Just as Chen Yang was preparing to take a risk and venture further, suddenly a black shadow swiftly swept past in front of him.
The shadow was incredibly fast, and he could barely make out an afterimage.
Even so, Chen Yang recognized the shadow he had just seen.
"Was that rabbit just now at least seven or eight pounds?" Chen Yang was somewhat startled, not expecting to encounter such a large rabbit here.
Gurgle.
Just as the rabbit ran off, Chen Yang's stomach suddenly started growling.
He looked up and saw that the sun was already nearing its zenith, indicating it was almost time for lunch.
Having entered the deep mountains early in the morning, Chen Yang hadn't even had the chance to eat breakfast, which explained the protest from his stomach.
"Heh heh, in that case, let's make do with what's available and catch a rabbit to break the fast," Chen Yang comforted his empty stomach and then lifted the hoe he was holding to start digging a hole right where he stood.
Before long, a hole of moderate size and depth had been dug.
Chen Yang rummaged through his carrying basket, found a few plants of purple alfalfa that rabbits love to eat, and placed them in the hole.
"This purple alfalfa is also considered a type of herb, and it fetches a good price, too, but no pain, no gain, let's gamble!" Chen Yang set up the trap and then found a nearby bush to hide himself.
Chen Yang held his breath as much as possible to blend in with his surroundings.
Wild rabbits are not like domestic rabbits; they are much more alert and agile.
Even a slight rustle of grass, and these rabbits would turn into an afterimage and vanish before your eyes.
In order to enjoy delicious roasted whole rabbit, Chen Yang had to meld seamlessly into his surroundings.
He pretended he was a wooden figure.
And so he waited, and about ten minutes or so had passed.
Indeed, a large grey rabbit, weighing about five pounds, leisurely walked over to the trap.
The grey rabbit twitched its nose and sniffed around on the ground, and soon, it saw the purple alfalfa Chen Yang had placed inside the hole.
Facing the lure of delicious food, the grey rabbit had no resistance, and it directly jumped into the hole, picking up the bait Chen Yang had placed and began to chew.
"Now is the moment!" No sooner said than done, as soon as he saw the grey rabbit jump into the hole, Chen Yang practically burst forth in an instant and was immediately in front of the grey rabbit.
Chen Yang's sudden appearance gave the grey rabbit a huge fright.
Its first instinct was to flee, but the environment of the deep pit restricted its escape.
By the time it turned around and was ready to run, Chen Yang had already firmly grabbed its ears.
Chen Yang lifted the rabbit, watching its frantic struggles with a face full of excitement.
"Heh heh, that's what you get for being gluttonous." Chen Yang patted the robust body of the rabbit, feeling completely satisfied.
Such a plump rabbit was enough for him to have a sumptuous meal.
After a moment of excitement, Chen Yang immediately found a nearby mountain spring, then skillfully washed, skinned, and roasted the rabbit over a fire.
In the wilderness, having such a gourmet meal was truly a delight.
Soon, the rabbit meat roasting on the fire cracked open, its golden oils seeping out.
Seeing the juices flowing from the rabbit meat, Chen Yang's stomach gurgled again.
"That's about right, let's eat," Chen Yang said with a smile, rubbing his stomach and then sitting down directly on the ground to eat voraciously.
Even though there were no seasonings in the wilderness, the natural flavor of the game was incredibly delicious.
This taste was something that farm-raised rabbit meat could not compare to.
"If this flavor were to be sold in the city, a rabbit wouldn't go for less than a few hundred," Chen Yang remarked as he ate.
Having attended university in the city, Chen Yang understood the habits of city-dwellers.
With this thought, Chen Yang's expression suddenly changed, and he slowly turned his eyes to the enticingly fragrant rabbit meat in his hand while an idea of making a profit from wild game popped into his mind.
"Why didn't I think of capturing wild game to sell in the city?"
"City folks who are used to exotic delicacies would love to have a taste of this wild game!"
"With so much wild game in the mountains, if I could catch more, I'd definitely be able to sell them at a good price!"
An idea struck Chen Yang, and his thoughts cleared instantly.
Since he was gathering herbs and trapping wild rabbits anyway, why not do them simultaneously?
With this thought, the rabbit he held suddenly seemed less appetizing.
Nevertheless, he still took a few big bites to fill his stomach before standing up to continue his pursuit of wild rabbits!
