Chapter 25: The Hunting Squad
“I! Want! To! Enter! The! Hunting! Squad!”
Fang Zhengzhi’s voice resonated across the entire length of the village square. His voice wasn’t very loud, but it shocked the hearts of every villager.
“Hunting squad?!”
“He said… he said he wants to enter the hunting squad?”
“My God, he’s only seven!”
When they heard Fang Zhengzhi’s words, the villagers looked at one another, not daring to believe what they just heard.
Village Chief Meng Bai was the first to come to his senses. Taking a look at Fang Houde’s seemingly lifeless form, he mouthed softly, “Houde… you have such a good son!”
Listening to the discussion arising all around herm, Qin Xuelian’s body began to tremble intensely. Her beautiful eyes took one look at Fang Zhengzhi, then looked at Fang Houde lying in front of her. Tears instantly spewed from her eyes again…
…
Very quickly, like the wind, news of Fang Zhengzhi wanting to enter the hunting squad found its way into every household in the entire village. When some of the old villager who never stepped a foot outside their houses heard the news, their face were filled with disbelief.
But, Fang Zhengzhi shattering the stone with one fist was something dozens of people saw with their own eyes.
“This is unbelievable, how did Zhengzhi do it? Don’t tell me he… accessed Dao?”
“How is this possible! I bet that stone was already cracked, when Zhengzhi saw his own dad injured, his anger gave him this strength!”
“No matter what, even if the stone was already cracked, to shatter it with one fist is not something a seven year old child can achieve!”
“Yeah! What brute force, this is definitely much stronger than me when I was young!”
Waves of discussion began to spread throughout the village, and the villagers all began to praise the Fang family for raising such a strong child.
However, everywhere the wind blows, there was bound to be some flying specks of gravel.
For one, Mrs Li was extremely indignant: “Isn’t it just brute force? He can’t even enter the Hall of Dao, and definitely won’t be able to pass the eventual Law of Dao examinations, so what if he has strength? It’s still a lifetime of hunting for him!”
Li Zhuangshi also began to worry, looking at Li Huer from time to time and sighing sadly. He himself was unable to guess what he was thinking…
Village Chief Meng Bai sat on the carriage, journeying towards the county, his eyes wandering towards the endless streams of mountains outside the carriage. Distressfully, he brought the cigar he was holding to his mouth, inhaled deeply and breathed out a concentrated puff of smoke.
“Oh Fang family… how can I ever make up to you! It’s all my fault for being so blind, not being able to see the potential of this child. But, it’s already too late, the namelist of the Hall of Dao entrants have already been submitted, changing it… is really too difficult…”
…
In the Fang family household, Qin Xuelian gingerly wiped away the bloodstains on Fang Houde’s body, and lightly sat down beside Fang Zhengzhi.
“Zhengzhi… you… must you really enter the hunting squad?” Qin Xuelian’s expression was complex, after what happened at the village square, even she had no idea how to discuss with her own son.
Treat Fang Zhengzhi as an adult? But he’s only seven.
Treat him as a child? This also seemed somewhat inappropriate. This was because he was about to become a hunter entering the mountain, the lifeline of the entire Southern Mountain Village…
“Yes, mum!” Fang Zhengzhi nodded. He knew what Qin Xuelian was thinking, but, there are things that he had to do. Now that Fang Houde had fallen, he must stand up. At this time when his family was in peril, he must support it!
“But, you are now only seven…” Qin Xuelian spoke somewhat hesitantly.
“Mum, don’t worry, I will take care! Moreover, didn’t village chief already say? Now that I entered the hunting squad, all the animals I hunt belong to me. Now that dad is injured, how can he live without eating any meat?” Fang Zhengzhi reassured his mum.
From a logical point of view, he knew what he did was somewhat impulsive. Dangers lurked everywhere on the Cang Ling Mountain, even though he managed to gain some breakthroughs, but it was still impossibly difficult to defend himself against any large predators he would meet.
Most importantly, he had completely no fighting skills to defend against the wild beasts, in his past life he never even fought with a dog! Now he was to suddenly start hunting wild beasts?
That didn’t even seem right.
But, after making this decision, he had never regretted.
And what was extremely fortunate was that the villagers in the Southern Mountain Village were indeed rather simple-minded. Coupled with the priority of Fang Houde’s injury,even though he did something that stunned the entire village, nobody suspected how he suddenly became so powerful.
Now, the next problem was how to enter the mountains, how to survive long-term on the mountains, and how to stay safe while still being able to hunt animals.
Fang Zhengzhi somewhat understood the hunting techniques of the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad.
An extremely rigid method, setting small traps at some path junctions, then, the entire hunting squad sticking together as a group, wandered about the Cang Ling Mountain and shot down animals with bows and arrows.
Nothing could be more primitive than this!
This wasn’t the method Fang Zhengzhi wished to employ, because if any large beasts were encountered, the entire squad would be in danger. If luck shone on them, they might be able to maintain this for one or two months. But, can they maintain this for a lifetime?
A few of the elderly villagers were ridden by old injuries, some even missing an arm or a leg. These were the consequences!
He had to change this hunting strategy!
Fang Zhengzhi went into deep thought. How can I hunt down animals, yet preserve my own safety? Moreover there is another hidden danger, that’s the Blue Fire Wolf that constantly roamed the outskirts of the Cang Ling Mountain!
As Qin Xuelian looked at the frowning Fang Zhengzhi, her lips moved slightly.
“Zhengzhi, actually, a few days ago I found an ingot of gold…”
“Mum, leave that gold to take care of dad!” Fang Zhengzhi knew what Qin Xuelian wanted to express, since he had already stood out, he didn’t try to hide any further.
“You… you know…” Qin Xuelian couldn’t conceal the shock in her eyes anymore, then she remembered that day when she saw the “dumpling” kid on the stage. She suddenly understood.
As she looked towards Fang Zhengzhi, her expression became extremely complex.
“Zhengzhi has grown up…”
“Mum, don’t worry, you can leave this family to me!”
Fang Zhengzhi didn’t say anything further. He knew clearly that he had to step up sooner or later, it was just a matter of time.
Cang Ling Mountain? Blue Fire Wolf! Heard that the pelt of the Blue Fire Wolf… is worth quite some money. Then, let me take a look at what you are truly capable of!
…
Half a month later, one morning…
Dressed in cotton clothes, Qin Xuelian carefully prepared a leather jacket for Fang Zhengzhi.
The Cang Ling Mountain was filled with deadly and poisonous insects and one cannot dress too thinly when entering the mountain. At this moment, Fang Zhengzhi was wearing thick-soled leather shoes, a pair of leather gloves, and a leather jacket that extended to his thighs. He even wore a leather cap on his head.
From afar, he couldn’t be differentiated from a small mountain beast.
Although…
His attire was filled with patches!
After a period of rest, coupled with the herbs the village chief purchased from the county, some of the lightly injured members of the hunting squad had more or less recovered. Fang Houde could also get up from his bed and take a few slow steps.
“When you enter the mountain, if you encounter any huge beasts… hide at the back!” Fang Houde’s voice called out from inside his room.
Fang Zhengzhi was slightly taken aback. Knowing very well his dad’s simple personality, it required great courage to say these words.
“Dad don’t worry, I will always hide behind!” Fang Zhengzhi carried up his large basket, then hid a small dagger in his leather shoe and stepped outside the door.
“Zhengzhi, you didn’t bring a bow…” As he left, Qin Xuelian called out.
“I don’t know how!” Fang Zhengzhi twitched his mouth.
“Zhengzhi… blade… you didn’t even bring a hunting blade…”
“I don’t know how either…”
“This… you didn’t even bring anything, how are you going to hunt?”
“I have this!” Fang Zhengzhi pointed at the basket he carried on his back, then took out the dagger he concealed in his shoe, and dangled it in front of Qin Xuelian…
…
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In reality, Qin Xuelian’s doubt regarding Fang Zhengzhi represented the doubt of the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad. When Fang Zhengzhi, carrying his large basket, appeared at the assembly point in the village square, all the members of the hunting squad stared at him blankly.
“Zhengzhi, where’s your bow?
“I left it at home!”
“Then… your blade?”
“I didn’t bring it!”
The members of the hunting squad were speechless. Was he planning to hunt prey, or become the prey?
“Zhengzhi, ignore them. When we go up the mountain, you will stay behind the squad. Gain some experience first, don’t rush into action when you encounter wild prey, understand?” A middle-aged man with a slightly roundish face and plumpish body walked beside Fang Zhengzhi and placed his hands on his shoulders.
This was the Deputy Captain of the hunting squad, Ding Qingshan!
Ever since Li Zhuangshi entered the Hall of Dao, he took up the appointment as Deputy Captain. How about the Captain? That position had always been taken up by the village chief.
Even though he hadn’t entered the mountain for more than ten years.
“I understand, I won’t participate!” Fang Zhengzhi replied honestly.
The members of the hunting squad were stunned, then immediately laughed out. When they knew Fang Zhengzhi shattered a stone with one fist, they were all slightly curious about this seven year old boy.
Of course, more importantly they were considering what surprise this talented boy can bring to the hunting squad.
But now…
It was indeed a surprise.
“He is still a kid after all…” Ding Qingshan sighed softly.
Village Chief Meng Bai personally came to the village square to send the hunting squad off. As he looked at the large basket Fang Zhengzhi carried on his back, he similarly had no choice but to shake his head.
…
Taking advantage of the morning fog, a team of over ten people walked along the small trails that led behind the village and quickly journeyed towards the Cang Ling Mountain.
Fang Zhengzhi on the other hand followed behind the squad, carrying his large basket.
Tall mountain peaks, winding trails, the landscape filled with towering ancient trees and dense grass fields. To say that there were dangers lurking everywhere was definitely not an exaggeration.
This sparked a sense of novelty in Fang Zhengzhi. Living in the city all his past life, mountains and forests were a rare sight for him. Looking left and right, he hummed a little tune as he walked.
As the rest of the hunting squad looked at him, they just smiled.
No matter how they tried to see it, they felt that Fang Zhengzhi looked nothing like a hunter, but instead looked like he was here to make a sightseeing tour.
But, they didn’t say anything much. Ultimately he was still a kid, entering the mountain for the first time would no doubt spark some curiosity.
As they walked on, an hour passed and the sky was already illuminated brightly. The hunting squad had already almost reached the outskirts of Cang Ling Mountain. This, was where the Southern Mountain Village usually hunted.
“First inspect the respective traps, check if we had captured anything!” Ding Qingshan quickly gave out orders to the surrounding hunting squad members.
“Roger!” The hunting squad immediately sprang into action.
“Woosh!”
Right at this moment, the sound of an arrow slicing through the air resounded. Then, a long arrow nailed itself right in front of the hunting squad.
“Who’s that?” Ding Qingshan was the first to react, his gaze swept across the densely packed bushes. The rest of the squad each pulled out their long blades, and anxiously formed a circle.
Fang Zhengzhi just happened to end up right in the center of this circle.
“Ha ha ha… I thought there was a wild beast, who would have thought it would be people from the Southern Mountain Village!” A middle-aged man dressed in green leather walked out from the dense forests, veins bulging from his arms and deep scars covering his face.
“They are from the Northern Mountain Village!”
“Zhang Yangping, this is the Southern Mountain Village’s territory, why would villagers from the Northern Mountain Village end up here?”
Ding Qingshan quickly recognised the man’s identity, frowning deeply, the grip of his hand on the long blade didn’t loosen and instead, he held it defensively in front of his chest.
“The Southern Mountain Village’s territory? Ha ha ha… Heard that Southern Mountain Village was attacked by the Blue Fire Wolf, I thought that you guys will never set foot upon the mountain again!” Zhang Yangping laughed.
“Zhang Yangping, Northern Mountain Village people coming here, are you trying to snatch prey from the traps we set?” When Ding Qingshan saw Zhang Yangping appear in this place, he quickly realised his purpose.
“What do you mean snatch? The prey is from the mountain, don’t tell me “Southern Mountain Village” is written on them? Ha ha ha… Since you have come, we will make a move first!” After finishing his sentence, Zhang Yangping prepared to leave.
“Stop right there, hand over our prey!” Immediately, a member of the hunting squad stood out.
“Prey? Oh… I forgot. That’s right, we indeed managed to pick up some prey around here, but if you want to have it, you have first ask if my blade here agrees…” Zhang Yangping waved his hands and immediately, over twenty men jumped out from behind the bushes, prey hanging from each of their waists.
Gloominess was evident in Ding Qingshan’s eyes. Looking at the twenty over members of the Northern Mountain Village, then turning behind to look at his ten over hunting squad members, he struggled intensely inside.
“Ha ha ha… don’t want it anymore? Don’t tell me you all haven’t even realised this yet, in this world the strongest is always the winner. One can only listen to whoever’s fist is the toughest! Southern Mountain Village? What a joke! We are not only here to snatch today, we will be here to snatch every single day in the future! Hmph, let’s go!” Zhang Yangping chuckled delightedly, turned around then disappeared in the vegetation.
“What are you staring at? Come snatch it back if you have the balls!”
“Southern Mountain Village? Ha ha, your Southern Mountain Village has no capabilities anymore!”
” Ha ha ha…”
A few of the Northern Mountain Village members laughed as they walked.
“Deputy captain!”
“The Northern Mountain Village are too imperious!”
“Let’s fight it out with them!”
When the Southern Mountain Village witnessed this, they were instantly triggered.
“No we can’t, they have too many people, and among us there are people who haven’t recovered fully from their injuries. If we were really to fight it out, we will definitely suffer!” Ding Qingshan gripped tightly on the long blade in his hands
“But… our prey has been taken away by them…” People were still unsatisfied.
“Let’s not talk about this any further, everyone go search if there are any left which they missed out.” Ding Qingshan urged.
“Roger.”
“Uncle Qingshan, I’ll go pick some herbs!” Fang Zhengzhi voiced out at this moment.
“Pick herbs? Are you picking them for your dad? What a filial child, the surroundings here are usually safe from danger, but don’t wander too far, make sure you come back to this spot before it gets dark, understand?”
“Alright!” Fang Zhengzhi nodded, then ran off in a flash.
“This child… indeed seems to run really fast!”
“Deputy captain, today is Zhengzhi’s first time on the mountain, what if he gets lost?”
