Start with a red name

Chapter 83 Peeping
Following an order from Lord Li Fang, twenty hunting teams, with a total of 153 members, each formed a group, crossed the shallow river, and headed towards the Chiwu Mountains.

After watching these people leave, Li Fangzhu and others would not just wait in Changpingfang.

Just half a day later, a team of about a hundred people will set out.

And tomorrow, a larger team of more than 300 people will set off.

Autumn hunting does not just involve individual hunting team members going deep into the Chiwu Mountains to hunt.

This is just a small part of the whole event.

On the one hand, after a year of reproduction and feasting in the summer, all kinds of wild animals are fat and strong in order to store energy for the coming winter.

Large-scale hunting at this time will yield the greatest rewards.

On the other hand, the annual autumn hunting is also to effectively curb the number of various animal groups in the Chiwu Mountains, to prevent them from harassing the neighborhood, or posing danger to hunters and herbalists who enter the mountains regularly.

The mission of the twenty hunting teams is to push forward.

On the one hand, they try to hunt as much prey as possible, and on the other hand, they try to create a safe area behind them.

The deeper the hunting party pushed into the mountains, the larger the safe area behind them.

The team set out half a day later. They established temporary and safe outposts behind the hunting team's route, providing the hunting team with sufficient logistical support and a safe campsite for the night.

In addition, they are also responsible for quickly and efficiently processing the large amount of prey hunted by the hunting team.

Skin, bones, flesh, horns, tendons, teeth, claws...

All valuable things must be sorted out by category and some simple preservation procedures must be done.

The deeper the hunting party went, the deeper they went.

After them, the third group of teams entered the mountain. They were larger in size but had lower average strength, and many of them only mastered the basics of leather refining.

Their mission was to search, dig and collect all valuable things in the mountains and forests that had been combed by the first two teams.

The most precious things are various medicinal herbs, and then there are various items with edible value or economic value...

This was not a blind search, because Changpingfang would hold an autumn hunt every year, and there would also be hunting teams and herb-collecting teams entering the forest on weekdays. They knew what they could get from which places, and had clear goals before taking action.

This is both autumn hunting and autumn harvest.

In addition to their own gains, the more important task for Geng Xuan and his hunting team is to create a safety line of defense for the rear.

……

At the beginning, Geng Xuan could still see other hunting teams.

But as they went deeper, they could no longer see any trace of Changpingfang behind them. The road became more and more rugged, and the hunting team became more and more scattered.

However, Geng Xuan knew that each hunting team was not really fighting alone.

Before the action, Chen Zheng and other twenty hunting team captains gathered together and assigned the routes for their respective hunting teams based on a map of the mountains and forests that was incomprehensible to outsiders but was explored by Changpingfang over many years.

In addition, the hunting teams would meet at several temporary bases every night to communicate with each other.

Therefore, even if you can't see your companions from other hunting teams, you will have a rough idea of where the other teams are and what they are doing.

About half an hour after leaving Changpingfang, Geng Xuan was the first to open his shop.

The others only heard two slight sounds of breaking through the air, and then saw two fat wild deer lying on the ground and twitching next to a bush about seventy or eighty steps away on the left.

Two long arrows shot accurately into their eye sockets, killing them before they could even react to what was happening.

Just as the two wild deer fell to the ground, a group of seven or eight rabbits emerged from the bushes and ran away.

Three more long arrows were shot, killing the three largest rabbits to the ground.

Only two medium-sized rabbits "successfully" escaped with their three little rabbits.

Geng Xuan, who hit all five arrows, felt that the air around him was a little quiet. He turned his head and saw that everyone was looking at him with strange expressions.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

One of the young men said, "I feel like we really shouldn't team up with you. It would make us look useless."

This man is called Liao Chengye, the son of Uncle Liao and Liao Lei. His words may sound sarcastic at first, but this is a sign that the team has truly accepted him.

Geng Xuan did not respond seriously, but shook his head and said, "How can you say that? Everyone's role is irreplaceable."

In a blink of an eye, Geng Xuan was standing alone with empty hands.

Chen Zheng and another person were on guard at the periphery, while Liao Chengye and three others recovered three big fat rabbits and two wild deer.

