Chapter 48: Back to Basics
Che Gongnui looked Adam up and down. “You look strong but need stamina and patience for this life. Have you these qualities? Let us see.” He said, eyeing Adam.
He talked to Adam about what beasts he had slain and what was his preferred weapon. “We don’t have any beasts like those here. Just average boars and deer, but other things are occasionally found in the deeper forested areas. I once spotted a pack of reaper bears; that was the day I learned to fly. My feet were like arrows, never touching the ground till I made it home safe. So we will go to a little spot I know near the river where we can fish too.”
They entered the forest proper when they got far enough along a track. Che Gongnui passed Adam his empty backpack so he could move more stealthily. Adam thought him nimble sufficient as it was. But, on the other hand, he felt like a bull in a china shop, every twig snapping a gunshot in the silent forest.
Che Gongnui, to his credit, acted as though Adam was not there. But then, they spotted a deer; Adam had seen it from a mile off with his abilities reinstated. Gongnui pulled his bow and shot an arrow in one fluid motion. But the deer had been spooked by Adam’s presence and bolted at the last minute.
By the third time this happened, they had reached a small stream running down the valley. After that, Gonghui would usually stop here to clean up and maybe catch some fish. He turned to Adam and said quizzically, “Maybe you are a fish hunter? But those cores you had did not look like fish cores. Let’s see.”
So this is how Adam came to be standing knee-deep in the freezing water of the stream, arms outstretched, doing his best to mimic a heron. He wondered how any average human could spot a fish, much less catch one in the fast-flowing stream. Determined not to fail again, Adam decided to cheat; it wasn’t as though he would keep all his secrets from this old guy. Besides, Che Gongnui was far too much of a fox to out fox.
He used his energy and sight ability to pinpoint the fish, then shot out his arms using shadow phase so that not even the water was disturbed before grabbing the fish. Of course, he still dropped the first few fish but got into his stride, dumping Salmon onto the side of the stream.
Che Gongnui looked relieved, sitting down by the stream to start wrapping the fish in leaves before placing them in the pack.
“You are being very generous to me, but I do not want to spoil your hunting further. So I will try alone for a while if I may.” Adam said truthfully, feeling pretty bad about spoiling Che Gongnui’s shots.
Che Gonhui nodded and told Adam he would wait for him when they had initially entered the forest if Adam could find it. So, Adam using his energy sight, headed off in a direction he could see what looked like deer. As soon as he got in range, he shadow-jumped straight to the first deer and slammed his knife into its eye socket. And not waiting for it to drop went after the second, taking it down in seconds also. He then thought to retrieve the beast cores from both, but having an idea, he fit both carcasses into his PD instead.
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Adam found only three more deer and a bear. After that, he realized he would need to go further in a field to get the number of beast cores he was after. He then walked back to their start location, mulling over his future actions. He had placed the first deer over his shoulder not to raise suspicion.
Che Gonghui returned shortly after carrying three deer on a makeshift sled he had fashioned out of some wood. Seeing Adam, he said, “We will make a hunter of you yet! Well done. Hunting beasts in the wild is very different from being void beasts that chase you instead. And maybe you are more suited to being a fisherman anyway; that was an impressive catch today.”
“Would that fish have good beast cores” I replied, repeating his earlier joke. “Indeed. Indeed” Gonhui replied good-naturedly.
It was getting late when we got back to the village. We said our goodbyes, and Che Gonghui said we could start again early the following morning. At this point, I asked if he had a map of the area where he could mark the locations of good hunting spots. He just pointed to his head, saying this is my map. I left, returning to find out what progress had been made with our new lodgings. I was truly surprised.
Where there had been more holes than the roof, both shacks now had lovely bamboo weave thatch. The kids had worked hard to cut and then weave the thinnest green bamboo to make a waterproof thatch. It had been decided that they all would sleep for the time being in the largest of the two shacks using the other for storage. This could have been better, but they needed somewhere to keep all their provisions with winter coming.
They had also stacked much older bamboo for firewood in one corner of the new storehouse. Finally, to stop anyone pinching their meager treasures, they had strengthened the door to the storehouse. The most probable thieves would be rats or chickens.
The kids received a visitor as they finished their daily chores and rolled out their bedlinen. Zhang Linlang’s mother, Wang Sheng, a silver-haired lady with a brilliant smile, brought them some dumplings. She was embarrassed when she saw how many mouths to feed they had; her daughter had only said ‘some’ children and said she would bring more next time.
Adam said it was the thought that counted, which seemed to throw her a little. Then remembering customs, rephrased it as ‘We are honored with your gift as we have not had home cooking in such a long time.” Then he added, “It reminds these poor orphans of their mother’s cooking,” Which was a total fib but seemed to do the trick.
Wang Sheng then seemed happy to give them a hand cooking the fish they had caught after running back to her house for some herbs. They tasted delicious, and everyone sat tired but contented, eating their fill.
Adam told Thawain that he would be out the whole day tomorrow, then after finishing off some of his rations, he talked with Libby.
“How many beast cores will I need to collect before we can get a PD for the kids to stay in?” Adam asked.
“It will take hundreds, Adam, I’m afraid.” Said, Libby. Echo was unhappy about returning any SP he had commandeered to the spirit sea. Libby and the others now saw Echo as a hero. They had no moral qualms at any of the GTA’s actions, and he had succeeded where they had failed badly.
Looking at his stats, Adam had to agree.
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They would have to make do; they had survived by a miracle called Hecho, and they were safe for the time being, and tomorrow as they say, was a new day.