“How will children who grew up in the mountain lose their way? Moreover, since he joined the hunting squad, it is inevitable that he has to go through some hardship. Let’s do it this way… if he hasn’t returned before the sky darkens, we will go search for him. Hunting is the priority now!”
“Roger!”
…
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Under Zhang Yangping’s leadership, the Northern Mountain Village hunting square laughed loudly as they brought the game back to their own territory.
“Deputy captain is indeed brilliant, this time our yield is really high. The Southern Mountain Village hasn’t visited the mountain in many days, there are really quite a few good prey in the traps…” A hunting squad member following behind Zhang Yangping laughed happily.
“Of course, under normal circumstances, the Southern Mountain Village and Northern Mountain Village went about their own businesses in their own territories. But this year, the Southern Mountain Village’s luck hasn’t been good, having encountered the Blue Fire Wolf and I even heard that they suffered seven to eight casualties. They won’t be able to pose any short-term threat to us!” Likewise, Zhang Yangping was delighted.
“Indeed our deputy captain’s thinking is flexible, if it was us we would never have been able to think of this!”
“Huh? Deputy captain, there is a… small child behind!”
Very quickly, Zhang Yangping and his team noticed that following behind them, was a six or seven year old child, wearing a leather jacket and carrying a large basket on his back.
Fang Zhengzhi didn’t bother trying to conceal his intentions, and outrightly sauntered behind them.
Why?
The reason was simple. Having to walk around in the mountain alone, he was obviously scared!
“Such a young kid? What is he doing!”
“Quick, look! He is carrying a large basket behind his back, could it be someone from another village coming to Cang Ling Mountain to pick herbs?”
“Then let’s ignore him, carry on!”
Zhang Yangping and his team continued to walk, until they reached the Northern Mountain Village territory.
While Fang Zhengzhi continued to follow behind them.
“Deputy captain, we have already reached our Northern Mountain Village territory?!”
“What are you saying, how big can this Cang Ling Mountain be? There are so many people coming from other places and villages to pick herbs on the mountain. He is just a child coming up to pick herbs, why do you care so much about him!” Zhang Yangping huffed.
Indeed, the rest of the hunting squad thought the same. There were many villages surrounding the Cang Ling Mountain, coming up to pick herbs was a usual sight.
However, people usually chose the deeper parts of Cang Ling Mountain for herb picking, herbs on the outskirts were exceedingly rare.
Looking at Fang Zhengzhi’s tender age, the hunting squad members understood again. Looks like this kid didn’t dare to venture too deep…
Fang Zhengzhi waited till the villagers of the Northern Mountain Village stopped, and understood. More likely than not, this was the hunting territory of the Northern Mountain Village.
Reaching his destination, he leisurely began to take out the hoe, shovels and other tools from the large basket from his bag.
Then, he began to dig…
When the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad, who had started searching for more prey, went past him, they glanced a few times at Fang Zhengzhi. Then, realising that he brought neither a bow nor a blade, they relaxed and didn’t pay any further attention to him.
Fang Zhengzhi dug energetically. As he dug, he took out his ruler to make measurements, and from time to time took out a drawing from his pocket to take a few looks. Other times, he would be carrying stones from his surroundings and shifting them around.
His purpose in following the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad naturally was not to shout out, “Return my prey!”
Because, that was obviously asking for trouble…
Not only did the opponent have over twenty strong men, but just their bows or blades alone was something he couldn’t defeat with his small dagger.
Those good at offense, their enemies can’t defend against them. Those good at defense, their enemies have no idea how to attack!
Fang Zhengzhi evidently wasn’t really here to pick herbs. The past few days he had thought long and hard, and finally came up with a big plan, a plan that was enough to make sure the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad would never be bullied, a plan that would always put him at an undefeatable position.
As the saying goes: The time spent sharpening a blade won’t hinder the cutting of trees. If he wanted to reap huge rewards, he have to first sharpen a “razor-sharp blade”.
His initial plan was to carry out this plan at the Southern Mountain Village territory, however now that an “accident” had happened, he decided to carry it out on the Northern Mountain Village territory instead…
Time flowed by quickly. Very soon, it was noon. Fang Zhengzhi stopped his work, took out the lunch Qin Xuelian prepared for him, ate his picnic meal, took a short break and recited The Great Learning.
As the sky started to darken slightly, Fang Zhengzhi started to leave…
…
Fang Zhengzhi’s first time up the mountain was devoid of any interesting surprises.
When the villagers of the Southern Mountain Village realised that he returned with empty hands, they laughed casually. After all, he was a kid, and moreover it was his first time in the mountain. Not catching anything was normal.
The second Qin Xuelian saw Fang Zhengzhi, she immediately hugged him tightly.
“I’m just happy that you are back…”
Mrs Li’s words were still undeniably harsh: “I thought you were so talented, after one whole day in the mountain, how come you didn’t even manage to catch a green furred rabbit?”
Some of the villagers in the square were unhappy when they heard this.. Ultimately, to them, for Fang Zhengzhi to stand out and volunteer to join the hunting squad was already something very respectable.
“Zhengzhi is only seven, to have voluntarily joined the hunting squad’s expedition is already good enough!”
“That’s right, am I right to believe your family’s Li Huer wouldn’t dare to go?”
“He is so young, and moreover this is his first expedition up the mountain, how can you really judge him as if he is an adult?”
The villagers noisily began to discuss. When Mrs Li heard this, she became unhappy. Arms akimbo, she retorted, “My family’s Li Huer has not joined the hunting squad, but my family’s Li Huer is studying! Next time when he passes the Law of Dao examinations, he is going to become a high-ranking official! When he excludes the entire Southern Mountain Village from taxes, wouldn’t that be much better than hunting some animals on the mountain!”
When she brought up the Law of Dao examinations, the villagers instantly stopped their chattering. The father and son of the Li Family are both currently in the Hall of Dao. The hopes of the Southern Mountain Village are pinned on those who qualified to enter the Hall of Dao, and nobody wished to offend her.
“Alright, all of you stop quarreling. Everybody just do well what you are supposed to do!” Village Chief Meng Bai stood out at this moment to round up the discussion.
“Village chief’s words are indeed wise. Everybody has their own unique lives! Moreover, isn’t it true that Fang Zhengzhi didn’t manage to hunt anything this time? Why can’t people say anything about it?” Mrs Li mumbled in a low voice, glancing at Fang Zhengzhi with a disdainful expression.
“Qingshan, why is the yield so little today?” Village Chief Meng Bai changed the topic.
“It’s all because of the Northern Mountain Village…” Ding Qingshan walked over to Village Chief Meng Bai’s side and spoke in a low voice. He didn’t know if it was appropriate to talk about this incident in front of the entire village.
Village Chief Meng Bai’s brows quickly knitted together.
“Next time… enter the mountain earlier!” When Village Chief Meng Bai finished speaking, he sighed heavily, placing the cigar on his hand into his mouth and angrily took a few puffs.
“I understand.” Ding Qingshan understood his intentions. The two villages were too near to each other, Southern Mountain Village people marrying across to the Northern Mountain Village people and vice versa was common.
The affinity between them was strong, but so was the friction between them!
Fighting over the mountain, fighting over prey, these were commonplace. If this incident could be settled peacefully, they naturally didn’t wish for it to escalate into a big conflict.
The amount of prey was meagre and very quickly, it was all distributed.
Since Fang Zhengzhi voluntarily entered the hunting squad, he was rather well taken care of. Even though his first time up the mountain yielded no returns, the village chief still gave a small piece of meat to him as a “encouragement”.
The rest of the villagers didn’t have much opinions. After all, there was still a person lying injured in the Fang family household.
When Mrs Li witnessed this, she was displeased. “Not only did he not catch anything, he still benefited from the reaps of the hunting squad. This trade is indeed worth it…”
Fang Zhengzhi didn’t say anything, except when he got home, he accidentally dropped a black coloured “animal trap” at the Li family doorstep.
The consequences…
Were indeed very obvious.
“Aiya! Which damned person placed a trap at my doorstep!!” Mrs Li’s agonizing screech pierced through the dark night.
…
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Very soon, more than ten days had passed. Due to the low yield, the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad had to go to the mountain almost every other day.
Even when entering the mountain for days in a row, Fang Zhengzhi would always run off to “pick herbs” the second he reached, then returning back to the gathering point when the sky got dark. As days passed, the hunting squad members had gotten used to it.
They just told him to remain cautious, and run immediately if he encountered any large beasts.
Having entered the mountain seven or eight times, not even mentioning green furred rabbits, he didn’t even manage to catch a single strand of fur. This was the great results Fang Zhengzhi handed over to the Southern Mountain Village after entering the hunting squad.
The consequences were obvious.
Mrs Li’s mockings became more and more imprudent, and as for Village Chief Meng Bai, once Fang Zhengzhi was brought up, he could only shake his head, “Sigh… Zhengzhi still can’t match up to Fang Houde’s first expedition up the mountain…”
Even though the villagers took into consideration Fang Zhengzhi’s young age, and his need for experience, but it had already been seven or eight times, no matter what shouldn’t he have already caught something?
Unable to understand, yet unable to voice out.
As such, as time passed, the villagers stopped caring about whether Fang Zhengzhi could catch anything, because, he definitely couldn’t.
The villagers felt uncomfortable, but Qin Xuelian was delighted.
“Zhengzhi, hiding behind once you enter the mountain, this is the right way!”
“Mum… actually I didn’t hide.” Fang Zhengzhi was somewhat speechless, was he that sort of person? You are my mum! How can you think this way?
“Mummy knows, mummy knows, ha ha… the huge basket you are carrying… is it for you to hide and sleep in?” Qin Xuelian glanced at the large basket Fang Zhengzhi carried, blinked a few times, wearing an all-knowing expression on her face.
“…” Fang Zhengzhi decided to go and study.
Then, he returned to his room, opened up Facing the South in The Law of Dao and Han Feizi, and began to read.
“The fault of the lord of men is: After having entrusted certain ministers with the state affairs, he guards against them with ministers not entrusted. His reason for so doing is that the non-entrusted and the entrusted will become enemies. Contrary to his expectation, the sovereign will fall under the spell of the non-entrusted. In consequence, the ministers with whom he is now guarding against the entrusted, are mostly those whom he used to guard against. If the lord of men cannot make the law clear and thereby restrain the power of chief vassals, there will be no other way to win confidence from the petty officials.”
This period of time, apart from the time spent on the mountain, it was mainly spent on reading and memorising books. Re-reading classical ancient books from his past life, his reading speed was naturally fast, and understanding it wasn’t a problem as well.
As such, the frequency of Fang Zhengzhi borrowing books from the Hall of Dao was rather high.
Wang Anhua faced this with a doubtful attitude, “A child who only just reached seven years old… really can read so fast? Did he even try to understand! This is faster than me by many times”
If Fang Zhengzhi wasn’t a natural talent, then he was a mediocre person who read without thinking.
Actually, Wang Anhua wished to believe the latter. Because, if the former was really true, that was definitely too frightening to think of…
Fang Zhengzhi didn’t know what Wang Anhua thought. He just revised and studied at his own pace. Also, he didn’t fix what he wanted to study, every time he made a trip to the Hall of Dao to borrow books, he randomly scanned through them, and took it if it felt “deep” enough.
Was his progress fast?
That is something evident enough to not require further answers…
As he began to read and recite more texts, the sensation in his heart grew stronger and stronger. The initial five pieces of leaves had already became non-existent, replaced instead by a small tree with five branches, on it growing a countless number of delicate tree leaves. And below, the moistened earth became softer and softer.
Fang Zhengzhi’s control over his body had progressed rapidly.
Other than being able to control the flesh in every part of his body, he could even feel his own bones. However, his bones were too hard, and making any changes to it would require more time.
One night passed.
In the wee hours of the morning, Fang Zhengzhi once again followed the hunting squad up the mountain.
As usual, they gathered at the village square. What was different was that everybody busied themselves with their own agendas, and didn’t bother noticing Fang Zhengzhi’s presence.
As usual, Village Chief sent off the hunting squad, giving a short motivational speech before they embarked on their expedition, then finally left.
“To the mountain!” Ding Qingshan ordered. The hunting squad readied themselves and moved out.
An hour later, when the sky was still slightly dark, the hunting squad arrived at the Southern Mountain Village hunting territory.
“Uncle Qingshan, I’m going to pick herbs!” Fang Zhengzhi informed Ding Qingshan.
“Please do!” Ding Qingshan didn’t say anything further. This had already become habitual.
“Oh, today I will come back with prey!” Fang Zhengzhi thought for a while, then finally decided to warn them in advance.
“Ha ha ha… Zhengzhi, go early and return early!” Ding Qingshan didn’t take much notice.
“Ha ha, what do you think this child will catch today?” Another member of the squad asked curiously as he watched Fang Zhengzhi leave.
“What else can he catch? You really think a seven year old child would have such great abilities? He can be considered blessed by the mountain God if he even caught a green furred rabbit!”
“Ha ha ha…”
A wave of laughter erupted, then the hunting squad proceeded to begin with their usual hunting route.
…
Fang Zhengzhi’s moving speed was rapid, his two stumpy legs gliding him along like the wind.
To be able to move as fast, the theory behind it was simple. He just had to concentrate the muscles in his body onto his two legs, then as much as possible reduce the weight on his upper body…
And the terrain, he had already walked this path seven or eight times and was more or less familiar with it. As such, where to jump over, where to detour, he already planned for beforehand.
Without much ado, he had scuttled over to the territory of the Northern Mountain Village.
Here, was where he carried out his plan.
Then, he busied himself again, slowly shifting around the stones and rocks on the ground according to the piece of drawing on his hands. Then, once again he covered it with grass…
“Woosh, woosh…”
The sound of arrows piercing the air echoed about his ears. Fang Zhengzhi knew this came from the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad.
He didn’t pay much attention to this, other than carefully noticing the movements around him, he slowly carried on with his own agenda.
When the placement of all the rocks and stones were satisfactory, it was already almost noon. Fang Zhengzhi took out and consumed his lunch, then began to relax comfortably for a while.
All the way until it was afternoon. He finally began to stand up, lightly stretching his body. Then, looking up at the sky filled with white clouds, he felt the cooling blow of the mountain wind on his face. Then, as he listened to the movements of the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad, the edges of his mouth finally, and gradually, began to curve upwards, revealing a light smile.
Then, he opened up his footsteps, following the direction of the sound, very carefully began to make a detoured way towards the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad.
