Chapter 3: Hunting and the Five Elements Fist

The next day, Bai Yu ventured into the mountains with Lao Mo, the little black dog.

After trekking several miles through rugged terrain, Bai Yu found himself gasping for air, drenched in sweat.

Although his strength had increased to 10, allowing him to lift about 100 kilograms, his qi and blood were still weak.

This lack of physical fitness made him tire quickly.

In short, Bai Yu was like a shooting star—brilliant but fleeting.

Very fierce, but not lasting.

After taking a long rest to recover his stamina, Bai Yu started setting up his hunting traps in the forest.

The newly acquired knowledge from his hunting skills became second nature.

He could now identify animal footprints with ease and even deduce the type of animal and how long ago it passed through.

With the experience of an entry-level hunter, he laid several noose traps on the path of the wild animals.

Using this expertise, Bai Yu set up multiple traps along the paths frequented by wild animals.

He also constructed stone slab traps baited with wild fruits to lure smaller prey. There were wild fruits under the stone slabs, and small animals would be pressed by the stone slabs when they came to eat the wild fruits.

By midday, Bai Yu sat under a tree with Lao Mo.

Bai Yu took out two roasted sweet potatoes from his pocket, sharing with it.

"Lao Mo, in a few days, we'll have meat to eat. Just wait!" Bai Yu grinned, his mouth watering at the thought of succulent roasted venison.

Woof woof ~

Lao Mo barked happily in agreement, drooling at the prospect of a feast.

However, Bai Yu's optimism quickly faded.

For the next two days, his traps remained empty.

On the third day, he only caught a small mountain rat that had been crushed under a stone slab.

While it provided a tiny bit of meat, it wasn't nearly enough to satisfy their hunger.

Desperate, Bai Yu even tried burying the mountain rat's bones, hoping for a funeral cultivation reward, but it was futile.

Only creatures with spiritual intelligence or official funeral commissions yielded rewards.

Finally, on the fourth day, Bai Yu went up the mountain again with an uneasy heart.

"Amitabha, Wuliang Tianzun, thank you, land gods and Guan Erye!"

He took Lao Mo to check the traps one by one.

Atlast, his prayers were answered.

In the last trap, a wild deer was found hanging.

The deer was about the size of a goat was caught, hanging lifelessly from a noose.

Tears welled up in Bai Yu's eyes.

"Thank you, heavens, for this gift!"

Excited beyond measure, Bai Yu hurriedly freed the deer and carried it down the mountain.

"Old Mo, tonight we feast like kings!"

Once home, Bai Yu butchered the deer skillfully, carefully preserving the antlers and skin.

A complete deer skin can be sold for hundreds of coins in the city.

And even if it is sold to a fur peddler, it can be sold for sixty or seventy coins.

Deer antlers can be used as medicine, and they can be sold to doctors for about thirty coins.

This deer can earn nearly a hundred copper coins.

There are also hundreds of pounds of meat. If you eat sparingly, you can eat it for one or two months.

Bai Yu packed up the deer antlers and deer skins, bled them and cut the meat skillfully, and hung a lot of meat to smoke and air dry.

He even rendered fat into deer oil, which was highly valuable as a medicinal material.

That evening, Bai Yu and Lao Mo dined lavishly on heart and lung soup, grilled liver, and roasted venison.

Bai Yu and the little black dog ate until their mouths were full of oil, and they were very satisfied.

"Lao Mo," Bai Yu said between bites, "this is what life should be—food, drink, and maybe a few beauties down the line."

He winked mischievously.

"When we become rich in the future, I will definitely find three or five beauties to play mahjong all night long."

"Well, I will find you a few little females then -

But you—you greedy little mutt! You finished the liver!"

Lao Mo licked his lips, unbothered by Bai Yu's scolding. For the little dog, a full belly was the height of luxury.

"Why are you so mean? Leave some for me at least."

Bai Yu was so angry that he drank all the heart and lung soup on the spot, leaving no drop for Lao Mo.

After eating enough, Bai Yu patted his belly and got up.

"Lao Mo, Tommorow you stay at home and look after the house. I'll go and send some venison to Uncle Dazhuang and the others."

