Encounter

After learning of the Silver Fox's whereabouts.

The hunters of Gu Family Village began entering the mountains far more frequently. Everyone harbored a sliver of hope—what if they got lucky?

A haul worth at least ten taels.

That was an enormous fortune to anyone!

And it did not require taking much risk.

Though the Silver Fox was fast, it was not particularly aggressive. Quite a few hunters in Gu Family Village were confident they could catch it.

Thus, when they entered the mountains afterward,

everyone tacitly chose not to form teams. There was only one Silver Fox, after all. Since they could hunt it alone, there was no need to cooperate with others and invite unnecessary disputes.

Gu Sheng entered the mountains to hunt with the same burning anticipation.

If he could catch the Silver Fox, his funds would truly become plentiful, and the pressure of preparing martial arts resources would ease considerably.

Unfortunately,

the Silver Fox was not so easy to hunt.

More than ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

So many hunters from Li Family Fort and Dahe Village had entered the mountains intermittently without finding it. Even with the hunters of Gu Family Village joining in, it remained elusive.

The Silver Fox was incredibly fast and naturally vigilant. At the slightest disturbance, it would flee without a trace.

Had someone not found a few more traces of the Silver Fox, everyone might have suspected the Dahe Village hunters of deliberately fooling them.

Night fell.

Gu Sheng took a deep breath and reviewed his gains from the previous hunting trips into the mountains, frowning slightly.

"Something is wrong. The game I've caught these past days has dropped by at least thirty percent."

"I've been so focused on catching the Silver Fox that I overlooked the trails of other beasts. That will severely affect my hunting gains. This won't do."

"After today, I'll lower the priority of hunting the Silver Fox and let nature take its course. If this continues, my losses will only grow. My focus should remain on other prey. As for the Silver Fox, I'll leave it to luck."

After realizing that a trace of greed had affected his hunting profits, Gu Sheng immediately made adjustments.

At the same time, he quietly warned himself not to be overly greedy, or it could sometimes backfire.

If even he was like this, the others were worse.

Many hunters roamed the mountain forests, dusty and bedraggled, with meager gains. Fortunately, Cang Mountain was vast enough to accommodate them all, though conflicts and friction between hunters had also increased considerably.

Having thought it through, Gu Sheng immediately felt much lighter at heart.

A few more days passed.

Several hunters from Gu Family Village entered the mountains again, with Gu Sheng and Gu Erniu among them.

They traveled together to the outskirts of Cang Mountain, exchanged smiling farewells, then each chose a direction and departed.

Though Gu Sheng had already resolved not to treat the Silver Fox as his primary target, the others had no such intention. The temptation of ten taels of silver was simply too great!

Even Gu Erniu could not resist. He needed to save martial arts resources for Gu Wan, so naturally he would not let this chance pass.

"Brother Erniu, be careful."

"You too."

Gu Sheng and Gu Erniu exchanged a brief farewell before choosing separate directions and leaving.

Gu Sheng walked through the forests of Cang Mountain, feeling relaxed all over. Without that excessive expectation, he could instead focus more intently on hunting other beasts.

Very soon,

Gu Sheng made a gain.

Whoosh!

The arrow cut through the air and pinned a plump wild rabbit to a tree root.

Gu Sheng tucked the rabbit into his hide bag, a smile appearing on his face.

That was more like it!

He had rediscovered that feeling of hunting.

"Keep going!"

Gu Sheng continued deeper into the mountains. Occasionally, he found traces of beasts, but often came up empty-handed. Tracking an animal based solely on a few signs was difficult.

Sometimes the marks had been left by an animal some time ago. Moreover, too many hunters had poured into Cang Mountain at once, making many beasts much more wary.

But this did not trouble Gu Sheng.

He had entered the mountains many times, constantly practicing and methodically reviewing his experiences. He improved at an astonishing pace.

After coming up empty a few times,

Gu Sheng's eyes lit up when he discovered some traces by a tree root.

Grain after grain of black, oval pellets, roughly the size of soybeans.

Gu Sheng did not need to lean in and smell them to know that these were the fresh droppings of a wild deer!

"There's a wild deer nearby!"

Excitement welled up in Gu Sheng's heart. A wild deer was worth quite a bit as well—its antlers, blood, meat, bones, and more all had value.

And a wild deer was not too heavy, only a few dozen jin. One person could carry it without overly hindering their movement.

It was absolutely one of the best choices for a lone hunter.

"Follow it!"

Gu Sheng did not hesitate in the slightest. He moved nimbly through the forest, occasionally catching more traces left by the deer.

Droppings, chewed leaves and grass, hoofprints, a distinctive lingering scent...

To an excellent hunter, such signals were unmistakable.

"It's a doe."

Gu Sheng made his judgment.

Very soon,

Gu Sheng confirmed his guess.

A faint deer call drifted over from the distance. He gently parted the foliage before him, and a small antlerless deer came into view. It was happily munching on tender branches, occasionally letting out cheerful chirps.

Gu Sheng's gaze gradually turned solemn. He drew an arrow, set it to the bowstring, and aimed at his prey.

The doe seemed to sense something and grew restless.

But it was already too late.

Buzz!

The taut bowstring abruptly snapped free with a vibrating hum. The arrow crossed nearly a hundred meters in an instant, bringing a piercing whistle through the air.

The bow was like a full moon, the arrow like a shooting star!

The doe only had time to let out a mournful cry before the arrow pierced its heart, the powerful impact sending it tumbling to the ground.

Gu Sheng's archery was now nearing perfection. Shooting at a target a hundred meters away was like shooting one right before his eyes.

If not for the limited power of the hunting bow in his hand, the arrow would have been even more ferocious!

Seeing the doe dead, delight filled Gu Sheng's eyes.

The moment he let go of his obsession with finding the Silver Fox, he had immediately made a gain. This only strengthened his conviction.

Rather than fantasize about the elusive Silver Fox, it was better to seize what was actually in his hands.

Gu Sheng put away his longbow and carefully walked toward the doe.

He pulled out the arrow and confirmed that the doe was dead.

The doe appeared to weigh around forty jin. Fortunately, Gu Sheng was now sturdily built and had shot up in height. Carrying it would affect his movements somewhat, but it would not be much of a problem. If he truly encountered danger, he could simply put it down.

He looked at the sky. It was still early before nightfall, but he had already decided to descend the mountain. Carrying a deer would hinder his hunting and make it easier for him to fall into danger, so he might as well head down.

"Today's haul is good. This deer alone is enough profit. I'll enter the mountains again next time!"

Hoisting the doe onto his shoulder, Gu Sheng prepared to leave.

Suddenly,

a cold shout came from the distance:

"Kid, put down the deer!"

Gu Sheng tensed. Having just caught the doe, he had relaxed his guard.

Looking up, he saw the familiar scar-eyed youth appear in the distant forest. Three hunters emerged from the woods behind him, all staring greedily at the wild deer on Gu Sheng's shoulder.

The scar-eyed youth had already drawn his bow and nocked an arrow.

"It's Li Yan! A hunter from Li Family Fort!"

Gu Sheng's heart tightened, but his movements did not hesitate in the slightest. He rolled on the spot, tumbling behind a redwood tree together with the doe's carcass.

With a whoosh, an arrow embedded itself firmly in the place where he had just stood, its fletching trembling with menacing force.

Li Yan's sinister voice rang out:

"Kid, that was just a warning! If you don't put down the deer, the next arrow will be aimed at your head!"

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