Trouble at Home

"Damn it! What rotten luck!" A burly man with a full beard spat viciously into the snow.

"That beast's hide was too damn thick. I drove my fork into it and still didn't pierce through!"

"Who would've thought there was such a huge brute hiding among that pack of wild boars?" Another lean, wiry man panted heavily, fear still lingering in his heart.

"If Heizi hadn't reacted quickly and shoved Sixth Brother aside, it wouldn't have just been a leg grazed by a tusk!"

"Don't mention it. I nearly left my life there!" the injured man cursed through gritted teeth.

"This trip was a total loss. Our gear's broken, someone's hurt, and we didn't get a damn thing!"

The group hung their heads in dejection, the atmosphere heavy and oppressive.

They were the most experienced hunters from the nearby villages. They had entered the mountains together to hunt a big wild boar for the New Year, only to run into a truly hard target.

"Hm?" The hunter walking at the front and clearing the way, the one called Heizi, suddenly stopped. His sharp gaze swept across the snow.

"These footprints... they're fresh. Someone passed through not long ago."

He crouched down to inspect them carefully. "Just one person? Going into the mountains alone in this weather? And carrying something... headed downhill."

"Who cares who it was? Let's get back already. I'm freezing my ass off!" the bearded man urged impatiently.

He had no interest whatsoever in someone else's catch. All he wanted was to get back quickly, treat the wound, and warm himself up.

Heizi looked again at the cleverly concealed pit trap not far away. Fang Yuan had hastily covered it, but had not entirely erased the traces. A flicker of surprise passed through Heizi's eyes.

"This pit's dug rather cleverly... not the work of an old hand, but there's a certain ingenuity to it."

The lead hunter—the man who had first spotted the footprints and was called Heizi—did not look pleased at all.

He crouched on the ground, pinching up a little of the compacted snow between his fingers. His sharp eyes swept over the hastily covered traces of traps and the unfamiliar footprints around him.

The feeling was like having some wild rabbit from who knew where suddenly barge into his carefully tended private plot and sneak bites of the vegetables he had set his eye on!

Hunting was usually passed down from father to son, or done in groups with fellow villagers one trusted completely.

There was no other reason. Though the mountains held treasures—valuable Snow Ginseng, wild game with thick pelts—they were also filled with dangers that could take a man's life at every turn.

Which patch of forest held a black bear's den, which mountain hollow wild boars often passed through, where traps were most likely to yield a catch—

Those were lessons the older generation had bought with their lives, the capital they relied on to make a living. They did not share them lightly with outsiders.

With times like these, the harvests in the fields were poor, and more and more people who could no longer survive had set their sights on Great Green Mountain.

But these people knew none of the mountain's rules. They blundered about recklessly, not only risking their own lives but also frightening off prey and ruining the arrangements of old hunters like them!

Heizi's expression darkened.

He rose to his feet and looked toward the downhill direction where the footprints vanished, his tone thick with undisguised rejection and wariness.

"One person dared to make it this far and even set traps... Judging from these methods, he wasn't some completely clueless greenhorn. Which village could he be from?"

The injured man bared his teeth in pain and snorted irritably.

"Who cares which village he's from! This mountain hollow has always given us the best hauls. Now every stray cat and dog thinks they can come stick their nose in?"

The big bearded man chimed in roughly.

"Exactly! It's true that those who live by the mountains live off the mountains, but there still have to be rules!

"If I run into that blind fool next time, I'll make him cough up everything he swallowed, principal and interest! I'll teach him the rules!"

"That's right! When we meet him, the first thing he does is pay tribute!"

Another hunter grinned, his voice carrying a tyranny he considered perfectly natural.

From the way they spoke, they had clearly already regarded this stretch of forest where they often hunted as their own private territory.

Toward any "intruder" who entered without permission—especially a "competitor" who might take a share of their resources—they naturally felt nothing but hostility and exclusion.

Heizi said no more. He merely gave those traces another long look, as though he wanted to memorize this method of setting traps.

He waved a hand. "Let's head back first. Sixth Brother's injury comes first."

The group did not linger. Supporting the injured man between them, they hurried down the mountain along a familiar path.

But after this incident, a thorn had lodged in all their hearts. They began making plans for that unfamiliar hunter who had dared to enter their territory alone.

The mountain forest seemed vast and boundless, but in the eyes of those who lived off it, every inch of land capable of bringing a harvest had long since been invisibly claimed.

Supporting one another and cursing under their breath, the group dragged their exhausted bodies off in another direction. Before long, they too vanished into the mountain forest beneath the gathering dusk.

Fang Yuan carried five heavy rabbits over his shoulder and hurried home along the snowy path.

Though his haul was not especially plentiful, the trip up and down the mountain, along with the energy he had spent setting traps and tracking prey, had drained him badly.

At that moment, his whole body felt exhausted, and the old injury beneath his ribs throbbed faintly.

By the time he could see the blurry outline of the village below the mountain, the sky had gone completely dark.

The cold wind howled, and only the snow around him reflected a faint, bleak glow.

He knew full well that before he understood the mountains at night and had a reliable shelter, staying in the forest overnight was no different from suicide.

He recalled how the old hunters in the village, when they ventured too deep into the mountains and could not return in time,

would build temporary lean-tos in hidden places or use natural caves as resting spots. Some even stored basic firewood and dry rations inside.

Those experiences were precious wealth passed down through generations, yet he had none of it.

That mountain hollow is sheltered from the wind... Next time, I need to search carefully and see whether there's somewhere nearby to spend the night, he calculated.

If he could find a safe place to stay the night, he would be able to spend more time in the forest and gain more from it.

As he neared the village entrance, he instinctively slowed his steps and looked around warily.

The snowy night was freezing, and the village entrance was deserted. Only a few dim yellow lanterns swayed in the wind, casting wavering shadows like ghosts.

He relaxed a little, quickened his pace, lowered his head, and swiftly passed through the village entrance, trying not to draw anyone's attention.

In times like these, one could not be too careful.

Every household was short on food. These few wild rabbits might have meant little in ordinary times, but in this winter of disaster, when old stores were gone and new crops had yet to grow,

they were enough to make some people, driven mad by hunger, take desperate risks.

He hurried all the way until he finally saw the low, dilapidated wooden door of his home.

No light shone through the window. It was pitch-black inside, and unnaturally quiet.

He stepped forward and raised his hand to knock.

"Knock, knock, knock."

There was no response from within.

His heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition surged through him.

He knocked harder several more times, then lowered his voice and spoke through the crack in the door. "Wanwan, it's me, Fang Yuan!"

Only then did a faint rustling sound come from inside, as though someone had scrambled up from the heated bed in a panic.

Then came hesitant, cautious footsteps approaching the door.

After several more breaths, the bolt was slowly drawn back from inside.

With a creak, the wooden door opened a narrow crack.

Liu Wanwan's face appeared behind it.

By the faint light reflected from the snow outside, Fang Yuan could clearly see that her eyes were swollen red like peaches.

Tear tracks still stained her face, and her gaze was filled with lingering fear and panic.

Fang Yuan's heart sank hard.

Something had happened after all!

He did not enter immediately. Instead, he forcibly suppressed the anxiety and fury in his heart, suddenly turned his head, and swept his sharp gaze quickly down both sides of the alley.

Snowflakes drifted down sparsely. The neighboring doors and windows were tightly shut, and not the slightest sound could be heard, as though the entire village had fallen asleep in this cold, snowy night.

Only after confirming that no one was watching outside did he slip through the doorway, squeeze inside, and swiftly slide the bolt back into place behind him!