Meanwhile, Li Xuan had already entered the mountains alone.
Naturally, he had brought the Ox-Horn Bow along.
[Worn Ox-Horn Hunting Bow (+0.2 physique, +0.1 dexterity, severely worn, slightly greater power, capable of killing most medium-sized prey)]
"Nice! Better equipment gives twice the stat bonuses!"
His stats had now become:
[Li Xuan] Physique: 1.5 Dexterity: 1.1
"Dexterity is still a little low, but with my traits, it should be enough!"
That was because Li Xuan currently had two traits.
"Agility" and "Featherfall" could both improve his nimbleness.
Although they did not directly increase his stats, Li Xuan estimated that they provided at least a thirty-percent boost.
He pulled his thin, worn padded jacket tighter around himself. The white mist of his breath was instantly swept away by the mountain wind.
First, he checked the patch of dust-bathing ground where he had set the snares and basket traps yesterday.
The traps remained intact, and some of the shriveled grain had been pecked away, but he had caught nothing.
Several tits hopped among the nearby bushes, then fluttered away at his approach.
Li Xuan was not disappointed. Hunting was seven parts patience and three parts luck.
He carefully reset the traps and added a little more shriveled grain.
Snow began to fall, initially as fine flecks that felt icy against his face.
The woods were dim and utterly silent, save for the soft crunch of his feet on dead branches newly covered in snow.
Li Xuan planned to scout around the sheltered cliffs farther west. If he still found nothing, he would head straight down the mountain.
Just as he was preparing to turn back, his gaze swept across a relatively damp, muddy slope near a stream and suddenly stopped.
Several clear trails of hoofprints were pressed deep into the earth, which had yet to freeze solid, with a thin layer of fresh snow covering them.
Much larger than rabbit tracks, the prints formed split arcs, with broad strides leading toward the steeper western slope.
Li Xuan perked up, immediately crouching to examine them closely.
"These should be... wild mountain goat tracks! And it only passed through recently!"
The tracks were fresh. The steadily falling snow had not yet completely blurred their edges.
He looked in the direction they led. The trees thinned there, exposing broad stretches of gray-white weathered rock and low bushes as the terrain began to rise.
Without hesitation, he immediately followed the trail.
After his physique reached 1.3, not only had his strength increased, but his stamina and eyesight had also improved considerably.
Tracking in snowy weather was no easy task, yet he could clearly distinguish the depth and direction of the prints, and even estimate when the goat had passed from the snow it had knocked loose.
The "Featherfall" trait lightened his footsteps, making his movements among the snow-covered rocks almost soundless.
After tracking it for nearly half an hour and crossing a slope strewn with rocks, he came upon a small, relatively level hollow sheltered from the wind.
At the edge of the hollow, behind several clumps of cold-hardy thorns and withered wild berry vines, a gray-brown figure flickered in and out of view!
It was the wild mountain goat!
It was even larger than Li Xuan had expected, its shoulders nearly reaching his chest.
Its two backward-curving horns were thick and powerful. With its back toward him, it was lowering its head to nibble the scant yellowed lichen remaining in the cracks between the rocks.
It was clearly extremely alert. Even while feeding, its ears turned from time to time, catching any unusual sound amid the wind and snow.
It stood about sixty paces away, with sparse bushes and scattered rocks between them. Fortunately, the wind was blowing from the goat toward him.
This was an opportunity, but also an enormous challenge.
Sixty paces was far beyond the distance at which he had previously killed Mountain Pheasants.
The goat was large and hardy. If his arrow failed to hit a vital spot, it might flee wounded into even more treacherous rocky terrain, where tracking it again would be difficult.
Li Xuan slowly took the large bow off his shoulder.
Though it had not been repaired, its weight and feel were in an entirely different league from the Mulberry Wood Bow.
He drew one of his straightest arrows, with its tip sharpened to the keenest edge, from his quiver and nocked it.
Crouching behind a rock half a man's height, he slowly regulated his breathing, calming the heartbeat that pursuit and excitement had quickened.
"Proficient"-level Archery Mastery brought more than technique. It also brought a tranquil state of mind.
His gaze locked onto the goat like a hawk's, fixing on its side where the neck met the shoulder blade-the location of its heart and lungs.
He drew a deep breath, filling his chest with icy air, then slowly exhaled most of it. He drew the bow!
The muscles in both arms abruptly tightened, channeling the strength of his waist and back.
The stiff bow, which required tremendous arm strength to draw, gave a faint yet resilient creak in his hands. He steadily pulled the string back until the bow curved like a full moon!
The entire motion was steady and fluid, without the slightest hesitation or tremor.
With 1.3 physique, wielding this bow felt solid and natural, like water flowing into a channel.
The goat seemed to sense something. It suddenly stopped chewing and raised its head, scanning its surroundings warily.
Twang!
The bowstring's snap rang out with startling clarity and violence through the silent, snowy woods!
The arrow tore through the air, leaving the string with far greater speed and force than before. It became a blurred black streak, crossing sixty paces in an instant!
Alarmed, the goat tensed its hind legs to leap away, but the arrow had already arrived!
Thwack!
The sharp iron arrowhead slipped with unerring precision between the goat's ribs from behind and to the side, burying itself deep inside its body!
The tremendous impact sent the goat's muscular body lurching sideways, and it let out a low, agonized bleat.
A hit! But it did not fall immediately!
The grievous wound unleashed the goat's ferocity. With the arrow still buried deep in its body, it staggered into a frantic flight up the rocky slope!
How could Li Xuan let it escape?
He immediately sprang out from behind the rock and raced after it!
"Wild Rabbit Agility" and "Featherfall" took effect simultaneously.
They let him run over the slippery, snow-covered slope and its jagged rocks as though on level ground. His astonishing speed rapidly closed the distance.
Severely wounded, the goat had slowed considerably. It fled fewer than thirty paces before its forelegs buckled and it crashed into the snow.
It struggled to rise, bloody foam spilling from its mouth. It was already a spent arrow at the end of its flight.
Li Xuan caught up and, without hesitation, drew the Woodcutter's Blade from his waist and aimed for a vital spot.
One clean, decisive stroke ended its suffering.
[Medium-sized prey killed: Adult Wild Mountain Goat] [Hunting Points +8] [Physique experience increased significantly] [Trait acquired: Swiftness (white)] [Mountain Goat's Swiftness (white): Slightly increases running and movement speed. (Active)]
A surge of warmth several times stronger than what he had felt after killing a Mountain Pheasant flooded his body. His legs, in particular, felt lighter and stronger.
At the same time, a pale cyan mote of light merged into his body, and the new trait took effect.
Li Xuan could even feel that if he ran at full speed now, he would be far faster than before!
Eight points!
"Not bad!"
An even more pleasant surprise was the "Swiftness" trait, combined with "Agility" and "Featherfall."
His mobility in the mountains would reach an astonishing level.
Delighted, he prepared to deal with this hefty prize.
"Once I carry this meat home, it should feed the whole family for several days. The goatskin is especially valuable-I can sell it in town!"
The weather would only grow colder.
Yet Li Xuan did not even have a decent thick coat.
He had long been planning to earn some money and buy proper warm clothing.
If he had anything left over, he might even be able to add some more powerful equipment!
Awooo-!!
A long, desolate, piercing wolf howl rose from deep within the dense woods beyond a distant ridge.
It echoed through the wind and snow, chilling the heart. Several answering howls followed immediately. Clearly, there was more than one wolf!
Li Xuan's expression changed abruptly.
A wolf pack! Judging by the sound, they were at least one or two ridges away.
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