Time quickly entered December, and the New Year was soon to come again.
It is worth mentioning that in this world, there was no distinction between the lunar and solar calendars; it only had something analogous to the lunar calendar of Wang Sheng’s previous life. Hence, December was the twelfth lunar month, and Qingshan Village had already begun its preparations.
This year was different from the last. Last year, the food supply was not as abundant as it was this year; essentially, everyone was pondering how to get through the next year, with many worried about the food issue for the following year.
Thus, when the village chief mentioned celebrating last year, it was really just a simple exchange. Not many were in the spirit for it.
But this year was different.
This year, with a bountiful harvest and everything on the right track, naturally everything changed.
Inside the village, there was truly a festive New Year atmosphere brewing, with everyone preparing for the celebration.
Even the village chief had started asking people to prepare New Year goods. Of course, those preparing them were the village’s martial artists.
Several people moved swiftly through the woods near Qingshan Village.
“Zhou Yong, circle around to the left and block that path!”
“Okay!”
Zhou Yong leaped up, flicking from tree to tree, and in the blink of an eye arrived at a junction.
“Zhou Yong, here it comes!”
“Bring it on. It’s a good opportunity to test my new strength!” Zhou Yong shouted loudly, then threw a fierce punch towards the front, exclaiming, “Take this, Six Harmonies Ground Covering!”
The power of the punch swept through the bushes and hit the thing that had charged right up to him. It was a massive wild boar.
“Screech!”
Struck by such a punch, the wild boar let out a wail and was thrust backward, knocking down another boar behind it, before it, too, fell to the ground, motionless.
“Is this the power of a Second Grade martial artist?”
Zhou Yong looked at his fist, a bit excited.
The strength of a Second Grade martial artist was even greater than he had imagined.
“Watch out, here comes another!”
This time it was Zhou Gu’s voice; he was among those pursuing from behind.
Upon hearing the voice, Zhou Yong saw a large boar leap directly at him, aiming for his face.
But he did not panic; his body sank, his foot stamped, and an uppercut was delivered.
Bajiquan. Five Mountains Sky-reaching Cone!
The leaping boar was sent flying by the strike, scattering the group of boars upon landing.
No longer daring to run in this direction, the boars changed course. However, in every direction, there were people waiting—all of them Second Grade martial artists.
These martial artists were the original five from Qingshan Village.
Under the concerted attack of these martial artists, there was no escape for this group of over ten wild boars.
From a distance, Wang Sheng, Li Wenguang, and a few other hunters watched the five people surround and hunt the boar group.
In this world, where spirit beasts and demon beasts could be born, even ordinary beasts were generally strong.
Like these boars.
Their charging power was extremely formidable; a collision could break trees as thick as an adult’s thigh, and ordinary people could only resort to traps and various tactics to deal with them.
The group of boars in the woods had been discovered by Zhou Yong during a patrol. Later, he informed the hunters, and after a careful investigation, they found that the area was rich in resources with several groups of wild boars nearby.
Upon learning this, the village chief thought of obtaining some wild boars to celebrate the New Year.
Originally, they planned to set up several large traps, but since Zhou Yong and the others had broken through to Second Grade martial artists and wanted to test their skills, they volunteered to encircle hunt instead.
And so the current situation arose.
A Peak of Second Grade martial artist, along with four who had just entered Second Grade, joined together to hunt one of the boar groups.
Wang Sheng was interested and came to watch.
However, because he was too strong, he instantly took down several wild boars at the beginning. If he continued to participate, there would be little left for the others to do, so in the end, he did not continue to partake.
He simply watched the hunt from the sidelines, which was quite interesting.
Although these people were Second Grade martial artists, they had never faced off against wild boars and lacked experience.
At the start, they were somewhat flustered, but eventually, they found their rhythm.
Zhou Yong’s performance was the result of accumulating experience after being hit by a boar.
With experience, these formidable boars were no match for martial artists skilled in combat techniques. After a few minutes, more than ten wild boars were taken down.
