Many people in Dahe Village were hunters by trade.
Therefore, some of the men, while it wasn't completely dark yet, picked up their bows and arrows to try their luck in the surroundings.
If they could hunt some wild game, it would both fill their stomachs and satisfy their cravings.
It was precisely for this reason that Xia Ren, when he took his compound crossbow out hunting, always guarded against these bow-wielding Dahe Village hunters to avoid being ambushed.
Suddenly, Xia Ren saw several wild tomato vines growing on the broken wall; if he hadn't been so observant, he might have missed them like everyone else.
It was over two meters high, and there was a place to step below.
Xia Ren thought for a moment and felt confident he could collect all these ripe wild tomatoes.
He carefully jumped down, landed steadily, and then used both hands to put all the ripe red tomatoes from the vines into his basket.
As for the unripe green tomatoes, he also picked them.
"I didn't find any wild game, but picking these wild tomatoes is a considerable harvest," Xia Ren thought to himself, grinning from ear to ear.
There was about one jin of ripe, red tomatoes.
Including the unripe green tomatoes, there were two and a half jin of tomatoes in total.
Afterward, Xia Ren climbed onto the broken wall and, seeing that it was almost dark, decided to head back.
But just then,
Xia Ren detected movement in the bushes about a hundred meters away.
He instinctively took out his compound crossbow, strung an arrow, and slowly moved forward.
Through the 6x scope on the compound crossbow, he finally saw what was hiding in the bushes.
A grayish-brown, lively wild rabbit.
Seeing this, Xia Ren suppressed the excitement in his heart, held his breath, raised his compound crossbow, and the crosshairs in the scope quickly locked onto the wild rabbit.
When he was still sixty meters from the rabbit, Xia Ren stopped to prevent the rabbit from being startled and fleeing back to its burrow.
As he pulled the trigger of the compound crossbow, the crossbow bolt shot through the air with a "whoosh."
"Screech—"
The wild rabbit was hit and let out a tragic cry.
The immense force of the crossbow bolt pinned the wild rabbit to the ground on the spot.
Xia Ren's face was filled with joy at the sight; he immediately stepped forward, ready to retrieve the crossbow bolt and collect the rabbit's carcass.
But after walking less than ten steps, two hunters with bows and arrows emerged from below the hillside and snatched the wild rabbit first.
Xia Ren recognized them as people from Dahe Village at a glance.
He stopped, strung an arrow, held his compound crossbow, and prepared for any sudden situation.
"Brother, what a fat wild rabbit!" a hunter wearing a straw hat excitedly held up the rabbit and laughed at the hunter in front of him.
"Now we'll have meat to eat when we go back."
The older hunter smiled and nodded, as if he didn't even notice Xia Ren.
Xia Ren stared at the two men with a cold gaze, his expression displeased: "Gentlemen, this rabbit was shot by me; please put it down."
Having his prey stolen right from under his nose, a hint of anger erupted in Xia Ren's eyes.
"You say it's yours, so it's yours? I say this wild rabbit was shot by me!" The hunter wearing the straw hat pouted, acting incredibly arrogant.
Clearly, these two hunters intended to forcefully take it.
Xia Ren scanned the surroundings, and seeing no one else around, his killing intent intensified.
This surge of killing intent was keenly sensed by the older hunter in an instant, who said to the hunter beside him, "Brother, put the rabbit down; let's go."
"What are you afraid of? He's just one person..." The younger hunter was still unwilling, but before he could finish speaking, the older hunter slapped him on the forehead and then sternly said, "I told you to put it down, so put it down."
Seeing this, the younger hunter sighed and had no choice but to put down the wild rabbit.
The older hunter looked at Xia Ren and apologized, "Brother Xia Ren, it was all a misunderstanding just now; please don't take it to heart. We'll leave now."
"Mm."
Xia Ren responded coolly.
When the two Dahe Village hunters had walked a hundred meters, the younger hunter asked, puzzled, "Brother, why were you such a coward just now? That's not like your usual style."
The older hunter scolded, "You don't know anything! If I hadn't done that just now, we both might have lost our lives there."
But the younger hunter remained unconvinced: "He's only one person, and we're two. I don't believe he'd dare to fight us."
"You really are a newborn calf who isn't afraid of tigers. Didn't you notice Xia Ren's eyes, full of killing intent, just now? He truly dares. In the future, try to avoid conflict with Xia Ren, understand?" The older hunter raised his hand and patted his younger brother's head, reminding him seriously.
On Xia Ren's side, he stepped forward, retrieved the crossbow bolt from the rabbit's body into his quiver, and then placed the rabbit's carcass into the basket on his back.
As for what just happened, it was just a small interlude, and he didn't take it to heart.
It was also fortunate that the older hunter knew his limits; otherwise, Xia Ren wouldn't have minded shooting them and then pushing them off the cliff to destroy the evidence.
Now that it was completely dark, Xia Ren made a simple torch. After lighting it with the tinder he carried, the torch burst into fierce flames.
Holding the torch in his left hand to illuminate the path ahead, carrying the compound crossbow in his right hand to stay alert, and with the basket full of good things on his back, he quickly walked towards the Dahe Village camp.
In no time, Xia Ren returned to the camp.
He saw that Jiang Wan'er had already lit a bonfire, and there was plenty of firewood nearby, enough for the entire night.
And Er Ya was skewering mushrooms with bamboo sticks; these mushrooms were all picked by Xia Ren yesterday.
She was skillfully imitating how Xia Ren had roasted mushrooms before, placing the mushroom skewers next to the bonfire. Once they were almost done, she would fill the concave parts of the mushrooms with dried chili powder and minced garlic.
As for Da Ya, she was looking after San Ya to prevent San Ya from getting lost.
San Ya was the first to see Xia Ren return; she excitedly stood up, scampered towards Xia Ren, and then tightly hugged Xia Ren's leg: "Daddy, you're finally back."
"Daddy!" Da Ya and Er Ya called out in unison.
"Husband!" Jiang Wan'er breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Xia Ren return.
"Look what Daddy brought back!" Xia Ren, with a beaming smile, placed the basket from his back onto the ground.
The mischievous San Ya was the first to peer in. When she saw a plump wild rabbit inside the basket, her eyes sparkled, and she smiled, her eyes curving, "Wow, it's a bunny!"
At her words, Jiang Wan'er, Da Ya, and Er Ya all gathered around.
Seeing the wild rabbit in the basket, everyone's faces were filled with joy.
"Besides the wild rabbit, there's also fruit." Xia Ren pulled out a handful of ripe, red wild tomatoes from the basket, evenly distributed them among his family, and kindly instructed, "Everyone eat two first. After dinner, you can eat the rest of these ripe tomatoes."
"Okay."
Jiang Wan'er and the three little girls nodded vigorously.
Then, San Ya wiped a rosy tomato clean with a leaf and put it into her mouth, savoring it. The sweet-and-sour taste brought a happy smile to her little face.
The little boy who had previously been rude to San Ya watched her eat the tomato, salivating and his face full of envy and jealousy.