Chapter 4: Harvesting the Fire Fox

Foxes are extremely famous animals in the Northeast, and indeed throughout the entire country! Of course, there are also *huangpizi* (weasels)!

Whether in folklore or mythology, these two animals have been imbued with an incredibly legendary aura! Various strange tales and anecdotes have made many people deeply wary of them.

Because of this, many hunters in the Northeast avoid hunting these two animals, though there are also many who make a living specifically by hunting them! Their fur is truly valuable!

As for Wang An, his attitude toward them was simple: he wouldn't go out of his way to hunt them, but if he happened upon one, he certainly wouldn't let it go! In his past life, so many people farmed these things—didn't they all do quite well for themselves?

Actually, Wang An had initially thought it was a "red dog" (dhole). Normally, mountain beasts run far away at the sound of a gunshot, and given the fox's cunning, it would never let a hunter catch a glimpse of it.

Only red dogs are both cunning and treacherous, and extremely ferocious; a pack of a dozen would dare to go head-to-head with a big paw (tiger/bear)!

He hadn't expected it—he really hadn't expected it! He didn't know if it was because his rebirth brought him good luck, or if this fox just had a death wish.

Regardless, this pelt would definitely help accelerate his path to a happy life!

Right in the center of the neck—white blade in, red blade out! After bleeding it, he tossed it into the burlap sack. Done!

Small animals like these would freeze stiff in a matter of moments in this sub-20-degree weather. Besides, in this bone-chilling cold, who would want to squat in the snow to dress these things?

He checked his haul: one hare, two pheasants, and one red fox... these things—there wasn't much meat on them!

He looked at the sun; it was past noon. With the sack on his back and his rifle in his left hand, he pulled a large steamed bun out of his flour bag with his right.

In this icy, snow-covered world, he gnawed on the bun while searching for more prey.

The bun was frozen cold and hard, and it scratched his throat so badly that Wang An had to stretch his neck just to swallow it!

He grabbed a handful of snow and stuffed it into his mouth. "Damn! That’s refreshing!" It made his teeth ache from the cold.

He did have a canteen at home, but in this temperature, Wang An felt that drinking a single drop of water would be a sign of disrespect to a Northeast winter!

After finally managing to get the entire bun into his stomach, Wang An decided that once he sold the fox fur, he absolutely had to buy a small pot he could carry with him.

He needed to be able to boil some hot water! Otherwise, living like this day after day was just too damn miserable!

He wandered aimlessly for another hour or so. Everywhere he looked, aside from two mountain rats peeking at him from a hole under a tree, he couldn't find where the other animals had hidden themselves.

He carefully recalled the places mentioned by the hunters and villagers during idle chats in the settlement: Roe Deer Gully, Black Bear Gully, Wild Boar Forest, and so on.

Wang An observed his surroundings closely and suddenly realized that he was on the outskirts of the very same Roe Deer Gully that Sun the Scarred, a hunter from the settlement, had talked about!

What was Sun the Scarred’s real name? After forty-plus years of his past and present lives, Wang An really couldn't remember.

In fact, he couldn't remember the names of many people in the settlement.

But he had a deep impression of many of their nicknames! After all, for a nickname to spread so widely, the person must have done something "earth-shattering."

Sun the Scarred was different. He didn't just make himself "earth-shattering"; he was truly "soul-shaking"!

To tell this story, one has to start from the beginning.

In the Northeast, the number of hunters who can truly be called a "Cannon" is very small—like Zhang Cannon, Li Cannon, Wu Cannon, and the "Wang Cannon" who would inevitably appear in the future!

We won't talk about this Wang Cannon for now!

Any hunter who can truly be called a "Cannon" is no ordinary tough guy. Not only must their marksmanship be top-notch, but they must also be hunters who have gone toe-to-toe with big paws, leopards, or lynx cubs!

They are also masters of various hunting methods, such as tracking, chasing, and stalking.

And when it comes to the kill, they know how to use encirclement tactics—be it with dogs, pits, snow, or ice!

In the old days, there was also fire-encirclement, but it was too destructive and often caused forest fires, so it was strictly prohibited after the founding of the country! We won't mention that again.

Kaoshan Settlement didn't have any "Cannons." There were seven or eight hunters, but they were only called "So-and-so Cannon" as a polite title or a personal aspiration—just people blowing smoke for each other.

So, Sun the Scarred was naturally just a hunter, but he didn't see it that way. He always called himself "Sun Cannon," and demanded others call him that too!

However, the tone people used when they called him that was entirely different!

To prove himself, back before he was called Sun the Scarred, he got drunk and went into the mountains alone with a 16-gauge shotgun to hunt a bear. No one knew the details, only that he crawled back to the settlement!

Xu Lao-nian, a gambler from the same settlement, was passing by his house on the way home that night and found him collapsed at his own gate, unconscious. His face was covered in congealed blood, making it impossible to recognize him! His cotton-padded jacket and trousers had turned into shredded rags, also soaked in blood!

The sight scared the living daylights out of Xu Lao-nian. In the dead of night, he let out a blood-curdling scream!

With that scream, all the dogs in the settlement started barking. It’s said that ever since then, Xu Lao-nian always went home at dusk after gambling; he never dared to play until the dead of night again!

Sun the Scarred was lucky to be alive. He was out of the house in about two months, hopping around as if nothing had happened.

Only, across his entire face—from the corner of his left eye, across the tip of his nose, to his right cheek—three long scars remained forever.

At first glance, it was truly terrifying! If you looked closer... forget it, it was even worse than the first glance!

From then on, Sun the Scarred was known as Sun the Scarred!

Wang An moved slowly into Roe Deer Gully, trying his best not to make a sound. Because even though they are called "silly roe deer," they aren't actually stupid enough to just stand there and let you shoot them!

Everyone knows how dangerous the mountains are and how ferocious the predators are, yet roe deer have survived generation after generation!

Their nickname is "Grass-flyer" or "Snow-flyer," which shows how fast they are! It’s just that they are exceptionally curious and remarkably scatterbrained.

Many old hunters claim they only use a stick to hunt roe deer, but the success rate... that’s just nonsense!

After walking two or three *li*, he finally spotted six or seven roe deer about 300 meters away, nibbling on tender buds at the tips of the trees. Although the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle had an effective range of 400 meters, to be honest, at this distance of nearly 300 meters, all Wang An could see were animals the size of chickens! He could only vaguely make out that they were roe deer.

He would definitely hit something if he fired, but hitting a vital spot was entirely up to fate!

Fortunately, he was upwind, otherwise, he would have had to take a wide detour to get closer. He crept through the forest, hiding his silhouette, until he was about 100 meters away. Now, he could finally distinguish their heads and bodies!

He raised the rifle to his cheek, steadied his breathing, and fired: "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" He moved the muzzle as he fired four rapid shots, paused, and fired two more—though he had no idea where those last two went!

Regardless, the way the white fur on the roe deer's rumps exploded was quite amusing! So cute! Within seconds, they were bounding away into the forest, vanishing from sight.

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(End of chapter)