Li Qiujue finished speaking and tried to pull her husband into the house.

Seeing that his third son was unwilling to go, Old Man Lu’s face darkened.

However, thinking about how weak and frail his third son was—probably even less sturdy than his own aging bones—he decided to let it be.

In the Lu family, aside from the eldest son, Lu Wenzhao, who was both strong and intelligent, the only scholar was the third son, Lu Wenzhi.

As for the second son, Lu Wenguang, he was an honest and hardworking man who did most of the farm work.

Adding to his misfortune, Lu Wenguang’s wife had only given birth to a daughter over the years, which made their standing in the family even lower.

Naturally, the best-off in the family was the third son and his household.

To support Lu Wenzhi’s studies, most of the family’s money had been spent on him.

Any good things in the household were reserved for his family first.

Especially since his wife had given birth to two sons in succession, she always carried herself with an air of arrogance, as if she were above everyone else.

Fortunately, though the two elders of the Lu family favored sons over daughters, they were not cruel to the girls.

However, back when Shen Qingwan wanted to claim Lu Wenzhao’s pension for herself, she had separated from the family and lived on her own.

Otherwise, her two children wouldn’t have had to suffer so much.

Lu Wenguang and Old Man Lu gathered about a dozen strong men from the village to search the mountain.

Hunter Zhang, upon hearing they were looking for someone, agreed to join them without hesitation, bringing his son and bow and arrows along.

Since Old Man Lu was too old to keep up, only Lu Wenguang went with the group.

In Dahe Village, the Lu surname was the most common, making up more than half the population.

The rest were descendants of people who had settled there after fleeing from famine decades ago.

After nearly a century of living there, they had fully integrated into the village.

Dahe Village had a good atmosphere, and the neighbors generally got along. Even when conflicts arose, they were usually nothing more than minor arguments.

There had never been any serious disputes.

A few years ago, when they fought with Zhao Village over water rights, even the non-Lu villagers had stood together in solidarity. During that battle, both villages clashed fiercely.

In the end, Dahe Village gained the upper hand simply because they had more people.

Although the county magistrate later forced both villages to share the water source, conflicts continued to arise.

To this day, when people from the two villages saw each other, they would spit in disdain.

Shen Qingwan had ventured up the mountain alone, unaware that Old Man Lu had sent so many people to search for her.

The outskirts of the forest were relatively safe, likely because villagers frequently came to forage for wild vegetables and mushrooms.

As Shen Qingwan ventured deeper, the light dimmed.

The towering trees blocked out the sunlight, and the ground became damp.

Despite the prolonged drought, the humidity in the deep forest was still heavy.

She spotted many mushrooms, both poisonous and edible, and picked some to put in her basket.

To avoid scaring away prey, she stepped lightly.

Soon, she spotted a wild rabbit.

With a swift throw of her machete, the rabbit was pierced and pinned to the ground.

“I forgot! Rabbit pelts can be sold for money, but now there’s a huge hole in it. It’s probably worthless now,” Shen Qingwan muttered, frustrated with herself.

She then retrieved a small, modern crossbow from her space.

Technology was clearly more efficient.

With her skills, she could easily hunt with just a knife or machete. However, those weapons left large wounds, damaging the animal’s fur.

A crossbow was the best option.

The deep forest was full of wild animals, but she needed to get back to cook for her children. Plus, she had left home on an empty stomach.

She couldn’t afford to stay too long.

She managed to hunt three wild rabbits, a pheasant, and—luckily—a red fox with a beautiful coat.

That fox fur could sell for a good price.

Just as she was about to leave, a sudden noise behind her made her turn and leap into the air.

In that instant, a black wild boar with sharp tusks charged past, right where she had been standing. It crashed headfirst into a tree ahead.

The thick trunk snapped instantly, revealing the terrifying force behind its charge.

If she had reacted a second later, she would have been sent flying.

She was just about to leave, but now, the mountain had gifted her a wild boar.

Shen Qingwan grinned, revealing a row of white teeth as she eyed the 300-400 pound boar.

The beast, having missed its target, turned and charged at her again.

She fired two arrows, causing the boar to squeal in pain and rage, thrashing wildly at the surrounding trees.

Seizing the opportunity, she rushed forward and finished it off with two more strikes. Only when the boar stopped breathing did she finally relax.

She was about to store the boar in her space to take it out later when she reached the foot of the mountain.

But suddenly, she heard someone calling her name.

Listening carefully, she realized it wasn’t her imagination—someone really was calling for her.

The voice sounded familiar.

It seemed to be Lu Wenguang, the second brother.

She quickly responded, and soon, the group made their way toward her.

Not wanting to reveal anything suspicious, she put away her crossbow and replaced it with a simple bamboo bow.

“Big sister-in-law?”

Lu Wenguang was startled to see Shen Qingwan covered in blood.

When he noticed the massive wild boar on the ground, his eyes widened in shock.

“T-This… D-Did you kill this?”

His voice trembled with disbelief.

The other men also stared at her as if she were some kind of monster.

Shen Qingwan still had a white cloth wrapped around her head, and with all the blood on her, her smile looked somewhat eerie.

“Second brother, Uncle Zhang, you came just in time! I was just worrying about how to bring this boar down the mountain. Would you believe it? The boar ran into a tree and knocked itself out! Luckily, I was quick and finished it off with a couple of strikes. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to take down such a big beast,” she said, pretending to be nervous.

She dared not claim full credit.

After all, she had never shown any hunting skills in the past few years.

“My god, sister-in-law! You’re amazing! Even if it was stunned, killing such a huge wild boar isn’t easy!”

“Big brother’s wife, you’ve really surprised us. Even Uncle Zhang and his son might not be as skilled as you!”

The group of strong men all looked at her with newfound admiration. They had completely underestimated her before.