Chapter 27: No Sense of Martial Morality

Chapter 27: No Sense of Martial Morality

"It's simple. We aim at the same time, and I'll count to three. When I say 'three,' we both shoot at once. The one I bring down is mine, and whatever hits your arrow is yours. How does that sound?"

Old man Tian looked at Lin Heng and said quietly.

"If you disagree, I'll scare the grouse away, and no one will be able to shoot it."

Before Lin Heng could respond, Tian added, using a blatant trick to take advantage.

"Old Tian, you have no shame!" Lin Heng's uncle couldn't help but curse.

"So what? If you don't agree, I'll just chase the grouse off," Old Tian was known for being brazen and unafraid of conflict.

"Fine, we'll do it your way," Lin Heng sighed, agreeing to Tian's proposal.

"Then follow me."

Old Tian glanced at Lin Heng, shouldered his gun, and walked ahead.

Lin Heng followed, carrying a bow and arrow. After walking a few dozen meters, they saw the grouse resting on a pine tree.

There were four of them, perched on two branches. Their feathers were bluish-gray, and their legs and beaks were black.

"I'll shoot the one on the left, you take the one on the right."

They stopped about 15 meters from the grouse. Old Tian set up his rifle, took out a firecracker from his pocket, and placed it on the ignition.

This firecracker functioned as a primer. When the trigger was pulled, the hammer hit the firecracker, creating a spark that ignited the gunpowder in the barrel, shooting the projectile out to strike the target.

"Three... bang!"

Old Tian counted to three and fired. A flash of red flame shot out with a loud bang, leaving a trail of scattered fireballs in the air.

"Shit!!"

The loud sound startled Lin Heng, causing him to flinch and release the arrow prematurely.

"Cluck cluck!!"

One of the grouse took off in fright, while the remaining three fell from the tree. Lin Heng's arrow hit the tree trunk without hitting any of the grouse.

"Old Tian, you have no martial ethics!!"

Lin Heng turned angrily to shout, "You said we would shoot together! You fired when you reached 'two,' huh?"

"Hehe, I said 'three, two, one, shoot together,' but I didn't say we had to wait until 'one' to shoot."

Old Tian chuckled, running over to collect the grouse with shameless persistence.

"Alright, you want to play this way, huh?"

Lin Heng pulled another arrow from his quiver. With a sharp 'whoosh,' the arrow pierced through the already dead grouse.

"What are you doing?" Old Tian turned back, asking.

"You said anything my arrow hits is mine, but you never said I had to shoot a live one," Lin Heng smirked.

"You're shameless! Youngster, are you bullying an old man now?" Old Tian immediately became unhappy.

"You're the one who's shameless," Lin Heng laughed, walking over to pick up a grouse.

Old Tian didn't dare to stop him. He knew he was in the wrong, and with no more bullets in his gun, Lin Heng still had a few arrows left.

"Old Tian, how can you behave like this at your age?"

Lin Heng's uncle walked over and scolded him.

"Actually, I just slipped, not on purpose," Old Tian laughed awkwardly.

He then turned to Lin Heng: "Kid, didn't expect you to have some skills. How about joining the big hunts?"

"No thanks, I'm afraid you might shoot me with a 'black gun,'" Lin Heng coldly rejected.

"Heh, although I have no children, I would never do something like that," Old Tian growled, as if it were a great insult.

Lin Heng ignored him, pulling out another arrow and heading home with Xiong Ba.

The two of them turned back. After that shot, all the game on this side of the mountain had been scared off, so there was no need to keep searching.

This was one of the downsides of a rifle—it was too loud.

"Dammit, my ears are still ringing," Lin Heng muttered, cursing Old Tian.

Xiong Ba: "Woof woof?"

"I'm not talking about you; you're much better than him," Lin Heng glanced at Xiong Ba.

"Lin Heng, let me try your bow and arrow."

On the way back, Lin Heng's uncle borrowed the bow and arrow, eager to try it out.

Lin Heng showed him how to use it and let him practice.

"No way, this is too hard. It's even more difficult than the slingshot," Lin Heng's uncle said after a while.

After some time, he returned the bow and arrow, going back to his slingshot instead.

On the way home, they didn't find any more game. Not even a squirrel was in sight. Clearly, everything had been scared off.

But Lin Heng was satisfied with today's harvest. It had been a good day.

"You head home. I'll help carry two trees back."

When they reached the top of the mountain, Lin Heng's uncle left with the slingshot.

Lin Heng didn't follow. His whole body ached, and he didn't feel like helping.

He figured everyone would be happy with rabbit meat for dinner.

On the way back, Lin Heng took a different route and spotted a few yellow cordyceps mushrooms, or chicken fat mushrooms, by the side of the road.

Just as he was about to leave after picking them, something golden caught his eye.

"Yellow calf-head!!"

He quickly ran over, clearing away the leaves, and found three golden mushrooms standing tall, making his mouth water.

The yellow calf-head, known scientifically as the wrinkled-cap ox liver fungus, was also called yellow ox liver. It was incredibly delicious.

These mushrooms could grow quite large, sometimes reaching over 10 centimeters tall, with caps that could be even larger. They were easy to identify, with caps that looked cracked in sections and golden-yellow wrinkles, while the rest of the mushroom was a brownish-yellow color.

The flesh was firm and tasty.

"Usually, this thing doesn't appear until mid-month. Didn't expect to find it early."

Lin Heng was thrilled. The mushrooms were quite large—one weighed over three taels, and the three of them together were almost a pound.

"Woof woof!"

Xiong Ba leaned in to sniff the mushrooms, curiously eyeing them.

"We can eat these tonight," Lin Heng patted Xiong Ba's head.

He couldn't bear to eat the sheep tripe mushrooms at home, but the yellow calf-heads were fine.

They were delicious, plentiful, and, most importantly, not expensive to buy, with dried ones going for just 40 cents per pound.

The dried mushrooms didn't taste as good, unlike the sheep tripe mushrooms, which maintained their flavor even when dried.

After collecting the three yellow calf-head mushrooms, Lin Heng and Xiong Ba made their way home.

On the way back, Uncle Wang from the Wang family was still working in the fields.

Hearing the dog bark, he looked up and saw Lin Heng, giving him a smug grin. "Lin Heng, did you fail? Hunting isn't that easy. It requires skill, not just taking a bow and going up the mountain. Go home and do some real work."

"Is this what you mean?" Lin Heng casually pulled a rabbit out of his backpack and asked, pretending to be confused.

He hadn't intended to pay him any attention, but Uncle Wang's annoying habit of lecturing others with shallow experience was getting on his nerves.

Uncle Wang froze, his face awkward as he awkwardly smiled. "Did you really catch this?"

"Found it. I don't have any hunting skills," Lin Heng smiled, putting the rabbit away.

Watching Lin Heng leave with his dog, Uncle Wang's head was spinning. This lazy good-for-nothing actually knew how to hunt? And with a bow and arrow? Was this the same Lin Heng who had always been up to no good?

"No, maybe he really did find it. If he had hunted it, he would've been showing it off by now."

After thinking it over, Uncle Wang concluded with a reason he could accept.

(End of Chapter)