By the time Li Long got up, it was already light.
He hurriedly rubbed his face, got dressed, grabbed his gun, and went outside.
There was no time to eat. Li Long only went into the small room to fetch a palm-sized strip of dried meat, chewing laboriously as he hurried toward the mountains.
Although the sun had yet to rise, the sky was already bright. Usually, by this time, the wild boars had finished foraging down below and were heading back into the mountains.
Dew still clung to the grass tips. In his hurry, Li Long plowed straight through, and his trouser legs were soon wet, clinging coldly and uncomfortably to his legs.
His yellow rubber shoes were soaked through too. His socked feet felt as though they were stepping on bags of water, slipping with every step. It was awkward.
But he could not spare any attention for that. Li Long strode swiftly along, hurrying toward the hot springs.
In truth, he already had a vague feeling that this trip would most likely be fruitless.
But he had to make the trip regardless. It was only a few kilometers, after all.
If he wanted meat to eat, how could he be afraid of a little hard work?
The villagers did not even have the chance to do something like this.
With these thoughts in mind, Li Long entered the ravine where the hot springs lay and slowed his pace.
He was afraid that moving too noisily would frighten off any game that might be there.
Hurrying to the pools, he still startled a pheasant that was drinking there.
The flutter of its wings echoed through the valley.
Li Long looked around the pools and was pleasantly surprised to find hoofprints. There were not many, though, and none suggested