On a village road branching off from the main route.
Unlike the deathly silence of Fang Family Village, another path leading to a smaller village was exceptionally lively at this moment.
Five or six men from the Heizi Hunting Team were carrying a sizable wild boar toward the village, their spirits high.
The boar's hooves had been skewered through with a thick wooden pole, carried front and back by the two strongest men, while the others crowded around them.
They all pitched in, shouting work chants to drive away the chill of the winter night.
"Heave-ho! Put your backs into it! We're almost there!"
"Damn it, this beast is heavy! It'll keep us fed for quite a while!"
"We've got to have a proper drink tonight! Warm ourselves up!"
Torchlight illuminated faces weary yet brimming with the joy of a good haul.
With this wild boar, every household in the hunting team would at least get a taste of meat and grease this winter, making it a little easier to endure.
The lively atmosphere drove away the darkness and cold around them.
Heizi walked at the very front of the group, torch in hand and a smile on his face. Yet beneath the dancing firelight, a trace of sinister gloom flashed through his eyes from time to time.
He kicked a pile of snow by the roadside and spat.
"Damn it, the second we got word, we rushed into the mountains without stopping for a moment! Is that brat some kind of rabbit? Where the hell did he burrow off to? How the fuck did we miss him?!"
He had not planned to hunt at all this time. His target had been unmistakably clear: Fang Yuan!
He had brought along five or six of his toughest men, armed with sharp