#7Chapter 7 Going up the mountain again
Most of the people in Hongshan Village are hunters, who make a living by hunting.
There are many venomous snakes and beasts in the mountains, and almost every year someone in the village dies due to hunting.
The dead are too common for Hongshan Village.
The day after Tian Chuan was beaten to death, no one in Hongshan Village talked about it anymore.
Everything returned to calm.
It was as if this person had never existed in this village.
Shen Qing woke up early in the morning with a dark circle under his eye.
He walked out of the house casually, reached out to catch the falling snowflakes, then grabbed a large handful on the ground and pressed it tightly to his face.
The biting chill was like countless needlepoints piercing his skin, making him tremble instantly.
This chill seemed to pierce his bone marrow, but it also made his chaotic thoughts clear. An inexplicable sense of joy came to his heart, and he felt sober as never before.
"Brother, the hot porridge is ready. Come and have a sip."
"Here we come." Shen Qing breathed out gently.
Shen Qing took the bowl of steaming meat porridge from Shen Fang's hand, blew it gently, and took a careful sip.
The warm porridge water slides into the throat with the meat particles, bringing waves of warmth.
This feeling of warmth spread from his mouth to his whole body, as if dispelling the coldness that enveloped him in the winter.
In addition, she drank a lot of chicken soup yesterday, which nourished her intestines and stomach, and Shen Qing became much more energetic.
"Brother, why do I feel that you have grown taller?"
When Shen Qing stood up, Shen Fang felt that he seemed to have become stronger. Maybe it was an illusion.
"Maybe I always liked to hunch over in the past."
Shen Qing put away the ink words in his sight, put the bowl aside, picked up the bow and arrows and hung the quiver on his body.
"I'm going up the mountain, and I probably won't be able to come back at noon. You go to my aunt's house to stay for a while. Remember to bring bran cakes with you when you go, and don't make it difficult for aunt and others to make them."
Shen Qing explained while cleaning up.
"I see."
Shen Fang lowered her head and was stunned, then turned around to put away the dishes and chopsticks, and said nothing.
At that moment, she suddenly felt that Shen Qing was her brother and she was her sister.
He is obviously two years older than him.
Shen Qing didn't pay too much attention to Shen Fang's little thoughts, and pushed out the door regardless of the wind, snow and cold.
After a while, he walked to the place where he had punched the tree bark yesterday and looked around.
"The place we went to yesterday was too smoky. I'm afraid I won't be able to gain anything if I go there today. According to what I thought yesterday, I will go to the forest where the deer appeared before today."
Generally speaking, deer don't tend to stay in the same spot for long periods of time.
Their instinct to live in the wild drives them to constantly migrate and find new food sources to avoid resource depletion and threats from natural enemies.
If we go today, there is a high probability that we will not encounter the deer we saw that day.
But the presence of deer in the forest proves that the area with lichen, moss and non-frozen water must also attract other animals.
Shen Qing identified the direction, marked the tree bark again, and after marking it, walked straight into the mountains.
A series of deep footprints were left on the snow behind him, and Shen Qing's figure gradually disappeared into the wind and snow.
Chen Family Courtyard.
Chen Tai and Chen An walked out of the house wearing animal skins, long bows and daggers on their backs, feeling the cold air blowing on their faces.
Although the heavy snow outside the house has lightened up a lot, it has not stopped and is still falling sparsely.
Looking around, Shicheng Mountain is covered in snow and is completely white.
Chen An tightened his coat tightly and complained to Chen Tai beside him: "It's been snowing for so long. We still have to go up the mountain. Isn't it good to exercise at home?"
Chen Tai smiled and responded: "The prey is plump in winter, and my eldest brother also has good intentions. Don't say too much, let's go early and come back early."
Chen An complained, but he still stepped up and kept up with his second brother.
The two walked side by side through the silent village and towards the back mountain.
Not long after, two brothers, Chen An and Chen Tai, walked through the deep snow and arrived at the edge of the woods where Shen Qing was beating tree bark.
Chen Tai stopped, glanced at the tree bark Shen Qing had beaten and said, "There are already people here, let's change places."
"If someone happens to be there, it means there is something inside, which saves us from searching aimlessly."
Chen An didn't care who hit the bark and walked straight towards the hunting ground inside.
"Isn't it good for us to go in like this?" Chen Tai said hesitantly, with worry on his brows.
Chen An turned his head and said: "Brother, the hunter's rules are to die, but people are alive. Look at the footprints on the snow, only one person can survive. What are you afraid of? He beats his, we beat ours, this mountain It's not his alone."
As he said that, he stretched out his hand and grabbed Chen Tai's wrist tightly: "I'm just going in for some hunting. Second brother, don't be so pedantic. No one can do anything to us."
Chen Tai glanced at the silent woods and felt that Chen An's words made sense. He finally nodded: "Okay, but be careful."
Chen An had a proud smile on his face after hearing this.
He pulled Chen Tai, and the two of them followed Shen Qing into the forest.
…
Poof!
An arrow shot from a distance and pinned the hare to the ground.
Blood seeped out slowly from the wound where the arrow penetrated, dyeing the surrounding snow red.
The hare's eyes were full of fear, and he twisted his body in pain, trying to break free.
Every struggle was accompanied by severe pain, but the instinct to survive drove it to keep struggling.
Shen Qing, who was hiding not far away, walked over quickly, grabbed the long ears of the hare, and lifted it up with the rabbit and the arrow.
He looked delighted, quickly and skillfully took out the dagger from his waist, and cut the rabbit's carotid artery with one knife.
Blood spurted out, staining his cuffs red.
The rabbit twitched a few times, and then it was completely motionless.
Shen Qing picked up the dead rabbit, tied it skillfully with a rope, and then hung it around his waist.
He gently patted the prey on his waist, and a trace of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.
"It's already the third one. It's really not in vain today. It's a pity that I didn't encounter a big one."
Shen Qing put the dagger on his elbow joint and wiped it, wiped off the blood on it, and put it back on his waist.
At this time, he slowly squatted down, his eyes fixed on a string of footprints on the snow.
These footprints are clear and deep, obviously they were left not long ago.
He stretched out his hand, and his fingertips gently touched the edge of one of the footprints, feeling the delicate outline.
He was sure that it was a deer-like footprint.
A gleam flashed in Shen Qing's eyes, and he secretly rejoiced in his heart.
I didn't expect that if I mentioned the devil, he would appear. I could really encounter a big fish.
Following this set of footprints, maybe I could find the prey. I must not let it escape this time.
Suddenly, Shen Qing's heart was touched.
His consciousness moved, and a ball of ink spread out in his sight. The familiar interface in his sight appeared in front of him, and his expression became surprised.