…
A must to mention, the yield reaped by the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad today was plentiful. After a day of toiling, the bodies of the over twenty members of the hunting squad were completely filled with all sorts of prey.
Other than the prey hanged on their bodies, what delighted the Northern Mountain Village Deputy Captain Zhang Yangping most, was that they managed to capture a Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog.
This wild animal was the treasure of the Cang Ling Mountain.
Exceptionally fierce, this could be considered as a small ferocious beast that couldn’t be taken down without the effort of more than ten men.
But once it was captured, any light injuries suffered were definitely worth the effort. Because, other than the humongous size of this Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog and its soft delicate meat, the most valuable part of it was its two metal fangs.
This was something that was stronger than pig iron, sharp yet sturdy. To the hunting squad, this was undoubtedly a natural weapon which only required some simple processing to produce a metal spear.
At this moment, the corners of Zhang Yangping’s mouth was drawn back into a smile, giving orders to tie up the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog tightly with a thick, coarse rope, then prepared to pack up early…
Right at this moment, a figure quickly shot out from the bushes.
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Zhang Yangping had years of experience hunting in the mountains.
Despite ordering his people to bind up the game, he didn’t let down his guard. Because, he knew very clearly, the larger the prey, the stronger the scent of blood it gave off, and the easier it was to attract huge beasts.
“Oh no, oh no… the Blue Fire Wolf is here!”
Zhang Yangping didn’t even have time to give out orders to the surrounding hunting squad members before the figure cried out in a tender voice, running as he shouted.
“Blue Fire Wolf?!”
“What?! The Blue Fire Wolf is here!”
Once the members of the Northern Mountain Village heard the news, horror instantly appeared on their faces.
On the outskirts of the Cang Ling Mountain roamed a lone wolf, its name was Blue Fire, this was something everyone within miles of the mountain knew.
“Run!”
Almost without any hesitation, Zhang Yangping passed down the wisest possible order to the hunting squad.
Nobody was willing to provoke the Blue Fire Wolf. This beast wasn’t even supposed to appear at the outskirts of the Cang Ling Mountain. Even though it was a lone wolf, which was much easier to defeat compared to the entire Blue Fire Wolf pack…
It was still truly a fearsome monster, and easily broke away from the category of beasts.
Not mentioning these common villagers, even the great people who accessed Dao would have difficulty dealing with it.
“Deputy… deputy captain, where should we run towards?” A member of the hunting squad was so anxious that stuttered uncontrollably.
“Follow that child, the direction he came from is definitely where the Blue Fire Wolf appeared!” Zhang Yangping looked at Fang Zhengzhi sprinting madly from afar, biting his teeth as he gave the order.
“Quick, run!” The entire hunting squad immediately sprang into action.
Leaving the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog on the ground, they ran towards Fang Zhengzhi at lightning speed.
…
As he felt the sound of footsteps closing in behind him, Fang Zhengzhi’s mouth once again curved into a smile. His footsteps slowed down on purpose, trying his best to act out the role of a panicking seven year old child running around like a headless chicken.
Closer, closer…
As he saw his destination approaching, Fang Zhengzhi hesitated no further, with a dive and a roll, he shot into the vegetation.
“Eh? That kid is missing!”
“Don’t care about the kid, hurry up and run!”
“Wait a minute! Do you feel something is wrong? If there really was a Blue Fire Wolf, due to its smell, the surrounding animals should have reacted as well. But as we ran here, the animals only ran for a short while, without the intent of leaving.” Zhang Yangping was extremely meticulous, as he ran the entire way here, he never stopped paying attention to his surroundings.
It can be said that the increasing prosperity of the Northern Mountain Village these few years were very closely related to Zhang Yangping.
“Aiya!”
Right at this moment, a cry sounded out. In addition to Zhang Yangping’s words, the panicking hunting squad members instantly woke up with a start.
“What happened?” The members of the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad weren’t able to completely come to their senses.
“This is bad! We fell into a trap! This place… has a different feel to it compared to before…” Zhang Yangping quickly realised something amiss.
He was well-versed with the entire Cang Ling Mountain. He knew the Cang Ling Mountain terrain as well as he knew his own children. Every stone, and even every tree, he could remember clearly.
“Where’s the kid?”
“Where did he run to!”
“First find the kid, then… Aiya!”
A few hunting squad members only managed to run a few steps ahead before a voice cried out.
“Everyone stay still!” Zhang Yangping’s expression was ugly, but he quickly managed to calm down. Different kinds of dangers were frequent on the Cang Ling Mountain, as the deputy captain of the hunting squad, he had to ensure that no mistakes were made.
When the hunting squad heard his orders, they instantly stood still, not daring to move about randomly.
“Deputy captain, this place is filled with traps!”
“Who dug these?!”
“Saving people is the priority… Aiya!”
A member of the hunting squad who wanted to rescue those who fell into the trap immediately stepped on an empty space, his entire body falling through.
“What are you doing?! I already said, everyone stay still!” Zhang Yangping finally showed his temper. He had already realised the severity of the situation. It seemed that they had entered an area that was filled with pitfalls.
Any single movement could land them into a pitfall.
Nobody dared to continue moving. Because, the three members of the squad who fell into the pitfall physically confirmed to them, the holes around the area were so plentiful and concentrated that just by walking a few steps could land them into one.
What to do? Who in the world did this? Could it be that kid? That isn’t possible… that kid looked like he was only six or seven years old!
Zhang Yangping pondered intensely.
Walk back the same path we came from? Not only might we not make it back, if we did this, what about the three trapped members? Leave them behind? That’s impossible!
Try and rescue them?
More of our members might fall into the traps.
Zhang Yangping’s forehead beaded with sweat. Gripping the long blade on his hand tightly, his gaze swept across the land, carefully observing his surroundings…
Very quickly, he realised something strange.
His surroundings all seemed very strange and unfamiliar, his vision simply couldn’t extend into the distance, as if he entered an entirely new space. All the familiar signs he could identify with seemed to be completely gone. He was simply unable to determine his bearings.
“Rocks!”
Zhang Yangping finally realised the crux of the problem. Within the area they were confined in were numerous seemingly randomly placed rocks, yet coincidentally, these rocks blocked their line of sight.
Their entire field of vision seemed to have been cut off from outside the area.
What is happening here?
“Umm… can I discuss a small matter with everyone?”
Just when Zhang Yangping was still try hard to understand the situation, a voice called out from afar. Then, a child around seven years of age slowly walked out from behind a huge stone.
“It’s the kid!”
“Deputy captain, we finally found the kid!”
“Stay still!” Zhang Yangping immediately ordered, a cold gaze in his eyes. Then, he turned his head over to look at Fang Zhengzhi, “Kid, you… know that there are pitfalls here?”
“Definitely.” Fang Zhengzhi was very honest.
“Then can you bring us out?” Zhang Yangping asked again.
“Of course I can!” Fang Zhengzhi didn’t hesitate in replying.
“Thank you so much.” Zhang Yangping immediately expressed his thanks. He felt as if he saw the light at the end of a tunnel.
“Mm… no problem, but, if you must thank me, then there is really something I must discuss with you.” Fang Zhengzhi placed his hands behind him, looking at Zhang Yangping with an innocent look.
“What do you want to discuss?’ Zhang Yangping tried to force himself to stay calm.
“First, I wish to… conduct a robbery!” Fang Zhengzhi looked at the prey hanging off Zhang Yangping, licked his lips and lightly rubbed his hands together.
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“…” Zhang Yangping couldn’t understand what was happening. Robbery? What’s the meaning of this?
“What did he say? Robbery?!”
“Did I hear that correctly?”
When the members of the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad regained their senses, they were all stunned.
“This kid… wants to rob us?” Zhang Yangping finally came to his senses. He was just too shocked. Even in his dreams, he would never have imagined that there would be a day when a boy seven years of age would talk to him about robbery. No matter how he looked at the situation, it didn’t make any sense at all!
Is this even possible?
The Northern Mountain Village hunting squad weren’t the strongest, but within the outskirts of the Cang Ling Mountain, they were king.
Robbed by a six or seven year old boy?!
Zhang Yangping wanted to laugh out loud. He felt that if he told others, nobody would believe him. But… he indeed felt that, the tone of the boy seemed like he wasn’t joking.
“Deputy captain, I think this kid is tired of living!”
“That’s right, shoot him!”
“Shoot!”
Zhang Pingyang didn’t stop the hunting squad from carrying out their thoughts and immediately gave his order. After all, the other party had already made clear his intention, hence he didn’t hesitate much about whether the child’s life would be harmed.
The mountain people were simple, but once they turned fierce, they were even more unreasonable than those living in the city.
We are being robbed, are we supposed to stand there and be ridiculed?
“Woosh!”
“Woosh, woosh, woosh…”
The twenty-over hunting squad members drew their bows and began to shoot. It might not had been a rain of arrows, but the power was still astonishing. The sound of the bowstring releasing sounding out in succession, and instantly, over ten metal arrows flew towards Fang Zhengzhi.
Even though Fang Zhengzhi knew things wouldn’t be so simple, but faced with this barrage of arrows, he was still given a rude shock. Indeed, this robbery was a shady and potentially fatal business.
Can’t they be more civilised? It’s wouldn’t even be too late to give some warning before shooting.
Fang Zhengzhi let out a scornful huff, then with a flash, took cover behind the huge stone. He then raised up the large basket on his back and blocked off the blind arrows.
Looks like this world is indeed quite different from the lawful society in the past.
Shooting arrows just like that, that’s just too cruel!
Isn’t it just a robbery? We can talk through it.
At least, you all could have asked, can you not rob us? Can you not, can you not…
Damn! Fang Zhengzhi raised his middle finger and covered himself completely with the large basket. Then, he sat inside and casually fished out a jerky, took a few bites and patiently waited for the barrage of arrows to end.
Luckily, he relied on his intelligence. If he really had to use brute force, who knows how many holes would have been shot through his body.
Fang Zhengzhi didn’t rush. He had enough confidence that the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad wouldn’t be able to escape. Because, when they entered the area, he had already “sealed” the entrance of the maze with a stone.
Even though it was said to be “sealed”, it was in reality only temporary blocked. Toiling for so many days, all he waited for was this moment. He wanted to use knowledge to change destiny.
For example, at this moment, based off The Art of Becoming Invisible he learnt in his past life, and taking advantage of the rocky terrain, he dug out a “Rock Formation” filled with pitfalls.
This wasn’t something that encompassed great skill, and was a far cry from the real huge ancient formations. The only thing worthy of wonder was using rocks to block vision, then referencing the Eight Diagrams and Five Elements to plot a few “paths”, and digging many traps along these paths.
If this was the world from his past life, a “pitpat” would cause all these rocks to disappear. But this world was indeed primitive, people used swords, knives, spears and poles.
And feats such as using one’s strength to split open stones was something not everyone could achieve.
Even though the watered-down version of the rock formation wasn’t of much use, but on the whole still managed to contain some schemes and mechanisms, and in addition to the preparation made beforehand, it was more than enough to deal with a bunch of ignorant hunters.
The shooting of arrows quickly ended.
The calm was similar to that after a storm, but Fang Zhengzhi wasn’t stupid enough to stick his head out.
Who knew if there was someone aiming a bow at him right outside.
Zhang Pingyang raised his tough wooden longbow, staring suspiciously at the large piece of rock, could he have been shot dead? If he really died, how are we going to get out?
“Hey, kid, are you dead?” Zhang Yangping probingly shouted out.
“That’s still early.” Fang Zhengzhi’s tender voice quickly echoed back.
“Still alive? Ha ha… kid, how about we make a deal? I give you two green furred rabbits, you bring us out. How about it?” Zhang Yangping said generously.
“Naive!” Fang Zhengzhi replied with disdain.
Zhang Yangping was instantly taken aback. Called naive by a seven year old kid, this doesn’t feel very right. This puny kid right in front of them really dared to fight it out with their Northern Mountain Village hunting squad?
“Deputy captain, let’s be cautious, slowly find our way out. I don’t believe we can’t escape this place!” A hunter suggested.
“That’s right, isn’t it just a few traps? We just have to tread carefully! This place isn’t too big, with some time, we definitely will be able to escape!” Another hunter nodded.
As he listened to the members’ suggestions, Zhang Yangping once again sunk into deep thought. Very quickly, he also gritted his teeth.
“Alright, that’s what we will do! You few, go and rescue the trapped people. Tread carefully, don’t separate, everybody stick together first!” Zhang Yangping quickly ordered.
“Roger!” The hunters immediately acknowledged, then began to move carefully, ensuring that there was no traps beneath their feet.
When Fang Zhengzhi heard the commotion outside, he sighed to himself. Indeed this formation was a bit too simple, but, if something was added in, it will instantly become a grand one.
Stick together? Fang Zhengzhi smiled faintly. He knew the opportunity had arrived.
Want to escape? Not so easy! He had already guessed that these traps weren’t sufficient to deal with the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad. Ultimately, these traps were rigid and dead.
Furthermore, the most important problem was that the area where Fang Zhengzhi dug his traps wasn’t large enough.
Alright…
It’s time to add in some ingredients, time to test out the real trump card!
As he thought, Fang Zhengzhi fished out a few black egg-sized objects. Even though these things looked rather plain, these were the real “high-tech”.
Carefully prodding his head out from behind the stone, he quickly realised that the hunting squad had begun moving towards Zhang Yangping’s position.
“Beware, hidden weapon!” Fang Zhengzhi shouted out lightly, flicking his tiny arm, the few items on his hand smashed towards Zhang Yangping’s position in one wave.
“Deputy captain, be careful, this kid can throw hidden weapons!” Upon hearing Fang Zhengzhi’s words, and then seeing the object flying towards them from the air, a hunter immediately shouted.
“Hidden weapon?!” Zhang Yangping instinctively moved aside, easily dodging it.
Yet when Fang Zhengzhi saw Zhang Yangping and his squad dodge the objects, he was delighted. What he feared the most was the other party will be able to catch what he threw.
“Hidden weapon? Ha ha, please call it “high-tech”!”
（感谢:染就一树芳华,晚秋的盛夏,小雨亲亲,逆倒曟光,浮标kgb,安逸的坠落,的打赏支持,还有所有给薪意投推荐票的朋友们,谢谢!）
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“Pop, pop pop…” A wave of muffled sound echoed out, closely followed by a immensely thick fog that rose up from below the feet of Zhang Yangping and the rest of the hunting squad.
