Awwabergen Mountain behind Enqi Town was a stretch of primeval mountain forest. The enormous trees found everywhere within it, along with the luxuriant weeds, thorns, and shrubs, made it a place seldom visited by people.
Even seasoned hunters were unwilling to venture deep into the mountains.
It was said that people had lived in Awwabergen Mountain long ago. Even now, one could still see signposts hidden behind wild roses, wooden bridges that could no longer be crossed, and stone pillars atop a certain peak.
There were even occasional sightings of abandoned houses overrun with weeds in the mountains. Along the middle section of Silver Snake Creek's lower reaches, someone had also seen a church that had long since collapsed.
In Sifa's "memories," he had never entered Awwabergen Mountain. The closest he had ever come to the mountains was his father's logging camp.
Now.
He was walking along a winding, dusty path, with the hunters led by Leon ahead of him.
The hunters were heading into the mountains to hunt.
Although he had accepted the Baron's commission, Leon had no intention of venturing deep into the mountains. That was too dangerous, and even if there were wolves deep in the mountains, they would not usually venture outside.
Unless there was no longer any prey in the mountains for them to hunt, but that was impossible.
The hunters stopped and started as they went, while Sifa observed carefully throughout, unwilling to miss a single detail. He soon discovered that the hunters were very familiar with the animals and beasts in the mountains.
They could determine what animals or beasts had passed nearby from marks left on trees, droppings hidden beneath blades of grass, tufts of fur caught on thorns, and other such things.
After walking through the mountain forest like this for nearly three hours, even Leon was panting and drenched in sweat. Sifa, however, was only breathing a little harder, with the backs of his hands slightly damp.
"We'll rest here."
Leon found a spot with an open view to take a break, not forgetting to send two hunters to look around nearby and check for potential dangers.
He handed Sifa a canteen and said with some surprise, "Your stamina is far better than I imagined."
Sifa smiled without speaking. After becoming a "Hunter," his physique had surpassed that of ordinary people. The improvement was very apparent.
After a sip of water, Sifa asked casually, "Mr. Leon, what qualities do you think an excellent hunter should possess?"
Leon glanced at him. "Why, do you want to become a hunter, Mr. Sifa?"
Without waiting for Sifa's answer, Leon continued, "I don't know about an excellent hunter, but I think a competent hunter must be familiar with his prey."
"He should know what he's hunting and what habits his prey has, including its preferences, the places it frequents, and so on."
"A good hunter should also have patience. Studying the prey, drawing up a plan, waiting for it to take the bait, and finally delivering a fatal blow. None of that can be done without patience."
"Also, don't attack your prey carelessly. You need to understand that once you miss, your prey will flee, and you'll have a hard time catching it again. So a hunter must make thorough preparations. Bait, traps-use every means available to you."
"Maximize your advantages as much as possible. Only when your prey has nowhere left to go should you shoot it and finish the hunt."
He really is the best hunter in town. That was very detailed. Huh, what's that smell? Sifa sniffed lightly. Just then, a forest breeze blew past, carrying a certain odor into his nostrils.
It smelled somewhat rank and musky, and it was far from pleasant.
With a rustle, a patch of grass nearby stirred gently, and the bearded hunter emerged.
Looking both nervous and excited, he lowered his voice. "I found a den. A wolf den!"
Not far from where the hunters had rested was a cave. An adult grey wolf lay on a rock at its entrance. It licked its paws from time to time, looking utterly bored. Whenever the mountain breeze blew past it, it carried a rank, musky odor with it.
Hidden behind some shrubs, Sifa almost wanted to pinch his nose shut. As a "Hunter," his senses were so keen that the odor became far too intense and distinct in his nostrils.
Leon gestured and pulled Sifa away. Only after retreating into a patch of woodland did he say, "It's definitely a wolf den, a small one. If there's only one guard, the pack should have five or six members."
"We'll lure out and kill the guard first, then clear out the den."
The bearded man immediately took a piece of fresh beef wrapped in waxed paper from his backpack. It was still dripping blood.
The hunter took out a dagger and made several cuts in the beef. Then he put on leather gloves, took out a small bottle wrapped in several layers of cotton cloth, unscrewed it, and poured some dark purple liquid into the cuts in the beef.
Leon explained from beside him, "That's a mixture of juices from poisonous plants we gather in the mountains. It'll paralyze your entire body and kill you very quickly."
After adding the poison, the bearded man casually pulled a vine from a nearby tree, wrapped it around the beef, and hurled it away.
The piece of beef landed in a distant patch of grass.
Sifa looked at Leon in puzzlement.
The hunter signaled for everyone to spread out, then hid in the grass with Sifa before explaining, "Wolves aren't as suspicious as foxes, but they're certainly not reckless."
"The fresh meat has been cut open, so the blood will seep out faster and attract the guard outside the cave. It'll find the meat, but it won't eat it readily."
"If it smells a human scent on the meat, it'll be even less likely to eat it. That's why we wrapped it in a vine before throwing it. And now, all we have to do is wait patiently for this guard to fall."
For the next twenty minutes, Sifa had to hide in the grass and endure insect bites. Only when the grey wolf's dying whimpers came from the distant grass could he finally leave his hiding place.
The guard was dead.
It had eaten the poisoned fresh beef. Next, the hunters split up to act. They gathered dry grass and branches, set them alight, and threw them into the cave.
Soon, thick smoke poured from the cave, accompanied by howls, and grey wolves began emerging from within.
Dizzy and disoriented by the smoke, the grey wolves were shot by the hunters the moment they emerged. In this way, Leon and the others killed five grey wolves without much effort.
Only after the cave stopped emitting smoke did the hunters enter. The cave was small, with wolf droppings all around. Deep inside were two cubs that had been knocked unconscious by the smoke.
Leon walked over and finished them off with his dagger, then said to Sifa, "One last point: a hunter must never show mercy to his prey, especially clever beasts like wolves."
"If I don't kill these two cubs, they might tear my throat open someday."
Sifa nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Leon. You've given me a vivid lesson today."
Next, the hunters began dealing with the spoils, intending to take the wolf carcasses back with them. Sifa sat to one side, carefully recalling what Leon had said.
Perhaps these words of experience would point him in the right direction for acting as a "Hunter." Just then, a gust of wind blew past, and Sifa caught a rank, musky odor on it.
This smell was a hundred times stronger than before!
PS: Posting first, editing later (?ó﹏ò?)
It's going through the process now. Once the status changes, I'll post two updates a day. Let me build up a little backlog~