Qin Ming withdrew his gaze, hoisted the animal hide bag onto his back, and retraced his steps.
He had reaped no small harvest today and was thoroughly satisfied. With this large bag more than half full of food, he would not starve anytime soon.
Beneath the snow lay hollows and jagged rocks, making the going rough, yet Qin Ming was in good spirits.
With ample food, he had no more worries. If he could practice those specific training movements for an extended period, he might see new progress.
At the same time, he looked forward to early spring, the arrival of the season when vitality burst forth.
Though snow and ice smothered the land now, the trees and grass stood bleak, and all creation lay dormant, a different scene would unfold once the period of depletion passed. The Fire Springs in the mountains' hazardous zones would gush forth, earthlight would steam upward with greater frequency, vegetation would sprout new branches and buds, and all living things would revive.
As he neared the edge of the dense forest, Qin Ming came to an abrupt halt. He dropped the hide bag, gripped his hunting fork with both hands, and whirled around.
A pair of crimson eyes had appeared in the gloom, ghastly and terrifying, rapidly closing in on him.
His hair stood on end. Though it was still some distance away, he could sense that the pursuing creature was large and immensely ferocious. A stench of blood blew toward him on the chill wind.
He plunged the hunting fork into the snow and swiftly unslung his bow and arrow. Possessing astonishing arm strength, he instantly drew the stiff bow into a full moon—a weapon ordinary men could hardly bend. A heavy iron arrow shot forth, the bowstring twanging with a loud reverberation.
Far off, the creature hurtling forward with violent ferocity jerked to a sudden halt, seemingly struck.
Concentrating with utter focus, Qin Ming drew the bow in rapid succession, putting his superb archery on full display as high-impact iron arrows vanished into the darkness one after another.
A muffled, sullen growl echoed through the forest. The pair of crimson eyes disappeared, and accompanied by the crack of snapping branches, the creature ducked behind the trees.
Qin Ming did not dare let his guard down. Though the unknown, hazardous beast was wounded, the injury was far from fatal; lurking among the trees, it would only be more perilous.
Without hesitation, he snatched up the hide bag and hunting fork and sprinted out of the woods into the open snowfield.
He had no desire to linger in the gloom where he might be ambushed, suspecting the pursuer was a troublesome mutated beast.
A loud commotion arose from the woods—the sound of snow being violently churned up. Clearly, the creature was chasing after him with relentless ferocity.
Qin Ming notched and loosed arrows without hesitation. One iron arrow thudded heavily into a thick tree trunk, shaking the entire tree so hard that an avalanche of snow cascaded down like a waterfall.
Driven back once more, the creature silenced its movements within the forest.
An ordinary wild beast would either have been scared off or driven by its wounds into a frenzy, yet this mutated creature lingered in the shadows, still waiting and watching for an opportunity.
With bow and arrow raised toward the dense woods, Qin Ming held a standoff against the dangerous creature.
Snow billowed on the ground as a hulking black shadow emerged and vanished several times among the trees. Its cold, crimson eyes carried a suffocating menace in the night.
In the end, held at bay by Qin Ming's astonishingly powerful archery, it let out an unwilling, low hiss and vanished into the dense woods.
Qin Ming's expression turned grim. Dim though the forest was, he had caught sight of a figure running upright, leaving him uncertain what sort of mutated creature it was.
He slowly backed away. Though the surrounding wilderness was quiet, he never lowered his vigilance.
Even when he was less than a li from the Fire Spring at the village entrance, he remained on guard.
Those before him had paid blood-soaked prices for carelessness. There had been villagers who let their guard down when already near the village entrance, only to be struck down and quietly dragged off into the darkness by an unknown prowling creature.
***
Outside Twin Trees Village, three young men stood shivering from the cold, stamping their feet and rubbing their hands together. White mist poured from their mouths with every breath, and frost clung to their eyebrows.
They were keeping watch over the snowy path Qin Ming had carved when he ventured out into the pitch-black territory, conversing in hushed tones.
"It's freezing. Standing out here is pure torture. If nothing else, let's just pull back. I'd bet eight out of ten he dies out in the wild and won't bring back a thing."
"What's the rush? What if he gets lucky like Old Man Li and picks up a mountain beast that froze to death on the outskirts?"
The three were loafers who spent their days idle and gluttonous. They never dared enter the hazardous mountain zones, but in the village they acted tough, always freeloading off others.
When they learned Qin Ming had left the village to hunt, crooked ideas sprouted in their heads, and they decided to wait here to ambush him and steal his spoils.
