From a tuberculosis patient to a martial arts master

The distant mountains are like dark eyebrows, and the sound of pine trees rustling in the wind can be faintly heard.

It was nearly late afternoon, and the sun was setting in the west. Its light spread out obliquely, illuminating the entire mountainside with a dazzling white light that was almost blinding.

"Whoa—"

Lin Jizhi suddenly pulled on the reins, making the old, worn-out horse obediently stop.

"It's time to dismount." He landed nimbly, casually tying the reins to an old pine tree bent under the weight of snow. "Tie the livestock here; going any further will make too much noise."

Zhu Hong did as instructed, nimbly leaping off his horse, tying it to the side, and then slightly adjusting the hilt of his sword to make it easier to draw.

"Let's go, relax your pace."

Lin Jizhi patted the horse's neck twice, then turned around, muttering as he walked, "Those beasts have thieving ears. When they grow up, there's no way we'll catch them."

Zhu Hong nodded and followed closely into the forest.

The snow in the forest isn't trampled and hardened like it is in the city.

The snow here is loose and fluffy, with a thin, hard crust on the surface, but underneath is soft, powdery snow. When you step on it, the tiny, cracking sound is extremely crisp, so he has to be extra careful with every step.

"etc."

Reaching a shady mountain hollow, where sunlight couldn't penetrate, Lin Jizhi suddenly stopped, crouched down, and drew his short dagger from his waist with a whoosh. With a flash of cold light, he gently tapped the broken branch lying across the snow.

"Young Hong."

He turned his head, his eyes filled with a testing interest, "Tell me, what did you see?"

Zhu Hong stepped forward to take a look.

It was a withered shrub branch, about the thickness of a thumb, with a crooked break.

"Broken by the wind? No, that's not right." He crouched down, picked up the broken branch, twirled it between his fingers, and pondered for a moment. "The wind was blowing from the north. If it were broken by the wind, the cut should be facing south, downwind. But this cut is facing upwards, and the bark shows signs of curling up from the bottom." He paused.

"It must have been severed by scales or a claw that hadn't been retracted."

"Not bad, kid!" Lin Jizhi raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise in his eyes: "Your eyesight is almost as sharp as mine back in the day."

He spoke tough on the surface, but inside he was pounding with fear. Recalling those days:

How long did it take him to hone this skill? A whole winter? He hesitated for a moment, then vehemently denied it. No, no, how could a winter be that long? How could it be… a whole year?

Yes, it really does seem like a whole year.

It's infuriating to compare yourself to others.

"Fortunately, I've been working in the government for more than a year," Lin Jizhi muttered very softly.

"There's still a way to make amends."

Before he finished speaking, he had already crouched down, slid forward half a meter on one knee, and gently pressed his fingertip against the seemingly flat snow surface.

It collapsed by half an inch.

"You saw it?"

Lin Jizhi turned his head, his eyes flashing with pride once more: "You have good eyesight, but you've missed something." He then clenched a handful of snowflakes in his palm, brought them close to his nose to sniff, and handed over the snow-covered gloves.

"Smell it."

Zhu Hong leaned closer and sniffed.

The snow was cold, the leaves were rotten, and the scent of pine resin was so faint it seemed to be fading away.

"It doesn't taste like much," he said.

"That's right."

Lin Jizhi straightened up, the smile on his lips turning cold: "How can a beast weighing hundreds of pounds not smell? Unless it rolls in the mud and rubs itself against the rocks to get rid of its stench, there's nowhere to hide its stench."

"The less you can smell it, the more it indicates..."

His gaze, sharp as a hook, shot towards the dark coniferous forest on the northwest side: "It's nearby."

Zhu Hong felt a chill run down his spine.

In the past, Lin Jizhi was always seen with a smile on his lips, fond of joking and cracking jokes, and it was easy to forget that he was a veteran official who had been in the government for several years. His sharp and cunning observation skills were simply terrifying.

