Zhou Qi pressed the carapace of the Five-Tier Bullet Ant with his finger, feeling it was somewhat like dried cowhide, both hard and highly flexible.
Afterward, Zhou Qi checked his remaining Evolution Points, which were still over 700.
Reinforcing the Five-Tier Annam Centipede just now used 310 Evolution Points, and reinforcing the Five-Tier Bullet Ant used 62 points.
The remaining points were just enough to reinforce the other 9 Bullet Ants to Five-Tier.
Zhou Qi followed suit, reinforcing them one by one.
A moment later,
he was surrounded by 10 Five-Tier Bullet Ants, each as long as an adult's thumb.
Zhou Qi, with a thought, had them hide in the glass box, then he exited the shed and locked the door.
It was only then that Zhou Qi felt a wave of hunger. He took out his phone and saw it was almost 1 PM, so he prepared to return home to the village to find something to eat.
Walking out of the breeding farm, on the way back to the village,
"Zhou Qi, are you busy these two days?" A sturdy man, about 30 years old, with a full beard that made him look rugged, approached him.
"Brother Shun, what's up? What's the matter?" Zhou Qi turned his face, not daring to agree directly, and asked cautiously.
Zhou Shun was a fellow villager of Zhou Qi, and they had a blood relationship from three generations prior.
"It's just that I heard from Uncle Tie these past two days that wild boars were found in White Snake Mountain. I was thinking your family's dog used to hunt with Uncle Hai."
Zhou Shun spoke circuitously, "Do you want to come into the mountain with me? Let's see if we can hunt a wild boar!"
"Just the two of us? I'm afraid that might be difficult," Zhou Qi thought.
Hunting was not uncommon in their area. The vast White Snake Mountain had abundant wild resources, and its tail end connected to the Huangshan mountain range.
If Zhou Shun was confident, Zhou Qi was very eager to go and see, as it would pave the way for the Ant Queen's next stage of development.
As for danger? It would be fine to carry the Five-Tier Annam Centipede and Five-Tier Bullet Ant with him.
"I have a compound bow, and I have all the knives. You just need to bring your family's hunting dog," Zhou Shun said, patting his chest.
The two confirmed the arrangements and decided to set off early tomorrow morning, preparing their supplies tonight.
After saying goodbye, Zhou Qi went home and told Li Xiumei about tomorrow's hunt. Li Xiumei didn't say much, only reminded Zhou Qi that safety came first.
After eating some food at home, Zhou Qi found a backpack and returned to the breeding farm.
He planned to hide the Five-Tier Annam Centipede and Five-Tier Bullet Ant inside, so he wouldn't panic if he encountered any danger.
At the breeding farm, Zhou Qi's hunting dog, a Pit Bull named Tete, was fed some food.
He also learned from Zhou Haidong how to command a hunting dog, what hand gestures to use, and so on.
Zhou Qi spent the entire afternoon busy.
The next day, just as the sky began to lighten,
Zhou Qi put on the backpack containing the Five-Tier Annam Centipede and Five-Tier Bullet Ant, with a small opening intentionally left in the top zipper of the backpack, and then led out the hunting dog.
Just as he exited the breeding farm gate, he ran into Zhou Shun approaching.
The two smiled at each other. Zhou Shun was carrying a large backpack, from which he took out a broad, thick hunting knife resembling a machete, and then they walked together towards the small path behind the breeding farm.
As Zhou Shun walked, he educated Zhou Qi on matters to pay attention to when hunting.
The two walked in the mountains for almost an hour. The mountain path gradually became steep and rugged, clearly indicating that it was rarely traveled by people year-round.
The sun had not yet risen, and the mountains were misty, making it impossible to see far.
From the ground and the treetops, various insect sounds continuously echoed, with crickets, cicadas, and others acting like singers.
Occasionally, unknown insects would hop or jump onto Zhou Qi's shoes.
Zhou Qi swallowed, feeling the air filled with danger, and only felt a sense of security from the weight of his backpack.
As the two continued to advance, the sky gradually lightened, and the sun's rays melted away the surrounding mist, and the steep mountain path also became gentler.