Li Peng, the veteran hunter, upon seeing all the boars lying motionless, became somewhat reflective, “Having martial artists is indeed different. If it were before, even hunting one wild boar would have been extremely troublesome… No, if it were before, we wouldn’t even have the means to venture this deep.”
Previously, hunters dared not venture into such deep woods. Although the area was rich in plant and animal resources, the fierce beasts within were no joke, and ordinary hunters could only hunt on the outskirts.
But now it was different. With the presence of martial artists, they could hunt in these woods without any concerns.
“Isn’t this a sign that things are getting better and better?”
Li Wenguang, on the other hand, was not so reflective. As long as life was good, that was what mattered most.
Li Peng was startled, then nodded his head and said, “That’s true!”
Everyone gathered around, with Li Yongfeng and others already putting all the wild boars together.
“How are we going to manage if each person can only carry two at most? What about the remaining ones?”
The weight was a secondary issue, but more importantly, these wild boars were not small. Carrying two was already the limit for one person, and there was no room for more.
“That’s simple!” Wang Sheng had also just arrived. “Big White!”
“Roar!”
Big White had indeed come into the mountains this time, just to feast on the hunt.
He had already returned a while back, but to prevent scaring the wild boars, he didn’t come close.
So, when Wang Sheng called out, Big White leapt out directly from the woods.
He came before Wang Sheng.
“Come, transport these wild boars back for us.”
The Big White brand freight vehicle, very useful.
Big White was also accustomed to carrying such loads, so it wasn’t particularly unusual.
Li Yongfeng and a few others worked together to secure some wild boars.
“Let’s go, time to head back!”
Li Yongfeng and the others each shouldered a wild boar and returned to the village.
The village was already prepared; hot water had been long since heating up, ready for butchering.
When they saw Wang Sheng and the others returning, everyone immediately gathered around.
As soon as everyone set down the wild boars, they were ready to start butchering. Butchering pigs is an extremely important task in rural areas, so anyone in the village who could help did so.
Soon, everyone was busily engaged in the task.
Under normal circumstances, Wang Sheng would have left, as this kind of chore usually wouldn’t require his help.
However, he didn’t leave right away but went to find Li Yongfeng, who was processing the wild boars.
“Brother Yongfeng, that…”
Li Yongfeng glanced at Wang Sheng and whispered, “I know. Later, I’ll send the intestines over to you. I’ll give you a bit more this time…”
“…”
I mean, I haven’t said anything yet!
But—
“Thanks a lot, Brother Yongfeng!”
There was no helping it, he really did like that particular dish. In his past life too, and just now when he searched his memories, he realized that the original person was the same way.
Which is why Li Yongfeng had said that.
But this worked out just fine; it spared him any trouble.
After the conversation, Wang Sheng left promptly.
“I wonder what wild boar intestines taste like!”
He was actually quite looking forward to it.
By evening, Li Yongfeng brought over two large bundles of intestines, cleaned them thoroughly, and said, “I remember you like to cook them yourself, right? So I just cleaned them and brought them over to you.”
All Wang Sheng could think was that his crossing over into his current identity was no coincidence.
Also, Li Yongfeng really understood him!
“No trouble at all!”
“No problem. I won’t bring the meat over now; I’ll cook it and then send it later. I’ll take my leave now.”
After Li Yongfeng left, Wang Sheng took some water and, without minding the hassle, washed the intestines again.
Even if they looked clean, he still wanted to wash them himself to be assured.
Once they were clean, he put the ready spice bag and some ingredients together with the intestines to stew.
Braised spicy intestines, his absolute favorite, though stir-fried was great too.
“It’s a pity there’s no chili pepper…”
Suddenly, Wang Sheng felt that after his cultivation became more advanced, he definitely had to find chili peppers.
As for the fact that after cultivation one could forgo food—
What was the point of cultivating if he couldn’t enjoy life?
The aroma quickly filled the air, and Wang Sheng’s stomach growled…
…
Time flew by quickly.
Before he knew it, the eve of the New Year had arrived…