The fishing was over quickly because nearly everyone was carrying five or six large fish.
This excited Li Hu and Ming Guang to no end; they had never imagined a hunt yielding so much food!
Mu Feng was also surprised; he had not expected the ice-fishing to bring in so many fish.
"No wonder Uncle Ming Guang used to say that one could catch fish with a big stick from the shore!" he recalled an article describing the vast wilderness he had read as a child, which said, "Hitting roe deer with sticks, scooping fish with gourds, and wild chickens flying into cooking pots."
He had scoffed at these tales, deeming them fictitious stories written by authors. Weren't roe deer and wild chickens rare protected animals in his past life, rather than creatures waiting to be caught?
But the fishing scene at Dragon Lake made him a believer again.
From what he had just experienced, the fish in Dragon Lake were adorably "stupid" – as soon as one fish was pulled through a hole in the ice, another would soon come up for air.
"It seems there are plenty of fish in Dragon Lake!" Mu Feng thought.
"Brother Mu Feng!" Bai Ya danced around Mu Feng, her eyes sparkling with excitement, "How did you think of this? Now the tribe will not lack food for a while!"
"Hehe," Mu Feng smiled, "Uncle Ming Guang used to bring us here to hit fish, and I thought why not try catching them when the lake is frozen, and it really worked!"
His words were half-true, half-false; after all, he couldn't very well say, "It's because your current intelligence hasn't caught up, right?"
Bai Ya, of course, didn't catch the subtext and cheerfully ran to Li Hu: "Father, father, look, the biggest one you're carrying is the one I caught!"
Li Hu's face was full of smiles as he patted Bai Ya's head: "Yes, you were really impressive this time!"
Then he turned to Mu Feng: "Mu Feng, how about we bring more people tomorrow and catch more fish to prepare?"
Mu Feng nodded: "That's possible, but as it's getting hotter down the mountain, too many fish might spoil quickly. Just enough to last us a while will do!"
In truth, he was considering whether to take ice from the lake back to the tribe to preserve the fish.
However, considering the effort of cutting, transporting, and storing the ice, it was not worth it, so he decided to abandon the plan.
He thought it would be better to wait until the timing was right to consider freezing methods.
Moreover, there were many other issues within the Jiang tribe that needed attention before freezing food.
As Mu Feng walked and thought, he suddenly noticed Li Hu stopping in his tracks, standing right next to him.
"What's wrong?" Mu Feng was taken aback.
Bai Ya, who had been chirping beside Li Hu, suddenly fell silent, cautiously standing behind him.
Though Mu Feng didn't see her expression, he could feel her tension.
"Huh?" Mu Feng was puzzled, "What's going on?"
Before he could finish, Ming Guang approached with a troubled face and said gravely, "Mu Feng, there's a group of people ahead!"
"A group of people?" Mu Feng was puzzled, "Is there a problem?"
"They outnumber us and are blocking all the paths!" Ming Guang said gravely, "I fear they're here to plunder!"
"Ah?" Bai Ya's face paled instantly, her eyes filled with fear.
Clearly, she remembered the recent raid the tribe had suffered.
Li Hu was also startled, a pained expression crossing his face: "Plunder!" He then gritted his teeth, "We'll fight them if we must!"
As he said this, he threw the big fish he was carrying onto the ground, ready to fight for his life.
But Mu Feng stopped him: "Uncle Li Hu, don't be rash!"
Li Hu, halted by Mu Feng, showed a mix of shock and anger: "Chief, Mu Feng! The tribe has already suffered one plunder, and we ran out of food! If we are plundered again, our people will really starve!"
Mu Feng shook his head: "Don't be rash! What if they plunder our food, let them have it, we can always catch more fish!"
"There's always firewood to burn as long as the green hills last!"
"What green hills, what fire?" Li Hu was stumped by this saying.
Mu Feng shook his head: "You don't need to worry about the rest, take me to see what's happening!"
"No! You are the chief, you can't take risks!"
"Don't worry, I have a plan, I won't take risks!"
With that, Mu Feng walked straight to the front of the line.
Li Hu and Ming Guang followed Mu Feng anxiously.
As Mu Feng reached the front, his gaze sharpened.
Indeed, there was a group of people, more in number than them, and several had faces smeared with colorful paint, their hair neatly tied up.
Mu Feng knew these were people from a larger tribe!
Because only those from large tribes had the "leisure" to tie their hair and use colors to distinguish warriors from ordinary tribespeople.
Tying hair and using color was a symbol of status and identity.
Just like in his previous life, rich and influential people drove luxury cars and wore branded watches.
What surprised Mu Feng most was that their leader was a girl riding an unknown beast!
The girl was dressed in pure white animal skin, her eyes bright as autumn water, like a young phoenix.
Mu Feng was dazzled by her standard oval face, which was even more beautiful than the post-surgery celebrities he had seen in his previous life.
The only flaw, if it could be called that, was the uneven redness on her face, clearly marked by frostbite.
But a slight imperfection did not obscure her beauty; her sword-like eyebrows added a spirited air, the epitome of a strong woman!
The girl was flanked by "painted face" warriors and rode a decent-looking beast. Even before she spoke, her presence was commanding.
Unlike Li Hu and Ming Guang's tension, Mu Feng thought of another long-cherished dream: to be a carefree and dashing "young master" of leisure, with hawks and hounds at his command.
Thinking this, his eyes lit up!