“Why is there smoke?”
“This is bad, this kid is starting a fire!”
“Quick, run!”
“Aiya…”
In the middle of the waves of chaotic shouting, a hunting squad member once again stepped on thin air, and fell into the depths of the trap.
“You dare to set fire in the mountain, this is too cruel!” Zhang Yangping clenched his fists tightly. Robbery was robbery, but setting a fire to the mountain was an act that destroyed their future.
How were they going to hunt in the mountain next time? This is too cruel!
“Where’s the fire?”
“Quick, get the water bottle over. Eh? Seems like… there’s no fire!”
“What’s the meaning of this? There’s only smoke, ah… cough cough… so suffocating…”
As the hunting squad hurriedly tried to locate the origin of the fire, they realised that there weren’t even any places that caught fire. There was only a immensely thick and suffocating smoke that expanded outwards unstoppably.
Very quickly, they were completely unable to see their surroundings clearly.
Looking at this scene unfolding before him, Fang Zhengzhi was rather dissatisfied, and shook his head. These few days, not only did he dig the traps, he also put in much effort to experiment with some saltpeter and white sugar. These smoke bombs were indeed of inferior quality. Moreover, there was even a smothered bomb. Out of the four smoke bombs he threw, there was actually one which didn’t produce any smoke!
What a huge failure!
I need to improve on this next time!
Then, taking his time, he slowly took out a pile of smoke bombs from the big basket. His small arms swung with wind-like speed, and threw the bombs one by one.
Smoke bombs couldn’t kill, but, if used appropriately, its power was definitely stronger than a real bomb. Of course… a real bomb was something Fang Zhengzhi would definitely not try his hands on.
Not only did it require too many ingredients, but just the potential danger of it alone was enough to hold him back.
“Even though I prepared quite a few, but I must still use them prudently!” Fang Zhengzhi decided that he couldn’t afford to waste.
“Aiya, help….”
“Quick, run away quick, aiya!”
“How are you guys?”
Even though Fang Zhengzhi conserved and held back, but under the barrage of low-grade smoke bombs, the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad finally descended into chaos, each of their eyes flowing with tears evoked by the thick smoke. Coughing uncontrollably, their legs instinctively wanted to run away.
And this
Was exactly what Fang Zhengzhi hoped for.
“Cruel kid, he actually used such shameless tactics on us. Smoke?! How do I even deal with this!” Zhang Yangping roared. He didn’t want to move, but he couldn’t take the smoke anymore. Lifting his blade, he prepared to make a decisive move.
Unfortunately, after running less than ten steps, his feet met with thin air.
“Aiya!” With a sharp cry, Zhang Yangping’s body dropped downwards like a stone sinking in the water.
…
At a forest not too far away, Ding Qingshan and his team were searching furiously for prey. Then, lifting his head, his expression instantly changed.
“Which place just caught fire!”
“Deputy captain, the smoke is coming from that direction. It seems to be the Northern Mountain Village’s territory!” A hunter following beside Ding Qingshan noticed the billowing smoke as well.
“Quick, gather everybody to go over and take a look!” Fire on the Cang Ling Mountain was of huge importance. Even though the fire started at the Northern Mountain Village’s hunting territory, Ding Qingshan still didn’t dare to hesitate. After all, Cang Ling Mountain was the livelihood of many villages in its radius.
“Roger!”
…
Very quickly, following Ding Qingshan’s lead, the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad members had rushed to the source of the fire.
Ding Qingshan frowned. Because, looking at the scene in front of him, screaming sounds cried out continuously, and the thick smoke completely covered the entire landscape.
He was absolutely unable to see clearly what was happening.
“Deputy captain, Northern Mountain Village people seems to be caught inside. Should we help?”
“What are you saying, obviously we should help!” Gritting his teeth, Ding Qingshan didn’t hesitate much. Even though the situation in front of him looked very dangerous, but, the Northern Mountain Village and the Southern Mountain Village were ultimately intrinsically linked.
The usual fighting over hunting was unpreventable, but turning a blind eye when others were in peril was impossible.
“Quick, go help them!” When a few hunters heard Ding Qingshan’s orders, they immediately lifted their arms, broke off some nearby tree branches and quickly rushed into the smoke.
Of course, the faster they rushed, the faster they fell. Without much ado…
The Southern Mountain Village hunting squad also landed into the traps.
“Aiya, what the hell!, Why is there a hole here!”
“Damn… it!, Where did this trap come from!”
“Fire? Where’s the fire?”
After the entire Northern Mountain Village hunting squad had “fallen”, the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad was also unfortunately dragged into this. In a blink of an eye, the entire squad had fallen inside the traps.
The already rather small area was quickly filled with over thirty men. This made some of the traps somewhat squeezy. The more unfortunate ones had three or four people falling into them.
“Eh? Why did you guys also fall in?” A Southern Mountain Village hunter was slightly shocked when he saw the Northern Mountain Village hunter in the same trap as him.
“Ah… don’t mention it anymore, we were robbed by a seven year old kid!” The Northern Mountain Village hunter sighed, shaking his head.
“Robbed?! Isn’t it a fire?”
“There’s no fire, that kid only smoked out the area, he didn’t set any fire…”
…
Half an hour later, the smoke began to disperse, revealing a huge mess. The ground was filled with all kinds of bow and arrows, blades and spears, and even a few tightly bound prey.
On the other hand, the Northern Mountain Village and Southern Mountain Village hunting squad squatted in their traps, their faces filled with tears.
The Northern Mountain Village hunting squad didn’t have a choice. When they were waiting on top, they also thought of standing still to avoid the pitfalls. But the smoke was too suffocating.
Compared to standing on top and suffocating for half an hour, they honestly rather waited in the traps. At least, smoke rises upwards, it was actually quite comfortable inside the traps.
The Northern Mountain Village hunting squad was now comfortable, but on the other hand the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad was filled with indignation. They were here to save the fire, but what happened? Not only did they not manage to save any fire, the entire hunting squad was now also in trouble.
“Robbery?! You Northern Mountain Village people are the ones being robbed, how does this even concern us?” When many of the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad members realised this, they began to scold angrily.
But in the end, even though they were indeed unhappy, they ultimately accepted their fate. Luck wasn’t on their side…
Fang Zhengzhi had no idea that the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad had rushed in, he was just leisurely hiding behind the rock and tossing smoke bombs.
When everything was finally silent and no movement was left, then did he decide to stop. Once the smoke began to disperse, he carefully assessed his surroundings, realised that there was no one hiding in ambush and finally began to relax.
Ambush? Without a gas mask, how can anybody stand it? This thing was advanced technology indeed. How suffocating is it? Whoever tried will definitely know!
“Oh, what a nice blade!” Fang Zhengzhi seemed very delighted, picking up a glinting long blade as he walked. Then, without any remorse, kept it inside the big basket.
“Nice sword!” He kept it too.
“This spear isn’t bad either!”
“Eh? This bow… might come in useful someday. ”
When the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad, entrapped in their respective pitfalls, heard the voice coming from outside, they faces turned black. They naturally knew who was the one picking up stuff on top.
The Southern Mountain Village hunting squad on the other hand was filled with shock.
Because, this voice was too familiar. This young voice, could it be… Fang Zhengzhi?
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“Zhengzhi, is… is that you?” Ding Qingshan was the first to react. He was currently squeezed in a hole with a few other members of the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad, his face laden with mud. He felt very uncomfortable.
“Huh? Uncle Qingshan, what are you doing here?” When Fang Zhengzhi heard Ding Qingshan’s voice, he quickly ran over and popped his tiny head into the hole.
“It’s really Zhengzhi?!” After looking at Fang Zhengzhi, his face instantly reddened. That’s right, what is he even doing here? Isn’t it because he just had ill luck, the Northern Mountain Village was the one being robbed, yet he also involved himself in it.
Wait…
Something seemed wrong. Just now… the Northern Mountain Village person seemed to have said, they were robbed by a seven year old boy?!
Could it be…
That’s impossible?! If it really was Fang Zhengzhi who robbed the entire Northern Mountain Village hunting squad, wasn’t that a little too inconceivable?
“Not possible, not possible…’ Ding Qingshan furiously shook his head.
He remembered that the seven or eight times Fang Zhengzhi came to the mountain, he didn’t even manage to catch a single prey. Rob the Northern Mountain Village? Even if the sun rose from the West, something like this happening was still not possible!
“Kid, you… you dare to rob our Northern Mountain Village, let us out quickly, else…” A Northern Mountain Village hunting squad member instantly shouted when he saw Fang Zhengzhi’s tiny head.
Ding Qingshan’s face finally changed at this moment. That feeling of shock and horror was unprecedented. Looking at the Fang Zhengzhi’s tiny head popping into the hole, then looking at his young and small face, he suddenly felt like burying himself in the ground.
As the deputy captain of the hunting squad, even though he wouldn’t make fun of Fang Zhengzhi outrightly…
But, this didn’t imply that he looked up to Fang Zhengzhi at all, after the many times he returned empty-handed, he had already considered Fang Zhengzhi as a playful and lazy kid.
But now…
This lazy kid managed to do something they would never be able to do, he robbed the entire Northern Mountain Village hunting squad?!
He didn’t dare to believe, but, this was reality.
As he heard the Northern Mountain Village hunter’s words, he already could affirm that the lazy kid in his heart, taught him an unforgettable lesson on “robbery” today.
Just one person, robbing the entire Northern Mountain Village hunting squad. How unbelievable was this, how unthinkable was this, how…
Wait, something else seemed to be not quite right.
Us, the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad, seemed to have also fallen into this trap!
Ding Qingshan’s face reddened once again. Because, there weren’t many words he could find to describe his current feelings. What if the other party wasn’t from the Southern Mountain Village? Then his hunting squad, would it have been robbed by a seven year old kid as well?
“Zhengzhi robbed the Northern Mountain Village?!”
“Could it be wrong? Is it really Zhengzhi who robbed the entire Northern Mountain Village hunting squad?”
“My God, he’s only seven!”
After Fang Zhengzhi’s voice called out, Ding Qingshan was stunned beyond words. The rest of the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad were of no exception, nobody dared to believe this fact.
But, the feeling of being stuck in the trap wasn’t exactly very comfortable. As such, a few of the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad members quickly began to shout out.
Even though they indeed lost some face, but fortunately, under these circumstances, the Southern Mountain Village was ultimately in safe hands.
“This kid is from the Southern Mountain Village?!” Zhang Yangping, squatting in a trap, heard the discussion outside. The long blade in his hands fell directly to the ground.
If Fang Zhengzhi was alone by himself, he still wished to take advantage of the opportunity when the other party lowered his guard, then immediately retaliate. But if the entire Southern Mountain Village was added in, then this was obviously a huge, well-planned out “conspiracy”. Retaliation would then be impossible.
It’s over, this time it’s really over…
We have been robbed!
“All of you better quickly surrender your weapons, then prepare yourselves to be captured!” Fang Zhengzhi shouted out as he paced forward and backward outside the traps with his stumpy legs.
“Dream on!” The Northern Mountain Village people were reluctant.
“Ah, dare to disobey? Whichever hole from which a person dares to disobey… I’ll go to that hole and take a piss!”
“…”
The Northern Mountain Village hunting squad finally yielded, and surrendered one by one. Even though some were reluctant, but when they thought of their heads really being peed on, how were they going to live with this next time?
Ding Qingshan’s feelings were complicated. He didn’t know where he should be happy or gloomy.
But, this dilemma didn’t last for long.
“Ha ha ha… this time our yield is huge!” Looking at the prey the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad detached from themselves and held in their hand, Ding Qingshan couldn’t stop smiling.
“Uncle Qingshan, there is a huge tied-up pig over there!” Fang Zhengzhi didn’t actually know the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog’s real name, but, he could guess that this was the best catch for the Northern Mountain Village this time.
Because, that pig was huge, its meat was plentiful!
“You all… shameless!” When Zhang Yangping heard Fang Zhengzhi’s words, his face instantly changed. The value of that one Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog was even greater than the combined worth of all the prey on their bodies.
Most importantly, in order to hunt that Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog down, the Northern Mountain Village people had suffered multiple injuries.
Yet now…
It had been snatched away by the Southern Mountain Village just like that, how could he accept it?
“Huge pig? Don’t tell me it’s the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog!” The eyes of a member of the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad lit up. That was the real treasure. Even if one roamed the mountains for a year, it would still be difficult to encounter this.
“You few watch over them, we’ll go over and take a look… Zhengzhi, lead the way!” Hearing this, Ding Qingshan’s excitement rose.
“Okay.” Fang Zhengzhi nodded.
…
Very quickly, led by Fang Zhengzhi, Ding Qingshan and the team rapidly arrived in front of the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog.
“Oh great God, it’s really the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog, it’s even a matured Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog. Those two metal tusks are indeed sharp, who would have thought that the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad would be able to take this beast down!’ A hunter exclaimed.
“What a huge yield, this time our yield is really huge indeed!” Looking at the tied-up Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog in front of them, the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad beamed delightedly.
“Ha ha ha… what are you all waiting for? Others have already tied this up nicely for us, let’s not wait anymore and bring this Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog away!” Ding Qingshan’s face was bright red with delight. This day’s yield was even more than that of this entire month.
A matured Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog was definitely a surprise gift from Heaven.
Everybody instantly sprang into action.
“Zhengzhi, you can watch from the side, we won’t trouble you. Let us carry this!” A member of the hunting squad patted Fang Zhengzhi’s shoulders. The look in his eyes was as if he had just seen treasure.
“Ha ha…” Fang Zhengzhi laughed. He never planned to help out. This kind of physical work naturally belonged to the adults. He was only seven, there were some things he had to be “considerate”.
…
As usual, Village Chief Meng Bai was holding his cigar, anxiousness showing slightly in his eyes. In this period of time, the yield of the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad had become lower and lower.
Now, the entire hundred over households in the village didn’t even have enough to eat.
He was also considering having a meeting with the Northern Mountain Village. They couldn’t go on like this.
“If this can’t work, we can only bribe them with some money!” Village Chief Meng Bai gritted his teeth, and made a difficult decision.
“Come quick! The hunting squad came back with game today, what a huge yield! There are dozens of game, and even a Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog!”
Village Chief Meng Bai, still gritting his teeth, was stunned, then, the worried expression on his face immediately turned into one of pure ecstasy. Dozens of game? And even a Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog?!
