Chapter 3: Hunting Tigers

  "Whoosh"

  An arrow flew over the hare's head and stuck in the grass beside it, a foot deep. The hare was frightened, turned around and ran into the forest at an extremely fast speed. At this time, another arrow came flying like thunder and nailed the running hare to the ground.

  "Fu Tong, your archery skills are still not good enough, you need to practice more."

  "Of course, it's their first time out hunting, they still need your guidance, Uncle Li."

  A rather sturdy black hunting dog rushed up, bringing the rabbit and arrow back in its mouth, placing them at the feet of the big and small ones. Li Li smiled and patted the head of the black dog: Hei Hu, continue to search forward.

  Yuan Futong followed the village head Li Lijin into the mountain to learn hunting, and just found a rabbit that was eating. Yuan Futong begged to shoot an arrow first to see how his archery skills were. Unfortunately, he missed, and Li Liji teased him about it.

  "Steady hands, ruthless heart. When shooting arrows, don't hesitate, hesitation makes you slow."

  "Alright, Uncle Li. I'll get it next time." Yuan Futong put the rabbit in his backpack and smiled at Li Ri.

  "This kid, don't think that just because you practiced shooting accurately in the village, practice and actual combat are two different things. You still have a lot to learn. Go, go take a look at the forest over there and see if there's any harvest from the traps."

  "Alright, I'll take a look at how Uncle's trap is set up."

  Two people walked into the mountains laughing and chatting.

  After a year of study and training, Yuan Futong has now officially graduated from his two masters, Li Ri and Li Ke. However, due to his young age, he was not allowed to practice in the mountains until now. He had applied to Li Ri several times to go into the mountains, but Li Ri had always refused. It wasn't until Yuan Futong's internal energy broke through the second layer of the Three Yang Decisions' Small Week Sky that he entered the third layer to cultivate his whole body's acupoints and prepare to open up the Big Week Sky, and his physical quality greatly improved. Now, in terms of internal energy alone, Li Ri was no longer a match for him, and various close-range defensive techniques were also practiced to perfection, already able to handle some unexpected situations. Only then did Li Ri agree to take him into the mountains. Even so, they chose to go into the mountains at the end of spring and beginning of summer, when large carnivores that had gone hungry during the winter had recovered, so there was no need to worry about running into tigers or black bears.

  Two men walked along the road, stopping and starting, as Li Ri explained to Yuan Fu Tong the various problems they might encounter in the mountains, such as finding water, remembering the route, identifying directions, making a fire, preventing insects, and hunting for prey. Although Yuan Fu Tong had remembered these things when they were discussed in the village, it wasn't until he saw them in practice that he felt like he truly understood. It seemed that many of the things they had discussed before were just empty talk. As they walked, Yuan Fu Tong slowly began to take on the role of a hunter, learning to observe and analyze under Li Ri's guidance. He even set two traps on a path where rabbits often passed through. However, by midday, when the two men took a break, Yuan Fu Tong still hadn't caught anything, and he was getting anxious. His mind was quick, and after missing his target several times, he began to think of new methods. He remembered that in novels, great heroes were always skilled archers, able to hit their mark every time, even if they weren't naturally talented. Was it possible that the reason for this was due to internal energy?

  Thoughts turned into action, Yuan Futong activated the Three Yang Decisive Move, fully focused, drew his bow and arrow, and effortlessly shot down a mountain chicken. The first time he entered the mountains, he had already made a gain, which made Yuan Futong very happy. Li Ri was also very happy, this represented that Yuan Futong was about to graduate. Yuan Futong was so happy that he wanted to show off his skills to Li Ri during their rest, thanking him for his teachings. Li Ri was overjoyed when he heard this and urged Yuan Futong to hurry up, striving to arrive at the creek by noon to rest and cook food.