This is the real hunt!

"Brother Lin."

Zhu Hong couldn't help but exclaim, "Your insight and discernment are truly admirable."

"Oh, it's alright!"

Lin Jizhi slung the knife over his shoulder, turned his head and smiled at Zhu Hong, saying, "You have good talent. After experiencing more things in the future, you may not be able to catch up with me." As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around, leaving a series of footprints on the snow.

……

Waiting for the bright moon to hang high in the sky.

The sun had long since set, the sky was leaden gray, the snow was deathly white, and the forest was pitch black. The biting wind intensified the chill in the woods; one's breath could form a thin layer of frost on one's beard and eyebrows.

Lin Jizhi suddenly stopped, looked around, and then stopped under a huge, withered tree that was hundreds of years old.

He probed the inside of the scabbard with his fingers, then turned back and whispered:

"I can't keep up with the pace, so I'll just stay here for the night."

"Hmm," Zhu Hong patted the snow off his shoulders, and as he crouched down to crawl inside, he reached out to pick up the dead branches.

"Don't touch open flames."

Lin Jizhi placed the knife across his knees and listened to the wind outside the cave. After a while, he whispered, "This forest is too quiet. If we light a fire, we can see half the forest." As he spoke, he dug a hole in the snow pit, lit a small pile of fruitwood charcoal, and built a barrier with snow and stones to create a fire.

"It's smokeless charcoal." He glanced at Zhu Hong, a half-smile playing on his lips.

"It's hardly an open flame." With that, he took some dried meat, skewered it on the tip of a blade, and then placed it into the heat of the enclosure. After grilling it for a moment, he handed it over.

"Try it."

You can't get this kind of cooking anywhere else.

The dry, hard jerky softened slightly from the charcoal smoke, its aroma subtle and not overpowering. Zhu Hong took a bite, chewed a couple of times, his eyebrows curving into a smile, and teased, "Hmm, not bad." He paused, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Brother Lin, before you became a constable, which restaurant did you work as a chef?"

"That's too much, that's too much." Lin Jizhi slammed the knife against her lap, her ears turning a rather uncooperative red.

"What cooking—"

This is a skill you need to survive in the world, understand?

"Uh..." Zhu Hong raised an eyebrow, but didn't reply. He just lowered his head and carefully chewed the piece of dried meat, but the smile in his eyes didn't fade away.

he,

They actually believed it?

In a short while, the two finished the dried meat.

Lin Jizhi grabbed a handful of snow and rubbed it on his hands. He then covered the charcoal pit with loose soil, leaving only a sliver of barely perceptible heat escaping from between the rocks.

"By the way, Brother Lin."

Zhu Hong suddenly asked, "There's still one of the porters' bodies that hasn't been found. Are we looking for it?"

He remembered that thin piece of paper tucked inside the case file that Wang Zhenshan had thrown at him:

Of the three corpses, two have been recovered, but the whereabouts of the remaining one are still unknown. If it can be brought back, it will add another entry to the merit book.

"A corpse?"

Lin Jizhi chuckled, his scabbard planted on the snow, and turned to look at Zhu Hong with a smile in his eyes: "Hey Hong, the merit book records good deeds, not guts. That beast can swallow dozens of pounds of meat in one meal. You expect to dig out the merits from its belly after a day?" He chuckled and poked Zhu Hong's knee with the scabbard:

"Those tough bones that it can't chew, that thing probably took them back to its den to grind its teeth."

Zhu Hong remained silent for a moment, then shook his head and muttered:

"That's true..."

After reading it, he glanced at the charcoal pit, moved half an inch towards the entrance to block the airflow, and said, "Brother Lin, you go to sleep first. I'll take the first shift."

"Okay, remember to call me to switch shifts at 3 AM."

Lin Jizhi didn't mince words. He tightened his coat, shrank back against the rock wall, placed the knife across his knees, and immediately closed his eyes.

In just a few breaths, his breathing became even.

……