Liao Chengzhi handed the five iron-headed feather arrows, which had been cleaned briefly, back to Geng Xuan, and exclaimed in admiration:

"Your two arrows were really magical. The deer's skin was not damaged at all, and there was no loss of blood."

It goes without saying that deerskin is valuable, and complete deerskin is even more valuable.

Deer blood is also very valuable. Tiger bone, deer ginseng wine, and even blood-replenishing pills all use deer blood.

While Liao Chengzhi and Geng Xuan were talking, the other three had already put the two deer and three rabbits into a red cloth bag and hung it on the branch of a big tree on the roadside.

After doing all this, Geng Xuan and others did not stop and continued to move deeper into the Chiwu Mountains.

About half a day after they left, another group of people came here and saw the red cloth bag hanging on the tree from afar.

These people, with more tools in their hands, quickly took the sacks down from the trees and continued on their way.

"Great, it's open now."

"Looking at the arrow wound, it should be the work of the Geng family kid... It seems that the old killer was not bragging this time, and he really trained a sharpshooter for us!"

Everyone was chatting as they walked.

However, not long after, the group had just turned a pass when they saw a huge red cloth bag hanging high on a big tree on the side of the road.

As they moved forward, they saw red cloth bags hanging on the treetops. From a distance, they looked like red fruits waiting for them to be picked.

At first, everyone was very excited, but soon, the heavy burden made them no longer interested in talking.

When they arrived at the designated location, some people began to clean up the surroundings, then went to the nearby jungle to get wood to build a camp, while others opened the red cloth bags one by one and quickly took out the prey inside.

Fortunately, it is late autumn now and the corpse has not deteriorated so quickly, but there is no time to waste. The sooner it is dealt with, the better the quality will be in all aspects.

After they had managed to come up with some clues, one of the leaders picked out three more people and said, "Go ahead and check. If you find any prey, bring it back immediately."

"..."

When Geng Xuan and others followed the bright firelight into this temporary camp, they saw a group of people gathered in front of a pile of prey, busy as a whirlwind.

No one paid much attention to their return.

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Geng Xuan always felt that some people looked at him with resentment.

Geng Xuan thought, could there be anything wrong with a bumper harvest?

If a hunting team does not have a shooter, they will give up when faced with many targets, because there is a question of whether it is worth it.

Even though the prey can be hunted relatively easily, every hunt is costly for everyone in the hunting team.

If the hunting team is exhausted, climbs over mountains and crosses rivers, and finally succeeds in catching a rabbit, then this is undoubtedly a complete failure of hunting.

Of course, this example is a bit exaggerated, and anyone with a little common sense knows how to make the trade-off, but the meaning is similar.

In such a trade-off, the hunting team will inevitably miss many opportunities.

Wouldn't it be fine to add one or two more shooters to each hunting team?

This is easier said than done, but it is actually difficult.

Those old hunting teams can naturally be configured in this way. When practitioners reach a certain level and age, they know that they have reached their limit.

At this time, they will shift the focus of their cultivation from tempering the body to mastering more practical skills.

They are naturally willing to work harder on archery.

However, Geng Xuan's hunting team was composed entirely of young people, who were in the golden period of physical training. As for archery, a field in which it was difficult to achieve results without investing a lot of time and energy, it was not within their consideration for the time being.

Changpingfang also understood this, and when planning, not only were the new and old hunting teams arranged crosswise, but the tasks of the new hunting teams were often positioned as auxiliary roles.

It can only be said that it was quite unexpected that Geng Xuan had such remarkable attainments in archery at such a young age.

This also led to some deviations in some arrangements made in advance by Changpingfang.

Of course, in terms of results, there seems to be no harm except making the people in front of me more tired.

In fact, Geng Xuan felt a little "envious" when he saw these people gathered around a pile of prey and decomposing it quickly.

You know, the "dissection" is the only bright spot in the overall mediocre predecessor.

It's not just that he is more talented in this area, he also really likes it.

Geng Xuan felt that he had completely inherited this special hobby. He couldn't even imagine how great it would feel if he went over, took out the disembowelment knife, and let it slide across the corpses of his prey.

However, he still resisted this "temptation".

Now, he has become very eye-catching because of his excellent performance in shooting.

If he also performed well in decomposing corpses, that would be a bit too much.

Shortly after Geng Xuan and others returned, the other two hunting teams also arrived here.