  By noon, the two men walked to the creek and prepared to rest and eat. Li Li had two rabbits and three pheasants in his account for the morning, while Yuan Futong only had one pheasant. Li Li threw a pheasant to Da Hei, letting it devour it on the side. He himself found a windy spot, took out a flint, and lit a fire. Yuan Futong plucked and cleaned his prey, disemboweling it and removing its internal organs, then washed the chicken clean and removed its feet. He applied the seasonings he had brought in his bag evenly inside and outside the chicken. Then he found a lotus leaf, wrapped the chicken in it, and sealed it with mud on the outside before putting it in the fire to roast.

  Two quarters of an hour later, the simple dish was ready. Although the method is simple, Yuan Futong brought his carefully prepared seasonings, which he accumulated experience in cooking and identifying medicines over the past year. He selected suitable flavorings from herbs and mixed them with existing seasonings. In a big family, it may seem simple, but for the Li family who had never lived a life of luxury, it was already a rare delicacy. So Lǐ Lǐ also looked forward to Yuan Futong's new dish.

  The chicken was taken out of the fire, wrapped in mud, and the outer layer of mud was knocked off. Inside, there was another layer of lotus leaves, and the chicken's body shone with a golden yellow color. Yuan Futong handed Li Li a large thigh. As soon as Li Li took a bite, the chicken meat was crispy and tender, the aroma filled his nostrils, and the flavor was exceptionally fresh and delicious. Li Li's fingers moved quickly, and he snatched the remaining chicken from Yuan Futong's hands.

  "Fu Tong, this small chicken is not enough for us two to eat, you'd better cook another one."

  "Alright, this chicken is for Uncle Li." Yuan Futong reluctantly nodded and took out another chicken from his basket, cleaned it again, and cooked it. Half of it was snatched away by Li again.

  After the two of them had eaten their fill and were in high spirits, it was already past noon. The weather was fine, and they hadn't gotten much harvest from above, so they weren't in a hurry to return either. Li suggested continuing on their way around the mountain. They entered from the southeast direction and headed back from the southwest direction. Along the way, they should have some more harvests, and it wouldn't delay their journey.

  The two of them packed up their things, extinguished the bonfire, and buried the bones and bloodstains. Then they set off again on their journey. In the afternoon, Yuan Fu Tong's luck improved a lot, and Li Ri followed behind him to train him. He didn't give any pointers or help, but instead let Yuan Fu Tong lead the way, find prey, shoot and kill, and set up traps. Only when Yuan Fu Tong made a mistake would he say something. Yuan Fu Tong had basically applied everything he learned that morning, and did it with style, which made Li Ri very satisfied with his apprentice.

  As the sun was about to set, there was still an hour or so before it got dark. The two of them had a pretty good harvest. After Yuan Futong learned how to use his cultivation state to shoot arrows, his accuracy improved a lot, and he could usually hit any target that wasn't flying away. In the afternoon, Yuan Futong added 3 rabbits and 4 mountain chickens to their tally. Although there weren't any big game, the fact that they were able to bring back so many things on their first trip into the mountains was already a very good achievement, and it wasn't inferior to what ordinary hunters could do. In the village, even if a 15- or 16-year-old youth could bring back one piece of game on their first hunt, it would be considered a success.

  The two men saw that it was getting late and they still had twenty or thirty miles to go before reaching the village, so they prepared to hurry back. Yuan Futong was overjoyed and walked ahead. Suddenly, he heard a low growl from the big black dog, as if facing a great enemy, and took a step back. Li Ri already held a knife in his hand and jumped out to the side. Yuan Futong looked in the direction of the big black dog's growl. Instantly, his hair stood on end, and from the grass thicket, a huge head emerged, with eyes like bronze bells and a mouth like a bloody basin. It was actually a giant tiger.

  Yuan Futong turned around and wanted to run, just then Li shouted loudly: "Quickly climb the tree!"

  Yuan Futong hastily rushed towards a large tree behind him, using his hands and feet to climb up. However, he saw that the tiger made a fierce pounce towards Li Ri, who dodged it with a swift movement and stood facing the tiger with his knife at the ready. Da Hei let out a low growl from the side, forming a triangular formation with one person and one dog. The ferocious tiger was also tense all over, its long tail behind it like a steel whip, slightly raised, also waiting for an opportunity to strike.

