Chapter 16: Hunting in the Mountains
Lu Yunxi placed all the delicate jewelry back into her mother’s chest and buried the entire jewelry box alongside her. After all, those pieces were deeply personal gifts from her father to her mother. She kept only the green jade bracelet, the broken jade pendant, and the house deed.
Following traditional customs, she changed into plain, unadorned mourning clothes, abstained from meat, and stayed within the confines of her home to honor her parents.
During this period of isolation, she completely shed her previous lazy, passive attitude and became exceptionally disciplined. While she didn’t subject herself to a grueling corporate grind, her daily routine was modeled after a structured school schedule. She studied and trained meticulously throughout the day, wrapped up her drills by five in the afternoon, and left her evenings open for rest.
Her curriculum didn’t consist of subjects like math or English, of course, but focused entirely on archery, needlework, and other survival skills. She knew that whether she had to support herself entirely on her own or eventually venture outside the village to locate her aunt, she wouldn’t stand a chance if she left without any real capabilities.
Time flew, and a year passed in the blink of an eye.
Yunxi strictly observed her period of mourning. Though she was only eleven years old, the weight of her losses had forced her to grow up overnight.
Meanwhile, Li Daya, who was the exact same age, had also been kept indoors by Grandma Li. She was busy mastering embroidery, cooking, and household chores in preparation for her future marriage.
With her mourning period officially over, Yunxi finally launched her career as a hunter.
Having abstained from meat for a whole year, she had lost a considerable amount of weight. She wasn’t so reckless as to immediately march up the mountain to hunt apex predators like tigers. At first, she simply frequented the edge of the farmlands to cull field mice, picking up river snails or catching fish and shrimp on her walks back home.
She simply couldn’t bring herself to eat rodent meat, so she relied on aquatic life to reintroduce animal protein into her diet. Because her stomach hadn’t processed meat in a year, she started small—brewing plain congee with just a few bits of fish and shrimp, gradually increasing the portions day by day.
After eating nothing but fish and shrimp for two months straight, she grew thoroughly sick of it.
She pulled open her system character panel to assess her progress.
[Name]: Lu Yunxi
[Identity]: Mushroom Village Villager
[Level]: 10 (Beginner)
[Age]: 11
[Appearance]: 90
[Strength]: 105
[Agility]: 100
[Spirit]: 101
[Title]: Natural Enemy of Field Mouse
Seeing that both her Strength and Agility stats had successfully broken past the triple-digit threshold, Yunxi decided she was finally ready to test her mettle further up the mountain.
She spent two full days crafting a massive supply of arrows, baking a large stash of travel rations, and packing her gear before heading out. She set off in the early morning, just as the first pale light of dawn began to paint the sky.
She quickly moved across the village meadows and began her ascent up the hill. Fortunately, the slopes closest to her home weren’t particularly steep; she could climb without needing to scramble on all fours, though the rugged terrain still prevented her from moving too quickly.
The pristine forest was far more bountiful than the area around her front door. The mushrooms growing here were thick and massive, some easily matching the size of her two palms combined. Wild herbs and fruit-bearing trees flourished in lush abundance.
Her eyes lit up instantly. With her high-level Appraisal technique guiding her away from anything poisonous, Yunxi rapidly harvested various medicinal plants and wild foods.
Still, trekking up a wild mountain was exhausting work. In her previous life, she had only ever visited highly developed mountain resorts equipped with cable cars or paved stairs. Navigating a completely untouched, wild peak was a different beast entirely.
Before she had even covered a third of the ascent, she was drenched in sweat. Looking at her backpack, which was already loaded down with herbs, fruits, and wild mushrooms, she decided to sit down on the forest floor to catch her breath. If she pushed forward blindly and ran into danger while entirely drained of stamina, it would end poorly.
Right then, a wild rabbit hopped straight into her line of sight.
Almost the exact instant her eyes locked onto the target, she drew, aimed, and released. An arrow tore through the air with a sharp whoosh.