"That kid Qin Ming is agile and freakishly strong. Let's not botch this and end up getting thrashed by him instead."
"What are you scared of? He's just recovering from a serious illness, so his body's definitely weak. When the time comes, slip the hide bag over his head and keep your strikes measured. Don't actually beat him to death."
Though they had wicked intentions, they lacked the guts to commit murder. They only wanted to strike from behind in the dark and rob whatever catch Qin Ming brought back.
Having stayed alert with his nerves strung taut the entire way, Qin Ming's sharp eyes spotted three dark figures from a distance.
He immediately crouched down. The snow on the ground already reached nearly to his shoulders, and now he vanished completely.
Prowling silently along the snowy trench he had carved earlier, he finally recognized the dark figures ahead as three village loafers.
Qin Ming halted at a suitable distance, where he could hear their conversation.
A moment later, his expression darkened. These three actually wanted to sap him with clubs and rob his catch?
Though he had not gone to hunt a bear and had merely raided a squirrel's nest—hardly a glorious tale to boast about—he had faced two genuine life-and-death crises, attacked first by a human-faced vulture and then by an unknown mutated creature. The slightest mistake would have cost him his life. For them to dare snatch food he had risked his life to secure was an outrage he would not tolerate.
Hu Yong, Ma Yang, and Wang Youping shivered violently as they worked together to dig out a snow burrow to block the freezing wind, essentially setting up an ambush ahead of time and huddling inside to wait.
Believing Qin Ming would take the risk of venturing deep into the mountain forest, they had misjudged his return time; otherwise, they would never have spoken so carelessly moments before.
"Stay sharp. Don't make a sound when he gets here," Ma Yang said.
Hu Yong nodded. "When we hit him from behind, be fast, precise, and ruthless! Move quick!"
Wang Youping grumbled, "I just hope he makes it back alive with game and shows up soon. Let's give him a few whacks with the iron rods already—I'm about to freeze solid."
Abruptly, the snow burrow shielding them collapsed with a roar, instantly burying all three. Caught completely off guard, their mouths and noses filled with snow.
Hu Yong reacted the fastest, bursting out first. Yet before he could even steady his stance, a boot sole filled his vision. With a dull thud, it planted heavily into his face.
The searing pain twisted his features. Then, a hunting fork struck fiercely against his shoulder, making him feel as though the bone were about to snap. Howling in agony, he stumbled and collapsed into the snow.
Ma Yang met a similar fate. The moment his head poked out of the snow, Qin Ming kicked him square in the nose. The sharp agony mixed with a sour, burning ache proved unbearable; letting out a wretched shriek, snot and tears streaming down his face, he rolled endlessly across the snow.
Wang Youping, sensing something was wrong, burrowed deeper into the man-high snow and dared not come out. Suddenly, a sharp pain struck his back as a gleaming steel fork pierced his clothes, drawing blood.
"No... don't kill me!" His voice trembled and his lips shook. To his utter shame and mortification, he wet his pants, terrified of being impaled through and through.
Qin Ming had no intention of taking his life. Guiding the strike purely by feel, he had only pricked the skin enough to draw a trace of blood.
He jabbed Wang Youping out of the drift, then delivered a kick that sent him flying three meters away, tumbling once more into the snowbank.
"Qin... Qin Ming."
"Brother Ming, we're from the same village, we see each other every day! Have mercy, we were wrong!"
Once the three saw who it was and found the cold gleam of the steel fork leveled at them, their courage vanished completely.
In truth, each carried knives and rods, but confronted by such a fierce and murderous Qin Ming, fear seized their hearts. Battered and bleeding, they cowed in spineless submission, not daring to resist.
They had always been bullies who cowered before the strong; facing a truly tough opponent, they never dared stir up trouble.
Though their conduct was detestable, Qin Ming saw no reason to kill them over it, though a violent "lesson" was unavoidable. Keeping his steel fork pressed against them, he forced them to squat obediently on the ground.
Then he delivered a sound thrashing, thoroughly limbering up his muscles and bones.
By the end, the three were bruised and swollen, spitting mouthfuls of bloody froth and howling piteously for quite a while before Qin Ming let them off with a stern warning.
Qin Ming considered such men fierce in appearance but cowardly at heart; they possessed neither the courage nor the ability to become truly ruthless scoundrels. A harsh beating was enough to teach them a lesson.
***
Meanwhile, outside the dense forest where Qin Ming had faced off against the mutated creature, a donkey came ambling across the vast, open plains in the distance. Seemingly familiar with the path, it headed toward the mountain.
