Abandoning literature for martial arts, starting by unleashing the beauty's bow.

Hiding behind an old tree, I waited quietly for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Finding no movement, Lu Fengnian quietly retreated and chose another direction to continue exploring into the forest.

Fearing further encounters with wild beasts, Lu Fengnian walked slowly, quietly moving through the woods and undergrowth, trying not to make a sound.

Perhaps his good luck had run out, because from before dawn until 9 AM, he didn't encounter a single wild animal.

The wild vegetables in the pancake in my stomach had long been used up, and it started to rumble again.

So he took out the last pancake and ate it with water.

While eating the pancake, he calmly thought things through and finally decided to change his strategy.

His physical strength is limited now, and he is not familiar with the mountains and forests. It is not advisable for him to blindly go looking for prey.

After resting for a while, he found a place with a lot of wild animal droppings and animal tracks. He found a high spot nearby, lay down behind a bush, and waited for his prey to come to him.

There were many ants and mosquitoes in the bushes.

Fortunately, before setting off, Lu Fengnian applied the juice of crushed calamus to his body, which kept ants and mosquitoes away.

From the middle of the day (巳) to the end of the day (午), a full hour and a half passed.

Lu Fengnian was completely numb from lying down, but he remained motionless.

Persistence pays off, and finally there was movement ahead.

Three cat-like, but slightly overweight animals appeared under an old tree ahead, cautiously observing their surroundings as they walked.

These three animals have a white stripe running from their foreheads to the bridge of their noses, and white spots under their eyes.

Masked fox!

Lu Fengnian was overjoyed, for these three small beasts were masked palm civets, also known as civets.

However, he was slightly puzzled because, based on his previous life experience, civets are generally active at night and like to stay in their burrows to sleep during the day.

It's still midday, why aren't these three civets hiding in their burrows sleeping? What are they doing wandering around like this?

Although he had doubts in his heart, his hands moved without the slightest hesitation.

Lu Fengnian quietly got up, held the bow horizontally, drew the string taut, and with a snap, a bamboo arrow flew off the bowstring.

puff!

The civet cat at the front had just raised its head when the bamboo arrow pierced its head. Without uttering a sound, it collapsed to the ground, dead.

The two civets behind immediately leaped away.

Lu Fengnian quickly took out a second bamboo arrow, aimed briefly, and with another screech, the civet cat that was slightly closer to him was shot through the back of its neck, fell to the ground, twitched twice, and died.

When he took out another bamboo arrow, intending to shoot the third civet cat, it was already too late.

The third civet cat had already darted into the nearby bushes and disappeared from sight.

Lu Fengnian felt a little regretful, so he quickly ran out of the bushes, retrieved the bamboo arrows, and used ropes to tie up the two civets.

Both civets are adults, weighing around 10 pounds each.

Civet cats eat well in the mountains.

Civet cat meat is tender and delicious, and is a famous delicacy.

These two civets, if taken to the county to sell, will definitely fetch a good price.

Although Lu Fengnian was unsure of the exact amount he could sell, he conservatively estimated that he would definitely be able to collect the tax of four hundred coins.

However, the Lu family members were all starving and emaciated. They had finally managed to hunt some prey, so they couldn't sell it. The most important thing was to satisfy their own hunger first.

We kept the meat for ourselves and sold the fur in the county.

Civet cats' pelts can be used to make fur coats, and their fur can be used to make pens, both of which have high economic value and can be sold for a considerable amount of money.

Looking at the sky, Lu Fengnian realized it was still early and decided to wait out another wave of activity.

After cleaning up the bloodstains and traces in the area, he took the two civets to the bushes, covered them with grass, and lay down to wait quietly.

However, after lying there for another hour, and seeing that the sun was already setting in the west, no more prey came.

Lu Fengnian's stomach was growling with hunger, so he decided to end the day's hunt and go home first.

However, he wasn't foolish enough to simply take the two civets back with him.

First, they found some broad leaves in the woods and wrapped the two civets up tightly.

Then, he used a short knife to cut some branches, tied them together with vines, and tightly sandwiched the two civets between the branches.

That wasn't enough, so he cut some dry thatch, tied it to the outside of the tree branch with rope, and hung the longbow on the thatch.

With everything prepared, Lu Fengnian carried two loads of thatch and headed towards Blackwater Ridge.

Because his location was not far from Blackwater Ridge, he soon arrived at the foot of the mountain.

A tall, thin man carrying a hunting bow on his back and a hunting knife in his hand was seen crouching behind a patch of grass, seemingly waiting for some prey.

Lu Fengnian immediately took the longbow off the thatch, picked up the load and continued on his way, but his attention remained fixed on the tall, thin man.

He can react immediately to any unusual movement he makes.

The tall, thin man calmly removed the longbow from his back and looked at Lu Fengnian warily.

Lu Fengnian slowly turned his shoulders, using a bundle of thatch to cover his chest and abdomen, and continued forward at the same speed as before.

At this moment, the tall, thin man had no prey on him, and the thatch that Lu Fengnian was carrying was the most common thing in these mountains, so the two of them didn't seem to need to be so wary of each other.

If you think that way, you are making a big mistake.

The clothes he wore, the bow and knife he carried—all of these could be sold for money.

Lu Fengnian was unsure whether the tall, thin man was squatting over a wild animal or a human.

Fortunately, no conflict occurred.

Lu Fengnian carried a load of thatch up Blackwater Ridge. The tall, thin man remained squatting behind the grass clumps, making no move.

In fact, Lu Fengnian wanted the tall, thin man to do it.

If he made a move, Lu Fengnian would shoot him without any psychological burden and take his hunting bow.

The hunting bow in his hand was borrowed from Widow Tian, ​​and naturally, borrowed items must be returned.

With his past life experiences, making a hunting bow would naturally be no problem for him.

However, making a hunting bow with decent power is no easy task.

First, you need to find the right materials; you can't just make it from any random piece of wood.

It is best to choose mulberry wood and osage orange wood that have been around for a certain number of years.

Moreover, they can only be harvested in autumn and winter.

Don't think that you can make a hunting bow right after you cut the trees; they must be naturally air-dried for 1 to 3 years.

If it is not completely dry, the bow arm is very easy to break and may injure you.

Next, fish glue is needed to bond the cow horn, tendon, and wood together, and then they need to be dried, which takes quite a while.

The final step of taming the bow still requires repeated stringing and adjustments.

Making a decent hunting bow is no easy task; it takes at least one to two years.

If the man were to offer a hunting bow, Lu Fengnian would naturally accept it with a smile.

Unfortunately, they didn't give me the chance.