Hunting a Fierce Tiger

As Zhang Shan spoke, the room fell silent at once.

Though they had been fired up just moments ago, as if hunting a tiger were already something in the bag, they still had the foresight to understand that without Chen Xuan, who could hunt a wild boar alone, relying on themselves to hunt a tiger would be far too difficult.

At the very least, not a single person present was confident of success.

For the moment, no one knew what to say.

After a moment of silence, the young man who had spoken first could no longer hold back and spoke again.

"Uncle Zhang Shan, that's fifty taels of silver! It's enough for several of our families to survive a few harsh winters. Are we really giving up?"

The young man's words carried unwillingness.

Fifty taels—those were fifty whole taels.

Even if he only received two or three taels, it would be enough for him to marry a decent wife and acquire some property.

The young man simply could not accept giving up like this.

"That's right. This year's Foxtail Millet harvest failed completely. People will definitely starve to death in winter. I still have a whole family to feed."

"Brother Shan!"

"Brother Shan, why don't we all go together? Even if we can't hunt Tiger and Leopard, if we can bring back a wild boar, everyone's lives will be a little easier."

As the young man spoke, the others in the room also began to voice their thoughts.

The young man did not want to give up, and naturally, neither did they.

This was fifty taels.

The temptation was simply too great—great enough for them to throw caution to the wind and even ignore the enormous risks involved.

Hearing these voices, Zhang Shan could not help but frown.

When they saw him furrow his brow, the voices around him gradually fell silent as well.

Until, after a moment.

"Phew!"

Zhang Shan let out a breath of foul air as he looked at the hopeful gazes around him.

He finally made up his mind.

"Fine. Go find a few more people. We'll enter the mountains in three days!"

Once the words left his mouth, he no longer hesitated.

Though reason told him that without Chen Xuan joining them, the risk of hunting Tiger and Leopard was simply too great, and they should not attempt it.

But just as the young man had thought, he found it hard to accept giving up as well.

This year's Foxtail Millet crop had failed completely, and winter would not be easy to endure. They had to take this risk. Besides, that was fifty taels—fifty whole taels. It was enough money to make him disregard everything else.

Even if the risk was enormous, he had to take it.

Of course, the main reason was that Zhang Shan still had some confidence in himself. With his experience in the forest, even if the hunt failed, he should still be able to keep his life.

With that, there was nothing left to hesitate over.

Hearing Zhang Shan's decision, everyone let out a breath of relief.

They had been afraid Zhang Shan would refuse.

They could only tell that Chen Xuan was a skilled hunter from the prey he brought back, but Zhang Shan being Small River Village's greatest hunter was something they had witnessed with their own eyes. It was risky with Zhang Shan, but without him, it would be nothing but courting death.

Now that Zhang Shan had agreed, they naturally relaxed. Quite a few of them even had excitement in their eyes.

Without Chen Xuan, the risks might be greater, but they would also receive more. Thirty taels had become fifty taels.

Even if Zhang Shan took the largest share, they would still receive nearly twice as much as they would have if Chen Xuan had joined them.

Thinking of this, some of them even felt fortunate that Chen Xuan had not participated.

Of course, fortunate as they were, no one said it aloud. Once the decision had been made, they immediately began making preparations.

Hunting Tiger and Leopard in the mountains was ultimately extremely dangerous, so thorough preparations were necessary.

And those preparations took three days.

Three days later.

At the foot of the mountain, Zhang Shan's group of eight gathered. Six more people stood beside them, recruits they had found over the past three days.

The hunting party had now grown to fourteen people.

After exchanging glances, the fourteen men set off toward the mountain amid countless watching eyes, carrying both tension and anticipation.

As they watched the group's backs.

Many of the villagers looking on felt worry, nervousness, anticipation, and envy.

Conversations could be heard from time to time all around them.

Some were even discussing how they would arrange things once the men of their households brought back the silver.

How they would spend it.

Some villagers even bragged to those around them about the men in their families.

It was as if Tiger and Leopard had already been hunted.

Only Chen Xuan, standing at the very back of the crowd, frowned slightly.

When he saw these people heading up the mountain, his first instinct had been to stop them. After all, the mountain was dangerous. These people did not have his Conceptual Ability, and once they went up, they might not come back. But after thinking it over, he swallowed the words that had reached his lips.

He was not going himself, yet he wanted to stop others from going. That was obviously impossible.

Blocking someone's path to wealth was like murdering their father and mother. As a transmigrator, Chen Xuan naturally understood this.

If he tried to stop them, Zhang Shan and the others would probably not thank him. Instead, they might even resent him.

"I hope nothing happens."

Chen Xuan murmured softly, shook his head, and stopped dwelling on it.

For the time being, he had no plans to go into the mountains.

After several rounds of hunting, Wild Boars had become much harder to find in the mountains. On the other hand, he wanted to bring his archery to mastery as soon as possible.

For some reason, he had a faint sense of urgency.

That urgency might have come from the strange encounter in the river a few months ago, or perhaps from the Giant Python in the back mountain that had made his scalp prickle, as well as the terrifying monster that had fought the Giant Python.

He did not know what any of it meant, but he knew that staying here might very well bring enormous danger.

His thoughts turning, Chen Xuan watched Zhang Shan and the others disappear completely from sight.

Then he turned and returned home.

Morning sunlight spilled into the small courtyard as Chen Xuan continued practicing archery with Chen Er Zhuang.

Over the past few days, Chen Xuan could clearly feel his archery steadily improving.

Apparently, mastering archery within three months did not mean it would truly take all three months. He might complete the full leap in his archery after just over two months.

This naturally made him look forward to it even more.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Arrows tore through the air one after another.

Chen Xuan practiced while Chen Er Zhuang did his utmost to assist him.

They trained for several hours. Only when Chen Er Zhuang's arms ached so badly that he could no longer endure it did Chen Xuan stop and signal that Chen Er Zhuang could go home.

After Chen Er Zhuang left, Chen Xuan continued practicing on his own.

The sky gradually darkened.

After finishing his training, Chen Xuan went into his room and fell deeply asleep.

Yet the village could no longer remain calm.

A day had passed.

An entire day had passed, and night had already fallen, yet not one of the fourteen men from the hunting party had come down from the mountain.

This plunged family after family into anxious worry.