Before day had fully broken, the chickens of Emerald Mountain Village were already crowing at the tops of their lungs.
Lin He rolled over and sat up on the earthen kang bed in Old Man Sun's house.
After hearing Old Man Sun say last night that a large number of hunters from elsewhere had poured into the village, he had simply decided not to return to his ramshackle wooden hut and stayed here for the night instead.
Su Qiuran was safely settled at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion in town anyway.
He twisted his neck, his bones giving several sharp cracks.
After his second body tempering with that drop of pure essence of the sun last night, he now felt as though his whole body possessed an inexhaustible ox's strength.
He picked up the black python sinew bow with its hundred-and-twenty-jin draw weight and hefted it in his hand. It felt so light it might as well have been an oversized toy.
I really have become an iron turtle. Lin He secretly savored the thought, the corners of his mouth curling up despite himself.
"Young fellow Lin, you're awake?" The door to the main room opened, and Old Man Sun came in carrying two steaming bowls of coarse rice porridge. "Hurry and get something down you. We need to get into the mountains ahead of those outsiders. Any later, and we might not even get a rabbit hair."
"Sure thing." Lin He stood on no ceremony, gulping down the hot porridge in a few mouthfuls. He grabbed his woodcutting cleaver and tucked it into his belt, slung the powerful bow and quiver onto his back, and followed Old Man Sun outside.
The moment they left the village, Lin He frowned.
The usually tranquil Green Mountain was even livelier today than a market on market day.
Disordered footprints covered the mountain paths, and the shrubs on either side had been trampled into a mess.
In the faint dawn light, they could still vaguely hear a jumble of shouts and the sounds of people pushing through undergrowth deep in the mountain forest.
"Were these bastards born locusts or what?" Lin He could not help grumbling.
Old Man Sun's face was dark. He said nothing, merely quickening his pace.
He did not take Lin He along their usual route, instead choosing steep slopes without even a trail to climb.
Although the old man was getting on in years, his feet flew, while Lin He followed closely behind as though walking on level ground.
The two spent nearly four hours roaming the mountains.
The sun had fully risen, its light spilling through gaps in the leaves onto the ground.
Along the way, Old Man Sun drew on his seasoned experience to find five or six dens where Fanged Rabbits often appeared, but every single one had been turned upside down. Some entrances even bore fresh soil and traces of smoke.
"Damn it, they're taking the pot and everything." Lin He smacked his lips as he looked at a rabbit hole dug out as wide as a washbasin.
"Don't rush. Follow me." Old Man Sun narrowed his cloudy eyes and surveyed their surroundings, then led Lin He into a dense patch of thorny woods.
Bent at the waist, they struggled through the thorn bushes for half an incense stick's time before finally discovering a concealed burrow in a sheltered mountain hollow.
Old Man Sun lay down, leaned close to the entrance, and sniffed. A hint of delight appeared on his face. "We've got a chance. There's a fresh musky smell inside."
What followed was a familiar routine.
The two worked together seamlessly. Lin He guarded the main entrance while Old Man Sun found several air holes nearby, lit some dry grass, and fanned smoke inside.
Before long, rustling came from within the burrow.
Whoosh-
A grayish-brown shadow shot out of the entrance at tremendous speed.
In the past, Lin He would never have reacted in time.
But after his second body tempering, his reflexes were now astonishingly fast.
The Fanged Spotted Rabbit seemed to move in slow motion in his eyes. With sharp eyes and swift hands, he thrust out his right hand and seized the rabbit by the scruff.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak!" The rabbit struggled desperately, its two little fangs snapping wildly, but against Lin He's rock-solid fingers, it was utterly helpless.
"Got it!" Lin He grinned, deftly bound all four of the rabbit's legs with cowhide cord, and tossed it into the sack behind him.
They had barely stowed the rabbit when a flurry of footsteps suddenly sounded in the woods nearby.
Lin He's heart tightened. He instantly gripped the short-handled woodcutting cleaver at his waist, his gaze turning sharp.
Having just slaughtered a bushy-bearded fool who did not know better, he was now full of wariness toward these hunters from elsewhere.
The bushes parted, and three men in hide jackets emerged.
They carried bows, arrows, and hunting forks, their bodies covered in dirt and bits of grass, looking thoroughly bedraggled. Yet one or two heavy sacks hung at each man's waist.
The moment the two sides met, the air briefly fell silent.
At the sight of the intimidating black python sinew bow on Lin He's back, followed by the wary-faced Old Man Sun beside him, the three men involuntarily checked their steps.
The leader's eyes shifted, his gaze sweeping over Lin He's slightly bulging sack, and he immediately put on a smile.
"Oh, you two are here to strike it rich too?" The man cupped his hands, his tone reasonably polite.
Lin He did not loosen his grip on the cleaver. He watched them coldly without speaking.
Seeing how guarded Lin He was, the man did not get angry. He gave a couple of dry chuckles and explained, "Don't misunderstand, little brother. We're just passing through."
"The rabbits in these mountains have nearly all been caught. We brothers only managed to get two thanks to some good luck. We're hurrying to town to collect the bounty now."
As he spoke, he patted the sack at his waist, and several faint rabbit squeaks came from inside.
"Then we won't disturb you gentlemen in your fortune-making. Farewell." Seeing that Lin He still would not respond, the man sensibly cupped his hands and led his two companions in a hurried detour around them, heading down the mountain path toward town.
Only after the three figures had completely vanished into the woods did Lin He release his grip on the cleaver and softly exhale a stale breath.
"At least they knew what was good for them," Lin He muttered. He could sense that although those three were somewhat greedy, they were more impatient than anything, eager to exchange their catch for those gleaming Spirit Stones.
As long as they were not coming after him, he did not want to grow extra branches on the problem.
Old Man Sun walked over, took his tobacco pipe from his waist, packed in a pinch of shredded tobacco, lit it with a fire striker, and took two noisy puffs.
The old man exhaled a wisp of blue smoke, his brow knotting tightly, and heaved a deep sigh.
"Young fellow Lin, something isn't right." Old Man Sun lowered his voice, a trace of anxiety in his tone.
"What isn't right?" Lin He hitched the sack holding the rabbit higher on his shoulder.
"Look at these mountains." Old Man Sun pointed his pipe at the ravaged woods around them. "The Li Household's bounty has made everyone's eyes red with envy. A Low-Grade Spirit Stone! These outsiders have all gone mad. They're practically digging three feet into the ground."
"In just one night, they've combed through almost all the outer and middle reaches of Green Mountain."
Lin He nodded. "True. They're even burrowing into thorny woods like these. They don't even care about their lives when there's money involved. So what do we do next? We've worked half the day and only caught one. This is far too slow."
"Rabbits aren't stupid. With all this commotion, any that haven't been caught must have been frightened." Old Man Sun tapped the ash out of his pipe, a flicker of hesitation and struggle passing through his cloudy eyes. "They've definitely fled deeper into the mountains."
"Deeper into the mountains? Then we'll have to head farther in." Lin He rubbed his chin.
Old Man Sun fell silent for a while. Then, as though reaching some decision, he abruptly raised his head and looked at Lin He, his voice dropping extremely low. "Young fellow Lin, I know another place. There are definitely rabbits there, and no one would dare go. But that place... is extremely dangerous."
Lin He paused. Seeing the old man look as though he were facing a formidable enemy, he immediately grew curious.
"How dangerous? Are there tigers or black bears?" Relying on his current invulnerability to blades and spears, Lin He asked with complete confidence.
Old Man Sun shook his head, drew a deep breath, and said each word distinctly:
"It's near the Immortals' Mass Grave."