Along with them came their day's hunt.

Geng Xuan, Liao Chengye and others went directly to the simple room allocated to them, which had a floor covered with hay.

Chen Zheng had a brief communication with the captains of the other two hunting teams.

Afterwards, everyone gathered around the huge bonfire and had a hearty meal from a huge pot of stewed food.

Although it looks bad, it tastes surprisingly delicious, especially when the team leader in charge of logistics pours a packet of seasoning into it, the aroma that quickly spreads can really whet the appetite of people.

According to him, this is a special dish that can only be eaten during the autumn hunting every year.

At another time, who can select the essence from a large amount of prey and put them together into one pot!
Although the conditions were simple, Geng Xuan slept surprisingly well.

The next day was an even busier day.

Behind them, Changpingfang dispatched a larger team to "sweep" the mountains and forests.

As they went deeper into the Chiwu Mountains, the prey the hunting team encountered were no longer just two or three small wild deer or seven or eight fat rabbits.

Not only are there more of them, but their individual strength is also stronger.

As he only demonstrated his archery skills to a minor level without revealing more of his methods, Geng Xuan could no longer handle the problem alone.

We must rely on the strength of the entire hunting team.

A giant bear with thick skin and flesh;
A bloodthirsty and aggressive tiger that dares to take the initiative to attack the hunting team;
Mad cows that seem docile but can lose their lives once provoked;
There are also packs of wolves...

Although Geng Xuan's archery skills could no longer dominate everything, with his assistance from the rear, the hunting team could deal with any prey with ease.

Every day, the hunting team's progress deeper into the Chiwu Mountains becomes slower.

But the harvest has increased instead of decreased.

Correspondingly, the danger is also increasing.

Geng Xuan played the role of "sharpshooter" seriously. Because of his outstanding performance, he not only became an indispensable member of the hunting team, but his reputation also gradually became known to more people through the gossip of the logistics team.

Apart from the fact that the sleeping conditions were a little worse every night and he had to take blood-replenishing pills to maintain the efficient improvement in daily bone training, there was no trouble or hindrance in other aspects for Geng Xuan.

On the third day after the autumn hunt began, Geng Xuan used up sixteen points of luck and upgraded his "Linking Tracking Arrows" to a higher level, advancing from the Great Accomplishment Realm to the Grandmaster Realm.

In order to cover up the possible flaws that might appear when his archery skills were further improved, Geng Xuan also consumed 12 points of luck and upgraded his Phantom Hands by two levels from entry level to the great perfection level.

On the eighth day after the autumn hunt began, Geng Xuan followed the hunting team back to the rear base.

——At this moment, this new stronghold was more than a hundred miles away from Changpingfang, and the surroundings were completely primitive. The logistics team no longer dared to "wantonly" light a large bonfire outside the stronghold.

This stronghold has not been moved for three days. During these three days, Geng Xuan and other members of the hunting team have been active nearby, and the farthest they have gone has not gone beyond the stronghold.

There were five hunting teams staying overnight in this stronghold to rest.

After communicating with other hunting team leaders, Chen Zheng returned.

The members of the hunting team who were originally joking with each other saw that he looked serious, unlike his usual self, and someone immediately asked:
"Captain, what happened?"

Chen Zheng said in a deep voice: "The hunting team led by Uncle Li lost two people today."

"Ah?!" Everyone exclaimed.

“One was more seriously injured and had a broken leg.

One of them was slightly less seriously injured, but he would still need to recuperate for at least a few months.

It's a little late today, we will turn back early tomorrow morning." Chen Zheng said. After hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's good that people are still here."

Chen Zheng's expression did not become more relaxed, and he continued:
"Be prepared. We will advance twenty miles tomorrow, and the logistics support will also move our base forward fifteen miles.

Let's have a good rest tonight!"

Only then did everyone understand the real reason why Chen Zheng had a serious expression when he returned.

Liao Chengye said:

"Still need to move forward? I feel a lot of pressure today!

And I feel like the surroundings are far from clean.”

Chen Zheng nodded and said, "Today, Uncle Liu and his team met a hunting team from Wanfufang. They were only separated by a river."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's expressions suddenly became serious, and no one questioned the decision to continue advancing twenty miles tomorrow.