Continuing to trap in the same spot was not viable any longer, as the area was already permeated with the scent of the roasted rabbit.
Other rabbits definitely wouldn't be fooled, so Chen Yang picked up his carrying basket and small hoe and continued to delve deeper, hoping to find a better spot for catching rabbits.
After groping forward for a while, Chen Yang quickly found a spacious grassland deep in the mountains.
Here, there weren't any towering ancient trees, just dense shrubs and lots of thick weeds, and the ground was covered with many rabbit burrows.
"Rabbits love living in places like this, there must be many wild rabbits around here, right?" Seeing the surroundings, Chen Yang put down his basket and, holding the small hoe, started setting up a trap just like he had done before.
Although wild rabbits are very fast, and generally difficult for people to catch, Chen Yang was different.
After receiving the legacy of the Medicine King, not only did Chen Yang's eyes become brighter, but his physical constitution improved as well.
Even his reaction speed had greatly enhanced, so catching that rabbit earlier had been quite effortless for him.
Soon, Chen Yang had dug out a small pit, just like the one before.
At the same time, Chen Yang took a purple alfalfa plant from the basket and placed it at the bottom of the pit.
To catch a rabbit, bait was essential.
After doing all this, Chen Yang stealthily hid again in the shrubs.
This time, Chen Yang didn't have to wait long before another rabbit, about the same size as the gray one from before, entered his field of vision.
Possibly because human activity was rare in this area, the wild rabbits were particularly bold and hardly cautious at all.
Seeing the grass it loved the most in the pit, it jumped in without a second thought.
Just as its front paws picked up the purple alfalfa to stuff into its mouth, at that moment, a big hand suddenly grabbed it by the ears and hoisted it up.
Seeing how easily the rabbit was caught, Chen Yang became excited.
A wild rabbit of this size, when sold in the county town, would fetch at least a few hundred yuan, wouldn't it?
And he had spent only a few minutes to catch it!
The money came fast!
Chen Yang did some quick calculations; such a large rabbit could sell for at least two hundred in town.
Two hundred per rabbit, two thousand for ten! Twenty thousand for a hundred!
He just needed to catch a hundred rabbits and add some herbs, and thirty thousand yuan would be his!
Chen Yang was thrilled and without a second word, he picked up the rabbit and hurried down the mountain.
He needed to go back and prepare some tools, and then he could focus on catching rabbits to make money.
Soon, Chen Yang had returned to the clinic.
After setting down the basket and stuffing the rabbit into a chicken cage used previously at his house, Chen Yang ran to the storeroom and began rummaging around.
He took out everything that could help in catching rabbits.
"Chen Yang, what are you doing? Why are you digging out these old items?" Zhang Xueying, who helped Chen Yang manage the clinic, saw Chen Yang enthusiastically rummaging through old items and couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Hehe, these aren't just old items! These are treasure basins!" Chen Yang replied with a mysterious smile, then pulled two large wicker baskets from his storeroom, which were used by the older generation to hold grain.
He also found many small ropes in the storeroom.
After finding these items, Chen Yang didn't waste any time.
Carrying the two large wicker baskets on a shoulder pole and taking along a hoe, he rushed back to the mountains.
It wasn't long before Chen Yang had returned to that large grassy area in the mountains.
The place was covered in green grass and was very secluded, so there must be many rabbits.
After returning there, Chen Yang immediately began digging pits again and prepared to continue catching rabbits using the previous method: first digging a pit, placing some bait in it that rabbits like, and then grabbing the rabbit's ears the instant it jumped in.
This technique proved effective every time, and soon Chen Yang had caught quite a few rabbits.
After capturing the rabbits, Chen Yang used the small ropes to tie their limbs to prevent them from escaping, then threw them into the wicker baskets.
By the time it was nearly dark, the two large baskets Chen Yang had brought were completely filled with rabbits.
Chen Yang counted them and realized he had caught at least thirty to forty rabbits today!
Thirty to forty rabbits, even by a conservative estimate, would weigh at least one hundred and seventy pounds.
Based on the general market price,
wild rabbits were worth at least thirty-five yuan per pound! By that calculation, the rabbits in these two baskets were worth at least five to six thousand!
With this data, Chen Yang beamed with joy.
Given this rate, five days was completely enough for him!
Thirty thousand yuan didn't seem so difficult after all.