  Yuan Futong had already climbed to a high branch, his backpack thrown off under the tree. Yuan Futong's soul was still in shock, he only felt like there was a bronze drum pounding in his chest, thumping loudly. His back was already soaked through, as if it had been washed.

  The tiger and Li Ri Da Hei faced off for a moment, seemingly impatient. Suddenly, it opened its mouth and let out a long roar, the sound as loud as a great bell, extremely resonant. Yuan Fu Tong was startled by the roar, his whole body trembling, almost falling from the tree. This fright actually triggered Yuan Fu Tong's ferocity. Before, he had only seen tigers in the zoo, where they seemed to have no majesty at all. Now that he encountered a real tiger, he was scared like this. If he couldn't even dare to fight a tiger, what kind of hunter would he be? How could he support his own grandmother then?

  Yuan Futong took a deep breath, suppressing the pounding of his heart. Holding his breath, he summoned a mouthful of true energy from his dan tian, drew his bow and nocked an arrow, taking aim at the fierce tiger. The old tiger seemed to sense something, slowly turning its head towards Yuan Futong in the tree. Just as the tiger turned its head, Big Black suddenly pounced forward, charging straight for the tiger's throat. The tiger spun around, its tail whipping across Big Black's waist. Big Black was knocked flying by the tiger's tail and landed with a thud in a nearby clump of grass, wailing pitifully as it struggled to get back to its feet.

  Li Ri had already pounced on the tiger, his short knife thrusting straight into its belly. The tiger was too late to dodge and was stabbed in the abdomen until the hilt of the knife disappeared. The tiger let out a mournful cry and turned its head to bite Li Ri. Li Ri released his grip on the knife and rolled away from the bite. The tiger pounced again, but this time Li Ri's strength had been exhausted, and he could only barely crawl up from the ground, unable to dodge or evade.

  Whoosh———

  A black light flashed, and with a "thud", the tiger was pinned to the ground. An arrow pierced through the tiger's front paw, pinning it to the earth. The tiger let out a loud roar, throwing its head back and letting out a deafening bellow at Yuan Futong. With a sudden burst of strength, it lifted its front paws off the ground, preparing to pounce on Yuan Futong. Seizing the opportunity, Yuan Futong shot another arrow, which pierced through the tiger's mouth, entering deep into its brain.

  One arrow is enough to be fatal.

  The tiger, having suffered such a severe injury, was no longer able to harm anyone. It let out a miserable cry on the ground for a while, its limbs convulsing and thrashing about. After another moment, its body stiffened and it finally died.

  Yuan Futong felt calm only after seeing the tiger collapse from the tree. Only then did he feel his whole body aching. These two arrows were shot with all his might, exhausting his physical and mental strength. After shooting, he was naturally exhausted. But it also made Yuan Futong understand the method of pouring internal energy into the arrow, and in the future, his archery skills would far surpass those of Li Ri.

  Li Ri also caught his breath, and from a distance still threw stones at the fierce tiger, but there was no movement. He carefully approached to check the tiger's body, to see if it was dead. Da Hei was still whimpering and trying to get up. Confirming that the tiger was indeed dead, Li Ri went over to pick up Da Hei, checking his injuries and comforting the loyal mountain dog.

  Yuan Futong climbed down from the tree and went to check on Dahei's injuries. He found that Dahei was still unable to get up, probably seriously injured, but dogs have strong vitality, as long as he doesn't die now, taking him back to rest should be fine.

  At this time, the sun had already set in the west, and the two men didn't look up at the sky anymore. They took a short rest and then hurriedly gathered up the tiger's corpse. Li carried over 300 catties of tiger on his shoulder, while Yuan Fu carried other prey, bows, arrows, and miscellaneous items on his back. The two men hastily headed towards the village.