half-grown piglets, and one of the boars had tusks as long as chopsticks, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

"Goodness..." Li Jianguo exclaimed softly, "This litter is enough to feed the whole village for half a month."

Uncle San shook his head: "We can't take any more with us." He pointed to the medium-sized sow, "Just kill that one, keep the others for breeding."

Wei Chen nodded. The old hunter had taught him that there were three things to avoid when hunting: don't hunt female animals with cubs, don't hunt cubs, and don't hunt male animals in heat. These were rules passed down for thousands of years by the mountain people.

"I'll count to three, then we'll fire together," Uncle whispered, giving tactical instructions. "Xiao Chen, don't fire yet. Save your arrows for emergencies."

After getting ready, Wei Chen headed straight for the weapon shop. The quivers on the counter were neatly stacked, each containing twenty arrows. He spent a hundred copper coins to buy five quivers, and then went to the pharmacy to buy two more bottles of healing potions. Looking at his remaining five copper coins, Wei Chen clicked his tongue in pain—he needed to hurry up and grind monsters to earn more money.

Before logging out of the game, he noticed that the animals in the village had respawned. The pheasants and rabbits that had been wiped out yesterday were now hopping and leaping back onto the grass, as if nothing had happened.

"Refreshes once a day?" Wei Chen noted down this pattern and would verify it when he returned in the evening.

The group carefully approached the fallen sow and, after confirming her death, began the process. Bleeding, bandaging... the procedure was carried out smoothly. This wild boar weighed over 200 pounds, and with the three roe deer, even six strong men struggled to move it.

"Take turns carrying it, and go slowly." Uncle San wiped his sweat, found a thick tree branch, and threaded it through the wild boar's bound limbs. "We have to get back before dark."