"Let's eat something first, Zhou Qi." Zhou Shun handed Zhou Qi a compressed biscuit as he walked. "This is filling," Zhou Shun said with a wide grin.
Zhou Qi took it and began to eat, and the two chatted casually.
Beside them, Tete suddenly became agitated, making "woof woof woof" sounds.
He darted over to Zhou Qi and Zhou Shun, lowering his head and constantly sniffing the ground.
Seeing Tete's sudden unusual movement,
Zhou Qi's eyes lit up. He squatted down and pointed to the ground: "Look, Tete has found wild boar droppings! They're still warm, there must be a wild boar den nearby."
Zhou Shun leaned closer, and after careful observation, his expression brightened. He quickly pulled out his compound bow from his backpack, gently caressing the bowstring, and whispered, "Zhou Qi, get ready to act, let's set a trap first."
The two quickly got to work. Zhou Shun kept giving instructions, Zhou Qi searched for thick branches nearby, while Zhou Shun took out ropes and special steel snares from his backpack.
Zhou Qi continuously set up the branches one by one, binding them tightly with ropes, while Zhou Shun set up the steel snares on the wild boar's inevitable path.
The hunting dog waited quietly nearby, occasionally sniffing the trap, seemingly also anticipating the approaching prey.
With the trap set, Zhou Qi, following Zhou Haidong's instructions, patted Tete and blew a whistle.
Tete shot into the mountain forest like an arrow released from a bow.
Soon, barks echoed from a distance, and Zhou Shun quickly pulled his compound bow taut, his eyes fixed on the direction of the sound.
Zhou Qi moved slightly, shielding Zhou Shun, and the Five-Tier Annam Centipede in his backpack poked its head out from a gap in the bag.
As soon as danger appeared, it would Incarnate into a flash of lightning and strike.
Immediately after, the bushes in front of them rustled loudly.
A massive wild boar burst out of the bushes, closely pursued by the hunting dog, and rushed blindly towards the trap.
With a "whoosh," the wild boar stepped into the trap, and the steel snare tightened instantly, constricting its limbs.
Zhou Shun's eyes narrowed, and his fingers quickly released the bowstring, firing two arrows like lightning, striking the wild boar in a vital spot on its neck.
The wild boar continuously squealed and struggled rapidly.
Zhou Qi and Zhou Shun exchanged glances, and the two tacitly pulled out their hunting knives. They quickly approached the wild boar, Zhou Qi's eyes hardened, and he plunged the hunting knife into the wild boar's neck.
Red blood gushed out like a torrent, as if a major artery had been pierced, continuously spurting outwards, and Zhou Qi, caught off guard, was also stained with blood.
The wild boar collapsed with a thud.
Zhou Qi and Zhou Shun sighed in relief, put away their compound bow and hunting knives, and prepared to clean up the battlefield.
The hunting dog also ran back happily, jumping around them, as if celebrating the success of the hunt with the two of them.
Zhou Qi looked at the wild boar lying on the ground. It weighed at least 200 pounds, and transporting it would truly be a hassle.
"Zhou Qi, let's make a simple stretcher. Hunters who used to hunt in the mountains would always gather materials on-site and make simple stretchers to drag their prey away," Zhou Shun said directly to Zhou Qi. He had a lot of insight when it came to hunting.
With that, the two began to act.
First, they used their hunting knives to cut two straight small trees, shaping them into wooden poles about 2.5-3 meters long and 8-10 centimeters in diameter, and then found several sturdy vines.
They placed the two wooden poles parallel, leaving enough space for the wild boar, and then tightly bound the vines one by one.
Zhou Shun then took out a snakeskin bag from his backpack, spread it on top, and continued to wrap the vines. In a short while, a simple stretcher resembling a litter was made.
The two placed the dead wild boar on the stretcher, and just as they caught their breath,
"Brother Shun, did you hear something?"
Zhou Qi felt the Five-Tier Annam Centipede stirring in his backpack, calmed himself, and listened to the sounds continuously coming from not far away.