Upon the donkey's back sat a weasel. It was pure snow-white, without a single stray blemish—a rare sight in an era where the sun had set never to rise again.
Unlike ordinary small animals, it was not restless in the least. On the contrary, it appeared remarkably serene, even mature, sitting cross-legged atop the donkey's back facing backward toward the path it had come from.
It seemed less like a wild beast and more like a composed human, its gaze deep as it rode the donkey along the path without haste.
The mutated creature that Qin Ming had driven back caught sight of the approaching donkey and sprang forward in an ambush. Yet the moment it noticed the snow-white weasel upon the donkey's back, it came to an abrupt halt, spun around, and vanished into the dense forest, plunging headfirst beneath the thick snow with its body trembling faintly.
The donkey took no fright at all, merely casting a faint glance at the creature. Like an old horse that knew the way, it carried the silent weasel onward toward the mountain.
***
The Fire Spring came into view, its black and white twin trees swaying in the breeze.
Qin Ming quickened his pace. Moments later, he reached the village entrance and finally relaxed.
"Qin Ming is back!" someone chopping firewood called out, looking up just in time to see him.
Soon, several courtyard gates along the street swung open.
Word of Qin Ming venturing out alone had already spread, and many had been wondering whether he would return alive and whether he would harvest anything.
"Just as shallow night arrived, he went out fully armed..."
Twin Trees Village was not large, and hearing the stir, villagers all along the path came outside.
Every household possessed sunstones that cast a fiery glow, bathing the street in a soft radiance.
When people saw the red squirrel hanging from the hunting fork Qin Ming carried on his shoulder, a hush fell over the crowd.
This was entirely different from what they had imagined.
Lu Ze hurried over. Seeing Qin Ming safe and sound, he let out a long sigh of relief, the worry in his heart finally dispelled.
An honest man, he broke the silence and said, "Everyone said you went into the mountains to hunt bears, but what you brought back... is a squirrel?"
"I also raided its home," Qin Ming chuckled.
Noticing the animal hide bag slung over his shoulder, the villagers quickly realized what was inside, and their eyes turned burning with envy.
Then, people noticed the squirrel's fiery-red fur faint with a gentle glow. It was clearly a mutated creature, carrying substantial value.
"Not only did you make it back safely, but your haul isn't small either," Old Man Liu, who lived by the village entrance, remarked with sighing admiration.
Several villagers took the opportunity to ask if it was safe out there.
Qin Ming recounted his journey truthfully. He did not dare mislead his neighbors, for that could cost lives.
When they heard that a dangerous mutated creature was prowling the outer forest, everyone's expressions changed. For the near future, going out alone remained impossible.
Afterward, Qin Ming made no secret of the actions of Ma Yang, Hu Yong, and Wang Youping, instantly drawing the indignation of young and old throughout the village.
"Shameless scum! Too cowardly to enter the mountains themselves, yet they tried to ambush someone from their own village! That wasn't just trying to steal his spoils—they were trying to get him killed!"
Supporting one another, Ma Yang, Hu Yong, and Wang Youping came limping into view at the village entrance, only to be set upon by Lu Ze and a group of villagers and thrashed all over again.
"Brother Lu, Uncle Yang, Grandpa Liu, stop hitting us! Help!" With bloody snot frozen to their faces, the three wailed in ear-splitting anguish. Above all, they had aroused public fury, and many in the village had long found them intolerable.
Qin Ming handed a large fistful of nuts to every child on the street, drawing cheerful shouts from the whole group.
Then he spotted Granny Zhou, pale-faced, leaning against her courtyard gate. He walked over quickly and, before she could say a word, pressed a portion of dried provisions into her hands.
***
"Uncle, you're amazing! These wild walnuts are so tasty, and the pine nuts smell so good!"
Inside Qin Ming's home, Wenrui spared no praise, overjoyed as he sampled every kind of dried fruit and nut, his little mouth never stopping.
"Jujube paste, yummy, sweet!" Just over two years old, little Wenhui spoke with a lisp as he ate the steamed, pitted, and mashed red jujube paste, then planted a wet, smacking kiss on Qin Ming's cheek.
Beside them, the red squirrel hanging from the hunting fork woke from its stupor. Opening its eyes and seeing several people rummaging through its life savings, it fell into utter despair.
"Truly a mutated creature—so hardworking and capable, storing over thirty jin of food," Liang Wanqing praised.
The red squirrel's eyes bulged wide, practically spitting fire.
At that moment, Lu Ze spoke with a solemn look. "Xiao Qin, I see your body has mostly recovered. It's time to seriously consider the matter of 'Newborn.'"
Chapter 4