Chapter 26: The Contest Caused by the Grouse

Chapter 26: The Contest Caused by the Grouse

"Woof!!"

As soon as the rabbit appeared, Xiong Ba charged after it.

After running about thirty meters, it pinned one rabbit down and bit it, while the other rabbit ran off and disappeared.

"Well done!"

Lin Heng praised Xiong Ba as it returned, holding the rabbit in its mouth.

"Awwoo~"

Xiong Ba tilted its head, making happy sounds, signaling Lin Heng to take the rabbit.

"Too bad, I'm still inexperienced, or I could have caught both of them," Lin Heng sighed deeply as he took the rabbit. It was a pity; this might be the only catch of the afternoon.

The rabbit weighed about four or five jin, and it had been scared to death when Xiong Ba bit it.

Rabbit and squirrel pelts were similarly priced, around four to five yuan each. The valuable pelts were those of the muntjac, fox, marten, antelope, leopard, and black bear, which fetched even higher prices.

In this era, the resources in the Qinling Mountains were rich, though not as abundant as in the Greater Hinggan Range.

"Lin Heng, what did you catch?"

At this moment, the voice of Lin Heng's uncle-in-law, Li Baiquan, came from nearby. After chopping wood for two hours, he came over when he saw the smoke.

"One wild rabbit, Xiong Ba caught it," Lin Heng said with a smile.

"Good dog! Where did you catch it?" Li Baiquan asked enviously, admiring how much smarter this dog was than his own.

"In the town, didn't expect it to be so smart," Lin Heng chuckled.

"Well, when it grows up, I'll have it mate with my dog, she's just the right age," Li Baiquan said, looking at Xiong Ba.

"That's no problem," Lin Heng agreed.

Li Baiquan then knelt down and petted Xiong Ba, his eyes filled with affection. The dog had such a large frame; it looked extraordinary.

"Let's go, let's search the area and see if we can find more prey," Li Baiquan suggested, itching to practice his skills. He picked up Lin Heng's slingshot and was ready to try it out.

They entered a larger forest on the other side of Tongshu Ravine. The trees grew taller here.

Li Baiquan wandered around with the slingshot, practicing his technique, while Lin Heng followed Xiong Ba, searching for more prey.

"Eh, it's Tianma," Lin Heng suddenly stopped, looking at a plant in front of him. It was a Tianma stem, orange-yellow in color, over a meter tall with small flower spikes, though they hadn't bloomed yet.

Tianma, like mushrooms, grew parasitically using mycelium. It only bloomed in May and June and quickly disappeared afterward. Unlike typical plants, it didn't have leaves and couldn't photosynthesize.

Where there was Tianma, there was likely honey ring fungus, as Tianma lived symbiotically with this mushroom, which was a fascinating phenomenon in nature.

Though rare, Tianma didn't fetch a high price. Lin Heng marked the trees nearby with an "X" and left.

Now wasn't the right time to dig up Tianma; it was best in July and August when it was most plump and valuable.

"Ah, should've called you, Lin Heng. I missed a furry rat," Li Baiquan's voice came from ahead, clearly frustrated about his missed shot.

"Even if I was there, I might not have hit it. Squirrels are too small," Lin Heng shook his head.

"Let's go that way, I don't believe we can't catch any prey today," Li Baiquan said, unwilling to give up. He led the way through the ravine and into a larger forest.

Lin Heng looked up and estimated it was around five or six o'clock. The sun would set by 7:30, so they still had some time to explore.

If it weren't for the house construction, he would have wanted to spend a few days deep in the mountains. Animals closer to human settlements were only plentiful in the autumn.

The larger prey was always found deeper in the forest.

"Woof woof!!"

Not long after entering the forest, Xiong Ba suddenly barked. Lin Heng hurried over.

"Nice job, another patch of morel mushrooms."

Lin Heng smiled broadly, impressed by Xiong Ba's keen nose for fungi.

"Awwoo~~"

Xiong Ba squinted its eyes in pleasure as Lin Heng petted it.

"Your dog can find mushrooms too?" Li Baiquan asked, even more envious.

His dog couldn't do such a skilled job.

"Yes, I just found out," Lin Heng grinned. It was indeed Xiong Ba's special skill.

The morel mushrooms on the ground here were another variety, larger and with lighter yellow wrinkles on their surface. They looked cuter and smelled better than the black-veined ones, being considered the tastiest of morels.

Lin Heng harvested more than thirty, around two jin (about 1 kg). His face was filled with smiles.

Having a dog that could find mushrooms was great—humans often missed them because of limited vision and the complex environment, but dogs, with their keen sense of smell, could find mushrooms easily, even those hidden under leaves.

Li Baiquan looked at Xiong Ba with longing, wishing he could take it home. How lucky Lin Heng was to have such a good dog.

"Crack, crack!!"

Suddenly, the sound of a grouse call came from the distance. They soon saw the bird flapping its wings as it flew through the air and landed in a pine forest several hundred meters away.

"It's a black-mouthed grouse!"

Lin Heng and Li Baiquan both showed surprise and hurried toward the place where the grouse had landed.

Though small, with a maximum weight of just two jin (1 kg), the grouse's meat was far tastier than wild chicken, and second only to the red-bellied golden pheasant in terms of delicacy.

"Woof woof!"

Before they could reach the spot, Xiong Ba suddenly barked.

Lin Heng shot it a glance and scolded, "Stop barking, you'll scare the grouse away!"

"Awwoo~"

Xiong Ba let out a somewhat aggrieved bark.

Before Lin Heng could figure out what was happening, the sound of footsteps came from ahead, and an old man in military green camouflage walked out holding a hunting rifle.

"This black-mouthed grouse is mine. You should go somewhere else," the old man said, glancing at Lin Heng and Li Baiquan.

"Old Tian, that's unreasonable! We were here together, why do you claim it's yours?" Li Baiquan spoke up first, clearly unhappy.

The old man wasn't just anyone—it was Tian Baishun, an old hunter from the village. Lin Heng had met him the first time he went up the mountain.

"Don't talk nonsense, I've been watching it for a long time, of course, it's mine. If you don't leave, I won't be polite," Tian Baishun muttered under his breath, his spit nearly landing on Li Baiquan's face if not for the fear of scaring the grouse away.

"Old man, you should leave. The grouse flew up from the ravine below, you're not fooling anyone," Lin Heng stood his ground.

This was a huge deal—there were several grouse!

Tian Baishun glanced at Lin Heng's bow and arrow, his murky eyes shifting, a flash of cunning appearing. "Since you won't leave, how about a competition?"

"A competition?" Lin Heng frowned, looking at Tian Baishun. "How do we compete?"

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End of Chapter