Chapter 44: Chapter 30: Something’s Not Right
Translator: 549690339
Early spring, February.
Although the cold winter had passed and the earth still retained a little chill, the tender green grass had already begun to sprout.
The season of revival had arrived, and the creatures of the mountains, which had been hibernating in their dens, were gradually awakening.
It was already sunset.
Da Huang, ravished by hunger, was leaping in the jungle, where countless shadows of trees passed by, but his originally strong limbs were weak and feeble now.
He was the king of the mountain forest on the West Ridge, and within this region, all the beasts would tremble and bow their heads in his presence.
But even the king of the mountains, without a filled belly, could not avoid feeling lightheaded.
Da Huang, who had been starving all winter, had just woken up a few days ago.
However, he might have woken up a bit too early, it seemed that his usual prey was still hibernating in their lairs. After wandering around, he didn’t even see a single rabbit.
In the end, driven by extreme hunger, he caught a fat fish in the river, which barely filled his stomach.
But a lone fat fish was far from making up for his energy expenditure.
If he didn’t find more prey soon, the fate awaiting him was to starve to death in the mountains, and eventually become food for other wild beasts.
Faced with this outcome, Da Huang was not willing.
As such, he decided to return to his cave to rest for a while, after digesting the fat fish. He planned to venture out again in the evening; perhaps he could find some delicious snacks.
Soon, he was back at the cave.
Taking a few steps forward, Da Huang prepared to enter and rest. However, the enticing scent of a bloodied meal wafted from the cave’s entrance.
Advancing a few steps towards the scent, he soon found its source.
There, lying in the undergrowth near the cave’s entrance, was a lifeless gray rabbit.
The key point was its flesh was still fresh and had not decayed — this rabbit had died not long ago.
This suggested one thing: the rabbit was food, edible food.
Hunger festered, the sensation of starvation from his belly sent a signal to his brain.
Quickly, Da Huang used his not-really-sharp brain to make a decision — to lower his head, open his mouth. With a “woof” sound, the motionless gray rabbit found its way into his mouth.
After a few crunches, the sound of torn flesh and chewing could be heard. Every few bites, accompanied by a comforting swallow, Da Huang went back to the den with satisfaction.
With the addition of this gray rabbit, he could survive for another couple of days.
Having two more days to hunt increased his survival chances significantly, which pleased the forest overlord considerably.
In a good mood, his pace even quickened.
Striding elegantly in the pitch-black cave, he walked, and walked …
Suddenly, a wave of vertigo swept over him from his brain, followed by a wave
I weakness emanating Irom every Done his bouy.
Faint and dizzy, Da Huang swayed, walked two more steps forward, and suddenly collapsed, lying on the ground motionless.
A little while passed.
Perhaps after only a moment, a figure appeared at the entrance of the cave. “Hmm, another one. My savings can increase by another hundred taels.”
Standing in front of the fallen tiger was Lu Yuan, he looked at the motionless king of the mountains, with a smile on his face.
This was already the third tiger he had caught since he entered the mountains. Apart from them, he also got five black bears, a litter of wild boars, and several unlucky foxes.
If all these game were exchanged for silver taels, the total would be six or seven hundred taels without doubt.
It could be said that as long as he exchanged these hunting gains for liquid cash, his original financial troubles would be instantly solved.
He leaned over, pulled out a short knife, and plunged it into the tiger’s eye. He stirred it around inside the brain, ending the reign of the king of the mountains.
He heaved the tiger onto his shoulders, turned around, and began to walk out of the cave.
“With this tiger captured, it’s the last of the large beasts in the East Mountain Ridge territory. I don’t know whether, with the death of these top-tier predators, the smaller animals like rabbits and wild chickens will overrun the mountains?” he wondered about these ecological issues momentarily before chuckling to himself.
With him, a top-tier hunter around, even without the large beasts, those small game had no chance to proliferate.
After all.
In these vast mountains, he was the ultimate predator.
Everything else was merely his prey.
Carrying the tiger on his back, after a trek through the mountains and ridges and after an hour, he finally returned to his own cave in the mountain.
Expertly skinning and deboning the tiger, removing the intact pelt and tendons.
Lu Yuan also cut off the tiger’s penis. After processing it slightly, he threw it into a jar of fiery liquor that had already been prepared by his side.
The tiger’s penis was a valuable item, highly sought after by the wealthy families.
Especially for those with unspeakable needs, the price of a tiger’s penis could rival a tiger’s pelt, selling for a tremendous price.
Last year, he killed a tiger and obtained a tiger’s penis. Initially, it was soaked in liquor, preparing to keep it for his own use.
Later on, because he needed money to buy sedative, he had to sell the tiger’s penis liquor to a wealthy family in the neighboring prefecture, eventually receiving sixty silver taels in return.
From this, one can see how extremely profitable this business was.
Hence, Lu Yuan, once having tasted the sweetness of this, took a heightened interest in hunting tigers.
With that,
This time he entered the mountain, he made sure to hunt down all the tigers he could find within a hundred-miles radius, leaving no traces behind.
After carefully cleaning and preparing the tiger, Lu Yuan spent five to six days to nitrate, smoke, and dry the skins and meats he obtained recently.
Once everything was properly prepared, he taken those skins and the tiger penis liquor with him, and headed south.
These goods were all very valuable. Selling them near Luling Prefecture would attract too much attention, making it easy for others to trace him.
Therefore, Lu Yuan decided it was time for the Dayu Mountain Arrow God, who had been silent for a winter, to appear once again.
He planned to go to the South Sea Prefecture again and sell his goods in separate amounts.
Yes, he won’t go to Nan’an County this time.
His last trip there to sell goods had already alarmed the local Qingzhu Gang. He managed to hunt down a wave of gang members who were chasing him, making a small fortune in the process.
After their loss and lesson from that time, the Qingzhu Gang would undoubtedly be on their guard.
If he went this time, he could easily be subject to retaliation.
Lu Yuan was a cautious person, therefore he wouldn’t take such a risk.
A real man never backtracks.
If he wanted to sell his goods, he would do it elsewhere.
With the experience from a previous trip, he was completely relaxed about this trip to South Sea, after he had made all the preparations. He was as easy and comfortable as could be.
Everything was just so proficient.
A month later.
Nanxiong Prefecture, Mei County.
Lu Yuan, carrying his backpack, entered the small city of South Sea after paying thirty cents of city entrance tax.
As he entered the city and roamed the streets for a while, he instantly perceived that something was off about the atmosphere of the city.
The pace of the pedestrians on the streets was a little too hurried, even several shops on either side of the streets were closed in broad daylight, not doing business.
Even those usually idle gangsters who bullied men and women, collecting protection money were nowhere in sight on the streets.
“Something’s wrong. Really wrong.”
Lu Yuan watched the pedestrians on the street, being in the middle of these slightly strange vibes, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
Almost instinctively, he sensed that something big might have occured in Mei County?
Or else, the city wouldn’t have been under such weird circumstances..