The countless hours she had spent grinding against field mice paid off beautifully; after taking down hundreds of quick rodents, instinctual snap-shooting had become second nature. Because a wild rabbit was significantly larger than a field mouse, it was an incredibly easy target to hit. Furthermore, with her enhanced strength stat, her first arrow struck with enough force to momentarily paralyze the creature. Before the rabbit could even process the impact, a second arrow flashed through the brush.
The rabbit’s legs twitched once, and it fell limp against the earth.
Yunxi strode forward and scooped up her prize, a bright smile breaking across her face as she wiped a bit of droof from the corner of her mouth. She might not dare to eat field mice, but there was absolutely no reason to pass up fresh rabbit!
Visualizing all the delicious ways she could cook the meat, she swallowed her saliva. Checking the position of the sun, she decided to simply roast the rabbit right there on the mountain slope. The rations she had brought along were mostly dry, bland biscuits that were incredibly tedious to chew on their own, but pairing them with hot, succulent rabbit meat made for a fantastic meal.
Over the next few days, Yunxi paused her ascent. She remained in the same general elevation, systematically harvesting wild rabbits and roasting them like clockwork whenever mealtime rolled around.
Curiously, this mountain ridge shared the same bizarre spawning logic as the village farmlands. The rabbits behaved exactly like wild weeds—growing in endless, rapid batches no matter how many she took down.
Within just five days, she had culled hundreds of rabbits, unlocking a new achievement title: Natural Enemy of Wild Rabbits. This title was a massive upgrade compared to her previous one; while her rodent-slaying title only provided a single point of strength, this new one granted a permanent +5 Strength bonus!
Having spent five days in the wilderness and successfully secured her new title, Yunxi decided to head back down the mountain. She didn’t want her neighbors growing overly anxious if she vanished for too long.
But just as she turned back, a shocking, thunderous vibration rattled the earth nearby.
Every instinct fired instantly. Her expression hardened, a fierce aura bleeding from her form as she notched an arrow, raising her bow toward the source of the noise.
The moment her weapon was drawn, a massive silhouette came crashing through the treeline, hurtling down the slope like a runaway boulder.
When she finally got a clear look at the incoming creature, her face drained of color, and her stomach dropped. Oh, no!
It was a wild boar. And it was nowhere near a normal, realistic size.
Taking in its razor-sharp, protruding tusks, its dense, heavily armored hide, and the pure malice radiating from its bloodshot eyes, she let out a sharp gasp. The beast was practically the size of a fully grown ox!
This was her first encounter with a wild animal of this caliber in this world. Were ancient wild boars seriously this monstrous? No wonder the villagers’ expressions turned to pure dread whenever the beasts were mentioned.
Seeing the creature charging straight for her position, she tracked its trajectory perfectly. Right at the absolute last second before impact, she threw herself sideways, narrowly dodging the lethal headbutt.
The boar’s momentum carried it past her, barreling further down the mountain slope. Yunxi was just about to let out a massive sigh of relief when the beast dug its hooves into the earth, skidded to a halt, and spun around to charge right back up toward her.
After twisting and diving out of the way of its relentless, thrashing charges several times in a row, the grim reality finally clicked. This monster wasn’t just rampaging blindly—it was explicitly targeting her!
Yunxi was thoroughly annoyed. No matter who went out hunting in the wilderness, nobody enjoyed being mistaken for a helpless meal by a wild beast.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t actually find a way to damage the creature due to its sheer mass and thick hide. While her system inventory still held a solid stockpile of arrows—more than enough to take down dozens of rabbits—it was a pitifully small amount for bringing down an armored tank like this boar. Even if she managed to wear it down and win a war of attrition, she would be completely drained of stamina by the end of it. Any way she spun it, locking horns with this monster was a terrible idea.
Left with no other choice, she retrieved a portion of the rabbit meat stored in her backpack and threw it onto the dirt, attempting to bribe the beast into leaving her alone.
Sure enough, the moment the wild boar caught sight of the fresh meat, it abandoned its aggressive stance.
As the monster stopped to greedily devour the offering, Yunxi carefully navigated a wide, cautious circle around its mountain-like frame and quickly slipped away down the path.