The deeper you go, the more dangerous it is. This is a truth that everyone knows.

So, why did everyone just focus on moving forward after leaving Changpingfang, and no one thought about expanding to the left or right?
More safety, more gains.

How good.

The reason why this did not happen was certainly not because the people of Changpingfang were stupid, but because the mountains and forests on both sides that seemed to have no owner actually had owners.

Just like they had not encountered hunting teams from other neighborhoods since they left Changpingfang, they only had to hang the prey they harvested in a conspicuous place on the tree and wait for the logistics team in the neighborhood to receive it. They didn't have to worry about hunting teams from other neighborhoods coming to pick the peaches.

This is because other neighborhoods recognize this mountain forest as the territory of Changpingfang.

The forests in different neighborhoods are separated by a "forest line".

These tree lines may be a clearly defined mountain range, a river, or some other easily distinguishable terrain landmark.

Each neighborhood would abide by the rules and not cross the "forest line" to hunt or gather in the other's territory.

This is not because everyone is "kind".

These are the lessons each neighborhood has learned with blood and tears.

If you want to get more, going deeper into Chiwu Mountain is safer than crossing the "forest line" to other Jiafang's territory.

The former would at most cost the life of an entire hunting team, while the latter could easily trigger a bloody battle in the neighborhood.

——The kind that would be difficult to end unless someone falls.

The various families living around Kangle Village are generally able to maintain a seemingly harmonious atmosphere, precisely because everyone knows how rare such an atmosphere is, and how terrible it would be if it were broken.

However, the “timber line” is not static.

For example, if the hunting team in Changpingfang is no longer able to move forward, they will stop here.

So, will Wanfufang, which is just across the river, stop there?
of course not!

As long as they can keep moving forward, they will never stop.

They would even be so "kind" as to cross the river and help Changpingfang eliminate some animal infestations.

——I'm not crossing the line. It's the responsibility of all the neighborhoods to eliminate the beast infestation. When they attack the neighborhoods, they don't recognize any "timber line". Since you are unable to solve the problem, let us do it!

The same is true in reverse.

Therefore, autumn hunting also has the meaning of showing strength to the surrounding neighborhoods.

……

Geng Xuan lay on a wooden bed made of hay that smelled of sunshine, and took out three blood-replenishing pills and swallowed them.

As my thoughts focused, a piece of information emerged in my mind.

【Lucky: 434
Iron Skin Kung Fu (Master)+
Dissection (Master)+
Linked Tracking Arrows (Master)+】

Since the "bone shrinking method" broke through from small success to great success, the bone refining achievement has been raised to "45%" with the help of sufficient blood-replenishing pills.

The achievement of blood training was also improved, reaching "48%.

If you continue to invest resources and more time, your bone refining achievements will continue to improve, but the increase will become smaller and smaller.

Geng Xuan's consistent attitude towards this kind of situation is that as long as he has enough good luck, he will use it to improve his skills.

Originally, Geng Xuan planned to continue improving his "bone shrinking technique".

But Chen Zheng's words just now made Geng Xuan change his mind and change his improvement goal from "bone shrinking method" to "iron skin skill".

He has now basically brought the effectiveness of the Master Level Iron Skin Skill to its limit, but this is still not enough to meet the standards for marrow refining.

Anyway, both have to be upgraded, so it doesn't matter whether you upgrade the bone shrinking technique first or the iron skin technique first.

For him at the moment, Iron Kung Fu can bring immediate help.

Geng Xuan naturally knew the answer in his mind as to who came first and who came later.

At the same time, Geng Xuan also planned to make the dissection technique, which had also remained in the master level for a long time, move forward.

Although the gains brought by the master-level continuous tracking arrows have not been fully digested, it will not have much impact on moving forward.

Although this would put him under considerable pressure, it was all within his tolerable range.

Then there is nothing to hesitate about.

"promote."

"promote."

"promote."

As the thought came to mind, Geng Xuan felt his skin gradually getting hotter and hotter, as if he was wrapped in a layer of flowing magma.

A steady stream of insights and experiences come to my mind.

There are both about how to practice and use Iron Skin Kung Fu;
There are also some about how to wield weapons, to penetrate gaps with thin air;

There is also a method of making a long arrow turn in the air.