The next day, Bai Yu divided the venison and began delivering it to those who had shown him kindness.

First, he visited Uncle Dazhuang's home.

When Bai Yu came to the door, Uncle Dazhuang was eating wild vegetables and brown rice with a bowl.

Upon noticing Bai Yu, he said,"Changsheng, have you eaten? If not, come and have some."

"Uncle Dazhuang, I've eaten, I got a deer yesterday.

Here's some meat to thank you for the rice you gave me."

Uncle Dazhuang was shocked and looked at Bai Yu in disbelief.

It's not easy to eat meat these days.

Ordinary people can only eat meat during festivals. They usually keep some bacon and use it to entertain guests.

Uncle Dazhuang waved his hands hurriedly:

"Changsheng, what are you doing? How can I take your things, especially meat."

Bai Yu put down the venison forcefully:

"Uncle Dazhuang, I can't eat so much by myself. I have to thank you for the bag of rice."

Uncle Dazhuang couldn't refuse and praised Bai Yu for his ability.

As Bai Yu turned around, he heard Uncle Dazhuang's son Xiaozhuang cheering:

"Great, there is meat to eat, mother, let's eat meat today."

"What to eat, pick out the fat ones to squeeze oil, and pickle the lean ones to make bacon to entertain guests."

"Baby's mother, put two pieces of the oil residue from the squeezed oil, the child is growing up."

"Dad is right."

"What's right, look at how old they are, they can go into the mountains to hunt."

"Mom is right too."

Bai Yu, who was outside the house, smiled knowingly.

It is a bit counterintuitive that fat meat is much more expensive than lean meat in this world, but it's a pity that deer don't have much fat.

He shook his head.

Next, Bai Yu delivered meat to his third sister-in-law.

The third sister-in-law was also surprised and praised Bai Yu for his hunter's appearance.

The surrounding neighbors sighed secretly, why didn't they help when ChangSheng was in trouble?

Finally, Bai Yu arrived at Mr. Meng's house carrying a deer leg.

Mr. Meng is firstly his teacher, and secondly, he helped the Bai family get ahead, and he has the greatest kindness.

At this moment the old village teacher was engrossed in a book, muttering passages under his breath.

"Mr. Meng," Bai Yu greeted respectfully, "I've brought you a deer leg."

Mr. Meng did not look at the deer legs, he set down his book and regarded Bai Yu with a stern expression.

"You haven't been to school in days. Can you still recite the 'Thousand-Character Essay'?"

Mr. Meng has always been rigid and always asks about homework first.

In his opinion, moral articles are more important than anything else.

"The sky and the earth are dark and yellow, the universe is primitive..."

Bai Yu nodded and flawlessly recited several passages, much to Mr. Meng's satisfaction.

"You've done well," Mr. Meng said with a rare smile. "But why have you stopped attending school? Knowledge is more important than anything else."

Bai Yu explained his current struggles and apologized for being unable to study.

Mr. Meng sighed deeply but understood.

"Oh, you are my best student, it's a pity that you just stop studying."

Mr. Meng tapped his fingers on the table and said:

"I know it's not easy for you, but you can't let your homework fall behind."

"From now on, on the first and fifteenth day of every month, come to my house to listen to the class."

On the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, when the village school was out, Mr. Meng wanted to give Bai Yu private lessons.

Bai Yu shook his head and said:

"Thank you for teaching me, sir. However, Changsheng is now burdened with food and clothing, so I'm afraid I won't be able to study with you."

Mr. Meng was stunned for a moment, and finally let out a long sigh.

He took out two books from the drawer and handed Bai Yu.

One was a hand-copied version of the "Spring and Autumn Annals," an ancient Chinese text. The other was a martial arts manual titled "Five Elements Fist."

"Of these two books, one is the Spring and Autumn Period that I copied by hand. You can take it back and study it. If you don't understand, you can ask me."

He continued, "The other book is a martial arts technique that I accidentally acquired. You can practice it accordingly."

"This martial arts technique will help you protect yourself," Mr. Meng said.

Bai Yu's hands trembled as he accepted the books.

"Spring and Autumn",a martial arts technique was exactly what he needed urgently.

End of Chapter 3