Oh God, this was the biggest yield in years!
“Quick, hurry up, send all the strong people in the village to receive the hunting squad!” Village Chief immediately began to call out. He recognised that this news came from the hunting squad advance party.
“Roger… Roger!” A villager heard, and was just as delighted.
The hunting squad had a huge yield. This extremely good piece of news was enough to delight the entire village.
…
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A short while later, news of the hunting squad catching a Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog had spread across the entire Southern Mountain Village. Everybody, old and young, was in a delighted mood. One after another, they ran to the back of the village and prepared to welcome the hunting squad.
Village Chief Meng Bai stood right at the front of the crowd, his cigar in his hands shaking slightly.
A moment ago he was still thinking of making a deal with the Northern Mountain Village people, but now it seemed that this was completely unnecessary. After all, in making a deal, if the terms were not good enough, nobody would agree to it.
Qin Xuelian stood in the middle of the crowd, her thoughts weren’t quite the same as the everyone else. All she wished for was that Fang Zhengzhi would be able to return safely…
Time went by slowly. The hunting squad still hadn’t appeared. But, nobody left, and nobody was anxious. Instead, they were filled with excitement and anticipation.
Because, the slower they walked, the more prey they carried.
Finally…
From the depths of the dense forest, a figure appeared.
“It’s the hunting squad!”
“They are back, they are finally back!”
The villagers’ excitement instantly rose, it was as if they were celebrating the new year.
“Qingshan, how is it, how much is the yield?” Village Chief Meng Bai spotted Ding Qingshan among the group, and immediately walked over to him, holding his cigar. That stride didn’t seem old at all.
“Village Chief look, everything behind is our yield!” Ding Qingshan pointed at the prey hanging off the hunting squad members, and the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog that was being carried in the middle of the group, his face beaming with happiness.
When Village Chief Meng Bai saw these, he couldn’t contain his happiness anymore. This was because on all of the hunting squad members, apart from the Fang Zhengzhi walking at the front, there were at least two animals hanging from almost everybody’s waist, some even had three or four.
“Woah…”
“What a beast, this is such a big Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog!”
“My God, there are at least a dozen animals, their bodies are filled to the maximum!”
The villagers were all extremely happy. Immediately, some of the villagers volunteered to help carry the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog, and some helped to detach the animals hanging off the hunting squad members.
Qin Xuelian also rushed out of the crowd and gave Fang Zhengzhi a huge embrace.
“Are you injured? When they took down the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog, did you participate?” Qin Xuelian’s biggest concern was whether Fang Zhengzhi got injured when the hunting squad took down the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog.
Fang Zhengzhi’s heart was filled with warmth. Family love would always be the most precious thing in the world.
“I didn’t participate!”, Fang Zhengzhi replied immediately. In reality, he indeed didn’t participate. This Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog was hunted down by the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad, all he did was carry it away from them.
“That’s good, that’s good…” Qin Xuelian finally relaxed after hearing this.
“Of course he won’t participate. This useless kid only knows how to hide on the mountain and sleep. It would be incredible if he could even get hurt!” Mrs Li stood within the crowd, after hearing Qin Xuelian and Fang Zhengzhi’s conversation, she couldn’t resist commenting coldly.
The rest of the villagers also smiled. After all, Fang Zhengzhi not catching a single animal in many days was the reality. Furthermore, they also saw, Fang Zhengzhi’s body was indeed empty.
Not even a green furred rabbit was hanging from it.
“That’s because Zhengzhi is still small!”
“That’s right, he’s just a seven year old boy, how much can you expect?”
“He might be small, but, by always following the hunting squad into the mountain, not being able to catch anything wouldn’t be a problem in the long term. He just has to work harder!”
The villagers discussed, all of them smiling. This time the yield of the hunting squad was huge, but nothing hanged off Fang Zhengzhi’s body, making the villagers feeling slightly uncomfortable.
Ding Qingshan was conversing with the village chief at this moment. When he heard the commotion, he instantly frowned.
“All of you shut your mouths. This time the hunting squad was able to catch so many animals, it is all due to this child Zhengzhi, if not for Zhengzhi… how would we have caught anything at all!” Ding Qingshan’s tone seemed serious. As the deputy captain of the hunting squad, his words indeed beared some weight in the Southern Mountain Village.
“What?! All because of Zhengzhi?’
“What’s this all about?”
“What did Zhengzhi do? Don’t tell me he was able to catch something?’
When the villagers heard Ding Qingshan’s words, all of their faces were filled with disbelief. They couldn’t understand, how could Fang Zhengzhi, with his tiny arms and short legs, who didn’t even bring a blade up the mountain, be of any use in the hunting squad?
Most importantly, Ding Qingshan said, it was all because of Fang Zhengzhi!
What is happening?
It wasn’t just the villagers. Even Village Chief Meng Bai’s face was filled with suspicion as he looked at Ding Qingshan.
“It was Zhengzhi who robbed the entire Northern Mountain Village hunting squad, that is why, the yield this time was all due to Zhengzhi’s efforts alone!” Gazing at the looks of suspicion on everybody’s faces, then shifting his gaze over to Mrs Li, gave a spiteful huff, then explained loudly.
“Robbery?!”
“What did he say? Fang Zhengzhi robbed the entire Northern Mountain Village hunting squad?!”
“How is this possible?”
After hearing Ding Qingshan’s words, the villagers’ expressions turned into that of disbelief.
They indeed remembered, the past seven or eight times Fang Zhengzhi entered the mountain, didn’t he not even manage to catch a green furred rabbit? How could he suddenly have robbed the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad?
The Northern Mountain Village hunting squad! Over twenty strong men, each of them armed with bows. How can a child who didn’t even bring along a blade rob the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad?
No matter how they thought, they still felt that…
This was all a fantasy!
“Fang Zhengzhi robbed the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad?!” Mrs Li’s expression darkened. No matter how much she thought, she couldn’t understand how Fang Zhengzhi could rob the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad!
When Qin Xuelian heard about the robbery, she was instantly taken aback. Looking at Fang Zhengzhi standing beside her, she absolutely didn’t dare to believe that her own son had actually robbed the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad!
“Zhengzhi… how could you do such a stupid thing? Did you get hurt, did you get hurt?”
“I didn’t, I didn’t, mum… don’t touch me, don’t take off my clothes, I already said I didn’t!” Qin Xuelian’s probing instantly made Fang Zhengzhi somewhat anxious. Don’t tell me I have to be stripped in front of so many people!
Village Chief Meng Bai’s face immediately changed, gazing across at the surrounding villagers, their faces deep in shock, then looking at Ding Qingshan’s serious expression.
Likewise, he didn’t dare to believe it. But, Ding Qingshan couldn’t possibly be lying.
Moreover…
Most importantly, when Ding Qingshan spoke, among all the hunting squad members, none of them stood out to oppose. This could only mean one thing – what Ding Qingshan said was true.
“This is really all Zhengzhi’s doing?’ Village Chief Meng Bai walked over to Ding Qingshan’s side and asked softly.
“Yes of course, this is all Zhengzhi’s doing! It was impressive. He actually dug out a large trap in the Northern Mountain Village’s hunting territory, not only did the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad land into trouble, even the entire group of us fell inside!”
Even though Ding Qingshan knew that admitting this would be rather embarrassing, but reality was reality. This was something everybody managed to see, hence naturally, he didn’t dare to hide it.
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“A huge trap? He dug it by himself? How did he even do that!” Village Chief Meng Bai felt that things were becoming increasingly mysterious. Recalling what he recently thought of Fang Zhengzhi, his wrinkled face instantly flushed red.
“It’s really Fang Zhengzhi’s doing?”
When the villagers heard Ding Qingshan and Village Chief Meng Bai’s conversation, one after another their jaws began to drop in shock. This kind of news indeed had too much of an impact on them.
“That can’t be? This child Zhengzhi is so strong that he can actually rob the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad? Ha ha ha…”
“What I saw was true, previously at the parade square I had already realised how impressive Zhengzhi was, he definitely had huge potential. This incident has exacted revenge for the Southern Mountain Village!”
“Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog, this is really an amazing feat!”
Even though the villagers were making fun of Fang Zhengzhi not too long ago, but, when the truth was confirmed, their attitudes changed instantly and their faces not even the slightest bit reddened from their previous laughter.
No matter what, Fang Zhengzhi did exact revenge for the Southern Mountain Village this time.
When Village Chief Meng Bai heard Ding Qingshan’s reply, he had also accepted the truth.
“Good… good boy! Quick, carry all the animals to the village square!’ Village Chief Meng Bai fished out his cigar, took a deep breath, then began to give orders for the villagers to move the animals to the village square.
…
There was indeed strength in numbers. A short moment later, all of the prey had been neatly placed in the middle of the village square. The Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog on the other hand was hung up high.
The festive air of the Southern Mountain Village was similar to that of during the new year. The only person whose face was black as night was Mrs Li. Gazing at the animals on the village square, she refused to believe her eyes.
“Zhengzhi, come over quick!” After all the animals had been placed neatly, Village Chief Meng Bai waved to Fang Zhengzhi, who was currently being surrounded by a group of people.
“Village Chief.” Fang Zhengzhi walked over to Village Chief Meng Bai’s side.
“Tell everybody, what method did you use to rob the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad?” Village Chief Meng Bai still found it rather unbelievable.
After all, Fang Zhengzhi had only just turned seven.
Hearing Village Chief Meng Bai’s words, they also quieted down, one by one stopped chattering. They all waited expectantly for Fang Zhengzhi to share his robbery experience.
Qin Xuelian had already finished inspecting Fang Zhengzhi’s body a long time ago, and was assured that Fang Zhengzhi’s body was indeed free from injuries, hence she also stood smiling among the crowd and looked on.
Even Fang Houde was supported by a few people to the village square, something that didn’t happen very often. Still disabled, he was sitting on a chair at this moment, holding a walking stick in his hands. However, the smile on his face couldn’t be missed.
“Good boy, you finally realised your potential. You have even surpassed your own dad!”
Gazing at the expectant faces of the villagers, he knew it was time for him stay “low profile”.
Feeling around in his pockets, he took out the illustration he prepared. The source of the “Rock Formation Illustration” posed as a problem. Naturally, he definitely could not claim that he was the one who came up with it. Indeed, if he admitted that he had studied the Eight Diagrams Tactics before, that would be a little too shocking.
Hence…
After some pondering, Fang Zhengzhi could only pin the source of these ideas on, and credit it entirely to, Lolita.
“Did you say… after you had previously seen the question the Missus from the Divine Constabulary asked Lihuer… you then thought of this drawing based on that?” After Fang Zhengzhi explained, Village Chief Meng Bai looked at the drawing on his hands and was absolutely shocked.
Genius! What is a genius?
Having the memory of an elephant… no, this was called being able to deducing multiple things from just one event!
“Yes.” Fang Zhengzhi replied confidently.
“Good boy, what a good boy…” Village Chief Meng Bai welled up with emotions. He was almost unable to speak, and could only mutter incessantly.
The other villagers were also completely stunned. After seeing that one question, he was able to think of and apply methods inspired from the question to deploy traps. This was really too extreme.
“Zhengzhi is amazing, he was actually able to draw something like this just by taking a look at the question. This is really too smart!”
“Yes, Mrs Fang had given birth to a great son!”
“Houde, you are going to live such a comfortable life now. I bet even if you were dreaming you would have smiled yourself awake!”
The villagers showered praises without any form of holding back. A few women quickly surrounded Qin Xuelian, and profusely offered to marry off their daughters to Fang Zhengzhi to become his wife.
Among them, there were even women who scrambled over trying to curry favor with Mrs Li the previous time in the village square to marry off their daughters to Li Huer. In a blink of an eye, these people began to say the same thing to Qin Xuelian.
Mrs Li’s expression instantly turned even uglier.
Fang Zhengzhi, listening to these spirited discussions from the side, felt that these matters had to be considered at length. After all, these so-called “daughters” were really too small.
Most of them were two or three years of old, and among them there was even one who was only given birth to two months!
How could he possibly know what they would look like in the future?
Fang Zhengzhi wasn’t really someone who judged based on people’s looks, but, if he really had to marry a fat woman like Mrs Li… that was definitely going to be quite brutal.
Nobody came over to ask Fang Zhengzhi’s opinion, these made him somewhat gloomy.
As the women argued intensely about how good their daughter was, the men were still in deep shock.
Even though Fang Zhengzhi attributed his thinking to Lolita, it still stirred up a rather large commotion. To be able to imprint in memory and copy out the illustration just by taking one look at it was already an amazing feat, yet he was still able to alter it further.
Wang Anhua, who was among the crowd, looked at the trap formation Fang Zhengzhi drew and his eyes instantly lit up brightly. Taking a few steps out of the crowd, Village Chief took over the illustration from Village Chief Meng Bai and studied it carefully.
Then, his initial shock grew bigger and bigger. Even though he didn’t completely understand what was illustrated on it, but looking at the formation, it seemed contain some incredibly amazing patterns.
Could it have originated from the Eight Diagrams Tactics?
That was an extremely profound knowledge found within the Law of Dao, even those great people who accessed Dao might not be able to comprehend this. A seven year old child, really could reach such a level just from reading?
“Sir, what do you think?” Village Chief Meng Bai looked at Wang Anhua expectantly. In this Southern Mountain Village, Wang Anhua represented knowledge and learning.
“I can’t really understand…” Wang Anhua answered honestly.
“Can’t understand?! Do your words refer to…” Village Chief Meng Bai wasn’t quite able to understand what Wang Anhua said.
“Do you think it would be possible to let me bring this back and study it in more detail over the night? I’ll get back to you after a few days!” Wang Anhua didn’t speak further. He had thought of Lolita’s instructions for him.
“Zhengzhi, what do you think?” Village Chief Meng Bai turned over his head and seeked Fang Zhengzhi’s opinion.
At this time, in Village Chief Meng Bai’s heart, he had already treated Fang Zhengzhi as a member of the hunting squad, this was the due respect he had to show to an “adult”.
“Alright! But, I have a request.” Fang Zhengzhi nodded.
52 comments, join in Chapter 35: Shameless greed
“What request?” Wang Anhua wasn’t surprised that Fang Zhengzhi would make a request, after all, he had already experienced Fang Zhengzhi’s shamelessness first-hand.