——Consecutive tracking arrows, from the small success realm to the great success realm, increase the archery proficiency, accuracy, and the number of consecutive arrows.

Compared to the minor realm, it can output greater damage at a longer distance.

Of course, the prerequisite is that the quality of the bows and arrows is strong enough.

When one advances from the Great Accomplishment Realm to the Grand Master Realm, although the long-range accuracy and number of consecutive shots are improved, this is no longer the point.

The biggest change is that we have finally moved from "linking beads" to "tracing".

Finally I can turn the corner.

Although this deflection is very slight and it is impossible to make a right-angle turn or even a 180-degree turn, it is enough to increase the deterrent power of the long arrow by an order of magnitude.

When a master is promoted to a grandmaster, not only the number of consecutive beads and long-range accuracy are improved, but the arc of the turn is also larger.

At this point, the skill of continuous tracking arrows has been improved to the extreme.

【Lucky: 326
Iron Skin Kung Fu (Grandmaster)

Dissection (Grandmaster)

Linked Arrows (Grandmaster)]

After this upgrade, three more skills reached the top, one of which was a body-tempering technique.

……

The next day.

Geng Xuan, Chen Zheng, Liao Chengye and others set off after having a sufficiently hearty breakfast.

As they went deeper and deeper, they were getting farther and farther away from the stronghold behind them, and everyone felt the pressure gradually increasing.

Fortunately, all of this is within everyone's tolerance.

The hunting teams that were originally far apart are now much closer together, and occasionally they can be seen walking or fighting with each other, which also reduces the pressure on each hunting team a lot.

The hunting team was becoming more and more concentrated, like a needle that was getting thinner and sharper.

In order to reduce the pressure on others, Geng Xuan once again demonstrated his genius in archery.

It was upgraded from two consecutive arrows to three consecutive arrows. Although the power of the last third arrow was obviously much weaker, it also made others congratulate Geng Xuan again and again.

……

At noon, after completing another hunt, everyone gathered under a big tree and took out the food they brought with them and started eating.

Everyone chatted casually, reviewing some battle and hunting processes, and Geng Xuan was also talking to others in a casual manner.

Suddenly, something moved in his heart.

Just now, I felt a strange feeling on my back.

An association immediately arose in his mind.

In the distant forest behind him, a pair of eyes were secretly looking at him.

Geng Xuan took a deep breath.

He knew that this was not his imagination.

This is a side effect of the Grandmaster's Iron Skin Skill.

It's not just the Iron Skin Kungfu that has this ability. In fact, all masters in the Marrow Refining Realm have this skill.

If someone is secretly observing them in the dark, they can easily sense it, as if they have eyes on their backs.

Geng Xuan resisted the urge to change his position and leaned his back against a big tree to block the view from behind.

He continued to talk to others with a calm expression, but his thoughts were racing.

"who is it?"

“Who would do that?”

After everyone finished eating the food they brought with them, they took turns to drink a bag of water. After resting for a while, Chen Zheng clapped his hands, stood up, and said, "Continue."

Hurry up.

Searching for prey.

fighting.

Nothing seems to have changed.

Geng Xuan still fulfilled his duties, being on guard when necessary and shooting arrows to help when necessary.

But his mind was almost entirely focused on the prying eyes that were watching him secretly.

It seemed that the gaze that was peeping at him from the dark did not disappear, but kept following him.

As time went on, Geng Xuan could even feel the malice in that gaze becoming more and more obvious.

……

Around 6pm.

The sky gradually became dark.

A giant bear that stood five meters tall fell to the ground with a bang. Chen Zheng panted and said, "Pack up and let's go back."

Two of them carried the giant bear and walked in the team, while the others automatically dispersed in front, behind, left and right, and rushed back.

When they came to a place next to a cliff and had to pass in single file, everyone automatically arranged themselves in front and behind.

Geng Xuan naturally walked at the end of the team. The others didn't think anything of it and walked on a narrow path along the cliff.

At this moment, the five people in front suddenly heard a sharp scream.

The five of them were stunned and immediately turned around to look.

Everyone was stunned, and then felt a chill in their hearts.

Geng Xuan, who was supposed to be walking behind him, had disappeared!

Everyone looked at each other first, then turned their heads to look at the cliff on one side, with a look of disbelief on their faces.

(End of this chapter)