Village Chief Meng Bai frowned. He felt that it was inappropriate for Fang Zhengzhi to make such a request. After all, Wang Anhua was a Sir from the Hall of Dao. However, the illustration belonged to Fang Zhengzhi, hence he didn’t attempt to vocalize his thoughts.
“I would like to request Sir to copy out the illustration and give one to each member of the hunting squad” Fang Zhengzhi spoke his mind.
“Oh? What for?” Wang Anhua asked questioningly.
He had initially thought that Fang Zhengzhi would request for this to remain a secret or ask for some other benefits, but never did he think that Fang Zhengzhi would only request for him to copy it out a few times.
“Because, I’m thinking that…. if we make use of this illustration to set up the same trap at multiple locations within the Cang Ling Mountain, then, we can link up all these areas so that in the future, the prey would fall into the trap by themselves. All the hunting squad would have to do is to kill off the entrapped prey.”
Fang Zhengzhi expressed his plans. He had wanted to copy the illustration by himself initially but having bumped into Wang Anhua, he decided to let him exhibit his generosity.
Saving more time to read books, what a noble and thoughtful idea! Thumbs up for myself!
In fact,, he had already prepared to give the illustration to the village from the moment he took it out.
The Southern Mountain Village hunting squad had played a huge role in the result of today’s yield. It would had been difficult to subdue all of the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad without getting injured, even if he had managed to trap all of them by himself.
That aside, what if he was the only person who could catch a single prey? That would indeed be very tiring.
Hunting….
It’s just a mean of survival. Fang Zhengzhi wanted to invest more effort into his studies and training.
Thus, giving out the rock formation illustration and hence bringing out its greatest potential, was the best way to go.
“Can… can this method really work?” Village Chief Meng Bai grew excited even before Wang Anhua could reply. If this method was carried out, it would have solved one of the greatest problem that had been pestering the Southern Mountain Village.
It didn’t just mean that the hunting squad would bring in more food, the greater benefit was that the safety of the hunting squad would increase substantially.
” Yes, I think this is doable!” Wang Anhua nodded his head as he looked at the illustration.
The villagers that heard this revealed an expression filled with shock and happiness. This was a great accomplishment that would prevent the Southern Mountain Village villagers from going hungry.
“If it was possible, it would be great!”
“Yes! It would be like having a hunting farm on top of Cang Ling mountain!”
“Village Chef, I think we can give it a try. Since the hunting squad would still continue to enter the mountain as per normal, all they have to do is to bring along an additional shovel. There wouldn’t be any harm in it!” Ding Qingshan, who had personally experienced the sheer potential of the trap, replied enthusiastically.
“Alright, alright … we will give it a try! Hahaha….” Village Chief Meng Bai nodded. Thinking about what would happen once this plan was carried out to its completion, he envisioned piles and piles of prey stacked up highly.
Mrs Li’s face darkened. Darting her eyes back and forth between Fang Zhengzhi and the smiling Village Chief Meng Bai, she felt a sense of unease.
…
After the joy of a good yield gradually disappeared, Village Chief Meng Bai frowned again.
Because, he now faced a greater problem. It was something he had never even taken into consideration before, but in accordance to his promise to Fang Zhengzhi….
Every animal that Fang Zhengzhi caught belonged entirely to him.
Village Chief Meng Bai’s face alternated between red and white as he looked at the pile of animal, at a loss of what to do.
“Zhengzhi … can I discuss something with you?” Village Chief Meng Bai put aside his cigar and quietly pulled Fang Zhengzhi to the side.
Fang Zhengzhi naturally knew what the village chief was about to say. He had robbed the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad, and now, the Southern Mountain village chief was about to rob him.
“Say what you wish village chief, I’m very easy to talk to! Moreover, I’m a person of great virtue, I’ll keep to my words, even if it means… death!” Fang Zhengzhi replied with an innocent expression.
Village Chief Meng Bai’s face instantly turned red.
Even a seven year old kid was able to keep his words. As a village chief, am I going to go back on them?
“This…this, haha…” Village Chief Meng Bai laugh dryly as he looked towards the pile of animals stacked up in the village square, then looked at Fang Zhengzhi’s tender face. It was hard for him to speak.
Fang Zhengzhi sighed silently to himself. He knew very clearly that his small arms could not save him. If he really wanted to take everything away, he was sure that the villagers would have some things to say.
Or,the villagers would not discuss about him. However, behind his back, they would criticize his parents for being unwilling to contribute to the village, and being unable to uphold the virtues that made one human.
Man can be greedy, however…
One cannot be shamelessly greedy.
If it was not for the help of the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad, the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad would not have surrendered so easily. Furthermore, it would had been impossible for him to carry all the animals down by himself.
“The amount of game is plentiful today, I believe they would take some time to finish by myself. Village Chief, please distribute some of it out. But, the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog…..” Fang Zhengzhi stopped speaking without saying anything further.
“Yes…..yes! I understand what you mean!” Village Chief Meng Bai instantly began to smile. Fang Zhengzhi’s intentions were clear, other than the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog, the rest were to be distributed out.
Although the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog had been taken away, there were still a lot of animals leftover. This left Village Chief Meng Bai extremely satisfied with this outcome.
However…
Even though Village Chief Meng Bai was satisfied, that didn’t mean that everyone else was as well.
The moment Mrs Li heard Village Chief Meng Bai announce that the entire Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog was to be distributed to Fang Zhengzhi, her face flushed red as if she had swallowed a fly.
She instantly couldn’t hold back any longer.
The Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog was a treasure. Not only was its meat more plentiful compared to that of other animals, its metal tusks were especially sharp. Being harder than raw metal, it could be used to make valuable tools that were worth silvers.
Usually, Village Chief Meng Bai would take one metal tusk for himself, and the other one would definitely fall into the hands of Li family.
But now, not only was she not given the metal tusk, she didn’t even manage secure a strand of hog hair…..
How could Mrs Li bear with this?
“How can village chief be so biased? According to usual practices, how can the rules be changed just because the yield is higher this time? Old Li from our family had led the hunting squad for the past few years and had also suffered his fair share up in the Cang Ling Mountain. Now that he entered the Hall of Dao, he has to study every single day. This is all for the village’s future! But now, we are getting bullied! I don’t accept this method of distribution!”
194 comments, join in Chapter 36: A Tuft of Fur
When Village Chief Meng Bai heard Mrs Li’s incessant nagging, he instantly began to frown.
Usually, he could easily turn a deaf ear to Mrs Li’s words, but today wasn’t quite the same. This pile of animals by right belonged entirely to Fang Zhengzhi himself.
He had already, with great difficulty, persuaded Fang Zhengzhi to change his mind, if any further changes occurred, the conclusion wouldn’t be as simple anymore.
When the other villagers heard Mrs Li’s complaints, they also became rather unhappy. Village Chief Meng Bai declaration to distribute the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog to the Fang family was something everybody had already expected and had no complaints about.
After all, when Fang Zhengzhi entered the hunting squad, all the prey he hunted belonged to him. These words were announced by the village chief in front of everybody.
Furthermore, the Southern Mountain Village had barely any yield after being in the mountains for such a long time. If it weren’t for Fang Zhengzhi, the other animals wouldn’t have been caught, not even mentioning the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog.
“Mrs Li, all these hunted prey today actually belongs to Zhengzhi!”
“Indeed, it is already very kind of Zhengzhi to offer to split these animals with everyone.”
A few of the villagers standing beside Mrs Li quietly began to remind her.
“Since Mrs Li doesn’t exactly agree with this distribution method, I think I can make some changes!” Fang Zhengzhi stepped out of the crowd at this moment.
Village Chief Meng Bai was taken aback, but he didn’t attempt to stop him. Because, Fang Zhengzhi was now qualified to speak in the Southern Mountain Village.
The other villagers, seeing that Fang Zhengzhi had spoken, also looked on curiously.
“Ah, at least Zhengzhi can reason properly. Luckily auntie didn’t take care of you for nothing. Quick, tell everybody, what changes should be made!” Mrs Li was overjoyed when she saw Fang Zhengzhi step out. When she heard the villagers’ discussions, she had also thought of giving up. But now it seemed that Zhengzhi was still a kid after all, how could he actually contend against adults?
“I think we should distribute the other animals to the rest, then my family and the Li family will share this Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog together. What do you think auntie Li?” Fang Zhengzhi winked a few times at Mrs Li.
“Sharing the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog among my family and your family?” Mrs Li never imagined that Fang Zhengzhi would actually be so generous. She immediately grinned delightedly, “That makes sense, I agree with this form of distribution!”
The rest of the villagers also heard what Fang Zhengzhi had said. Their eyes widened. I completely don’t understand this. Wasn’t he highly intelligent just now, how did he suddenly become so dumb?
Qin Xuelian also became quite worried, and wanted to step out to prevent this.
Unfortunately, she was held back by Fang Houde.
“Don’t worry!” Even though Fang Houde was simple and down-to-earth, he knew that his son was indeed not stupid. Since Fang Zhengzhi had said these, he definitely had his reasons.
Even if they really had to share half of the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog with Mrs Li, as long as it was reasonable, Fang Zhengzhi would also approve of it.
“That means, Auntie Li has agreed to it?” Fang Zhengzhi continued to ask.
“I agree, of course I agree!” Mrs Li nodded, her head bobbing like a chicken pecking on its feed.
“Sure! Then let’s invite village chief and everyone else to bear witness to this moment. Today, the prey over here won’t be distributed to Auntie Li, then, I’ll share a portion of the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog with Auntie Li!” Fang Zhengzhi nodded and looked towards Village Chief Meng Bai.
“Ok!” Village Chief Meng Bai nodded. Since Fang Zhengzhi himself volunteered to distribute the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog, he didn’t bother to unnecessarily involve himself any further.
The rest of the villagers also began to nod their heads one by one, looking at Fang Zhengzhi with an expression of someone looking at a fool.
Mrs Li naturally didn’t have any further comments and instantly accepted.
Then…
Fang Zhengzhi cleared his throat, and began to speak once again.
“Then… may I invite Uncle Qingshan, to distribute the tuft of fur on top of the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog’s head to Auntie Li!”
“Pff!” Ding Qingshan was drinking his water at this moment, and abruptly spat it out.
The other villagers were also taken aback. When they managed to react, their looks that bore the expression of one looking at a fool instantly shifted onto Mrs Li.
“A tuft of fur?!”
“This… Ha ha ha, he distributed a tuft of fur!”
“This kid Zhengzhi, I already said that he had potential, looks like I wasn’t wrong!”
The villagers all began to laugh. Nobody criticised Fang Zhengzhi’s idea. Because, if it were them, they would have done the same. Except…
This idea, how did he even think of it?
Mrs Li’s face was black as night, her thick, muscular arms began to quiver. She finally understood the meaning behind Fang Zhengzhi’s words just now.
“Fang Zhengzhi!” Mrs Li’s fist tightened furiously. She was defeated by a seven year old kid, moreover, it was a very obvious display of intellectual defeat. Her anger almost caused blood to spurt out of her mouth.
She hated, hated herself for her impulsive actions just now. How could she have not stated clearly before, the hog had to be split equally into half? At the very least, receiving one metal tooth was also not too bad either!
But it was already too late.
The words had already left her mouth. She wanted to shamelessly go back on her words, start bawling, “Bully!”… But, going back on her words to a seven year old kid , shouting that she was bullied by a seven year old kid?
No matter how thick her skin was, she really couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“Hmph!” Mrs Li snorted coldly, forcefully stomped her feet, turned around and dashed into the crowd. In a flash, not even a shadow of her could be seen. She really didn’t have the face to stay here anymore.
“Mrs Li, this tuft of fur, do you still want it? Looks like she doesn’t want it anymore, just right… make this into an ink brush!” Fang Zhengzhi looked at the rapidly disappearing Mrs Li, stroking the tuft of fur on the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog as if it was a piece of treasure.
…
Deep into the night, a bird, its body white as snow and its claws sharp as a knife, once again shot out from the Southern Mountain Village’s Hall of Dao and instantly disappeared into the night sky. Its speed was amazingly fast…
The morning after, within the Northern Lands Divine Constabulary, in a beautiful antique-styled study room, Lolita peered at the illustration in front of her, slightly lost in thought.
“This formation isn’t complicated, but it blends in knowledge from the Eight Diagrams Tactics… if it was really drawn by that little bastard, then… the previous case of solving the Illustration of All Creation can now be confirmed!”
Lolita took another look at the illustration. Light flashed within her bright pupils.
“Come!”
“Missus, what do you need?” A soldier instantly walked in from outside the study and knelt down on one knee.
“Make preparations. There’s somewhere I want to go.”
“Yes Missus! But… the Lord is now in the capital city, I fear that there are still ten days before he would be able to return. Should we wait for the Lord before setting off?” The soldier instantly complied with her order, then gingerly asked.
“Ten days? Ok, I understand!” Lolita nodded. Looking out at the rays of light from the rising sun, the edges of her mouth curved into a slight smile.
Fang Zhengzhi? Let me see where else you can run to this time little bastard!
…
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…
More than ten days passed in a flash.
These days, Fang Zhengzhi lived a comfortable life. Working together, the Southern Mountain Village hunting squad’s efficiency was much higher than him alone. Their shovels moved rapidly, digging pitfalls that were big and round.
Fang Zhengzhi on the other hand took up the role of an overseer. Here… Here needs to be dug a little towards that direction, this rock should be slightly higher, this piece is too small…
Other that that, he stood guard at the tiny piece of land he dug himself and lived a free and leisurely life of reading books and waiting for prey.
“This mountain is opened by me, this tree is planted by me, if you wish to pass… you must lay down your life.”
The ancestors usually likened guarding a tree and waiting for rabbits to knock into it [1] to reaping without sowing. But now, Fang Zhengzhi was evidently living such a life.
Except, what he guarded wasn’t a tree, but instead was a piece of land.
The results were also entirely different. They weren’t even able to finish collecting the prey they caught each day. Considering solely green furred rabbits, they could already collect at least two each day. Along with a few other animals, Fang Zhengzhi even thought of gathering some feed and turning this into a natural farmland…
The booming success of the Southern Mountain Village naturally attracted the envy and jealous hatred of the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad.
Further considering the leftover anger from being robbed by Fang Zhengzhi…
Raid, raid, another raid!
Three times in a row.
The Northern Mountain Village hunting squad over and over again learnt their lesson, improvising on their raiding tactics. Direct raiding, surrounding them, groups of three and groups of two…
Zhang Yangping had to invest a lot of effort and racked his brains.
But ultimately…
They were completely useless!
Under the assistance of the rock formation, the Southern Mountain Village villagers were as sly as black foxes hiding in the shadows, each of them appearing and then disappearing unpredictably. When attacks came from one direction, defences came from all four directions.
After three attempts, it could be said that the Northern Mountain Village had suffered a double loss trying to trick the enemy.
Not only did they not manage to snatch the animals, their weapons were seized in each attempt. The originally razor-sharp spears and scimitars now mostly became huge worn-out metal swords.
Without weapons, the animals they killed became lesser and lesser.
It could be said that their lives were quite miserable.
In comparison, the Southern Mountain Village lived each day as if they were celebrating the new year. Everyone was happy and joyful, the hunting squad came back with more and more game, and every single household was able to enjoy meat, how could one not be happy?
…
The night was calm as water.
Fang Zhengzhi sensed within his body which he could control more and more freely everyday, there was a faint yet mysterious sensation. It felt as if there were some schools of thinking, or something else, which were about to conflict. The control he had over his body’s flesh also seemed to had become finer.
Or…
Could it be that the way he thought previously was wrong? What he controlled wasn’t at all flesh? Was it blood? That was unlikely… what was it?
Hence, unable to understand, he could only employ the most primitive of methods – accumulating vast amounts of knowledge! Continuing with his reading and memorising, increasing his powers. Once he reached a certain level, when a breakthrough was supposed to happen, wouldn’t a breakthrough naturally occur?
…
While Fang Zhengzhi was reading his books at ease, within the neighbouring courtyard, Mrs Li was pacing around continuously in her room, restless and agitated.
And beside Mrs Li, Li Zhuangzhi’s expression also seemed to be somewhat dark.
“Can you go think of something? You have been studying in the Hall of Dao everyday, you haven’t seen… the gaze in the village chief’s eyes whenever he looks at Fang Zhengzhi, are always glinting with light!”
“That nonsense trap he drew, who knows what divine assistance shone on it. It was really able to divert the animals to run along the pathways he formulated, and one by one jumped into the trap as if they were queuing up to do so!” Mrs Li’s saliva flew all over the place.
“No matter what, this is a good thing!” Li Zhuangzhi folded his legs and sat on the bed.
“A good thing? Don’t forget, when the Divine Constabulary gave the Southern Mountain Village an extra entrant spot, that spot was snatched right from the hands of Fang Zhengzhi. Even though it had already been reported up, but, does this mean it can’t change? Even though village chief indeed has no plans to do so, but, how about a month later? A year later? Who can ensure that the village chief wouldn’t think of a way to swap Li Huer!” Mrs Li became rather anxious.
Li Zhuangshi’s face instantly sunk. After staying in the Hall of Dao for such long periods of time, he had begun to understand the outside world even more. One just had to pass the Law of Dao examinations to enjoy a good deal of favour from the royalties.
This tiny Southern Mountain Village is simply not somewhere people could remain for long.
Walking out, entering the county, or even the capital… this was the future Li Zhuangshi planned for himself.
“We cannot lose the spot in the Hall of Dao, Li Huer’s improvement within this period is still quite large. As long as he can continue studying in the Hall of Dao, he would definitely be able to pass the Law of Dao examinations in the future!” Li Zhaungshi’s gaze moved to Li Huer who was sleeping soundly in the next room.
“Then why don’t you think of an idea? Fang Zhengzhi’s position in the Southern Mountain Village is rising higher and higher, very soon he will be able to rise over our family. If it continues like this, this spot will definitely be snatched away by him!” Mrs Li was impatient.
“If I have to think of an idea… This kid Fang Zhengzhi is quite smart, furthermore, he did indeed contribute to the village. Our actions cannot be too obvious… Oh, I have an idea!” Li Zhuangshi’s eyes lit up.
“What idea?” Mrs Li immediately moved in closer.
“We will get somebody else to kill him!”
“What?” Mrs Li was taken aback.
“Stop shouting! You are indeed unnecessarily soft-hearted!” Li Zhuangshi was now educated, and began to learn from the words of his Sir. Invoking these words, then looking at Mrs Li’s shocked expression, began to explain in a low voice.
“I’m not planning to really kill him. Think about it, the Northern Mountain Village people definitely hate Fang Zhengzhi to the core. We will secretly give them the illustration he drew, the consequences will naturally be obvious. I wish to… kill him, but the Northern Mountain Village people will definitely not sink to such standards. After all, the mutual dependence between the two villages are quite strong. But, breaking an arm or a leg will definitely happen!”
“You mean?” Mrs Li became interested.
“All we need is for Fang Zhengzhi to have his limbs broken, then he will become just like Fang Houde. No matter how large his contributions are, village chief would still not pin the hopes and future of the village on him. Law of Dao examinations, the namelist of the Hall of Dao, would naturally not concern Fang Zhengzhi anymore. As for what else he can do, it would be continuously helping us to hunt animals, ha ha ha…”
…
Fang Zhengzhi’s plan for setting up a natural farmland was smoothly carried out. In order to save time, and at the same time minimise the killings between different species, he intentionally split the trapped animals into different groups.
A few days later, as per his usual routine, he carried his basket of already-prepared feed up the mountain alone.
With the protection of the rock formation, the outskirts of the mountain was typically very safe. Furthermore, there was also improvement to his abilities. The stronger one was, the more guts he had. Hence, he didn’t worry much.
After entering the mountain, he directly made his way over to his personal spot. Checking on the hungry animals stuck within the traps, Fang Zhengzhi threw down the feed.
Then, finding a large rock facing the sun, he took out his books and began to recite softly.
“T’ai Kung: “As for the ‘six thieves’:
“First, if your subordinates build large palaces and mansions, pools and terraces, and amble about enjoying the pleasures of scenery and female musicians, it will injure the king’s Virtue.
Second, when the people are not engaged in agriculture and sericulture but instead give rein to their tempers and travel about as bravados, disdain-ing and transgressing the laws and prohibitions, not following the instructions of the officials, it harms the king’s transforming influence…”
This was the chapter on Honouring the Worthy in the Six Secret Teachings, which mainly discussed the Six Thieves and Seven Harms.
Fang Zhengzhi was deeply engrossed in his book. He had no idea that all around him, there were currently over twenty people, wielding long blades and with wooden bows slung around their backs, lying in ambush, They were the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad.
“Deputy captain, the intelligence is accurate. The person has indeed arrived, and there is nobody from the Southern Mountain Village following him!”
[1] This is a Chinese idiom that describes a person who witnessed a rabbit running into a tree, then thereafter began to guard the tree daily waiting for rabbits to knock into it again. This is used to imply waiting idly for opportunities and hoping for things to happen without any practical course of action, rather than showing initiative.
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“Ok, everybody make the necessary preparations. We have to be careful, we can’t let this guy escape. When I count to three, everyone will rush out together, destroy his arms but make sure you don’t harm his life.”
Looking at the wooden bow behind his back, an icy glow appeared in his eyes. A few days ago, his metal bow had been taken away by the Southern Mountain Village people, and the cause of all of this, was Fang Zhengzhi. This vengeance was something he couldn’t swallow.
“Understood. Deputy captain don’t worry, we will act appropriately!” The hunting squad members nodded. The Northern and Southern villagers were mutually dependent. Appropriate forms of revenge and conflicts were always present, but if killing occurred, this relationship would be destroyed completely.
“One”
“Two”
“…”
“Awoo!”
Just when Zhang Yangping was about to count to three, the howling sound of a huge beast suddenly resonated throughout the entire Cang Ling Mountain.
This stunned all of the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad members, who were already prepared to act. This sound… was too near, as if it sounded out from right beside their ears.
“This…” A hunting squad member was somewhat puzzled.
…
Fang Zhengzhi was similarly rather puzzled. He was just reading his book, where did such a loud howl even come from? He had stayed in the Cang Ling Mountain for some time, and had encountered a countless number of animals.
But…
This sound definitely couldn’t have come from just any ordinary beast.
“Awoo!”
As he pondered, a humongous shadow shot out with lightning speed from the dense forests, and ended up less than hundred metres away from Fang Zhengzhi.
…
“What the… f*ck! It’s humongous!” Fang Zhengzhi was truly shocked this time. The beast in front of him was really too big. It was at least twice the size of the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog.
Its navy blue fur were like metal needles enveloping its body. Its razor-sharp front claws were perched on a piece of stone, and those black claws emanated the cold air of the forest. They looked even sharper than the two metal fangs on the Metal-Toothed Thorn Hog.
Most uniquely, on the forehead of this wild beast, there was a line of fire-red fur. That fur was like a blazing trail, leading all the way from its forehead to its tail…
“Blue… Blue Fire Wolf!”
“Deputy captain, it’s… it’s the Blue Fire Wolf!”
When the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad saw the beast that shot out, they trembled uncontrollably, the weapons in their hands almost dropping to the ground in fear.
Zhang Yangping shook uncontrollably with shock.
Blue Fire Wolf, this was the real king of the Cang Ling Mountain outskirts.
It couldn’t even be classified as a beast anymore, it was a truly fearsome monster!
“Deputy captain, what should we do?” A hunter’s legs trembled in fear. Faced with the monster Blue Fire Wolf, there was only one way. That was to run, run as far as they possibly could.
The Blue Fire Wolf was too strong, even adding a few people to their group, they were nothing compared to the Blue Fire Wolf, much less their strength of twenty over people.
Shoot arrows?
I’m afraid that before you even manage to pull your bow, the Blue Fire Wolf would have already pounced right in front of you.
Moreover, even if you somehow managed to shoot a few, that wasn’t sufficient to injure the Blue Fire Wolf. Because, the skin and fur on the Blue Fire Wolf was too thick. An average arrow could only at most scrape the surface of its skin, if one really intended to kill the Blue Fire Wolf with arrows, that was downright impossible.
“Run!” Zhang Yangping ordered, barely hesitating at all.
“How about the kid?
“Leave him, hurry up and run!”
…
Fang Zhengzhi also prepared to run. He didn’t even bother taking along his basket, among other personal items. This thing in front of him was obviously very terrifying. Even though he didn’t know what it was, but one look at its head told him that it was even bigger than the lion he knew from his previous world.
The reason he entered the mountain today was only to feed the animals, he didn’t even have a friend beside him.
Fight one to one?
Fang Zhengzhi wasn’t dumb.
But at the second he turned his body.
The Blue Fire Wolf also began to move, an icy yet blood-thirsty glint shining in its faint blue pupils. Slightly curving its front claws, its gigantic body shot towards Fang Zhengzhi like a streak of lightning.
“Snap!”
The sound of stepping on broken wood rang out and immediately after, the gigantic Blue Fire Wolf disappeared.
“Huh?” Looking back, Fang Zhengzhi instantly stopped running. In his sudden burst of panic, he had forgotten that he was surrounded by pitfalls.
No matter how deadly a beast was, as long as it stepped on the trap, it would definitely fall in!
…
“Deputy captain, quick, look! The Blue Fire Wolf seemed to have fallen into the trap!” A Northern Mountain Village hunting squad member who was preparing to run had just realised what was happening.
“Fell into the trap?” Zhang Yangping was similarly taken aback. He knew Fang Zhengzhi was surrounded by pitfalls, but, the Blue Fire Wolf was an extremely sly beast, it would never fall into just any ordinary trap.
But now…
“It really fell inside the trap, quick look, it’s just over there!” Another hunter shouted out.
“This kid’s traps are indeed amazing, don’t tell me even the Blue Fire Wolf had been tricked?” Zhang Yangping didn’t dare to believe, but this reality was unfolding right before his eyes.
“Deputy captain look, that kid is going over!
“Deputy captain, that is the Blue Fire Wolf, if it had really fallen into the trap, it’s definitely worth a huge amount of silver! I heard that the worth of the Blue Fire Wolf’s skin is even calculated in gold!”
The Northern Mountain Village hunting squad members were excited. Even though they deeply feared the Blue Fire Wolf, but after so many years of hunting on the mountain, how could they not have developed even a slightest blood-thirsty personality?
Right in front of their eyes, the Blue Fire Wolf had fallen into the trap. Their bad luck instantly turned into an opportunity.
The Blue Fire Wolf was indeed worth a lot of money, but just the thought of being able to remove such a huge hidden danger in the Cang Ling Mountain outskirts was definitely something worth risking
“Prepare to act, today we will snatch this Blue Fire Wolf first! This will make up for our losses these few days!” Zhang Yangping pondered for a short moment, then biting his teeth, gave his orders.
“Roger that!” The Northern Mountain Village hunting square began to shout out one by one.
While they shouted, they also didn’t dare to let down their guard. Each of them drew their bows and prepared to kill the Blue Fire Wolf together.
…
Fang Zhengzhi at this moment was walking unhurriedly towards the pitfall containing the Blue Fire Wolf. All of a sudden, he heard a wave of shouting around him, then, saw a few men wielding long blades and bows scuttling out from the bushes.
“You want to snatch my prey? This place is filled with traps!” Fang Zhengzhi immediately recognised that these people were the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad.
But, he wasn’t worried at all. Because, with the presence of these traps, they had absolutely no way of snatching.
Ideals are perfect, but reality is cruel.
Very quickly, Fang Zhengzhi began to realise something was amiss. All of the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad members seemed to have grown a pair of divine eyes, even though they ran as fast as rabbits, but all of them skidded around the traps skillfully.
What was happening?
Fang Zhengzhi felt that this was downright impossible.
Then…
Something even more impossible thing happened.
“Awoo!”
With an infuriated howl, the Blue Fire Wolf which had fallen into the trap suddenly jumped right out.
“…” Fang Zhengzhi was stunned.
The twenty over shouting hunting squad members were also similarly stunned.
All of them stared at this fearsome beast, their faces convulsed with pure fear. From those faint blue pupils, everyone had managed to infer one emotion…
Fury!
“The Blue Fire Wolf has jumped out, run away quick!”
“Run!”
After a moment of shock, the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad members immediately regained their senses and one following another, instantly began to run.
“Blue Fire Wolf? This is the Blue Fire Wolf?! But… why is there no fire?” Hearing the cries of the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad, a wave of suspicion swept over him.
Then, he suddenly regained his senses.
“What the f*ck, Blue Fire Wolf!”
His stumpy legs could instantly turn into wheels of fire, Fang Zhengzhi’s running speed was definitely not slow. But, compared to the Blue Fire Wolf, it was still slightly inferior.
With a “swoosh!”, the Blue Fire Wolf leapt, and blocked off Fang Zhengzhi’s escape path.
Most importantly…
This time, Fang Zhengzhi had really managed to see fire.
At the instant the Blue Fire Wolf leapt, he saw with unmistakable clarity, a ball of bright-red flame engulfed its razor-sharp claws, and once the Blue Fire Wolf landed, that ball of flame once again mysteriously disappeared.
“There is really fire!”
67 comments, join in Chapter 39: Its name was Blue Fire
Fang Zhengzhi felt that his knowledge of this world was indeed too shallow. But, what was with that ball of fire? That was too mysterious indeed.
It felt as if it appeared out of thin air.
You mean fire can appear out of thin air, and disappear into thin air? This completely exceeded his imaginations, fire from friction? Or what else was it due to?
Was it the Dao of All Creations?
The Blue Fire Wolf didn’t read books, how could it master the Dao of All Creations?
Fang Zhengzhi suddenly felt lost and bewildered. This world seemed to be completely different from what he imagined. He thought that he had managed to understand this world very well, but after turning around, he realised that as before, he was still standing outside the door of understanding.
He couldn’t understand this at all!
After a flash of bewilderment, Fang Zhengzhi understood one thing…
Now, he should run!
“Awoo!” Ideals will always be perfect, but reality is always cruel.
Fang Zhengzhi didn’t even managed to turn his body. The Blue Fire Wolf had already turned into a stream of light and dove towards him, those faint blue pupils completely fixated on the ‘prey’ in front of it.
Its razor-sharp claws slashed in a beautiful arc mid-air, a bright-red flame burning on its claws.
Like fireworks in the night sky.
Even though Zhang Yangping and the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad bore some hatred towards Fang Zhengzhi, but as they witnessed the Blue Fire Wolf hunting down Fang Zhengzhi, they still couldn’t bear for this to happen.
“This kid… what a pity!” Zhang Yangping sighed as he ran. He was powerless. Because, even if he stopped to shoot an arrow, he still wouldn’t be able match the Blue Fire Wolf’s speed to save Fang Zhengzhi.
“Let’s run!”
“Sigh… we actually allowed a kid to defend us!”
“We have no choice, he is really too close to the Blue Fire Wolf, there is no way to save him!”
The Northern Mountain Village hunting squad stared at the Blue Fire Wolf, which had already pounced in the air right on top of Fang Zhengzhi’s head. All of them felt somewhat helpless. They wanted to save him, but at death’s door, who would even be willing to stop their footsteps.
Fang Zhengzhi was scared.
Met with the Blue Fire Wolf’s pounce, the inexperienced Fang Zhengzhi mind almost blanked out, unable to think.
But evidently the Blue Fire Wolf didn’t bother to take that into consideration. In its eyes, the child of a human undoubtedly had the most delicious and tender meat. Furthermore, the reason that prompted it to ignore the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad to focus on killing Fang Zhengzhi was none other than that this kid actually dug a trap for it!
As the king of the outskirts of Cang Ling Mountain, how could it accept this?
Sensing Fang Zhengzhi’s fear, the Blue Fire Wolf could confirm, the delectable flavour that would dissipate its rage was about to enter its mouth a second later.
“Bam!”
The Blue Fire Wolf’s claws reached the ground first. There was no sound of bone breaking.
But, it didn’t feel disappointed at all. Because, Fang Zhengzhi was right in front of its eyes, it could already even smell his delicious meat.
…
Fang Zhengzhi was indeed too near to the Blue Fire Wolf. Too near, so near that he was almost unable to breathe.
At the crucial moment just now, he didn’t manage to react much, forgetting every single defense techniques and only very instinctive fell back in fear…
But, falling back, coupled with a roll, gave him the extreme luck to have avoided the killing blow of the Blue Fire Wolf.
Even though he managed to avoid one blow, he had ultimately still fallen on the ground, facing the sky. Moreover, the Blue Fire Wolf’s razor-sharp claws, which seemed to be made from mythical metal, was placed right in between his two stumpy legs.
The distance from his vital parts was only the length of a first.
Dead!
This time, Fang Zhengzhi was really dead!
For the first time, he felt the terrifying wave of a death threat sweeping over him. As the saying goes, an anxious dog can jump over a wall. Let alone a human who was about to be killed.
Fang Zhengzhi retaliated.
There wasn’t any form of technique, acting on pure instinct to kick away this threat in front of him.
The two stumpy legs at this instant turned into two rapidly kicking mini motors. That speed could definitely invoke a gale of wind.
“Ahhhhh… go away, go away…”
As he shrieked, Fang Zhengzhi concentrated all the strength in his body to kick at the Blue Fire Wolf’s approaching head and claws.
The Blue Fire Wolf was delightedly preparing to enjoy the delicious meal in front of it at this moment. When it suddenly saw the barrage of kicks coming towards it, it was almost unable to react and a few kicks landed on its nose and eyes.
But, it wasn’t too worried.
Because that power was indeed too weak. It was just the struggles of a human child faced with death, what use could it have? With its strength, even if it stood still to take a few kicks from this kid, it wouldn’t even budge an inch.
Completely inconsequential.
Feeling the powerless kicks that posed as nothing more than a form of irritation, the Blue Fire Wolf laughed coldly and cruelly inside. The delicious meat was right in front of its eyes, and it advanced. It’s huge mouth suddenly widened, and prepared to bite down on Fang Zhengzhi’s tiny legs.
Then…
Right at this moment, a huge wave of strength and power washed over the Blue Fire Wolf.
“Grr, grr grrr….”
From the originally powerless stumpy legs, a terrifying power emerged. Every kick that landed on its face felt like a huge hammer smashing down on it.
“Awoo!”
The Blue Fire Wolf unleashed a blood-curdling howl. Its gigantic body was flown upwards, then, along the same arc projectile path, it came back down and slammed into the ground, returning back at the same spot it leapt from.
All of these happenings, from the moment the Blue Fire Wolf pounced towards Fang Zhengzhi, to it being kicked back wildly by Fang Zhengzhi, all occurred in a blink of an eye.
Zhang Yangping and the rest of the hunting squad, situated not too far away, were completely stunned.
All they saw was the Blue Fire Wolf pouncing, Fang Zhengzhi falling to the ground, then the Blue Fire Wolf being kicked away by Fang Zhengzhi.
“How is this possible?”
“This is supposed to be… the Blue Fire Wolf!”
“It was actually sent flying by a kick?”
Zhang Yangping and the rest of the hunting squad stared at Fang Zhengzhi as if they had seen a ghost. They were completely unable to believe that under these circumstances, Fang Zhengzhi actually didn’t die!
“Deputy… Deputy captain, look… look at the Blue Fire Wolf’s nose!”
“It’s bleeding! The Blue Fire Wolf is injured!”
A few observant hunters quickly noticed that on the edges of the Blue Fire Wolf’s mouth and on its nose, a few drops of bright-red blood trickled down.
“Drip, drip…”
The blood dripped onto the floor, and soaked into the ground.
…
“Awoo!”
The Blue Fire Wolf reared its head and unleashed a mad, infuriated howl. That sound, other than anger, was filled with solitary and arrogance.
Its name, was Blue Fire.
It was a lone wolf. In the outskirts of this Cang Ling Mountain, it was the real king.
Regardless of when and where, any animal or human that encountered it only had one thought. That was to run. Having ruled this land for the past years, it had never been wounded in a manner such as today.
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…
Fang Zhengzhi’s madly kicking legs stopped, sweat dripping like rain from his forehead.
What was terror, what was a narrow escape? He felt that at this moment, no one would be able to understand this feeling better than him.
It was too frightening.
A moment ago, when his short legs came into contact with the Blue Fire Wolf’s forehead, it felt as if the kick landed on a metal board.
The immense strength and resistance sent his heart to his throat. When he saw the Blue Fire Wolf’s salivating mouth biting down on him…
At the instant, Fang Zhengzhi felt as if he had stepped into the door of death.
Every single pore on his body leaked profusely with sweat. Fortunately, at this crucial period, his blanked-out mind finally unleashed its abilities. That feeling of desperation had pushed him to move everything he could control in his body onto his stumpy legs.
His heart only contained three words…
Give everything possible!
Then, the results seemed very remarkable. The Blue Fire Wolf was finally kicked away by him, at the same time, he felt a unique sensation. At that moment, he felt his stumpy legs fill up with power.
As if it was about to explode.
Wait a minute, just now, he seemed to be…
Controlling?!
That’s right, it was control. When the word control flashed in Fang Zhengzhi’s mind, he finally came to realisation. Running away now was downright impossible, the Blue Fire Wolf was too fast. If he dared to turn his body, his back would definitely get attacked.
That means he could only try to control his body.
I am now someone who can shatter a stone with one fist, I can’t be scared, I am very strong! Fang Zhengzhi reassured himself while trying to gain control over the flow of things in his body.
Thinking of that rejuvenating feeling of kicking away the Blue Fire Wolf, then looking at the Blue Fire Wolf staring at the ground, its nose and mouth dripping with blood.
His confidence instantly grew.
“That’s right, I am very strong!” Fang Zhengzhi bellowed, doing so to bolster his confidence further.
Some distance away, the already completely stunned Zhang Yangping and the rest of the hunting squad were instantly jolted back to their senses by these words.
“What is he saying?”
“He seems to have said… he is very strong?!”
“He’s indeed very strong!”
That last sentence came out from Zhang Yangping’s mouth. Even though he didn’t really understand what was going on, but, to be able to kick the Blue Fire Wolf away definitely wasn’t something luck could achieve.
“Deputy captain, now that the kid and the Blue Fire Wolf are confronting one another, let’s escape quickly!” A hunting squad member reminded in a soft voice.
“No!” Zhang Yangping suddenly bit down on his teeth. “This Blue Fire Wolf has been wreaking havoc in the Cang Ling Mountain outskirts for so many years, who knows how many villagers it had killed. Now… there’s an opportunity!”
“Opportunity?!” The hunting squad members couldn’t really understand his intentions.
“That’s right, an opportunity which we never had for so many years! All of you look, now that the Blue Fire Wolf is deep inside the trap formation area with that kid, it can drop down anytime. Furthermore, that kid has the ability to hold off the Blue Fire Wolf for a short time. This kind of opportunity, did we ever have it?” Zhang Yangping calmly analysed the situation.
As the deputy captain of the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad, he had the responsibility of ensuring the hunting squad members’ safety. But, as long as the threat of the Blue Fire Wolf remained, that safety would forever only be temporary.
“I will follow Deputy Captain!” A hunting squad member very quickly responded. His eyes were fixated on the Blue Fire Wolf not too far away with an icy glint in his eyes.
His own older brother, had died under the claws of the Blue Fire Wolf. At that time, he was only seventeen!
“I will also follow Deputy Captain!” Another member similarly stood out. There was an almost three inches long wound on his calf that extended into the bones. As long as it was a rainy day, it would become exceptionally painful.
This was due to running away too slowly during his previous encounter with the Blue Fire Wolf. In the end, he was slashed by the Blue Fire Wolf’s claws.
And that was the same time he personally witnessed his buddy, who stuck with him all the way since childhood, dying in the mouth of the Blue Fire Wolf. That brutal scene appeared even in his dreams.
“Deputy Captain, let’s do it!” All of the hunting squad members drew their wooden bows, each of their faces revealing a look of pure conviction.
“Good, that’s the way! Everybody, follow my orders!” Zhang Yangping gazed at the vigour and determination that radiated out from each of the men’s bodies. Traces of tears entered his eyes.
The wickedness of the Blue Fire Wolf had caused a lifetime of pain for all the villages within miles of the mountain.
…
On the outside, Fang Zhengzhi’s current state still seemed very brave and powerful. At least, Zhang Yangping and the Northern Mountain Village hunting squad had already pinned their hopes on him.
But in reality, inside his heart, Fang Zhengzhi was deeply agonized.
What, I am very strong? That was just words to reassure himself. Compared to the Blue Fire Wolf…
“Snap!”
The shattering sound of rocks sounded out. The gigantic body of the Blue Fire Wolf crawled up. Faced with such immense strength, the broken pieces of rocks on the ground immediately exploded into powder.
How powerful the Blue Fire Wolf was can be seen from this.
“Awoo!”
Howling, the Blue Fire Wolf wildly rushed towards Fang Zhengzhi. It actually wasn’t too far off the ground, its entire body keeping close to the ground. It was just like a ray of blue light.
Fang Zhengzhi had never before seen such an offensive tactic.
Don’t tell me the offensive strategy of wolves aren’t all about head-on pounces and going around in circles? Then, what’s the meaning of this strange gliding scene in front of me?
Indeed, I can’t try to understand this world based on my past thinking!
“I’ll dodge!”
Oh, terrain!
His eyes suddenly lit up. Fang Zhengzhi, evidently not bothering to be graceful, rolled on the ground towards his right, ending up behind a rock.
Having pounced at thin air, the Blue Fire Wolf didn’t stop at all. Its humongous body twisted around, and two balls of fire suddenly erupted from its two hind claws.
It was like stepping on two balls of fire.
Then, initially pouncing towards the front, its entire body forcefully changed direction and was instantly pouncing towards Fang Zhengzhi’s back.
Nearer, nearer…
At this moment, the two front claws of the Blue Fire Wolf also burst into two bright-red balls of flame. There was even a small flame dancing in its faint blue pupils.
…
A wave of scorching smell spread out, a smell so provoking that it even numbed the scalp of Fang Zhengzhi.
Experience, was what he lacked the most. Real hunters would never turn their heads at such moments.
But, Fang Zhengzhi wasn’t aware of this. He turned his head, and saw that the Blue Fire Wolf was already less than one meter from his back, those razor-sharp fangs dripping with a faint trace of blood…
“Am I going to die?!” Fang Zhengzhi wasn’t godlike, at this instant, he had no way of retaliating. He rolled on the floor, wanting to run…
He couldn’t even stand up.
The huge stone was right in front of his eyes, but this single step was so far away. Like a huge ravine, there was simply no way of stepping across.
“Why is this Blue Fire Wolf’s speed so fast?!” Fang Zhengzhi didn’t give up, but he had no alternatives. The disparity in strength was too large, he simply couldn’t dodge this strike.
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